Save Darfur
Civil strife in Sudan is an old story, and Simon Deng lived it. Now he’s speaking at a literary and musical fund-raiser on Fri., Oct. 27.
Camino Real
The problem with thinking that Shakespeare was the greatest writer of all time is that, at some point, you have to rationalize his really junky plays — King John, Timon of Athens, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure. I have the same trouble with Tennessee Williams and his huge, and hugely uneven, body of work. The…
The Cheats
Life’s Short mines familiar territory, but with an occasional twist.
Promises, Promises
I know, I know: You’re sick of reading about Rick Santorum here. And I’m sick of writing about him. So I’m making this campaign promise: If Santorum loses on Nov. 7, I’ll never write about him again. And in this column, I’m just going to quote him in his own words. A lot has been…
CK9 and the Old E Allstars
On Funk in Your Hand, you get the sense that local funk/jam band CK9 and the Old E Allstars are pulling their punches.
Signal To Noise
Pop-punk act Transition is going through some changes. After nearly eight years, the Pittsburgh-based group (featured in CP 06/07/06) is splitting up. What ultimately divided the band, says guitarist Steve Biringer, was the balancing act that formed it: juggling popular appeal and varying degrees of a Christian lifestyle. (Translation: Some members wanted to party.) Though…
Swan Songs
Swan Lake offers a last chance to witness the brilliance of the company’s most popular dancers.
Casey Has It In the Bag
I should run for office. It’s not that I’d be good at it or anything: I have way too many skeletons in my closet. And since I worked in government before, I know it can be tedious. But I have learned I’m completely willing to compromise my principles to get what I want … and…
Talk to the Injured Hand
If mom or dad ever kissed your boo-boo, you’ve experienced a healing suggestion while in an altered state of consciousness — pain. That’s the essence of emergency hypnosis, a technique Munhall hypnotherapist John Weir hopes to popularize among Pittsburgh’s medical personnel. Better known as verbal first-aid, the idea is to start the mind healing with…
Election Guide 2006
To look around, you’d almost never know Pennsylvania could be leading a sea change in national politics on Election Day. Depending on the outcome of a handful of Congressional races statewide, Pennsylvania could help the Democrats retake the U.S. House of Representatives. And if Senate candidate Bob Casey defeats incumbent Republican Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania could…
The Prestige
It’s hard to say much about The Prestige without giving away its “secrets.” Yes, those quotation marks are meant to be smug.
U.S. Congress District 4
There’s one thing that Democrat Jason Altmire wants you to know about his Congressional campaign: “We can win.” And that’s been the most surprising twist in this race for the 4th Congressional District — which includes all of Beaver and Lawrence counties, northern Allegheny County, and portions of three other counties nearby. Since being elected…
The Queen
The Queen is one of those rare dramas that invites you to wonder how they know this stuff.
U.S. Congress District 18
Chad Kluko needs to hope that the current national swell of support for Democrats turns into a tidal wave by Election Day. Kluko, a businessman raised in Monroeville but only recently returned to the area, is the Democratic nominee trying to unseat two-term Rep. Tim Murphy, a Republican. He is counting on one set of…
The Pittsburgh International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
The 21st annual Pittsburgh International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival continues through Sun., Oct. 29. There will be a closing-night party at the Cheesecake Factory, at the SouthSide Works. Films and videos screen at the Harris Theater and Byham Theater, both Downtown; the SouthSide Works, South Side; and the Melwood Screening Room, in Oakland. Tickets…
State House of Representatives: 20th District
Democratic incumbent Don Walko has been representing the 20th district since 1995. He prides himself on the block grants he’s gotten for community groups in the district, which includes parts of the North Side, Lawrenceville, the Strip District and the North Hills. And he touts his work with the state’s “Growing Greener” initiatives to help…
Sun Penang
Sun Penang spices up the mix of Asian restaurants in one of Pittsburgh’s most diverse dining neighborhoods.
State House of Representatives: 22nd District
“I’m sure you could characterize it as a nasty race,” says Chelsa Wagner, the Democratic hopeful seeking to represent Pittsburgh’s South Hills in the state House. The attorney and first-time political candidate with the well-known Pittsburgh name is challenging Michael Diven, former city councilor, former write-in candidate and former Democrat. While her name casts a…
This Just In: Week of Oct. 26
Local TV news highlights
State House of Representatives: 27th District
Tom Petrone has represented the 27th district, which includes parts of Crafton, Dormont, Ben Avon, McKees Rocks, and Neville and Stowe townships, for 26 years. In that time, his campaign boasts, his office has compiled a record of helping seniors with their taxes, and supporting economic development projects like funding for Heinz Field and PNC…
Letters to the Editor: Week of Oct. 26
Response from our readers
State House of Representatives: 30th District
Shawn Flaherty is gaining attention in Harrisburg: The political newsletter Pennsylvania Report dubbed him “Rookie of the Year.” For Democrat Shawn Flaherty, 2006 “is getting to be a long period of campaigning.” So far this year, Flaherty says, he’s knocked on 10,000 doors in the 30th district, which includes Hampton, O’Hara and parts of Ross.…
Production Procedures Productions
It takes a certain gallows humor to assemble a compilation of local bands celebrating Halloween in all its death, decay and debauchery. But to do so faithfully each year? That requires the shared goofy ghoulishness of Sandy Patton and brothers Jonathan and Jason Dowling. “Production Procedures Productions” is a hefty handle for these three friends…
State House of Representatives 33rd district
In a typical election year, the state House race for the 33rd legislative district would seem like an arm-wrestling match between Goliath and David. Cheswick Republican Eileen Watt, a relative unknown, takes on Frank Dermody, an Oakmont Democrat running for his ninth term. But thanks to public outrage over the Harrisburg pay-raise fiasco, this year…
Mush Records Tour
The archetypal Greek inventor Daedalus and his modern-day namesake (real name Alfred Weisberg-Roberts) share a penchant for labyrinthine complexity: While the ancient Daedalus built the Labyrinth of Knossos to contain the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull monster, Santa Monica, Calif.-based producer Weisberg-Roberts is gaining a name in the independent music world for creating his own maze-like…
State House of Representatives: 42nd District
In an election season where the old guard has been challenged as never before, two Young Turks are battling for the chance to represent the South Hills in the state House. The excitement in this 42nd district began during a three-person race in the Republican primary, when two-term incumbent Tim Stevenson was toppled by Mark…
A Bill of Goods
There is a word for the Pittsburgh City Council: embarrassing. Council’s May 31 “debate” about new spending limits was laughable. Councilors Bill Peduto and Doug Shields introduced a measure that would have stopped an absurd practice. Currently, as Shields put it, if a councilman wants to, he can take, say, $500 out of his miscellaneous…
Deerhoof
The deftness with which Deerhoof stitches together saccharine twee pop, outsider rock and no-wave noise has made it the indie darling of the decade. Inhabiting a niche of sonic terrain between the iconoclastic innocence of The Shaggs and the experimental coolness of Sonic Youth, the group highlights the harmony and tension inherent in blending opposites.…
City Council District 1 Special Election
Ask Darlene Harris why she’s the most qualified candidate to replace Mayor Luke Ravenstahl in Council District 1 and she’ll point to her eight years as a member of the Pittsburgh City School Board. Unfortunately for Harris, though, those eight years were often tumultuous — and could send voters looking for an alternative, even though…
A Wag’s Dogs
Throughout his career, William Wegman has drawn his strength from simplicity, both of process and intention. His work doesn’t claim to espouse elaborate philosophies, and his photographs don’t rely on heavy texts for illumination. Conceptual threads and cultural context weave in and out of his work casually. His most memorable works have relied on simple…
Negativland
Negativland’s 1991 brush with U2 is legendary. “We’ve never had a hit record, but we did have a hit lawsuit,” jokes founding member Mark Hosler. When the collage collective released a single that intercut a U2 anthem with Casey Kasem, Negativland saw the ensuing legal maelstrom as an opportunity “to get our two cents’ worth…
Top 20 reasons to vote against Rick Santorum
After months of political ads and campaigning, it’s easy to forget why anyone goes to the polls at all. So as a public service to voters who want to put aside the partisanship and bickering of Washington, City Paper offers this partial list of highlights from Sen. Rick Santorum’s career. 20) Santorum on the pedophile…
What Moves You
On a sunny late-September morning, Rick Schweikert stands on the sidewalk outside the five-story building he co-owns on Fifth Avenue, in the Downtown end of Uptown. The building is among those the Sports & Exhibition Authority recently agreed to purchase in order to demolish them to make way for a new hockey arena. A young…
Theatre Festival in Black and White
The Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company’s Theatre Festival in Black and White is in its fourth season. And I’m excited to say that year’s festival features, far and away, not only the most consistently thrilling writing of all four years but, indeed, some of the best playwriting going on in this city right now. As in…
In the Midnight Hour
I spent the first half of the first act trying to figure out what was happening, and the second half trying to figure out how to describe it.
