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IN THIS WEEK’S ISSUE: LOVE + SEX 04 Roving sex trailer Dungeon Crawler
is coming to Pittsburgh’s streets
FOOD 08 Hoss’s holds a special place in my
chain restaurant-loving heart
BY AMANDA WALTZ
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LIT 07 Pittsburgh author Ed Simon
A+E 10 Janu-Scary: Pittsburgh is full of ways
to celebrate the spookiness of winter BY RACHEL WILKINSON
examines guitars, footballs, and other important objects in Relic BY REGE BEHE
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12 EVENTS
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Pittsburgh’s top events this week BY CP STAFF
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CHECK OUT THESE STORIES ONLINE: SOCIAL JUSTICE
Downtown’s Pitt Building to become a Black-owned business incubator BY COLIN WILLIAMS
14 Classifieds and Crossword FOOD + DRINK
Nine-year-old “food critic” samples Fig & Ash
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BY STACY ROUNDS
COVER ILLUSTRATION BY JEFF SCHRECKENGOST
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JANUARY 10 - 17, 2024
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LOVE + SEX
KINK ON THE GO
CP PHOTO: MARS JOHNSON
Bill Souza (center) poses with his wife Rachel (left) and his fiancee Mataya Costello at their home on Dec 8, 2023.
Roving sex trailer Dungeon Crawler is coming to Pittsburgh’s streets BY DADE LEMANSKI // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
O
n a rainy Pittsburgh afternoon at the end of 2023, in an East End coffee shop full of remote workers wearing bland, expensive leisurewear, Mataya Costello and Bill Souza are remarkable. It’s not only because, when they enter, they pause to regard the space — assessing the energy and flow
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(rather than arriving to the counter unaware of themselves, phone in hand, scrolling and muttering their order without looking up) — but because they are dressed dramatically, and as a pair, in a way only those more interested in each others’ authenticity than societal norms can. Their look is denim, dramatic boots, baby pink, and black leather.
Side by side, Costello and Souza are preparing to share their passions — BDSM, kink, and fetishes — with the city of Pittsburgh and the entire Western Pennsylvania region by way of a rentable mobile sex trailer called Dungeon Crawler. Inside the cafe, Souza and Costello step to the side, reading the menu at length and with care, then speak
to the baristas with respect, and tip appropriately, nearly giddy with anticipation for the pastries and espresso drinks that have become mundane to the crew cut and Arc’teryx jacket crowd. Costello and Souza, I will soon learn, are exquisitely attentive to one another, to whoever else they encounter, and to experience itself. Also, they live out
near the airport, where good coffee is hard to find. Souza, who wears his hair shaved on the sides and long on top, dyed purple, and flopping to the right, in the style of straight male doms everywhere, insists on buying me a coffee. It is bad journalistic practice to accept, but I do. Costello parts her long hair down the middle, and around her neck she has fastened both a baby-pink play collar with a heart-shaped D-ring in the center, as well as her day collar — a more discreet BDSM flag — in this case, a subtle necklace with a dangling cat charm. It pleases me that she recognizes my wedding ring as serving a similar function. It surprises me that she is here; Souza had made me think he was coming alone, but I soon come to see how much the two of them help each other to be comfortable and present out in the world.
yours, like nips in a minibar. (As at a hotel, patrons will also be welcome to bring their own toys rather than paying house prices.) Currently, the trailer itself is being built in Indiana, and the interior, which will feature custom sex furniture upholstered in deep purple leather, is being constructed by a specialist wood and leatherworker in Poland. Costello and Souza hope to be ready for a public open house some time in March, and bookings are already live on Dungeon Crawler’s website. At first glance, Dungeon Crawler might seem quite radical in its support of unusual and sometimes taboo formations of intimacy and desire, depending on the viewer and their vantage point. The mobile dungeon will have a St. Andrew’s Cross, a padded sawhorse, a queen bed with a stockade — so much furni-
“SOME PEOPLE — THEY THINK THAT UNLESS YOU’RE GETTING ELECTROCUTED IN A BEAR TRAP, SNORTING CUM, IT’S NOT KINK.” Costello’s dress, the same baby pink as the play collar, is printed with repeated images of a stylized capital letter D which ends in the flourish of a whip. Souza designed the dress, and the stylized D is Dungeon Crawler’s logo, which is repeated on Souza cellphone case and on the business cards he hands me — baby pink again — at the end of our meeting. The couple have come to the city to tell me about their new business venture. Dungeon Crawler is a mobile sex dungeon secreted inside an ordinary trailer that can be ordered on demand like a bounce house for a birthday party. “We have a truck; she and I will just hitch it on and drive it out, one hour, two hours,” Souza tells Pittsburgh City Paper. It can be parked discreetly at a curb like a rogue hotel room filled with luxury sex toys, which, if used, become CP PHOTO: MARS JOHNSON
ture it seems most inviting to a group, lest the space feel empty. The company works with a cohort of models who appear at events like munches (BDSM gatherings), queer craft fairs, and happy hours, and who pose for photos together, leaning back into one another, thighs spread, or holding one another by the throat, long fingernails extended and gleaming. These photographs populate Dungeon Crawler’s Instagram page. Costello, who is the lead model, introduced Souza, who is 15 years her senior, to kink after they met at a sex club near Pittsburgh three years ago. Now she lives near the airport with Souza and his legal wife, who moved to Pittsburgh with him when he got a job here nearly 20 years ago at an aerospace and defense company. Costello and Souza are engaged. So uz a’s w i fe , Ra ch e l , wa s n’ t KINK ON THE GO CONTINUES ON PG. 6
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JANUARY 10 - 17, 2024
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KINK ON THE GO CONTINUED FROM PG. 5
interested in joining him as he explored BDSM and polyamory, but she wanted to support him in doing so. Now, Souza says, the great gift of his life is that there is so much less lying. He, Costello, and his wife walk around the neighborhood holding hands, all together; it’s a relief to have friends over for game night and to know that they all understand his life choices. “It’s easier,” Souza says. “The connections are deeper, you can have more fun even playing a board game because you know these people understand you,” because those friends are in “the lifestyle” too. Souza is an older millennial, and he worries about discretion. For Costello, a Gen Z-er who’s always been into kink, Dungeon Crawler is simply part of her life now; she doesn’t have friends she’d need to hide herself from. Costello, who stretches in tall, spike-heeled black leather boots while we’re speaking, tells me about strong-arming her mom and stepdad into accepting the unusual relationship structure she’s adopted, about exploring her queerness from a young age, and thinking about her interest in intense sensation through the lens of her own autism. Souza is more reticent about his own desires and motivations, turning my personal questions into opportunities to outline the ins and outs of the dungeon launch, or pivot towards Costello, who is happy to talk and answer logistical questions that aren’t so much in Souza’s wheelhouse. (For those wondering, yes, the dungeon will be available to rent by anyone for any purpose.) Behind the scenes, Souza writes the copy, finagles the logistics, and finances most of the project, which he began in October after being laid off from his 20-year career. One of the main benefits of Dungeon Crawler’s trailer, he emphasizes, is its invisibility; anyone with $59-$299 to spare, depending on the length of experience desired and towing distance from Pittsburgh, can enjoy a session of two to 20 hours in the dungeon on wheels, almost without leaving the house; Souza and Costello plan to hitch the trailer to the back of their truck and ride it all over Western
Pennsylvania. Souza adds that he hopes photographers and models seeking locations for photo shoots, as well as people hoping to have a quickie, will take advantage of the shortest sessions. Notably, and uniquely, this experience will be available to patrons without their ever having to set foot in an adult bookstore, bathhouse, sex club, or play party — without having to admit desire to anyone beyond an already chosen partner or set of partners. Sex could happen in a realm of total, almost risk-free privacy, if that is the goal. Whatever a customer’s intentions, it seems essential, particularly to Costello, that Dungeon Crawler be hospitable and welcoming. Costello is indignant at the idea that there might be some right way to have sex, angry at some of the failures of inclusion she’s witnessed in the kink community: “Some people,” she tells me with a wink, leaning across her latte, “they think that unless you’re getting electrocuted in a bear trap, snorting cum, it’s not kink.” Souza beams as she says this. He appears to admire Costello, her bravery, her clarity around her own worth and desire. Costello is using his money to put that admiration to diligent use, creating a venue in which a person might get electrocuted in a bear trap snorting cum if they so choose, their lover looking on as they risk the pain of being known. Which is to say, Souza is, perhaps, trying to show Pittsburgh how it feels to be with Costello — to give them such an opportunity to tell the people they love what they want, and to have it. Will all that pleasure stay in the trailer, or spill out? In other words, will Pittsburgh’s private sex trailer remain just that, or does it have the potential to impact the city’s kink scene and foster a deeper sense of inclusion? I don’t think that’s something either Souza or Costello could tell me, even if I’d asked. But before I’d gotten the chance to, our hour was up, Souza had bussed all our plates, and he was walking Costello out the door, holding it open for her, promising to take her to lunch. •
CP PHOTO: MARS JOHNSON
Rachel Souza of Dungeon Crawler poses for a portrait at her home on Dec. 8, 2023.
CP PHOTO: MARS JOHNSON
Mataya Costello, a Dungeon Crawler model, poses for a portrait on Dec. 8, 2023.
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LIT
PHOTO: COURTESY OF ED SIMON
Relic author Ed Simon
WRITING RELICS BY REGE BEHE // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
A
n Elvis Presley guitar displayed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is no different than any guitar from that era. This is according to Ed Simon, who explores the meaning of relics in a new book. “The only thing that makes it important is that Elvis once touched it,” Simon tells Pittsburgh City Paper, writing in Relic that “any sports hall of fame is, in a literal sense, not much different than going to Dick’s Sporting Goods. A football is a football is a football. Except it’s not of course, at least not if we’re privy to a sense of the holy.” The underlying premise of Relic — part of Object Lessons, which Bloomsbury Publishing describes as
a “series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things” — developed while Simon was writing it. “I don’t always know what my arguments are going to be until I’ve actually written the thing,” he says. W h a t e m e rg e d d u r i n g t h e research and writing of Relic was a concept the Pittsburgh author deployed throughout the book — to not only explain what a relic is, but the tendency across cultures to endow normal objects with signi icance beyond their literal importance. “I think it’s very easy for people who are not maybe from a religious background to sort of look skeptically at that kind of practice,” Simon says of a concept he calls “relic logic.”
He adds, “but one of the things that I argue is that this tendency towards relic logic exists in all kinds of different realms that are oftentimes considered secular.” A launch for Relic will take place on Thu., an. at the Bloom ield based White Whale Bookstore, where Simon will discuss the book with Elise Ryan, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh English department. While the mere idea of a relic may seem super icial, the objects that acquire importance are not. In Relic, Simon examines various objects that have acquired a patina of sacredness or gravitas, from the Holy Face of Manoppello in Italy that’s reputed to show the face of Christ, to the football caught by the late Pittsburgh Steeler Franco Harris now displayed at the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum in the Heinz History Center. “Because of the existence of the mundane, prosaic world, relics can act as a conduit to something that is more important or bigger than us,” Simon says. “In a religious context we might call that the sacred. We might call it something else if we’re talking about art — authenticity or the sublime in different categories. But I absolutely think it’s a way of making prosaic reality important, meaningful. I think the key word is meaningful.” While relics related to sports, the arts, or politics need provenance to have value, that’s not necessarily the case with religious items. Sometimes, even duplicate items retain a spiritual resonance. In Relic, Simon writes that there are 18 sites that claim to possess the oly Prepuce, the sliver of flesh circumcised from the infant Jesus’ penis, and thus, after Christ’s ascent into Heaven, the only enduring physical manifestation of God on earth, and which appropriately looks like a wrinkled and withered flesh colored Eucharistic wafer.” By de inition there’s a contradiction there, and people in the Middle
Ages were aware of that,” Simon says. “The object itself can be less important sometimes than the collective cultural elevation of it being important … Provenance is kind of secondary.” Simon notes that he used local sites as examples because of his “vociferous Pittsburgh-hood.” But he also thinks that one can look anywhere and ind relic logic at work. “Pittsburgh might be a better place in some ways for inding those kinds of connections because you have things like St. Anthony’s, which claims to have the second largest number of Catholic relics in the world outside of the Vatican,” he says. But the idea of what constitutes a relic can be profound and transcend a mere collection of items. Citing a Tablet Magazine article, Simon writes about the Chevra Kadisha, a Jewish society that oversaw the burial of the victims gunned down in the 2018 Tree of Life massacre. Simon calls the Chevra Kadisha’s efforts a consummate enactment of relic logic, a demonstration of how honoring what is holy of the body is to honor what is good in the soul.” “If our embodiment is the source of our ethics, it must be born from an awareness that human hands can kill, but that they can also gather the remains of strangers as an act of love,” Simon writes. “Whether or not there is a God has no relationship to if we are to be good; for that "we have our sisters and brothers is justi ication enough. If you fear that there is a hell, it is in the space where man has enacted such violence on his fellow suffering humans. If you pray that there is a heaven, it is in the place where suffering humans work, hand in hand, to rebuild that world again.” •
Book Launch! Ed Simon discussing Relic with Elise Ryan. 7-8 p.m. Thu., Jan. 11. White Whale Bookstore. 4754 Liberty Ave., Bloomfield. Free. RSVP required. Livestream available. whitewhalebookstore.com/events
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JANUARY 10 - 17, 2024
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OPINION
CP PHOTO: JEFF SCHRECKENGOST
Hoss's in Belle Vernon, PA
HAVE A HOSSOME TIME BY AMANDA WALTZ // AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
B
efore Red Lobster, before Olive Garden, before even TGI Fridays, there was Hoss’s Steak & Seahouse. At least, that was the case in my hometown of Williamsport, Pa., a place that was slow to adopt even the most popular fast-casual chains (it was literally front-page news when a Starbucks finally arrived in the early 2000s). Still, even as shiny, new places moved in, my heart belonged to Hoss’s. It was where my family and
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I celebrated countless birthdays and anniversaries, where I had a final one-on-one dinner with my grandmother before, months later, she succumbed to Alzheimer’s, where I took my high school boyfriend for “fancy” dates. Even as a vegetarian, I still pine for the decidedly meat-based restaurant, recalling with fondness the days when I chased my little cousins around the labyrinth of tables en route to the kid-friendly salad bar. Unlike other chains, Hoss’s, I came
to find out while doing research for this piece, also has local roots with its base in Duncansville, Pa., located two hours from Pittsburgh. The first Hoss’s location opened in DuBois, and to this day, the company still operates under its founder, Willard E. “Bill” Campbell, and his family. While there are no Hoss’s locations in Pittsburgh proper, locals can travel to Grove City, Murrysville, or Belle Vernon to experience what the chain describes as a “Hossome”
time. Even so, the company winkingly accommodates its western Pa. guests, as one Hoss’s Facebook post from August 2023 reads, “Bottomless fries plus an all-you-can-eat salad bar makes putting fries on your salad a no-brainer.” While other chains offer all-youcan-eat shrimp, endless soup and salad, and faux vintage kitsch on the walls, Hoss’s has personality, as proven by its mascot, Hossman, a cleaver-wielding, mustachioed
butcher hoisting cuts of meat, his smile a little too wide, the whites of his eyes a little too exposed. He looks like the Mario Bros. kept secret a bloodthirsty third sibling who, instead of saving princesses from Bowser, was drowning Goombas behind the castle and storing the bodies in a chest freezer “for later.” Here, the comparatively small but varied salad bar offers soup galore, unmitigated access to a soft serve machine, and fresh, hot cinnamon bread paired with squirt bottles of icing. Here, you order meals off a giant, backlit, table-like menu that resembles the control panel of a spacecraft powered by sirloin tips and Maryland-style crab cakes. Here, you are not family, and you do not “sea food differently” — this is straightforward steak and potatoes, gloriously pictured in images burned onto the equivalent of a culinary windshield. The restaurant’s expansive, multiroom dining area, outfitted with
heavy wooden varnished chairs and bovine decor, looks something like a Wild West cafeteria. I recall the carpet being brownish, probably to hide the inevitable A.1. Sauce stains.
with their prized herd animals? (Hoss’s has long been a supporter of agriculturally-minded youth — one 1994 article reported that the chain paid $17,000 to a Lancaster County
HOSS’S EXUDES AN UNDERSTATED WACKINESS, A TRUE CAMPINESS, AN ANACHRONISTIC REFUSAL TO KEEP UP WITH TRENDS, ACHIEVING AN EARNEST QUALITY MANY ESTABLISHMENTS, IN AN ATTEMPT TO CURATE SOME KIND OF BLUE-COLLAR APPEAL, COULD ONLY IMITATE. Hoss’s exudes an understated wackiness, a true campiness, an anachronistic refusal to keep up with trends, achieving an earnest quality many establishments, in an attempt to curate some kind of blue-collar appeal, could only imitate. Yes, you have taxidermied animals in your bar, but do you have framed photographs of real-life 4-H kids posing
teen for his grand champion steer at the Pa. State Farm Show auction.) The Williamsport location also boasted a central, open fireplace plucked right out of the 1960s, giving the space a misplaced glamour that I only now appreciate in my adult years — what I wouldn’t give to go back and sit around the fire in a retro ski suit, sipping a cocktail, acting like an extra
in a Blake Edwards film. The more I explore Hoss’s and its history, the more endearing the company becomes. Last year, Hoss’s celebrated its 40th anniversary, making me realize that the company and I were born around the same time and grew up together. The chain saw me through my formative years and stands as a familiar friend that, unlike myself, has changed little over the decades. Other than a few more modern concessions (when last I visited the Murrysville location, I saw a turkey burger on the menu and packs of stevia were provided on the tables as a sugar alternative), it’s still the same unpretentious, meatslinging place. Hoss’s represents a bygone Pennsylvania that I swore to escape and now for which, on occasion, I feel nostalgic. And even as a vegetarian, I know I can always go back and dip into that Hossome salad bar. •
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JANUARY 10 - 17, 2024
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A+E
JANU-SCARY
Winter is the real spooky season, and Pittsburgh offers many ways to enjoy it. BY RACHEL WILKINSON//RWILKINSON@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
W
ith the 2024 heralded, post-holiday malaise setting in, and dark, snowy days upon us, it’s dif icult to know how to mark this time of year beyond declaring It’s winter. Mid anuary through mid ebruary speci ically encompass midwinter, typically the coldest and most desolate time of the year. To combat this, in recent years, Americans have embraced the Scandinavian concept of hygge, which involves gathering with family and friends to cultivate a sense of coziness and comfort — with The New Yorker even naming as the ear of Hygge. Bu t a s s o m e o n e wh o l ove s
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different ways of celebrating seasons and cycles, let’s go back to the festive period kicked off in fall, beginning with alloween. Those of us who love Halloween are often pitted against those who love Christmas. The narrative — pushed to drum up holiday rivalry and, likely, spending — goes there are Halloween people and there are Christmas people and never the twain shall meet (except for in The Nightmare Before Christmas, but that s it ). alloween is for lovers of the spooky and macabre, and Christmas, synonymous with cheer and warmth (and hygge), arrives to vacate the weirdos and set us on our proper cultural course. But historically, the two traditions
CP PHOTO: MARS JOHNSON
Community members play in a parade during a winter solstice festival in Allentown on Dec. 21, 2023.
are far more intertwined, and Halloween doesn’t end the spooky season, but, rather, begins it. Thus, this year, ahead of Pittsburgh City Paper’s forthcoming Winter uide, I sought out a midwinter maven to give a true rundown of the season. At the Allentown curiosities shop The Weeping Glass, owner and artist elly Braden curates a ule display and hosts an annual winter solstice celebration when those of us in the orthern emisphere receive the least amount of daylight all year (last year’s fell on Dec. ). That’s why we have this celebration, because it’s the darkest day of the year, Braden says. It’s dark, it’s cold It’s the death cycle of everything before it rebirths It’s a hard time of year. When we didn’t have all the se amenities, you had to prepare for a year ahead of time just so that you would survive those winter months. Braden tells City Paper she did a deep dive a couple of years ago on these traditions” following the growing popularity of Krampus, the horned goat like igure who stalks
the Alps alongside St. icholas, punishes wicked children, and, incidentally, has a huge Pittsburgh fanbase. rampus was the subject of his own horror ilm in — including a special promotion at Scare ouse featuring the movie’s costume and props — not to mention the city’s eight-years-running Krampus est in Market Square, headlined by Krampus-themed metal band Sleigher (which, last month, was honored with its own beer). Braden quickly discovered that many of the spookiest winter traditions involve the terrible things parents have come up with to scare their kids into submission during the holidays” and beyond. Every country kind of has this other than the Americas, who like to sugarcoat everything and not scare you , Braden tells CP. But a lot of countries have one dark entity that is a winter entity and the shadow of whatever St. icholas would be. So you have a giver for good people, and then you have the punisher. The Weeping Glass’ third annual
solstice celebration boasted a parade of yuletide af iliated monsters who marched with a live band through the alley behind the shop ( rampus himself helped partiers make tintypes). Among their ranks were lak tturinn, the huge Icelandic ule cat said to prowl the snowy countryside punishing children who didn’t complete their chores. According to Icelandic custom, children who inished their work before Christmas Eve received fresh winter clothes and socks — but the lazy faced the lurking, towering ule cat eating their dinner or possibly being eaten themselves. Also hailing from Iceland were ryla, an ogress, and her ule ads, who eat mischievous children who haven’t properly laid out shoes on their window sills. rau Perchta, the Belly Slitter, was a white robed witch, roaming the snow covered Alps similar to rampus, and meting out punishment to disobedient children, in the way her title implies.
telling ghost stories around the ire — often to keep children entertained — a practice that gave rise to perhaps the most well known Christmas story of all time, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, with its three spirits. The Weeping lass also carries the uletide auntings issue of the folk magazine Hellebore, subtitled A Summoning of Seasonal Terrors. The collection’s description references a time where there was not a village in England that had not a ghost in it, the churchyards were all haunted, every large common had a circle of fairies belonging to it, and there was scarce a shepherd to be met with who had not seen a spirit. ou can ind similar story collections online. or those with more modern sensibilities, midwinter is the perfect time to see a scary movie, something the arris Theater appreciates. ast year, the arris hosted a anuScary ilm estival — a portmanteau that, if the theater didn’t coin, it certainly
“A LOT OF COUNTRIES HAVE ONE DARK ENTITY THAT IS A WINTER ENTITY [AND] THE SHADOW OF WHATEVER ST. NICHOLAS WOULD BE. SO YOU HAVE A GIVER FOR GOOD PEOPLE, AND THEN YOU HAVE THE PUNISHER.” Braden notes the dark lore spans the Scandinavian, ermanic, and Eastern European. In that spirit the solstice celebration included a market serving Polish comfort food and the food truck Steel City Chimneys, which makes ungarian chimney cakes, or k rt skal cs, sugary cylinder shaped treats that actually steam like a chimney. Pittsburgh is a melting pot of Eastern Europe, Braden says, and a spooky solstice celebration calls back to immigrant traditions. In Western Europe, Braden says, the supernatural ties are also less than subtle. The Christmas song It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the ear includes a lyric explicitly referencing horror There’ll be scary ghost stories And tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago. This refers to the ictorian tradition of
helped popularize locally. Six horror ilms were showcased with lumbering monsters more recognizable to us rankenstein’s monster and mummies. This year, on ri., an. , the theater brings holiday horror fans a new restoration of the zombie classic Cemetery Man ( ), with Rupert Everett starring as graveyard caretaker. ater, on Sat., an. , catch a special one night screening of new horror flick The Dead Next Door — the irst ilm from director . . Bookwalter in years — kicking off a national tour. The movie centers around a vaccine gone awry during a global pandemic, where hopefully our winter tales told around the ire don’t hew too closely to real life. In the seemingly interminable Pittsburgh winter, thrills and chills are one way through. •
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JANUARY 10 - 17, 2024
11
NEIGHBORHOOD
SEVEN DAYS IN PITTSBURGH BY CP STAFF
SAT., 3 1 JAN. PHOTO: COURTESY OF UNIQU’ ARTS AND EXPECTED END ENTERTAINMENT
godguys at O’Reilly Theatre
THU., JAN. 11
Continues through Sun., Jan. 14. Pittsburgh Improv 166 East Bridge St., Homestead. $20-70. improv.com/pittsburgh
CONVENTION • MONROEVILLE
MUSIC • DOWNTOWN
Camping World of PGH RV Show. 4-8 p.m. Continues through Sun., Jan. 14. Monroeville Convention Center. 209 Mall Blvd., Monroeville. Free. monroevilleconventioncenter.com
MUSIC • DOWNTOWN
Delana Flowers. 6 p.m. Lounge at the Greer Cabaret. 655 Penn Ave., Downtown. Free. trustarts.org
COMEDY • STANTON HEIGHTS
Comedian Open House. 6:30-7:30 p.m. Steel City Arts Foundation. 4721 Stanton Ave., Stanton Heights. Free. Registration required. facebook.com/SteelCityAF
OUTDOORS • PLUM
Women & Nonbinary Beginner Snowboarding. 6:30-9 p.m. Boyce Park Ski Lodge. 901 Centerview Dr., Plum. $40-60. Registration required. ventureoutdoors.org
LIT • ONLINE
Mystery Lovers Bookshop Virtual Event: Stephen Spotswood with Lev AC Rosen. 7 p.m. Free. Registration required. mysterylovers.com
MUSIC • NORTH SIDE
Villagerrr, Bugcatcher, Gina Gory, and Clear Creek SP. 8 p.m. The Government Center. 715 East St., North Side. thegovernmentcenter.com
FRI., JAN. 12 COMEDY • HOMESTEAD
Steph Tolev. 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m.
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The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra welcomes conductor Petr Popelka and pianist Yulianna Avdeeva for Pictures at an Exhibition at Heinz Hall. Hear the titular piece by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky, as well as “Piano Concerto No. 3” by Sergei Prokofiev and the Pittsburgh premiere of Bohuslav Martinu’s “Thunderbolt P-47.” The evening also includes a Mussorgsky-inspired art exhibition and other activities. 8 p.m. Continues through Sun., Jan. 14. 600 Penn Ave., Downtown $25-102. pittsburghsymphony.org
be scavenger hunts and art-making, as well as treats like cookies and hot chocolate. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Continues through Sun., Jan. 14. 7227 Reynolds St., Point Breeze. Free. thefrickpittsburgh.org/Winterfest
FILM • DOWNTOWN
MUSIC • HOMESTEAD
MUSIC • OAKLAND
MLK Day Celebration: Park Place Ministries presents Music & Memories. 10 a.m. Park Place AME Church, 215 E. 10th Ave., Homestead. $25 suggested donation. battleofhomestead.org
Wick Monet International Film Festival. 12:30 p.m. Continues through Sat., Jan. 13. Harris Theater. 809 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $15. trustarts.org Sounds for the Season: Renaissance City Choir. 2 p.m. Carnegie Museum of Art. 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. Free. carnegieart.org
ART • SHARPSBURG
The Nonie Series: A Second Look Artist Reception. 5-8 p.m. Continues through Feb. 25. ZYNKA Gallery. 904 Main St., Sharpsburg. Free. zynkagallery.com
THEATER • SOUTH SIDE
FILM • LAWRENCEVILLE
Cult-O-Rama: Maniac Cop and Samurai Cop. 9 p.m. Row House Cinema. 4115 Butler St., Lawrenceville. $16. rowhousecinemas.com
South Side Stories Revisited. 5:30 p.m. Continues through Feb. 18. City Theatre 1300 Bingham St., South Side. $40-76. citytheatre.culturaldistrict.org
SAT., JAN. 13
FILM • OAKMONT
EXHIBITION • OAKLAND
Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Show: Into the Mist. 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Continues through March 3. Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. One Schenley Park, Oakland. Included with regular admission. phipps.conservatory.org
The Real Will Wood. 7-9 p.m. Doors at 6 p.m. The Oaks Theater. 310 Allegheny River Blvd., Oakmont. $22-95. theoakstheater.com
SAT., 3 JAN. 1
MUSIC • LAWRENCEVILLE
BLKNVMBR & VMG present Soon as I Get Home featuring Local Vocalists: Anqwenique, Erika Denae J, INEZ, and Simone. 8 p.m. Doors at 7 p.m. Thunderbird Music Hall. 4053 Butler St., Lawrenceville. $40-50. thunderbirdmusichall.com
FESTIVAL • POINT BREEZE
Don’t resent the cold weather — embrace it during the third-annual Winterfest at The Frick Pittsburgh, a weekend of family-friendly fun presented by various local arts organizations. Enjoy tours of the historic Clayton home, live performances by the South Hills Children’s Choir and Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks, and demonstrations by the Pittsburgh Glass Center. There will also
THEATER • DOWNTOWN
PHOTO: COURTESY OF BLKNVMBR
Erika Denae J, part of Soon as I Get Home at Thunderbird Music Hall
The O’Reilly Theatre hosts the Pittsburgh premiere of godguys, described as a “powerful narrative” that delves into the lives of “six African American men — five godbrothers and their godfather.” Produced by uNiqu’ Arts and Expected End Entertainment, the play, which
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., SAT 13 . JAN
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FREE MEALS AND DELIVERY FOR CLIENTS APPROVED BY MEDICAID PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE FRICK PITTSBURGH
Winterfest at The Frick Pittsburgh
originally staged in Atlanta, Ga., seeks to, with “inspirational, humorous, and thoughtprovoking content,” uncover the various struggles faced by Black men. 8-10 p.m. 621 Penn Ave., Downtown. $50. godguysPiDsburgh.eventbrite.com
SUN., JAN. 14 MUSIC • MILLVALE
An Evening with Lotus. 8 p.m. Doors at 7 p.m. Mr. Smalls Theatre. 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $30-35. mrsmalls.com
City. 40 W. North Ave., North Side. Free. Registration required. Livestream available. cityofasylum.org
MUSIC • STRIP DISTRICT
Robert Glasper. 9:30 p.m. Doors at 8 p.m. Continues through Wed., Jan. 17. City Winery. 1627 Smallman St., Strip District. $60-68. citywinery.com/pittsburgh
WED., JAN. 17 MUSIC • NORTH SIDE
MON., JAN. 15
Grace Potter with Rett Madison. 6:30 p.m. Stage AE. 400 North Shore Dr., North Side. $35-75. promowestlive.com
MUSIC • MUNHALL
MAGIC • DOWNTOWN
Twenty | The Tour with Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken. 8 p.m. Doors at 7 p.m. Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall. 510 East 10th Ave., Munhall. $49.75-79.75. librarymusichall.com
Derek Hughes in Bag of Tricks. 7:30 p.m. Continues through Feb. 4. Liberty Magic. 811 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $40. trustarts.org
MUSIC/DANCE • EAST LIBERTY
Kelly Strayhorn Theater honors the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with Justice in Action, a day of live performances for guests of all ages. Enjoy activities in the KST lobby and then head into the venue’s performance space to see work by the Hill Dance Academy Theatre, Jacquea Mae, the K-Theatre Dance Complex, and the Alumni Theater Company. The community event is described as celebrating Dr. King and “Pittsburgh activists past and present.” 12-3 p.m. 5941 Penn Ave., East Liberty. Pay What Moves You. kelly-strayhorn.org
., WED 17 JAN.
TUE., JAN. 16 LIT • NORTH SIDE
We Wait for a Miracle with Muhammad Zaman. 7-8:30 p.m. City of Asylum-Alphabet PHOTO: PAMELA NEAL/COURTESY OF FANTASY RECORDS
Grace Potter at Stage AE
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JANUARY 10 - 17, 2024
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IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-23-012446 In re petition of Hannah Rose Klaas for change of name to Hannah Rose Siford. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 17th day of January, 2024, at 9:30 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for.
IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-23-10453, In re petition of Steven Schrim, parent and legal guardian of Alexa Christina Neely and Ava Sommer Neely, minors, for change of names to Alexa Christina Schrim and Ava Sommer Schrim. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 17th day of January 2024, at 9:30 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for. Nicholas D.J. Logan, Esquire. Address: P.O. Box 13451, Pittsburgh, PA 15243. Phone: 412-335-2207
IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-23-14130 In re petition of David Michael Emerson Jr. for change of name to Dante Finneas Carter. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 24th day of January, 2024, at 9:30 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for.
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John S. Flaherty., deceased, of Pittsburgh, PA. No. 07314 of 2023. Virginia Flaherty, Ext., 356 Lehigh Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15232. ESTATE NOTICE
ESTATE OF HERNANDEZ, LUIS, DECEASED OF PITTSBURGH, PA
Luis Hernandez, deceased, of Pittsburgh, PA. No. 022308516 of 2023. Evelyn Hernandez and Nilda Roque, Adms., 2117 Park Hill Drive, Apt. C., Pittsburgh, PA 15221. Or to Jacob Murphy Landau of Robert Peirce & Associates, P.C. 707 Grant Street, Suite 125, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.
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PUBLIC AUCTION
WORK WITH ME
BY BRENDAN EMMETT QUIGLEY // BRENDANEMMETTQUIGLEY.COM
Public notice is hereby given that property placed in storage by the following persons at the following locations will be sold via public sale to satisfy Guardian Storage liens for unpaid rent and other charges. Bidding for property of persons renting space at the following locations will be held online at www.Storageauctions.com ending on January 23, 2024 at 12:00 pm, and day to day thereafter until sold at which time a high bidder will be determined. 350 Old Haymaker Road, Monroeville, Pa 14146: Unit #1407 Tara Long 1390 Old Freeport Road, Pittsburgh, Pa 15238: Unit #4307 Amy Dzimidowicz 14200 Route 30, North Huntingdon, Pa 15642: Unit #1002 Torri O’Connell, Unit #2134 Cassandra M Johnson, Unit #3412 Irene Yelovich, Unit #4007 Tiffany Wampler 4711 William Penn Highway, Monroeville, PA 15146: Unit #11318 Natera Beck, Unit #13313 Melissa Trisch, Unit #21002 Barry Conn, Unit #21308 Rich Kaiser, Unit #21310 Estate of Greta Johnson, Unit #21412 Estate of Greta Johnson, Unit #23507 Michele Hunter 4750 William Flynn Hwy, Allison Park, Pa 15101: Unit #22208 Nicholas Burnett, Unit #32301 Cheyenne Stauffer, Unit #41208 Jabneel “Jay” Rodriguez 1028 Ridge Road, Tarentum, Pa 15084: Unit #32240 David Nobilese, Unit #41312 Jennifer Gravelle, Unit #41319 Skylar Drane 901 Brinton Road, Pittsburgh, Pa 15221: Unit #11109 Velda Bradley, Unit# 11113 Ronald Allgood, Unit 2111 Quincy Morgan, Unit #2320 Jared Moore, Unit #7101 William Hancock, Unit #8405 Arlene Carter, Unit #8412 Garnett Long-Parham 5873 Centre Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15206: Unit #2923 Jamar Calloway 2839 Liberty Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15222: Unit #2907 Kennieta Hatten, Unit #3316 Ashley Garrett, Unit #5304 Amber Macmahon 1002 East Waterfront Drive, Munhall, PA 15120: Unit #1903 Tarayshia West, Unit #2310 Chayla Fowler, Unit #3505 Sayvon Knight, Unit #3520 Courtney Baltimore, Unit #3605 Aaron Satterwhite 1300 Lebanon Church Road, West Mifflin, PA 15236: Unit #13412 Victoria Uhme, Unit #32514 Savanna Jackson, Unit #42205 Whitney Nixon 1599 Washington Pike, Bridgeville, PA 15017: Unit #2503 Susan Hustler, Unit #3109 Susan Hustler, Unit #3415 Susan Hustler, Unit #53109 Joseph Salmon, Unit #6138J David Newman, Unit #6315 Jovan Ray
ACROSS
1. Streaming stick button 4. Sandwich shop 10. Abbott Elementary star Sheryl Lee ___ 14. Inch or foot 15. Unconcerned about being right 16. “Goodbye, my love” 17. Bollywood dress 18. Hard Italian cheese 19. Lucas Oil Stadium team 20. AirTag, e.g. 22. Photo in an album? 24. Passwordprotected 25. Time travelers feature heavily in it 27. Climatology sci. 28. Actress Pompeo 29. ___ mentality 30. Vigorous fight 32. Allow 33. Member of a jam 34. “Your food’s getting cold” 35. Sources of secondary income, and what is hidden four times in this puzzle 39. They can last as long as Beethoven’s Ninth 40. Prepares leather 41. Gets
44. Meat-andpotatoes dishes 47. With 43-Down, resident of Halifax 48. Weightlifter’s station 49. Second word of the Golden Rule 50. Wicker piece 52. Gift giver’s phrase 53. Low-growing tree often in dry areas 55. Some step counting devices 56. “Times Like ___” (Foo Fighters hit) 57. Maverick’s story 60. Make a long story short 61. Appliance big box store 62. Pass by 63. Greenish-blue color 64. Iowa senator Joni 65. Well-made item? 66. 100% with it
8. Funky unfresh 9. Cooly distant 10. Track shot? 11. Loves to bits 12. Spring blooms 13. Gas in Gloucester 21. “I’m Just ___” 23. Nurses check them 25. MacFarlane of The Orville 26. Salad cruncher 29. Interior designer’s choices 31. Four Corners tribe 33. Contributes 34. Volcano home to the forges of Hephaestus 36. With 46-Down, cold storage places 37. File menu
function 38. Some frozen desserts 42. “Got a suggestion?” 43. See 47-Across 44. Stereotypical forearm tattoo 45. Tossed around 46. See 36-Down 47. Big name in Japanese logic puzzles 48. Impersonal X follower 51. What a dowsing stick finds 52. Hit with a charge 54. Blue ribbon 55. Weld together 58. Bomb warning? 59. It can tell you where you are
1067 Milford Drive, Bethel Park, PA 15102: Unit #11509 Lester Cole, Jr. Unit #22906 Travis Wilson 7452 McKnight Rd, Pittsburgh, PA 15237: Unit #612 Jane Becinski, Unit #817 Robert Russell, Unit #1305 Carey Andrew’jaja, Unit #1311 Audric Dodds, Unit #2719 Jerome Bankston, Unit #2727 Paul Granzeier 401 Coraopolis Rd, Coraopolis, PA 15108: Unit #12402 Darrin Rimbey, Unit #12606 Drew Dandrea, Unit #12830 Jorge Ramos, Unit #13611 Shaneice North, Unit #13806 Marcus Joglar, Unit #13838 Stephen J Laschon, Unit #21019 Gavin Cromwell, Unit #22106 James H Murphy, Unit #22301 Caleb Pratt 2670 Washington Rd, Canonsburg, PA 15317: Unit #1208 William Collins, Unit #3204 D’Andrae Matthews Purchases must be made with cash and paid at the location at the above referenced facility to complete the transaction. Guardian Storage has the right to refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
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1. Hotter than hot 2. Astonishing feat 3. Some Apple Wallet cards 4. Cut down 5. Valentine’s Day figure 6. Meme gobbling sound 7. 1989 or Reputation, for Taylor Swift
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available in Hoodies and Totes
ON SALE NOW AT PGHCITYPAPERSTORE.COM PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JANUARY 10 - 17, 2024
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Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s new Ready2Ride® mobile ticketing app offers a convenient way to purchase transit passes and access other important information so that you’ll be ready to ride. Scan the QR code or call 412.442.2000 for more information.