A Conversation with Eleni Mandell
“Crying and moaning about bad boyfriends just got kinda boring.”
Letters To The Editor: June 6 – 13
Feedback from our readers
Rare wetlands birds populate the photo show Marshes: The Disappearing Edens.
By drawing together disparate geographical locations and chronological points, Burt not only tells a story of his ongoing preoccupation, but captures the individual characteristics of marshes in Connecticut, Maryland, Manitoba, New Hamshire, Virginia, Utah, and Saskatchewan.
Oxford Collapse joins the Unicorn Mountain collective for the Three Rivers Arts Festival
Dancey and thoughtful at once, they manage to sound as much like a band raised on Dischord as they do anything coming out of Brooklyn.
The Sound and the Furry
There’s nothing more entertaining than an idiotic politician. Celebrities in and out of rehab is pretty funny. Football players whining about money is ludicrously funny. But for my money, you just can’t beat a political hack. That’s why I love to watch City Councilor Jimmy Motznik. He’s one of those guys straight out of old-school-hack…
Three Rivers Arts Festival
I AM MY MOTHER’S DAUGHTER. Pittsburgh doesn’t know Tavia La Follette as a performer. For instance, her other TRAF project this year, the play American Humbug, instead showcases the set-design and puppet-making skills she’s been providing to local stages since moving here a few years ago. She’s also the founder and head of Artists Upstairs,…
Raunchy rapper Blowfly lands at 31st Street Pub
If you thought Blowfly was some recent development playing off the popularity of Kool Keith, 2 Live Crew or Wesley Willis, think again — hard.
Who provides that mellifluous voice announcing Port Authority bus stops in measured, musical tones? Why are male voices never used?
If you want to hear a measured, musical, mellifluous voice on a Pittsburgh bus, there’s only one thing to do: Hire someone from outside the area to provide it. Those recordings you hear are provided by Clever Devices, a Plainview, N.Y.-based firm that “provides a wide range of technical products and services to the transit…
Once Nothing releases Earthmover on CI Records
“I grew up in the church and wasn’t allowed to listen to secular music. But I liked heavy music and kept looking for the heaviest stuff I could find.”
Pittsburgh N’@
From: http://agentska.blogspot.com/ Rendell asks and I tell him … Yesterday I got a call from a polling company. First of all, they called my cell phone. I was thinking, “Oh no you did NOT just buy my cell phone number (kinda shady!) and call me unsolicited!” But since I got the chance to put in…
Electrelane performs at the Warhol
Like Sleater-Kinney, the members of Electrelane have been known to voice staunchly progressive political views, though more in interviews than in song lyrics.
Casino gets master plan approval over continued objections of corporate neighbors
With the May 29 vote, Barden’s PITG Gaming can begin construction at the site, which is located near the Carnegie Science Center. The approval followed several delays in which PITG and its soon-to-be neighbors — the Steelers, Pirates and Carnegie Science Center — tried to resolve concerns about the traffic the casino will create.
Independent animal kennel under fire for euthanasia techniques
Depending who you ask, Ferree Kennels, in McKeesport, is either a mom-and-pop operation just trying to uphold the law … or a house of horrors where innocent cats and dogs die grisly deaths. The kennel, run by Ken Ferree, has animal-control contracts with more than two dozen municipalities outside Pittsburgh, including West Mifflin, Homestead and…
A High Price
A total of $1.7 billion is Allegheny County’s share of the war costs. It’s enough to feed all the kids enrolled in the school lunch programs for 68,000 years. “These numbers boggle the mind,” says Malik Bankston, executive director of the Kingsley Center.
Going Through the Motions
The ARL contract was set to expire June 7. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s administration had negotiated a new deal with the ARL, but because the new contract would quadruple ARL’s $48-per-animal fee, acting controller Tony Pokora refused to sign off on it unless council approved it.
Ancient History
Despite the first act’s studied theatricality, Ives has gone to tremendous lengths to create a small play filled with many simple, heartbreaking moments.
Tamarind Flavor of India
While Tamarind’s suburban location is almost strictly southern Indian, the Oakland version includes more northern Indian favorites, enabling this new restaurant to both complement and compete with Oakland’s other nearby curry houses.
The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron?
The Male Intellect smacks of PG-13 standup comedy, bumper-sticker wisdom, and those forwarded e-mails about how women are moody and men are egotistical.
Paris, je t’aime
How’s this for a French fete: 18 short films by 20 international filmmakers, all set in the City of Lights (and Love, of course), and all together lasting just two hours. That’s less than seven minutes per rendezvous — ample time for myriad little epiphanies and amusements. Think of Paris, je t’aime as a few…
American Humbug
To blame P.T. Barnum for corporate media is like saying that Richard Wagner invented Nazi Germany.
Into Great Silence
You really have to want to spend almost two hours and 45 minutes with Philip Gröning’s documentary, set in the Grande Chartreuse, a monastery in the French Alps where the inhabitants live virtually without words, performing the most utilitarian of tasks between periods of prayer and study. His film allowed us to experience every micro-second…
A Conversation with Alex Wilson
“Some of these shootings occur over an argument about drugs. … Then that violence can lead to someone on the other side retaliating. It’s like a Ping-Pong ball back and forth.”
A man’s obsession with a “sacred” object is the latest focus for “Dancing Outlaw” filmmaker Jacob Young.
Kentuckian Todd Walker found what he believes is a Biblical artifact in a Nashville thrift store that grants him visions, and now wants to convince others. For Young, Appalachian eccentrics are familiar terrain, and Walker’s story suits the filmmaker’s approach, which is radically empathetic even while remaining tuned to comic possibilities. It’s hilarious when they…
Stamp of Disapproval
I don’t want to root for A-Rod, but you make me do it, Barry.
I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life And Legacy Of Simon Wiesenthal
In many archival interviews, Wiesenthal tells much of his own story, proving to be a lively, quick-witted, even self-effacing narrator. (Capsule review)
Signal To Noise
When you hear the name “Lou Reed,” you probably don’t immediately think, “Oooh! I love his photos!” But that’s what he wants. Taking a break from hawking his tai chi DVD (!) and album of meditation music (!!), Reed visited The Warhol on Thursday for a pricey sold-out reading and the opening of his Lou…
The Italian
Koyla Spiridonov’s unaffected performance helps root the melodrama, as does the shabby milieu and the film’s explicit reminders of various failed Soviet and Russian policies. (Capsule review)
LABCO dance company marks 10 years with a show.
What hasn’t changed has been the company’s commitment to presenting original contemporary dance works and to using local talent.
Surf’s Up
Surf’s Up offer the usual simple lessons about believing in your dreams, but it conveys them in an amiable, pleasantly shaggy manner. (Capsule review)
The Pillow Project launches a year-long multimedia series.
“We cannot rely anymore on just marketing ourselves as a dance company. We have to prove our wits in other arenas.”
The Valet
The French seem to have an unlimited capacity for producing the gentle romantic farce, ideally set in attractive districts of Paris. (Capsule review)
Savage Love
I’ve got a confusing issue with my girlfriend. Our relationship was going great until I caught her having an emotional affair via MySpace. She swore to never hurt me again. Well, I recently found out that she posted an ad looking for NSA sex. She responded to several people who contacted her. When confronted, she…
Corporate Warriors
Training Iraqi soldiers in SWAT procedures didn’t seem like mercenary work to Greg, who took a leave of absence from a Midwestern police department to spend a year in Baghdad as a contract employee with a private military corporation. Sequestered at a guarded training camp near the airport, he and a team that grew from…
