Reign of Error
History, as they say, is written by the winners. Or at least by the people who want you to think they’ve won. So it has been with the city’s 250th birthday celebration so far. The emphasis is on the positive, as marketing campaigns and civic leaders stress Pittsburgh’s rich history and promising future. But what…
The Singing Revolution
The small nation of Estonia, with its convenient port on the Baltic Sea, has frequently been overrun by more aggressive neighbors. But few blows struck as hard as those during World War II, when Estonia was invaded by the Soviets, then the Nazis, and then the Soviets again. James Tusty and Maureen Castle Tusty’s documentary…
Reprise
At the start of Joachim Trier’s quirkily but elegantly constructed coming-of-age drama, two young Norwegians and best pals drop the manuscripts of their respective first novels into the post box. Phillip’s (Anders Danielsen Lie) book is published, but he soon suffers a breakdown. Erik’s (Espen Klouman-Høiner) novel is rejected, and he alternately slacks, works on…
The Animation Show
This traveling show of recent animated short comic films compiled by Mike Judge (Beavis and Butthead) returns in its fourth iteration. The roughly two dozen films are a mixed bag — in style, substance and entertainment value — but there’s enough here to guarantee a fun screening. Among the highlights: the crudely drawn but funny…
Jellyfish
The title of Israeli writer-director Shira Geffen’s film is a metaphor for the many tentacles of melancholy that reach out and sting its half-dozen or so central characters, who are all adrift in an ocean of loneliness and despair. Jellyfish moves back and forth between these lives. About half of everything the characters say and…
Mongol
A film about Genghis Khan is necessarily pretty speculative. Such are the limits of biographical research into 12th-century Central Asian grasslands. But while director Sergei Bodrov doesn’t “update” history with hand-held cameras or a techno soundtrack, his film busily makes a case for antiquity’s greatest conqueror as a horseback-riding, sword-wielding proto-modern man. The Russian-born filmmaker’s…
Going through the Motions
In January, many people thought there would be a shift in the way city council voted. Before councilors Ricky Burgess, Bruce Kraus and Patrick Dowd were elected, there was often a strong five-member bloc that tended to vote with the mayor’s office. But since Dowd came on council, it’s often been unclear where his vote…
This Just In: July 10 – 17
Highlights from the local TV news: Patriot Games.
Sauce
A hip little diner and bar with simple menu that distinguishes itself through a few signature tricks
Online: Bloggers to unite under common threads at conference
Whether from Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Buffalo or Erie, bloggers write about common themes.
Activism: Anarchists gather for picnic, not protest
Normally accustomed to carrying picket signs, Pittsburgh’s anarchist community came to this event carrying blueberry pie, water balloons and, of course, a biography of Emma Goldman.
Media: Ferlo gets city to waive fees for homeless newspaper
A new start-up homeless newspaper in the city faced a big obstacle before the first issue could be sold. Thanks to one state senator, that roadblock no longer exists.
Seeds of Change
Food Bank bringing farm-fresh produce to areas that would otherwise do without
The History Boys
There isn’t a character on stage who isn’t an aching bundle of need, and each of their emotional journeys is what makes the evening so powerful.
Make Shop Rock returns for its second fashion party.
“We’ll put the clothes on the models and some kind of button that says, ‘I’m a model, check out my clothes,’ versus putting them onstage and making them do runway work.”
The BigBots are coming.
“I would like to do something with the people who are interacting with the robot as the performers as such, as the triggers of the robot and also as the expressive element of it.”
We offer a Top 10 list for structures no longer with us.
With Pittsburgh’s 250th rapidly approaching, the obvious celebratory list will be the Top 10 Pittsburgh buildings of all time. Alas, its contents will be similarly predictable, with the Allegheny County Courthouse and the Cathedral of Learning figuring prominently. More lists of greater nuance are in order. So here is a roster of the Top 10…
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s JazzLive series spotlights Craig Davis
Pittsburgh’s dearth of local jazz clubs has been the subject of much hand-wringing over the past few years. Yet, while things ain’t what they used to be, as the song says, live Pittsburgh jazz can still be discovered with a little detective work. Among the opportunities, the Cultural Trust continues to spotlight all manner of…
Groundbreaking guitarist Adrian Belew performs at Diesel
“More and more I give up on pop music because it seems like a losing battle.”
New local band The Lost Sea makes waves with debut album
“We have the same bark, the same forlorn whine.”
Folk-music society Calliope revamps outdoor festival
For all the changes, folk music emphasizes tradition, and much about the festival remains “rooted” in Calliope’s long history
Pittsburgh n’@
Dispatches from the blogosphere: Memories of “Froggy” Morris
LRJ Treatz
Carnival food, on tap in Penn Hills
What kind of libraries did Pittsburgh have before the Carnegie libraries were built?
It’s a telling irony that even when doing something charitable, Andrew Carnegie found a way to put someone else out of business. A few years back, I read an essay by local mystery writer K.C. Constantine, who railed against Carnegie for building his library on the backs of yet another class of worker — the…
Rock ‘n’ roll ain’t noise pollution — it’s the regular kind
While Dave Matthews may have his “green rider,” and while the Post-Gazette Pavilion now operates a “Green Nation” recycling project, it’s really on you.
Savage Love
I am a heterosexual male in my 20s, and I need some help putting a label on my kink/fetish. I’m hoping that knowing what to call this may help me find others who share the same interest: I love it when a woman watches me masturbate. She doesn’t have to touch me at all, take…
