Note to bloggers: Tom Corbett may have just given you a reason to support Dan Onorato
This is some seriously creepy shit here. State Attorney General Tom Corbett, who of course is now the GOP’s gubernatorial nominee, has apparently subpoeaned Twitter seeking identifying information about two online critics. Twitter was ordered to send a representative to a grand jury hearing last week, to provide information about twitterers Bfbarbie and CasablancaPA. Already…
A Tough Day for the Wagners
It’s no secret that state Auditor Jack Wagner lost his gubernatorial bid yesterday, but there were some other setbacks for the Wagner family as well — and these hit closer to home. As I reported two months ago, the Wagner’s stomping grounds in the city’s 19th Ward has been the site of an easily-overlooked uprising…
Post-election miscellany
Keep it tuned here; I’ll have some posts a little later in the day about the Sestak win, and some reasons why supporting Joe Hoeffel wasn’t a total waste of time. (The election is over: Let the healing begin!) In the meantime, a couple quick notes. First, the organizers of the Dok Harris “write-in” campaign…
The Comic Book Ink!
Two years ago, bankruptcy lawyer Jason Mazzei purchased a 10-foot plaster replica of the Hulk without a thought of where to put it. It was 2008, the year The Incredible Hulk came out in theaters, and Mazzei, a long-time comic-book fan, bid on and won the replica, one of about 150, for $2,500 in an…
Election results: less “anti-incumbent” than “anti-Arlen”
OK, no need to belabor the “anti-incumbency” meme to explain yesterday’s election results. Especially because that line is probably being oversold, at least as far as Pennsylvania is concerned. Yes, Joe Sestak’s victory speech — which celebrated his win over Arlen Specter — touted it as a triumph “over Washington” as much as anything else.…
Now THERE’s something you don’t see every Election Day
Out and about the city, I noticed this distinctive yard sign in the 19th Ward, on Wenzell Avenue: In case you can’t read it, that’s a yard sign for somebody running for Allegheny County Democratic Committee. I’m hard-pressed to think of any other time I’ve seen somebody put out a sign for a Committee race…
Quaker Valley Dems launch 11th-hour effort to write in Dok Harris for Congress
2 Political Junkies might suggest this is the sort of thing that only happens in Bizarro World, but there really is a write-in campaign going on for former mayoral candidate Franco “Dok” Harris in the 4th Congressional District. A group of progressive Democrats — who have been increasingly disenchanted with incumbent Jason Altmire — launched…
Quick hits: Devo coming to town, new Donora vid
Okay, sure, these two things are completely unrelated. But bear with me. First, got the press release this afternoon telling us that Devo is playing the Trib Total Media Amphitheatre of World Domination Parking Lot at Station Square on July 9. Tickets go on sale May 22 at noon; your usual Ticketmaster outlets apply. Most…
Billy Nardozzi at Shaw Galleries
The crowd gathered at Shaw Galleries downtown Friday night was unique: kids, older Pennsylvanians, 30-something arty types, a small contingent from PNC Bank. The common interest was the poet they’d all been reading for years, a man who’d been paying almost weekly for the chance to put his words before them — the bard of…
MP3 Monday: The Ceiling Stares
Yo ninjas. It’s Monday and it’s cloudy and rainy and you need some rock ‘n roll, stat. That’s what The Ceiling Stares, or, (The ceiling stares.) or whatever, are here for. Why do you know that name? Perhaps because I wrote about them a couple months back, and you read everything I write and take…
Mayor plays matchmaker for new residents
So today marks the official unveiling of PittsburghCityLiving, a guide to help newcomers select the part of the city that is just right for them. And guess what? For many of us, the South Side Flats turns out to be just about perfect. Hope you like frat boys! As you’d expect with a city-sponsored Web…
Sestak and Specter on CNN
Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senate contenders, incumbent Arlen Specter and challenger Joe Sestak, appeared on CNN’s State of the Union this weekend … making a last-ditch effort to reach out to the kind of voter who doesn’t watch Fox. Among the highlights, both candidates were asked what they’d do if they lose tomorrow — support the nominee…
Specter disputes Sestak ad, digs self in deeper
So now it’s Senator Arlen Specter complaining of unfair ads by his rival, Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak. Courtesy of Philly TV station WGAL (with a h/t to Early Returns) we now have the original video that provided the Sestak campaign with its killer ad. The Specter folks allege that the quote used in the ad…
This weekend: Jeff Buckley tribute and more
It’s Friday and that means if I’m paying attention and I’m not too busy I tell you about some things that are going on this weekend that I might recommend even if I couldn’t get them in the newspaper! Chief amongst things that didn’t make the paper this week is tomorrow night’s show at the…
War of Words
These days, Pittsburgh’s newspaper war is being fought on billboards
Board Games
Think the Billboard Wars are bad? Try the Coffeehouse Wars.
Short List: Week of May 13 – 20
Thu., May 13 — Art It’s one of those good-things-in-small-packages deals: The Frick Art Museum launches Small But Sublime: Intimate 19th-Century American Landscapes. The works encompass everything from the romance of the Hudson River School to the impressionism that was the late 1800s’ avant-garde. Landscape paintings needn’t be large — some of these works, by…
Gran Agave
A handful of authentic Mexican dishes shine at this casual, fun eatery.
Kirk Nesset’s flash-fiction collection Mr. Agreeable is more than pleasant.
Nesset’s pieces seem to go down like candy, with their precise and engaging rhythms.
Urinetown
McKeesport Little Theater digs into the task with gusto, talent and skill.
The Club
While Merriam’s concept is imaginative, the way it plays out isn’t.
Jitney
What Claude Monet did with paint, August Wilson does with words.
Letters to Juliet
After 50 years — and spurred by a random act — a widowed Englishwoman named Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) returns to Italy to search for her erstwhile youthful boyfriend. I sit through a lot of romances with my eyeballs rolling at the idiotic plots designed to hammer home “true love” myths, but this one –…
Iron Man 2
Tony Stark — arms merchant, genius, playboy, Iron Man — is resting on his laurels in this sequel to the 2008 hit actioner. So too is director Jon Favreau and most of the Iron Man gang: Whereas the first film felt like a fresh, kicky re-boot blasting from the morass of superhero films, IM2 falls…
Silk Screen Film Festival
The Asian and Asian-American film festival wraps up
Everyone Else
Gitti and her new boyfriend, Chris, go on holiday to Sardinia, where they bump into another couple. The couples have two dinner parties, one at each of their homes, and each one is a subdued disaster. This isn’t the kind of movie that a lot of people will watch in English, let alone in German,…
Hot Button
A look at this week’s most intriguing issues — and why you should care
Community Policing
LGBT community rallies after violent incident
Cloudy Condition
Local weather forecasters mixed on climate change
Letters to the editor: May 12 – 19
Feedback from our readers: Onorato has LGBT support too
After its promising 2009 debut, the Kelly-Strayhorn’s newMoves dance festival offers an encore.
Festival director Janera Solomon hopes the festival will continue to find an audience that likes taking risks and wants to see new work.
The Heinz Architectural Center takes it to the house.
Whose ideas are these that dictate our vision of what a home is or could be?
This Just In: May 13 – 20
Highlights from the local TV news: Won’t Get Fueled Again!
Joy Ike goes for simplicity on sophomore release, Rumors
Rumors brings out the best in Ike’s music: the appealing simplicity of her music, her poetic lyrics and strong voice.
Anthony Rankin turns to retro-funk with Blow This House Down
Overall, it’s fun music, if a bit strange to be making in 2010.
Locals Horse or Cycle release debut album bristling with big guitars
“We all like the indie guitar-rock of the ’90s,” Liam Cooney says, citing the likes of Dinosaur Jr., Built to Spill and Pavement.
Post-punk legends Public Image Limited play Club Zoo
“I’m not for smashing shop windows — it shows you’re crying for attention because you’re a spoiled, middle-class tosser.”
Local teens create and learn through hip hop at CMU’s Arts Greenhouse
“There’s a strong affinity for hip hop among the kids we’re trying to serve.”
Penn Brewery
The venerable North Side brewery is back … and with a new beer.
Savage Love
I’m a mostly gay male with a boyfriend who is also mostly gay. We are into BDSM — we are both tops and sometimes play with other sub men. I say we are “mostly” gay because we do like to fuck/top submissive women once in a while. We haven’t done this a lot, and never…
Anthony Williams ad REALLY drops the ball, uses Santonio Holmes jersey
Maybe others have seen this already, but gubernatorial candidate Anthony Hardy Williams may have committed the political gaffe of this election season with this new ad. For most of its 30 seconds, the ad is a conventional spot, which mostly consists of “real Pennsylvanians” talking about what a helluva guy is Williams, a Democratic state…
