Pittsburgh City Paper

Performance Passes Someone’s Life Before Your Eyes

Bill O'Driscoll — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:20:00 -0400

An ad hoc group of performers is staging a curious sort of multimedia show tomorrow.

Starting at noon, in a nondescript building on Bigelow Boulevard, in Polish Hill, they’ll enact the stages of a single human life.…

Arts Funding Protest Draws Mayoral Candidate

Bill O'Driscoll — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:38:00 -0400

Bill Peduto was the lone mayoral candidate at today’s Downtown event demanding enforcement of the city and county’s percent-for-art laws.

The protest was highlighted by a couple dozen CAPA high school students mimicking the classic “eyeballs in tophats” costumes of cult band The Residents.…

Tonight: Bridgette Perdue at the August Wilson Center

Andy Mulkerin — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:27:00 -0400

About a year ago, Bridgette Perdue put out her first album of piano-pop tunes, Enjoy This Moment. Tonight, the irrepressively positive Perdue presents a special live event at the August Wilson Center, combining a concert with dance and other art forms.…

Johnny Angel off the air for now

Andy Mulkerin — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:03:00 -0400

Despite its storied rock-DJ history, even Pittsburgh has fewer and fewer regular old-fashioned oldies radio shows — and as of a few weeks ago, it's down to one less. The Johnny Angel Heavenly Soul Show, which had been on the air at 1320-AM WJAS since 2011, went off the air at the end of March, because DJ Johnny Angel — a longtime local performer and DJ — was unable to find the sponsorships needed to keep it afloat.…

Venture Outdoors Festival in Point State Park on Saturday

Bill O'Driscoll — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:00:38 -0400

The free annual hands-on expo for all things rugged or just plain recreational is set for 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

If you ever wanted to try a climbing wall, in other words, now’s the time. Plus things as low-impact as horseshoes.…

Calliope announces 2013-14 concert series, with Vieux Farka Toure, Bruce Cockburn

Andy Mulkerin — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:19:24 -0400

Calliope, the folk society, has announced its 2013-14 concert series, running from October through April. The shows will all take place at Carnegie Lecture Hall in Oakland.…

War of words escalating in final days of mayoral campaign

Chris Potter — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:32:00 -0400

We're now in the final days of the city's mayoral campaign, which means all the campaign rhetoric you've been hearing for the past several weeks is about to get dialed to 11. And based on a pair of dueling press conferences this morning, the race's two frontrunners -- City Councilor Bill Peduto and former Auditor General Jack Wagner -- are going to be attacking each other over ... the fact that they've been attacking each other.…

The Composure covers "Closing Time," plays Altar tonight

Andy Mulkerin — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:29:00 -0400

Know what's BIG right now? '90s nostalgia!…

New Aviary Show Highlights Misunderstood Birds of Prey

Bill O'Driscoll — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:00:56 -0400

You’ll see some spectacular stuff in Talons!, the new indoor free-flight show at the National Aviary. If you’re lucky, you might even get buzzed by a Eurasian Eagle-Owl, a cat-sized bird with deep orange eyes.…

Demonstration for Arts Funding Set for Friday

Bill O'Driscoll — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:05:10 -0400

A movement to get Pittsburgh to enforce a 36-year-old city law requiring that public construction projects set aside “1 percent for art” holds its first big press conference and rally Downtown, on Friday afternoon.

The Pittsburgh Percent 4 Art Campaign assembles artists, students and others at 1 p.m. at Katz Plaza — home of artist Louise Bourgeois’ landmark “eyeball” sculptures.…

Jordan Miles gets high-powered legal team for second trial

Charlie Deitch — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:43:00 -0400

Civil-=rights attorney Joel Sansone, who in 2008 secured a $28 million jury award against two state troopers who shot an unarmed 12-year-old in the back, will be leading Jordan Miles' second civil trial against the three police officers Miles in January 2010.

Sansone, who filed his notice of appearance on May 2, told City Paper today that Miles' new trial team will be led by himself and Detroit-based civil rights lawyer Bob Giroux and also consist of Miles' lead attorneys in the first civil trial, J. Kerrington Lewis and Tim O'Brien.…

In mayor's race, intriguing footprints on the money trail

Chris Potter — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:25:44 -0400

With one week to go before the May 21 mayoral primary, the money trail is becoming increasingly convoluted — as reflected by financial activity involving the campaigns of the race's two frontrunners.

For starters, a contractor whose work on Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's home has become the subject of stories in the Post-Gazette appears to be a financial supporter of Jack Wagner.…

Event reminder: Ride of Silence tonight

Lauren Daley — Wed, 15 May 2013 08:16:00 -0400

Tonight, cyclists will gather to remember those injured in crashes around the city, during the annual Ride of Silence.

Cyclists can meet between 6:15 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. at Dippy the Dinosaur at the corner of Forbes Avenue and Schenley Drive by the Carnegie museum in Oakland tonight.…

Ian Svenonius talks with dead people in his new book on rock bands

Andy Mulkerin — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Supernatural Strategies for Making a Rock 'n' Roll Group isn't exactly a simple how-to for budding musicians. by Andy Mulkerin Ian Svenonius has never been one to think of a rock band as just a rock band. The frontman of Nation of Ulysses, The Make-Up and Weird War always has something else going on — usually something involving leftist politics and an aesthetic uniformity that feels a little bit dangerous, a little bit cool.…

David V. Matthews offers a strong debut short-story collection.

Bill O'Driscoll — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Matthews' style is crisp, even deceptively offhanded, yet there's plenty going on beneath the surface. by Bill O'Driscoll David V. Matthews' Meltdown in the Cereal Aisle is his first collection of short stories. It's self-published, but don't be put off: Meltdown is a nice piece of work, entertaining and slick in its way, but also rather sophisticated.…

Summer Guide 2013

Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Now that the sun is shining again, get out there and enjoy yourself. We've compiled a list of activities and events to keep you active and entertained this summer.

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Redeveloping History: Will arena development revitalize the hill or simply extend Downtown?

AmyJo Brown — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

"The developers, obviously, want this framing to be Downtown extended outward." by AmyJo Brown When Travis Williams of the Pittsburgh Penguins stood before a roomful of Hill District residents April 10 to discuss the team's plans for the Lower Hill District for the first time, he said out loud what nearly all in the room knew to be true. "It would be easy for me to stand up here and say, ‘Trust us,'" the team's chief operating officer told the crowd of about 120.…

The Great Gatsby

Al Hoff — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Baz Luhrman's adaptation is not a delirious train wreck but it's not a success, either by Al Hoff On one level, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is about puncturing grand myths and the manipulation of smaller truths. In that spirit, I'll confess to not having read the Jazz Age novel since the Carter administration, and will spare you the how-this-movie-ruins-the-book screed.…

Summer Outdoors

Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

ONGOING City Pools. Citiparks pools are open June 14 through Labor Day.…

Lucy Nguyen runs a popular, seasonal banh mi stand in the Strip District

AmyJo Brown — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

"This sandwich covers every taste sensation you could ever have." by AmyJo Brown Pull Quote: "A lot of it is Lucy herself. The food is good, but I'm also taken care of here."…

DJ Pete Butta has come a long way since the State College Damon's

Rory D. Webb — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

"Just being able to be versatile is what's really been dope as a DJ for me." by Rory D. Webb If being well-travelled lends a sense of diversity, it should come as no surprise the sense of variety that Pete Butta embraces as a DJ. The New Jersey-born 25-year-old was raised in Illinois before living his teen-age years in State College.…

Stage 62's Dani Girl

Robert Isenberg — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Dani Girl is like the Dora the Explorer of terminal oncology. by Robert Isenberg Be advised: As I left Dani Girl at last Friday's performance, a woman rushed past me. She scampered down the corridor, sobbing uncontrollably. She waved off concerned friends, shrieking, "I can't!…

Summer Films

Al Hoff — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

by Al Hoff Numbers rule this season at the megaplex: Quite a few releases have a 2 or 3 — even a 6! — appended to their titles.…

Greener Together

Bill O'Driscoll — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

"The key to full-spectrum sustainability is to get people talking across boundaries." by Bill O'Driscoll In April, City Paper ran a suite of articles about how Pittsburgh might become a green role model for other towns by creating citywide programs to conserve energy, move to renewables and reimagine how we handle transit, trash and sewage. If the federal government is shirking its duty to act on climate change, we figure, locals must lead. Turns out there's a town not too far west already earning role-model status.…

From Up on Poppy Hill

Al Hoff — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Goro Miyazaki's coming-of-age anime is charming and filled with exquisite visual details by Al Hoff Japanese anime is associated with films that are fantastical, cyberpunkish or require the creative license that animation can provide. But the latest feature from the renowned Ghibli studio co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki, From Up on Poppy Hill, is quite simply a slice of ordinary life.…