Pitt graduate fiction students honor a professor with a collection of stories.
At least a couple stories provide more than you expected.
Seth Clark’s Ruination finds compelling art in postindustrial fragments.
Each fragment transcends its individuality to become, collectively, archetypes of urban blight and architectural collapse.
Illuminating Shadows: Wood Street Galleries show projects seismic awe and oceanic dread
The ceiling above Finnbogi Petursson’s installation “Reset,” at Wood Street Galleries, is latticed with exposed pipes. The space housing the work is darkly lit, that stalactite ceiling and three attendant walls all of industrial white. In front of the screen that is the facing wall sits a square pool of buzzing water. Lights bounced off…
On the duo’s new album, Ennui’s psychedelic pop recalls Pink Floyd and Bowie
Formation of Tides finds Ennui moving toward the arena-ready prog-rock of mid-’70s Punk Floyd and Low-era David Bowie.
DJ FreQ Nasty and Monsters of Bass take the low road to Pittsburgh
See into the low-frequency future with The Monsters of Bass, a diverse showcase that unites producers MartyParty and Opiuo with DJ FreQ Nasty.
Chatham Baroque stages Bach’s controversial St. John Passion
Because of a libretto gleaned from the Gospel of John, Bach has borne charges of anti-Judaic sentiment.
Bus Fare
“Honey, this tastes like a bus driver made it!” Not your idea of an after-dinner compliment? Then you haven’t read Port Authority’s Palate Pleasers, a 1999 cookbook with recipes contributed by local transit employees and managers. I recently found a copy at a used bookstore, and given the ongoing labor disputes and service cuts, it’s…
One-Way Traffic
There are places in Pittsburgh where a political protest can hold up traffic. Mount Lebanon, though, isn’t one of them: When not one but two lunchtime protests took place along Route 19 on Feb. 24, the traffic barely slowed. On one side of the street, in front of U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy’s district office, were…
Savage Love
I cheated on my boyfriend three years ago. I admitted it nine months ago, and we’ve been in couples counseling for six months. My BF is very responsive in therapy, where we’re working on his control issues, and he says everything the therapist expects him to. Twenty-four hours later, though, he’ll say, “I was listening…
MP3 Tuesday: Big Snow, Big Thaw
Hi people! I know. It’s Tuesday. I’m a busy dude, okay? Sometimes Monday passes me by without me EVEN noticing. Regardless, I have an MP3 for you, and it’s a good one. You’re not going to complain about THAT, are you? It’s from Big Snow, Big Thaw, a local bluegrassy duo, one-half of which is…
Something is the Matta: Anonymous allegations in county controller race
There’ll be plenty to say about this weekend’s Democratic Party endorsements — and I’ll be posting excerpts from our Saturday night political forum over the next 24 hours. But there was one other weekend development which didn’t get quite as much attention. On Saturday — the last mailing day before the party’s endorsement vote was…
Dennis Roddy’s words in Corbett’s mouth?
In the near future, you’ll be hearing lots of analysis about what Tom Corbett’s budget address means for Pennsylvania. Some of it may be on this very blog (though I’ve got a bunch of local politics stuff in the pipeline first). But while listening to Corbett’s speech, I confess that one of the first questions…
Pittsburgh Playwrights’ Voodoo Trilogy on Mardi Gras
Mark Clayton Southers ambitious little theater troupe summons the darker side of New Orleans on Fat Tuesday itself by staging all three parts of esteemed local playwright Frank Gagliano’s Voodoo Trilogy. At 6 p.m. Tue., March 8, see The Voodoo Parlour Marie Laveau. Set at the turn of the last century, this “unsung voodoo chamber…
Tony Ceoffe Jr.: Candidate of the future?
How optimistic is city council candidate Tony Ceoffe Jr. about the upcoming March 6 party endorsement? Judging by a website we stumbled across — http://www.wix.com/ceoffej/tony — he’s pretty optimistic. And he’s dreaming of support from some heavy-hitters in the community as well. Ceoffe’s site — which for reasons that will become clear, will be unavailable…
A chance to shape the future of our city — while still wearing your jammies
Hey, a special offer from Slag Heap Central here. It’s not as good as the freebies you can sometimes get from That’s Church, I admit. But I’m hoping that if you care about the future of this city, it’ll be an offer you can’t refuse. This weekend, City Paper is joining with Democratic committee leaders…
Short List: Week of March 3 – 10
The Brew House is back. The South Side’s hulking old Duquesne Brewery, long repurposed as an arts co-op, was shut down in September 2009 for city building-code violations. Two dozen artists who lived or worked there were asked to leave, and Pittsburgh lost an important grassroots venue for exhibits, live theater and music. But behind…
Rango
A domestic lizard with a flair for drama falls off a moving truck and finds himself in a hardscrabble, waterless Old West town called Dirt. He passes himself off as Rango, a gunslinger, and thus is forced to solve the town’s real problem: corruption. The digital animation in Gore Verbinski’s off-beat family adventure-comedy is gorgeous;…
Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune
Kenneth Bowser’s film is definitely a worthwhile pick for serious or casual Ochs fans, as well as those interested in folk music and the radical ’60s. It reveals the singer-songwriter’s appetite for fame, which competed with his quest for social justice, and explores his descent from being a young musician often compared with Bob Dylan…
Hall Pass
Once upon a time, the Farrelly brothers made predictable rom-coms more outrageous by adding lots of shock humor: sex talk, nudity (including stuff you never wanted to see) and gross-out bodily fluids, plus the occasional foray into the politically incorrect. But now, after a decade of R-rated sex comedies, these outings are just as tired…
Drive Angry Shot in 3-D
When Nic Cage stars in an actioner with a title like this, one expects him to bring the crazy. Actually, as hell-escapee John Milton (oh, haha), Cage is set mostly on deadpan unhinged, though writer-director Patrick Lussier supplies plenty of manic, if not a lot of coherent plotting. As if it matters: Milton is trying…
Film Kitchen
A new comedy from Edward Bursch highlights this local-film series
The Adjustment Bureau
David Norris (Matt Damon) is a former New York politician who meets a free-spirited dancer named Elise (Emily Blunt). But their budding romance is dramatically interrupted by some time-and-space-shifting “adjusters,” who explain to Norris that there’s a grand plan and this romance is not part of it. Norris balks, and thus ensues a battle of…
Outside the Law
Rachid Bouchareb’s film puts viewers deep within this mid-century struggle, as three Algerian immigrant brothers get swept up in the cause for independence. Bouchareb, who also wrote the screenplay, uses the fanily as a prism to view these tumultuous times, which include: the escalation to armed rebellion; competing independence organizations; and the creation of a…
Café Vita
This is a place that embraces the inherent dichotomies of brunch – breakfast or lunch, sweet or savory.
Running out of Options: Just how desperate are things getting for the Penguins?
Deep within a fireproof cabinet somewhere in Ray Shero’s office rests a folder marked with the following inscription: “Doomsday Scenario.” That folder surely includes a detailed strategy on what the Pittsburgh Penguins should do if Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were lost for the season.
Cut Above: North Side barber Earl Baldwin offers more than just a haircut
“We all go through things. This place is here for anyone who needs it. I had one lady come in and say she saw the sign, and could I pray. And I prayed with her and she broke down and cried so hard she had black lines all down her face from mascara.”
On the Record with Mike Dawida, executive director of Scenic Pittsburgh
Mike Dawida has been a state representative and one of the last Allegheny County commissioners. Now, as the executive director of Scenic Pittsburgh, he’s fighting for a citywide moratorium on new electronic billboards. Do you miss elected office? No, I really enjoy this more. Being an elected official has become so mean-spirited and difficult…
Public Display: Are mugshot tabloids newsworthy or just sensational?
Mug-shot journalism has become increasingly popular nationwide. “These papers are all over the country, and they’re pretty profitable,” one media observer says. But “I don’t think they’re journalistic … What they’re selling is voyeurism.”
Keeping Watch: Wisconsin labor issues have Pa. unions on high alert
Pennsylvania Republican Gov. Tom Corbett hasn’t proposed anything like Walker’s bill. But labor leaders note that there are some union foes in the state.
Rising-star playwright Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation, at the Public, is largely about its silences.
“How I say ‘um,’ for instance, can completely change an individual and can transform the smallest thing into our whole life.”
Mahalia Jackson: Standing on Holy Ground
Gospel fans will love Mahalia Jackson — it is a rare chance to hear the art form in a secular setting.
In the Voodoo Parlour of Marie Laveau
Gagliano, Bates and El bewitch the audience with a mesmerizing display of corrupted prose and twisted imagery.
Interview: Flogging Molly’s Bob Schmidt
What do you think attracts fans to Flogging Molly? We’re always going to be able to do Irish music and we can do rock music with the best of them, so it gives us a lot of freedom to do whatever we want, and not have to be mired down by any particular sound or…
Critics’ Picks
Thu., March 3 — Indie Rock After more than a decade of independently producing its albums, rock group Red Wanting Blue signed with Fanatic Records, which re-released the Ohio-based band’s 2008 album, The Magnificent Miles. Blue’s music channels fellow veterans like Counting Crows and Sister Hazel, but vocalist Scott Terry offers a deeper, throatier sound.…
Just Kids in the making: Interview with Patti Smith, July 2007, unpublished excerpt
“I wanted people to get a sense of where the lyrics came from, who inspired them, what we all looked like when we wrote the songs, and what we were doing, and the people that influenced me.”
A Path so Twisted: When musicians like Patti Smith win awards … for books
When a person demonstrates mastery in one area, as Smith did in her early albums, it’s natural to expect their other pursuits to be amateur hobbies — even to wish it.
After a long absence from Pittsburgh stages, Ballet Hispanico returns with a new artistic director.
“Mad’Moiselle” abstractly references various symbols of Maria in Latin culture, from the Virgin Mary to Maria from West Side Story.
Choreographer Nora Chipaumire and African music legend Thomas Mapfumo team up on a new work.
“I have to then say, ‘No, I actually grew up in the city!'”
School’s Out … For Now: Shows for students who aren’t out on Spring Break
Three things to keep in mind for the days before break begins: First, you probably have lots of assignments due, and need to unwind. Second, you’re feeling stingy — Cancun’s cheap but it’s not free. Third, Weird Paul has read your mind.
Schwartz Market
At 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 23, the pickings were slim at Schwartz Market. Many of the shelves were bare, and the small produce section was scarcely stocked — a few potatoes and a lone bundle of bananas were among the remaining items for sale at the South Side grocer. “In the last five years, it’s…
Selling Wine After Its Time
When the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board decided in January to slash its inventory, there were bound to be unhappy customers. But their loss can be the enthusiast’s gain, since it means a chance to pick up the condemned products at close-out prices.
Savage Love
I’m a 41-year-old, very attractive woman. My husband and I have been together for 15 years. When we first met, the sex was absolutely incredible. After we got married, the sex was good, not great. This was because we were busy raising our children. After the girls went off to college, things went back to…
In city council district 3, Jeff Koch speaks out
Let’s get right to it. If you live in city council district 3 and you love politics — which you probably do, or else you wouldn’t have read past the headline — you’ve heard the rumor about Jeff Koch. That rumor, for those who love politics but don’t live in district 3, is this: Koch…
In District 1, political match-up could be over next week
A key political battle City Council District 1 could be over just a few days from now — more than two months before the Democratic primary itself. During last night’s 27th Ward Candidates Night, in Brighton Heights, candidate Vince Pallus announced that if he failed to win the Democratic Party endorsement — which will be…
Art Benefit for Dara Greenwald
They’re calling it “Dancing for Dara” — Sat., March 5’s all-day art exhibition, video screening and dance party to help out the video artist with local ties. Greenwald is the partner of Josh MacPhee, who’s an original member of Justseeds, a nationally known arts cooperative whose distribution center is located in Pittsburgh. MacPhee was also…
