Comment Archives: Stories
Re: “District 4 challenger John Lee says he has a winning game plan for election — and the district”
Rudiak DID have a fundraiser a few weeks past and it was at Olive & Twist. As a committee person, I was sent and invitation and did not attend nor did I send any money
Re: “Bad Check: Some restaurant owners get poor reviews when it comes to tip pooling”
I am personally aware that Ruggers on the southside does this. Not only are tips shared with the kitchen staff, but the manager gets a cut every single shift. This has led to bartenders having to claim much more on their taxes then they took home. As a former bartender, I can tell you this is supreamly unfair. The job requires fast-paced labor with quick thinking, an absurd amount of patience, and charisma. I've never heard of any other industry where the sales team had to pay the management.
Re: “Lord Finesse's suit against Mac Miller raises questions about the future of the hip-hop mixtape”
I've often wondered about this. I always just assumed that guys got away with this stuff on mixtapes because they were distributed for free. I also wonder how this applies to cut-up DJs who distribute mixes for free, since I don't see much difference ethically in what Mac Miller did in this case versus what any number of DJs do on a regular basis.
I disagree with the idea, though, that avoiding samples altogether will improve the quality of the beats. You'll just get more emcees rapping over stuff that sounds like computer game music. Bottom line is that labels need to get off their wallets and support their artists by clearing this stuff, no matter how it is distributed.
Re: “Bad Check: Some restaurant owners get poor reviews when it comes to tip pooling”
Sounds like Mr. Seagar should be paying his diswashers more if he thinks they're deserving of a salary increase and not require the people he's barely paying (tipped employees in Pennsylvania are often paid $2.13/hr) to cover his shortcomings. I know I won't be supporting either of his businesses any longer.
Re: “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Police Bureaus”
THANK YOU for your devoted hails to our Chief and his innovative PPPs!
Re: “District 4 challenger John Lee says he has a winning game plan for election — and the district”
rudiak's reelection kick-off was last night on brookline boulevard, not olive or twist.
Re: “District 4 challenger John Lee says he has a winning game plan for election — and the district”
I forgot to put in there that Coach's is owned by Lee's nephew, which explains why he chose the location for our interview -- he's helping out.
Re: “Critics' Picks: February 20 - 26”
Dalton would be interesting if she was at all unique or weird. What's with the "Kate Bush is weird" crap?
Re: “District 4 challenger John Lee says he has a winning game plan for election — and the district”
Jen, neither is Olive or Twist where Rudiak had her big reelection kick off/fundraiser.
Re: “Homophobic material nixed from Kennywood dive show”
THE ENTIRE PITTSBURGH REGION IS MADE UP OF CLOSED-MINDED BULLIES.
having been the victim of snide remarks and anti-gay attitudes during my youth, i am never one to keep quiet about harassment and discrimination when it happens. in fact, i have a whole website devoted to this kind of bullying - it's called anti-gay.com, but this letter isn't about that. you see, everywhere i go in pittsburgh, bigotry and bullying happens - it is for this reason that i want to bring pittsburgh into the limelight as a most intolerant town of bullies.
exhibit A: when i was walking to my car from giant eagle grocery, i was sure that i saw (out of the corner of my eye) a man making a circle by pressing the tip of his thumb against the tip of his forefinger - then spitting through it and in my general direction. it is disgraceful that this is the attitude i get wherever i go. i am bullied wherever i go.
MY COMPAINING ABOUT BEING BULLIED DOES NOT MAKE ME ANY KIND OF A CRYBABY-WOMANWIMP OR A CRYBABY-GIRLIEWIMP. i'm simply a man who is voicing his complaints.
though cities and towns all may be environmentally-conscious and therefore "green" nowadays, there is still bigotry and bullying (and other OLD customs) which are running amok in any progressive town. one old custom that i am vehemently opposed to is a lack of diversity. there are three environmentally-conscious and therefore green "valley savings banks" that have banned me from their buildings after i sent them mail which expressed my outrage over their all-female staffs. there is a "valley pet store" which banned me because i refused to stop wearing the same tube-tops/short-shorts as i see females wearing everywhere i go. there is even an environmentally-conscious and therefore green "valley veterinary hospital" which once banned me as a client because i used sites like pissedconsumer.com and pghcitypaper.com to criticize their all-female staff as a mark of sexism. they bullied me through their lawyer, i was told that i was making defamatory statements by stating AN OPINION about their all-female staff being a mark of sexism. the lawyer sent me a bullying letter, in which he told me that i'd face legal action if i were ever to be near (or even speak of or write about) the place again. though i've learned that opinions and truthful statements are not considered defamation, and that a lawsuit on these grounds will fail, i will never (outwardly) refer to the place (or its location) by name.
now, regarding the intolerance shown by the "valley vet" and other "valley businesses" who've denied me, i will say that my not being well-known or famous should have no effect on how i'm treated. my name may not be as well-known as names like tim dalton (007) or hall linden (barney miller) - i may not be a star like tim o'brien, tin curry or hall wilkerson (from malcolm in the middle) - my name may not be as lucid as names like tim kris, tin burton - hall johnson (of the famous "negro music-drama") or even the semi-famous hall scott. my name is not as famous as these names, but even no-names like me do not deserve the treatment i get from bigots in western pennsylvania. i don't deserve it on a train, i don't deserve it in the rain. whether or not i'm 68 years old, whether or not i'm having lunch in a subway sandwich shop, i deserve tolerance. all people deserve tolerance. that statement shouldn't be anything new
brighton dark, that's thecontrast when comparing westernpennsylvania to any other place i've lived in. bright on dark. i've never been treated so badly, and this is my complaint: i do not deserve the treatment i get. i am not a criminal and i am not a maureen (pardon me, a moron), what i am is a man studying gender most every day of my life (and asking myself why so many facebook photos portray the female gender as the shorter gender, much like the photo of a certain nick mcelhinny and his shorter female counterpart). i realize that i am a member of the taller/broader/stronger gender, and i DON'T deserve to be slighted or disrespected like i'm a member of the lesser gender who wants to compete like a man but who will not compete unless a "woman's division" has been made to compensate for the lesser gender's lesser heights/widths/strengths/appetites. i don't require compensation for a competition because i am a man. i'm not a maureen and i should not be treated as one.
getting back on-topic, it DOESN'T MATTER that the types of people who slight me are mindless and robotic zombies who love to be getting on their knees and outright worshipping a football team with the words "ferris bueller, you're my hero" (as if to suggest that they, themselves, are too lackluster to be their own superhero). this just DOESN'T MATTER - i am not complaining about ANY joiners who populate pittsburgh, whether they'd be 1) women who can't budge a 100-pound barbell yet who compensate for their frail bodies by calling themselves "strong women," 2) steelers fans who cherish a football team's accomplishments to compensate for their own lackluster existences and/or accomplishments, or 3) homosexual "men" who lack the self-respect and dignity to regard themselves as their one and only man and who therefore rely on a "real man" to compensate for their lackluster masculine existences/identities). i'm not complaining about these people at all, i am complaining about BIGOTS who slight me for being who i am.
i am slighted for not being a pittsburgh steelers fan. actually, i am slighted for wearing a cleveland browns cap everywhere i go. now, it's true that i am not a sports fan. it's true that i wear my browns cap simply to make steelers fans feel psychologically raped (or violated - or whatever the cleveland browns do to the lackluster and paltry existences of pittsburgh steelers fans). in a way, i guess i could be asking to be slighted...but the simple fact that residents of pittsburgh are even capable of feeling raped or violated by the sight of anything that's pro-cleveland, the simple fact that they feel a cause to slight somebody wearing a cleveland browns cap...well, that just points to the kind of losers who populate pittsburgh.
i apologize - i do not want this letter to bash the joiners of pittsburgh, i'm sure that they're...hmn, nice people? i do not want to take issue with anything but the bigotry shown to me - the bigotry that is so reminiscent of the anti-gay bigotry i'd been exposed to as a young adult. pittsburgh is an anti-gay city because residents of pittsburgh are so apt to belittle anyone whose happiness and pleasure relates to the cleveland browns - and because...well, who is "anti-gay" if not anyone who is so apt to belittle anyone else whose pleasures may be not "mainstream" enough?
i realize that people in pittsburgh have had their hearts and minds changed by the "mainstream," by the steelers-worshipping attitudes of pittsburgh residents. i will continue to support the browns, but someone close to me who has never watched football in 60+ years (and who's always had more of an animosity rather than an interest) has become a steelers fan after years of being exposed to the steelers-praising, numb-sculled zombies of pittsburgh. this outwardly-inflicted change of mind which has been inflicted by steelers' fans is anti-gay. i say this because, well, if one's heart and mind can so easily be changed through communication, then how long is it going to be before bible-worshipping christians invoke the same kind of "talk therapy" to change the minds of gay people?
if one's mind and interests can so easily be changed through communication, then how long is it going to be before bible-worshipping christians invoke the same kind of "talk therapy" to change the minds of gay people?
pittsburgh is a town with anti-gay tendencies, evidenced by a love of steelers' football being inflicted by fans of the steelers and onto someone with absolutely no interest in football. the people of pittsburgh should be ashamed of themselves for being proud of altering peoples' minds in this way. how long will it be before pittsburgh residents start trying to change the minds of masculivoids (that is, "men" who look for the man of their dreams in other men) - how long before pittsburgh residents start trying to change their own minds through talk-therapy? maybe they want to be rid of an addiction to smoking that they were BORN WITH, maybe gambling, maybe pornography. the bottom line is that if steelers fans continue to change the hearts and minds of non-steelers fans, it's going to lead to more changes of hearts and minds...which, in turn, is going to compromise the entire "born this way" defense of smokers, gamblers, gays and other addicts who had no intention of changing anything about themselves even before they uttered those three words. the end of the "born this way" defense will, by the way, fuel the "ex-gay movement" and will lead to a proliferation of anti-gay attitudes and ideals.
also, the end of the "born this way" defense will be the fault of pittsburgh. if people learn that minds can be changed through total immersion in steelers-fanaticism, then minds will be changed in every conceivable way. the smoker will become a non-smoker despite his "genetic predisposition," the (predisposed) slot-machine addict will not donate any more money to old people, the fabled "gay gene" will be overridden by the choices one makes, the shopoholic will refrain from shopping...and the "strong woman" who's been indoctrinated into thinking that she's simply a man with a womb, well, she'll realize that she's not just a wombman. she'll realize that there is no B in woman because she is missing balls which provide testosterone, which is responsible for mens' deeper voices and mens' more powerful bodies, as well as mens' body-hair (maybe females want men shaved because of a form of penis-envy known as testosterone-envy).
summing up, i REFUSE to be bullied because i wear a "cleveland browns" cap, i REFUSE to have my mind changed through communication (whether that communication is pro-steelers, pro-strongwoman or pro-gay), and i REFUSE to be exposed to bigots who bully. also, residents of pittsburgh MUST change their steelers-praising attitudes, or at least keep them out of the limelight, because i REFUSE to become a pro-gay and pro-steelers nitwit who's void of any identity aside from the identity pushed upon him by the bigoted bullies who want everyone to think like them.
mr. dylan terreri, i
dr. sheldon cooper, ii
--------------------------
"When I'm hungry, I eat. When I'm thirsty, I drink. When I feel like saying something, I say it." - Madonna
www.jaggedlittledyl.com/essays
Re: “District 4 challenger John Lee says he has a winning game plan for election — and the district”
I feel obligated to point out that Coach's at 3105 Banksville Road, isn't even in District 4.
Re: “Heads Up: Morning headlines for Feb. 19”
The Trib is reporting that the mayor said that the condos were rented because officials' homes were threatened during the G-20. I'd never heard about those threats. Did I miss something, or were the threats kept under wraps until now (assuming that it's true, of course)?
Re: “Dale Watson: El Rancho Azul”
I love Dale and his Lone Stars music!! Great songs, good fun, and always leave their gigs with a grin on my face from having such a good time. Congrats Dale, on another awesome record.
Re: “Petition Sparks Discussion of City, County Arts Funding”
Artists are hippies.
Re: “Pittsburgh product Kyle Abraham hits the big time in the dance world.”
My wife and I saw Kyle and his company perform Pavement at the Harlem Stage Gatehouse this past November. The movement, the story and the message were spellbinding ... definitely a show not to miss!
Re: “Petition Sparks Discussion of City, County Arts Funding”
As an update to this story, we have received word from the County Executive's office that under the prior administration the Allegheny County 2% set aside ordinance was unenforced, but that moving forward, "County Executive Fitzgerald has indicated that he will sit down with County Council to review the ordinance and begin taking the steps to implement it in the coming months." If indeed the city ordinances have been in place for Pittsburgh since the late 1970's, I'm quite curious to discover that these ordinances have been unenforceable through all the fluctuations of our economy, up - as well as down for the past 30+ years. Our petition invites all candidates for Mayor and City Council seats to weigh in on this issue and let us know how they would enforce these set-aside ordinances for Public Art. In the meantime, I invite CP readers to review comments made by petition signers. Pittsburgh residents and ex-patriots share their love for Pittsburgh and would like to see the ordinances enforced. Folks from other cities talk about the value of having a viable Percent for Art Program. Just scroll through the Petition Signers section to read the heart-felt comments: http://signon.org/sign/enforce-pittsburghs…
Re: “ACLU settles remaining G-20 claims”
I was there. They announced for over an hour that if you did not disperse that you would be arrested. These 13 people consciously decided that they would rather be arrested than leave they area as they were told, and now they get to collect $30,000 each because they broke a lawful order given by the police.
Did they have a "right" to be there? No.
Why?
Because the 1st Amendment, ratified in the "Bill of Rights" was passed in 1791. It says:
"Congress shall make no law ..abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
The very following year (1972), the VERY SAME CONGRESS wrote and passed the "Riot Act" which:
"grants power to the President (executive branch) to issue a proclamation "commanding insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within a set period of time"
In order to carry out this order, the VERY SAME CONGRESS who gave us the 1st Amendment and "right to assemble" wrote this law authorizing the legal use of force to disperse a crowd and take take people to jail when they refuse to obey. Further, the Pittsburgh G20 protesters were NOT petitioning the U.S. Government (as required in claiming to have a "right to assemble" clause under the 1st Amendment), and they have now stood up in court to specifically deny that they were attempting to "redress a grievances" (i.e. - "protesting" again as required under the 1st Amendment). How can they now claim any protection for not leaving under the 1st Amendment?
Think about it.. The President of the United States and the heads of the 20 most powerful nations on Earth ALSO have a right to peaceably assemble and a right and obligation to address economic matters. World leaders have a right to sit down in peace and discuss world affairs. They also have a right to be protected from mobs, insurgencies, and people hiding behind masks in disorderly crowds because they potentially pose a very credible and serious threat to their lives, safety, and security of the most important men in the world. Can you imagine if any person or nation actually wanted to decapitate the leadership of the world? How could anyone possibly protect them if the police are denied a right or ability to control a crowd?
IF you love your country, and you love our President, why on Earth would you want to deny HIM his legal right to personal security and his right to peaceably assemble?
It's unthinkable that this nation has devolved so completely that morons with months of advanced warning, who literally ignore hundreds of police warnings, and actively decided to defy a lawful order given by the police will now be paid $30,000 each for willingly breaking the law and threaten the safety of our President and 20 of the most important people on Earth. But here you have it.
Re: “Heads Up: Morning headlines for Feb. 15”
@Jim: Well, the Post-Gazette identified the property in question as a "New Homestead residence, which has a Homestead mailing address." New Homestead is a city neighborhood, although on the city's periphery -- as reflected by the fact that the home in question has a Homestead ZIP code. I've dug up the corporation records and cross-referenced them with the county website myself, and the county lists the property as being 31st ward, city of Pittsburgh.
Re: “District 4 challenger John Lee says he has a winning game plan for election — and the district”
Just trying to referee this debate. In a way, both sides are right.
Yes, Rudiak had a campaign launch last night, on Brookline Blvd. And yes, Rudiak had a fundraiser at Downtown's Olive or Twist last month, billed as a "campaign kick off fundraiser" (https://www.facebook.com/events/3317226336…). An earlier commenter punctuated that somewhat differently, implying that it was both a fundraiser AND a campaign kick-off. I guess it all sort of depends on how you define your terms. But in any event, last night's event was free and open to the public -- signatures for petitions were being gathered, etc. -- while the fundraiser had paid tickets.