Old Senators never die … they just keep talking until someone shuts off their microphone
Arlen Specter delivered his farewell address — in the best lawyerly tradition, he called it his “closing argument” — on the floor of the Senate this morning. I’ll reproduce his prepared comments — as released by his office a few minutes ago — below. But the Reader’s Digest version is this: — The Senate ain’t…
On the frontiers of blogger law
From time to time, I like to share developments in the world of online law — both to give a heads-up to other bloggers, and to give me an excuse to write about anything other than the Parking Lot Imbroglio. (Although on that score — kudos to the crack attorneys representing city firefighters for recognizing…
Doyle wins some, loses some
The past 24 hours have been a mixed bag for Congressman Mike Doyle. On the one hand, his hopes — expressed here last week — that Democrats would be able to change a controversial tax-cut compromise plan have been dashed. On the other hand, a long-cherished legislative initiative — to establish low-power FM stations for…
House passes tax cut, with local support
Late last night, the U.S. House passed President Obama’s controversial tax-cut compromise. The Pittsburgh-area delegation — which includes Republican Tim Murphy and Democrats Jason Altmire, Mike Doyle and Mark Critz — all voted in favor of it. Altmire, in fact, was the guy who announced the passage of the measure from the Speaker’s chair. Doyle…
Short List: Week of December 16 – 23
Thu., Dec. 16 – Hip Hop Tonight’s the first of two back-to-back homecoming shows at Stage AE for Pittsburgh emcee Wiz Khalifa. He’s completing a long stint on the road with The Waken Baken Tour, and Khalifa’s new T-shirt design gives you an idea of how it went: “Wake Up Drunk,” reads the front of…
Nora’s Will
Mariana Chenillo’s film serves up a shiva mixed with a Seder, with sides of a Mexican wake-to-go and plenty of family discord. After Nora commits suicide, her apartment becomes a gently comedic battleground for her atheist ex-husband, an appointed Jewish prayer-reader, the Catholic housekeeper and a couple of grandkids who love playing in the cross-shaped…
Black Swan
In his thundering and tumultuous paean to artistic devotion, Darren Aronofsky tells the story of Nina (Natalie Portman), a dedicated but demure young ballerina with a New York company run by Thomas (Vincent Cassel), a wildly creative and passionate choreographer. There probably is no new way to tell a story about ballerinas and hungry artists.…
The Tourist
How could such a movie go wrong? Two well-liked, bankable stars; dreamy European locales; a director with an Oscar on his mantle? But make no mistake: If you’d like to spend your holiday money to see what a very glossy but boring flop looks like, The Tourist is your ticket. Set mostly in Venice, the…
Lezzet
Tucked away on Semple Street, don’t miss this Turkish delight.
After quitting his day job in a “leap of faith,” theatrical director and producer Mark Clayton Southers is hired by the August Wilson Center.
“It was like I was in a trance. All I kept saying was, ‘Cool.'”
Hobson’s Choice
The acting, though earnest, remains more serious than comic.
She Loves Me
She Loves Me is all about charm and sweetness and niceness and charm and charm and charm and charm.
This Just In: December 16 – 23
Highlights from the local TV news: Nomageddon!
We comment on 50 pages each of four recent local fiction releases.
Dave Newman’s Please Don’t Shoot Anyone Tonight is dead honest, often painfully so.
A&J Ribs
100 Fifth Ave., Market Square, Downtown 412-281-2771 Call it the breakfast of barbecue champions, or just a delicious method of quality control. Either way, Jerry Harrison’s morning meal at his Market Square barbecue restaurant, A&J Ribs, consists of some of his own specialty dishes: fried cabbage, barbecued chicken, and red beans and rice. “As…
Pittsburgh’s Mark Dignam to play a Dublin tribute to Phil Lynott next month
“Probably the first concert I went to was when Phil quit Thin Lizzy and started his solo career.”
Emcee contest Rhyme Calisthenics 10 features Elzhi — and some twists
Saturday’s installment will include 10 competitors, many of them returning champions like Black Sun, who won the last contest, in May.
Acoustic guitarist Bert Jansch visits for a rare concert, with special guest Pegi Young
A unique, understated stylist, Jansch’s influence transcends the British folk and blues music he emerged from and spans several generations of musicians.
Jesse Malin hits his stride with his finest solo release, Love it to Life
Just 42, despite his three-decade pedigree, Malin doesn’t sit still long enough for moss to gather.
Christmas Bonus
As Miles case plods on, the officers involved still collect checks for sitting at home
Insult to Injury Reports
Is the Steelers’ spin dishonest or just how the game is played?
Telling it Like it Is
A poem by Anne Rashid
Blue(s) Christmas
Holiday-season uncertainty for the barely insured
Savage Love
I am a 33-year-old married male who has a WAM — wet and messy — fetish. I’m into mud and clay. I have played with various substances in the bathroom over the years. It always ends with me masturbating myself into oblivion, wishing there were someone with me so we could sensuously rub against each…
Auditory experiences both unique and universal intrigue at Wood Street.
The intense nothingness of “Dark Matter” pulls viewers in like the hypothetical gravitational force its title alludes to.
