Record nerds, convene!
It’s been 12-plus years since Tony Medwid’s first Pittsburgh Record & CD Convention – number 27 comes together this Sunday, October 12, at the Green Tree Radisson (they now occur twice a year; they used to be more frequent). It’s the biggest record show in the area, and brings together a lot of major figures…
In Dubious Battle
Two things are clear about how the final weeks of the Presidential campaign will play out: It’s going to consist of a whole new line of GOP attacks on Barack Obama, and Pennsylvania voters are going to be in the crossfire. As NBC and its political correspondent Chuck Todd have repeatedly said in recent days,…
Beyond Debate
I’m a geek, so perhaps it’s no surprise that for me, the high point of last night’s vice-presidential debate came during an exchange over a highly technical point about the bankruptcy code. But bear with me, because while everyone is crediting Sarah Palin with, I guess, not breaking down onstage, this moment shows just how…
CP Remixed announces lineup for second installment
So, with the debut of CP Remixed coming up in one week — that’s Thu., Oct. 9 at the WYEP Community Broadcast Center — we’re pleased to announce the lineup for the second installment of the quarterly local music showcase, which will take place January 15. The curator for the second installment is local mashup…
Religulous
Fans of comedian and talk-show host Bill Maher are familiar with his rants and riffs on religion. This film essay from Larry Charles (Borat) is simply an extended comic bit — with stock footage and guest stars — designed to bolster Maher’s belief that religion is weird, hypocritical, potentially dangerous and certainly worth laughing at.…
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Broken-hearted New Jersey emo kid Nick (Michael Cera, Juno‘s baby-daddy) putt-putts in his jokey Yugo around New York one night, bouncing between his queer-core band buddies, his ex-girlfriend and a potentially new soulmate, Norah (Kat Dennings). A healthy — though hardly infinite — selection of indie pop laments stitches the slender plot together, while the…
Flash of Genius
This is, without question, the most gripping film about intermittent windshield wipers ever made. Greg Kinnear plays engineer Robert Kearns, who created the mechanism in 1967, only to see it end up in the hands of the Ford Motor Company. Directed by Marc Abraham and based on a New Yorker magazine story, Flash is a…
Eagle Eye
Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) is a slacker working at a low-end copy store, shadowed by his overachieving identical twin, a high-level Air Force officer. Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan) is a down-to-earth single mom with an 8-year-old son. Each receives a phone call from a woman who issues commands in the detached, pleasant voice of a…
Chris & Don: A Love Story
In purely cinematic terms, the death in 1986 of Christopher Isherwood seems little hindrance to Guido Santi and Tina Mascara’s heartfelt documentary about the British writer’s long romantic partnership with Don Bachardy, an American 30 years his junior. Bachardy, now a trim septugenarian, mostly narrates what happened starting in the early ’50s, when Isherwood (who…
Miracle at St. Anna
The director’s new movie recounts the experiences of black American soldiers trapped in Italy during the waning days of World War II. Lee wants to shred racist stereotypes about WW II, but he also wants to tell a ripping war yarn, and to cap it all with a redemptive, quasi-magical ending. The sum of his…
Choke
It’s good to see a film with ideas … or perhaps just notions: about sin and redemption, love and trust, and the dual (and dueling) nature inside all of us. Clark Gregg’s adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel covers these themes in a mostly realistic scenario about a sex addict (Sam Rockwell), who also enjoys faking…
The final installment of August Wilson’s epic Pittsburgh Cycle premieres at the Public.
Radio Golf takes place in the 1990s, but it speaks of our most current identity crises.
Chatham University’s new literary festival hears voices from other countries.
There’s also an impressive array of other visitors, many from the Middle East.
The Creative Nonfiction conference is revamped to focus on the craft and business of writing.
The event was recast to fulfill working writers’ desire for more short-format courses about specific topics.
Cartoonist Mike Konopacki discusses adapting Howard Zinn’s A People’s History.
“Throughout U.S. history, our military has been used not for moral purposes but to expand economic, political, and military power,” says the illustrated Zinn.
Edwidge Danticat revisits her formative experiences in Haiti at the Drue Heinz Lectures.
Although she is their flesh-and-blood, her parents, like the place, then seemed deeply “other.”
The Kitchen Witches
Both characters are drama queens, and the actresses jump in with both feet, not to mention hand slaps and hair pulls when the slapstick starts.
The Sea Horse
Randolph and Shahen do a terrific job of making us understand the hunger for human contact and love consuming their characters from the inside.
The Apple Tree
Director Elizabeth Matthews keeps the production fresh, modest and well paced, concentrating on getting good performers who more than just fill the bill.
The Flame BBQ
Barbecue can be difficult to judge. The best of it is extraordinary, but there’s a vast middle ground of competently cooked meat, unremarkable sauce, and sides of varying quality. The Flame rose above this with its least typical offerings.
Making a Better Lemonade
A local company wants lemonade to be delicious … and nutritious.
Adriana Helbig adds zest to Pitt’s ethnomusicology program
“A lot of global rappers are part of social movements, just like the way it developed in the Bronx.”
This Just In: October 2 – 9
Highlights from the local TV news: Massaging the facts.
Pittsburgh n’@
Dispatches from the blogosphere: A sinking feeling about the Pirates.
Police: Activists call on council for Taser controls
Outcry over whether police are using Taser stun-guns appropriately — or whether they ought to use them at all — continues to fuel calls for greater police transparency and accountability. Local activists are calling on the police to make changes to internal rules that govern how and when Tasers may be used. They also question…
Arts: Ousted TRAF director says festival structure, funding in need of overhaul
What’s to become of the Three Rivers Arts Festival, at least as we’ve known it? The Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, which took control of the venerable summer fest a month ago, hasn’t announced any plans, but the takeover suggests more changes are forthcoming. And Elizabeth Reiss, the festival executive director whose position the Carnegie eliminated,…
Media: P-G offering buyouts; layoffs looming
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette news staffers seemed almost philosophical as they spoke about the contract buyouts management is about to offer — and the layoffs that may follow. “Like any rational person, our families are taking stock of the future and trying to figure out what our options are,” says columnist and editorial writer Tony Norman. As…
Outside Agitators
“We might be approaching a time when it is no longer normal or expected for kids to go outside to watch the leaves move.”
Public Art Critics
Murals by Kyle Holbrook have become easy to spot over the years: bright pieces incorporating people, stories and a sense of the neighborhood the murals strive to brighten up. But among some Beechview residents, there’s a sense that Holbrook barreled ahead and painted what he wanted, not necessarily what the community was interested in. And…
An artful addition appends an artist’s studio to a traditional Pittsburgh house.
“At one point, Paul said, ‘We just need to chop off the back and build a box.'”
Rhyme Calisthenics combines freestyle skills and game-show challenges
“We’re trying to get people to exercise their vocabulary, their thought process, their rhythm, and it’s going to make them a better emcee.”
Langhorne Slim rollicks and rambles into Club Café
“I was going to either wind up in jail or be some kind of entertainer.”
Famed U.K. DJ and producer LTJ Bukem visits the BBT
In the early ’90s, he almost single-handedly created a smooth, atmospheric subgenre called “intelligent drum ‘n’ bass.”
The Shack*Shakers’ fiery frontman burns down the house
“I was one of these nerdy kids that pledged support to public radio so I can ‘hear more great blues and the jazz show and the bluegrass show.'”
Centipede Eest releases new album Confluence at Gooski’s
“There’s no mission statement we’re working toward.”
Savage Love
I accidentally discovered that my son-in-law is into BDSM sex as a “dominant.” A few weeks ago, he was holding one of my dog’s leashes and tried to stop my dog (a 13-year-old, docile golden retriever) from running up to another dog by violently yanking on the leash. My 65-pound dog was violently spun around…
PCA Emerging Artist of the Year Adam Welch makes a strong showing.
Nothing seems to lead to happiness, but bits like “it’s all about me” and “cranky pants” impart enough self-awareness by the artist to indicate we don’t need to take it all so seriously.
