City of Play Festival debuts Saturday
Festival of new sports and street games hits the North Side
A plus-size fashion line, a history book, a magazine re-launch, a solo album
Some locally based crowdfunding projects you can help with.
Stream forthcoming Majeure album on Spin
Just a quick local-rock heads-up: Solar Maximum, the forthcoming album from Majeure (the side project from A.E. Paterra, drummer from Zombi) is now streaming on Spin. The record comes out two weeks from now on Temporary Residence, and Majeure next plays Pittsburgh on Nov. 8 at The Shop.
Less Rock, More Talk
In a garden strip along Friendship Avenue, one rock has something to say.
Republican AG Candidate gets NRA Nod
Dave Freed receives pro-gun endorsement for Attorney General race
County Elections Office open Late for Voter Registration
Today is the last day to register to vote in the November election.
Heads Up: Morning headlines for Oct. 9
What’s going on in the state park system? Parks director John Norbeck, who says he’s been forced out, as a result of philosophical differences with the Corbett administration. Jan Jarrett, the environmental activist who broke this story last week, also previously noted the departure of a longtime member of a state parks advisory group. And…
Lynn Cullen Live 10/09/12
Video Archive Phone guest: Susan; go Cardinals!; Jerry Sandusky gets 30-60 years; Felix Baumgartner’s jump delayed again; capacity for denial on the part of humans; Andrew Sullivan having a breakdown over the Pew poll; still angry at Obama for showing up to fight; polls vs. voter turnout; House SCIENCE committee members believe evolution is a…
Critz, Rothfus to Debate Wednesday
Critz-Rothfus will meet in Beaver County Debate
Crime author visits with unusual anthology
Editor touts collection of mystery authors writing on their favorites
Figment Pittsburgh
An afternoon at the free festival of interactive arts
Heads Up: Morning headlines for Oct. 8
Remember that time the state legislature balanced the state’s books on the backs of the poor? Turns out that wasn’t just sort of heartless. It also may not have been constitutional. Not that you should expect that to make too much difference. In a letter to the editor, the SEIU frets about the future for…
Lynn Cullen Live 10/08/12
Video Archive Columbus Day: does he deserve to be honored?; will Columbus Day be a holiday in 50 years?; good & bad about Columbus Day parallel to the Space X program happening now; replica Columbus ships docked on our river; O’ Reilly vs. Stewart debate recap; new Gallup poll shows that Romney & Obama are…
The first Figment Pittsburgh
It was chilly, blustery, the ground was damp with rain and more was forecast on the first weekend of proper fall weather — and also the debut weekend of Figment Pittsburgh. The unique, free festival of interactive art has been held in New York and various other cities. Here’s CP’s preview of Pittsburgh’s two-day version,…
Proceed Safely. We Really Mean It.
Shadyside-East Liberty pedestrian bridge, now with more safety
“On the Media” Journalist Speaks Here Monday
NPR’s Brooke Gladstone speaks about media influence at CMU
Heads Up: Headlines for Oct. 5
Feeling a little better this morning after the debate hangover. It helps to see that while almost everyone thinks Romney won the debate — thanks to the ever-successful strategy of making stuff up so fast that the other guy can’t figure out how to argue with you — it hasn’t changed the race too dramatically.…
Lynn Cullen Live 10/05/12
Video Archive Obama is like the kid who writes an amazing paper….the night before it’s due; unemployment rates down to 7.8%; Romney is a shape shifter; people know who they’re voting for already, debates don’t matter; John Sununu, Romney’s ( bad ) advisor; still angry @ Obama?; 50 years ago today, Love Me Do was…
Got an idea for Bus Rapid Transit? Try this simulator!
Submit your own plan for Bus Rapid Transit to planners
Radical Films for RADical Days
Free screenings of independent short films Friday and Saturday
Tree Pittsburgh Needs Tree-Care Volunteers
Mulch Madness event protects the urban forest
Heads Up: Post-Debate hangover edition
Sorry, I just can’t quite bring myself to trawl the old interwebs this morning. For the same reason I don’t want to poke around the bottom shelf of the refrigerator: I have a dim idea of what I’ll find, and I just can’t face it today. So, the debate. By this point, everyone agrees that…
Lynn Cullen Live 10/4/12
Video Archive Guest: Chris Potter ( on a Thursday! ); last night’s debate; Obama was listless, incoherent; Romney was loud, rude, and lying through his teeth; Jim Lehrer’s poor moderating job; Romney seemingly won, Obama let us down; where was the 47%? women’s issues?; damage done to alternative energy companies; Voter ID result in PA;…
The Bane of Bain
Need an excuse for a mid-afternoon walk? The “Stop the Romney Economy” tour is holding an event at 2 p.m. today, at Sixth and Smithfield, Downtown. They’ll be outside Burlington Coat Factory, which was part of the Bain portfolio, formerly run by Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Jim Carothers, of Stop the Romney Economy
Burgess says “ban the box” legislation will come to a vote soon
Pittsburgh Councilor Ricky Burgess contacted the City Paper after its print deadline regarding our story in today’s issue about his “Ban the Box” legislation, which supporters are lobbying to have put to a vote. Burgess says the legislation, which was first introduced to council in 2011, is still under review by the city solicitor. He…
Heads Up: Morning headlines for Oct. 3
Story of the day: As you’ve no doubt heard, a Commonwealth Court judge has put the state’s voter ID law on hiatus. Under Robert Simpson’s ruling, the November election will be carried out like the spring primary was — with poll workers asking for, but not requiring, IDs. That doesn’t mean we’ve heard the last…
Safe Haven: Sanctuary will take in unwanted animals, educate about meatless dining options
Ask Pittsburgh veterinarian Karen Phillips what farm animal passes through the city’s animal shelters most frequently and the answer comes easily — pot-bellied pigs. “I think because they are a spontaneous buy. They’re very easy to purchase, and they’re adorable,” she says. “But they get big by hundreds of pounds. People will get over their…
Margaret Cho brings her new show to town.
MARGARET CHO 7 p.m. Sun., Oct. 7, and 8 p.m. Mon., Oct. 8. Pittsburgh Improv 166 E. Bridge St. West Homestead. $25 (21-and-over). 412-462-5233 or pittsburgh.improv.com To label Margaret Cho simply as a “comedian” would be to slight her ever-expanding catalogue of titles: actress, musician, activist, director, author, fashion designer. Yet she has never abandoned…
Stave off fall a little longer with a tiki drink
As the weather turns cool, some people are relishing the autumnal ritual of donning a sweater and drinking a pumpkin beer. Others, however, simply dream of escaping to the tropics. And one of the best ways to let summer linger is found inside the ceramic coconut of a tiki cocktail. Finding one in Pittsburgh, however,…
Chicken with Plums
Chicken With Plums Directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud Starring: Mathieu Amalric, Edouard Baer, Maria de Medeiros In French, with subtitles Starts Fri., Oct. 5. Regent Square Can a man actually die of disappointment? So it would seem in Chicken With Plums, a live-action French fable, based on the graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi,…
The MAC diner celebrates the glories of mac-and-cheese
Nancy Sukits had spent years in the food-service industry — catering, working at country clubs, working in food services for a nonprofit — before striking out on her own. Now she’s not just at the helm of her own restaurant; she’s at the helm of the area’s first … mac-and-cheese-themed diner. The MAC Diner, which…
Looper
Life choices, already tricky, are made more complicated by time travel in Rian Johnson’s sci-fi actioner Looper. In 2044, Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a thirty-something guy working as a “looper,” an assassin in Kansas whose work comes from 2074. There, gangsters using forbidden time-travel machines zap victims back to 2044, where Joe kills and disposes…
Touch, Post Slavery
Ain’t love hard? —Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon The sugar bowl is not for pretty on the kitchen table. It is another galaxy, made of stone and breath, a wish between continents, its sweetness a fist to pound against darkness. The hands that formed it belong to a face, dust-brown, on an island where my…
Headgames
It’s a topic most Pittsburghers know well: serious head injuries sustained by professional athletes. We treasure the “inspirational” stories — Sid Crosby is back! — and shrug off the sad ones, like learning after his death that Steeler Mike Webster’s brain was severely damaged. The slow path to making fans and players (pro and amateur)…
Short List: October 3 – 9
After five years as a storefront gallery, Jason Sauer’s Most-Wanted Fine Art is a fixture on the Penn Avenue arts corridor. But Sauer keeps reaching beyond the typical gallery-crawler. So while his venue is open for this Friday’s installment of the popular Unblurred crawl, on Sat., Oct. 5, Sauer and the Penn Avenue Arts Initiative…
Won’t Back Down
Twice in this film, a struggling single mom counsels interrogators not to talk down to her. If only Daniel Barnz’s film had heeded its own advice. This “inspired by real events” drama about two women working to reform the public-school system treats its audience like we’re in a remedial class for tough issues. Or, to…
The Figment festival of interactive art makes its Pittsburgh debut
FIGMENT 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat., Oct., 6, and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun., Oct. 7. Allegheny Commons (near Lake Elizabeth), North Side. Free. pittsburgh.figmentproject.org Andy Warhol never got his wish to have the word “figment” carved on his gravestone, so he might be happy to see an arts festival inspired by the request come to Pittsburgh.…
Audio-visual festival returns for year three, with a challenging but rewarding lineup
The intersection of technology and art is a bit of a frontier: No matter how much it’s discussed, it’s still largely uncharted. This week, the third annual VIA Music and New Media Festival will turn Pittsburgh into a site for art-and-tech exploration. It’s not just a music and art festival, but something more akin to…
A conversation about the U.S. Supreme Court with acclaimed author and journalist Jeffrey Toobin.
JEFFREY TOOBIN 7:30 p.m. Mon., Oct. 8. Carnegie Music Hall 4400 Forbes Ave. Oakland. $15-35. 412-622-8866 or pittsburghlectures.org Jeffrey Toobin writes accessible accounts of one of America’s most inaccessible institutions: the U.S. Supreme Court. In contributions to The New Yorker and critically acclaimed books, Toobin blends judicial biography with American history, untangling complicated legal issues…
Faun Fables give new meaning to the term “family road trip”
FAUN FABLES opens for RASPUTINA. 9 p.m. Fri., Oct. 5. Club Café 56 S. 12th St. South Side. $20. 412-431-4950 or clubcafelive.com Some women have to put up a fight to breastfeed their children in open places like amusement parks, malls or public-transit vehicles. Dawn McCarthy once breastfed onstage at an outdoor musical festival ……
Dixie’s Tupperware Party
DIXIE’S TUPPERWARE PARTY continues through Oct. 14. Cabaret at Theatre Square 655 Penn Ave., Downtown. $34.75-44.75. 412-456-6666 or clocabaret.com. “Could we move you to Table 24?” asked the anxious man in the blazer. “Don’t worry: You’ll be safe.” I obliged and moved to Table 24, which was in the front row and dead center at…
Steeline brings drum-line entertainment to Steelers games
There are few things the Baltimore Ravens have over the Steelers in the teams’ AFC North rivalry. One area where the dirty birds do have an edge, though, is their team marching band — one of only two in the NFL. But if Vince Wallace has his way, the Steelers will someday at least have…
Rope
ROPE continues through Oct. 14. Pittsburgh Playhouse 222 Craft Ave. Oakland. $24-27. 412-621-4445 or pittsburghplayhouse.com My powers of description, which I flatter myself are above average, have met their match in the Playhouse REP production of Rope. I have absolutely no idea what to say. A 1929 British play by Patrick Hamilton suggested by the…
Critics’ Picks: October 3 – 9
[ALT-ROCK] + FRI., OCT. 5 It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything new from alt-rockers Mutemath. A year has come and gone since the release of the group’s third album, Odd Soul, but the New Orleans natives and former Grammy nominees have been busy. On top of supporting Linkin Park and Incubus on the…
The 39 Steps
THE 39 STEPS continues through Oct. 13. Little Lake Theatre 500 Lakeside Drive (off Route 19) North Strabane. $12-20 724-745-6300 or littlelake.org When then-young filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock used all the tools of early cinema to tell the unlikely but entertaining espionage tale of John Buchan’s 1915 novel The 39 Steps, the audience of 1935 marveled…
On the Record with Conan Neutron of Victory and Associates
VICTORY AND ASSOCIATES with FOOD, DEVELOPER. 9 p.m. Sun., Oct. 7. Gooski’s 3117 Brereton St. Polish Hill. $5. 412-681-1658 Conan Neutron heads up Victory and Associates, a Bay Area guitar-rock band that includes former members of Ned and the noise-rock band Replicator. He spoke with CP from a Reno hotel room as the band began…
Boxed In: Activists say conviction question on job application unfairly closes doors
Laid off from her telemarketing job in January 2011 while she was pregnant, 38-year-old Erica Yesko dreaded the idea of having to search for work again. For Yesko, who got into trouble while using drugs 10 years ago, jobs are very, very hard to find. “It’s not that I don’t have the skills, or interviewing…
Heading to court?: CPRB mulls legal action to force council to appoint new members
The city’s Citizens Police Review Board marks its 15th anniversary in November … but reaching its 16th birthday may require it to sue Pittsburgh City Council. The seven-member board, which investigates complaints of police misconduct, lost three of its members in June and July. As a city ordinance requires, Executive Director Beth Pittinger notified council…
Botched Surgery
Which is worse? When health-care executives create a sprawling medical empire capable of governing our very lives? Or when they don’t? Last week, Pittsburghers were just settling in for another comfortable round of UPMC-bashing. A series of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports had just documented that the health-care giant owns more property in Allegheny County than anyone…
Savage Love
Last week, I appeared at a “Savage Love Live” event at Radford University, in Radford, Va. The students submitted more questions than I could answer in two hours — and Radford students managed to stump me. Twice. I promised I would get answers for the two stumpers and answer as many of their other questions…
Vivo Kitchen
Vivo Kitchen 432 Beaver St. Sewickley. 412-259-8945 Hours: Tue.-Thu. 5-9 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 1-10 p.m. Prices: Starters $7-9; entrees $15-30 Liquor: Full bar Back when Vivo was in Bellevue, it was the crown jewel of that little Ohio River town’s restaurant scene, offering fresh and innovative Italian-inspired food in surroundings reminiscent of a room from a…
