Pittsburgh City Paper

Lauren Byrne: "I haven't talked to anyone, and all of the sudden I was running"

Chris Potter — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:58:00 -0400

Continuing our admittedly somewhat pointless speculation about who will vie to be Patrick Dowd's successor on City Council, we now turn toward another community leader widely rumored to be interested: Lawrenceville United executive director Lauren Byrne.

It's no surprise that her name has surfaced: Byrne has been a mayoral staffer, working as a community liaison for both the O'Connor and Ravenstahl administrations.…

Will Ferlo run for Dowd's seat ?

Chris Potter — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:55:00 -0400

As we reported earlier this week, within hours of Patrick Dowd's decision to resign from council next month, names for potential replacements began circulating. Among the most frequently mentioned: state Sen. Jim Ferlo, who formerly held that council seat himself.…

Monsters University

Al Hoff — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Boo! See how the Pixar scary monsters met and honed their skills by Al Hoff Learn how the gang of professional scarers came together in this prequel to the 2001 Pixar hit Monsters Inc. Short answer: They met in college. Billy Crystal and John Goodman once again provide voices for Mike and Sulley, respectively, in Dam Scanlon's digitally animated comedy.…

Much Ado About Nothing

Harry Kloman — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Joss Whedon's deft direction makes thoughtful use of gesture and physical comedy in this Shakespeare re-do by Harry Kloman In the canon of William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing is probably the most difficult work — to mess up: It's charming and familiar, a diptych love story with two happy endings, albeit with a slightly dark middle as conflicts play out. Joss Whedon's new filming takes place in the California present, but the language is all Shakespeare.…

Everyday Noodles

Angelique Bamberg and Jason Roth — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Noodles made fresh in full view of customers is just the start of a satisfying Chinese meal by Angelique Bamberg and Jason Roth Dinner and a show is an enticing promise, but when the two are combined in the same venue — whether it's banquet chicken and shtick or hibachi and fancy knifework — it's rarely a recipe for good eating. But Squirrel Hill's newest Asian restaurant delivers good food paired with a great view of how it's made.…

On the Record with Billy Price

Andy Mulkerin — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

"For a singer and a performer the way I am, there's always been something a little antiseptic about a studio." by Andy Mulkerin New Jersey-born singer Billy Price relocated to Pittsburgh in the '70s after a stint on the road with guitar virtuoso Roy Buchanan; he's been a fixture on the soul and R&B scene here ever since. His new studio album, Strong, released by the French label DixieFrog, is his first in four years.…

Sylvia at Little Lake Theatre

Ted Hoover — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Kate Neubert-Lechner gives a dimensional performance of a character who just happens to be a dog. by Ted Hoover Taking a break from his usual routine — chronicling the decline of the Eastern-seaboard WASP — in 1995, A.R. Gurney wrote the bittersweet comedy Sylvia, now onstage at Little Lake Theatre Company. It's set in the Manhattan apartment of empty-nester couple Greg and Kate, and the title character is an abandoned dog Greg finds in a park.…

We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks

Al Hoff — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Alex Gibney crafts a fascinating and provocative tale out of the WikiLeaks saga by Al Hoff With the Snowden/NSA imbroglio on the front page, the timing is perfect for Alex Gibney's latest doc, this one about the rise (and fall) of WikiLeaks, its star leaker, Pfc. Bradley Manning, and its telegenic frontman, Julian Assange.…

Eleanor Friedberger goes for a new record

Mike Shanley — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

"You form relationships over music; that's a way to get close to someone." by Mike Shanley After releasing eight albums in six years, it made sense that The Fiery Furnaces would take a break. Siblings Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger often wrote complex pieces that would insert an entirely different tune or mood in places where most musicians would simply change chords.…

Welcome to Food City

AmyJo Brown — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

New North Side community garden ‘works with nature' to become self sustaining by AmyJo Brown On the North Side, on the border of the Spring Garden and East Deutschtown neighborhoods, about a quarter of an acre of vacant land has been fenced in and a sign welcomes those who pass to "Food City." A few pepper plants, tomatoes and herbs dot the lot, but the vision of Kim Bracken, youth coordinator at the Pittsburgh Children's Museum, is still a work in progress. With the help of teens hired through the museum's summer job-training program, the land will become a "food forest" — a twist on the traditional community garden that is gaining interest in the city. Community gardens, Bracken notes, require a lot of volunteer hours to run effectively. But, "a food forest seeks to grow with less work," Bracken says.…

Bridge Toll: Business owners taking a hit during intrusive, but necessary, South Highland Bridge project

Lauren Daley — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

"All you can do is hope September comes quick." by Lauren Daley It's not unusual for the Timebomb Shop to pulsate from the bass and drums in the music playing throughout the clothing store. So when the other noise started in March — the drilling, the bulldozing, the scraping, the digging — owner Brian Brick naturally set those scenes to music, too.…

Unseam'd Shakespeare's The Tempest, or The Enchanted Isle

Michelle Pilecki — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

This Tempest is quick-moving if not so quick-witted. by Michelle Pilecki There are two important things to remember when approaching Unseam'd Shakespeare Co.'s production of The Tempest, or The Enchanted Isle. First, this isn't Shakespeare, but Oregonian playwright Scott Palmer's 2011 adaptation of John Dryden and William D'Avenant's Restoration-era (1667) adaptation of the Bard's less successful 1610 version.…

Healthier Outlets

Bill O'Driscoll — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

"We're not just an energy company that's racing to the bottom with the cheapest dirty energy." by Bill O'Driscoll In the 30 months since deregulation made it possible to choose where your electricity comes from, a lot in the market has changed. But switching suppliers remains fairly easy, and if you want to clean up your power supply, there are more options than ever for supporting renewable energy.…

Cheap Time's Jeffrey Novak on his recorded output and his relationship with Jay Reatard

Ian Thomas — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

"I don't want to put out a lot of records, but I do work on music all the time." by Ian Thomas In Cheap Time, Jeffrey Novak fuses punk-rock fuzz with glam-rock swagger. Since its inception, in 2006, and with a variety of line-ups, Novak has led Cheap Time on the road with bands like Yo La Tengo and now, on its biggest tour to date, Social Distortion.…

Despite its wide array of style and subjects — or maybe because of them — the AAP's 102nd annual show has plenty of rewards.

Nadine Wasserman — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Participating artists offer everything from minimalist watercolors to architectural deconstructions. by Nadine Wasserman The Associated Artists of Pittsburgh's 102nd Annual Exhibition at the Carnegie Museum of Art is a mixture of styles, mediums and subject matter. Like most shows of this type, it has no main organizing principle, but is installed so as to enhance aesthetic balances among the 68 works by 46 artists.…

Sharp Edge festival brings Old World beer back to Pittsburgh

Hal B. Klein — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

"The European beers are the ones that got this started hundreds of years ago." by Hal B. Klein Beer trends come and go. Once-popular but comically over-hopped IPAs, for example, are now giving way to mellow, spicy-sour farmhouse ales.…

In the midst of redevelopment, East Liberty loses two more eclectic venues

AmyJo Brown — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

"I don't know where we fit in." by AmyJo Brown The irony does not escape Justin Strong, owner of AVA Bar & Lounge, who announced last week that he was closing up shop in East Liberty after a decade of waiting for the neighborhood's revival. "We grabbed [AVA's space] anticipating development," he says. Strong is often credited as one of the pioneers who drew interest in the area with Shadow Lounge, a coffee shop-turned-performing-arts-space that promoted an eclectic and diverse range of music acts.…

Two new biographies run different basepaths to Willie Stargell

Charlie Deitch — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Richard Peterson and Frank Gannon explore the life and legacy of the Pirates' beloved "Pops." by Charlie Deitch Ask a baseball fan to name the greatest player ever to wear a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform, and you'll likely get one of two names — Clemente or Stargell. Much has been written about Roberto Clemente, who died in a plane crash in 1972.…

Pride of Place

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

John Colombo captures the scene at weekend Pride events Although Pennsylvania doesn't recognize same-sex marriage — yet — neither that fact nor Sunday's rain dampened this weekend's Pride events Downtown. This year's theme was "I Wanna Marry You," and while there was less overt political content this year, thousands of Pittsburghers let their relationships speak for themselves.…

Champion DJ JayCeeOh remembers his Pittsburgh roots

Rory D. Webb — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

"I used to sneak down to CMU's radio station and Selecta was letting me in the studio to just chill." by Rory D. Webb He was born in Los Angeles and spends much of his time on the road these days, but Jake "JayCeeOh" Osher spent his middle and high school years living in Pittsburgh — and the nationally known DJ still thinks of the city as where he got his start. By the time he was in middle school at Sterrett, Osher was immersed in the local scene — on the radio as early as eighth grade with elder DJ and 720 Music co-owner DJ Selecta.…

Scott Hove's luscious cake sculptures have teeth — and jaws

Lissa Brennan — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

As the sham delicacies grow more ornate, Hove's intentions become more complex by Lissa Brennan A sidelong glance at the work of San Francisco-based artist Scott Hove might make your mouth water. Swirls and roses of pastel buttercream top what appear to be creations better suited to a bakery than a gallery.…

Mandy's Pizza owner Steve Negri takes his gluten- and allergen-free recipes seriously

Charlie Deitch — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

"I know how important it is that people suffering from allergies get to eat food that tastes good." by Charlie Deitch The Italian hoagie that I'm sharing with Mandy's Pizza owner Steve Negri is fantastic, but it's the crisped, golden-brown roll that deserves a special shout-out. The roll — made at a local bakery using Negri's recipe — has been made for food-allergy sufferers.…

The Bling Ring

Al Hoff — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

This true life story of teens robbing celebrities should be more fun by Al Hoff It was a great story, a crazy intersection of fame, wannabe-fame and a lot of stolen property. The so-called "Bling Ring" was a group of affluent teen-agers from the Los Angeles suburbs who, in 2008-09, robbed the homes of such TMZ-faves as Paris Hilton, Audrina Patridge and Lindsay Lohan.…

Man of Steel

Al Hoff — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Zack Snyder's tedious slice of noisy chaos barely rates any popcorn by Al Hoff A lot of stuff blows up or is otherwise epically destroyed in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel. Another thing that might also crumble is your expectation for a decent summer popcorn film, because this tedious slice of noisy chaos isn't it.…

Savage Love

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

"The consumption of pornography may actually reduce the desire to rape by offering a safe, private outlet for deviant sexual desires." I'm a straight guy with an amazing girlfriend of two years. A few months ago, I felt open enough to share my taboo fantasy: father/daughter incest.…