Local Writer Seeks Votes in International Contest
Amazon award for novelists includes book deal
Legal and financial planning for same-sex couples
Pittsburgh Pride is just around the corner, and while its a time of revelry and celebration, there are plenty of educational and advocacy-oriented events on the schedule. Of special interest is the annual seminar on legal and financial planning for same-sex couples. The seminar covers everything from DOMA, forming co-habitation agreements and wills to retirement…
MuckFest MS
Pittsburgh City Paper was on-site Saturday May 25 in Wampum for the Pittsburgh MuckFest™ ! MuckFest™ MS is the nation’s best mud and obstacle fun-run. Made with mud, sweat and cheers, the five-mile course featured a gauntlet of muck-filled mazes, pits and craters with over twenty gigantic steel obstacles. The fun didn’t stop when you…
PyroFest
Pittsburgh City Paper was on-site Saturday May 25 at Hartwood Acres for PyroFest! PyroFest is an affordable community event to promote & celebrate the international art of Pyrotechnics through innovative & unique presentations. PyroFest was sure to amaze everyone with thrilling new displays, including a display by the world-renowned, award winning Ricardo Caballer Ricasa, who…
Review: Ghost & Ides of Gemini at Mr. Smalls, May 18
It would be so awesome to discover Ghost B.C. (the B.C. has been grudgingly added due to an over-abundance of “Ghost” bands), as a 14-year-old. You’d be drawn to the catchy tunes (which mostly maintain a Mercyful Fate vibe, but sometimes veer into pop and, weirdly, surf) but troubled by the anonymity of the members,…
Discussion scheduled on reproductive healthcare for incarcerated women and minors
The Women & Girls Foundation will host an issue briefing next week, called “Reproductive Health Care for Underserved Populations: Innovative Programming for Incarcerated Women and Minors.” A panel of experts will address efforts to improve reproductive health care for incarcerated women and the rights of minors to access confidential healthcare. Attendees will learn how partnerships,…
Lynn Cullen Live 05/24/13
Video Archive Please tell the people working for Weiner that the Clemente bridge is in Pittsburgh, not NYC; Oklahoma survivors on Piers Morgan, Wolf Blitzer; media loves to exploit private emotions; pilot who landed in Hudson River: God had nothing to do w/ it; the Boy Scouts didn’t REALLY end the gay ban; Pope exorcised…
County Democratic Chair: Harris must leave party post
Nancy Patton Mills, the chair of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee, didn’t mince words. City Councilor Darlene Harris cannot serve as a Democratic ward chair now that she’s registered as an independent. “I’ll be speaking with her, probably tomorrow,” Patton Mills says. “I’ll ask if she’d like to send a letter resigning from the chairmanship.”…
Fashion Show Benefits Habitat for Humanity
Hard Hats & High Heels Features Clothing Made from Reused Materials
Will Peduto face a “third” party challenger in the fall?
Sort of a funny piece of business in this Post-Gazette story about Bill Peduto’s win in this week’s mayoral primary: One of Mr. Peduto’s critics, city council President Darlene Harris, switched her registration from Democratic to independent a month before the primary. Beyond confirming her changed partisan status, however, Mrs. Harris would not elaborate on…
Lynn Cullen Live 05/23/13
Video Archive Why do people walk in the street when there is a sidewalk there?; strange bumper stickers around town; Pgh Pirates in the top 4 right now; PG’s Random Acts of Kindness; no one came out to vote in Norwin; Pittsburghers are granfalloons; Darlene Harris switched to an Independent; Peduto’s election #’s; PA legislature…
A different look at AJ Richardson
Photo at left by Jason Snyder; Photo at right by Heather Mull AJ Richardson with tattoos and without. A funny thing happened last week during our cover shoot with Sheraden resident and mayoral candidate AJ Richardson — he lost his tattoos. Our photographer Heather Mull shot this week’s cover in the studio of fellow photographer…
A Tale of Two Wards: Measuring the enthusiasm gap in mayoral race
In days to come, pundits and politicos will be doing all kinds of analysis of yesterday’s mayoral primary, looking for big-picture trends and story lines in Bill Peduto’s triumph over Jack Wagner. But if you want to start getting a feel for how this race played out, you can do so by starting small –…
Peduto, and his coalition, sweep city elections
Yesterday’s municipal primary was a big night for Pittsburgh — the election not just of a new mayor, but of a new governing coalition — even if the number of people paying attention was small. City Councilor Bill Peduto won the primary, which will almost certainly make him the city’s next mayor — a post…
First Aid: County offers program to help residents identify signs of mental illness
When it comes to discussing the stigma around mental illness, Mike Gruber easily rattles off a list of myths that the public often holds: People who have mental illness or substance-abuse disorders are dangerous, lazy, weak or even immoral. “All of those myths can cause shame and embarrassment,” says Gruber, system-transformation coordinator in the Office…
Renoir
Gilles Bourdos’ film depicts a few months in the life of Auguste Renoir, as the famed impressionist painter grows increasingly infirm. It’s France in 1915, and while Europe is beset with war, it’s a gorgeous, peaceful summer at Renoir’s country estate on the Cote d’Azur. The crippled Renoir (Michel Bouquet) is inspired by the arrival…
On the Record with mayoral candidate AJ Richardson
Historians may eventually say that City Paper erred in calling the 2013 Democratic mayoral primary for AJ Richardson before the election actually took place But in case we’re wrong, and one of those other guys manages to pull out the win, we wanted to check in with Richardson, of Sheraden, to find out what his…
The Van Allen Belt makes music as if it was a movie
THE VAN ALLEN BELT 7-INCH RELEASE with MRS. PAINTBRUSH, DJ RICHARD ELMSWORTH. 9:30 p.m. Fri., May 31. Brillobox 4104 Penn Ave. Bloomfield. $5. 412-621-4900 or brillobox.net The Van Allen Belt has, in the six years since its first release, grown into a Pittsburgh band with an out-of-Pittsburgh reputation, a band that’s toured the West Coast…
The Mother of All Brunches
For the past six years, my family has been celebrating Mother’s Day with brunch at the five-star LeMont. And for the past six years, I have had to think to myself, What have I done to deserve this? Or better yet, Why doesn’t my husband keep our three young lunatics while I go to LeMont…
The Dandy Warhols’ Zia McCabe talks about the band’s success and the role of advertising in music
THE DANDY WARHOLS with THE SHIVAS. 8 p.m. Tue., May 28. Mr. Small’s Theatre 400 Lincoln Ave. Millvale. $35. All ages. 412-821-4447 or mrsmalls.com After forming in the mid-’90s, The Dandy Warhols gained prominence in the early 2000s, with help from a major British commercial placement. The band is currently on a tour playing the…
Savage Love
Twenty-one-year-old female here. When we were both 14, my first boyfriend took advantage of me. One day, we were kissing with him on top of me. We were both fully clothed, and he started rubbing up against me. I didn’t realize he was dry-humping me until after he had to leave to clean himself up.…
YMCA Lighthouse Project helps students become musicians
“It all started with a pencil and some yellow lined paper,” says Kielle Deanda of hip-hop/soul collective Profound Myndz. “Mr. Phill forced me to sit next to him and write a song. At first he helped me come up with a concept. He said, ‘What do you think of when you hear this beat?’ And…
Short List: May 22 – 29
Spotlight: Sat., May 25 — Exhibit All the hoopla over that nesting pair of bald eagles along the Mon, in Hays — and their presumably adorable eaglet — obscures the fact that not all birds of prey are so revered. Take vultures. They won’t win any beauty contests, and feasting on carrion isn’t a ticket…
Lynn Cullen Live 05/22/13
Video Archive Guest: Chris Potter; Peduto wins!; small voter turnout; effects of the negative advertising; Wagner’s ungracious concession; AJ Richardson on this week’s CP cover; Pittsburgh isn’t the same politically as it used to be; how Peduto will change city dynamics; other election winners & losers; how Jennifer Satler got endorsed; Josh Wander, the Jewish…
Sienna Sulla Piazza
Sienna Sulla Piazza 22 Market Square Downtown. 412-681-6363 Hours: Mon.-Thu. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri. 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sat. noon-11 p.m. Prices: Lunch $7-19. Dinner: soups, salads and antipasti $7-12; entrees $15-22. Liquor: Full bar The extensive reconstruction of Market Square was meant to create a European-style plaza, a curb-free zone where cars creep through, yielding…
One More Slice: Customers pay respects to late pizza-shop owner, Joe Aiello
Pittsburgh City Councilor Corey O’Connor’s usual order at Aiello’s Pizza has always been “two off the top” — a couple of slices, plain — to which he has always added crushed red pepper. And Joe Aiello, the late owner of the Squirrel Hill pizza shop, would always scold. “He would say, ‘What the hell are…
For local cyclists, all roads lead to the OTB Bike Café
The first thing most people notice when walking along the 2500 block of East Carson Street is that 45 feet of premium car parking has been transformed into a bike corral. Convincing the city to give up automobile parking in an area where finding a spot is nearly impossible “was a really big achievement” says…
Tea-vendor Gryphon Saldin sets up shop along Butler Street in Lawrenceville
Tea wasn’t Gryphon Saldin’s first passion — after high school, he wanted to go into video-game design. But little by little, the Ingram resident began to realize that perhaps his interest in tea was a more feasible way to make a living. “I was watching the game industry change,” he explains. “It got to where…
Aaronel deRoy Gruber’s work gets an engaging survey at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art
AARONEL DEROY GRUBER: ART(IST) IN MOTION continues through June 2. Westmoreland Museum of American Art, 221 N. Main St., Greensburg. 724-837-1500 or wmuseumaa.org Making the road trip to the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, in closer-than-I-remembered Greensburg, I expected small sculptures on widely spaced pedestals. Instead, I entered a veritable funhouse, an arcade-like gallery packed…
The National Cartoonists Society comes to town.
THE REUBEN AWARDS EXHIBITION opens Thu., May 23 ($150 VIP ticket for 7:30 p.m. reception). Exhibit continues through Aug. 25. 945 Liberty Ave., Downtown. 412-232-0199 or toonseum.org PITTSBURGH COMIC ARTS FESTIVAL 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun., May 26. Various venues 900 block of Liberty Avenue Downtown. Street fest is free, other ticket prices vary. pghcomicartsfest.com You…
South Park Theatre’s Moonlight & Valentino
MOONLIGHT & VALENTINO continues through June 1. South Park Theatre Corrigan Drive and Brownsville Road South Park. $12. 412-831-8552 or southparktheatre.com As I was sitting at South Park Theatre reviewing its production of Ellen Simon’s Moonlight & Valentino, I kept coming back to the question “Why?” Not “why?” as in “Why do I review theater?”…
Critics’ Picks: May 22 – 30
[ACOUSTIC] + THU., MAY 23 Blues guitarist Scott Ainslie is just as much a preserver of the art of blues as he is a musician. He has transcribed recordings by Delta blues musicians, and learned a trick or two from Southern Appalachian fiddlers and many others. It’s this knowledge of blues history that really sets…
Poet Scott Silsbe’s new collection looks back on life.
Nostalgia is something I’ve pondered more since my 40th birthday. From the 65 pages of poems in Scott Silsbe’s new collection from Six Gallery Press, Unattended Fire, it seems he’s been ruminating over his life, as well. This is no knock, as poetry is often at its best when being clear and contemplative rather than…
New Releases
Nightly Standard Nightly Standard (Self-released) Great songwriting, excellent performance and top-quality recording on this five-song EP from the local soul-rock-jazz outfit. Laura Frederickson’s powerful vocals open the disc with a bang on the barn-burner “Not Meant to Be,” and the shifts in energy throughout the next four tunes are pulled off masterfully. This one does…
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
The Reluctant Fundamentalist Directed by: Mira Nair Starring: Riz Ahmed, Kiefer Sutherland, Liev Schreiber, Kate Hudson In English, and Urdu, with subtitles. Starts Fri., May 24. Regent Square. How seemingly ordinary people turn to espousing and acting on extreme views is the investigation of The Reluctant Fundamentalist, adapted from Mohsin Hamid’s novel and directed by…
‘Death by a Thousand Cuts’: Budget cuts from federal sequester taking toll on local social programs
In tough economic times, organizations like the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank usually see an increase in the number of people who need their services. But thanks to budget cuts brought on by the federal government’s sequester, money to fund those services is getting harder to come by. “The changes that we see due to…
Star Trek Into Darkness
Well, first: Into Darkness — worst title ever. Star Trek dramas have been darker. (Borg, anyone?) The movie, though, is better than its name, and certainly better than director J.J. Abrams’ first Star Trek revival four years ago, when he flipped a big fat two-handed bird to the series’ fans and insolently blew up (literally)…
