• Photo by Jake Reinhart
• Grand Piano

Sometimes we miss deadlines. Sometimes the U.S. Men's National Team breaks your heart by conceding a goal in the last minute of a World Cup match against Portugal. Things don't always go according to plan.

But at least new music is here to get us through the day, right? This week's MP3 Monday comes from the gents in Grand Piano. Their debut album, Leap Year, came out last week via Wild Kindness Records, the same label which hosts Pittsburgh acts like Sleep Experiments and The Harlan Twins. Grand Piano's new LP is a folky, bluesy, honky-tonky hell of an album. Please give them your undivided attention and listen.

Check out "February Blues" from the band's new album Leap Year, below.

(Download link expired, sorry!)

I haven't read the Virginia Woolf novel on which this new stage version is based. But Unseam'd's production of acclaimed playwright Sarah Ruhl's adaptation is a rare combination of winsome social commentary, lyrical depth and theatrical fun.

It's a 90-miinute show about a Briton who somehow manages to live for several centuries, starting during the reign of Elizabeth I as an aristocratic youth and at some point turning bodily into a woman, as which she lives into the present day.

Woolf and Ruhl have plenty to say about gender roles, love and the literary and theatrical arts — not least that gender itself is a form of theatrical play. But Orlando is mostly a love story, and it's done with such a light and witty touch that you might not notice you've been enlightened until later.

The excellent cast includes Amy Landis in the title role, Lisa Ann Goldsmith as his/her lover in two guises, and a terrific "chorus" of Andy Kirtland, Brett Sullivan Santry and Jonathan Visser taking a variety of small roles. Robert C.T. Steele's direction is delightful.

Unseam'd is one of those small Pittsburgh companies that do good if largely unheralded work year in and out — in its case, for an amazing 21 years, all under artistic and executive director Laura Smiley.

There are three more performances of Orlando: tonight at 8 p.m., and at 3 and 8 p.m. tomorrow. Tickets are $15-30 and are available here.

A new solar festival — complete with live music and food trucks, along with info on solar energy — takes place tomorrow in Millvale Riverfront Park.

The Allegheny SolarFest is presented by the Solar Unified Network of Western Pennsylvania, the Sierra Club and the Borough of Millvale.

The festival runs 12-7 p.m. The park (hint, hint) is easily accessible via the riverfront bike trail, which runs direct from the North Side.

Vendors will be on hand, and workshops held, with info about solar energy and energy efficiency for homes and businesses. The workshops cover topics including: solar-powered aquaponics; efficient solar home design; community solar projects; and advocating for renewable energy laws in Pennsylvania.

The eclectic live music includes Ben Shannon, Timbeleza, Nox Boys and Turpentiners, with the Pandemic DJs working between sets. The stage, naturally, will be solar-powered — as will the whole fest, in fact, according to a press release.

The food trucks include Pittsburgh Taco, Randita’s, Pittsburgh Pierogi, South Side BBQ Company and Kona Ice.

There’ll also be a Venture Outdoors climbing wall, bicycle-powered water cannons and a display of electric vehicles, including a Tesla. You can even try an electric-assist bicycle.

Oh, and, in case you’re wondering, why Millvale?

“Our community library is powered with solar and we have plans to expand the use of solar throughout the borough with our new Allegheny Solar Cooperative project,” said Brian Wolovich, Millvale Borough Councilman and Millvale Community Library President, in a press release. “Our community-focused development plans are transforming a legacy community built around old energy into a desirable, livable community of the future. Clean energy is paramount to that vision.”

The Solar Unified Network of Western Pennsylvania is a coalition of the region’s leading solar installation and development companies, support businesses, solar owners, and advocates devoted to proliferating solar in the region through awareness, education and legislative support.

• Photo credit: Derrick Belcham
• White Hinterland

Vocalist White Hinterland will play Club Cafe tonight, in support of her new album, Baby.

Hinterland self-recorded Baby, released in April, in her parent's basement in Scituate, Ma., after recording for two and a half years in Montreal and Portland, Ore. After five months home, she built her own studio, called The Glades. After the studio was built, she spent months studying production through YouTube videos and Protools tutorials.

Born Casey Dienel, the artist went by her birth name until 2008, when she signed with new and current label Dead Ocean. She reinvented herself as White Hinterland, wearing white in her photos and coming off as a ghost like figure. But on Baby, her third album under her monicker, her voice contradicts her look, as it is strong and powerful. On album opener "Wait Until Dark," Hinterland starts a capella, building up her voice until it is met by piano a minute in. While piano, electronic drums and other instrumentation appear on the album, Hinterland's vocals are most prominent. The album sounds a bit dark and ominous at points, but her voice drives away those ill feelings.

The artist plays Club Cafe tonight with Charmaine Evonne. 10:30 p.m. 56 S. 12th St., South Side. $10. 412-431-4950 or www.clubcafelive.com

For adventuresome film-lovers, the third annual Pittsburgh Independent Film Festival is a bargain. For the cost of a fancy cocktail, a viewer can see dozens of new works.

The festival, which begins Friday night, June 20, and runs through the weekend, offers 63 independent films from around the world. Most are shorts, but there are seven feature length offerings. Material ranges from narrative to documentary, animated to music videos.

Beginning at noon on Sun., June 22, the festival offers a "Made in Pennsylvania" slate, 14 films produced in PA, including a feature-length documentary on Pittsburgh architect Henry Hornbostel.

Passes are $10 for one day; $15 for two days; and $20 for all three days. Films screen at the Father Ryan Arts Center, in McKees Rocks (420 Chartiers Ave., 412-771-3052 ).

Pennsylvania ranks seventh in the nation in discharges of toxic chemicals into waterways, according to a report issued today by PennEnvironment.

The state’s release of 10,470,231 pounds of toxins in 2012 included about 25,000 pounds of carcinogens such as chromium. It also included other toxins that can cause developmental problems in children, like lead, and pollutants that can harm aquatic ecosytems and other wildlife.

The Pennsylvania figures included 2.3 million pounds of toxic discharges in the Lower Monongahela watershed, according to “Wasting Our Waters,” a report from the Environment America Research & Policy Center. The report, which examined discharges nationally, drew its figures from the federal Toxic Release Inventory.

The state’s single largest polluter — and the 17th-largest in the nation — was US Steel’s Clairton Works, which discharged 2.2 million pounds of toxins, according to the report. That's more than 90 percent of all water discharges in the Lower Monongahela watershed.

Other large polluters in the region include Jewel Acquisition LLC's steel plant in Midland, Beaver County, which released 1.1 million pounds of toxins into the Upper Ohio River.

That means that just those two Southwestern Pennsylvania facilities alone account for about one-third of the state's total discharges.

“More than half our waterways are unsafe for swimming and fishing,” says Kimberly Williams, PennEnvironment’s Pittsburgh campaign organizer, at a morning press conference at the Allegheny River’s “water steps,” near PNC Park.

“For short-term gain for a few folks, we’ll damage our water supply for everybody,” said Pittsburgh resident Kurt Limbach, an activist who attended the press event.

Here's the full report report: PA_wastingwaterways_scrn_061814.pdf.

PennEnvironment and Clean Water Action cited the report to promote restoration of federal Clean Water Act protections — protections the group says have been lost over the years to court rulings in suits brought by polluters.

Because of those rulings, said Williams, 59 percent of Pennsylvania rivers and streams, and drinking water for some eight million state residents, are “at risk of having no protection from pollution” under the Clean Water Act.

The U.S. EPA is currently considering restoring these protections to many of the now-unprotected waterways it originally covered.

According to “Wasting Our Waters,” the top states for toxic water discharges were Indiana (17.8 million pounds), Texas (16.5 million pounds) and Louisiana (12.6 million pounds).

The discharge figures include only direct pipeline releases of toxic pollution into waterways, as self-reported by industry.

They don’t include such significant sources of pollution as agricultural runoff. (Pennsylvania is the main culprit in longstanding pollution problems in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay.) Nor do they include air discharges that end up in the water (a major pathway for aquatic mercury pollution from sources like coal-fired power plants). Nor, says Williams, do they account for pollutants that might result from hydrofracturing for natural gas.

The composition of industrial discharges varies widely. By volume, for instance, the Clairton Works discharges overwhelmingly consisted of nitrate compounds, says Environment America senior attorney John Rumpler. That might not sound as scary as the 12,000 pounds of cyanide compounds the plant released. But nitrates and other "nutrient pollution" can damage waterways by promoting algae growth that chokes out other life, and leads to large "dead zones" like those in the Chesapeake and the Gulf of Mexico.

PennEnvironment encourages residents to send comments to the EPA supporting restoration of Clean Water Act protection to rivers and streams. You can do that through PennEnvironment’s web site.

“Pennsylvania’s waters shouldn’t be a polluter's dumping ground,” said Williams.

Azar House, a transitional housing program in Mt. Oliver, has barely been open one year. But in that time, the program for homeless women age 18 and up has been a safe haven, providing shelter and guidance to a variety of women, some who have been recently released from prison, and others who have been victims of domestic violence.

"Some of our people have felonies. No one has given them a chance until they came here," said Kimberly Smith, Azar program director. "This is a safe place for them. It's been a great program and we'd hate to lose it because we know the impact it has."

At a press conference today, though, Azar's leaders announced they were being forced to shut down the program on June 30th. The program, run by the Joshua Development Corporation, a nonprofit organization founded by Potter's House Ministries church, has struggled to secure funding since its opening and would need $200,000 to keep it's doors open.

• An empty room at Azar Transitional House

"Azar makes me feel wanted. I'm stable," said resident Ruth Ann Ley, one of five women who will be displaced. "I don't want to go anywhere else. It's not about finding somewhere else, I just don't want to get lost in the chaos at another place. If I'm not stable, I'll go back to doing the wrong thing. This place has saved my life."

As a result of shifting priorities in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Azar plans to transition to a permanent housing facility. But because of ongoing budget constraints, the program is unable to stay open during the transition.

"The trend started two years ago where HUD decided they no longer wanted to fund new transitional housing programs," said board chair Corey Lakins. "We've always needed funding. We have been operating without any city or county funding, but we need additional funding in order to stay open during the transition."

Azar's leaders are still hopeful private or public funders will come forward to save the program. Residents have written letters to the Allegheny County Department of Human Services in hopes their program could be considered for emergency funding from the department of hunger and homelessness.

"We're putting a plea out. We need help," Lakins said. "Nothing is too small."

The seven day, 24 hour program has room for 16 women, but in anticipation of having to close, Azar hasn't admitted any new residents. There are 19 women on their waiting list.

In addition to housing, Azar provides help finding employment, wellness activities, counseling and life skills training.

"This place is a godsend to me," said resident Lori Davis. "It feels like home and the ladies and the staff are like family to me."

"I can tell you this, I've felt peace and tranquility and I never knew transitional programs could be like this," said resident Janice Dolash.

The AmServ Flood City Music Festival is Aug. 1-3 and organizers want you to design their festival's t-shirt.

The annual Johnstown music festival will be held in Peoples Natural Gas Park, with around 35 acts on four stages of American roots music and more. This year's headliners include Boz Scaggs, Leftover Salmon (featuring Bill Payne of Little Feat), and Lee Field and the Expressions.

The shirt design should include the festival name, festival dates and year. The festival logo may be used but is not required. The back of the shirt will feature the festival logo and complete musical lineup. Designers are suggested to visit the festival website to get an idea of the event and its history.

Deadline for entry is July 7 at 11:59 p.m. The contest winner will win $250.00 and two Oilhouse Passes to the festival (which includes admission to all 3 days of the event, and access to the Oilhouse Lounge).

Tomorrow is the United Nations-designated day to honor those who flee their homes because of violence, conflict or persecution. According to the UN, there are some 43.7 such folks around the world.

The scene at Market Square, as befits a focus on the refugees' resilience, will be on the festive side.

Pittsburgh’s event, sponsored by groups including the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council, runs 11 a.m.-2 p.m. It includes live music, food and craft vendors from the local refugee community. Performers include Bhutanese dance troupes, and singers from Turkey and Nepal.

Special guests include the Allstar Refugee Band, a group based in the Czech Republic that is in the midst of preparing for a world-premiere theatrical production next week at City of Asylum/Pittsburgh (which itself knows something about sheltering writers persecuted in their home countries).

The band, which plays a lively and eclectic blend of sounds and styles, performs at 1 p.m. at Market Square.

The touring Found Footage Festival, hitting town on Tue., June 24, is happening at Regent Square Theater, not at Melwood, as listed in the print edition. The updated preview follows:

FOUND FOOTAGE FESTIVAL. The curators of odd and funny found videos return for an evening of laughs, as Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett show off their latest finds, gleaned from thrift stores and garages sales. This is the 10th anniversary of the Found Footage Festival, and screens as part of the Brooklyn Brewery MASH festival. Among the highlights in the 2014 reel are: an exercise tape called “Butt Camp,” obnoxious shopping-channel hosts and the recent “Chef Keith” prank.
8 p.m. Tue., June 24. Regent Square. $12