System Recheck: One final glimpse at the stories that made 2011

There was a nasty election and a new governor, and Hines Ward became the king of the dance

Greatest Gift

A poem by Jimmy Cvetic

Root174

An inventive use of fresh ingredients adds up to a satisfying and surprising dining experience

• by Angelique Bamberg and Jason Roth

Wassail

The spiced alcoholic holiday drink is an alternative to egg nog

• by Chris Young

Make Mine An Old Fashioned

Preservations use happy hour to celebrate history

• by Hal B. Klein

The Long Time Darlings release first full-length

The band fits within a tradition of music that has done well in Pittsburgh: Some of these tunes could as easily be mistaken for ZZ Top, or George Thorogood.

• by Andy Mulkerin

Mega-Def mixes hip hop, metal and funk

The band samples, mimics, deconstructs and pays homage to the blues and to rock masters like Joe Perry, Slash and Bowie.

• by Kate Magoc

CD Reviews

New releases from The Garment District, Action Camp and John O'Hallaron

• by Andy Mulkerin and Margaret Welsh

Critics' Picks: December 22 - 23

Local shows by Josh White, Now You See Them and White Wives, plus Manny's annual Festivus celebration

The Early November gets back together, comes to town in late December

The early-'00s band bridged some of the gaps in the emo game

• by Andy Mulkerin

War Horse

Handsomely filmed, but a manipulative and sentimental tale of a boy and his horse at war

• by Al Hoff

El Bulli: Cooking in Progress

A doc looks behind the scenes at the influential avant-garde Spanish restaurant

• by Al Hoff

The Adventures of Tintin

The Belgian reporter makes faithful, if glossy and a bit frantic, transition to the big screen

• by Al Hoff

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

A journalist and a punkish hacker take on a decades-old crime in this moody thriller set in Sweden

• by Al Hoff

Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol

Falling off a skyscraper has never looked so fun in this frothy actioner.

• by Al Hoff

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

A sequel to this Holmes re-boot is less funny and more incoherent than the first

• by Al Hoff

The Warhol's leg of the Pittsburgh Biennial spotlights provocative work by local female artists.

Everything from breastfeeding to a ventriloquist's dummy to the legacy of Gertrude Stein is explored in Gertrude's/LOT

• by Nadine Wasserman

The Tides of Provincetown encapsulates a full century of American art.

From classical-realist portraiture to digital photography, as created at the tip of Cape Cod.

• by Nick Keppler

Gas Attack: The head of the state DEP goes on the offensive ... against researchers

"Krancer's words often make it sound like the DEP is more aligned with the gas industry than with those who are trying to protect public health."

• by Bill O'Driscoll

Preventive Medicine

Harrisburg moves to lance a boil

• by Chris Potter

Fifth Avenue, Uptown

• Tags: Pieces of Pittsburgh, Uptown, Abstract, Wall

Lynn Cullen Live 12/19/11

Audio & Video Archive

Lynn Cullen Live 12/21/11 - PART 1

Audio & Video Archive

Lynn Cullen Live 12/21/11 - PART 2

Video Archive

Lynn Cullen Live 12/22/11

Audio & Video Archive

Lynn Cullen Live 12/23/11

Audio & Video Archive

Squirrel Hill

• Tags: Pieces of Pittsburgh, Squirrel Hill, Random

The Day the Empire Fell is a veteran local peace activist's episodic memoir.

Vincent Eirene recalls protesting Vietnam, protesting at Carnegie Mellon ... and the day he just walked into Los Alamos National Laboratory.

• by Bill O'Driscoll

Short List: December 22 - 29