WWW.PGHCITYPAPER.COM | 02.04/02.11.2015
WORD GAMES: THE RETURN OF THE CITY PAPER CROSSWORD PUZZLE 44
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 02.04/02.11.2015
EVENTS 2.6 – 7pm OUT OF THE BOX: TIME CAPSULE OPENING WITH CHIEF ARCHIVIST MATT WRBICAN, CATALOGUER ERIN BYRNE AND SPECIAL GUEST BENJAMIN LIU Warhol theater Tickets $10/$8 Members & students
2.7 – 8pm SOUND SERIES: BATTLE TRANCE Warhol theater Co-presented with the Music on the Edge series of the University of Pittsburgh Department of Music FREE parking in The Warhol lot Tickets $15/$12 Members & students
2.13 – 5-10pm YOUTH ART OPENING Free with museum admission
Image: Rocio Rodriquez Salceda
Jace Clayton The Julius Eastman Memorial Dinner
2.28 – 8pm SOUND SERIES: BEYOND: MICROTONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL: FEATURING FLUX QUARTET AND MANTRA PERCUSSION Warhol entrance space Co-presented with the Music on the Edge series of the University of Pittsburgh Department of Music FREE parking in The Warhol lot Advance Tickets $15/$10 students; Door Tickets $20/15 students
3.14 – 8pm Carnegie Museum of Art Theater (Oakland) | Tickets $20/$15 Members & students visit www.warhol.org or call 412.237.8300
Co-presented with the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Music on the Edge series of the University of Pittsburgh Department of Music The Warhol welcomes back Jace Clayton, a.k.a. DJ /rupture, who leads an ensemble work conceived for twin pianos, live electronics, and voice, that brings fresh insight to the artistic legacy of Julius Eastman – the mercurial gay African American composer who mixed canny minimalist innovation with head-on political provocation. The Julius Eastman Memorial Dinner comprises new arrangements and interpretations of a selection of Eastman’s piano compositions. As Clayton uses his own custom-designed ‘Sufi Plug Ins’ software to live-process the pianos of David Friend and Emily Manzo, he also intersperses musical vignettes – performed by neo-Sufi vocalist Arooj Aftab – to lend context and nuance to the composer’s saga, which was cut short in 1990 at age 49. N E W S
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2.27 – 8pm SOUND SERIES: BEYOND: MICROTONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL: FEATURING MAK GRGIC AND DANIEL LIPPEL WITH MICHAEL HARRISON Warhol theater Co-presented with the Music on the Edge series of the University of Pittsburgh Department of Music Advance Tickets $15/$10 students; Door Tickets $20/15 students
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The Andy Warhol Museum receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency and The Heinz Endowments. Further support is provided by the Allegheny Regional Asset District.
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 02.04/02.11.2015
02.04/02.11.2015 VOLUME 25 + ISSUE 05
{EDITORIAL} Editor CHARLIE DEITCH Arts & Entertainment Editor BILL O’DRISCOLL Music Editor ANDY MULKERIN Associate Editor AL HOFF Multimedia Editor ASHLEY MURRAY Listings Editor MARGARET WELSH Assistant Listings Editor CELINE ROBERTS Staff Writers REBECCA NUTTALL, ALEX ZIMMERMAN Staff Photographer HEATHER MULL Interns SHAWN COOKE, DANIELLE FOX, ZACCHIAUS MCKEE
{ART} Director of Operations KEVIN SHEPHERD Production Director JULIE SKIDMORE Art Director LISA CUNNINGHAM Graphic Designers SHEILA LETSON, JEFF SCHRECKENGOST, JENNIFER TRIVELLI {COVER PHOTO BY HEATHER MULL}
[NEWS]
bring consumers to the doorstep 06 “We of enrollment.” — Julia Cusick, of Enroll America, on helping the public navigate the federal health-care exchange
[VIEWS]
attacked his opponents with a level 12 “He of self-righteous indignation and disregard for his own glass house usually reserved for the most-entrenched right-wing gasbags.” — Charlie Deitch on the hypocrisy of Pa. State Treasurer Rob McCord
WALK-UP
Director of Advertising JESSIE AUMAN-BROCK Senior Account Executives TOM FAULS, PAUL KLATZKIN, SANDI MARTIN, JEREMY WITHERELL Advertising Representatives DRA ANDERSON, MATT HAHN, CJ KELLY, SCOTT KLATZKIN, MELISSA LENIGAN, JUSTIN MATASE, DANA MCHENRY, MELISSA METZ Classified Manager ANDREA JAMES Radio Sales Manager CHRIS KOHAN National Advertising Representative VMG ADVERTISING 1.888.278.9866 OR 1.212.475.2529
SLOT TOURNAMENT WEDNESDAYS
11AM - 2PM & 6PM - 9PM
{MARKETING+PROMOTIONS}
[TASTE]
chicken included a spicy black rub 15 “Jerk paired with a deep mahogany sauce.” — Angelique Bamberg and Jason Roth review Caribéana
[MUSIC]
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{ADVERTISING}
BE MINE
“People always try to separate you; it’s like divide and conquer.” — Grammynominated songwriter and Penn Hills native Tommy Brown on writing with his girlfriend, Victoria Monet
$500 CASH!
Business Manager LAURA ANTONIO Circulation Director JIM LAVRINC Office Administrator RODNEY REGAN Technical Director PAUL CARROLL Interactive Media Manager CARLO LEO
they study the War on Terror 27 “When on Film, this will likely be one of the more entertaining features.” — Al Hoff reviews Alien Outpost
[ARTS]
is the play you’ve been waiting for: a 29 “Itromantic farce about the young Friedrich Nietzsche and 19th-century feminism.” — Bill O’Driscoll on Gab Cody’s new work, Prussia 1866
[LAST PAGE]
hipper people are gravitating 47 “Younger, toward tea for a number of reasons.” — Diana Stoughton, of Gryphon’s Tea Shop, on the growing popularity of tea
{REGULAR & SPECIAL FEATURES} NEWS QUIRKS BY ROLAND SWEET 14 EVENTS LISTINGS 34 SAVAGE LOVE BY DAN SAVAGE 41 FREE WILL ASTROLOGY BY ROB BREZSNY 42 CROSSWORD BY BRENDAN EMMETT QUIGLEY 44 +
Top Prize
{ADMINISTRATION}
[SCREEN]
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Marketing Director DEANNA KRYMOWSKI Marketing Design Coordinator LINDSEY THOMPSON Advertising and Promotions Coordinator ASHLEY WALTER Radio Promotions Director VICKI CAPOCCIONI-WOLFE Radio Promotions Assistants ANDREW BILINSKY, NOAH FLEMING
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{PUBLISHER} STEEL CITY MEDIA GENERAL POLICIES: Contents copyrighted 2015 by Steel City Media. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher. The opinions expressed in Pittsburgh City Paper are those of the author and not necessarily of Steel City Media. LETTER POLICY: Letters, faxes or e-mails must be signed and include town and daytime phone number for confirmation. We may edit for length and clarity. DISTRIBUTION: Pittsburgh City Paper is published weekly by Steel City Media and is available free of charge at select distribution locations. One copy per reader; copies of past issues may be purchased for $3.00 each, payable in advance to Pittsburgh City Paper. FIRST CLASS MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS: Available for $175 per year, $95 per half year. No refunds. PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 650 Smithfield Street, Suite 2200 Pittsburgh, PA 15222 412.316.3342 FAX: 412.316.3388 E-MAIL info@pghcitypaper.com www.pghcitypaper.com
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SLOTS | TABLE GAMES | DINING | NIGHTLIFE
GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-GAMBLER. MUST BE 21 YEARS OR OLDER TO BE ON RIVERS CASINO PROPERTY.
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INCOMING
“WHEN PEOPLE ARE ARMED WITH THE INFORMATION THEY NEED, THEY’RE EXCITED TO TAKE ACTION.”
Despite some concerns, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto gets high marks for freshman year (Jan. 28) “I was never a fan of Mayor Luke, but to slam him on national TV was tasteless. And no taxpayer money was to be used? Undercover Boss did not promote Pittsburgh, only Ed Chadwick. It [was a] poor disguise [and] it was obvious to anyone who has ever seen Peduto.” — Web comment from “Despite Some Concerns” “The protected bike lane on Penn Ave. from the Strip to Downtown is great. Its existence is encouraging more people to dust off their bicycles and get around by bicycle, reducing noise and pollution and getting a little exercise. Pittsburgh’s Bike Share program will start in Spring 2015, and that will boost biking, also. We should build a protected bike lane the full length of Fifth Ave.!” — Web comment from “Paul Heckbert”
“It looks like Pennsylvania voters dodged a bullet by not electing Rob McCord for governor. Scary that he could have been the man in charge.” — Jan. 31 tweet from “Trish” (@choose_2bhappy) on the resignation and federal investigation of the now former Pa. Treasurer
“So fake. Sharks totally teeth-synching.” — Feb. 1 tweet from Bill Peduto (@billpeduto) regarding Katy Perry’s Super Bowl halftime show
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{PHOTO BY JOHN COLOMBO}
NAVIGATION
Enroll America’s Sean Murphy talks with CCAC student Victoria Hathorne at an outreach event.
ASSISTANCE
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S AN ORGANIZER for Enroll America,
Sean Murphy’s job is to spread the .word about the Affordable Care Act. But for someone whose job is related to health care, he hasn’t been eating very healthy. “I’ve had so much pizza since I started this job,” says Murphy, a regional organizer for the nonprofit. But the pizza is more than a dietary choice. On this afternoon in the lounge at the Community College of Allegheny County’s South Campus, it’s bait to lure students to his table to talk about their health-care coverage or the lack thereof. And it works. Fifteen boxes of pizza all but disappear in less than 20 minutes, but it also attracts students with questions and concerns. At the event, Murphy and three navigators from local nonprofits addressed questions that ranged from “Am I already covered?” to “How much does it cost?”
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 02.04/02.11.2015
Navigator is the official title of workers who get certified to walk people through the various insurance plans available on the ACA marketplace on the federal government’s enrollment site.
Grassroots campaign helps consumers find health-care plans before looming ACA deadline {BY ASHLEY MURRAY} “If you don’t get a plan, you get penalized. That’s the reason I’m doing it,” says Tiffany Bernatowicz of Turtle Creek. She stopped by specifically for the event. A navigator helped Bernatowicz research insurance plans, but she couldn’t find even one in her price range —$100 or less. Bernatowicz also learned that she didn’t qualify for tax credits to offset the cost.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have the greatest income right now, but I’ve got to figure something out in the next two weeks,” she says, referring to the Feb. 15 deadline for what the government calls open enrollment. Murphy promises to follow up with her. That earnest demeanor is necessary for those trying to communicate and guide millions of people through bureaucracy, paperwork and new tax provisions associated with the ACA. Enroll America — with its grassroots Get Covered campaign — acts as a referral agency, bringing a team of federally-funded health-care navigators from local nonprofits to its outreach events. With laptops and secure Wi-Fi hook-ups, they travel into communities to find the uninsured. “If people sit down with an in-person assister, they’re about twice as likely to get covered compared to someone who just goes to healthcare.gov, so there’s a tremendous value,” says Julia Cusick, spokes-
person for Enroll America’s Pennsylvania operations. The nonprofit was founded in 2010 with the sole mission of spreading the word about the ACA, and is mainly funded by charitable organizations and individual donors. It focuses on a dozen states where Americans who lack health care are concentrated. “When people are armed with the information they need, they’re excited to take action,” Cusick says. “Many people still don’t understand how much financial help is available to help them pay for their plans, but they can’t get that information if a trusted source in their community doesn’t engage with them and begin the conversation.” For example, she says, 81 percent of Pennsylvanians who enrolled in a Marketplace plan last year received tax credits. “We bring consumers to the doorstep of enrollment,” she says. “Our partners have deep roots in the communities we serve, and working together allows us all to better reach the Pittsburgh community.” A $250,000 grant allowed one of Enroll America’s partners, the YWCA of Greater Pittsburgh, to train existing staff and hire three full-time navigators to go into Downtown, Homewood and the South Hills and focus on “vulnerable populations, such as women, African Americans and Latinos,” says Beth Heeb, chief operations officer of the YWCA. Other partners include the Consumer Health Coalition, Benefits Data Trust, the Hospital Council of Western Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Health Access Network and Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania (PPWP), which jointly received one $500,000 navigator grant. “I think Planned Parenthood is uniquely positioned because people know who we are and trust us,” says Kate Dickerson, a navigator for PPWP. “We work with a lot of uninsured patients and people who are on Select Plan or Medicaid.” The network of partners reaches even further when you add the connections these organizations have made with physical locations like CCAC and others, including the Carnegie libraries and the Jefferson Regional Foundation. Enroll America has even held sign-ups at the East Liberty busway stop. “We really just want to give our students an opportunity to get affordable health care,” says Antonio Quarterman, director of student life at CCAC’s South Campus. “CCAC serves all students. We don’t just serve the traditional student population.” Under the joint grant, the group of five nonprofits committed to reaching 43,000
people and actually enrolling nearly 3,000. Before the current open-enrollment period began, nearly 148,000 people, or 12 percent of the 1.2 million living in Allegheny County, were uninsured, according to numbers from Enroll America and Civis Analytics. According to the latest overall numbers from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, nearly 71,000 residents in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area — which spans nine counties — have enrolled this year. About 38,000 are from Allegheny County. The Pennsylvania Health Access Network says it’s receiving more than 500 calls each week to its helpline, especially regarding HealthyPA, former Gov. Tom Corbett’s controversial answer to Medicaid expansion. Its enrollment period opened in December and does not have a deadline. Under the program, Pennsylvanians whose income is 138 percent of federal poverty limit or lower qualify — meaning a monthly income of $1,342 for a single person or $1,809 for a couple. The program has caused a “massive amount of confusion,” says Erin Ninehouser of Pennsylvania Health Access Network. “A straightforward expansion in year one would’ve been the best solution.” Rather than expand Pennsylvania’s existing Medicaid program, Gov. Corbett, a vocal opponent of the ACA, added another program, Healthy PA, on top of it. Though it grants coverage to 600,000 Pennsylvanians who weren’t eligible under the ACA last year, it also has new conditions. For example, people who qualify must search for work, and if they miss a payment, they are locked out of coverage. “It’s helpful being around other navigators. We can help each other out with troubleshooting, especially right now with Healthy PA questions,” Kayla Berkey, a navigator with the Consumer Health Coalition, said in between helping people on weekday evening at the Carnegie Library in Oakland. “We can connect with other assisters to find out what’s not working so we can do advocacy to change it.” While campaigning last year, new Gov. Tom Wolf said he would adopt the federal Medicaid expansion. Last week, Kait Gillis, press secretary for Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services, said the Wolf administration is working with the “appropriate parties to review Healthy PA.” But regardless of what plan is ultimately used in Pennsylvania, the goal does not change — to get people on an
RICK & KAREN SANTORUM
Bella’s Gift
Book Signing Thursday, February 12th, 7PM 926 Freeport Road Pittsburgh (412) 781-2321 In this moving tribute to their youngest daughter, Bella, the former senator from Pennsylvania and his wife share the miraculous story of Bella’s struggle to survive Trisomy 18, a rare life-threatening genetic disease.
“I WOULDN’T KNOW WHAT THE HECK I WAS DOING.”
Get more info and get to know your favorite writers at BN.COM/events All events subject to change, so please contact the store to confirm.
CONTINUES ON PG. 08
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NAVIGATION ASSISTANCE, CONTINUED FROM PG. 07
Bring your EX to Mad Mex!
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valentine’s day SATURday, Feb. 14 $ ALL DAY LONG!
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You and your lucky som
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y Your choice of an appetizer to sha y 2 small frozen or rocks margarita re y An entree of your choice each s y A brownie dessert to fight over
affordable plan — even as the navigators face opposition. In March, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a case in which the plaintiffs want to take away the tax subsidies in the 37 states that use the federal health exchanges, including Pennsylvania. This could potentially make several of the federal plans unaffordable and threaten the viability of the entire ACA. Meanwhile, on the state level, some in the insurance industry have criticized the training of federally funded health-insurance navigators, saying they could mislead the public. The Pennsylvania Health Law Project, an organization that helps low-income, elderly and disabled consumers secure health care, says there are no examples of such harm. PA Senate Bill No. 293 calls for tight regulations on in-person navigators and hefty fines for noncompliance. The bill would create new registration requirements by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department for enrollment assisters and “tightly control” conversations the assisters, or navigators, could have with Pennsylvanians about what insurance products to purchase, according to the Pennsylvania Health Law Project, which opposes these types of laws.
A similar bill died last year. But several people who visited navigators at Enroll America’s local events said they wanted to talk to someone because they were confused about what to do. “I wouldn’t know what the heck I was doing [without navigators],” said Courtney Keeton, a student at CCAC’s Allegheny Campus. “This is my first time without insurance.” Because of her rheumatoid arthritis, she says, it’s important to get the medicine she needs to function every day. She said she initially completed her Healthy PA application with help from the Alma Illery Medical Center in Homewood, but she hasn’t heard anything since. Murphy, the Enroll America organizer, paired her with a navigator from the YWCA. “I didn’t know this table was going to be here today,” Keeton said. “I stopped by because I just wanted to see what they had to say and if I was [headed] in the right direction.” Murphy and the YWCA navigator assured her that a Healthy PA card should arrive in the mail within 30 days. And earnestly, Murphy told her that he’d “follow up to make sure everything goes OK.” A M U RRAY @ P G HC I T Y PA P E R. C OM
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Free help with health insurance enrollment is here. Health insurance enrollment just got easier: Millions qualify for financial help No co-pays for preventive care Enroll by February 15 Free, in-person help
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 02.04/02.11.2015
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REACHING OUT
County stepping up efforts to identify, help homeless youth {BY ALEX ZIMMERMAN}
presents
PofE T the WEEK
Photo credit – Jeff Geissler
SNOWFLAKE Snowflake is about 7-years old and he loves attention. He’ll let out quite a loud meow when his favorite volunteers walk by his room. He is especially fond of belly rubs and just hanging out with his friends. He has lived with other cats before but has told us he’d prefer to be the only kitty this time around. Come meet this sweet boy today.
Call Animal Friends today!
412-847-7000
www.dayauto.com 10
ON A RECENT Thursday afternoon, Derek Smithson is hanging out with a handful of homeless young adults at Downtown’s Gay and Lesbian Community Center; they have gathered to play pool, work on crafts projects and snack on Chinese food. He’s not chronically homeless; the 19-year-old is on the third day of a stint living in a shelter after his home was condemned last year. The house “was basically just rotting away because of the snow and rain,” Smithson says. His mother lived with a friend while Smithson briefly stayed with his sister, “but we were not seeing eyeto-eye,” so he left. Smithson has dropped by a program called Service Access for Youth, a collaboration among several social-service agencies hosted by the GLCC to give homeless people under 25 a chance to get connected to services, or simply pick up a coat or make friends. And though the program has existed for about two-and-a-half years, this particular afternoon marks the first time the county has shown up at the GLCC to count them as part of its annual tally of the homeless population — part of a new effort to better serve younger homeless people. “We’ve traditionally had a pretty hard time finding the youth,” explains Chuck Keenan, an administrator with Allegheny County’s Bureau of Homeless Services. “We wanted to do a concerted effort this January to find those folks.” Each year, the county tallies the homeless in January by counting the number of people living on the streets and in shelters across the region, required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. But a significant proportion of the young homeless population likely isn’t making it into that count. They often stay at a friend’s house, scrounge up resources to split a motel — or, when they wind up on the street, are more likely to purposefully avoid social-service agencies. A report released last May estimates there are 240 homeless people ages 1824 in Allegheny County, and 55,000 nationwide. But that number is widely seen
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 02.04/02.11.2015
as low. It’s based on the annual pointin-time count, so it reflects a snapshot of only the population the county could find during a given period in January, not the total number of young people who experience homelessness across the region during an entire year. Last year, the county only found six women and three men ages 18-24 living on the street during its annual count, an “underrepresentation” that can make it difficult for the county to plan services targeted at that demographic, Keenan says. “They want to be missed, so that fact alone means we’re not accurate,” explains Kathy McCauley, a consultant who authored the report on youth homelessness in Allegheny County. Young people are often reluctant to get help from socialservice agencies partly because of negative past experience; roughly 30 percent have been in the foster system. About 30 percent are members of the LGBT community and “may not imagine the system is for them,” McCauley says. Her report included a number of recommendations for improving services for young homeless people, and the county has already started implementing some of them. It has relaxed requirements in some of the shelters geared toward youth, accepting people, through age 24 instead of 21, and it is “actively looking for sites and partners” for a dropin center Downtown, Keenan says. The county, Keenan adds, is developing a plan to count, for the first time, the young homeless population in the summer months, when more people in that demographic are likely to be outside. “It’s important to intervene early. We don’t want them engaging in any risky behavior — anything that could set them on the wrong path for the rest of their lives,” says Keenan. But getting a better count isn’t just about more accurately describing a problem. It’s about showing policymakers they can dramatically help a population without a huge financial commitment, McCauley explains. “You can say, ‘Look, we’ve really documented this. This is something we can do something about.’”
“WE WANTED TO DO A CONCERTED EFFORT THIS JANUARY TO FIND THOSE FOLKS.”
AZ IMME R MAN@PGH C IT YPAPE R . C O M
MODERN HISTORY
City Black History Month exhibit will focus on today’s leaders {BY CHARLIE DEITCH} Three years ago, Chay Tyler got a chance to put the history degree he earned at Duquesne University to good use when he began curating the city’s Black History Month installation at the CityCounty Building. That year, the Citiparks program coordinator chose a Civil War theme. Last year the exhibit focused on black cartoon artists. But this February, he’s trying something different. “We want to focus on African Americans who are making history today,” Tyler says. “It allows us to focus on African Americans who are doing great things at this time. It lets us show that history is being made today and that keeps our history from stagnating.” The exhibit, “Pittsburgh Legacy of Leaders: Laying the Groundwork for our Future Leaders,” will honor four Pittsburghers for their work with the city’s youth. “We wanted to highlight leaders who were impacting our youth and teaching them how to become leaders,” Tyler says. “Then we took it a step further to focus on these young trailblazers. “And I think we did a good job with the four that were selected.” The nominees are:
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James A. Brown, 36, youth development director of the Homewood-Brushton YMCA Lighthouse Project, an after-school program for teens that teaches leadership skills and helps prepare young people for careers after high school.
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Tamasia Johnson, 24, founding
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Alichia R. Parker, 32, president
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Ryan S. Scott, 31, co-director of the
director of the Pearl Club, an organization that helps young inner-city women prepare for and graduate from college by teaching networking, time management and communication skills. and founder of APAR Educational which offers private tutoring, consulting and training to students from preschool through eighth grade.
Black Male Leadership Development Institute, which is a year-long program for African-American males in grades 9-12 designed to increase their educational and leadership opportunities. The exhibit, which will feature bios and photos of the honorees and also have information on programs to help empower young people, will be on display in the lobby of the City-County Building weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Feb. 27. An opening-night reception will be held on Wed., Feb. 4, at 6 p.m. CDEITCH@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
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[PITTSBURGH LEFT]
GETTING ROBBED {BY CHARLIE DEITCH} LAST YEAR, during a candidates’ forum
at Carnegie Mellon University, Lebanon County Commissioner Jo Ellen Litz told the capacity crowd that her favorite part of Pittsburgh was Presque Island. That, along with many other gaffes that day, led me to the conclusion that of the eight Democrats on that stage, she was by far the least fit to be the governor. At the other end of the spectrum was Rob McCord, Pennsylvania’s treasurer. McCord was smooth, confident and even a little cocky as he talked about how he planned to change the politics-as-usual attitude in Harrisburg. He wasn’t the frontrunner before the event, but he appeared to be heading toward that status when he left. I remember thinking that McCord was the one who seemed most Rob McCord suited for the governor’s office. Boy, was I — and a whole lot of other people — wrong. The whirlwind of activity in the past week — starting with McCord’s resignation on Jan. 29 and three days later with him being charged with two counts of extortion for trying to strong-arm potential donors — has shown us that even Litz was better suited for the governor’s office than McCord. According to court documents filed Feb. 1, McCord sought large campaign contributions from a yet-unnamed Philadelphia law firm and a Western Pennsylvania property-management company. According to prosecutors, McCord’s message was simple: Pay up or else. There was a point in last year’s campaign when it seemed like if he could raise money and catch a wave of momentum, McCord could win the primary. He must have thought the same thing, because he was working hard and using every tool in his arsenal to raise campaign funds “It’s sort of shocking to me who’s coming through and who’s not,” McCord told the managing partner of a law firm, according to court records of an apparently recorded phone conversation. “Some people come through with huge numbers … and other people, like, aren’t returning my phone calls. … At the very least, I’m still gonna be the freakin’ treasurer. What the hell are they thinking?” As more and more information comes out about McCord’s fundraising tactics, a lot of people are left wondering what the hell
he was thinking. What makes the McCord saga even more puzzling is that McCord not only campaigned on the idea that he was a different kind of politician, but he attacked his opponents with a level of self-righteous indignation and disregard for his own glass house usually reserved for the mostentrenched right-wing gasbags. At the same time he was bragging on his campaign website that he had “shunned” the state’s old politics, he was running around making statements like “Every time you are trying to get something done through state government, you are going to have the state treasurer looking to screw you.” This is a guy who, with a different campaign strategy, could have been the governor of Pennsylvania. That’s a completely different tone from the Rob McCord who spent most of last spring slinging arrows at nowGov. Tom Wolf, questioning some of his business dealings and his relationship with a former York mayor who had been charged criminally over the racially motivated 1969 murder of a young black woman. McCord launched ominous-sounding ads trying to tie Wolf to charges of racism. It was a campaign strategy decried by nearly everyone, including former Gov. Ed Rendell and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey. They implored him to take the ads down. The ad claims were so baseless that not even incumbent Gov. Tom Corbett, who was desperately behind Wolf in the polls, used them in his campaign. But McCord refused to pull the ads, saying that he had a responsibility and a right to question Wolf’s “judgment” and “integrity.” It now seems he should have been asking those questions in a mirror. To his credit, McCord readily admitted his mistakes to investigators, and will do so in court on Feb. 17 when he pleads guilty to two counts of extortion. But the whole mess still leaves a stench in the air. We’re getting ready to enter a brandnew election cycle, with a fresh batch of candidates preparing to tell us how different they are from the folks currently in office. They’ll spout the same rhetoric and tell the same tales as every other person running for public office; the only difference is that some will sell it better than others. Before we buy in too quickly, let’s remember how good a salesman Rob McCord was. C D E I T C H @ P G H C I T Y PA P E R. C OM
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 02.04/02.11.2015
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Feb. 6, 2015 Witness a million-volt lightning strike from our giant Tesla coil!
• 6–10 pm
Make rocks and weather maps, discover the effects of El Niùo and updrafts, see a tornado in a jar, and experiment with raindrops. Live music, NO KIDS, cash bars, snacks available IRU SXUFKDVH DQG IRXU çRRUV RI H[KLELWV 9LVLW CarnegieScienceCenter.org WR UHJLVWHU LQ DGYDQFH GD\ RI WKH HYHQW
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NEWS QUIRKS {BY ROLAND SWEET}
LANDMARKS PRESERVATION RESOURCE CENTER — A program of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation
FILM SCREENING:
FREDRICK LAW OLMSTED: DESIGNING AMERICA Frederick Law Olmstead was an American landscape architect, and a pioneer among his peers, when the idea arose that landscape architecture ought to be considered as a fine art. One of the most successful landscape architects of his time, his influence the sense of American urban life and design can still be seen in some of his work portfolio which includes the designing of great green spaces like New York City’s Central Park, the U.S. Capitol Grounds, and the National Register-listed parkway system in Buffalo, New York, among other places. Join us for this screening, and discussion of Olmstead’s life and work to preserve nature, which also helped establish the idea of a park as both a work of art and a necessity of urban life. Moderator: Evaine Sing, operations and program director, GTECH Strategies. Evaine is a registered landscape architect with a BLA from Virginia Tech University and a Master’s in Public Policy & Management at the Heinz College of Carnegie Mellon University. An adjunct faculty member in Chatham University’s landscape architecture program, her work focuses on community and economic development as it relates to the issue of vacant land management within the urban context, creating sustainable solutions that serve as a catalyst to larger transitional changes.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10 • 6PM - 8PM This screening is free and open to the public. RSVPs are appreciated. Contact Mary Lu Denny at 412-471-5808 ext. 527 744 REBECCA AVENUE WILKINSBURG, PA 15221
412-471-5808
Pittsburgh’s Indie Video Game Store
Gamers Wanted!
Sega, Nintendo, Xbox, Playstation & more! We specialize in Japanese imports and hard-to-find titles for new and old systems! We replace batteries in carts and repair your retro consoles too! facebook.com/pennhillsgames 431 RODI ROAD
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PENN HILLS
DON’T BE A STUPID CUPID get something fun & exciting from Lady Godiva.
Choose from a sensual babydoll to a naughty teddy to something spicy from the Giggleroom.
FIFTY SHADES OF GREY ITEMS IN STOCK NOW. Get your items before the movie so you can re-enact your favorite scene.
11604 KELEKET DR | PENN HILLS | 412.243.5214
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 02.04/02.11.2015
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Police said Eric Frey, 29, handed a pizzashop employee in Uniontown, Pa., a note written on toilet paper. “I have a gun,” it read. “Give me $300.” The worker hit the silent alarm, summoning police before Frey could leave. He explained that a bearded man had confronted him in a nearby alley and forced his action, but officers who searched Frey’s apartment found a newly opened roll of toilet paper with a pen impression from Frey’s note on the top sheet. (Associated Press)
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A masked man tried to rob a convenience store in New Haven, Conn., by pointing a finger at the clerk to “simulate” that he had a gun, police officer David Hartman reported, noting, “But he didn’t have his hand in his pocket.” The clerk “grabbed the man’s finger and told him he’d break it if he didn’t get out of his shop,” Hartman said after the would-be robber fled. (New Haven Independent)
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The Central Intelligence Agency admitted that at least half of the reported UFO sightings in the 1950s and 1960s were actually test flights of its super-secret U-2 spy plane. (United Press International)
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Veronica J. Rutledge, 29, died after her 2-year-old son reached into her purse, grabbed her concealed gun and shot her in the head at a Wal-Mart store in Hayden, Idaho. (Associated Press)
to throw the shellfish overboard. Local fishermen have even found some of the lobsters with rubber bands around their claws. Removed from their native habitat, however, the lobsters “won’t last much longer than if the passengers had eaten them for dinner,” according to Mike Cohen of Holderness Fishing Industry Group. (Britain’s Daily Mail)
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The Government Accountability Office decided that taxpayers should stop providing federal employees who bring their lunch to work with “disposable cups, plates and cutlery” because the items “clearly constitute a personal expense.” The decision stems from a Department of Commerce policy of supplying hand sanitizer, paper goods and plastic ware to National Weather Service workers that began during a 2009 flu outbreak. When the Commerce Department stopped providing the goods in 2013, NWS employees filed an official complaint. “There’s no way this could cost them more than $5,000 or $10,000,” Dan Sobien, president of the NWS employee organization, said after the GAO ruling. (The Washington Post)
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Irish police detective Paul Johnson thwarted two men he observed robbing a convenience store in Dublin by arming himself with a traffic cone, which he used to push the men down when they exited. (The Irish Times)
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Tony Roe, 23, was shot in the chest at a home in Largo, Fla., while he and Dylan Harvey, 19, were playing a game with a loaded revolver. It involved rolling the chamber and then taking turns pointing the gun at each other, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies said Harvey was holding the weapon when it fired. (Tampa Bay Times)
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An Alabama middle-school principal asked students to bring canned food to school to throw at possible intruders. In a letter to parents, Priscilla Holley, of W.F. Burns Middle School in Valley, said an 8-ounce can of peas or corn “could stun the intruder or even knock him out until the police arrive. The canned-food item will give the students a sense of empowerment to protect themselves.” (Associated Press)
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Former police officer Darrell Smith, 58, accidentally shot off his finger with a .380 caliber handgun at a gun store in Glasgow, Ky. He asked to see the weapon and was examining it when it fired. Even though Smith didn’t do a safety check on the gun before handling it, he insisted the employee who handed it to him should have, so he’s suing Barren Outdoors for negligence. (Bowling Green’s WBKO-TV)
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Authorities said that Michael Foster, 43, saw Clarence Daniels, 62, getting out of his vehicle in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart store in Brandon, Fla., and noticed he had a gun in a hip holster under his coat. Foster followed Daniels inside, put him in a chokehold and yelled that Daniels had a gun. Daniels shouted that he had a permit. Sheriff’s deputies arrested Foster and charged him with battery. “We understand it’s alarming for people to see other people with guns, sheriff’s official Larry McKinnon said, “but Florida has a large population of concealedweapons permit-holders.” (Tampa Bay Times)
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Researchers investigating reports of Canadian lobsters off England’s northern coast concluded that passengers on cruise ships have been ordering live lobsters and then, in an animal-rights gesture, asking their waiters
Police arrested Jeremiah Genesis Taylor, 25, after he argued with his pregnant girlfriend in Millington, Tenn., and hit her in the face and chest with some steaks. (Memphis’s WHBQ-TV)
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Workers at a reptile pet shop in Delray Beach, Fla., accused owner Benjamin Siegel, 40, of slapping them with a bearded dragon lizard. The victims said Siegel placed the lizard in his mouth and began hitting them with it. He also threw Gatorade at them, and tossed the large lizard into the air and swung it around. Siegel was arrested on battery and animal cruelty charges. (Broward-Palm Beach New Times)
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Oklahoma lawmakers are at odds over the state’s produce. Sen. Nathan Dahm introduced a measure to repeal watermelon’s title as Oklahoma’s official vegetable, an honor lawmakers bestowed in 2007. Dahm pointed out watermelon is a fruit, not a vegetable, but the state fruit title isn’t available because it was awarded to the strawberry. Dahm said watermelon could be named the state’s seasonal fruit or the state’s melon, but Rep. Scooter Park denounced such a move, declaring, “We will defend, support and make sure it is upheld as the state vegetable for Oklahoma.” (Tulsa World)
CO M P IL E D FRO M M A IN S TRE A M N E W S S O U RCE S BY R OL AN D S WE E T. AUT HE N T I C AT I ON O N D E M AND.
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JERK CHICKEN INCLUDED A SPICY BLACK RUB PAIRED WITH A DEEP MAHOGANY SAUCE
MEATBALL MART {BY CHARLIE DEITCH} Beaver Falls may not be your prototypical college town, but located just down the street from Geneva College is a classic-style college eatery that’s worth a weekend drive or a detour if you happen to be in the area. The Ball Joint, as you might be able to guess, specializes in gourmet meatballs and homemade pastas, but not necessarily sold and consumed together. Although scratch-made jumbo macaroni and fettuccini smothered in sauce is an option, the real draw here are the meatballs and the wide array of dipping sauces. You can get your balls — Italian-style made from beef and pork, or chicken — in a basket with one or more of the Ball Joint’s 17 signature sauces. The meatballs are sizable and, well, meaty, with not a lot of filler. You can eat your fill for a buck a ball, with as many of the sauces you care to try. The marinara sauce is fine, but it is not the star on the sauce list, where livelier choices include: traditional buffalo, “Pennsyltucky Barbecue,” and the spicier “Siracha Slam” and creamy Cajun. My favorite, in spite of its silly name, is the tangy BALLsamic Zing. And that reminds me of another great thing about this place — a huge menu on the wall filled with balls-related jokes. And the laughs are cheap: Other than two family-style combo meals, there’s not one item on the menu priced more than $9. CDEITCH@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
3422 Fourth Ave., Beaver Falls. 724-417-7234 or www.iwantballs.com
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We’re e’re so consumed with local pizza wars rs that we forgett about the global obal battles. Why hy not take your issues to “11-time world pizza champion” Tony Gemignani i i? He’ll be signing copies of his book, The Pizza Bible, and doing a meetand-greet at two Pittsburgh stops on Fri., Feb. 13. 1 p.m., at Penn Macaroni, in Strip District, and 6 p.m., at Caliente, 4624 Liberty Ave., Bloomfield
ISLAND
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COLD NIGHT calls for a warm meal, and Jamaican restaurants deliver on a number of fronts. The island vibe evokes sunny beaches; jerk chicken can usually be counted upon to be plenty hot; and Jamaican restaurateurs, in our experience, are pros at the warm welcome. At Caribéana, in a little strip mall in Penn Hills, chef/co-owner/server Donette Howell-Wright’s welcome went beyond greeting us when we entered, beyond even introducing herself. She asked our names, too (including our kids’) as we o ordered. She then used them as the meal or proceeded — to deliver each dish to the pro one who’d ordered it, to politely ask an on inattentive child to make way for a plate ina and to inquire of each of us by name whether we were pleased with our food. And the answer, roundly, was yes. Though a couple items were unavailable on a quiet Tuesday night, there were plenty of options on the menu to satisfy a hungry family of four. Because it was cooked to order, our food did not arrive
{PHOTO BY HEATHER MULL}
Brown stew with red snapper, rice and beans, and mango juice
promptly. But Donette let us know that would be the case when we ordered, and we weren’t in a rush, so it was OK. We were comfortable in the dining room, which had the not-unpleasant vibe of a 1970s rec room, with potted palm plants, an aquarium and walls painted bold crimson where they weren’t covered with
CARIBÉANA
6022 Saltsburg Road, Penn Hills. 412-793-9937 HOURS: Mon.-Thu. 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. PRICES: Appetizers, salads and sandwiches $2-9; entrees $10-15 LIQUOR: BYOB
CP APPROVED paneling. A mirror-backed bar that looked like it dated from about the same era as the paneling served as a place for Donette’s kids to hang out, doing homework and playing games, while their mom tended her business. Two iconic Jamaican dishes, fried plantains and jerk chicken, were the first we
ordered. The plantain rounds were fried up nice and crispy, not at all dried out, and came with a tasty, sweet-hot sort of pepper jam to enliven their native starchiness. Caribéana’s version of jerk chicken included a spicy black rub paired with a deep mahogany sauce. While the two seemed to share the same array of earthy spices, the interplay between their different flavors was delightful, the rub offering serious, peppery heat while the thick sauce provided a subtly sweet counterpoint. Beneath the jerk, the drumstick and thigh were moist and fall-apart tender. For the spice-averse, “brown stew chicken” was an ideal order. More meltingly tender chicken was deeply seasoned and lavishly sauced with tomatosweet pepper gravy, but not a bit piquant. The “brown” in the name refers not only to the color of the gravy, but to the preparation of the chicken: It’s marinated, then browned in a pan before being simmered in the stew. Garlic, onion, salt and pepper rounded out a flavor profile that was both comfortingly familiar — owing to CONTINUES ON PG. 16
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its common ingredients — and uniquely Jamaican — served over rice and beans. Oxtail stew was actually simmered in the same gravy, but this meat resulted in a different marriage of protein and sauce, so that the beef stew became something deeper, darker and more intensely savory than the chicken. The bone-in beef tails required some careful fork-and-knife work, but the rich, supple meat was more than worth the effort. Rice and beans were again on the plate to soak up excess sauce. Each entrée was accompanied by steamed cabbage, but instead of a limp mound of pale green leaves, it was a lovely mélange of both pale- and darkgreen shredded cabbage combined with carrots. The texture was tender, but not insipid: The carrots had been expertly cooked so that they weren’t distractingly crunchier than the leaves, and the flavor was straightforward yet satisfying.
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 02.04/02.11.2015
{BY DREW CRANISKY}
BREWTHERHOOD
The state’s craft brewers gather to celebrate
Banana fritters are fittingly mentioned last, as their sweetness pushed them into dessert territory, at least by American standards. But their banana flavor was strong and true. A significant section of Caribéana’s menu that we did not try was seafood. Several seafood dishes are on offer, including curry shrimp, jerk shrimp, red snapper and tilapia; the latter can be had steamed or escovitch style, in which the fish is marinated and fried in a peppery vinaigrette. When we come back in warmer weather, we’ll definitely order that. On this visit, we relished Caribéana’s provision of a different kind of comfort food for cold winter nights. Those ultratender meats and savory, seasoned gravies really hit the spot.
Late last month, about 160 scruffy dudes piled into the ballroom at the North Side’s Priory Hotel. The Avett Brothers weren’t playing a surprise show, nor was Apple unveiling some new wearable tech. They gathered instead to celebrate that other great love of scruffy dudes: beer. The third Meeting of the Malts brought together brewers, enthusiasts and folks from every corner of the industry to talk about, and drink, Pennsylvania craft beer. The panel discussion/dinner, sponsored by the PFE Corporation, Vecenie Distributing and North Country Brewing, was a fundraiser for the Brewers of PA, a trade association with about 60 members that works to promote and protect the state’s brewing industry. Throughout the evening, Tröegs’ Chris Trogner, Victory’s Bill Covaleski and East End’s Scott Smith fielded a range of beer- and business-related questions. Though the panelists grew increasingly difficult to hear as the night wore on (beer, as it turns out, tends to make people loud and distractible), the overall tone was one of excitement — for what Pennsylvania’s 219 licensed craft brewers have accomplished as well as for what lies ahead. “We are only now approaching the number of breweries we had prior to Prohibition,” said Smith. Though Pennsylvania’s craft-beer market is growing increasingly crowded, the panel seemed unconcerned, discussing the limitless flavors that can be achieved with small tweaks to beer’s four basic ingredients. They also speculated about the trends we might see in craft beer this year, including lower-alcohol brews, more locally sourced ingredients, and the return of the almighty lager. Toward the end of the evening, Covaleski touched on the collaborative spirit of the state’s brewing industry. “You can never underestimate, and you can never overlook, the value of unity,” he said. With that, the crowd that had seemed wholly unfocused moments before erupted into thunderous applause. And I left that room, a room packed with the state’s sharpest brewing minds, knowing that we beer-lovers are in very capable hands.
INF O @PGH C IT YPAPE R . C O M
INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
Jerk chicken, cabbage, and rice and beans
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THE FOLLOWING DINING LISTINGS ARE RESTAURANTS RECOMMENDED BY CITY PAPER FOOD CRITICS
The FRESHEST Local Produce from The Strip
DINING LISTINGS KEY
J = Cheap K = Night Out L = Splurge E = Alcohol Served F = BYOB
TIC THAI CUISINE AUTHEN
ALL INDIA. 315 N. Craig St., Oakland. 412-681-6600. With more than 200 items, All India’s menu is both epic and exciting, including novel choices such as Goan coconut shrimp and green jackfruit curry alongside the old denizens, chicken curry and the tandoor. Here, a thali, or combination platter, is a great option for the culinary explorer who wants the experience of multiple tastes. KF AVENUE B. 5501 Centre Ave., Shadyside. 412-683-3663. This intimate corner restaurant has only a brief, seasonal menu, but its offerings are all tantalizing, each combining several pedigreed ingredients. Such selections have included piquillo-pepper lasagna with a different filling in each layer; green-bean and sweetpotato tempura; and fresh pasta topped with beef short ribs, chard and crisped cipollini onions. LF BAR MARCO. 2216 Penn Ave., Strip District. 412-471-1900. At this former firehouse-turnedrestaurant, a small but wellcurated menu makes a perfect complement to this venue’s wine and cocktail list. The tapas-inspired roster ranges from charcuterie plates and classics, like patatas bravas, to smoked-pork tamales and grilled radicchio and endive salad. KE
Monday & Thursday $2 Yuengling 16oz Draft ____________________
Tuesday
1/2 Price Wine by the Bottle ____________________
Wednesday
Pork & Pounder $10 ____________________
Friday
Burgh’ers {PHOTO BY HEATHER MULL} special (pork, ceviche), sides include such south-of-the-border staples as plantains, refried beans and fried yucca. J CHURCH BREW WORKS. 3525 Liberty Ave., Lawrenceville. 412-688-8200. The Brew Works setting — the meticulously rehabbed interior of St. John the Baptist Church with its altar of beer — remains incomparable, and there are always several hand-crafted brews on tap to enjoy. For dining, the venue offers a flexible menu, suitable for all ages, ranging from pub nibblers and wood-fired pizza to nouvelle American entrées. KE
BOB’S DINER. 211 Mansfield Blvd., Carnegie. 412-429-7400. Well-prepared fare and a warm atmosphere distinguish this local diner chain. Bob’s serves the classic diner array of all-day breakfast fare, hot and cold sandwiches and stick-toyour-ribs dinner platters. The fried chicken is a winner, with a skin that is deep goldenbrown and shatteringly crisp. J BURGH’ERS. 100 Perry Highway, Harmony. 724-473-0710. This organic, farm-to-table restaurant with a thoughtful selection of all-American sandwiches, burgers (including veggie and bison), hot dogs and sides offers something for everyone. Try a Pittsburghneighborhood-themed burger — “Mexican War” with chilies and avocado, the “Polish Hill” with a pierogie — and don’t miss the shoestring-style rosemary fries. JE CHICKEN LATINO. 155 21st St., Strip District. 412-246-0974. This quick-serve chicken joint serves up Peruvian-style, wood-fired and deliciously seasoned rotisserie chicken. Besides the bird, hamburgers and the occasional
FAT HEADS. 1805 E. Carson St., South Side. 412-431-7433. This place seems to expand every few years, with reason: terrific beer selection, chicken wings and industrial-sized sandwiches. There’s outdoor eating on the “fatio,” but timing is everything: No matter how many tables they add, you may end up waiting for one. JE GRIT & GRACE. 535 Liberty Ave., Downtown. 412-281-4748. Small plates with plenty of unexpected ingredients and designed for sharing mark this Downtown venue. The menus offers updates on classics (Rueben, ramen) and eclectic Asian fusion fare to dim sum and “pork face” sandwich. Fortunately, the kitchen brings a confident approach to a wildly various list of boldly complex dishes. KE HABITAT. 510 Market St., Downtown. 412-773-8800. Located in the handsome Fairmont Hotel, this restaurant — with a marvelously open kitchen — utilizes local and seasonal ingredients. The emphasis is on the kitchen’s ability to adapt and update traditional dishes from around the world, such as tandoori chicken tacos and rare-tunaand-avocado spring rolls. LE
{PHOTO BY HEATHER MULL}
Olives and Peppers EVERYDAY NOODLES. 5875 Forbes Ave., Squirrel Hill. 412-421-6660. At this Chinese restaurant, the menu is organized around pasta dishes, including noodle soups, “dry” noodles served with sauce and toppings, dumplings, wontons and potstickers. A few rice dishes, non-noodle soups and steamed vegetable plates round things out. But noodles — made fresh in full view of customers — rule. JF
KALEIDOSCOPE CAFÉ. 108 43rd St., Lawrenceville. 412683-4004. This intriguing menu refracts contemporary trends in sophisticated casual dining while still offering an atmosphere of off-the-beaten-path funkiness. While some dishes emphasize unusual juxtapositions of ingredients, such as a lobsterand-white-bean purée alongside fish, or fig in a “rustic marsala sauce,” other dishes are of the moment, with pistachio dust atop duck cannoli or deepfried gnocchi. KF CONTINUES ON PG. 18
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ALL LUNCHES
Saturday & Sunday 10:30am-3pm
MON TUE-THU FRI-SAT SUN
$
8-$10
Brunch Specials & Bloody Mary Bar
----- HAPPY HOUR ----1/2 OFF SNACKS $2 OFF DRAFTS $5 WINE FEATURE
11:30-3:00 11:30-9:00 11:00-9:00 12:00-5:00
DINE IN / TAKE OUT / BYOB DI
1906 PENN AVENUE STRIP DISTRICT 412-586-4107
Mon- Fri 4:30 – 6:30pm ____________________ 900 Western Ave. I NORTH SIDE
412-224-2163
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$ 2 DRINKS FRI-SAT
U CALL ITS
HAPPY HOUR 1/2 11/ /2 O OFF FF F FA ALL LL DRAFTS & $2 OFF MUNCHIES Mon-Thurs 5-7 • Fri & Sat 4:30-7:30
OPEN DAILY • 11AM - 11:30AM 30AM
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Saturday, February 14
An Intimate & Romantic Valentine ’s Evening Entree & Dessert Combos Cocktail Specials Live Entertainment 6pm-10pm
10PM-MIDNIGHT
35¢
WINGS MONDAY THRU FRIDAY
The first hit is free. Reyna Restaurante Mexicano {PHOTO BY HEATHER MULL}
Actually, so are all the others.
2328 E. Carson 232 a so St. S SOUTHSIDE 412.481.0852
Thank you City Paper readers for voting us one of the Best Chinese Restaurants in Pittsburgh
China Palace Shadyside Featuring cuisine in the style of
Peking, Hunan, Szechuan and Mandarin
100 VEGETARIAN DISHES!
Delivery Hours
11:30 - 2 pm and 5-10pm
Make your reservations now! 18
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 02.04/02.11.2015
5440 Walnut Street, Shadyside 412-687-RICE chinapalace-shadyside.com
LEGUME BISTRO. 214 N. Craig St., Oakland. 412-621-2700. The former Regent Square bistro now has a more urbane Oakland location. To its inspired cuisine based on fresh, seasonal and local, Legume has also added a full bar and in-house butchering. The expanded menu might include: steaks, lamb kielbasa with celeriac puree, grilled escarole and lemonverbena panna cotta. LE OLIVES AND PEPPERS. 6052 William Flynn Highway (Route 8), Bakerstown. 724-444-7499. This casual Italian spot that offers pizza, pasta and sandwiches as well as more refined entrees. The meat-and-cheese sandwiches are a forte, with ciabatta “panini” and hoagies options. The lasagna is enormous, its homemade noodles laden with a creamy five-cheese mix and a savory Bolognese sauce with meatball-like chunks of beef. KE
Steaks, tarte flambée flatbreads and even a burger round out this innovative menu. KE PENN AVENUE FISH COMPANY. 2208 Penn Ave., Strip District (412-434-7200) and 308 Forbes Ave., Downtown (412-562-1710). These two fish restaurants fill the gap between humble lunch counter and snooty steakhouse — modern, funky and moderately priced. Much of the restaurant’s menu is casual fare such as sandwiches, sushi and tacos, with a rotating selection of higherend dishes, particularly at the Downtown location. KF
REYNA RESTAURANTE MEXICANO. 2031 Penn Ave., Strip District. 412-904-1242. The city’s oldest Mexican grocery brings a serious, sit-down exploration of moles, rellenos and other mainstays of Mexico’s regional cuisines. There are tacos (albeit . w w w Mexican-style), but OVER THE BAR paper pghcitym the more adventurous BICYCLE CAFÉ. 2518 .co should check out E. Carson St., South Side. more fare such as tamal 412-381-3698. This twoOaxaqueno (lime-soaked corn wheel-themed café and bar dough filled with chicken in offers a creative pub-grub menu Oaxaca mole sauce, wrapped in (with many offerings named a banana leaf) or a relleno made for bicycle parts). The salads with ancho chiles. EK are more impressive than those you’ll find at most bars, and the TAMARI. 3519 Butler St., menu features vegetarian and Lawrenceville (412-325-3435) vegan options. Try the battered and 701 Warrendale Village zucchini planks wrapped around Drive, Warrendale (724-933-3155). melty cheeses. JE The concept is original and simple: blending the salty, citrusy PAMELA’S. Multiple locations. flavors of Asia with the bright, www.pamelasdiner.com. There spicy flavors of Latin America. are many reasons to recommend this popular local diner mini-chain: Although the execution is high-end, individual dishes are the cheery atmosphere; the oldquite reasonably priced, with fashioned breakfasts featuring lots of small plates. KE raisin French toast, fried potatoes and corned-beef hash; and light, crispy-edged pancakes so good WINTZELL’S OYSTER HOUSE. that President Obama had them 530 E. Bruceton Road, West served at the White House. J Mifflin. 412-650-9090. An Alabama seafood chain claims PARK BRUGES. 5801 Bryant St., a welcome northern outpost Highland Park. 412-661-3334. This in the Pittsburgh suburbs. The Belgian-style bistro offers more menu is dominated by seafood, than moules (mussels), though with a few steak, burger, and those come highly recommended, chicken options, prepared in a in either a traditional creamSouthern style — mostly fried, wine preparation or spicy Creole. and accompanied by grits, Rather than frites, try variations gumbo, hushpuppies and okra. on French-Canadian poutine, such And oysters, naturally, served in as adding chipotle pulled pork. a variety of ways. EK
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“I’M NOT GOING TO THE GRAMMYS UNTIL I’M NOMINATED FOR SONG OF THE YEAR.”
BEAT
{BY MARGARET WELSH}
SPEAKING BACK
MWELSH@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
For more information (and a related video by Mind Cure Records’ Mike Seamans): www.chunklet.com. N E W S
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Home studio magic: Grammy-nominated Penn Hills native Tommy Brown
The Speaking Canaries’ long-lost album
As founder of the magazine Chunklet and author of The Indie C–red Test, Henry H. Owings gets excited about obscure rock music. So when he came across an unreleased Speaking Canaries cassette, he could hardly believe his luck. The Speaking Canaries — sometimes rendered “Thee Speaking Canaries” or “The(e) Speaking Canaries” — are known to many as Don Caballero drummer Damon Che’s other project, despite the Pittsburgh-based band having earned notoriety in its own right, with records like 1995’s Songs for the Terrestrially Challenged. About five years ago, Owings had the chance to go through the vast cassette collection of former Don Caballero bassist Pat Morris. One treasure was an unreleased Don Cab recording, Five Pairs of Crazy Pants, Wear ’Em, which Owings put out earlier this year. But the twodecade-old Canaries tape — Platter Base Must Be Constructed of Moon Rock — was a stranger find. “I approached Damon and said, ‘Fill me in: What was this?’ And he said, ‘It was just me. I couldn’t find anyone else to play with so I just played by myself,’” Owings recalls. “I said, ‘Dude, I am an enormous Canaries fan; can I please put this out?’” Unsurprisingly, Platter Base isn’t as polished as later records (to the degree that “polished” could be used to describe the Canaries’ fuzzy, noisy Van Halen worship), but the seeds of the future band are there. “I think it’s more of a sketch than a full painting, but I’ve always been a sucker for rough ideas,” Owings says. “It’s another glimpse of the beautiful music Damon has going on in this head.” Owings lives in Atlanta, but has always carried a torch for this particular era of Pittsburgh music, after spending time at Pitt in 1990 and 1991. “I was in school for 11 months, but those 11 months had an extraordinarily profound influence on me,” he says. With only 350 copies in print — and a promise that the record will never see a re-release —Platter Base is true collector-bait, and Owings has been pleased with the response so far. “I think [the band] gained a cult status, but it’s always bummed me out that it never really went beyond that. If it’s my way of trumpeting his talent, so be it.”
{PHOTO COURTESY OF WESLEY ARMSTRONG}
BEHINDTHE MUSIC {BY ANDY MULKERIN}
A
S THE MUSIC industry gets ready
for its biggest night, the Grammy .Awards, there’s one young Penn Hills native who’s had a hand in two nominated records — but most Pittsburghers wouldn’t know him by name. Tommy Brown is a songwriter and producer on the rise; outside of the music industry, he might be a relative unknown, but to those who know pop music, he’s quickly developing a reputation as someone to work with. You’d think having a nomination would be a pretty big deal to a pop-music producer, but Brown, whose projects have received the nod before, plays down
the Grammy talk. “I’m excited, but I told myself I’m not going to the Grammys until I’m nominated for Song of the Year,” he says. “I feel the same way,” says his writing partner and girlfriend, Victoria Monet. “As a songwriter and producer, one of the only Grammys that you actually are able to go onstage for, and get an actual Grammy, is for that category. Otherwise, you’ll get a certificate, and that’s cool — don’t get me wrong, that’s crazy — but once you get to one step, you’re already ready for the next thing.” Brown, 28, grew up in Penn Hills, at-
tending a few public and private schools; it was in school that he first started training as a producer. “I actually lied about making beats,” he recalls with a laugh. “They had a digital-recording class in high school. So then they asked me to make beats and I had to actually learn how to do it.” But that wasn’t Brown’s introduction to music. His father had worked as a manager for Mel-Man, the Pittsburgh-born rapper who went on to become well known for his work with Dr. Dre, and as CEO of Big Cat Records. “I kind of was seeing music a little bit” growing up, Brown explains, “and I think I was just intrigued.” CONTINUES ON PG. 20
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BEHIND THE MUSIC, CONTINUED FROM PG. 19
After high school, Brown moved to Atlanta, one of the centers of industry in the hip-hop world, to work on his connections. “I’m a person who believes there’s no plan B,” Brown says. “When I went down there, I wanted to be in music. I got a job to get an apartment, and I just took it seriously from that point on.” It wasn’t a quick and easy entry into the music world; Brown spent many a night on his feet, handing out samples of his work to anyone who would take one, hoping to get a bite. “Every night, I’d take the little bit of money I had and I would burn 50 CDs, with a tag over top of it, so people couldn’t steal the beats. And I would go and hand them out at open mics, to up-and-coming artists. It kind of spread; I’m handing out 50 CDs a night. Eventually, I was at work and the artist Gorilla Zoe called me, then Yung Joc called. It was one after another at that point. I started working with a lot of the major rappers.” “I kind of learned marketing on accident,” he adds. He worked briefly with Atlanta industry notable Ray Hamilton, then signed with Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, whose past production credits are a pop-music who’s who, from Mary J. Blige to Michael Jackson. That signified both the start of his career in Los Angeles — where he lives and works to this day — and the beginning of his partnership with Monet, who’s from Sacramento, Calif. “She was in Rodney Jerkins’ girl group [Purple Reign], and of course we became fond of each other,” Brown recalls. “I had sent her some tracks when I was staying in Pittsburgh for six months, and she wrote a song, and I’m like, ‘Yo, you’re a crazy writer!’ And I told Rodney, ‘She’s a great writer!’ And she wrote stuff for DiddyDirty Money, and we did four songs on [Shontelle’s album No Gravity], and we decided to branch out from just working with [Jerkins] to form our own team. We’re writing for everybody now.” Brown and Monet’s biggest success of late has been with Ariana Grande; they wrote a song on her debut album in 2013, and last year had two tracks, including the title track, on Grande’s Grammy-nominated follow-up, My Everything. (Brown and Monet also wrote on “Drunk Texting,” a track on Chris Brown’s Grammynominated album X.) It’s an interesting setup, especially given that while Brown is generally satisfied behind the scenes, Monet is a singer in addition to being a writer. She says it works, though. “It’d be easy for me to want to keep all my songs and not give any of them away.
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Victoria Monet, Tommy Brown’s writing partner and girlfriend
But I have the ability to write a lot of different kinds of songs, so not every song is for Victoria Monet as an artist. It’s nice to be able to give someone something you wrote and were able to feel, and kind of see them translate it into their own version.” Plus, there are certain things a singer can take away from watching other singers interpret her songs. “Working with a bunch of artists, you get to learn their processes, and I also work as a vocal coach,” Monet explains. “I’ll be in the studio with the artist helping them with their vocals, and it teaches me a lot about myself. Brown and Monet are now operating out of a big house outside of L.A., where they invite artists to come and work on tracks. “I used to have a studio, but I moved out of the studio, because it’s smarter to just have a huge house,” Brown explains. “I’ll have my producers and writers coming in and working on these projects. I might have three working rooms of production and writing. I’m executive-producing Amber Riley’s project, so I’ll have her in there, I’ll have Ariana, T.I., different artists working in my main room while other people are working in the other rooms — all building this brand, which is gonna be huge this summer.” For all the temptation and excess that
comes with working in the entertainment industry, especially living and working in L.A., Brown and Monet right now are focused on working hard and smart. “I want to stay far away from what anybody else is doing,” Brown says. “I moved the camp, like, 30 minutes away from where anybody is, and we just work here. No distractions, no ‘Hey, I’m gonna go run to the movies.’” The other key, Brown says: working together. “People always try to separate you; it’s like divide and conquer: ‘Yo, Victoria, you gotta go work over here; Tommy, you gotta produce over here, this is what’s gonna make you bigger.’ At the end of the day, they didn’t tell Missy [Elliott], ‘Hey, Missy, you gotta go work with Pharrell.’ No, Missy worked with Timbaland, which made one of the biggest production-writing duos, to me, in history.” Monet says she and Brown don’t encounter may of the pitfalls some associate with working together with your romantic partner; despite spending basically all of their time together, she says they’re as happy as ever. “He’s getting back into rapping, and I did a hook for him,” she says by way of example. “And people can just tell, just by us being on the same song, that there’s a certain vibe there, and I think it’s dope.” AMULKERIN@PGH C IT YPAPE R . C O M
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NEW RELEASES
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STRAUB BEER HAPPY HOUR BAR TOUR! 2/10 - Winghart’s South Side 2/17 - Original Oyster House Market Square, Downtown
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' "! ' ""% ' " "! %' '% /.,7 ' % +!" & "% ' '& ! ' "! ! "% ' "! % %" " & # ''& (% "% ARTI&'& & "*' & #% & &( ' '" ! . ) % $( % "% !'%+.
(SELF-RELEASED) DOUGLASLOWELLBLEVINS.BANDCAMP.COM
There’s something refreshing about a straight-up rock record, sans the “indie.� Douglas Lowell Blevins, a Pittsburgh native, brings the big riffs, steel guitars and, yes, even some guitar solos on his Cruel Variations EP. Blevins smoothly navigates blues, Americana and oldfashioned rock ’n’ roll, and he luckily doesn’t fall into the trap of Black Keysor Ty Segall-imitation. On opener “Hit The Lights,� Blevins promises a lover he’ll say exactly what’s on his mind, and he keeps this promise for the EP’s entirety, exploring frustration on “How It Goes,� pursuing dreams on “Keep on Giving� and kiss analysis on “Kiss Like.� Sometimes, the lyrical content can be a little too on-the-nose and familiar, but as a quick, 20-minute chunk of rock, Cruel Variations hits the mark more often than not. BY SHAWN COOKE
DOUGLAS LOWELL BLEVINS with MISS TESS AND THE TALKBACKS, THE ARMADILLOS. 7 p.m. Thu., Feb. 12. Club CafĂŠ, 56 S. 12th St., South Side. $10. 412-431-4950
CHEVY WOODS GANGLAND 3 (SELF-RELEASED) WWW.CHEVYWOODSMUSIC.COM
STRAUB BEER SPECIALS, GIVEAWAYS AND MORE! All locations 5-7pm
DOUGLAS LOWELL BLEVINS CRUEL VARIATIONS
PITTSBURGH | #THISISHARDROCK Š2015 Hard Rock International (USA), Inc. All rights reserved.
JOIN H ARDROCKREWARDS .COM
Taylor Gang member Chevy Woods dropped the third installment of his Gangland series last week. The Hazelwood native delivers 13 tracks, with original beats from ID Labs, Ricky P, Sonny Digital and Zaytoven, to name a few, on a mixtape hosted by DJ Holiday from Tha Commision collective, out of Atlanta. Woods’ unique flow matches well with the production. Woods also released the visual for “Shooters,� the mixtape’s lead single. At press time, Gangland 3 had reached over 30,000 downloads on Datpiff.com. BY MICHAEL CRANDLE
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CRITICS’ PICKS
Anti-Flag
Surrender your senses tonight to Drums & Drones, a touring sound-and-video collaboration from drummer Brian Chase (of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and video artist Ursula Scherrer. Chase creates minimalist drone pieces using percussion and feedback; Scherrer’s video accompaniments are abstract, toying with light and movement. The result: a thoughtprovoking zone-out program that’s been presented elsewhere under the guises of Phill Niblock’s Experimental Intermedia Jason organization, and Isbell Toronto’s X Avant festival. The Wirelevel event makes its Pittsburgh premiere tonight at Pittsburgh Filmmakers’ Melwood Screening Room; probably don’t bring your dancing shoes. Andy Mulkerin 8 p.m. 477 Melwood Ave., Oakland. $8. All ages. 412-681-5449 or theaters. pittsburgharts.org
[PUNK] + FRI., FEB. 06 The locally based left-wing punks of Anti-Flag released The Terror State, their highest-charting record to date, in late 2003, in the shadow of the start of the Iraq War. They’re currently on the road touring to commemorate the record’s 10-year anniversary, more than 11 years after it dropped, because we all know what “punk time” means, right? Tonight, the show, in which the band plays that record in its entirety, comes to Mr. Small’s Theatre, with Such Gold, The Homeless Gospel Choir and Divorce set to open. Shawn Cooke 8 p.m. 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $18. 412-821-4447 or www.mrsmalls.com
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[METAL] + SAT., FEB. 07 After the 2013 departure of Adam Duce, lead vocalist and guitarist Robb Flynn is the only founding member left standing in Machine Head. Even though the band’s retained only a fraction of its original roster, 2014’s Bloodstone & Diamonds managed to be its highest-charting album yet (No. 21 on Billboard 200). Flynn continues to lead the heavy metal-lifers into massive thrashy, agressive territory, and he brings the new lineup to Mr. Small’s for the first time tonight. SC 9 p.m. 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $25. 412-821-4447 or www.mrsmalls.com {PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL WILSON}
[AVANT-GARDE] + THU., FEB. 05
[AMERICANA] + MON., FEB. 09
When Jason Isbell dropped his wildly acclaimed album Southeastern sans backing band the 400 Unit, you knew things were going to get personal. Before writing his fourth LP, Isbell went to rehab, overcame his alcoholism and got married. His demons are distinctly in the crosshairs on Southeastern, but he spins the mostly tame Americana with a renewed sense of clarity and purpose. Though he’s been in the business for nearly two decades, NBC executives somehow hadn’t heard of him, and urged Isbell via email to try out for The Voice — despite the fact that he’s sold as many records as some of the show’s recent winners. Tonight, he plays his first Pittsburgh show since just after the 2013 album’s release, at the Carnegie Library Music Hall of Homestead. Damien Jurado opens. SC 7 p.m. 510 E. 10th Ave., Munhall. $32. 412-462-3444 or www.librarymusichall.com
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TO SUBMIT A LISTING: HTTP://PGHCITYPAPER.COM/HAPPENINGS
412.316.3388 (FAX) + 412.316.3342 X194 (PHONE)
{ALL LISTINGS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY 9 A.M. FRIDAY PRIOR TO PUBLICATION}
ROCK/POP THU 05
THURSDAY FEB 5/10PM
NATIVE ALLOYS THURSDAY FEB 12/10PM
EMO NIGHT $2.75 PBR POUNDERS OR PBR DRAFTS
ALL DAY, EVERY DAY 2204 E. CARSON ST. (412) 431-5282 lavaloungepgh.com C O H E N
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G R I G S B Y 5 3 6 4 5 1 3 & 4 & / 5 4 4 & 3 * & 4
& TONIGHT ONLY! WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4 1. s #:)". 5)&"5&3 53645"354 03( t #09 0''*$& "5 5)&"5&3 426"3& 09 0''*$& "5 5)&"5&3 t (30614 5*$,&54 t ( ( 30 0 614 4 5* 5*$, $,& $, & 54
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CLUB CAFE. Willie Nile, Brad Wagner. South Side. 412-431-4950. LEVELS. Mark Ferrari Duo. North Side. 412-231-7777. MR. SMALLS THEATER. Drowning Clowns, Lone Wolf Club, Liz Berlin, Chet Vincent, more. Millvale. 866-468-3401. THUNDERBIRD CAFE. The Silks & The Me Toos. Lawrenceville. 412-682-0177.
FRI 06 BLOOMFIELD BRIDGE TAVERN. MJx3, MidKnight Rose, Shannon & the Merger. BloomďŹ eld. 412-682-8611. CLUB CAFE. Houdini’s Psychic Theatre, Aliantis (Late). South Side. 412-431-4950. FRIDAY FAITH CAFE. John Wyrick Band. Washington. 724-222-1563. THE HANDLE BAR & GRILLE. Local. Canonsburg. 724-746-4227. KELLY-STRAYHORN THEATER. David Cook. East Liberty. 412-471-2600 ext. 376. LEVELS. Antoinette. North Side. 412-231-7777. LINDEN GROVE. Totally 80s. Castle Shannon. MR. SMALLS THEATER. Anti-Flag, Such Gold, The Homeless Gospel Choir, DIVORCE. Millvale. 866-468-3401. PITTSBURGH WINERY. The Black Lillies. Strip District. 412-566-1000. THE R BAR. Dr. J’s Mojo Hand. Dormont. 412-982-0882. RAMADA INN HOTEL & CONFERENCE CENTER. No Bad Juju. Greensburg. 724-552-0603. SMILING MOOSE. The Traditionals, The Sablowskis. South Side. 412-431-4668. THUNDERBIRD CAFE. Chad Sipes Stereo, Pet Clinic, Tanagram. Lawrenceville. 412-682-0177.
Charmaine Evonne cd release. South Side. 412-431-4950. DOWNEY’S HOUSE. The Hawkeyes. Robinson. 412-489-5631. KOPPER KETTLE. King’s Ransom. Washington. 724-225-5221. LEVELS. John Sarkis Trio. North Side. 412-231-7777. MR. SMALLS THEATER. Machine Head. Millvale. 866-468-3401. RAMADA INN HOTEL & CONFERENCE CENTER. Twisted Fate. Greensburg. 724-552-0603. SMILING MOOSE. Hivelords, Dreadeth, Wrought Iron. South Side. 412-431-4668. SPEAL’S TAVERN. The Shiners. 724-433-1322. TARENTUM EAGLES. Daniels & McClain. Tarentum. THUNDERBIRD CAFE. The Cause, Ric & John. Lawrenceville. 412-682-0177.
THE NEW BOHEMIAN. Weather Permitting: Red Western, Vira Samba, Union Rye. North Side. 412-251-6058. SMILING MOOSE. Empire! Empire! (I was a Lonely Estate), Warren Franklin & the Founding Fathers, Homies. South Side. 412-431-4668.
SUN 08
WED 11
ALTAR BAR. Datsik. Day 1. Strip District. 412-263-2877. HARD ROCK CAFE. Local H. Station Square. 412-481-7625. MR. SMALLS THEATER. Chris Robinson Brotherhood. Millvale. 866-468-3401.
MON 09 CARNEGIE LIBRARY OF HOMESTEAD MUSIC HALL. Jason Isbell, Damien Jurado. 412-368-5225.
TUE 10 HOWLERS COYOTE CAFE. Et Al, Dumplings, The Cunks. BloomďŹ eld. 412-682-0320. STAGE AE. Pierce The Veil, Sleeping With Sirens. North Side. 412-229-5483.
CLUB CAFE. Action Camp Presents: Rearranged w/ Larkin Mayberry IV, Midge Crickett. South Side. 412-431-4950. STAGE AE. Pierce The Veil, Sleeping With Sirens. North Side. 412-229-5483.
MP 3 MONDAY STAGE HANDS
SAT 07 BAJA BAR AND GRILL. Totally 80s. Fox Chapel. 412-963-0640. BULGARIAN-MACEDONIAN NATIONAL EDUCATION AND CULTURAL CENTER. Grand Bon Rien Grand Bon Rien. West Homestead. 412-461-6188. CATTIVO. Mariage Blanc, Mantiques, Dream Phone, Ricky Molsen & Friends. Lawrenceville. 412-687-2157. CLUB CAFE. Charmaine Evonne, Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo, Universal Beat Union, Aaron Jones (Early).
Each week, we bring you a new track from a local band. This week’s offering comes from Stage Hands’ forthcoming self-titled debut; stream or download “#unabomber (feat. The One and Only Matt Miller� on our music blog, FFW>>, at pghcitypaper.com.
EARLY WARNINGS
DJS
WORLD
THU 05
SAT 07
BELVEDERE’S. Neon w/ DJ hatesyou. 80s Night. Lawrenceville. 412-687-2555. CLUB TABOO. DJ Matt & Gangsta Shak. Homewood. 412-969-0260.
DOBRA TEA. Tom Moran. Squirrel Hill. 412-449-9833.
REGGAE FRI 06
FRI 06 BRILLOBOX. PANDEMIC: Globa Dancehall, Cumbia, Balkan, Bhangra, Chalga, Dancehall. Bloomfield. 412-621-4900. THE CLOAKROOM. DJ SMI. East Liberty. 412-779-2624. DRUM BAR. DJ Nugget. North Side. 412-231-7777. THE NEW AMSTERDAM. Hank D. Lawrenceville. 412-682-6414. ONE 10 LOUNGE. DJ Goodnight, DJ Rojo. Downtown. 412-874-4582. ROWDY BUCK. Top 40 Dance. South Side. 412-431-2825. RUGGER’S PUB. 80s Night w/ DJ Connor. South Side. 412-381-1330.
SAT 07
WED 11 THE NEW AMSTERDAM. The Programmer. Lawrenceville. 412-682-6414. SPOON. Spoon Fed. Hump day chill. House music. aDesusParty. East Liberty. 412-362-6001.
FAN CLUB SPORTS BAR. The Flow Band. Monroeville.
{WED., MARCH 11}
Pete Rock and Slum Village Rex Theater, 1602 E. Carson St., South Side {THU., MAY 07}
Toro y Moi
SAT 07
CATTIVO. Illusions. w/ Funerals & Arvin Clay. Lawrenceville. 412-687-2157. DIESEL. DJ CK. South Side. 412-431-8800. DRUM BAR. DJ NIN. North Side. 412-231-7777. ROWDY BUCK. Top 40 Dance. South Side. 412-431-2825. S BAR. Pete Butta. South Side. 412-481-7227.
Mr. Small’s Theatre, 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale
HEINZ HALL. Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra PNC Pops: Chris Botti. Downtown. 412-392-4900. NOLA ON THE SQUARE. Benny Benack. Downtown. 412-471-9100. SWEETWATER CENTER FOR THE ARTS. Reggie Watkins. Sewickley. 412-741-4405.
SAT 07
FULL LIST ONLINE
FRI 06
SAT 07
SUN 08
SUN 08 THE R BAR. The Midnite Horns. Dormont. 412-942-0882.
JAZZ THU 05 ANDYS. Lisa Hindmarsh. Downtown. 412-773-8884. GIANNA VIA’S RESTAURANT & BAR. RML Jazz. Overbrook. 412-370-9621. JAMES STREET GASTROPUB & SPEAKEASY. Roger Humphries Jam Session. North Side. 412-904-3335.
FRI 06 ANDYS. Spanky Wilson. Downtown. 412-773-8884.
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SUN 08 ALTAR BAR. ORieL & The Revoluters, Truths & Rites, Jah Ques, Ras Maisha, African Dance Ensemble. The 3rd Annual Reggae Fusion Fest. Strip District. 412-263-2877.
COUNTRY
ANDYS. Tania Grubbs. Downtown. 412-773-8884. CIOPPINO SEAFOOD CHOPHOUSE BAR. Jerry & Lou Lucarelli, Sunny Sunseri, Reid Hoyson, Peg Wilson. Strip District. 412-281-3959. HEINZ HALL. Pittsburgh Symphony SPEAL’S TAVERN. www. per Orchestra PNC Pops: Blues Open Mic a p pghcitym Chris Botti. Downtown. w/ Stone Broke. .co 412-392-4900. 724-433-1322. NOLA ON THE SQUARE. Neon Swing X-perience. Downtown. 412-471-9100. MOONDOG’S. Jason Ricci. SUPPER CLUB RESTAURANT. Blawnox. 412-828-2040. Frank Cunimondo, Patricia Skala. TAMBELLINI BRIDGEVILLE Greensburg. 724-850-7245. RESTAURANT. Johnny Vann. Bridgeville. 412-221-5202.
BLUES
CAPRI PIZZA AND BAR. Bombo Claat Friday Reggae w/ VYBZ Machine Intl Sound System. East Liberty. 412-362-1250. THE NEW BOHEMIAN. The Flow Band. North Side.
Toro y Moi
ANDYS. Salsamba Latin Jazz Group. Downtown. 412-773-8884. EMMANUEL EPISCOPAL CHURCH. Jazz at Emmanuel. North Side. 412-231-0454. HEINZ HALL. Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra PNC Pops: Chris Botti. Downtown. 412-392-4900. OMNI WILLIAM PENN. Frank Cunimondo. Downtown. 412-553-5235.
MON 09 ECLIPSE LOUNGE. Open Jazz Night w/ the Howie Alexander Trio. Lawrenceville. 412-251-0097. THUNDERBIRD CAFE. Space Exchange Series w/ Descarga en Espacio. Lawrenceville. 412-682-0177.
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THU 05
WED 11 MANSIONS ON FIFTH. TRAVLIN’. Shadyside. NOLA ON THE SQUARE. Al Lardo. Downtown. 412-471-9100. RIVERS CLUB. Jessica Lee & Friends. Downtown. 412-391-5227.
CONSOL ENERGY CENTER. Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood. Uptown. 412-642-1800. ELWOOD’S PUB. The Fiddlers. 724-265-1181.
FRI 06
ACOUSTIC
CONSOL ENERGY CENTER. Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood. Uptown. 412-642-1800.
THU 05
SAT 07
DOWNEY’S HOUSE. Mike & Frank from The Lava Game. Robinson. 412-489-5631. ELWOOD’S PUB. West Deer Bluegrass Review. 724-265-1181.
FRI 06 BACKSTAGE BAR AT THEATRE SQUARE. Eve Goodman. Downtown. 412-456-6666. CLUB CAFE. The 1008 Club ft. Frank Vieira, The Hobbs Sisters, Cody Gibson, Mike Cali (Early). Country Songwriters Showcase. South Side. 412-431-4950. ELWOOD’S PUB. Doc & Tina. 724-265-1181. MULLANEY’S HARP & FIDDLE. Tim & John. Strip District. 412-642-6622.
SAT 07 OLIVE OR TWIST. The Vagrants. Downtown. 412-255-0525. RUMFISH GRILLE. Jason Kendall / Jim Graff duo. Bridgeville. 412-515-5082.
TUE 10 RENAISSANCE PITTSBURGH HOTEL. Jason Kendall. Downtown. 412-515-5082.
CONSOL ENERGY CENTER. Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood. Uptown. 412-642-1800. HARVEY WILNER’S. Dallas Marks Band. West Mifflin. 412-466-1331. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE. Christian Beck Band. Warrendale. 724-799-8333.
SUN 08 CONSOL ENERGY CENTER. Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood. Uptown. 412-642-1800.
CLASSICAL SUN 08 DESIREE SOTERES, SOPRANO. Chatham University, Shadyside. 412-365-1100.
OTHER MUSIC THU 05 PITTSBURGH FILMMAKERS. Drums & Drones. Oakland. 412-681-5449.
FRI 06 ROCK ROOM. Rockaraoke. Polish Hill. 412-683-4418.
WED 11
SAT 07
ALLEGHENY ELKS LODGE #339. Pittsburgh Banjo Club. Wednesdays. North Side. 412-321-1834.
ANDY WARHOL MUSEUM. Battle Trance. North Side. 412-237-8300. TJ’S HIDEAWAY. The Earth Quakers. 724-789-7858.
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PAID ADVERTORIAL SPONSORED BY
What to do February 4 - 10 WEDNESDAY 44 Scott Pemberton
THUNDERBIRD CAFE Lawrenceville. 412-682-0177. Over 21 show. Tickets: showclix.com. 9p.m.
THURSDAY 55 Who’s Bad: The Ultimate Michael Jackson Tribute Band
JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE Warrendale. 724-799-8333. All ages show. Tickets: jergels. com. 8p.m.
Boeing Boeing THE CABARET AT THEATER SQUARE Downtown. 412-281-3979. All ages show. Tickets: pittsburghclo.org. Through Apr. 26.
FRIDAY 66 Chris Botti
HEINZ HALL Downtown. 412-392-4900. All ages show. Tickets: pittsburghsymphony. org/pops. Through Feb. 8.
IN PITTSBURGH
I’ve Got a Little Twist: New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players
North Side. 412-237-8300. Tickets: warhol.org. 8p.m.
Pittsburgh Dance Council Presents Ronald K. Brown /Evidence
THE PALACE THEATRE Greensburg. 724-836-8000. All ages show. Tickets: thepalacetheatre.org. 8p.m.
BYHAM THEATER Downtown. 412-456-6666. All ages show. Tickets: trustarts.org/dance. 8p.m.
Prussia: 1866 RAUH THEATRE, PITTSBURGH PLAYHOUSE Oakland. 412-392-8000. All ages show. Tickets: pittsburghplayhouse. com. Through Feb. 22.
The 3rd Annual Reggae Fusion Fest ALTAR BAR Strip District. 412-206-9719. Over 21 show. Tickets: ticketfly.com or 1-877-4-FLY-TIX. 8p.m.
Beauty and the Beast BENEDUM CENTER Downtown. 412-456-6666. All ages show. Tickets: pbt.org. Through Feb. 15.
Mo Lawda & The Humble / Forest & the Evergreens SMILING MOOSE South Side. 412-431-4668. All ages show. Tickets: ticketfly.com or 1-877-4-FLY-TIX. 6:30p.m.
Williams Honor SOUTH HILLS POWER YOGA
Beauty and the Beast
Marriage Blanc
Dormont. 412-207-9535. All ages show. Tickets: eventbrite. com. 8p.m.
pa. Through Feb. 7.
CATTIVO Lawrenceville. 412-687-2157. Over 21 show. Tickets: ticketfly.com or 1-877-4-FLY-TIX. 9:30p.m.
SOUND SERIES: Battle Trance
Runaway Dorothy with Mike Cali
Comedian Herbie Gill
SATURDAY 77 WARHOL THEATER ANDY WARHOL MUSEUM
PITTSBURGH WINERY Strip District. 412-566-1000. Over 21 show. Tickets: showclix. com. 9p.m.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6 BENEDUM CENTER
LATITUDE 360 Robinson Twp. 412-693-5555. Tickets: latitude360.com/pittsburgh-
www.Q929FM.com
SUNDAY 88
Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) SMILING MOOSE South Side. 412-431-4668. All ages show. Tickets: ticketfly.com or 1-877-4-FLY-TIX. 6:30p.m.
Beauty Slap and Bridge City Hustle PITTSBURGH WINERY Strip District. 412-566-1000. Over 21 show. Tickets: showclix.com. 7p.m.
MONDAY 99 Jason Isbell
CARNEGIE OF HOMESTEAD MUSIC HALL Munhall. 412462-3444. All ages show. Tickets: ticketfly.com or 1-877-4-FLY-TIX. 7p.m.
TUESDAY 10
Sleeping with Sirens STAGE AE North Side. All ages show. Tickets: ticketmaster.com or 800-745-3000. Doors open at 6p.m.
YOU CAN
Now on
TAKEOVER
— GET TEXT ALERTS WHEN YOUR SONG IS COMING UP —
IT’S LIKE YOU WORK HERE AT Q92-9!
((( TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR )))
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 02.04/02.11.2015
((( VOTE FOR SONGS )))
THE MUNDANE SCENES ARE NEVER LESS THAN HEARTBREAKING
WAR WEARY {BY AL HOFF} The press notes for Alien Outpost say that the pitch for this sci-fi/war actioner was a mash-up of Restrepo and Battle: L.A. That’s a fair description, as Jabbar Raisani’s film combines the mordant humor and institutional futility depicted in the 2010 documentary about a remote Army outpost in Afghanistan with the blast-’em action of a troops-vs.-aliens B-film.
LIFE AND DEATH Defending Earth
Set in 2031, the nearly forgotten Outpost 37 — in the DMZ between Afghanistan and Pakistan — is tasked with rooting out and killing the remaining invading aliens, who are holed up in the remote area. The haphazardly supplied and fortified outpost is also under attack from angry local tribes. (Allusions to the real-life ever-winding-down conflict in this area are frequent and undoubtedly intentional.) Viewers arrive with three new soldiers, and a documentary crew of two, whose cameras provide the sole footage of unfolding events. (Useful background comes by way of intertitles and interviews with the soldiers.) Practical jokes and goat barbecues quickly fall away as the outposters confront a new alien attack strategy that exploits the soldiers’ best human instincts. The soldier-doc half of Outpost is stronger than the alien action, and while I respect Raisani’s efforts to meld them, each section often compromised the other: Just as I got to know an individual soldier, an alien attack reduced them all to interchangeable screaming guys I didn’t care about. But, in the future, when they study the War on Terror on Film, this will likely be one of the more entertaining features. 10 p.m. Fri., Feb. 6; 9:30 p.m. Sat., Feb. 7; 7 p.m. Sun., Feb. 8; and 7:30 p.m. Tue., Feb. 10. Hollywood AHOFF@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
This absorbing new comedy from Paul Tibbitt is sure to soak up the kiddies’ attention, with its combination on of animation and live action.
The SpongeBob s SquarePants nge Movie: Sponge ter Out of Water opens Fri., Feb. b. 6.
{BY AL HOFF}
From top left, clockwise: “Joanna,” “Our Curse,” “The Reaper,” “White Earth” and “Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1”
N
O ACADEMY AWARDS ballot is com-
plete without tackling one of its most provocative categories: the documentary short films, where viewers can find works on less-mainstream and more personal topics. This year’s program is two-and-a-half-hours long, and I’d be remiss not to warn you that the slate is a heavy one. There are two video-diary-type films from Poland. In “Joanna” (40 min.), Aneta Kopacz documents the everyday moments of a woman diagnosed with cancer, and particularly her interactions with her young son. The effect is both lyrical and intimate, and the mundane scenes are never less than heartbreaking. “At least I saw him learn to ride a bike,” she says, as her boy pedals away from her. The second Polish film, “Our Curse” (27 min.), finds director Tomasz Sliwinski chronicling the confusing and fraught days following the birth of his son, who suffers from a rare disease which requires him to sleep on a ventilator. Sliwinski and his wife openly question the emotional difficulties of embracing a child whose existence is on
a knife edge between thriving and dying. It’s tens of thousands of deaths that both haunt and sustain Efarin, whose job it is to kill cows in a Mexican slaughterhouse. Gabriel Serra Arguello’s “The Reaper” (29 min.) combines artful black-and-white photography of the workplace with Efrain’s thoughts about life and death, and the duality they pose for him: In order that his family lives, he takes lives.
OSCAR-NOMINATED SHORTS: DOCUMENTARY PROGRAM In English, and various languages, with subtitles Feb. 6-8, Feb. 13-15, and Feb. 21 and 22 Melwood
CP APPROVED When we think of the children of migrant workers, we might not conjure them in the oil and gas fields of North Dakota. But the energy boom has brought families to small towns like the titular “White Earth” (USA, 20 min.). Filmmaker J. Christian Jen-
sen catches up with some of these kids, who struggle to process big themes such economic stability and home, while subject to the vagaries of their parents’ employment. With veterans’ post-war experiences back in the news, Ellen Goosenberg Kent’s “Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1” (USA, 40 min.) is timely. Her cameras, set up at a national crisis hotline in New York state, capture counselors patiently talking callers through suicidal thoughts, while simultaneously coordinating with emergency personnel to respond in person. Despite the positive outcomes seen here, the film is a potent reminder of how widespread and destructive PTSD can be, and how thinly stretched the front-line defenses for treating it are. For lighter fare and for completists, there’s still time to catch all the short films nominated for the Academy Awards this year, before the Feb. 22 ceremony. The Oscar-nominated live-action and animated shorts continue at the Regent Square through Thu., Feb. 12, and then at the Harris from Feb. 13 through Feb. 19. A HOF F @ P G HC I T Y PA P E R. C OM
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workers, among other abuses. Screens as part of Duquesne University’s Human Rights Film Festival. 7 p.m. Mon., Feb. 9. College Hall (Room 105), 600 Forbes Ave., Uptown. 412-396-6415 or www.duq.edu. Free
FILM CAPSULES CP
= CITY PAPER APPROVED
NEW THIS WEEK
GHOSTS OF AMISTAD: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE REBELS. This new hour-long documentary from local filmmaker Tony Buba is based on The Amistad Rebellion: An Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and Freedom, Pitt historian Marcus Rediker’s book about the famous 1839 slave revolt. The film follows a 2013 journey to Sierra Leone, in which Rediker and colleagues sought out living descendants of those taken aboard the Amistad, as well as the site of Lomboko, the former slave-trading depot. Rediker will introduce the film and do a Q&A following the screening. 8:30 p.m. Mon., Feb. 9. William Pitt Union, Pitt campus, Oakland. Free. www.history.pitt.edu
JUPITER ASCENDING. A sci-fi actioner from Andy and Lana Wachowski about a lowly Earth girl (Mila Kunis) who discovers she is royalty elsewhere in space, which leads to a war of sorts. Channing Tatum and Eddie Redmayne also star. Starts Fri., Feb. 6 PROJECT ALMANAC. Down in the basement, David (Jonny Weston) finds the time-machine gizmo his late dad had been working on, so he and a couple of his smart friends get it up and running. They make a pact to always time-travel together (oh, kids!) and set about satisfying some pretty low-ball goals: passing an exam, having a snappy comeback to a bully, going backstage at the embarrassingly sparsely attended Lollapalooza show. But you know how it goes — once you start messing with the past, there goes the future. Dean Israelite’s sci-fi thriller unspools it for the uneducated, even giving shout-outs to other films that have previously covered this problem. But this familiarity is a weakness of Project Almanac, along with its lame title, mind-numbing romance and about 30 minutes of padding. I used the extra time to get in my own mind-looping: Say you went back in time to 2004 and prevented the awesome time-travel film Primer from being made, then this Primer rip-off you’re watching wouldn’t exist! (Al Hoff)
3 Nights in the Desert truth-bombing-reunion genre to deliver anything new. It does get a point for adding a less-common “supernatural cave” element, but when the cave failed to eat any of these three rather tiresome characters, I took that point away. 7 and 9 p.m. Fri., Feb. 6; 4:30 and 8 p.m. Sat., Feb. 7; and 4 p.m. Sun., Feb. 8. Parkway, McKees Rocks. $4 (AH)
MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM. Justin Chadwick’s recent adaptation of the South African anti-apartheid activist-turned-prisoner-turnedpresident stars Idris Elba as Nelson Mandela. 6 p.m. Fri., Feb. 6. Carnegie Library, 7101 Hamilton Ave., Homewood. Suggested donation: $2. www. sembenefilmfestival.org
SEVENTH SON. An action-adventure set ages ago about a young man who is tasked with defeating witches, ghosts and the like. Sergey Bodrov’s film stars Ben Barnes, Julianne Moore and Jeff Daniels. Starts Fri., Feb. 6 3 NIGHTS IN THE DESERT. Three former college buddies, who used to be a band that didn’t quite make it big way back when, reunite around their 30th birthdays at a remote homestead in the California desert. And yes, there is alcohol consumed, and yes, over the three nights (and days), the usual score-settling of betrayals and revelations ensues. Gabriel Cowan’s new drama doesn’t break out of the
Birdman (2014) 2/4 @ 7:30pm, 2/5 @ 7:30pm, 2/6 @ 7:30pm, 2/7 @ 7pm, 2/9 @ 7:30pm, 2/11 @ 7:30pm Michael Keaton’s stunning performance as a washed up actor has Oscar potential!
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Alien Outpost (2014)
2/6 @ 10pm, 2/7 @ 9:30pm, 2/8 @ 7pm, 2/10 @ 7:30pm A documentary crew follows an elite unit of soldiers in the wake of an alien invasion.
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Silents, Please! Rediscovering Bert Williams
2/8 @ 3pm - A remarkable program devoted to early African American entertainer Bert Williams, one of the most popular actors of his day. Live piano accompaniment by Tom Roberts.
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Rocky Horror Picture Show
- 2/7 @ Midnight Live shadowcast, music, mayhem, and fun!
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TOWERING TURRETS OF TOMORROW LAND: THE FILMS AND WRITING OF GEORGE KUCHAR. Andrew Lampert, curator at Anthology Film Archives, presents an evening dedicated to the work of underground filmmaker George Kuchar. Lampert will read from Kuchar’s notebooks and screen a 75-minute program of five of Kuchar’s rarely seen 16 mm shorts. 6:30 p.m. Thu., Feb. 5. Carnegie Museum of Art, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. 412-622-3212 or www.cmoa.org. Free
ERROLL GARNER: NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU READ. Atticus Brady’s 2012 documentary examines the life and career of pioneering jazz pianist Erroll Garner, who grew up in Pittsburgh. 6 p.m. Sat., Feb. 7. Carnegie Library, 7101 Hamilton Ave., Homewood. Suggested donation: $2. www.sembenefilmfestival.org
Project Almanac
REPERTORY ROW HOUSE CINEMA. Sci-Fi Fest: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (he said he’d be back, and so it was in this 1991 actioner), Feb 4. Children of Men (2006 thriller about a childless, dystopian future), Feb. 4-5. Blade Runner (stylish 1982 Ridley Scott classic about men and replicants), Feb. 4-5. Iron Giant (1999 animated tale about a boy and his alien robot buddy), Feb. 5. Our 2014 Favorites: Ida (period drama set in 1960s Poland about a young nun and her family’s secret past), Feb. 6-12. Snowpiercer (dystopian thriller about class struggle — all aboard a speeding train), Feb. 6-8, and Feb. 10 and 12. Guardians of the Galaxy (a goofball, a tree and a raccoon save outer space in this action comedy), Feb. 6-11. The Grand Budapest Hotel (a star-studded ensemble checks into Wes Anderson’s period hotel), Feb. 6-9 and Feb. 11-12. Call or see website for times and complete listings. 4115 Butler St., Lawrenceville. $5-9. 412-904-3225 or www.rowhousecinema.com
CP
DR. ZHIVAGO. Not wedding vows, not the devastating First World War, not even the Russian Revolution can keep the sensitive poet/ doctor Zhivago (Omar Sharif) from his true love, Lara (Julie Christie). An enjoyable, sprawling 1965 romance from epic-master David Lean, complete with gorgeous vistas and beautiful wide-screen cinematography. 7:30 p.m. Wed., Feb. 4. AMC Loews. $5 (AH)
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 02.04/02.11.2015
FILM KITCHEN. The monthly series for local and independent artists features work by “sprocket scientist” tENTATIVELY, A cONVENIENCE. The 35-minute program “8 Shorts from 37 Years” includes “Diszey Spots,” which combines lore about the frozen head of “Walt Diszey” with manipulated trailers for 1960s Disney movies to explain how the visionary behind Snow White and the Seven Dwarves became the brand name on Monkeys, Go Home. And Tent’s sly “Anti-Neoist Rally” documents a counter-protest to a staged rally by mysterious “Neoists.” Also programmed by Film Kitchen curator Matthew Day is Courtney Fathom Sell and Billy Feldman’s “The Hole,” a striking 2010 portrait of a near-rural corner of Queens where black cowboys roam the streets on horseback. Sell, based in New York, also presents “My Dying Day,” his moving 2007 portrait of his father, who outlived his prostate-cancer prognosis and ministers to the dying, even while preparing for his own demise. And Garrett Kennell’s “Milkman” is a sunnily lit, slickly produced dark comedy about a world-class milkman who accidentally delivers a really bad batch. 8 p.m. Tue., Feb. 10 (7 p.m. reception). Melwood. $5. 412-681-5449 (Bill O’Driscoll)
FINDING VIVIAN MAIER. John Maloof and Charlie Siskel’s recent documentary uncovers the heretofore untold decades-long work of Chicagoarea nanny Vivian Maier, who was also a prolific street photographer. 6:20 p.m. Sat., Feb. 7. Parkway. McKees Rocks. $3 REDISCOVERING BERT WILLIAMS AND EARLY BLACK CINEMA. This month’s installment of Silents, Please! looks at African Americans working in the beginning of the film industry. Bert Williams was a successful vaudeville performer who appeared in several films in the mid-1910s. African-American film historian Joseph Kennedy IV will introduce the program, and pianist Tom Roberts will provide live accompaniment. 3 p.m. Sun., Feb. 8. Hollywood MAPANTSULA (HUSTLER). This 1988 South African drama from Oliver Schmitz was filmed in Soweto, and tells the story of Panic, a gangster caught between his self-interest and the larger anti-apartheid movement. In English, and various languages, with subtitles. 6 p.m. Sun., Feb. 8. Sanger Hall, Chatham campus, Shadyside. Free (includes pizza and popcorn). www.sembenefilmfestival.org THEY LIVE BY NIGHT. Farley Granger and Cathy O’Donnell star in Nicholas Ray’s 1948 noir, about the doomed relationship between an injured escaped convict and the woman who takes him in. 8 p.m. Sun., Feb. 8. Regent Square NOT MY LIFE. Robert Bilheimer’s 2012 documentary examines the exploitation of children throughout the world — as forced labor, soldiers and sex
Film by Courtney Fathom Sell at Film Kitchen HAPPENED ONE NIGHT. In this 1934 CP IT romantic comedy from Frank Capra, a news reporter (Clark Gable) pursues a runaway rich girl (Claudette Colbert) through Depression-era America. Times grow so lean that the mismatched pair are forced to chastely share a motel room (separated by a hanging blanket, or “the Wall of Jericho”), but you won’t surprised to learn the pair transcend their differences. 7:30 p.m. Wed., Feb. 11. AMC Loews. $5 HITS. A new dark comedy from David Cross takes place in a small New York town, where people are influenced by the desire for fame. 8 p.m. Thu., Feb. 12. Hollywood. Pay-what-you-like.
[DANCE]
“I’M MORE CONVINCED BY PEOPLE WHO HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR THAN BY THOSE WHO DON’T.”
BETTER ANGELS Dance artists find inspiration just about anywhere, from fairy tales to world conflicts. But perhaps the most fertile area for inspiration is human relationships. For dancer/choreographer Ronald K. Brown, the death of close friend and mentor Sherrill Berryman Johnson from cancer, in 2010, and her memory inspired the positive messages behind the two works his company Ronald K. Brown/Evidence will perform Feb. 7 at the Byham Theater. Part of the Brooklyn-based company’s 30th anniversary tour, the program, presented by the Pittsburgh Dance Council, marks the company’s first performance in Pittsburgh in six years. A poem on a plaque that Johnson gave Brown, titled “Angels of the Sunset,” helped shape the underlying message of the program’s opening work, “The Subtle One” (2014). The 20-minute piece, set to music from jazz musician Jason Moran’s 2010 album Ten, takes its title from one of the songs on that album. Brown says that the title refers to God, “the one who whispers things into existence.” The poem’s message, and the spiritual heart of the work, he says, refers to angels and our ancestors walking the earth with us, inside us. Brown, a Brooklyn native known for his works reflecting the African diaspora, has also created pieces for companies including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Philadanco and Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. In 2012, he choreographed the Broadway revival The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess. Also on the program is Brown’s 2011 piece “On Earth Together,” set to music by Stevie Wonder, including alternate versions of such songs as “You and I,” “Living for the City” and “Higher Ground.” The 50-minute piece, also inspired by the memory of Johnson, is about making the world a better place. It features all nine Evidence dancers, including Brown, along with a multigenerational cast of local performers who recently auditioned here to be in the work. Like Wonder’s music, this work “is about love and being a compassionate world citizen,” said Brown by phone recently from South Bend, Ind., where the company was performing. Both dance works tap into Brown’s highly musical choreographic style that fuses traditional African dance with contemporary styles. “Music is one of the ways we share information with the audience,” says Brown. “I tell my dancers to show me the music and the rhythm in their dancing.” INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
RONALD K. BROWN/EVIDENCE 8 p.m. Sat., Feb. 7. Byham Theater, 101 Sixth St., Downtown. $19-55. 412-456-6666 or www.trustarts.org N E W S
Ronald K. Brown/Evidence performs “On Earth Together.” {PHOTO COURTESY OF AYODELE CASEL}
{BY STEVE SUCATO}
A FARCE TO BE RECKONED WITH [STAGE]
{BY BILL O’DRISCOLL}
{PHOTOS BY HEATHER MULL}
Gab Cody gets into character.
O
VER THE PAST four years, Gab Cody’s
cut a swath through local theater. Since 2011, she has: written and co-starred in Fat Beckett, an audacious comedic update of Waiting for Godot, for Quantum Theatre; served as lead writer on Bricolage Productions’ wildly ambitious immersive hit STRATA; written and directed, in collaboration with Point Park theater students, the zany comedy The Alchemist’s Lab; and collaborated on OJO, another immersive work with Bricolage. And all that’s not counting plays she wrote or co-wrote that received staged or workshop readings in Pittsburgh and elsewhere … or 2014’s Progression, the featurelength, locally produced indie film comedy made with collaborator (and spouse) Sam
Turich, which is now on the festival circuit. Cody’s work has drawn critical acclaim — for STRATA especially — and raves from collaborators. “We think that she’s really just incredible at what she does,” says Bricolage co-artistic director Tami Dixon,
PRUSSIA: 1866 Feb. 5-22. Pittsburgh Playhouse, 222 Craft Ave., Oakland. $15-27 (Feb. 7, 14 and 21 are pay-what-you-will). 412-392-8000 or www.pittsburghplayhouse.com
praising Cody’s combination of intelligence and comedic sensibility. Quantum artistic director Karla Boos says, simply, “I’m awed by her brain.”
Now comes the premiere of Cody’s comedy Prussia: 1866, at Point Park’s The REP theater company. It is the play you’ve been waiting for: a romantic farce about the young Friedrich Nietzsche and 19thcentury feminism. It’s also a part of Cody’s continuing mission to both address serious topics in comedic ways and, as she says, “to reintroduce style to theater.” Prussia grew out of Cody’s graduate theater studies at Point Park University. The Alaska native began studying there in 2008, shortly after she and Pittsburgh native Turich moved here from Brooklyn. As a writer, she was fascinated by questions of morality and social responsibility, especially how we address them absent religion. Such precisely was the turf of Mr. CONTINUES ON PG. 30
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A FARCE TO BE RECKONED WITH, CONTINUED FROM PG. 29
CORRECTION Last week’s interview with novelist Stewart O’Nan inadvertently omitted the date of his booklaunch for West of Sunset. The event is at 7 p.m. Sat., Feb. 7, at East End Book Exchange (www.eastendbook exchange.com).
God is Dead himself, and Cody later learned that the young Nietzsche, intriguingly, had proto-feminist friends. As to her play’s form, Cody embraces Brecht’s dictum that comedy, far from frivolous, is a superior tool for social commentary. “Farce is taboo-bursting and Nietzsche is taboo-bursting,” she says, adding, “I find I’m more convinced by people who have a sense of humor than by those who don’t.” In 1866, Nietzsche was indeed 22 and living in Prussia; otherwise, Cody’s play is complete fiction, centering on bookish Fritz’s affair with Mariska, the saucy younger wife of his mentor and benefactor, pompous novelist Heinrich Von Klamp. In the play’s two acts of one long, hurtling scene each, Cody plots in: Heinrich’s assistant, Rosemary, an early feminist; innocent maid Karoline; an American delegate; and Griselda, an older “liberated poetess.” Fritz is played by recent Point Park grad Drew Palajsa. The cast also includes: Laura Lee Brautigam, Philip Winters, Hayley Nielsen and Mary Rawson, with Cody herself as Rosemary and Turich as
the delegate. Kim Martin directs. Expect witty dialogue, patriarchal condescension, rampant wordplay (a Cody hallmark), class conflict, physical comedy, brief nudity and exchanges like this: “FRITZ: Cynicism is a defeatist approach to life. ROSEMARY: Why would a defeatist bother with an approach?” Cody lives in Lawrenceville with Turich, an actor and director, and their daughter, Mathilda, 7. In addition to her theatrical work, she has taught theater at local universities and written and produced segments for the PBS Fred Rogers Co. show Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. Cody contends that in theater and film, our culture’s default setting on naturalism is stifling. She likes The Deer Hunter as well as anyone, she says; she and frequent collaborator Turich simply prefer such artistic models as My Man Godfrey and other 1930s screwball comedies. Quantum’s Boos sees Cody as a parodist: Just as Cody and Turich’s popular 2009 short film “Mombies” spoofed zombie films, so Fat Beckett turned Godot on its head (substituting affluent female
THE GOAL IS COMEDY AS SOPHISTICATED SOCIAL COMMENTARY.
explorers for hopeless male tramps to send up, in part, consumerism). “The coolest thing about her is that she parodies genre. I don’t know anybody else who does that,” says Boos, who’s read Prussia and considers it a send-up of 19thcentury drawing-room dramas. Bricolage’s Dixon says Cody “uses comedy as a way to talk about things that are sometimes hard to talk about.” Running through the choose-your-ownadventure format of STRATA, for instance, was a pungent satire of self-actualization seminars. “She’s commenting on the world through a larger-than-life viewpoint,” says Dixon. “I don’t know anyone else like her.” Cody is a feminist who wants Prussia to get the audience questioning patriarchy in both 1860s Europe and 2010s America, even as it’s laughing at Rosemary, Fritz and Mariska. True to farce, she says, “I think everyone in the play is absurd.” But, she clarifies in an email, “I think Brecht said it best when he said all theater is political; if it’s not political, your play is just reinforcing the status quo.” The goal is comedy as sophisticated social commentary. As Cody puts it, “I’m just making the work that I want to go see.” D RI S C OL L @ P G HC I T Y PA P E R. C OM
an incubator for innovative thinking about the photographic image
What happens when you really look? This photograph, from Robert Adams's book Summer Nights, Walking, is quiet and inviting. Take a moment to look—really look—at this picture and consider what you learn about the world and about yourself from the image. What do you see, sense, and feel after spending time with the photo? Respond to our question with text, photos, videos, or audio files, and we'll feature your response on our website.
nowseethis.org Yale University Art Gallery. Purchased with a gift from Saundra B. Lane, a grant from the Trellis Fund, and the Janet and Simeon Braguin Fund
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[BOOKS]
PLAIN WORDS {BY FRED SHAW}
In the poem “Riding Westward,” from his new collection, Sugar Run Road (Autumn House Press), Ed Ochester challenges “obscure” avant-garde writing to become more readable. He sums up his poetics: “I like the complexity / not confusion / plain surface texture / free of mere complicatedness.” It’s an approach Ochester has championed for decades, an outlook sometimes derided by academics more interested in theory than substance. Ochester, an “exiled” New Yorker, Armstrong County resident and professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh, has been a force in publishing both local and national poets for decades. As editor of the esteemed Pitt Poetry Series, he has published collections by former U.S. poet laureates Billy Collins and Ted Kooser, as well as recent inaugural poet Richard Blanco. As founder and co-editor, with Judith Vollmer, of respected poetry magazine 5AM (now shuttered), he let many young poets (myself included) rub elbows in its pages with more established writers. That accessibility is bedrock in his ethos and evident throughout the 75 pages of sometimes-didactic Sugar Run Road. Ochester’s subject matter runs the gamut: Poems on literature, music and politics stand alongside correspondence with colleagues and a sprinkling of family history. His sly humor informs the haiku “Karaoke Night at the Serbian Club, South Side, Pittsburgh”: “two young toothless men / with enormous gusto sing / ‘Stairway to Heaven.’” It’s a moment worthy of 17 syllables. In the poem “Poetry,” Ochester writes, “yet I think of O’Hara’s delight / in the endless pleasures / of quotidian life.” Ochester is acknowledging the influence of poets like Frank O’Hara and Edward Field, both known for emphasizing small moments of the present, rather than dwelling in the past. That approach is illustrated in “Steel City,” where he writes, “as now teenagers / make out on park benches after eating / lard infused fries and the little kids / on the carousel yell ‘MORE! MORE!’ / to their sagging parents as endless / automobiles circle looking to park.” The poem celebrates Pittsburgh in the here and now, its straightforward observation paired nicely with the energy of lines flowing from a near lack of punctuation. Simple, yet substantial, Sugar Run Road works as a reminder that while poetry can take many forms, it should ultimately be both interesting and fun to read. INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
ED OCHESTER BOOK-RELEASE PARTY. 7 p.m. Sat., Feb. 28. East End Book Exchange, 4754 Liberty Ave., Bloomfield. www.eastendbookexchange.com N E W S
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{PHOTO COURTESY OF KRISTI JAN HOOVER}
Tangela Large in Mr. Joy, at City Theatre
[PLAY REVIEWS]
FINDING JOY {BY TED HOOVER}
THREE YEARS AGO, City Theatre presented
Through February
22
BRAHMAN/I a one-hijra stand-up comedy show
A compelling and hilarious show examining identity, curiosity, courage, and the assigned roles in which we often find ourselves trapped. “Temple of Comedy” Quantum’s pop-up club, 113 N. Pacific Avenue, Garfield For tickets, directions, and special events visit quantumtheatre.com 412.362.1713
ADITI BRENNAN KAPIL DIRECTED BY SHISHIR KURUP
BY
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 02.04/02.11.2015
presented by:
Through the Night, a one-man show written by and starring Daniel Beaty. It was an evening that knocked my socks off, so I was very eager to see Beaty’s new one-person show, Mr. Joy, again at City Theatre. As with Through the Night, we’re up in Harlem, shadowing the lives of several characters whose path cross and re-cross through 85 intermissionless minutes. The event that sets everyone in motion is the brutal beating of a shoe-repair shop owner, the eponymous Mr. Joy, a longtime resident of the neighborhood and a man who has touched many lives. There’s Clarissa, a young girl living with her grandmother Bessie after her parents have died from AIDS complications. With dreams of being a shoe designer, she’s made the shop her second home … and now she’s wondering why he’s not there. Bessie, since the beating, has begun to rally the community to action, urging folks to begin looking after neighborhood children living without parental connections. Mr. Joy’s son, John Lee, works for a millionaire property developer named Clifford, an African-American man who is dating Rebecca, a white woman desperate to have a child of her own, partly because Clifford has disowned his child, Ashes … born Ashton and now transitioned to female. Beaty manages to continually shuffle these people, and several others, into various combinations, and ultimately tells a tale which manages to be at once both
inspiring and achingly sad. The bad news this time around is that Beaty hasn’t returned to play all the roles again. The good news, the very good news, is that those duties are in the hands of Tangela Large, an actress of impeccable talent.
MR. JOY continues through Feb. 15. City Theatre, 1300 Bingham St., South Side. $15-61. 412-431-2489 or www.citytheatrecompany.org
Large shifts from person to person in the blink of an eye with almost no visible effort, yet creates individualized, beautifully detailed characters. Under Lou Jacob’s insightful direction, Large gives a deeply felt performance (performances?) of both depth and breadth. And special mention should be made to the sound and music design of Lindsay Jones. Beaty, and Large, have not disappointed. I can’t wait for the next one. I N F O@ P G H C I T Y PA P E R. C OM
GENDER JOURNEY {BY MICHELLE PILECKI}
THE FIRST problem in writing about Quantum Theatre’s production of Brahman/i is the pesky pronoun. There isn’t one, at least not in standard English, for anyone who isn’t a conventional he or she. The protagonist in Aditi Brennan Kapil’s 2012 play is a hijra, an intersex Indian person born with both male and female genitalia and with like hormones. Since the character at vari-
ous points wants to be known as “B,” let’s stick with that. The second problem is that B’s quasiautobiographical “one-hijra stand-up comedy show” tells a tale of surprising tolerance as this adolescent explores gender identity and expression while in middle, then high school. In the real world of LGBT, such kids face near-homicidal hostility, not only embarrassing pranks and the occasional black eye. OK, let’s call it dramatic license.
BRAHMAN/I continues through Feb. 22. Quantum Theatre at the Bloomfield-Garfield Community Activity Center, 113 N. Pacific Ave., Garfield. $18-49. 412-362-1713 or www.quantumtheatre.com
Brahman/i (the title refers to the masculine and feminine versions of B’s name, and inspires a few puns) tackles many juxtapositions besides sexuality, especially the roles of colonizer vs. the colonized. Hey, I’m always ready to appreciate British and anti-British humor. We’re also treated to India’s memories extending beyond the mere historic to the geological, and large doses of Hindu mythology. But the most remarkable part of
Brahman/i, directed by Shishir Kurup, is the multi-faceted performance of Sanjiv Jhaveri as B, and any number of other characters, across time and space: men, women, children, British, American, Mughal Muslims and, of course, B’s friends and relatives. It’s a splendid performance, but Jhaveri’s need to take a breath and/ or a drink of water does impair the flow. In comedy, it’s all in the timing. David Bielewicz presents a nice surprise as B’s “back-up,” in more than one sense of the word. Scenic designer Britton Mark has cleverly converted a church-turnedcommunity-center into a dive-ish comedy club. Do spend some time looking at the “posters” for other events at the “Temple of Comedy.” Applause to the entire team, including assistant director Vince Ventura, who doubles as a yinzer opening act. Brahman/i offers some insights, more than a few chuckles and some food for thought — including some very thoughtful and delectable Indian snacks. I N F O @PGH C IT YPAPE R . C O M
JUST LOVERLY {BY TED HOOVER}
IT’S DIFFICULT now to understand what a
monster hit Lerner & Loewe’s My Fair Lady was when it opened in 1956. The show ran for more than five years and won six Tonys, and the cast recording reached No. 1 several times from 1956 through 1959. The new production at the Pittsburgh Public Theater is testament to the show’s enduring appeal.
MY FAIR LADY continues through Feb. 22. Pittsburgh Public Theater, 621 Penn Ave., Downtown. $15.75-62. 412-316-1600 or www.ppt.org
Based on Shaw’s Pygmalion, it’s the story of a flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, molded into a lady by brutal phonetics professor Henry Higgins. And between their battles, people sing some of musical theater’s greatest hits: “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “On the Street Where You Live” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.” Shaw, who resisted offers to musicalize his play when he was alive, would have hated My Fair Lady. Lerner adds a romantic subplot for Henry and Eliza, a notion so repugnant to Shaw he wrote an afterword to his play in which he marries her off to another character altogether.
But you know what musicals are like. And so does Ted Pappas, director and choreographer of this Public production. Nothing else matters if you don’t have the right performers, and Pappas’ casting of this show and the solid performances he gets couldn’t be more amazing. Kimberly Doreen Burns charts a vastly entertaining path of transformation for Eliza and, when called upon, blows the roof off the joint with her singing. Benjamin Howes, in some sort of theatrical alchemy, makes Henry’s sneering and bombast exquisitely charming. And John Little plays Pickering with just the perfect amount of avuncular morality. The role of Eliza’s father, a part I’ve never cared for, becomes pure musical comedy gold in the hugely entertaining hands of Bill Nolte. Susan McGregor-Laine is deliciously imperious as Henry’s mother, and Joe Jackson’s Freddy couldn’t be more simpering or adorable. Michael Schweikardt has designed a stunningly handsome back wall for the production, in front of which a lot of chairs get moved around to suggest various locales. It doesn’t really work, but then I disapprove of people who go to theater for the scenery. The Public’s got a big hit on its hands. I N F O@ P G H C I T Y PA P E R. C OM
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FOR THE WEEK OF
02.0502.12.15
SPOTLIGHT of the WEEK
FOR INFORMATION ON HOW TO SUBMIT LISTINGS AND PRESS RELEASES, CALL 412.316.3342 X161. Free. 412-624-6564 or www.filmstudies.pitt.edu
{SCREEN}
FEB. 06
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 02.04/02.11.2015
Unblurred
+ THU., FEB. 05 {STAGE}
Up-and-coming troupe 12 Peers Theater returns with another high-concept show. Existence and the Single Girl follows a 12-year-old girl who’s obsessed with pondering ng the meaning of life, and d whose cure — as prescribed ed by a psychologist — is to become a pop-culture ture phenomenon menon named Ashley Love. It’ss easy as a Cosmo smo personality ality quiz! This his new comedy medy by local playwright ght Matt Henderson son is directed d by Todd Betker etker and comes complete omplete with original music. It opens tonight at Shadyside’s yside’s Maker Theater. Bill O’Driscoll Driscoll 8 p.m. Show continues through Feb. 21. 5940 Ellsworth Ave., Shadyside. $15-20. www.12peerstheater.org
+ FRI., FEB. 06 {SCREEN} Unapologetic and unusual,
Mala Mala is an awardwinning LGBT documentary about Puerto Rico’s transgender community. The film, which screens at Pitt today, features diverse voices from business owners to sex workers and drag queens, and portrays a fight for personal and community
Sembène — The Film & Arts Festival celebrates Black History Month with eight affordable community screenings over four weekends. Some films, like tonight’s opener, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (from 2013, starring Idris Elba), at the Carnegie Library in Homewood, are well known. Also screening this weekend is Erroll Garner: No One Can Hear You Read, a new documentary about the pioneering, Pittsburgh-born jazz pianist (Feb. 7). And on Feb. 8, there’s Mapantsula (Hustler), a 1988 film that was the first anti-apartheid feature made by, for and about black South Africans and is sometimes called the South African The Harder They Come. BO Mandela: 6 p.m. (Homewood). Festival continues through Feb. 27 (various locations). Suggested donation per screening: $2. www.sembenefilmfestival.org
{EXHIBIT}
FEB. 06
Benjamin Liu
acceptance. Mala Mala aims to bridge the gap between American and Latino LGBT culture. Following the screening will be a discussion with co-directors Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini. Zacchiaus McKee 4 p.m. Posvar Hall, Room 1500, 230 S. Bouquet St., Oakland.
“Not until I started to work for Andy And did I realize what re a pack rat he iis,” a former assistant a tto Andy Warhol, W Benjamin Liu, once said. Liu says one of his rresponsibilities was to w pack all 610 pa Warhol’s of W Capsules. An Time Ca collector of art, avid collect photographs, Fiestaware, ph dental molds newspapers, den and other minutiae, Warhol began filling time capsules in 1974. Chief Warhol archivist Matt Wrbican and Time Capsules cataloguer Erin Byrne join Liu to open and discuss one of these unique snapshots of history tonight. ZM 7 p.m. 117 Sandusky St., North Side. Free with Good Fridays
sp otlight Lee Camp likes his new gig as head writer and host of Redacted Tonight, a cable comedy-news show on RT America. The weekly program, which premiered in June, is Daily Show-like in format. But Camp says what disinguishes him from, say, Jon Stewart, is that Camp is an activist as well as a comedian. And at advertiserless RT, he says by phone from the RT studios in Washington, D.C., he can freely rip new ones for the likes of Monsanto, Walmart and Citibank; scorch corporate-toady politicians of either party; and take down, say, American Sniper as pro-war, anti-Muslim propaganda. “There’s very few places where I can speak my mind and have the freedom I have,” he says. Camp has even transformed his trademark “Moment of Clarity” web series (www.leecamp.net) into Redacted Tonight’s opening rant. But between taping sesssions, Camp still hits the road. This week he returns to Hambone’s Pub, where he played to an SRO room two years ago; local comic Krish Mohan opens. Does Camp find it hard, always turning a globeful of bad news into lefty comedy fire and brimstone? “I won’t deny that to read about this stuff around the world all day long, I’m very happy that I have comedy as a tool to handle it,” he says. Bill O’Driscoll 8:30 p.m. Sat., Feb. 7. 4207 Butler St., Lawrenceville. $10-12. www.lchambones.brownpapertickets.com
admission ($5-10). 412-2378300 or www.warhol.org
{ART}
a retired Marine major who backs the war must come to terms with three people who oppose it: his wife; his brother, a Catholic priest and Marine veteran; and his son, back from Iraq and unable to adjust to civilian vilian life.
If you haven’t seen Penn Avenue in Garfield since the construction barriers came down, an excellent excuse is tonight’s Unblurred gallery crawl. The art, music and activities at more than a dozen venues include receptions for DeWayne Kendrick’s black-historythemed exhibition FEB. 07 APOCRYPHA, at BOOM Concepts, and S Sy Sylviane lviiane Thommy Conroy’s Diouf Valentine’s-themed show at Artisan. At ModernFormations, 12 x 12 Rewind, a big group show of works one-foot-square by local artists, honors 2009’s original 12 x 12 show. The Irma Freeman Center for Imagination opens exhibits He also has another son, still of post-modern surrealist fighting in Iraq. “My concern paintings and drawings by was to show the effect of Pittsburgh artist Rachna this on people, particularly Rajen, and of work by New people in a family,” says Hazo, York-based woodcut artist himself a Marine veteran as John Carruthers. And The well as a Duquesne University Mr. Roboto Project hosts this English professor emeritus year’s Pittsburgh incarnation and former State Poet. of international phenomenon The cast and crew for this Fun-a-Day, showcasing art by premiere production include more than 80 locals who seasoned director Rich Keitel each committed to work on and such top local actors a project, of any genre, every as Daina Michelle Griffith day in January. BO Most and Jeffrey Howell. The venues: 7-10 p.m. 4900six performances are at a 5400 Penn Ave., Friendship/ perhaps-unlikely venue: Bloomfield/Garfield. Free. Soldiers & Sailors Memorial www.pennavenue.org Hall. But the facility’s president and CEO, John McCabe, {STAGE} who waived the auditorium’s That the 2003 U.S. invasion of usual rental fee, says the Iraq was based on lies is now play is another way of little disputed. But venerable “remembering and honoring poet and writer Samuel Hazo our veterans.” BO 7 p.m. thought there was more to Continues through Feb. 15. the story. Hazo felt compelled 4141 Fifth Ave., Oakland. to write Tell It to the Marines: $5-25. 412-621-4253 or A Play for the Time at Hand. The drama is set in 2007, when www.soldiersandsailorshall.org
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+ SAT., FEB. 07 {MARKETPLACE} Just remembered Valentine’s Day? Need a little something to forget Valentine’s Day? East End Brewing has got yyou covered either way with its inaugural Crafts w Drafts Artist Market. &D The brewpub marks the release of its Chocolate rele Covered Cherry Stout C Cov with w free samples of the th same, but also by hosting nine local h crafters (from screenprinted T’s to fused glassware) and taste treats from Commonplace Coffee and Spak Bros. DJ MB spins the soul. Admission is free. BO Noon-5 p.m. 147 Julius St., Larimer. 412-537-2337 or www.eastendbrewing.com
{WORDS} In a Black History Month event at the Heinz History Center, author and historian Sylviane Diouf visits with her most recent book, Slavery Exiles: The Story of the American Maroons. African refugees who escaped slavery in the Americas,
FEB. 06 Mala Mala
maroons formed independent settlements. Diouf explores links with the History Center’s From Slavery to Freedom exhibit. Following a discussion, Diouf will sign copies of her book and invite listeners to view the exhibit. ZM 2-4 p.m. 1212 Smallman St., Strip District. $6-15. 412-454-6000 or www.heinzhistorycenter.org
opens today, more than 60 percent of the tropical plant life has been changed out to spotlight a variety of flora never before showcased there. The result of years of research, Tropical Forest Congo highlights some of Africa’s lushest landscapes. To celebrate, Phipps features fun activities for children, including a storytelling performance, plus a pot-aplant table, crafts, food sampling and visits from researchers. ZM 11 a.m.-
{EXHIBIT}
Phipps Conservatory gets a little more exotic. In the long-running exhibit that
FEB. 08
Veronica Lustt
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4 p.m. Schenley Park, Oakland. $11-15. 412-622-6914 or www.phipps.conservatory.org
+ SUN., FEB. 08 {SCREEN} Life can be a drag. Maybe that’s why drag queen Veronica Lustt was once arrested for stealing corn from a farm in rural Pennsylvania. With a brand-new episode, Gay Life TV’s sketch-comedy program The Nomi Darling Show presents The Veronica Lustt Story, Part 1. Formerly available only via online subscription, Nomi is unveiling an eight-episode season for free on YouTube. The newest episode features local queen Lustt and Pittsburgh players including Cindy Crochford, Qarma Kazee, Tootsie Snyder, Shesus Khryst and rapper HollyHood. Expect both a screening and live performances from the cast tonight at Blue Moon Bar. ZM 10 p.m., 5115 Butler St., Lawrenceville. Free. 412-781-1119 or www.gaylifetelevision.com
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THEATER AUDITION FOR MURDER. A film director is holding auditions for extras in an upcoming film & audience members are recruited to read for roles. The director is trying keep the dueling stars from killing each other before someone ends up dead. Sat., Feb. 7, 7 p.m. and Sun., Feb. 15, 2 p.m. Crowne Plaza Hotel, Bethel Park. 724-344-2069. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. Based on the film about the high-flying adventures of a globetrotting con-artist. www.comtratheatre. org Fri, Sat. Thru Feb. 7. Comtra Theatre, Cranberry. 724-773-9896. A CHASTE MAID IN CHEAPSIDE. Centered on the marriage of Moll Yellowhammer to her intended husband, Sir Walter Whorehound, a play of romantic intrigues & betrayals. Produced by the Duquesne University Red Masquers. Thu-Sat, 8 p.m. Thru Feb. 14. Peter Mills Theater (Duquesne, Rockwell Hall), Uptown. 412-396-6429. EXISTENCE & THE SINGLE GIRL. A play about a young girl & her search for the meaning of life. By
Matt Henderson & presented by 12 Peers Theater. Thu-Sat, 8 p.m. and Mon., Feb. 9, 8 p.m. Thru Feb. 21. The Maker Theater, Shadyside. 412-404-2695. HAIR. Classic counter-culture musical presented by Split Stage Productions. Thu-Sat, 8 p.m. Thru Feb. 7. Greensburg Garden and Civic Center, Greensburg. 724-836-8000. INTO THE WOODS. Shadyside Academy student performance brings together classic fairytales w/ an original story. Feb. 6-7, 7:30 p.m. and Sun., Feb. 8, 2 p.m. Hillman Center for Performing Arts, Fox Chapel. 412-968-3040. I’VE GOT A LITTLE TWIST. Presented by the Westmoreland Cultural Trust. Fri., Feb. 6, 8 p.m. Palace Theatre, Greensburg. 724-836-8000. THE MIKADO. Gilbert & Sullivan’s comic opera presented by the Pittsburgh Savoyards. Thu-Sun. Thru Feb. 15. Andrew Carnegie Free Library Music Hall, Carnegie. 412-276-3456. MOTOWN THE MUSICAL. The story of Motown founder Berry Gordy’s journey from
Pittsburgh drag queen legend, featherweight boxer to the heavyweight music mogul who launched Veronica Lustt, who was once the careers of Diana Ross, Michael arrested for stealing corn from Jackson, Smokey Robinson & more. a farm in rural Pennsylvania. Thru Dec. 3, 8 p.m. Heinz Hall, Presented by Smoke This Downtown. 412-392-4900. Productions. Sun., Feb. 8, 10 p.m. MR. JOY. What happened to Blue Moon, Lawrenceville. Mr. Joy? A Harlem community is 412-781-1119. disrupted when the Chinese PRUSSIA 1866. A farcical immigrant’s shoe repair examination of Nietzsche shop, a neighborhood & his proto-feminist pillar, does not open its friends, written by doors. By Daniel Beaty. Pittsburgh playwright Tue, Wed, 7 p.m., Thu, www. per Gab Cody. Sat, Sun, Fri, 8 p.m., Sat, 5:30 pa pghcitym 2 p.m. and Thu-Sat, .co & 9 p.m., Sun, 2 p.m. 8 p.m. Thru Feb. 22. and Wed, 1 p.m. Thru 412-392-8000. Feb. 11. City Theatre, South TELL IT TO THE MARINES. Set in Side. 412-431-2489. 2007, this play is a story about the MY FAIR LADY. A musical about effect of the war in Iraq on one Eliza Doolittle & her teacher Henry family: a 30-year retired Marine Higgins, as she transforms from a veteran, his two sons, also Marines, Cockney flower girl to the fairest his wife & his twin brother, also lady of them all. Performed w/ a live orchestra. Wed, Sat, 8 p.m., a Marine veteran & currently a Sun, 2 & 7 p.m., Tue, 7 p.m., Sat, Catholic priest. Fri-Sun, 7 p.m. Thru 2 p.m. and Thu., Feb. 19, 2 p.m. Feb. 15. Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Thru Feb. 21. O’Reilly Theater, Hall, Oakland. 412-621-4253. Downtown. 412-316-1600. THE NOMI DARLING SHOW PRESENTS’: THE VERONICA LUSTT STORY. The story of
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[ROMANCE]
OPEN STAGE COMEDY NIGHT. Thu Eclipse Lounge, Lawrenceville. 412-251-0097. PITTSBURGH IMPROV JAM. Thu, 10 p.m. Cabaret at Theater Square, Downtown. 412-325-6769.
THU 05 - WED 11
BRAHMAN/I. A one hijra comedy show. In this play set as a stand-up comedy routine, the title character explores history, mythology, gender.. & high school. Wed-Sun, 8 p.m. Thru Feb. 22 Temple of Comedy, Garfield. 412-362-1713.
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Looking for someone to call Valentine? The Pittsburgh Lesbian and Gay Film Society’s event will help you find the lovely movie-lover or buff film buff of your dreams. The evening begins at 7 p.m. with LGBTQ Speed Dating, followed by an 8:30 p.m. screening of But I’m A Cheerleader, the 2000 satirical comedy about a high schooler who is sent to a conversion-therapy camp to “cure” her lesbianism. Already taken? Just show up for the movie. Fri., Feb. 6. The Union Project, 801 N. Negley Ave., Highland Park. $5. www.reelq.org
“BEST OF THE BURGH” COMEDY SHOWCASE. Come out and see Pittsburgh’s best comedians every Friday. Fri, 8 p.m. Thru Feb. 6 Corner Cafe, South Side. 412-488-2995. MAGICIAN-COMEDIAN EXTREME MICHAEL GIGLIOTTI. Amazing strolling magic & comedy. Fun for the whole family feat. Caesars Palace award winning Master Magician MICHAELANGELO.Fri, 5-7 p.m. Mullen’s Bar & Grill, North Side. 412-231-1112.
FRI 06 - SAT 07
HERBIE GILL. 8 p.m. and Sat., Feb. 7, 7 & 10 p.m. Latitude 360, North Fayette. 412-693-5555. SPINSTER COMEDY. Feb. 6-7, 8 p.m. Oaks Theater, Oakmont. 412-828-6322. CONTINUES ON PG. 37
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 02.04/02.11.2015
Ronald Renwick. Wed, 9:30 p.m. Scarpaci’s Place, Mt. Washington. 412-431-9908. JOKING OFF. Presented by Race to the Coffin Comedy. Hosted by John Dick Winters. Wed, 9 p.m. Thru April 29 Caliente Pizza & Bar, Bloomfield. 412-904-1744. STAND-UP COMEDY OPEN MIC. Wed, 8 p.m. The BeerHive, Strip District. 412-904-4502.
FRI 06 - SUN 08
JOSH BLUE. 8 & 10:30 p.m., Sat., Feb. 7, 7 & 9:30 p.m. and Sun., Feb. 8, 7 p.m. The Improv, Waterfront. 412-462-5233.
SAT 07 KENNY ZIMLINGHAUS. 10:30 p.m. Club Cafe, South Side. 412-431-4950. LEE CAMP W/ KRISH MOHAN. Hosted by Derek Minto. 8:30 p.m. Hambone’s, Lawrenceville. 412-681-4318.
EXHIBITS ALLEGHENY-KISKI VALLEY HERITAGE MUSEUM. Military artifacts and exhibits on the Allegheny Valley’s industrial heritage. Tarentum. 724-224-7666. ANDY WARHOL MUSEUM. Exposures. A window display & artist product series feat. Daniel Pillis. North Side. 412-237-8300. AUGUST WILSON CENTER FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE. Pittsburgh: Reclaim, Renew, Remix. Feat. imagery, film & oral history narratives to explore communities, cultures, & innovations. Downtown. 412-258-2700. BAYERNHOF MUSEUM. Large collection of automatic roll-played musical instruments and music boxes in a mansion setting. Call for appointment. O’Hara. 412-782-4231. CARNEGIE SCIENCE CENTER. Ongoing: Buhl Digital Dome (planetarium), Miniature
MON 09
COMEDY SAUCE. Hosted by Aaron Kleiber. Mon, 9:30 p.m. Thru Feb. 23 Pleasure Bar, Bloomfield. 412-682-9603. TFM IMPROV COMEDY. Full throttle improv every Monday night starring our resident house teams. Mon, 8 p.m. Thru Feb. 23 The Maker Theater, Shadyside. 412-404-2695.
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Collaborative work by Jeremy Boyle and Mark Franchino, from untitled iii, at be2 Galleries, in Lawrenceville
NEW THIS WEEK
ASSEMBLE. Unblurred. Feat. Color Me Pittsburgh. Participants collectively create a visual reflection of the “color” of Pittsburgh by marking their home neighborhoods w/ distinct stickers on an over-sized map of Pittsburgh. Feb. 6, 6-10pm. Garfield. 412-254-4230. BOOM CONCEPTS. APOCRYPHA. A Black History art show w/ work by DeWayne Kendrick. Opening reception Feb. 6, 8-11pm w/ food & music. Garfield. 478-342-1289. BOULEVARD GALLERY. Kim Freithaler & Pat Whitaker. Oils & watercolors. Opening reception Feb. 7, 6-9pm. Verona. 412-828-1031. GALLERIE CHIZ. Attention. Rising Star! Works on paper by Charity Baker & Dorothy Forman. Jewerly by Masha Archer. Artists’ reception Feb. 6, 5:30-8pm. Shadyside. 412-441-6005. MODERNFORMATIONS GALLERY. 12x12 Rewind. An introduction to a new group of artists living & working in Pittsburgh. Curated by Craig Freeman & Ron Copeland. Opening reception Feb. 6, 7-10pm. Garfield. 412-362-0274. MORGAN CONTEMPORARY GLASS GALLERY. 3d@mgg. An exhibition of artists working in three dimensional media. Opening reception Feb. 6, 5:30-8:30pm. Shadyside. 412-441-7258. NORTH HILLS ART CENTER. Winter Blues. A multi-media juried art exhibit, feat. regional artists. Opening reception Feb. 7, 7pm. Ross. 412-364-3622. PENN STATE NEW KENSINGTON. Photo Jazz.
Photo exhibit by Ronald Jones, Kenan Foley & Nelson Harrison. Artists reception Feb. 7, 5:30-8 p.m., call or email tms57@psu.edu to RSVP. New Kensington. 724-334-6056. REVISION SPACE. Miss Dingo: Nice, But Mean Exhibition. A solo exhibtion. Opening reception Feb. 6, 6-10pm. Lawrenceville. 412-735-3201. SPINNING PLATE GALLERY. UNJURIED. Pittsburgh Society of Artists 50th Anniversary show. Artist reception Feb. 7, 6-8 p.m. Closing reception/ People’s Choice Awards Feb. 27, 6-7:30 p.m. Friendship. 412-441-0194. PENN AVENUE ARTS DISTRICT. Unblurred Gallery Crawl. Feb 6, 6-10 p.m. Garfield. 412-441-6147-ext.-7.
ONGOING ANDY WARHOL MUSEUM. Someday is Now: The Art of Corita Kent. A full-scale survey covering more than 30 years of work by American artist Corita Kent; a designer, teacher, feminist, activist for civil rights & anti-war causes. Permanent collection. Artwork and artifacts by the famed Pop Artist. North Side. 412-237-8300. ARTDFACT. Artdfact Gallery. The works of Timothy Kelley & other regional & US artists on display. Sculpture, oil & acrylic paintings, mixed media, found objects, more. North Side. 724-797-3302. BE GALLERIES. untitled iii. Work by Jeremy Boyle & Mark Franchino. Lawrenceville. 412-687-2606. CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF ART. Storyteller: The Photographs of Duane Michals. The definitive retrospective &
largest-ever presentation of this innovative artist’s work. Sketch to Structure. Sketches, plans, blueprints, renderings, & models from the Heinz Architectural Center collection, showing architectural design from initial concept to client presentation. Sketch to Structure. Unfolding the architectural design process to show how buildings take shape. Oakland. 412-622-3131. CHATHAM UNIVERSITY. Culture in Context. African Art from the Olkes Collection. Shadyside. 412-365-1232. CONCEPT ART GALLERY. Vanessa German: The Ordinary Sacred. Exhibit dealing w/ African-American history, racism, the impact of violence & more. Regent Square. 412-242-9200. ECLECTIC ART & OBJECTS GALLERY. 19th century American & European paintings combined with some of the world’s most talented contemporary artists & their artwork. The Hidden Collection. Watercolors by Robert N. Blair (1912- 2003). Hiromi Traditional Japanese Oil Paintings The Lost Artists of the 1893 Chicago Exhibition. Collectors Showcase. Emsworth. 412-734-2099. FILMMAKERS GALLERIES. Pittsburgh Photo Section. Exhibit celebrating the 130th Anniversary of the Pittsburgh Photo Section. Oakland. 412-681-5449. FRICK ART & HISTORICAL CENTER. Permanent collection of European Art. Point Breeze. 412-371-0600. GALLERY-VERY FINE ART. Group Show. Work by Linda Price-Sneddon, Peggy Habets,
TUE 10 TUESDAY NIGHT STAND-UP. Tue, 9 p.m. Hot Rod Cafe, Mt. Washington. 412-592-7869.
WED 11
BEERHIVE COMEDY. Open Mic. Hosted by Aaron Kleiber. Wed, 8 p.m. Thru March 25 The BeerHive, Strip District. 412-904-4502. COMEDY OPEN MIC. Hosted by
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Local Music & Local Food See our ad on PAGE 9 for more details!
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Railroad and Village, USS Requin submarine, and more. North Side. 412-237-3400. CENTER FOR POSTNATURAL HISTORY. Explore the complex interplay between culture, nature and biotechnology. Open Fridays 5-8, Saturdays 12-4 & Sundays 12-4. Garfield. 412-223-7698. COMPASS INN. Demos & tours with costumed guides featuring this restored stagecoach stop. 724-238-4983. FALLINGWATER. Tour the famed Frank Lloyd Wright house. 724-329-8501. FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. Tours of 13 Tiffany stained-glass windows. Downtown. 412-471-3436. FRICK ART & HISTORICAL CENTER. Ongoing: tours of Clayton, the Frick estate, with classes & programs for all ages. Point Breeze. 412-371-0600. HARTWOOD ACRES. Tour this Tudor mansion & stable complex. Enjoy hikes & outdoor activities in the surrounding park. Allison Park. 412-767-9200. KENTUCK KNOB. Tour the other Frank Lloyd Wright house. 724-329-8501. KERR MEMORIAL MUSEUM. Tours of a restored 19th-century, middle-class home. Oakmont. 412-826-9295. MARIDON MUSEUM. Collection includes jade & ivory statues from China and Japan, as well
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as Meissen porcelain. Butler. 724-282-0123. MCGINLEY HOUSE & MCCULLY LOG HOUSE. Historic homes open for tours, lectures and more. Monroeville. 412-373-7794. NATIONAL AVIARY. Home to more than 600 birds from over 200 species. With classes, lectures, demos and more. North Side. 412-323-7235. NATIONALITY ROOMS. 26 rooms helping to tell the story of Pittsburgh’s immigrant past. University of Pittsburgh. Oakland. 412-624-6000. OLIVER MILLER HOMESTEAD. This pioneer/Whiskey Rebellion site features log house, blacksmith shop & gardens. South Park. 412-835-1554. PENNSYLVANIA TROLLEY MUSEUM. Trolley rides and exhibits. Includes displays, walking tours, gift shop, picnic area and Trolley Theatre. Washington. 724-228-9256. PHIPPS CONSERVATORY & BOTANICAL GARDEN. Tropical Forest Congo Exhibit. An exhibit highlighting some of Africa’s lushest landscapes. Opening Feb 7. Orchid & Tropical Bonsai Show. Colorful orchids curated in collaboration w/ the Orchid Society of Western Pennsylvania & displayed throughout our glasshouse. Skillfully trained tropical bonsai in the permanent collection. Feat. silk artist, Jamie Kirkell. 14 indoor rooms & 3 outdoor gardens feature exotic plants and floral displays from around the world. Oakland. 412-622-6914. PINBALL PERFECTION. Pinball museum & players club. West View. 412-931-4425. PITTSBURGH ZOO & PPG AQUARIUM. Home to 4,000 animals, including many endangered species. Highland Park. 412-665-3639. RACHEL CARSON HOMESTEAD. A Reverence for Life. Photos and artifacts of her life & work. Springdale. 724-274-5459. RIVERS OF STEEL NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA. Exhibits on the Homestead Mill. Steel industry and community artifacts from 1881-1986. Homestead. 412-464-4020. SENATOR JOHN HEINZ HISTORY CENTER. From Slavery to Freedom. Highlight’s Pittsburgh’s role in the anti-slavery movement. Ongoing: Western PA Sports Museum, Clash of Empires, and exhibits on local history, more. Strip District. 412-454-6000. SEWICKLEY HEIGHTS HISTORY CENTER. Museum commemorates Pittsburgh industrialists, local history. Sewickley. 412-741-4487. SOLDIERS & SAILORS MEMORIAL HALL. War in the Pacific 1941-1945. Feat. a collection of military artifacts showcasing photographs, uniforms, shells & other related items. Military museum dedicated to honoring military service members since the Civil War through artifacts
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James E. Trusko & others. South Side. 412-901-8805. GLENN GREENE STAINED GLASS STUDIO INC. Original Glass Art by Glenn Greene. Exhibition of new work, recent work & older work. Regent Square. 412-243-2772. JAMES GALLERY. Headliners. New paintings, mixed media works, glass & ceramics. Feat. Christine Aaron, Eileen Braun, Claire Cotts, Jamie Harris, Ben Johnson, Micheal Madigan, Susan Morosky & Scott Turri. West End. 412-922-9800. LA PRIMA ESPRESSO. Paintings/Prints of Italy. Prints of Vince Ornato’s oil paintings of Italy. Strip District. 412-281-1922. LAKEVUE ATHLETIC CLUB. Pop-Up Gallery. Work by a variety of artists. 724-316-9326. MATTRESS FACTORY. Artists in Residence. Installations created in-residence by Danny Bracken, John Peña, Ryder Henry, Kathleen Montgomery, & Benjamin Sota.
& personal mementos. Oakland. 412-621-4253. ST. ANTHONY’S CHAPEL. Features 5,000 relics of Catholic saints. North Side. 412-323-9504. ST. NICHOLAS CROATIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. Maxo Vanka Murals. Mid-20th century murals depicting war, social justice and the immigrant experience in America. Millvale. 421-681-0905.
HOLIDAY SAT 07
CRAFTS & DRAFTS. Feat. artwork from 10 local vendors, beer release, coffee & food. 12-5 p.m. East End Brewing Company, Larimer. 412-537-2337. I MADE IT! MINE. Shop 50+ local artisans w/ cards, jewelry, housewares, clothing, ceramics, kids items & more. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. SouthSide Works, South Side.
DANCE FRI 06 - SUN 08
BEAUTY & THE BEAST. A full length Pittsburgh Ballet Theater interpretation of the classic fairy tale. Fri, Sat, 8 p.m., Sat, Sun, 2 p.m. and Thu., Feb. 12, 7:30 p.m. Thru Feb. 15 Benedum Center, Downtown. 412-456-6666.
SAT 07 RONALD K. BROWN/EVIDENCE. The contemporary choreography of Ronald K. Brown/Evidence threads elements of African, modern, ballet & social styles, presenting dance as a medium to communicate the human experience. 8 p.m. Byham Theater, Downtown. 412-456-6666.
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 02.04/02.11.2015
CLUB. Second and Fourth Mon of every month, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Carnegie Library, Oakland. 412-622-3151.
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Part of the 2014 Pittsburgh Biennial. Ongoing Installations. Works by Turrell, Lutz, Kusama, Anastasi, Highstein, Wexler & Woodrow. North Side. 412-231-3169. MILLER GALLERY AT CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY. Armin Hoffman: Farbe/Color. Celebrating our Armin Hofmann exhibition of silkscreens &emerging talent from CMU School of Design 2014 Seniors. Oakland. 412-268-3618. PHOTO ANTIQUITIES. Photos on Glass. Lantern slides: 1880 to 1920, hand-painted, sometimes with a single hair to color a small line. North Side. 412-231-7881. SILVER EYE CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHY. Fellowship 15: Projects by Christopher Meerdo & Matthew Conboy. Feat. work by Christopher Meerdo showcasing work from his projects Iceland & Cataphote & Matthew Conboy, presenting work from his project “Objects
in mirror are closer than they appear”. Both artists will give a brief gallery talk describing the scope & inspiration of their work. South Side. 412-431-1810. THE SOCIETY FOR CONTEMPORARY CRAFT. Bridge 13. Work by Elisabeth Higgins, Keith Lo Bue, & Jason Walker. Strip District. 412-261-7003. SPACE. The Sideways Museum. A collection of works by Pittsburgh-based artists exploring folk & visionary art traditions. Viewable 24 hrs. a day w/ periodic alterations. Interior open for special occasions. Downtown. 412-325-7723. SWEETWATER CENTER FOR THE ARTS. West Hills Art League Exhibition. A sampling of the wide array of West Hills Art League members’ artistic styles ranging from traditional watercolors & oil paintings to acrylics, pastels, clay, paper, & more. 7-9pm. Sewickley. 412-741-4405.
TUE 10
LET’S SPEAK ENGLISH! Practice conversational English. Tue, 6 p.m. Carnegie Library, Squirrel Hill. 412-422-9650. PITTSBURGH CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY READING GROUP. Tue, 6 p.m. East End Book Exchange, Bloomfield. 412-224-2847.
KIDSTUFF THU 05 HARRY POTTER BOOK NIGHT. Let the sorting hat put you into a Hogwarts house, compete for house points in classes w/ treats from Hogsmeade. Ages 7 +. RSVP by Feb. 3. 6-8 p.m. Avalon Public Library, Avalon. 412-761-2288.
THU 05 - WED 11
FUNDRAISERS LITERARY THU 05
THU 05
HAIR PEACE HAPPY HOUR. Hors d’oeuvres & entertainment. Benefits Hair Peace, helping provide wigs to women & girls in the Pittsburgh area who are experiencing hair loss due to cancer treatments. 5-7 p.m. Rivers Club, Downtown. 412-327-5177.
ENGLISH LEARNERS’ BOOK CLUB. For advanced ESL students. Presented in cooperation w/ the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council. Thu, 1 p.m. Mount Lebanon Public Library, Mt. Lebanon. 412-531-1912. THE HOUR AFTER HAPPY HOUR WRITER’S WORKSHOP. Young writers & recent graduates looking for additional feedback on their work. thehourafterhappyhour. wordpress.com Thu, 7-9 p.m. Lot 17, Bloomfield. 412-687-8117. SPOKEN JAZZ. Open mic-less night w/ musical accompaniment for poetry, prose, song, more. First Thu of every month, 8-10 p.m. The Space Upstairs, Point Breeze. 412-225-9269.
FRI 06 22ND ANNUAL HEARTS & HOPES FUNDRAISER. Benefits Girls Hope of Pittsburgh. 5:30 p.m. Cavo, Strip District. 412-329-7172 x.102.
SAT 07 CUPIDS & CANINES GALA. Hors d’ oeuvres, casino games & live music. Benefits the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society & the Bow Wow Buddies Foundation. In the Lexus Club. 7 p.m. PNC Park, North Side. 412-321-4625 x315.
SUN 08 BOOK ‘EM BOOKS TO PRISONERS WORK PARTY. Read & code letters, pick books, pack ‘em or database ‘em! Sundays 4-7 p.m. or by appt. Thomas Merton Center, Garfield. 412-361-3022.
POLITICS THU 05 GREEN PARTY OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY MEETING. Monthly meeting of Allegheny area Green Party. First Thu of every month, 7 p.m. Thru Feb. 5 Citizen Power, Squirrel Hill. 412-323-1884.
BACKYARD EXHIBIT. Musical swing set, sandbox, solar-powered instruments, more. Ongoing Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, North Side. 412-322-5058. BOUNCE. Interactive exhibit celebrating the world’s most amazing ball. Experience how it moves, how it looks & the story of how it came to be. Thru March 8, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, North Side. 412-322-5058.
FRI 06 - SUN 08
YO, VIKINGS! The mini-saga of 10-year-old Emma Katz & her quest for real adventure presented by Stage 62. Fri, 7:30 p.m., Sat, 2 p.m. and Sun, 2 p.m. Thru Feb. 15 Andrew Carnegie Free Library Music Hall, Carnegie. 412-429-6262.
SAT 07
FAMILY FRIENDLY KIDS OPEN MIC. Sat, 6 p.m. Hambone’s, Lawrenceville. 412-681-4318. FREE FAMILY IMPROV THEATER GAME WORKSHOP. Tailored for individuals on the autism spectrum age 5+ & their families. 3:30-5 p.m. Arcade Comedy IMAGE TO WORD Theater, Downtown. W/ AUTHOR . w w w 412-337-6875. paper SHERRIE FLICK. pghcitym LEARN TO ICE SKATE. .co Writer’s workshop. Teaching basic skating Novice & experienced fundamentals of balance, writers welcome. Create short edge control & stopping. Classes stories & poems. Group discussion for all ranges of expertise. All ages. & one-on-one guidance. Sat, Schenley Park Ice Rink. Sat, 10:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Thru Feb. 7 10 a.m. Thru Feb. 28 Schenley Carnegie Museum of Art, Oakland. Park, Oakland. 703-597-6905. 412-622-3131. MARTY’S MARKET KIDS’ ITALIAN CONVERSATION. Third CORNER. Ages 5-11. Sat, 3-5 p.m. and First Sat of every month, Marty’s Market, Strip District. 11 a.m.-12 p.m. Carnegie Library, 412-586-7177. Oakland. 412-622-3151. LAUNCH PARTY FOR STEWART O’NAN’S WEST OF SUNSET. BEAUTY & THE BEAST. 7 p.m. East End Book Exchange, Based on the classic story, an interactive musical production. Sat, Bloomfield. 412-224-2847. Sun, 1 & 3:30 p.m. Thru Feb. 8 Gemini Theater, Point Breeze. GERMAN CONVERSATION 412-243-5201.
SAT 07
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MON 09
MON 09
MAKER STORY TIME. Explore tools, materials and processes inspired by books. Listen to stories read by librarian-turned-Teaching Artist Molly. Mon, 11 a.m.-12 p.m. Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, North Side. 412-322-5058.
TUE 10
HOMEWORK HELP. For grades 1-8. Tue, 3:30-5:30 p.m. Assemble, Garfield.
WED 11 GAMES– A LEARNING PARTY! Hands-on activities led by local makers, scientists, artists & technologists, learn new games & pick up tips to design your own game. All materials provided. 4:30-7:30 p.m. Assemble, Garfield. 412-370-2310.
OUTSIDE SUN 08
BUTLER WINTER X. Snowboard & ski competition w/ live music, giveaways & food. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Butler Dek Hockey, LLC, Butler.
TUE 10
SURVIVAL BASICS. Tue, 3-4:30 p.m. Schenley Park, Oakland. 412-477-4677.
WED 11 WEDNESDAY MORNING WALK. Naturalist-led, rain or shine. Wed Beechwood Farms, Fox Chapel. 412-963-6100.
OTHER STUFF THU 05 ADVANCED ITALIAN CONVERSATION. Thu, 10 a.m. Mount Lebanon Public Library, Mt. Lebanon. 412-531-1912. CONVERSATIONAL CHINESE & CHINESE CULTURE. Thu, 7 p.m. Mount Lebanon Public Library, Mt. Lebanon. 412-531-1912. GLOBALPITTSBURGH FIRST THURSDAYS. Meet globallyminded people from all over the world at this monthly happy hour. Registration required. First Thu of every month, 5:30-8 p.m. Thru March 5 Roland’s Seafood Grill, Strip District. 412-392-4513. INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF PITTSBURGH. Social, cultural club of American/ international women. Thu First Baptist Church, Oakland. iwap. pittsburgh@gmail.com. RECEPTION & TALK BY GRAHAM SHEARING. The talk references Curiosities for the Collector, a miscellany of items from collector cabinets & recent work by Elizabeth Reed, Todd Sanders, Stephen Tuomala, PJ Zimmerlink. 6-9 p.m. The Ice House Studios, Lawrenceville. 412-586-4559. RENAISSANCE DANCE GUILD. Learn a variety of dances from the 15-17th centuries. Porter Hall, Room A18A. Thu, 8 p.m. Carnegie Mellon University, Oakland. 412-567-7512.
21+ STORMFEST. A night for adults 21+ only. Make rocks & weather maps, discover the effects of El Niño & updrafts, see a tornado in a jar, & experiment w/ raindrops. Live music by JD Eicher & the Goodnights. 6-10 p.m. Carnegie Science Center, North Side. 412-237-3400.
SAT 07
SUN 08
BATTLE TRANCE. Saxophone quartet, Battle Trance crosses boundaries & exists loosely within realms of contemporary classical music, avant-garde jazz, black metal, ambient & world music. 8 p.m. Andy Warhol Museum, North Side. 412-237-8300. BEGINNER TAI CHI CLASSES. www.pittsburghtaichi.com Sat, 9 a.m. Friends Meeting House, Oakland. 412-683-2669. ERROLL GARNER: NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU READ SCREENING. 6 p.m. Carnegie Library, Homewood, Homewood. 412-204-7291.
[VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY]
OASIS INTERGENERATIONAL TUTORING OASIS Tutoring is seeking tutors ages 50 and older to work with students between kindergarten and fourth grade, in the Pittsburgh and Woodland Hills school districts. No teaching experience is necessary; free training and materials are provided. Training sessions will be held March 10 and 12, 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., at Macy’s, Downtown. Call John Spehar at 412-232-2021 or visit www.oasisnet.org for information.
THE FIRST STEP: THE MECHANICS OF STARTING A SMALL BUSINESS. hinking of starting a small business? Begin exploring the size of your market & what marketing tools you will need to attract customers, learn about business structures, access helpful resources, 7:30-10 a.m. Mervis Hall at Pitt, Oakland. 412-648-1544. FRIDAY NIGHT CONTRA DANCE. A social, traditional American dance. No partner needed, beginners welcome, lesson at 7:30. Fri, 8 p.m. Swisshelm Park Community Center, Swissvale. 412-945-0554. LGBTQ SPEED DATING. Speed dating, screening of “But I’m A Cheerleader!”, snacks & raffle prizes. 7-10 p.m. Union Project, Highland Park. 412-363-4550. MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM SCREENING. 6 p.m. Carnegie Library, Homewood, Homewood. 412-204-7291. OUT OF THE BOX: TIME CAPSULE OPENING. Join Warhol Museum Chief Archivist Matt Wrbican, Time Capsules Cataloguer Erin Byrne &
FREE CPR & AED. Registration recommended. mwystepe@wpahs. org 9 a.m.-3 p.m. West Penn Hospital, Bloomfield. 412-578-5476. LIGHTS, CAMERA, PITTSBURGH! THE OFFICIAL PITTSBURGH FILM OFFICE TOUR. Interactive tour through city backdrops of movies such as The Dark Knight Rises, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Flashdance, more. Meet at Duquesne Incline. 10 a.m. and Fri., Feb. 20, 10 a.m. 412-323-4709. SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCING. Lessons 7-8 p.m., social dancing follows. No partner needed. Mon, 7 p.m. and Sat, 7 p.m. Grace Episcopal Church, Mt. Washington. 412-683-5670. SOUTH HILLS SCRABBLE CLUB. Free Scrabble games, all levels. Sat, 1-3 p.m. Mount Lebanon Public Library, Mt. Lebanon. 412-531-1912. SPANISH CONVERSATION GROUP. Friendly, informal. At the Starbucks inside Target. Sat, 3:30-5:30 p.m. Target, East Liberty. 412-362-6108.
SAT 07 - SUN 08 SOUTH HILLS COIN CLUB COIN SHOW. Feb. 7-8 Crown Plaza Hotel, Green Tree.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS CAFE. Weekly letter writing event. Sun, 4-6 p.m. Panera Bread, Oakland. 412-683-3727. ARABIC FOR BEGINNERS. Arabic for Beginners gives an introduction to the language & culture of Saudi Arabia. Second Sun of every month, 2-3 p.m. and Third Sun of every month, 2-3 p.m. Thru April 19 Carnegie Library, Oakland. 412-622-3151. CHINESE FOR BEGINNERS. Second and Fourth Sun of every month, 3:30-4:30 p.m. Carnegie Library, Oakland. 412-622-3151. FARM TO TABLE LOCAL FOOD TASTING:FOR THE LOVE OF PITTSBURGH. Meet Pittsburghers who value their food & are excited to learn how to access local food & beverages. 3-7 p.m. Pittsburgh Public Market, Strip District. 412-563-7807. MAPANTSULA FILM SCREENING. Co-Presented by the Sembene International African Film Festival & Chatham University’s Global Focus Program. Sanger Lecture Hall. 6 p.m. Chatham University, Shadyside. 412-365-2924. PITTSBURGH PUDDING WRESTLING MASSACRE. W/ referees Keebs & Ryah. 10 p.m. Rex Theater, South Side. 412-381-6811. PRIDE BOWLING LEAGUE. Seeking bowlers of all levels. Every other Sunday. Every other Sun, 6:30 p.m. Forward Lanes, Squirrel Hill. 412-337-0701. SOLARIZE POINT BREEZE LAUNCH PARTY. The official launch celebration of a solar campaign, Solarize Allegheny. 7-9 p.m. Pino’s, Point Breeze. 412-215-5995. SUNDAY MARKET. A gathering of local crafters & dealers selling unique items, from home made foodstuffs to art. Sun, 6-10 p.m. The Night Gallery, Lawrenceville. 724-417-0223. WOMEN & SPIRIT: CATHOLIC SISTERS IN AMERICA SCREENING. Screening hosted by The Sisters of Divine Providence in celebration of the World Day for Consecrated Life. 10:30 a.m. & 2 p.m. Providence Heights, McCandless. 412-931-5241.
MON 09 AMERICAN CIVIL WAR ERA: U.S. GRANT AND HIS LIEUTENANTS, FROM CAIRO TO APPOMATTOX. An on-going series presented by Rodger Duffy, centering on the
military leadership of General U.S. Grant & his lieutenants from 1861 in the Western Theater through 1865 at Appomattox. Feat.lectures and DVDs. Each month is topic oriented. Check the library’s website for suggested reading material. 10 a.m. Mount Lebanon Public Library, Mt. Lebanon. 412-531-1912. BOUNDARIES & SELF CARE. A support group for women 30+. Second and Fourth Mon of every month Anchorpoint Counseling Ministry. GHOSTS OF AMISTAD: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE REBELS. Film screening introduced by Marcus Rediker & a Q&A following the film. Assembly Room. 8:30 p.m. William Pitt Union, Oakland. 412-648-7814. MORNING SPANISH LITERATURE & CONVERSATION. Mon, 10 a.m. Mount Lebanon Public Library, Mt. Lebanon. 412-531-1912. SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCING. Lessons 7-8 p.m., social dancing follows. No partner needed. Mon, 7 p.m. and Sat, 7 p.m. Grace Episcopal Church, Mt. Washington. 412-683-5670. THE SECRET SIDE OF FOOD :HOW TO HEAL YOURSELF IN THE KITCHEN. Explore different dietary theories & identify which fits for you. Resources, tools & support to implement a healthy lifestyle. Every other Mon, 7-9 p.m. Thru Feb. 23 AVANI Institute, McMurray. 724-941-7400. SPELLING BEE WITH DAVE AND KUMAR. Mon Lava Lounge, South Side. 412-431-5282.
*Stuff We Like {PHOTO BY AL HOFF}
SWING CITY. Learn & practice swing dancing skills. Sat, 8 p.m. Wightman School, Squirrel Hill. 412-759-1569. WIGLE WHISKEY BARRELHOUSE TOURS. Sat, 12:30 & 2 p.m. Wigle Whiskey Barrel House, North Side. 412-224-2827.
East Busway Say what you will about the Port Authority, but those P1 and P2 routes are a veritable wormhole through the city. How else, besides personal jetpack, are you gonna get from Downtown to East Lib in, like, mere minutes?
Isitpghrecyclingweek.com Is this the week you’re supposed to put out the blue bags? Check this wonderfully simple website for a quick yes or no.
{PHOTO COURTESY OF PBS}
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special guest Benjamin Liu (former Warhol assistant), as they take a look inside one of Andy Warhol’s boxes. 7 p.m. Andy Warhol Museum, North Side. 412-237-8300. RAINBOW RISING COFFEE HOUSE. For gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered individuals and friends. Music, games, movies, entertainment and more. Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Smithton. First Fri of every month 724-872-5056.
TUE 10 BOUNDARIES & SELF CARE. Fourth and Second Tue of every month, 6-7:30 p.m. Anchorpoint Counseling Ministry. 412-366-1300. A LOOK AT NATIONAL SECURITY IN 2015: GLOBAL ISSUES IMPACTING THE UNITED STATES. A discussion w/ seven panelists from the U.S. Army War College presented by the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh. 7 p.m. Peters Township Public Library. 724-941-9430. ORON CATTS. Lecture by bio-art artist, researcher & curator. 5 p.m. Kresge Theater, CMU, Oakland. 412-268-2409. PITTSBURGH MOOD PROUD. Pittsburgh Mood Disorder Support Group is a peer sponsored group and is LGBTQIA friendly. Get focused about mental health topics & make new friends. Tue, 7 p.m. Thru Feb. 24 Crazy Mocha Baum, Friendship. 412-465-0381. STEEL CITY SLAM. Open mic poets & slam poets. 3 rounds of 3 minute poems. Tue, 7:45 p.m. Capri Pizza and Bar, East Liberty. 412-362-1250. “WHY ALL THESE PRESBYTERIANS, AND WHERE DID THEY COME FROM ??”. Lecture presented Peter Gilmore & the Squirrel Hill Historical Society. 7:30 p.m. Church of the Redeemer, Squirrel Hill. 412-417-3707.
Call the Midwife Set in London’s poverty-stricken East End in the 1950s, this BBC series follows the lives of midwives working out of a nursing convent. Suitable for fans of high-brow dramas and soap operas alike, the series also offers an interesting historical perspective on reproductive rights. On DVD, PBS and Netflix {PHOTO BY BILL O’DRISCOLL}
TOWERING TURRETS OF TOMORROW LAND: THE FILMS AND WRITINGS OF GEORGE KUCHAR. Join Andrew Lampert, editor of The George Kuchar Reader for a reading from Kuchar’s notebooks & a screening of his 16mm films Eclipse of the Sun Virgin, Power of the Press, Forever and Always & Yolanda. 6:30-8 p.m. Carnegie Museum of Art, Oakland. 412-622-3131. WEEKLY WELLNESS CIRCLE. Group acupuncture & guided meditation for stress-relief. Thu DeMasi Wellness, Aspinwall. 412-927-4768. WEST COAST SWING. Swing dance lessons for all levels. Thu, 7 p.m. Pittsburgh Dance Center, Bloomfield. 412-681-0111.
Alternative Baking Company Cookies “Zip eggs” and “zilch dairy,” promise these vegan cookies out of California (available locally at the Beehive coffeehouse). At $3, they’re pricey, but they’re huge, and the Mac the Chip (chocolate-chip) is as rich and moist a cookie as you’ll find.
CONTINUES ON PG. 40
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BIG LIST, CONTINUED FROM PG. 39
WED 11
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EVERYONE IS A CRITIC
AFTERNOON TEA DANCE. Lessons offered to beginners. Wed, 12-2:30 p.m. Thru Feb. 25 Pittsburgh Dance Center, EVENT: Bloomfield. , by BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT Mary Ehrlicher, GROUP. For Widows/Widowers at Future Tenant, over 50. Second and Fourth Wed of every month, 1-2:30 p.m. Downtown St. Sebastian Church, Ross. CRITIC: , 412-366-1300. CLEAN AIR FORUM. Discussion 23, an artistic director w/ neighborhood pollution maps from Oakland from Carnegie Mellon experts & research about the impact. 7 p.m. WHEN: First Unitarian Church, Shadyside. 412-521-0943. CONVERSATION SALON. Conversation Salon is a forum Chipping Smooth was a multimedia, modern love story for active participation in the between two people and it was about how love stories discussion of the meaningful & don’t always have to have a happy ending. Personally, as interesting events of our time & a starving artist, I try to support all theater in Pittsburgh, an opportunity to connect with, especially smaller theaters like this. Future Tenant’s a great participate in & contribute to your place. I really liked this theater; it has a unique space. Plus, community. Second Wed of every month, 10:15 a.m.-12 p.m. Thru it’s all based on donations and it’s all college kids, so I try to June 10 Carnegie Library, Oakland. come out and support it. I loved this play in particular. One 412-622-3151. thing I love about multimedia productions is the sense of DECISIVE MOMENTS IN meshing film and performance and theater together. It PHOTOGRAPHY. French gave a lot of different people different opportunities to photographer Henri Cartierwork on this play — sound people, film directors, actors Bresson was the master of the candid image, as seen in his highly — it was a really cool collaborative effort. The actors [John influential book, The Decisive McGovern and Julia Maxwell] were a perfect fit for these Moment. In this four-part course, characters; they had such a special connection. Linda Benedict-Jones, curator of B Y Z AC C H I AU S M C K E E photography, discusses “decisive moments” in 20th-century photography. Wed, 10:15 a.m.Booking for both galleries for 12:15 p.m. Thru Feb. 11 Carnegie 2017. Exhibits run from 1 to 2 Museum of Art, Oakland. MCKEESPORT LITTLE THEATER. months. 412-721-0943. 412-622-3131. Seeking directors for the 2015THE DAP CO-OP. Seeking DETROIT STYLE URBAN 2016 season. Interested candidates performers & artists to participate BALLROOM DANCE. 3rd floor. should email resume to Mark in First Fridays - Art in a Box. Wed, 6:30-8 p.m. Hosanna House, Calla at macalla727@aol.com or For more information, email Wilkinsburg. 412-242-4345. mail resume to McKeesport Little thedapcoopzumba@hotmail.com. ENGLISH CONVERSATION (ESL). Theater, P.O. Box 431, McKeesport, 412-403-7357. Wed, 10 a.m. Mount Lebanon PA 15134. Deadline Tue., THE HOUR AFTER HAPPY HOUR Public Library, Mt. Lebanon. Feb. 10. McKeesport. REVIEW. Seeking submissions in 412-531-1912. 412-673-1100. all genres for fledgling literary GIVE FROM THE THROUGHLINE. magazine curated by members HEART BLOOD DRIVE. Prepare a 1-2 minute of the Hour After Happy Sponsored by the www. per monologue, headshot Hour Writing Workshop. pa Duquesne University pghcitym & acting resume. .co afterhappyhourreview.com School of Law Student Schedule auditions INDEPENDENT FILM NIGHT. Bar Association. Lower online or by email for Submit your film, 10 minutes or Student Lounge, School of Feb. 7, 1-4pm & Feb. 8, less. Screenings held on the second Law. 12-5 p.m. Duquesne 6-9pm. The Grey Box Theatre, Thursday of every month. DV8 University, Uptown. 412-396-6300. Lawrenceville. 412-586-7744. Espresso Bar & Gallery, Greensburg. LET’S SPEAK ENGLISH! Practice 724-219-0804. conversational English. Wed, THE NEW YINZER. Seeking original 5-6 p.m. Carnegie Library, THE AUGUST WILSON essays about literature, music, TV or Oakland. 412-622-3151. EDUCATION PROJECT 11TH film, & also essays generally about NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES. PLAY COMPETITION. Inviting Pittsburgh. To see some examples, Briefings include: Unmanned high school students to write visit www.newyinzer.com & Aerial Systems Operations, Building plays & monologues about their view the current issue. Email all Partner Capacity in Afghanistan, communities & submit them for pitches, submissions & inquiries to American Military Commissions competition. newyinzer@gmail.com. Past and Present, The Ebola BLAST FURNACE. Seeking PITTSBURGH KNIT & CROCHET Outbreak: Department of submissions for Volume 5, Issue 1. FESTIVAL DESIGN CONTEST. Defense Response, The U.S. Submit no more than 3 of your Military Rebalance to the Pacific, Calling all fiber designers to submit best poems or one recording of U.S. Strategy Addressing Russian their creative original designs. yourself reciting poetry, not more Expansion & The Evolution of U.S. Due by Feb. 28. For guidelines see than 2 minuets long. The theme Ballistic Missile Defense. 7 p.m. the website. of this issue is mistakes. Deadline: Mount Lebanon Public Library, THE WRITERS’ PRESS POETRY March 20. blastfurnace.submittable. Mt. Lebanon. 412-531-1912. CHAPBOOK COMPETITION. Open com/Submit Thru March 20. THE PITTSBURGH SHOW OFFS. to new & emerging writers. No BOULEVARD GALLERY & A meeting of jugglers & spinners. theme restrictions. Prizes include DIFFERENT STROKES GALLERY. All levels welcome. Wed, 7:30 p.m. publication w/ Createspace & Searching for glass artists, fiber Union Project, Highland Park. online distribution w/ Amazon & artists, potters, etc. to compliment 412-363-4550. the exhibits for 2015 & 2016. Barnes & Noble.
Chipping Smooth
Bri Feingold Fri., Jan. 30
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Savage Love {BY DAN SAVAGE}
My husband and I are a straight couple in our early 50s, and we’ve been married for more than 30 years. We were raised to wait for sex till we got married — this was back in the early ’80s — and we did. Our wedding night was pretty disappointing, since neither of us knew what we were doing. He got off, but I didn’t. We both assumed that there was something wrong with me, because he didn’t have any problem coming, right? We were both raised to believe that sex was something men took from women, that it was difficult for women to orgasm, and that no woman wanted sex as much as a man did. We read books, we went to counseling, but nothing changed. This went on for a couple of decades. He’s a great guy — funny, loyal, faithful, great dad to our kids — so I figured I was lousy in bed and I was lucky he put up with me. Recently, I got my hands on a vibrator. OH. MY. GOD. There’s nothing wrong with me! Now I think my libido might actually be stronger than his. But even with what I now know about my sexuality, we have been unable to figure out how to get me to orgasm when we are together. I’ve suggested some milder forms of kink, but he isn’t interested. I suspect we’re just incompatible in bed, which has made me a fairly vocal opponent of the “waiting for marriage” garbage. Neither of us has ever been unfaithful, and neither of us is OK with being unfaithful — I know he isn’t. Even though I’m intrigued by the idea, I don’t think I could pull off the lying and deceit required to do it behind his back. We also live in a small town where it would be nearly impossible to have a discreet affair. I don’t really want a divorce, but when I think about never having good sex in my entire life, I can hardly stand it. What would you do?
you should do. You say you’re not OK with cheating, and I almost believe you — you wouldn’t have written if you weren’t OK with cheating on some level and/or seeking permission to cheat — and cheating would be logistically complicated, given your circumstances, and it would put everything you have with your husband, whom you genuinely love, at risk. So I’m not going to tell you to cheat. But I will tell you this: You may have an easier time not cheating — an easier time not going out there and actively seeking out sex with other men, an easier time not seizing the first opportunity to cheat that comes your way — if you give yourself permission to cheat should an opportunity to cheat discreetly and with minimal deceit come along. Telling yourself it will never happen, that you’ll never have good sex, means living in despair, and despair isn’t good for individuals or marriages. But telling yourself that it might happen — but only if the planets have all aligned perfectly (you’re out of town, it’s someone you trust, you won’t have to actively lie) — means living in hope, and hope is good for individuals and marriages. And knowing that you can cheat when the right opportunity presents itself will make it easier for you to resist cheating — to resist doing something reckless — when the wrong opportunities present themselves.
“KNOWING THAT YOU CAN CHEAT WHEN THE RIGHT OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS ITSELF WILL MAKE IT EASIER FOR YOU TO RESIST CHEATING WHEN THE WRONG OPPORTUNITIES PRESENT THEMSELVES.”
BORED IN BED FOR AN UNBEARABLY LONG TIME
What would I do? I would be unfaithful, BIBFAULT. And since there’s no guarantee that I would click sexually with the first guy I fucked other than my husband — or the second guy or the third guy or the fourth guy — I would go right on fucking other guys until I fucked a guy who was spectacular in bed. I’m not telling you what to do, BIBFAULT, I’m just answering the question you posed: “What would you do?” If I were in your shoes, if I had suffered through three decades of subjectively lousy sex, if I were staring down the possibility of going to my grave without ever having experienced good-to-great sex (not even once!), I would cheat on my husband of 30 years. I would’ve cheated on him already. But that’s me, BIBFAULT. What should you do? I really couldn’t tell you. That’s not true. I could tell you what to do. Telling people what to do is pretty much my fucking job. But in all honesty, I’m not sure what
I’m a merrily married straight woman with an amazing husband and what was once a thriving sex life. Recently, my husband had what was supposed to have been a routine surgical procedure. He ended up having basically every complication possible, short of dismemberment and death. I had no problem being his caregiver during this time, but I’m now having trouble mentally reigniting the erotic spark. He’s recovered and interested, and I want to be intimate again, but I find myself thinking that he looks pale or that position X might be too much for him, and it’s very difficult to get in, and remain in, the mood for sex. How do I turn off caregiver mode and get back to being a sexual partner? MISSING MY SEX LIFE
The next time you’re having sex and that little voice in your head says, “This position might be tough on him,” MMSL, ignore it and power through. It may not be particularly fulfilling sex for you — you may not be fully present and in the moment — but the quickest way to prove to yourself that your husband isn’t too fragile for sex (or too pale for it) is to have sex a few times. After you’ve seen with your own eyes that sex didn’t break him (and may have brought some color back to his skin!), that little voice in your head — the voice of the caretaker he needed when he was sick but doesn’t need now — should fade away. On the Lovecast, Dan and gay evangelical Christian author Matthew Vines scrap it up: savagelovecast.com.
pghcitypaper
SEND YOUR QUESTIONS TO MAIL@SAVAGELOVE.NET AND FIND THE SAVAGE LOVECAST (DAN’S WEEKLY PODCAST) AT SAVAGELOVECAST.COM
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FOR THE WEEK OF
Free Will Astrology
02.04-02.11
{BY ROB BREZSNY}
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In 1753, Benjamin Franklin published helpful instructions on how to avoid being struck by lightning during stormy weather. Wear a lightning rod in your hat, he said, and attach it to a long, thin metal ribbon that trails behind you as you walk. In response to his article, a fashion fad erupted. Taking his advice, fancy ladies in Europe actually wore such hats. From a metaphorical perspective, it would make sense for you Aquarians to don similar headwear in the coming weeks. Bolts of inspiration will be arriving on a regular basis. To ensure you are able to integrate and use them — not just be titillated and agitated — you will have to be well-grounded.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): According to the Bible, Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Author David Foster Wallace added a caveat. “The truth will set you free,” he wrote, “but not until it is finished with you.” All this is apropos for the current phase of your journey, Pisces. By my estimation, you will soon discover an important truth that you have never before been ready to grasp. Once that magic transpires, however, you will have to wait a while until the truth is fully finished with you. Only then will it set you free. But it will set you free. And I suspect that you will ultimately be grateful that it took its sweet time.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In 1979, Monty Python comedian John Cleese helped direct a four-night extravaganza, The Secret Policeman’s Ball. It was a benefit to raise money for the human-rights organization Amnesty International. The musicians known as Sting, Bono and Peter Gabriel later testified that the show was a key factor in igniting their
social activism. I see the potential of a comparable stimulus in your near future, Aries. Imminent developments could amp up your passion for a good cause that transcends your immediate self-interests.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
In the film Kill Bill: Volume 1, Taurus actress Uma Thurman plays a martial artist who has exceptional skill at wielding a samurai sword. At one point, her swordmaker evaluates her reflexes by hurling a baseball in her direction. With a masterful swoop, she slices the ball in half before it reaches her. I suggest you seek out similar tests in the coming days, Taurus. Check up on the current status of your top skills. Are any of them rusty? Should you update them? Are they still of maximum practical use to you? Do whatever’s necessary to ensure they are as strong and sharp as ever.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): French Impressionist painter Claude Monet loved to paint the rock formations near the beach at
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Étretrat, a village in Normandy. During the summer of 1886, he worked serially on six separate canvases, moving from one to another throughout his work day to capture the light and shadow as they changed with the weather and the position of the sun. He focused intently on one painting at a time. He didn’t have a brush in each hand and one in his mouth, simultaneously applying paint to various canvases. His specific approach to multitasking would generate good results for you in the coming weeks, Gemini. (P.S. The other kind of multitasking — where you do several different things at the same time — will yield mostly mediocre results.)
CANCER (June 21-July 22): In 1849, author Edgar Allan Poe died in his hometown of Baltimore. A century later, a mysterious admirer began a new tradition. Every Jan. 19, on the anniversary of Poe’s birth, this cloaked visitor appeared at his grave in the early morning hours, and left behind three roses and a bottle of cognac. I invite you, Cancerian, to initiate a comparable ritual. Can you imagine paying periodic tribute to an important influence in your own life — someone who has given you much and touched you deeply? Don’t do it for nostalgia’s sake, but rather as a way to affirm that the gifts you’ve received from this evocative influence will continue to evolve within you. Keep them ever-fresh.
LEO
(July 23-Aug. 22):
“What happens to a dream deferred?” asked Langston Hughes in his poem “Harlem.” “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore — And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over — like a syrupy sweet?” As your soul’s cheerleader and coach, Leo, I hope you won’t explore the answer to Hughes’ questions. If you have a dream, don’t defer it. If you have been deferring your dream, take at least one dramatic step to stop deferring it.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): now accepting applications for our teacher training program!
Virgo author John Creasey struggled in his early efforts at getting published. For a time he had to support himself with jobs as a salesman and clerk. Before his first book was published, he had gathered 743 rejection slips. Eventually, though, he broke through and achieved monumental success. He wrote more than 550 novels, several of which were made into movies. He won two prestigious awards and sold 80 million books. I’m not promising that your own frustrations will ultimately pave the way for a prodigious triumph like his. But in the coming months, I do expect significant progress toward a gritty accomplishment. For best results, work for your own satisfaction more than for the approval of others.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Hall of Fame basketball player Hakeem Ola-
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juwon had a signature set of fancy moves that were collectively known as the Dream Shake. It consisted of numerous spins and fakes and moves that could be combined in various ways to outfox his opponents and score points. The coming weeks would be an excellent time for you to work on your equivalent of the Dream Shake, Libra. You’re at the peak of your ability to figure out how to coordinate and synergize your several talents.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In 1837, Victoria became Queen of England following the death of her uncle, King William IV. She was 18 years old. Her first royal act was to move her bed out of the room she had long shared with her meddling, overbearing mother. I propose that you use this as one of your guiding metaphors in the immediate future. Even if your parents are saints, and even if you haven’t lived with them for years, I suspect you would benefit by upgrading your independence from their influence. Are you still a bit inhibited by the nagging of their voices in your head? Does your desire to avoid hurting them thwart you from rising to a higher level of authority and authenticity? Be a goodnatured rebel.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The crookedest street in the world is a one-way, block-long span of San Francisco’s Lombard Street. It consists of eight hairpin turns down a very steep hill. The recommended top speed for a car is 5 miles per hour. So on the one hand, you’ve got to proceed with caution. On the other hand, the quaint, brick-paved road is lined with flower beds, and creeping along its wacky route is a whimsical amusement. I suspect you will soon encounter experiences that have metaphorical resemblances to Lombard Street, Sagittarius. In fact, I urge you to seek them out.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
In the baseball film The N atural, the hero Roy Hobbs has a special bat he calls “Wonderboy.” Carved out of a tree that was split by a lightning bolt, it seems to give Hobbs an extraordinary skill at hitting a baseball. There’s a similar theme at work in the Australian musical instrument known as the didgeridoo. It’s created from a eucalyptus tree whose inner wood has been eaten away by termites. Both Wonderboy and the didgeridoo are the results of natural forces that could be seen as adverse but that are actually useful. Is there a comparable situation in your own life, Capricorn? I’m guessing there is. If you have not yet discovered what it is, now is a good time to do so. What’s the best possible mess you could stir up — a healing mess that would help liberate you? Testify at FreeWillAstrology.com.
GO TO REALASTROLOGY.COM TO CHECK OUT ROB BREZSNY’S EXPANDED WEEKLY AUDIO HOROSCOPES AND DAILY TEXT-MESSAGE HOROSCOPES. THE AUDIO HOROSCOPES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE BY PHONE AT 1-877-873-4888 OR 1-900-950-7700
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER
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NOW HIRING: CNC Machinists and Skilled Assemblers in RIDC Park, O’Hara Township • Competitive pay and excellent benefits • Clean, climate-controlled facility • Winner of Pittsburgh Business Times Manufacturer of the Year 2011 and 2012
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in the North Hills of Pgh with 4 years of strong revenue history & low overhead. $50K in Gross Sales in 2014. Equipment and furnishings available. Inquiries can be sent to PittYoga@gmail.com
EEO/AA/M/F/Vet/Disability Employer
Pittsburgh City Paper is looking for an
EXPERIENCED SALES PROFESSIONAL to join the Sales Team Candidate should have: • 2+ YEARS OF MEDIA SALES EXPERIENCE TO QUALIFY FOR THE POSITION OF SELLING PRINT, WEB AND RADIO • DIGITAL EXPERIENCE A PLUS EMAIL RESUMES TO: jbrock@steelcitymedia.com No phone calls please. Steel City Media is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
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SmokING STUDY
CLINICAL STUDIES
STUDIES
Smokers Wanted!
FEMALES W/ LOW SEX DESIRE
University of Pittsburgh
Smokers who want to try new cigarettes that may or may not lead to reduced smoking are wanted for a research study. This is NOT a treatment or smoking cessation study. Compensation will be provided. Evening Appointments Available For more information please call The Nicotine & Tobacco Research Lab at
412-624-9999
The University of Pittsburgh’s Alcohol and Smoking Research Laboratory is looking for people to participate in a three-part research project.
To participate, you must: • Currently smoke cigarettes • Be 18-55 years old, in good health • Be willing to fill out a questionnaire’s • not smoke before two sessions.
APPLYING PRESSURE
{BY BRENDAN EMMETT QUIGLEY / WWW.BRENDANEMMETTQUIGLEY.COM} 1
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Earn $150 for completing study.
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SMOKERS WANTED for Paid Psychology Research
to participate in a research project at Carnegie Mellon University! To be eligible for this study, you must be: • 18-50 yrs. old • In good health • Willing to not smoke or use nicotine products before one session You may earn up to $50 for your participation in a 3 hour study. For more information, call: The Behavioral Health Research Lab (412-268-3029) NOTE: Unfortunately, our lab is not wheelchair accessible.
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1. Arrive at 6. Hourly payment 10. State after a head injury, sometimes 14. Indie rock band with the 2014 album “Rips” 15. Nailed, as an exam 16. Foot, e.g. 17. Mage’s casting 18. Narc’s assignment 19. “Eat-Clean Diet” series author Tosca ___ 20. Getaway spot with three points? 23. Stirring about 24. Candy from a dispenser 25. Small giggle 26. Toupee 27. Logrolling competition roll 29. “Adios, I’m ghost” 31. Bottoms of big hills 33. “Two names ought to do it,” briefly 34. Blow out of the water 35. Place to pick up a blonde (in more ways than one) 36. Hip-hoppers from Dallas? 42. In between 43. Beat test: Abbr. 44. Wet dog, e.g. 45. “Boyhood” star Hawke 48. R&B artist with the 2015 single “Coming With You”
49. Exactly 50. Like a wallflower 51. A/S/L datum 53. Parts of a chain: Abbr. 55. Legal document that sets up confidentiality between the parties, for short 56. What some cheapskates give in lieu of bills at a strip club? 60. Mindlessly parrot 61. One of Seth’s brothers 62. Half-serious group? 64. Barely made (out) 65. Overflowing (with) 66. Contains 67. Department store department 68. “Why not?” 69. Purple hue
DOWN
1. Some appliances 2. Hurry up 3. Dr. Seuss classic that takes place in Thneedville 4. Blab 5. Yellow flower 6. Poland’s capital, in Polish (listen, you know how much I love Bowie and he’s got a song on “Low” with this title) 7. Berry in some protein shakes 8. Kimono wearer
9. “The Theory of Everything” actor Redmayne 10. Biceps strengthening exercise 11. Tied, as in a lowscoring soccer game 12. ___ Mouse 13. Fighting (with) 21. Old gatecrashing bomb 22. Four-door car 23. Cut the electricity to the bank, say 28. Spitting pack animal 30. Crow’s nest? 32. Professional slang 35. Haters 37. Peninsula that’s a perennial hotspot 38. Delta’s frequent flyer program
39. Jay Pritchett’s portrayer on “Modern Family” 40. Beer enjoyed while driving 41. Malaga miss: Abbr. 45. Hold in high regard 46. “Blurred Lines” singer 47. One of two in a Social Security number 48. Tyro 52. Knotty protuberance 54. TV journalist Lesley 57. Fixes golf divots 58. Test the weight of 59. Pope succeeded by Hilarius (Hilarius! What a name!) 63. Sch. where Pete Carroll coached
This week marks the return of the crossword to City Paper. Constructor Brendan Emmett Quigley has been making puzzles for nearly 20 years for a variety of outlets, including, frequently, The New York Times. Look for the answers to this week’s puzzle in this space next week.
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 02.04/02.11.2015
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POURING OUT THEIR HEARTS Tea is more than “water and leaves” to Lawrenceville purveyor {BY ABBY MENDELSON}
IT’S ANOTHER frigid day in Lawrenceville, and a big guy — shaved
head, tattoos — blows into Gryphon’s Tea Shop, a tiny, two-seat Butler Street emporium. “What do you have,” he shivers, “for a cold day?” “Mint?” proprietor Diana Stoughton offers. He shakes his head. “Chamomile?” she suggests, yanking down a jar of the sweet, yellow herbal blend. “Just right,” he says. While it’s not a cafe per se, Gryphon’s — named for Stoughton’s son and chief tea blender — boasts some 120 different teas, plus another 120 culinary herbs and spices. At a Lilliputian 11 feet 6 inches wide — 400 square feet in all — with the right wall dedicated to local arts posters, Stoughton’s crusade is not only to purvey the world’s oldest and most popular caffeinated beverage, but also to promote tea as a viable Pennsylvania agricultural crop.
on who works it — and how. In these days of personalized products, the more unique, the better. “We’re talking boutique tea,” Stoughton says. “Part of the attraction is demand.” Demand is clearly the operative word. One Michigan outfit, for example, peddles its product at a jaw-dropping $120 per ounce. Topping the domestic charts: one Hawaiian blend goes for $150 an ounce. “Those teas have panache,” she says. “There’s a desire to own something that nobody else has.” To create her own bevy of beverages, Stoughton, a food-service and film-production veteran, began pouring her own teas at the Pittsburgh Public Market back in late 2011. Moving to Butler Street two years ago, she’s been ably assisted by her son. These days, their main business is selling the stuff dry, not wet. With roughly 200 regular customers stopping in for their monthly half-pound fixes, Stoughton also supplies regional restaurants and cafes. The McGinnis Sisters feature Gryphon Teas, as do select farmers markets. While growth has been
“YOUNGER, HIPPER PEOPLE ARE GRAVITATING TOWARD TEA FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS.” Certainly, the latter effort seems counterintuitive to those who believe that tea is strictly a tropical plant. Not so, Stoughton says. While tea originated in India and China, it has literally been transplanted all over the world. With hearty strains able to withstand winter, these days tea sprouts all over North America, Quebec to California. Just not in Western Pennsylvania. Stoughton intends to change that. “There’s no reason we can’t grow and process it here,” she says. “Except that we haven’t tried. It is not impossible.” With 100 climate-appropriate seeds in hand, she will first soak them, nurture them, get them ready to grow — a painstaking process that will take some three years. Once fully matured, the plants will go in the ground, most likely in a plot she’s got near Wexford. Presuming that initial crop bears leaves, Stoughton hopes to expand to about 10,000 plants over the next decade — a reasonable time for such a tiny tea plantation. Her goal: processing some 500 pounds of highly unique, highly personalized tea every month. “Tea differs because of soil, temperature, sun and climate,” she says. “Then there’s processing. Like wine, everything affects tea.” Like wine, tea also differs through handling. White, green, black, fermented, smoked — all teas come from the same plants. The final product, aged anywhere from six hours to six months, depends largely
slow, incremental, Stoughton’s pleased with it. “We’re showing a small profit,” she says. “We’re comfortable with that, two years in.” She does expect it to grow. “Younger, hipper people are gravitating toward tea for a number of reasons,” Stoughton says. “It’s healthier than coffee. It’s not their parents’ drink. And they can get exactly what they want — specific items made just for them.” With Gryphon — an American Tea Association-certified blender — working up his own chai, herbals and tea concoctions, Stoughton has branched out into giving classes, cooking with tea, and creating alcohol infusions. Like chai with rum? For a sweeter sip, add cream and simple syrup. How about an oolong-rum punch? Smoky lapsang souchongbased potato-lentil soup? Jasmine tea chicken marinade? “We’re definitely part of the foodie movement,” she says. A lanky woman comes in from the cold. Dressed in what for all the world seems to be padded slipcovers, she asks about hanging a poster for upcoming yoga classes. Of course, Stoughton nods, then chats the woman up about tea. Offered a cup of Wild Mountain Thyme, the woman nods, sips, wants to pay. Stoughton shakes her head, refuses. “It’s just hot water and leaves,” she smiles. As the woman smiles her appreciation, Stoughton adds, “I’m a pusher.” I N F O@ P G H C I T Y PA P E R. C OM
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