American Idol
Night of Boy-Mariah
Down the Rabbit Hole on the Wecht case
When I first heard that the FBI was contacting the jurors who deadlocked in the trial of Cyril Wecht, I wasn’t much surprised. It’s not illegal, and when a jury deadlocks, lawyers on both sides often want to talk to jurors before another trial. Getting the Federal Bureau of Investi-freakin’-gation to set up a routine…
Battlestar Galactica: Which Way Earth?
Short wrap-up and ponderings here: Episode 2 was a big ol’ bowl of lining up the plots and players for this final season. Hands down, though, my favorite scene owed everything to the past and all we’ve learned about Adm. Adama and Roslin. It’s one thing for buds Adama and Roslin to disagree about which…
Bar owners make Brenda Frazier public enemy #1
While the 10 percent drink tax that Frazier supported is almost universally unpopular among bar owners, there is some ambivalence about taking on Frazier. The former county councilor has been a champion of GLBT causes, and it remains to be seen how bars that cater to GLBT patrons will respond.
MP3 Monday — April 14
Welcome to a new FFW>> weekly feature, the cleverly alliterative mp3 Monday! Each week on Monday, your friendly CP music bloggers will be bringing you a quick introduction to a local band you might not be familiar with. First up is the local three-piece Medic Medic. They play rock songs with a metal edge to…
Locals Lohio and Donora rock the big stage with Tokyo Police Club
Bands accustomed to performing at small clubs often have their work cut out for them when taking to a larger stage. The sound, the space, the energy, the interaction with each other and with the crowd — everything’s different, and it’s a difference that can result in a local band coming across as uncomfortable and…
Catching Up
A grab-bag of highlights and lowlights from this week’s TV schedule: American Idol checked in with a real dud of an “inspirational” show. Right from the start, I was flummoxed when Michael Johns picked Aerosmith’s “Deam On” as his choice. Dude, never in my 10 million years on this earth have I ever processed…
Despite lawsuits and gift allegations, Lamar moving ahead on billboard
Despite legal challenges and new revelations that URA Director Pat Ford and his wife — Alecia Sirk, the mayor’s newly former press secretary — received gifts from a Lamar Advertising executive, the company said Thursday it’s going ahead with constructing its LED billboard anyway. Samuel Kamin, an attorney representing Lamar in the billboard flap, told…
The Virtue of Vice
Tired of the gold floral sofa? Take a trip to Millvale
Cold Comfort
Local jeweler crafts metal by hand … and without heating it first
Artful Dodging
This spring, leave the routine jeans and tees in the closet and opt for a more upscale, yet still comfortable, look — one that blooms in light, bright hues. Siran wears: nylon coat by Jocely, silk tank by LaRok, and stretch trousers by Theory; all available at Chick Downtown. Orange leather clutch by Hobo International,…
State House District 27
Vanilla Pastry Studio on Main Street in the West End serves a chocolate-and-peanut-butter cupcake that is moist and divine, studded with jimmies and capped with a peanut-butter cup section. But neighbors better hurry to buy one. “We’re moving to Shadyside,” says employee Christen Beddinger. “We anticipate three times the business. People don’t just come to…
State House District 24
Say what you want about state Rep. Joseph Preston, but you can’t say he’s been able to take his job for granted. The 24th House District includes Wilkinsburg and some of the poorest neighborhoods in the East End, including Homewood, Lincoln-Larimer, Garfield and East Liberty. Not surprisingly, discontent with civic leadership often runs high, and…
State House District 21
On the bread-and-butter issues, there doesn’t seem to be much argument between the candidates for state House District 21. Everyone is for more affordable health care, for example, and supports examining the state’s tax structure. The real debate in this sprawling district boils down to who has enough experience … and who has too much.…
State House District 19
“Somebody’s running against Jake?” That was Hill District resident Rick Davis’ reaction upon hearing that his Democratic state representative, Jake Wheatley, faced a challenger, Deidra Washington, to represent District 19. Davis’ next thought: “What can she do that he can’t do?” That will be the question for a lot of voters in the district, which…
Congressional District 18
For local Democrats, Congressional District 18 is a piece of unfinished business. In 2006, a year when archconservatives like Melissa Hart and Rick Santorum went down in flames, Republican incumbent Tim Murphy cruised to victory over Chad Kluko, a little-known Democrat, in the 18th. This despite persistent charges that Murphy has used office staff and…
Test Your Presidential Passion
Starting a new relationship can be exciting, but confusing as well. Is she or he the right one for you? You agree on things like paying for college and the war in Iraq — but what about No Child Left Behind? If you still can’t give your heart to the Democrats battling it out for…
Neighborhoods: Methadone clinic helping clients with java therapy
A North Side methadone clinic opens coffee shop to give their clients a place to go after their treatment.
CBA Talks: Pens back at table after threat of playoff protest
The threat of a massive protest during the opening rounds of the NHL playoffs has led the Pittsburgh Penguins back to the table with community leaders to continue negotiations on a Community Benefits Agreement.
Comedian Greg Behrendt talks the politics of hope and the politics of ska.
“I’m hoping for change, and yet I’m changing for hope.”
Bodiography’s Maria Caruso explores psychotherapy via dance — with music by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Psychologists informed the piece as a dramaturge might, helping to direct the work’s 12 actors and 14 dancers to present each disorder.
Romeo & Juliet
Because people randomly attired in Spanish, Native American and Western clothing never clearly define crucial alliances, the deaths of Romeo and Juliet no longer look like causes for closure.
Big Love
What we end up with is a deconstruction of a reconstruction of deconstruction of a fragment of a 3,000-year-old script.
The Coarse Acting Show
Carlow’s performers are enjoyable because they are clearly enjoying themselves.
Center of Controversy
Some parents say that Carlow University’s decision to close part of a popular daycare in favor of dorm rooms is severely hurting the women they’re claiming to support.
Lucero brings redneck emo to Mr. Small’s — and why not?
There’s a risk in combining a couple of love-it-or-hate-it genres, and Lucero has the bad reviews to show for it.
The New Pornographers, as seen on TV
“The Bleeding Heart Show” just happens to be one of the most brilliantly orchestrated pop songs written so far this millennium. If you don’t believe me, run to your nearest music-playing device, crank the song and then we’ll talk.
“Slowcore” legends American Music Club play the Warhol
“No one here is gonna save you — babe.”
Nicky’s Thai Kitchen
It’s a great kitchen — not décor or trendy location — that makes a great restaurant, and Nicky’s fits the bill.
Street Kings
David Ayer’s cop drama set amid a Los Angeles vice squad starts hard and stays tough; there’s no room for sentiment (even between cops) in this profane, violent, cynical world. Our guide through this funhouse mirror of corrupt law enforcement is Tom Ludlow (a sturdier Keanu Reeves, finally shedding his laconic surfer style), a go-to…
Snow Angels
David Gordon Green directs this drama, adapted from Stewart O’Nan’s novel, about a half-dozen intertwined lives in a rural town. At the center is Glenn (Sam Rockwell), the puppyish but unstable estranged husband of Annie (Kate Beckinsale), and their fraught relationship that spills over to include high schoolers, co-workers and family. The film’s mildly comic…
The Ruins
Five tourists in Mexico go off the map to explore an ancient ruin deep in the jungle, and find themselves in serious — and seriously weird — trouble. Carter Smith directs this horror thriller, adapted from the Scott B. Smith novel that kept readers frantically flipping pages while the vacationers tried to outwit an aggressive…
Leatherheads
George Clooney takes a break from serious subjects, helming and starring in this period comedy about football in 1925. Dodge Connolly (Clooney) leads the Duluth Bulldogs, who rise from mediocrity on the shoulders of college phenom Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski); along for the ride, nosy Chicago reporter Lexie Littleton (Renee Zellweger). This is pleasant entertainment,…
The Duchess of Langeais
Adapting Balzac’s 19th-century novel, Jacques Rivette opens his film with a mystery: What circumstance has driven the Duchess Antoinette de Langeais (Jeanne Balibar) into a Spanish convent, where her former lover, military officer Armand de Montriveau (Guillaume Depardieu), now finds her? We flash back five years to the couple’s tortuous courtship, delicately executed amid the…
Smart People
A minor accident gives a grumpy college professor (Dennis Quaid) the chance to connect with his flakey brother (Thomas Haden Church), over-achieving daughter (Ellen Page) and a new love interest (Sarah Jessica Parker). Noam Murro’s small-scale dramedy is set and filmed in Pittsburgh; locals will be happy location-spotting around Oakland and the East End. But…
The Band’s Visit
Israeli filmmaker Eran Kolirin’s is one of those sincere, well-made little movies that finds an answer to centuries-old animosities in loneliness, music and the commonalities hidden just below the surface of our watchful façades. In it, a visiting Egyptian band winds up in the wrong Israeli town, and spends a night enjoying the occasionally strained…
Going Through the Motions
Apparently Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s “spirit of cooperation” in cutting the city’s number of take-home vehicles to 29 was neither spirited nor cooperative enough for some city councilors, who tried to override his veto of council’s car-cutting bill. Council voted March 24 to cut the city’s take-home vehicle fleet from nearly 60 cars down to 29.…
Letters to the Editor: April 9 – 16
Feedback from our readers: Police officer’s behavior needs further review.
This Just In: April 9 – 16
Highlights from the local TV news: Haunted police stations … Opening Day at PNC Park.
Academic journal boundary 2, edited in Pittsburgh, has a national reputation.
Lauro and Embry amusingly compare that academic tendency with zombie films, which also depict “a consciousless being that is a swarm organism.”
Pittsburgh n’@
From: http://angrydrunkbureaucrat.blogspot.com/ I Feel So Consolidated The desktop publishing in Western Pennsylvania got a big boost today with the unveiling of the Report of the Citizens Advisory Committee on the Efficiency and Effectiveness of City-County Government, which outlines the need and made the case for greater inter-municipal cooperation. That, or it was just a big…
Pittsburgh Popcorn
Genalle and Rob Day are veterans of the retail popcorn industry. Yes, there is one. And now it’s here. The Days opened Pittsburgh Popcorn in the Strip District a little more than a month ago and already they have a following. The peanut-butter kettle corn has made quite an impression on Strip shoppers who’ve found…
Pitt celebrates Gamelan Week and Hip-Hop Week on campus
“I like the fact that dangdut has all these different strains in it.”
Savage Love
I thought I could bang out a column today — a regular column, a column about my readers’ problems and their freaky fetishes and all those asshole politicians out there. You know, the usual. The day my son was born, I managed to slip out of the maternity ward and write a column; I wrote…
Self-taught local artists shine at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.
As we turn Hill’s wheels, he’s turning ours.
A Fe Gallery show finds new directions for clay.
The work oscillates between the sexual and the mechanical, managing to be simultaneously appealing and repulsive.
