Mapping Out A Crisis

Where do city pension dollars end up?

• by Adam Fleming

Pet Cause

If it weren't for a handful of volunteers, Tiger Ranch might still be in operation today. What does that say about the animal-welfare system?

• by Charlie Deitch

Neighborhoods: New CNNC leadership making waves

• by Adam Fleming

Police: Residents want consent-decree procedures made law

• by Marty Levine

Elections: Activists Get What They Want, Still Aren't Satisfied

Allegheny County Election officials test electronic voting machines, but activists say they still haven't gone far enough.

• by Marty Levine

East Liberty: Neighbors want say in new outreach housing program

Neighbors say they don't have a problem with the concept of affordable housing for homeless fathers; they just don't want to be left out of the process.

• by Chris Young

Passport Café

A confident kitchen brings together local ingredients with global influences

• by Angelique Bamberg and Jason Roth

Brighton Hot Dog Shoppe

The dog and chili harmonize like Simon and Garfunkel, but without all that extraneous parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.

• by Colleen Van Tassell

Jenn Gooch offers intense lyrics and plucky banjo on Gift Horse

"In a kosher deli with a heavy belly / I saw a picture of Ariel Sharon being buried / and I thought of the prison fire that took Dad away."

• by Manny Theiner

Anti-Flag hosts Nov. 9 benefit concert for the Pittsburgh Food Bank

"It'll be nice to have a little, tangible victory, and some solace in a world that seems quite arduous."

• by Manny Theiner

Ted Leo and The Pharmacists bring polemics and pop hooks to Diesel

"Sometimes nothing feels as right -- to either hear or sing -- as a good ole preachy 'Us and Them' kind of song."

• by Chris Parker

Plastered Bastards release Evil Will Always Triumph Because Good Is Dumb

With tracks like "Christians to the Lions," the Bastards prove more topical and political than at first glance.

• by Manny Theiner

Percussive avant-rockers Skeletons rattle their bones at Garfield Artworks

"Why would I want to know ... these things the children of rich men know?"

• by Aaron Jentzen

Ex-Misfit Michale Graves releases new album on Eric Corbin's Screaming Crow label

Backed by spare acoustic strums, the disc is a showcase for Graves' fluid, dramatic vocals.

• by Aaron Jentzen

Pride and Glory

Film-goers will likely be tipped off to the forthcoming mediocrity by the film's cheesy, meaningless title: Pride and Glory. Director Gavin O'Connor co-penned this drama with Joe Carnahan (Smokin' Aces) and they must have had a blast seeing who could toss in the most cop-film clichés about two generations of Irish-American cops confronting a nasty corruption within the ranks. Boozy dad (Jon Voight) oversees two sons – one in trouble (Noah Emmerich), the other straight (Edward Norton) – plus his hot-headed, very dirty son-in-law (Colin Farrell). Much of the first hour is a confusing muddle; the pacing is leaden, and too many details are hazy or disconnected. The film's best scenes are in the middle, when all three brothers lose their footing and engage in a handful of intense head-butting sessions, but it's not enough to lift this set-during-the-holidays rote cop-drama apart. [2 out of 4 stars]

• by Al Hoff

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Desperate for cash, a couple of platonic slacker roommates -- Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) -- hit upon a sure-fire plan: They'll produce and star in a porno. This latest cheerfully vulgar comedy from Kevin Smith -- set and filmed in Pittsburgh -- doesn't aim very high and is occasionally uneven, but it mostly succeeds at hitting its marks: funny, profane riffs on pop culture and life; celebration of the everyman; lots of sex jokes (with only one unnecessary gross-out bit); and the time-honored Garland-and-Rooney narrative gambit ("Hey kids, let's put on a show!"). Woven in among the ass-play jokes is a comparatively sweet romance that's part of that au courant cinematic trend whereby gorgeous, smart, funny women fall hard for stoner shlubs (that's you, Rogen). (One day in movie-future, will hot guys ever tumble for slovenly chicks?) Lending comic ballast is Craig Robinson (The Office) and Justin Long, who is the hit of Zack and Miri's otherwise disastrous high school reunion. Starts Fri., Oct. 31 (AH) [2.5 stars out of 4]

• by Al Hoff

A locally launched T-shirt outfit catches on.

"We thought, 'We should get into this, let's make shirts we would want to wear.'"

• by Melissa Meinzer

At its best, the Festival of Lights helps us see architecture differently.

Its real success is not in simply making architecture look different, but in making us look at architecture differently.

• by Charles Rosenblum

Branding Strategy

McCain got the volunteer he deserved

• by Chris Potter

This Just In: October 30 - November 6

Highlights from the local TV news: WTAE gets green, recycles story.

• by Frances Sansig Monahan

Diane's Heart Dries Out Still More

Lichelle Sade is nicely poised as the title character, whose world and self-image are turned inside-out by a case of workplace sexual harassment right out of Les Liaisons Dangereuses.

• by Michelle Pilecki

A dance take on illustrator Edward Gorey's work, and a dance contest, highlight Attack Theatre's new [Insert Clever and Thought Provoking Title Here].

The work also includes: a floating body; a performer in a bear costume; an alternative version of a circus knife-throwing act, set to polka music; and an ax-murdering puppet show.

• by Steve Sucato

The Heiress

The Heiress is a textbook example of how intelligent, talented playwrights can play an audience like a keyboardist plays an organ.

• by Ted Hoover

Inbal Pinto's journey to the center of a snowglobe.

The costume design also helped keep the many tiny Styrofoam balls out of the mouths, ears and noses of the dancers.

• by Steve Sucato

We camp out with Chicks With Dicks: Bad Girls on Bikes Doing Bad Things.

"Nipple twist. What does that sound like?"

• by Bill O'Driscoll

The road to City Theatre's Long Story Short began with a pop band.

"It sounds a little Broadway," says Milburn in a stage whisper.

• by Bill O'Driscoll

Open Stage opens its season with the wacky farce Irma Vep.

The play's seven roles must be played by just two actors, neither of whom is ever offstage for more than a couple of lines of dialogue.

• by Bill O'Driscoll

El Eco de la Sombra was a feast for the senses.

I am rocking softly in a dream boat. I am visiting a dwarf in a little house.

• by Jessica Lam