Recently, a local TV station began running spots encouraging viewers to proudly tell everyone, “We’re from Pittsburgh!” If you had to pick three things we should be most proud of as Pittsburgh-area residents, what would they be?
For starters, I’m proud of the fact that, when TV stations urge Pittsburghers to proudly announce where they are from, most of us roll our eyes. And jam our fingers in our ears. Here’s the thing about Pittsburgh pride, for all the boosters who try to export it in the form of “branding statements”…
White Like Me
Efforts to make Pittsburgh’s financial oversight board more diverse have received support from a somewhat surprising source: the Allegheny Conference on Community Development. But the conference, a key regional player whose members are among the area’s top business leaders, hasn’t exactly been crowing about it. When state legislators appointed the five-member Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority…
Epilogue
Armand Panson of Mount Washington has enjoyed the inside of the Carnegie Library branch in his neighborhood for more than 17 years, but lately he’s been using the outside too, sitting on the steps of the library circulating flyers to promote the building’s designation as an historic structure, encouraging residents to attend the June 30…
Bush League
“Partisan Broadcasting System.” Because right-wingers are in such short supply in commercial broadcasting, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has recently given two of them (Tucker Carlson and Paul Gigot) their own shows, meanwhile cutting venerable Bill Moyers’ weekly program from 60 to 30 minutes. Coincidence? A June 7 New Yorker article by Ken Auletta documents…
Pride Went Before This Fall
Pittsburgh-born Eric Stern may have already set a record for the most gay-pride events attended in one year. Stern — director of the Democratic National Committee’s Office of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Outreach — appeared (or recruited 1,100 volunteers to man tables) at 55 pride events in 22 states, including Pittsburgh and six other…
Lesbian Grandmothers from Mars
Carrie Ross-Stone sits in Springfield, Ohio, talking about lesbian marriage in a town whose name so screams heartland that The Simpsons are set in one. How is the slow-moving soul of our country taking to Mars, Pa.-born Ross-Stone and her partner Elisia (carrying the same surname) as they bicycle from San Francisco to New…
Wardrobe Malfunctions Through the Ages
“Black women have a long history of wardrobe malfunctions,” Carolyn West told the crowd at Chatham College, as a movie screen played images of early American white slave masters ripping the clothes off black female slaves and Justin Timberlake ripping off Janet Jackson’s breast-cup. “It doesn’t matter if Janet Jackson participated or not,” said…
A Conversation with Emil Brenkus
How did you start with the bass? I played violin in high school — classical mostly — and I started taking bass lessons right after I graduated high school. There seemed to be more demand for bass, there was more dance-band work. I studied with Herman Clemens; he taught at Duquesne University, but I went…
Road Not Taken
You have to be careful about protesting in Pittsburgh. Step off the wrong curb during an Iraq War protest, and you could find yourself in trouble with the law. After all, we don’t want to disrupt Downtown traffic. It’s almost enough to make you want to thank PennDOT. Almost. In a series of recent…
Masta Killa
Masta Killa has been the quietest member of the loud and legendary Wu-Tang Clan. Though part of the original clay, he’s the last one to drop a solo joint, though he’s participated in everyone else’s. So it’s fitting that his No Said Date be the only solo Wu recording to feature all nine originals since…
Two Lone Swordsmen
In the London home studio that Two Lone Swordsmen record in, there sits a weathered drum kit haunted by ghosts of its once-great previous owners. Jah Wobble, the mad scientist of world dub who might as well have been a reserve-team Sex Pistol, once used it in one of his bands; before that, punk and…
Simon Joyner
After more than 10 years of releasing exquisitely evocative records, Omaha’s Simon Joyner has got his work cut out for him; in the back of his mind, he must be aware that there surely is a finite point where his well of stunningly consistent material will evaporate. However, just when it seems that he has…
Fahrenheit 451
In some not-too-distant future, books have been outlawed. The first thing you notice about François Truffaut’s 1966 film Fahrenheit 451, which depicts this world without words, is that the opening credits are spoken — over images of TV antennas — and it’s more jarring than you’d expect. Truffaut takes us immediately to an unthinkable…
Slowing Down Quicksilver
Brody Conroy is having a grand time at his neighbor’s house, hugging the dog, scattering pretzels, and then racing up the stairs so he can bounce down on his diapered butt. “He’s my class clown,” says Kelly Conroy, of her nearly 3-year-old son. “Anything for a laugh.” When the neighbor’s daughters head for the sun…
ValentíÂn
In the year that Neil Armstrong took one giant leap for mankind, 8-year-old Valentín takes one small step for literature. Cross-eyed, bespectacled, and wise way beyond his years (or so he thinks), Valentín lives in a world of his own design. Part of this world is hope — he wants to be an astronaut,…
Café Zao
Location: 649 Penn Ave., Theater Square, Downtown. 412-325-7007 Hours: Lunch: Mon.-Fri. 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; Dinner: seven days 5 p.m. until half-an-hour after performances end (usually round 11 p.m.) Prices: Appetizers, $6-8; entrees $22-35 Fare: Portuguese Atmosphere: Subtle swank Liquor: Full bar In this town of football heroes and Mr. Rogers, the phrase “culinary celebrity” may…
One Token Over the Line
The first step, Gamblers Anonymous says, is admitting you have a problem. Clearly Pennsylvania’s legislature does. State legislators aren’t frittering away their own money at the casinos, of course. They’re just betting that you will, if given a chance. As this issue goes to press, Harrisburg is expected to consider a bill legalizing…
