Lynn Cullen Live 10/01/13
Video Archive Phone guest: Susan; Pirates playoff game TODAY!; government shutdown, what’s happening in DC & who’s affected; sequester still not resolved; even Syria still has a functioning gov’t; radical Repubs trying to destroy the country; late 90s gov’t shutdown; Americans unmoved by what’s happening; startling gun death stats; IQ vs. EQ; Callers: PJ, Greensburg…
Lynn Cullen Live 09/30/13
Video Archive Guest: Daniel Kovalik, author of PG article, Death of an Adjunct; impact of the story near & far; why adjunct faculty needs to be unionized; school loans & university tuitions; Duquesne: too Catholic to unionize?; Rob Rogers’ cartoon in today’s PG; where the term “living wage” came from; Obits: Michael Ward ( Birdie…
Despite a steep uphill climb, Independent Les Ludwig thinks he can make a run at Peduto
Les Ludwig has run for mayor before — as a write-in candidate. Voters wrote him off instead. But the Squirrel Hill resident is hoping to change all of that. On the November ballot this year, Ludwig’s name will appear on the ballot as an Independent candidate, challenging presumptive front-runner Democratic nominee Bill Peduto. And while…
Recap: Kurt Vile & The Violators at Carnegie Lecture Hall, 9/25
Kurt Vile & The Violators played an intimate, unpolished and warm set for Warhol’s Sound Series Wednesday night.
Beat ‘Em Bucs: Some tunes to help you raise the Jolly Roger
Some Bucs tunes, from Benny Benack to Myron Cope and Gene the Werewolf
Restructured Port Authority board meets for the first time
In a meeting lasting just a few minutes, the Port Authority board convened for the first time since a new law took effect that allows state officials to appoint five of the expanded 11 member board. Gov. Tom Corbett, who is allowed one appointee, has not yet announced his pick. In a unanimous vote, the…
Slow Machete to perform at Haiti benefit concert
International group Slow Machete will perform on Saturday at a concert to benefit Haiti.
“Skull” winds down; PICT announces new season
Next season includes “Blithe Spirit,” “Waiting for Godot”
Lynn Cullen Live 09/27/13
Video Archive Guest: Chris Potter; duck puns; 40ft. duck coming to our river; Ray from Lawrenceville on Catholicism & the Holy Trinity; the cruel hoax of Santa & the Tooth Fairy; local dancer scores genius grant; SNAP cuts being made while widow payments going out; Obamacare originally a Republican proposal; backlash at Univ. of Kansas…
“Genius grant” choreographer from Pittsburgh
Kyle Abraham gets prestige, big cash award
Lynn Cullen Live 09/26/13
Video Archive Technology advances; surveillance — what’s okay & what isn’t; our country’s gun problem; kids rely too much on their parents, even as adults; power of multi-national corporations; Ted Cruz needs to re-read Green Eggs & Ham; George Bush Sr. witness at a gay marriage in Maine; David DeAngelo on the Holy Trinity; what…
Central Web Site For Regional “Art Places” Unveiled
Pittsburgh Art Places is searchable and interactive
Rubber Duck Updates
Artist responds to copyright flap
VIA Visuals
VIA’s focus on the visual-electronic arts is sometimes overshadowed by the music lineup (especially since we’re writing about it for the music section of the paper). But the festival organizers are equally dedicated to both aspects of the experience, drawing talent both locally and internationally. And the multimedia events frequently offer a kind of art…
Host a fancy hot-dog bar at home
If you host a playoff-baseball party, it’s only logical that you offer the classic baseball food: hot dogs. But don’t just serve plain ol’ wieners — give your guests a full-fledged hot-dog bar! Here are some hints on how to stock up so you can, frankly, hit it out of the park. The classics: Just…
PCA Emerging Artist of the Year Lenka Clayton’s interventions are clever, surprising and delightful.
LENKA CLAYTON: EMERGING ARTIST OF THE YEAR continues through Nov. 3. Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, 6300 Fifth Ave., Shadyside. 412-361-0873 or pittsburgharts.org Lenka Clayton has developed a way of making art that involves about as little overhead as writing poetry — i.e., her time and thought are the primary, and most valuable, components. No…
Mission Control Recordings hopes to help indie artists with structure
Braddock native Lee Davis graduated from Woodland Hills High School in 1988, but he credits his two years at Taylor Allderdice High School for inspiring his career in the music business. “The people that went there, because of their background, everybody was a free spirit,” he says. “Hip hop was really big at Allderdice, especially…
A review of Jeffrey Condran’s short-story collection A Fingerprint Revealed
Running through Jeffrey Condran’s excellent debut short-story collection, A Fingerprint Revealed (Press 53), is an intriguing thread: Each of the 10 otherwise diverse stories depicts non-Islamic Americans interacting with Muslims. But while some of these stories have clear political overtones — characters confronting immigration or anti-terrorism laws, for instance — most of them delve into…
Critics’ Picks: September 25 – October 1
[ALT-COUNTRY] + THU., SEPT. 26 If recent Breaking Bad episodes have piqued your interested in the Wild West, leave it to Juniper Rising to take you there — without the violence and meth labs, of course. The Brooklyn-based four-piece has been together for only a year, but their captivating mix of lo-fi surf rock and…
Cabaret at The Theatre Factory
CABARET continues through Oct. 6. The Theatre Factory, 235 Cavitt Ave., Trafford. $16-18. 412-374-9200 or TheTheatreFactory.com The Theatre Factory in Trafford launches its 19th season in a very big way — with the musical Cabaret, with a book by Joe Masteroff, and music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb. That director Scott P.…
On the Record with Billy Bragg
BILLY BRAGG with JOE PURDY. 7 p.m. Tue., Oct 1. Mr. Small’s Theatre, 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $25-40. All ages. 412-821-4447 or mrsmalls.com British folk-rocker Billy Bragg plays Mr. Small’s Tue., Oct. 1, his first Pittsburgh appearance since 1997. He talked with CP via phone about football (and music; read more on our music blog,…
Belgian troupe’s Kiss & Cry blends performance disciplines; Unlisted: Second Steel explores city spaces
Performance-art troupes frequently blur genres, for instance blending video with live action. Belgium-based NanoDanses takes things one step further, if not two. Choreographer Michèle Anne De May and filmmaker Jaco Van Dormael’s Kiss & Cry tells the story of an elderly woman recalling her greatest loves. But the actors are the hands of performers that…
Hometown Hero: For Neil Walker, Pirates success is extra special
Navigation: Hometown Hero: For Neil Walker, Pirates success is extra special On the Record with Frank Coonelly, president of the Pittsburgh Pirates Payoff Pitch: After 20 losing seasons, Pirates fans finally get something to cheer about Chris Peters looks back on his time in the middle of the Pirates’ losing streak Writer Wrong?: Does the…
With photos and oral history, a new book portrays Roberto Clemente mostly through the eyes of his family.
Pittsburgh Pirates legend Roberto Clemente has been gone for more than 40 years, but his name remains the one most closely tied to the franchise. Many fans even claimed there was no way that Clemente’s number, 21, would be tied to 21 consecutive losing seasons. As important as Clemente’s legacy is to Pittsburgh, it’s infinitely…
On the Record with Frank Coonelly, president of the Pittsburgh Pirates
Navigation: Hometown Hero: For Neil Walker, Pirates success is extra special On the Record with Frank Coonelly, president of the Pittsburgh Pirates Payoff Pitch: After 20 losing seasons, Pirates fans finally get something to cheer about Chris Peters looks back on his time in the middle of the Pirates’ losing streak Writer Wrong?: Does the…
Montreal’s Compagnie Marie Chouinard stages U.S. premieres here
COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD performs 8 p.m. Sat., Sept. 28. Byham Theater, 101 Sixth St., Downtown. $19-$55. 412-456-6666 or trustarts.org Canadian choreographer Marie Chouinard says she has butterflies in her stomach over her latest work, “Gymnopédies.” That’s because when I spoke with her recently about the work that premiered in Lisbon, Portugal, this past June, she…
Payoff Pitch: After 20 losing seasons, Pirates fans finally get something to cheer about
Navigation: Hometown Hero: For Neil Walker, Pirates success is extra special On the Record with Frank Coonelly, president of the Pittsburgh Pirates Payoff Pitch: After 20 losing seasons, Pirates fans finally get something to cheer about Chris Peters looks back on his time in the middle of the Pirates’ losing streak Writer Wrong?: Does the…
Museum Hours
Museum Hours Directed by: Jem Cohen Starring: Bobby Sommer, Mary Margaret O’Hara In English, and German, with subtitles. Starts Fri., Sept. 27. Regent Square It’s difficult to appreciate art by looking at pictures of it. Part of the power of any piece comes from being in its presence, just inches from the artist’s brushstroke or…
Chris Peters looks back on his time in the middle of the Pirates’ losing streak
Navigation: Hometown Hero: For Neil Walker, Pirates success is extra special On the Record with Frank Coonelly, president of the Pittsburgh Pirates Payoff Pitch: After 20 losing seasons, Pirates fans finally get something to cheer about Chris Peters looks back on his time in the middle of the Pirates’ losing streak Writer Wrong?: Does the…
Prisoners
Denis Villeneuve’s thriller Prisoners begins with a decent premise: After two children are abducted and police release the only suspect, one of the fathers takes matters into his own hands with violent results. This could have been an interesting drama about people pushed to extremes, shifting morality (does one crime justify another?) and how tenuous…
Writer Wrong?: Does the Pirates’ current success mean that our past criticisms were off the mark?
Navigation: Hometown Hero: For Neil Walker, Pirates success is extra special On the Record with Frank Coonelly, president of the Pittsburgh Pirates Payoff Pitch: After 20 losing seasons, Pirates fans finally get something to cheer about Chris Peters looks back on his time in the middle of the Pirates’ losing streak Writer Wrong?: Does the…
Baggage Claim
You know how when you’re at the baggage claim you notice that everyone’s suitcase looks almost exactly the same? Same deal with most rom-coms — pretty much the same story, only the actors, the city and the protagonists’ occupations change. In David E. Talbert’s version, Montana (Paula Patton) is a Baltimore flight attendant who uses…
Gene the Werewolf leads the way with the first Pirates fight song in quite some time
Navigation: Hometown Hero: For Neil Walker, Pirates success is extra special On the Record with Frank Coonelly, president of the Pittsburgh Pirates Payoff Pitch: After 20 losing seasons, Pirates fans finally get something to cheer about Chris Peters looks back on his time in the middle of the Pirates’ losing streak Writer Wrong?: Does the…
Don Jon
Jon (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a successful New Jersey lothario, though he freely admits he prefers masturbating to Internet porn. Then he meets a “dream” girl (Scarlett Johansson), and tries to make a go of a real-life relationship. Some parts of Gordon-Levitt’s film — he wrote and directed this comedy — are a funny send-up of…
Savage Love
I’m a 23-year-old homo. Life has done good and bad things to me. Good things include intelligence, a full ride to college and a job with a six-figure income. Sadly, my place in life is different from the place occupied by most other young gay men. When meeting someone, I am often bummed to discover…
Portrait of Jason
One night in 1966, filmmaker Shirley Clarke and her crew set up in the Hotel Chelsea apartment of Jason Holliday, and filmed him for 12 hours. It’s simply Holliday in one corner, but the middle-aged man commands the camera — smoking, drinking, singing, laughing and recounting episodes from his life as a gay man, a…
Short List: September 25 – October 2
SPOTLIGHT: Fri., Sept. 27 — Event Fair warning: Starting Friday, there’ll be a 40-foot-tall yellow rubber duckie floating in the Allegheny. That night, the duck docks by the Roberto Clemente Bridge to mark the start of the Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts. The month-long Pittsburgh Cultural Trust showcase features world and U.S. premieres by international…
Rush
Director Ron Howard is partial to old-school-Hollywood storytelling, and when all the pieces line up right, these are some of his more enjoyable films. Rush, about the early-1970s rivalry between two Formula 1 race-car drivers, is in this camp. It’s a well-paced bio-pic about two conveniently different men — James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth), the carefree…
Damn this rain
falling day inday out my thoughts a downpour of how I would place my tongue wrap my thigh in a vise-like squeeze that holds you in tight how when up against you I would ride meyou into moist friction hoisting the heft of ourselves so we fastenand fit into all this dampness — Cj Coleman…
Salinger
For all of the mystique he created about himself by refusing to be a public figure, J.D. Salinger lived a rather conventional artist’s life: compelled to write in his youth, damaged by witnessing horrors (D-Day and Dachau), and a narcissist who cared more passionately about his writing than about the people closest to him, most…
Social
Social 6425 Penn Ave., Larimer. 412-362-1234 Hours: Sun.-Thu. 11 a.m.-midnight; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Prices: $4-12 except large pizzas, $18-19 Liquor: Full bar A double entendre can be witty, but sometimes a single dose is enough. Opening a restaurant/bar downstairs from the Google offices and calling it Social, for instance, is a move far more…
VIA Festival returns for year four, featuring hip hop, noise and more
VIA FESTIVAL featuring KINK, ACTRESS, ADULT, JACQUES GREENE, PHARMAKON, many more. Tue., Oct 1-Sun., Oct. 6. Various venues citywide. Passes $60-140; individual events free-$25. via-pgh.com Every year since its inception in 2010, the VIA Festival has taken on a different form. From year one’s main stage at the state-of-the-art 31st Street Soundstage to last year’s…
For now, at least, Quiet Storm’s closing leaves local vegetarians feeling empty inside
By now, you’ve probably heard that the iconic veggie eatery Quiet Storm will close in October. While owner Jill MacDowell arranges a new partnership with Shadow Lounge/AVA’s Justin Strong, the turnover raises an important question: What’s the current state of vegetarian dining in Pittsburgh? “It’s a huge loss,” says Niki Penberg, founding organizer of the…
Lynn Cullen Live 09/25/13
Video Archive Explanation of the Holy Trinity; Benny Hinn is coming to Pittsburgh; what you need to know about Obamacare; what we’re paying in subsidies to big business; American exceptionalisms; Caller: Joe. Audio Only Archive
Wigle Whiskey to unveil two new products
The minds at Wigle Whiskey are restless. The owners of the Strip District distillery have already developed two white whiskeys, a series of aged whiskeys and a Dutch-inspired gin. Wigle has also been licensed as one of the first grain-to-bottle organic distilleries in the country. And the distillery isn’t yet two years old. What’s more,…
