December 5, 2018 - Pittsburgh City Paper

PITTSBURGH’S ALTERNATIVE FOR ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT SINCE 1991

DEC. 5-12, 2018

PGHCITYPAPER.COM PGHCITYPAPER

port Help supts, n e ti pa rs, and caregive ylvania s the Penn arijuana M l a ic d Me Program

PITTSBURGHCITYPAPER

PGHCITYPAPER

FREE EVERY WEEK!

PGHCITYPAPER

Meet the Industry! Stuff a Stocking!

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10 • 6-9 P.M. EMBASSY SUITES BALLROOM • 535 SMITHFIELD ST., DOWNTOWN For more info, email beth@crescoyeltrah.com or gina@purepenn.com.

Mix an mingle wd professio ith in the m nals ed marijuan ical a industry

2

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

EVENTS 12.7 – 4:30-7:30pm TEACHER WORKSHOP: SILVER AND GOLD Explore Andy Warhol’s use of silver and gold.

Tickets: $30 (includes museum admission, workshop materials, and one drink ticket)

12.8 – 8pm A JOHN WATERS’ CHRISTMAS: HOLIER & DIRTIER Carnegie Lecture Hall (Oakland) Co-presented with Carnegie Museum of Art Tickets $30/$25 members and students; $125 VIP

12.12 – 10am HALF-PINT PRINTS The Factory Families work with The Warhol’s artist educators to create silkscreen prints with children ages 1 to 4 years old.

Free with museum admission; Registration is required; Visit warhol.org

12.12 – 8pm RASHAAD NEWSOME: SHADE COMPOSITIONS Carnegie Music Hall (Oakland) Co-presented with PearlArts Studios Free; Registration is suggested

12.31 – 10am - 5pm SPECIAL HOLIDAY HOURS The Warhol will be open on Monday, December 31 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

On view through March 17, 2019 Generous support of Devan Shimoyama: Cry, Baby is provided by the Quentin and Evelyn T. Cunningham Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Fine Foundation.

Devan Shimoyama, Michael (detail), 2018, Courtesy of Joyce Varvatos and the artist

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.

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

3

650 Smithfield Street, Suite 2200 Pittsburgh, PA 15222 412.316.3342 / FAX: 412.316.3388 E-MAIL info@pghcitypaper.com

pghcitypaper.com PGHCITYPAPER PITTSBURGHCITYPAPER

DEC. 5-12, 2018 VOLUME 28 + ISSUE 49

FIRSTSHOT

BY JARED WICKERHAM

A Christmas Tree stands inside PNC Park.

Editor-In-Chief LISA CUNNINGHAM Associate Publisher JUSTIN MATASE Director of Operations KEVIN SHEPHERD Managing Editor ALEX GORDON Senior Writers RYAN DETO, AMANDA WALTZ Staff Writers HANNAH LYNN, JORDAN SNOWDEN Photographer/Videographer JARED WICKERHAM Digital Media Manager JOSH OSWALD Marketing and Promotions Coordinator CONNOR MARSHMAN Graphic Designers MAYA PUSKARIC, JEFF SCHRECKENGOST Senior Sales Representative BLAKE LEWIS Sales Representatives KAITLIN OLIVER, NICK PAGANO Digital Development Manager RYAN CROYLE Office Coordinator MAGGIE WEAVER Advertising Sales Assistant TAYLOR PASQUARELLI Circulation Manager JEFF ENGBARTH Featured Contributors REGE BEHE, GAB BONESSO, LYNN CULLEN, TERENEH IDIA, CRAIG MRUSEK, CHARLES ROSENBLUM, JESSIE SAGE, STEVE SUCATO Intern ALEX POPICHAK Office Administrator RODNEY REGAN National Advertising Representative VMG ADVERTISING 1.888.278.9866 OR 1.212.475.2529 Publisher EAGLE MEDIA CORP.

GENERAL POLICIES: Contents copyrighted 2018 by Eagle Media Corp. 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 Eagle Media Corp. 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 Eagle Media Corp. 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.

C OV E R P HOTO B Y JA RE D W I C K E RHA M

4

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

Thanks... for Drinking Responsibly this Holiday Season!

Happy Holidays from

RESPONSIBILITY M AT T E R S

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

5

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

WTAE meteorologist Ashley Dougherty

THE BIG STORY

IF IT KEEPS ON RAININ’ Pittsburgh’s increasing rains are causing heavy damage.

Can the region’s infrastructure handle all the precipitation?

BY RYAN DETO // RYANDETO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

T

HIS YEAR COULD become the wettest year Pittsburgh has ever seen, and it’s capping off a very wet decade. Our old infrastructure might not be able to keep the water at bay.

As of Dec. 3, the Pittsburgh region saw 53.32 inches of precipitation in 2018, about four inches below the all-time record set in 2004.

6

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

According to the National Weather Service, the ten-year period from 2009 to now has produced more than 401 inches of precipitation. The previous ten-year period from 1999-2008 precipitated 399 inches, and the decade-long period from 19891998 produced 386 inches. In the 1980s, Pittsburgh only saw 368 inches of precipitation.

The increased number of floods and landslides

are putting more stress on Pittsburgh’s already aging infrastructure. And with climate change hinting at more rain for the Steel City’s future, some are calling for the region to take these infrastructure problems more seriously.

According to Greg Scott of Pittsburgh’s office of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the success of our stormwater system depends on

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

Vehicles drive down Route 51 in the South Hills.

precipitation levels staying within a typical range. Pittsburgh’s waterrelated infrastructure is experiencing three main shortfalls: municipal stormwater systems, locks and dams, and problems relating to landslides and lack of green infrastructure.

The ASCE recently released a report card for Pennsylvania’s infrastructure, giving the commonwealth a C- overall. For water-related infrastructure, the state did even worse, receiving D grades or below for inland waterways, stormwater, and wastewater. Scott says many of those deficiencies can be found in Pittsburgh.

To make better grades, prevent local government headaches, save taxpayers money, and possibly avoid catastrophic

“WE ASSUME RAINFALL STAYED WITHIN THESE SET LEVELS. BUT THE OUTLIER STORMS, THEIR FREQUENCY IS INCREASING.” damage from precipitation, Scott says addressing Pittsburgh’s infrastructure shortfalls is necessary to keep the region above water.

MUNICIPAL STORMWATER UTILITIES When it rains too much in Pittsburgh,

Cincinnati is the one who pays dearly.

Pittsburgh has a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO), meaning that enough rain — 1/10th of inch in a short time period — will cause stormwater and wastewater (from our toilets) to mix and then overflow into the rivers. During heavy storms, that muck makes it into the Ohio River and down to Cin-

cinnati, where it is treated to become drinking water.

And with Pittsburgh getting so much precipitation this year, and over the last decade, that has happened a lot.

“Last year, for 140 days of the boating season, there was a discharge of CSOs into the river,” says Scott.

Scott says reducing CSO overflows is important because Pittsburgh is starting to see our riverfronts as an asset, with riverfront development, parks, trails, and even increased water recreation.

Scott notes that the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (ALCOSAN) is currently in the midst of a decadeslong infrastructure project to alleviate some CSO overflow issues. ALCOSAN CONTINUES ON PG. 8

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

7

IF IT KEEPS ON RAININ’, CONTINUED FROM PG. 7

...GET SOME ...GIVE SOME

THE PERFECT GIFT TAKE A POUND WHEREVER YOU GO

SPREAD THE LOVE!

C OFFEE & T EA ———— — — — — — — — — SPECIALISTS

1719 Penn Ave.

Strip District I 412.471.0133

prestogeorge.com Coffee roasted every 1/2 hour.

Importers of Loose Leaf Teas.

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

The ‘bathtub’ section along interstate 376

DAVIS DEMOLITION & Dismantlement “Specializing in selective demolition when heavy equipment isn’t practical” • Gut-outs.

• Fire Escapes • Commercial and residential buildings in tight spaces • Flooring, Walls, Chimmeys • Metal and Masonry cutting • Retaining Wall installation ...and other services related to your demolition project.

Fully licensed by the City and State.

Insured for your protection.

412-720-1866

has also heeded some of the advice of environmentalists to include more green infrastructure in their plan.

Green infrastructure includes planting trees and rain gardens that soak up precipitation, instead of letting it run into the rivers.

But ALCOSAN’s upgrades won’t fix every storm and wastewater problem in the region. Scott says municipalities should pass legislation to mitigate the stormwater runoff problems that often coincide with large developments.

Scott says many new developments, particularly in Allegheny County’s suburbs, include large paved surfaces that give little thought to the effects of stormwater. Parking lots, strip malls, and other car-friendly projects are built mostly on concrete and asphalt.

Scott says most don’t consider adding green infrastructure that can help reduce flooding.

To change developers’ mindsets about stormwater, Scott suggests mu-

nicipalities create stormwater utility operations. This way, municipalities can measure and charge developers for how much stormwater runoff they create. The more eco-friendly a project is, the less developers would have to pay.

“If you generate runoff, you pay.

You use more sewage, you pay,” says Scott. “You are sort of incentivizing the conservationist mentality.”

Scott says this can localize the importance of reducing stormwater runoff and avoid a mindset of waiting for orders from federal groups like the Environmental Protection Agency.

Scott says some regional municipalities have already established these, like Mount Lebanon and Meadville. He hopes more follow suit.

LOCKS AND DAMS The Great Flood of 1936 was the most devastating surge Pittsburgh has ever seen. The water level at the Point crested 21 feet above flood level. The Strip

District and Downtown were almost entirely underwater.

Since then, locks and dams have been installed up and down the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers, helping mitigate floods over the decades. (Floods caused by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 crested the river six feet above flood level.)

But those locks and dams are aging.

Local industry groups and politicians like U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Scranton) have called for repairs.

Casey told TribLive in July that failing to complete the necessary repairs would be “catastrophic” for the Pittsburgh region. Scott agrees. He says maintaining our locks and dams will help avoid catastrophic floods.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the region’s locks and dams, announced on Nov. 28 an additional $123.7 million in repairs funding for the 2019 fiscal year.

“These additional funds provide a CONTINUES ON PG. 10

8

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

It’s The Tot That Counts.

On Friday, December 7th, don’t just get caught in the morning rush. Catch the holiday spirit.

Bring a toy down to Steel Plaza station and help lift a child’s spirits for the holidays.

Friday morning, December 7th from 6 till 9 am, Toys for Tots will be collecting new, unwrapped children’s gifts. Port Authority is proud to join with media sponsors Q92.9 FM and the United States Marine Corps in asking you to help fill a child’s heart with joy and happiness this holiday season. ompliment fee c so f Cof

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

9

IF IT KEEPS ON RAININ’, CONTINUED FROM PG. 8

Give the perfect gift… and a little something for yourself!

2018

1990 52.24

1865

1890

200 4

50.61

57.4 1

& SHOOTING CENTER

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT

53.32*

0 50.5

Holiday Gift Card Deal Spend $50 receive a

$10 BONUS GIFT CARD STARTING BLACK FRIDAY 11/23

Good on anything in the store!

All-time record yearly precipitation for Pittsburgh region in inches

*Through Dec. 3, 2018

Guns, shooting lessons, indoor shooting range, ammo, accessories!

VISIT OUR INDOOR SHOOTING RANGE - OPEN 7 DAYS 2980 LEBANON CHURCH RD. • WEST MIFFLIN, PA 15122 • 412-469-9992 W W W . A N T H O N YA R M S . C O M

Buy Pharmacist-Approved

CBD for People and Pets!

No Rx Needed!

Lab NaturalsPCR CR

Broad Spectrum Plant nt Oil

100% % THC FREE!

From a Pharmacy y You Can n Tr Trust! st!

boost to the regional economy while maintaining and improving our vital water resource infrastructure,” said Pittsburgh District commander Col. Andrew “Coby” Short in a press release.

“This will help ensure we fulfill our commitment to reduce flooding, provide reliable navigation, enhance the environment and offer quality recreation for the citizens of the Upper Ohio River Basin.”

Pittsburgh ASCE president Robert Dengler is “extremely pleased” the region is receiving this additional funding.

He says these funds “will begin to address the backlog of capital projects” that the Army Corps is responsible for maintaining. If Pittsburgh continues receiving similar allocations moving forward, he is hopeful the region will fix its water-infrastructure shortfalls.

LANDSLIDE FUND AND GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE

Shop CBD Online 24/7!

Free Shipping C Code: d SHIP SHIPFREECP

www.LabNaturalsPCR.com

WTAE meteorologist Ashley Dougherty says landslides have become a “huge concern for folks” in the Pittsburgh area.

“Most of our houses are built on hills, and with the excessive rain we’ve had, it has caused a lot of problems,” says Dougherty.

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto proposed allocating an additional $10 million of the city’s 2019 budget to

deal with landslides and issues caused by flooding.

According to Scott, landslides provide a unique problem for Pittsburgh because there’s not much that can be done to stop them. Scott says Pittsburgh already has a zoning ordinance that prohibits new construction in landslide-prone areas. He recommends municipalities maintain adequate rainy-day funds to pay for clean-ups after landslides.

Scott also says green infrastructure fixes, while good for many communities in Pittsburgh, are not a silver bullet for stormwater management. He says it’s not always wise for hillside communities to saturate their soil with precipitation since that might actually create landslides.

“Etna has been very successful in its green infrastructure, but Etna is on an alluvial plane,” says Scott, describing how the river town sits on porous soil that is great at absorbing excess water.

“But if you are on the top of a hillside of clay, [green infrastructure] is bad idea.”

Scott hopes that as Pittsburgh addresses its water-infrastructure problems, leaders heed the advice of locals, first and foremost, since they understand a region’s topography and history the best.

“The solution is varied,” says Scott.

“But we have the expertise in Pittsburgh, let’s use it.”

•

Follow senior writer Ryan Deto on Twitter @ryandeto

10

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

Pittsburgh-area precipitation by ten-year period in inches 1939 - 1948 361.02

1949 949 - 1958 95 382.81

1959 - 1968 341.06

1969 - 1978 371.5

1979 - 1988 368.46

9 9 - 1998 99 1989 386.16

1999 - 2008 399.36

2009 - 2018 401.2*

*Through Dec. 3, 2018 PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

11

PHOTO: MAIRIN PETRONE

Tents under water at this year’s Pittsburgh Irish Festival

.WEATHER.

RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY

BY AMANDA WALTZ // AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

E

ARLIER THIS YEAR, the Pittsburgh

Irish Festival was completely under water. Not metaphorically, like actually under water. A terrible storm flooded most of the Riverplex at Sandcastle Water Park, where the festival is held.

“We joke that the luck of the Irish ran out,” says Mairin Petrone, director of the Pittsburgh Irish Festival. “One of our fans called it Gaelic Storm.”

As a result, the festival, which ran the weekend of Sept. 7, had to cancel for the first time in its 28-year history.

12

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

Besides losing an entire day, the following day saw only 30 percent of the usual attendance. The experience speaks to the challenges many in Pittsburgh’s arts and entertainment scene face as extreme storm conditions become more common.

The monthly open-air marketplace, Neighborhood Flea, also had a firsttime cancellation when its September event was threatened by bad storms.

Organizers had to prioritize the safety of the vendors, crew, and customers, as

well as the product.

“It just wasn’t fair to have the event,” says Carrie Nardini, who founded Neighborhood Flea in 2014. “There was no way it would be good for anybody.”

Nardini claims that a number of factors prevent the Neighborhood Flea from setting a rain date or moving indoors, as increased development in Pittsburgh has made many venues unavailable or too expensive.

As expected, the uniquely bad weather had an economic impact. Be-

cause of the flood, the Pittsburgh Irish Festival’s parent organization, the Irish Partnership of Pittsburgh, lost around $90,000, all funding that would have gone towards the various educational and Irish heritage events it holds throughout the year.

While they regained some of the money through fundraising efforts, Petrone says they still need to recoup $50,000 if they want to host the festival again next year.

“It was pretty devastating for us,” says

Petrone, adding that they hope to raise the rest of the money through events like a group tour to the new Guinness Open Gate Brewery & Barrel House near Baltimore and through a gift booth at the Downtown Peoples Gas Holiday Market.

Pittsburgh even became a cautionary tale at the most recent conference for the nationwide Association of Irish & Celtic Festivals, which the Pittsburgh Irish Festival attended. “They held a session on how not to be Pittsburgh, and how to make sure you’re prepared financially,” says Petrone.

While the annual Three Rivers Arts Festival famously has bad luck with rain, its participating artists faced even worse conditions this year. One vendor, silhouette paper cut artist Kathryn Carr of Go Carr Go, arrived at the festival one morning to find that her booth had been destroyed by a big storm the night before.

“The night security guards had tried to rescue as much of my art as they could, but the damage had been done,” says Carr. “I lost just about everything to the rain.”

Nardini believes the rain chased away many of the Neighborhood Flea’s customers and reduced sales for its vendors,

Vendors under tents at the Neighborhood Flea

many of whom are from out of town.

With the climate warming, and Pittsburgh seeing intense summer storms become more frequent, many outdoor

event organizers are now bracing for the possibility of severe weather while planning for the future. Still, many seem hopeful, including Petrone, who says the

Pittsburgh Irish Festival has not ruled out the Riverplex as a potential location for next year.

“This flood was kind of a freak thing that happened, so the likelihood of it happening again is very small,” she says.

This year, heavy rains drenched crowds at Thrival, the three-day multimedia festival presented by Ascender, and shut down its big live music finale.

Even so, Ascender CEO Barrie Athol says they already set the dates for next year’s Thrival and have started looking at possible venues.

“We’re aware of what happened this year and we’re committed to continuing to put on really great festivals for the city and do everything we can to do that,” says Athol.

Nardini says they plan to keep the Neighborhood Flea in the Strip District and hope for the best.

“We’re looking forward to another season and crossing our fingers,” says Nardini. “Sometimes you have bad years, sometimes you have good years.

This year, though, was generally not kind to artists and outdoor sellers. Everybody is just hoping that next year will be more forgiving.”

•

Follow senior writer Amanda Waltz on Twitter @AWaltzCP

DowntownPittsburgh.com/Holidays y ay da lid oli ho h karaoke t st es te nt con

rket Holiday Ma s a G s e l p Peo re Market Squa ember 23 Through Dec 10AM Open Daily , Weekends at M A 11 at s ay kd ee W n Ope om Ireland, rtisan Gifts fr • Featuring A h America any, and Sout Africa, Germ ry, esigner Jewle urgh Gifts, D e Cookies ad • Plus Pittsb em om H Artwork, Photography,

h santa photos wit ouse for H Visit Santa’s ggested su ith w Photos Greater $5 donation to munity om C Pittsburgh nk Ba Food

day • Every Mon y night, da es Tu d an ghtly ni g in ur feat ,000 prizes and $1 grand prize on !

December 17

Holiday KidsPlay

holiday saturdays • Free Fifth Avenue Place Holly Trolley and PPG Place Horse-Drawn Carriage Rides • Free Family Fun

Heinz Hall Courtyard Every Saturday & Sunday, and December 26 – 31 • Free, hands-on activities with your favorite friends from Fred Rogers Productions including: Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Odd Squad, Peg + Cat, and Through the Woods.

Nightly in Market Square

DowntownPittsburgh.com/Holidays

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

13

2110 Babcock Blvd.

Pittsburgh, PA 15209 412-821-5908

10% OFF

Your entire purchase

when you bring this coupon into the store! *Certain restrictions may apply.

.VOICES.

LETTER FROM A GEN-XER

BY TERENEH IDIA // CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

L

SATURDAY

December 8th 4PM FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF PITTSBURGH

Featuring Works by Bach, Craig Courtney and Rosephanye Powell WWW.MUSIC.PITT.EDU/TICKETS 14

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

ETTER FROM A GEN-XER:

Greetings from one of the 65 million people born in the U.S. between 1965-1980, lovingly known as Generation X. We are like a tennis net between the rallies back in forth, watching balls hurled between Baby Boomers: “You kids are spoiled and don’t know anything!” and Millennials: “You’re spoiled and you ruined everything!”

We are used to being in between. We were children as national divorce rates rose and peaked in 1980. We were the Latchkey Kids making our way home with house keys around our necks. Doing homework, chores, maybe starting dinner, until our parents, parent, or guardian showed up.

Then there were seminal events and milestones that should have been amazing but weren’t. Nearly every classroom watched as a teacher — she felt like all of our teacher — Christa McAuliffe, took off in the Challenger space shuttle, only to see it explode, in real time, IRL, right before our young eyes.

When we began to blossom sexually and explore that very real part of being human, a mysterious disease was discovered. Nameless, no cause or real understanding. You didn’t know much about sex, except that it could kill you. So that very natural, beautiful desire had to be contained, controlled, and even feared.

We reclaimed our bodies — adorning our skin with piercings and tattoos. We were called slackers, cynical, misanthropes. Well?!

Then we were in college, during a golden age of Hip Hop. We heard A Tribe Called Quest’s “Check The Rhime” for the first time. “All the time Tip!” It doesn’t get any better than that. Then: bam! Reces-

sion. Caps and gowns turned into coats and begging cups. The popular Got Milk? ads inspired classic Gen X irony. My senior class photo’s banner read, “Got Work?”

Ours was the first generation expected to do less well financially than our parents. Sorry Millennials, we beat you there.

But it’s not all bad. I love Gen X. We have an interesting link the 20th and 21st centuries. We went to the library to research, had to wait to talk on the phone or hear our favorite song on the radio or video on MTV. Origami-folded notes thrown at just the right velocity and trajectory were our “texts.”

We learned self-reliance: it is not your turn or do it yourself.

We try so very hard. We bought houses and had kids, became helicopter parents planning play dates, the antithesis of our childhoods. We won’t get divorced like our parents did, until some do. Or we did not have kids or married because well, duh?

We are the diplomatic middle. So I am grateful to the Baby Boomers who put their lives on the line to register people to vote and protest wars, fought for the environment and for civil rights.

To the Millennials, thank you for pushing intersectional justice and fighting against patriarchal systems of power.

The story of Generation X is still being written. As someone told me recently, we may be the flyest 40 and 50-yearolds around. We have a DIY spirit to create family without a blueprint.

Optimists hidden behind a very sheer scrim of cynicism.

I just have one request to the Baby Boomers and Millennials: Maybe you could put down your rackets, come to the net and listen.

•

Follow featured contributor Tereneh Idia on Twitter @Tereneh152XX

Who kne w

? izing pet ap

c r o o u c l e d d b y e a t d h i l i s o h

/M\ aW]Z OQN\[ \WLIa I\ SarrisCandies.com .WZ M`KT][Q^M W‫ٺ‬MZ[ KWV\MV\ IVL UWZM UISM []ZM aW] NWTTW_ ][ WV [WKQIT UMLQI PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

15

In-Home Senior Care

H No iri w ng !

• Personal Care • Homemaking • Meal preparation • Errands & Shopping

412-363-5500 5165 Penn Avenue

PHOTO: PITTSBURGH BIKE SHARE

New Healthy Ride station in Garfield

.NEWS.

HEALTHY YEAR

BY ALEX POPICHAK // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

S

INCE BEGINNING operation three

years ago, the Healthy Ride bikeshare program has doubled in size.

On Nov. 29, the nonprofit celebrated the opening of its 100th station at the corner of Penn Ave. and Winebiddle Street in Garfield. The installation of the Garfield station marks a milestone in expanding the Healthy Ride system further throughout the city.

Pittsburgh Bike Share, based in the Strip District, has operated Healthy Ride since May 2015. This year the company worked to double its footprint with 50 new stations and 200 bikes. In addition to the two in Garfield, stations installed this summer and fall are in Bloomfield, Downtown, East Liberty, Friendship, Homewood, Larimer, Lawrenceville, North Side, Oakland, Strip District, Squirrel Hill, and Uptown.

The new stations are designed to be smaller than previous iterations, to make it easier to install in residential neighborhoods and decrease the parking spaces taken up by Healthy Ride docks. The typical new station holds six bikes, where older stations average docks for 19 bikes.

“It’s all part of meeting the demands of Pittsburgh,” David White, Executive Director of Pittsburgh Bike Share said in a news release Thursday. “We’re not New York City or D.C., we’re Pittsburgh. We need more points for people to access bike share, but don’t need the mega stations that you see in America’s largest cities. We can take up less street and sidewalk space while still fulfilling the needs of neighborhood residents.”

Pittsburgh Bike Share plans to install

16

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

75 more stations by spring 2019. Once online, the whole network has the potential to reach up to 170,000 individuals living within a quarter mile of a bike share station.

Choosing where to put new stations depends on several factors, including visibility, access to sunlight (most kiosks are solar-powered) and proximity to other stations. On its expansion website, Healthy Ride is accepting feedback and suggestions regarding new station locations. The network is designed for quick bike trips that take users from one station to the next in 30 minutes or less.

“We’ll continue working with neighborhoods, installing new stations in 2019 to create quick connections so that thousands of people will only ever be a few minutes’ walk from jumping on a quick bike ride,” White said. “We think everyone should have access to short bicycle trips— that means installing new stations, but also increasing access to all, with easy options for Port Authority ConnectCard users, and options for low income residents.”

As City Paper reported in March, part of the expansion into new neighborhoods is aimed at improving accessibility of the program to low-income riders.

Healthy Ride bikes allow users to tap Port Authority ConnectCards for free 15-minute rides — even if those riders don’t have a credit card.

Based on its expansion map, the next stations to pop up will be concentrated in the South Side, North Side, Larimer, and Hill District and are expected to be live in spring 2019.

•

CP FILE PHOTO

Gab Bonesso

.GABBY NORMAL.

STRESSED BUY

BY GAB BONESSO // CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

R

ECENTLY, I DECIDED to invest a little money in some film equipment. Step one was to buy a decent tripod. After researching prices, it appeared Best Buy would be the “best buy” for me.

Unfortunately, I was mansplained there two weeks in a row. What’s that old saying? Mansplain me once, shame on you. Mansplain me twice, shop online. I think that’s how it goes.

I entered the store and was immediately greeted by a young man who asked what I was buying. I explained that I needed a tripod for my iPhone. He escorted me to the tripod section and informed me that they don’t make tripods for iPhones. He explained that I would need to buy an adapter for the tripod. He went searching for an adapter, returning 45 minutes later laughing and repeated, “Yeah… They don’t make tripods for iPhones.”

Noted. I bought the tripod with the adapter and skedaddled.

I got home, opened the tripod and lo and behold … . It was a tripod for an iPhone.

It already had the attachment connected. I began to inspect the box which indicated it was a tripod for iPhones. Umm… .

Not only was I actually right, I was mocked then encouraged to spend more money. Not cool, man.

Hence, my second visit to Best Buy. I needed to make a return. The only woman working in the entire store happened to be working returns. I told her my story about the know-it-all boy and she laughed with me in a “sisterhood is global” kind of way.

As I was leaving, I noticed that they sold Apple Watch bands. I really needed a new one and was right there.

I started to peruse the bands, and a different male employee approached me. He asked about the model of my watch. I explained it was a gift and I wasn’t sure. He laughed, looked at it and told me which model it was.

I chose a band in the size that he recommended. After I paid, I started putting the new band on my watch while I was still in the store. Guess what? It was the wrong size. Then he tried to convince me to buy the band even though it looked insane.

Two returns in the same day. Bravo, men of Best Buy. I finally figured out the model of my watch and choose a proper band. At this point the same guy tried to discourage me from purchasing that specific brand. He said, “That’s not just Apple, it’s also Nike. Not sure you want to be supporting that company right now.”

I loudly sighed, shook my head, handed him the band and in my most dismissive voice I said, “Just do it.”

exploretock.com/superiormotors

•

Follow featured contributor Gab Bonesso on Twitter @GabBonesso PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

17

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

Pork carnitas, pancita, tamale, menudo, and champurrado (hot chocolate with cinnamon)

.FOOD REVIEW.

ALQUISIRAS PALETERIA

BY MAGGIE WEAVER // MWEAVER@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

T

HE VIBRANT interior of Beechview’s Alquisiras Paleteria transported me from a gray, harsh street to an inviting room filled with a rainbow of popsicles and buckets of homemade ice cream.

Since the owners were closing down when my friends and I arrived, we made quick decisions to repay their graciousness. We ordered almost everything off the menu: a potato quesadilla, a chicken gordita, a steak torta, a chicken tostada, and a chorizo

sope. The owners went to work while their daughter talked us through the freezer offerings.

Our food came out quickly. Dishes exploded with ingredients and flavor, requiring an entire roll of paper towels.

It was delicious, homey food. I favored the torta and the sope. Thin, tender pieces of steak melted into thick torta bread, neither of which overpowered the light condiments. Stringy queso fresco added an almost overwhelming salty taste. Sopes are similar to tosta-

ALQUISIRAS PALETERIA 2056 Broadway Ave., Beechview.

Mon.-Thu., 11:30 a.m.-10 pm.; Fri.-Sun., 10 a.m.-10 p.m. 412-343-0742

das with an unusually thick tortilla as the base. The sope was smothered in a smoky chorizo and potato mixture and topped with lettuce, queso, avocado, and a drizzle of sour cream — the smooth, thick base held together well

FAVORITE FEATURES: Salsa Verde

Chatting with the family

If I wasn’t already in love with the food, this salsa convinced me. It was smoky and full of flavor with just a touch of heat at the end. It worked beautifully with the lush sope, adding a sharp tang.

The owner’s hilarious daughter kept us entertained while we waited, chatting about life as a middle schooler. It was an unexpected conversation that kept us laughing all the way to the car.

18

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

through bites, unlike a crispy tortilla which was prone to crumble.

The popsicle selection ranged from eggnog to mango to walnut, some with milk and some without. We chose three: strawberry with water, guava with passion fruit, and vanilla and got started after our gorditas (by this point, I was feeling like a gordita myself).

Alquisiras Paleteria’s popsicles were fresh and homemade. My favorite was the insanely delicious strawberry that was jammed with chopped berries.

Alquisiras Paleteria is still smoothing out its edges, serving an ever-changing and ever-growing menu featuring tamales, pozole, and tacos on weekends. But one thing is certain: the paleteria makes ice cream worth eating, even when it’s snowing.

•

Follow staff writer Maggie Weaver on Twitter @magweav

DINING OUT

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

SPONSORED LISTINGS FROM CITY PAPER ’S FINE ADVERTISERS

www.taipei-fc.com

Taiwanese, Japanese and Chinese Specialties

THIS WEEK’S FEATURED RESTAURANT

LEON’S CARIBBEAN

FULL BAR AND BUBBLE TEAS!

823 E WARRINGTON AVE., ALLENTOWN 412-431-5366 / LEONSCARIBBEAN.COM Family owned and operated since December 2014.

Here at Leon’s, we take pride in our recipes and quality of dishes. Simple menu with all the traditional dishes! Leon Sr. has been a chef for 30+ years, mastering the taste everyone has grown to love and can only get at Leon’s.

BLACK AND GOLD ROLL

THE ALLEGHENY WINE MIXER

5326 BUTLER ST., LAWRENCEVILLE 412-252-2337 / ALLEGHENYWINEMIXER.COM Wine bar and tap room in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood. Offering an eclectic list of wine by the glass or bottle, local beer, craft cocktails, cheese and cured meats, good times and bad art.

BAR LOUIE

330 N. SHORE DRIVE, NORTH SIDE (412-500-7530) AND 244 W BRIDGE ST., HOMESTEAD (412-462-6400) / BARLOUIE.COM We’re your neighborhood bar, where you can kick back and be the real you, with the help of an amazing staff, great music, handcrafted martinis and cocktails, local and regional drafts, incredible wines and a huge selection of bar bites, snacks, burgers, flatbreads and sandwiches. Come in after work, before the game, late night at night, or any time you need a quick bite or a night out with friends. Bar Louie. Less obligations. More libations.

BROAD STREET BISTRO

1025 BROAD ST., NORTH VERSAILLES 412-829-2911 / BROADSTBISTRO.COM Broad Street Bistro is a neighborhood restaurant offering daily specials. ALL food is prepared fresh and made to order. It is family friendly with a special kids’ menu.

THE CAFÉ CARNEGIE

4400 FORBES AVE., OAKLAND 412-622-3225 / THECAFECARNEGIE.COM An excellent dining experience from James Beard Semi-Finalist, Sonja Finn featuring a locally-focused menu, full service dining, and espresso and wine bar.

COLONY CAFE

1125 PENN AVE., STRIP DISTRICT 412-586-4850 / COLONYCAFEPGH.COM Whether stopping in for a weekday lunch, an afternoon latte or after-work drinks with friends, Colony Cafe offers delicious housemade bistro fare in a stylish Downtown space.

EIGHTY ACRES

1910 NEW TEXAS ROAD, MONROEVILLE/PLUM 724-519-7304 / EIGHTYACRESKITCHEN.COM Eighty Acres Kitchen & Bar offers a refined,

modern approach to contemporary American cuisine with a strong emphasis on local, farm-to-table products.

FULL PINT WILD SIDE TAP ROOM

5310 BUTLER ST., LAWRENCEVILLE 412-408-3083 / FULLPINTBREWING.COM Full Pint Wild Side Taproom is Full Pint Brewing company’s Lawrenceville location and features a full service bar, huge sandwiches and half-priced happy hour.

Open 4 p.m.-midnight, Mon.-Fri., and noon– midnight on Saturday. Check us out on Facebook for upcoming shows and events.

HARTWOOD RESTAURANT AND WHISPER’S PUB

3400 HARTS RUN ROAD, GLENSHAW 412-767-3500 / HARTWOODRESTAURANT.COM A hidden treasure in the Pittsburgh suburbs. Outdoor dining, full bar, eclectic atmosphere. Casual elegance at its finest. Daily specials. Open Tuesday through Saturday. Hope to see you soon!

LIDIA’S PITTSBURGH

1400 SMALLMAN ST., STRIP DISTRICT 412-552-0150 / LIDIAS-PITTSBURGH.COM Lidia’s Pittsburgh is a warm Italian restaurant offering signature classics from Lidia Bastianich. Featuring brunch, lunch and dinner menus as well as private dining.

MERCURIO’S ARTISAN GELATO AND NEAPOLITAN PIZZA 5523 WALNUT ST., SHADYSIDE 412-621-6220 / MERCURIOSGELATOPIZZA.COM Authentic Neapolitan pizza, artisan gelato, and an inviting atmosphere are just a small part of what helps create your experience at Mercurio’s Gelato and Pizza in Pittsburgh. It’s not your standard pizza shop; in fact, this isn’t a “pizza shop” at all.

PAD THAI NOODLE

4770 LIBERTY AVE, BLOOMFIELD 412-904-1640 / PADTHAINOODLEPITTSBURGH.COM This new café in Bloomfield features Thai and Burmese specialties. Standards

7 DAYS A WEEK – LUNCH AND DINNER

like Pad Thai and Coconut Curry Noodle are sure to please. But don’t miss out on the Ono Kyowsway featuring egg noodle sautéed with coconut chicken, cilantro and curry sauce.

SAGA HIBACHI

201 SOUTH HILLS VILLAGE MALL, BETHEL PARK 412-835-8888 / SAGAHIBACHI.COM Saga in the South Hills is now under new management. Stop in for exciting table-side preparations and the famous shrimp sauce. Or sit in the sushi-bar area for the freshest sushi experience, with both traditional preparations and contemporary variations.

SPIRIT

BEEF NOODLE SOUP

HAPPY APPY HOUR: HOUR MONDAY MONDAY-FRIDAY FRIDAY 4 4-6PM 6 1124 Freeport Rd, Fox Chapel

412-781-4131

242 51ST ST., LAWRENCEVILLE 412-586-4441 / SPIRITPGH.COM/SLICEISLAND Every day we bake fresh focaccia from unbleached flour, pull our own mozzarella, and curdle our own ricotta to put on your pizza with fresh toppings from the best local farms, butchers, and purveyors.

SUPERIOR MOTORS

1211 BRADDOCK AVE., BRADDOCK 412-271-1022 / SUPERIORMOTORS15104.COM Thoughtfully prepared food, drawing inspiration from Braddock, its people, its history and its perseverance.

The cuisine best represents the eclectic style which has become a trademark of Chef Kevin Sousa. Fine dining in an old Chevy dealership with an eclectic, farm-to-table menu and a community focus.

TOTOPO MEXICAN KITCHEN AND BAR

660 WASHINGTON ROAD, MT. LEBANON 412-668-0773 / TOTOPOMEX.COM Totopo is a vibrant celebration of the culture and cuisine of Mexico, with a focus on the diverse foods served in the country. From Oaxacan tamales enveloped in banana leaves to the savory fish tacos of Baja California, you will experience the authentic flavor and freshness in every bite. We also feature a cocktail menu of tequila-based drinks to pair the perfect margarita with your meal.

Look for this symbol for Sustainable Pittsburgh Restaurants, committed to building vibrant communities and supporting environmentally responsible practices. Love Pittsburgh. Eat Sustainably. www.EatSustainably.org

The best gifts are edible.

1910 New Texas Rd. Pittsburgh, PA 15239 724.519.7304 EightyAcresKitchen.com PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

19

LET ’S GET

S CIAL

CP PHOTO: JOSH OSWALD

.ON THE ROCKS.

LIVING LABELS

BY ALEX GORDON // ALEXGORDON@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

)ROORZ XV WR ƓQG RXW ZKDWōV KDSSHQLQJ @PGHCITYPAPER Ř FACEBOOK.COM/PITTSBURGHCITYPAPER

Special: 1/2 Off Italian Bread Pizza Make Friday & Saturday Night Pizza Night 9-11PM 4729 Liberty Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15224

412.682.9603

T

HIS HOLIDAY season, give the gift of a talking wine bottle that delivers lectures on Australian history.

A new app called Living Wine Labels allows users to bring wine labels to life — or at the very least, animate them. Users open the app, point the camera at the wine label, and the inanimate image becomes a video. The app works with eight wine companies so far, including The Walking Dead wine, Beringer Bros. Bourbon Barrel Aged wines, and Chateau St. Jean. But the original concept was developed for Australian wine producer 19 Crimes.

Named for the number of offenses that could land a British criminal on a boat to Australia as punishment in the 18th and 19th centuries, each label of 19 Crimes features a real-life figure from history. When viewed with the Living Wine Labels app, the characters come to life and share stories from their lives.

I bought my bottle of 19 Crimes – a 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon – completely unaware of the app or the story behind it. I just saw the label and thought, “ahh crimes, nice.” But a friend familiar with the series noticed it in my kitchen and opened my world to the adventures and exploits of Michael Harrington (the vineyard’s cab-sav cover model).

Harrington, as he explains from the label, was an Irishmen in the 19th century who advocated for his homeland’s independence from Great Brit-

ain. Along with five of his comrades, he was sentenced to prison for “treason and mutinous acts” and sent to the Western coast of Australia. Luckily, they managed to overtake their captors and escape.

“Some may call me traitor, others, hero, but I, I call myself Michael Harrington, Frenian brother and part of the Fremantle Six,” Harrington bellows.

Visually, the video resembles one of those talking paintings from Harry Potter, the torso relatively stiff as the head bobs and turns expressively. The script and delivery have all the earmarks of a museum-produced educational video.

If you’re the type that stops at every video in history exhibits, you’ll feel right at home with Living Wine Labels.

If Australian history doesn’t pair well with your drinking habits, it might be worth exploring other wines that work with the app. The Walking Dead bottle, for example, shows a zombie coming to life, breaking out of the bottle and smashing your phone screen. Neat.

The app does have a gimmicky vibe (if you close your eyes, you can smell the digital ad agency where this was pitched). But in the spirit of the season, it never hurts to lower your standards a bit and enjoy a silly app and share it with your friends. It’s gimmicky and pointless, but then again, so are all the best gifts. Happy hunting.

•

Follow managing editor Alex Gordon on Twitter @shmalexgordon

20

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

.FOR THE WEEK OF DEC. 6.

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): A blogger on Tumblr named Ffsshh composed a set of guidelines that I think will be apt and useful for you to draw on in the coming weeks.

Please study these suggestions and adapt them for your healing process. “Draw stick figures.

Sing off-key. Write bad poems. Sew ugly clothes.

Run slowly. Flirt clumsily. Play video games on ‘easy.’ OK? You do not need to be good at something to enjoy it. Sometimes talent is overrated.

Do things you like doing just because you like doing them. It’s OK to suck.”

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

Robert Louis Stevenson published his gothic novel Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1886. It was a bestseller, and quickly got turned into a theatrical production. In the ensuing 132 years, there have been well over a hundred further adaptations of the story into film and stage productions. Here’s the funny thing about this influential work: Stevenson wrote it fast. It took him three feverish days to get the gist of it, and just another six weeks to revise. Some biographers say he was high on drugs during the initial burst, perhaps cocaine. I suspect you could also produce some robust and interesting creation in the coming weeks, Sagittarius — and you won’t even need cocaine to fuel you.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquarian athlete Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player who ever lived. He was also the first to become a billionaire. But when he was growing up, he didn’t foresee the glory that awaited him. For example, in high school he took a home economics class so as to acquire cooking abilities. Why? He imagined that as an adult he might have to prepare all of his own meals. His ears were so huge and ungainly, he reasoned that no woman would want to be his wife. So the bad news was that he suffered from a delusion. The good news was that because of his delusion, he learned a useful skill. I foresee a similar progression for you, Aquarius. Something you did that was motivated by misguided or irrelevant ideas may yield positive results.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The Bible does not say that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute or even a “sinner.” There’s no mention of her sexual proclivities at all. Delusional ideas about her arose in the Middle Ages, instigated by priests who confused her with other women in the Bible. The truth is that the Bible names her as a key ally to Christ, and the crucial witness to his resurrection. Fortunately, a number of scholars and church leaders have in recent years been working to correct her reputation. I invite you to be motivated and inspired by this transformation as you take steps to adjust and polish your own image during the coming weeks. It’s time to get your public and private selves into closer alignment.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): When I write a horoscope for you, I focus on one or two questions because I don’t have room to cover every single aspect of your life. The theme

do you regard as beautiful? Whatever your answers might be to those questions right now, I suggest you expand and deepen your definitions in the coming weeks. You’re at a perfect pivot point to invite more gorgeous, lyrical grace into your life; to seek out more elegance and charm and artistry; to cultivate more alluring, delightful magic.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): You know the expiration dates that appear on the labels of the prescription drugs you buy? They don’t mean that the drugs lose their potency after that date. In fact, most drugs are still quite effective for at least another ten years.

Let’s use this fact as a metaphor for a certain resource or influence in your life that you fear is used up or defunct. I’m guessing it still has a lot to offer you, although you will have to shift your thinking in order to make its reserves fully available.

I’ve chosen this time may seem a bit impractical, but if you take it to heart, I guarantee you it will have practical benefits. It comes from Italian author Umberto Eco. He wrote, “Perhaps the mission of those who love humanity is to make people laugh at the truth, to make truth laugh, because the only truth lies in learning to free ourselves from insane passion for the truth.” I swear to you, Aries, that if you laugh at the truth and make the truth laugh in the coming days, you will be guided to do all the right and necessary things.

looming opportunities. 1. “What are you willing to give up, in order to become who you really need to be?” — author Elizabeth Gilbert 2. “Leave the door open for the unknown, the door into the dark. That’s where the most important things come from.” — Rebecca Solnit 3. “You enter the extraordinary by way of the ordinary.” — Frederick Buechner 4. “Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” — Nathaniel Hawthorne

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

CANCER (June 21-July 22):

You have a cosmic mandate and a poetic license to stir up far more erotic fantasies than usual.

It’ll be healthy for you to unleash many new thoughts about sexual experiments that would be fun to try, and novel feelings you’d like to explore, and people whose naked flesh you’d be interested to experience sliding and gliding against yours. But please note that the cosmic mandate and poetic license do not necessarily extend to you acting out your fantasies. The important thing is to let your imagination run wild. That will catalyze a psychic healing you didn’t even realize you needed.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In my continuing efforts to help you want what you need and need what you want, I’ve collected four wise quotes that address your

I’ve called on author Robert Heinlein to provide your horoscope. According to my astrological analysis, his insights are exactly what you need to focus on right now. “Do not confuse ‘duty’ with what other people expect of you,” he wrote. “They are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect. But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible.”

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): What does “beauty” mean to you? What sights, sounds, images, qualities, thoughts, and behavior

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Libran rapper Eminem is renowned for his verbal skill. It may be best exemplified in his song “Rap God,” in which he delivers 1,560 words in six minutes and four seconds, or 4.28 words per second. In one stretch, he crams in 97 words in 15 seconds, achieving a pace of 6.5 words per second. I suspect that in the coming weeks, you will also be unusually adept at using words, although your forte will be potent profundity rather than sheer speed. I encourage you to prepare by making a list of the situations where your enhanced powers of persuasion will be most useful.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In May of 1883, the newly built Brooklyn Bridge opened for traffic. Spanning the East River to link Manhattan and Brooklyn, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. But almost immediately people spread rumors that it was unstable. There was a growing fear that it might even crumble and fall. That’s when charismatic showman P. T. Barnum stepped in. He arranged to march 21 elephants across the bridge. There was no collapse, and so the rumors quickly died.

I regard the coming weeks as a time when you should take inspiration from Barnum. Provide proof that will dispel gossipy doubt. Drive away superstitious fear with dramatic gestures. Demonstrate how strong and viable your improvements really are.

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

Pad Thai Noodle

and beat the cold!

$9 Lunch Special Every Day! DINE IN & PICK UP ONLY! Delivery & other offers excluded.

STUDENT & MEDICAL SPECIAL W/ ID CARD

10% OFF - FULL PRICED DINNERS ONLY!

Come relax

WINE, BEER, COCKTAILS,

Thai & Burmese Specialties!

NOW OPEN IN 4770 Liberty Ave • 41 412.904.1640 1 2 904 1644400

BLOOMFIELD www.padthainoodlepittsburgh.com om

FARMSTEAD CHEESES, MEATS, TOASTIES, SWEETS 5326 BUTLER ST.

UPPER LAWRENCEVILLE

alleghenywinemixer.com PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

21

CP PHOTOS: JARED WICKERHAM

Gregg Kostelich and Barbara Garcia-Bernardo, onwers of Get Hip Records

.MUSIC.

GET WITH IT

BY JORDAN SNOWDEN // JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

D

ESPITE BEING IN business for more than three decades — churning out more than 20,000 independent titles from artists like Pow Wows, Bobkat ’65, and The Mullens – Get Hip Recordings still manages to fly under the radar. Last summer, the independent record label and distributor became a fully functioning label, record store, and performance venue called Get Hip Records, on Columbus Avenue, in North Side. The new space has exposed the label to a new generation of listeners.

“When young people stop for the first time, they think that everything here happened in the last year,” says Get Hip’s vice president, Barbara Garcia-Bernardo.

22

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

“It’s like ‘Oh, no this is huge! It’s not something you build in just a couple of years!’ Then they’re like, ‘Why don’t I know about it?’”

Get Hip has maintained its hidden-gem status largely because owner Gregg Kostelich — Garcia-Bernardo’s husband — is the lead guitarist in popular Pittsburgh garage band, The Cynics. Looking to release albums on the band’s terms, Kostelich founded Get Hip in 1986, along with then-bandmates Michael Kastelic and Bill von Hagen. But running a business and band take up a large chunk of time, and some details fell by the wayside.

“We didn’t have a whole lot of press [for Get Hip] because The Cynics were touring quite a lot,” GarciaBernardo says. “[We would] release records, do promo-

tion and sell them, and tour, then back in the same circle again.”

Word of mouth and touring turned out to be the best means of promotion. Through The Cynics travels, Garcia-Bernardo was able to network in person and make connections around the world. That networking not only helped the band, but also the diversity of the record store’s catalogue.

“Thanks to contacts we’ve made over the years, we get stuff from all over the world,” Garcia-Bernardo says. “We do a lot of trading with Spain, England, Italy, California, and Canada and try to stay very active in the market.”

One thing visitors won’t find at the store is music from major labels — although there is some classic

Artwork by Karl Mullen, shown on the walls of Get Hip

rock, blues, and jazz. Since Get Hip is an independent label, they try to match that ethos in their record selections.

But having a network of international friends, however, don’t necessarily equate to a successful brick and mortar store. Like with any new business, the Get Hip store took time to gain traction. While the first few summer months last year were good because of the store’s novelty, it wasn’t until the start of this holiday season that business began picking up again.

Lately, Garcia-Bernardo says sales have been consistent and believes this is due to a combination of the time of year — many people from out of town that know The Cynics have come to visit the store — and performances and events held in the space.

GET HIP

1800 Columbus Ave., North Side. gethip.com

“Business depends on what events we have going on,” Garcia-Bernardo says.

Across from the Get Hip offices on the third floor— the record store is on the second floor — is a space that’s been recently remodeled into a performance area, complete with stage and curtains.

Currently, the walls are covered in artwork from Karl Mulen, whose exhibit debuted Nov. 23. Along with a constant rotation of art, there are usually about four to six shows a month, and GarciaBernardo holds yoga classes there three days a week.

Get Hip also hosts album release shows for Pittsburgh musicians, and is an advocate for local artists. Any band, of any genre or popularity, can sell their albums at the store.

“It’s like a consignment deal,” GarciaBernardo says. “We take very little markup on it, but we have the space and the tools, so we have it there.”

•

UPCOMING EVENTS AT GET HIP SAT., DEC. 8 Blue Ash, Deadbeat Poets

SUN., DEC. 9 Sikes and the New Violence

FRI., DEC. 14 Cowboys in the Campire

SAT., DEC. 15 Josh White Jr. with Kayla Schureman and Ben Sweet

GET HIP YOGA WITH BARBARA Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 7-8 p.m.

Follow staff writer Jordan Snowden on Twitter @snowden_jordan PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

23

.PGH PAGES.

THE MONK OF MOKHA

BY REGE BEHE CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

T

HE PRICE of a cup of Port of Mokha coffee is about $16.

That’s not a misprint — it’s $16 for a single cup. Port of Mokha’s coffee is widely considered some of the best in the world, but even if it weren’t, that $16 might be a more justified price than you’d think.

Starting with the farmers who tend coffee trees and the workers who handpick every bean, to the roasters and baristas, a cup of coffee is one of the most labor-intensive goods in the world.

Mokhtar Alkhanshali, the founder of Port of Mokha and the subject of Dave Eggers’ The Monk of Mokha (Knopf), says that as many as 20 people may be involved in bringing that single cup to a cafe or coffee shop.

“You’re waiting in line for minutes and you’re wondering what took so long,” says Alkhanshli. “But it probably took a year to get to you. And anywhere along that path it could have been ruined.”

Alkhanshali and Eggers will speak Dec. 10 at Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland as guests of Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures’ Ten Evenings series.

Alkanshali’s story is one of fortitude and perseverance. A Yemeni American born in Brooklyn and raised in the Tenderloin section of San Francisco, Alkhanshali hustled his way into jobs at clothing stores and an automobile dealership before he was 20. He dropped out of college and worked as a doorman for an exclusive San Francisco apartment building.

Mokhtar Alkhanshali overlooking coffee terraces in the region of Bura in Yemen

DAVE EGGERS & MOKHTAR ALKHANSHALI

7:30 p.m., Mon., Dec. 10.

Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures Ten Evenings.

Carnegie Music Hall, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. pittsburghlectures.org

It wasn’t until he discovered a statue, known as the Hills Brothers Coffee Drinker, right across from the apartment building, that his passion for coffee was ignited. Alkhanshali learned that, just like his family, the man depicted in the statue was from Yemen. Thus began a journey that led him to borrowing thousands of dollars to hire a consultant to learn the coffee trade. Eventually, it led him to his homeland where he recruited farmers with the promise of improving their lives through fair trade practices.

Besides the logistical business and ag-

ricultural challenges, in 2015 Alkhanshali faced a Yemen that was spiraling into a violent civil war. The coffee consultant working with Alkhanshali was advised to return to the United States because of the dangers to foreigners. As Alkhanshali ventured across Yemen to recruit farmers, he more often than not found himself in dangerous situations.

He was lucky, but also thinks a higher power was guiding him. “Certainly, logic can take you from Point A to Point B, but faith can take you anywhere,” says Alkhanshali. “Looking at my story, it’s hard for me not to acknowledge that.

Joe Wos, cartoonist extraordinaire and founder of the much missed ToonSeum, will appear Dec. 9 at Riverstone Bookstore in McCandless. Wos’ latest books, Maze-0-Zoic and Myths and Monsters, are interactive pleasures for kids of any age.

2 p.m. Sun., Dec. 9, Riverstone Bookstore, McCandless. riverstonebooks.com

Pittsburgh’s lone liberal talkshow host for 30+ years Listen live every weekday at 10 a.m. at lynncullen.pghcitypaper.com PGHCITYPAPER.COM

•

BETWEEN THE LINES:

Follow featured contributor Rege Behe on Twitter @RegeBehe_exPTR

24

Whether you call it Allah, God, Jesus, Yahweh, the Force — whatever it is, there’s something there. Because along my journey I kept getting protected, guided along this path. It happened one time after another, and there was no logical trajectory to take me from where I was to where I am today.”

Alkhanshali did not risk his life to make ordinary coffee. Yemeni coffee, known for its natural sweetness, has long been considered extraordinary, and Coffee Review gave it a 94 rating, its second highest score ever. “It has the most amount of cultivars and genetic diversity,” says Alkhanshali, comparing the country’s various coffees to different types of apples.

“There’s not much water in these areas so the trees are constantly under stress,” he says. “It’s just like when grapes are stressed, they produce sweeter wine.

The same kind of thing happens with our coffee. It produces more intense flavors.

All these things make for perfect conditions for very unique flavors.”

Alkhanshali pays Yemeni farmers $6 for a kilo of coffee beans; the usual rate is 50 cents per kilo. The farmers are thus able to pay workers a decent wage. He’s financed micro loans to help farmers reestablish their coffee crops.

“The thing about what I do is — it’s not charity,” he says. “A lot of NGO work sometimes creates dependency. But these farmers work really hard to bring you coffee, and I’m helping them to bridge these markets. I think in this way, I empower them.”

The Fosters available on XŜnity Stream app

Dreams reŝected.

On X1, it’s pride all year, only with XŜnity.j There’s power in seeing yourself on screen, and that’s why XŜnity created a Ŝrst-of-its-kind community endorsed LGBTQ Film & TV Collection. With XŜnity On Demand, you have access to thousands of TV shows and movies at home and on-the-go. Simply say, “LGBTQ” into the X1 Voice Remote to easily immerse yourself in an awesome, diverse collection of content that reŝects all of you. Simple. Easy. Awesome.

DIV031-Q4-NED-A9-V1

Find yourself at xŜnity.com/LGBTQ

Restrictions apply. Not available in all areas. No celebrity endorsement implied. ©2018 Comcast. All rights reserved.

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

25

.STAGE PREVIEW.

O HOLY CRAP

BY AMANDA WALTZ AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

J

OHN WATERS returns to Pittsburgh for the latest installment of his gleefully provocative holiday spokenword show, “A John Waters Christmas: Holier & Dirtier.” Pittsburgh City Paper spoke to the legendary filmmaker, author, and all-around showman about holiday hybrids, naughty carols, and more.

HOW DOES THE NEW SHOW COMPARE TO PREVIOUS YEARS? Every year I write all new stuff because I go to a lot of the same cities. You can be lazy and call it a “command performance” — that’s a code word for “you didn’t write new stuff.” … So I’ve got lots of new material. I always do. I always feel that’s my duty.

But certainly I talk about different ways I’d like to produce Christmas specials and concerts … I talk about different kinds of Christmas music and the kind I’d like to produce. That’s one of the subjects I talk about heavily. I talk on every subject, really. Well, I don’t have any sports jokes. I feel bad.

I should think of one sports joke.

WHAT BROUGHT ON DOING THESE SPOKEN WORD SHOWS TO BEGIN WITH? I always did them from the very beginning because when my movies first came out, nobody ever heard of us. The big circuit was the college circuit then for art movies, and we always did the best in art theaters. So we would go there and we would need some gimmick to get people to come, so I would come out and introduce the movies and then Divine would come out and we’d have a cop pretend to arrest us and Divine would strangle the cop. It was like a vaudeville act.

The Christmas show came after my book Crackpot. There’s a chapter about why I love Christmas and the Castro Theatre promoter asked me to do a Christmas show and it has grown from that.

I WOULD IMAGINE PEOPLE THINK YOU’D BE A MUCH BIGGER FAN OF HALLOWEEN. I used to love vandalism at Halloween!

We used to do terrible stuff. My friend would pour gas all over the lawn … and he would ring the bell and throw a match and the whole lawn would light

26

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

John Waters

“A JOHN WATERS CHRISTMAS: HOLIER & DIRTIER” 8 p.m. Carnegie Lecture Hall. 4440 Forbes Ave., Oakland. $25-125. warhol.org

up. And then it became gay Christmas, which I kinda liked. But now there are just parades of drag queens for heterosexual families to come applaud and show their tolerance. Which, I don’t know, I think vandalism is more fun.

I always say we should mix Halloween with Christmas because pretty soon the holiday season is going to start on Labor Day. ... I think people should go trick-or-treating at Christmas. Just mix everything up … go Christmas caroling and shriek scary songs backwards when they open the door.

I LIKE THE IDEA OF COMBINING TRICKOR-TREATING WITH CAROLING. AREN’T YOU SUPPOSED TO GIVE SOMETHING TO CAROLERS WHEN THEY COME AROUND? No, I don’t think so. Are you supposed to tip them? Maybe you’re supposed to give them cider or something … I would hate it if carolers came to my door. I would call the police. If I opened the door and there was a bunch of people singing “Silent Night” I don’t know what I’d do.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE CHRISTMAS SONGS? I have lots of parodies of all of them — dirty versions, sacrilegious versions. I did put out a Christmas album that had “Santa Claus Is a Black Man” which is a great, great song. Actually, when the album came out, [then Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley] invited me to turn on the Christmas lights for the city downtown, and we played that as I came on stage.

I hate “The Little Drummer Boy” more than any Christmas carol ever … My favorite Christmas carol is one called “Fat Daddy” by an African-American disc jockey [Paul “Fat Daddy” Johnson] that I based Motormouth Maybelle on in Hairspray … And it was a huge hit in Baltimore only.

WHAT ARE YOU HOPING AUDIENCES WILL TAKE FROM THIS YEAR’S SHOW? A sense of cheer about the holiday, even if they dread it. It’s tough politically now because you go home and if your family is like the rest of the country, split down the middle, it’s really hard to talk politics. And it’s almost impossible to bring it up even if everybody believes the same thing because everyone just starts ranting and discussing it. Maybe you should pass out whistles and every time politics are mentioned you just start blowing the whistle so nobody fights.

•

P HOTO G RAP H Y

THE EYES OF

OZ

PRINTS AVAILABLE FOR SALE AND COMMISSIONS WELCOMED

(412) 735-0492 THEEYESOFOZ@GMAIL.COM THEEYESOFOZ.MYVOLUSION.COM

PITTSBURGH SKI MOVIE PREMIERE

PRESENTED BY

WINTER DANCE CONCERT DECEMBER 7-16

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14

PNC THEATRE IN THE NEW PITTSBURGH PLAYHOUSE

REGENT SQUARE THEATER 8:30 PM • DOORS OPEN AT 8 PM PRE-SHOW EVENTS AT STORE STARTING AT 6 PM MORE INFORMATION & TICKETS: WWW.3RIVERSOUTDOOR.COM/EVENTS

Ronald Allan-Lindblom artistic director Kim Martin producing director

412.392.8000 PITTSBURGHPLAYHOUSE.COM PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

27

Trisha Holt’s “Orange (twice)” and Lauren Semivan’s “Gift”

.ART.

ABSTRACTION

BY HANNAH LYNN // HLYNN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

P

HOTOGRAPHY IS a medium that more or less captures the world as it is, but two new exhibits at the Silver Eye Center for Photography showcase the more abstract side of the form. The In-Between by Trisha Holt and Door into the Dark by Lauren Semivan, both opening Dec. 6 with an artist talk between Holt and Semivan, explore abstract photography in contrasting ways. “[Holt’s] is very colorful, very playful, she’s thinking a lot about what photography can be. With [Semivan’s], even the title itself is just an invitation to meditate on these images,” says Kate Kelley, assistant curator at Silver Eye. Holt’s work plays with the viewer’s perception of reality, using collages to overlap real and fake images, creating surreal scenes. In “A Multitude,” a human hand appears to be holding a plastic hand in front of a floral backdrop. But actually, Holt notes, the real hand is holding a photograph of a fake hand. “Orange (twice)” is an image of a thumb pressing into an orange as

juice runs down the subject’s leg. Some of the piece is just a photo of the juice running down the leg, but some of it is a photo of a photo of juice running down the leg. It’s hard to tell what’s real, even for Holt. When printing the photos, she mistook part of the collage for a printing error.

THE IN-BETWEEN AND DOOR INTO THE DARK

Thu., Dec. 6 - Sat., Jan. 19. Artist Talk 7 p.m.

Thu., Dec. 6. Silver Eye Center for Photography.

4808 Penn Ave., Bloomfield. silvereye.org

“I can’t believe it tricked me! I was there, I made this. That’s my own arm,” says Holt. “There’s something really curious to me about this where it can be kind of chaotic or not be matching up but we still read it as itself.”

Her pieces also play with the analog and digital, making for meta moments when a viewer, taking a picture of one of her pieces, is actually taking a picture of a picture of a picture. But some-

times the opposite happens, and viewers don’t yet understand what they’re seeing enough to photograph it. “We’re so accustomed to being photographed all the time that we’re so visually literate,” says Holt. “A lot of times when I’m deconstructing images and reconstructing images it makes it more of a viewing experience and less of a ‘now let’s take a photo of it.’”

Holt’s images are eye-catching because of their brightly-colored trickery, but Semivan’s images are striking for a different reason. Her photography, while also abstract, is in black and white.

The images in her collection are made up of draped fabric, paint, arranged objects, and occasionally human figures.

They look closer to paintings than photographs. In “Gift,” white paint appears in splotches and geometric lines over a black surface, and vice versa. The use of black and white highlights many variations of those colors.

“How I begin working is never really consistently the same each time,” says Semivan. “Each photograph is

Follow staff writer Hannah Lynn on Twitter @hanfranny

28

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

part of a transition to the next image, as opposed to a definite beginning and ending point.”

Semivan works in black and white, not just because the palette suits her work, but because she uses a 20th-century large format camera, allowing her to capture something that cannot be done digitally. “A lot of the power in my images comes from abstraction, which I would need to entirely reformulate if color was involved,” says Semivan.

“Maybe there is something about [black and white photography’s] primitive form and potential for abstraction that actually allows for so much translation and reinvention.”

The collections pose a visual and conceptual contrast to each other, both in their use of color and their abstraction. While abstract art can be a tricky genre to understand, Kelley thinks these two collections are a good entry point. “These shows are a really good opportunity for anyone who’s interested but may be intimidated by abstract art.”

•

.MUSIC.

THE LONG SHIFT

BY JORDAN SNOWDEN JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

N

ONE OF THE four founders of DJ union Longturn Music are from Pittsburgh. To find their niche in a new city, they started attending electronic music shows and found that the environments weren’t that welcoming to newcomers. They felt like interlopers in the local house and techno music scene.

“When we first moved here respectively,” says Brendan Barstow, one of Longturn’s founders and current head of social media, “we all found parties that we liked and occasional shows that we were into, but overall it seemed like those scenes were insular. Or like, you had to be in the know, and it felt a little inaccessible for us as outsiders coming into Pittsburgh.”

The idea for Longturn Music was born.

The intention was to create a music collective that would link people that might not have otherwise met and to make the underground techno and house scene feel more like a community, rather than a one-off party every few months.

“We wanted to create more of a feel of getting to know each other and building more of a deeper relationship with the people that come so they could be like, ‘Hey, every month I know these guys are throwing a party, and I know there will be people I know there,’” says Barstow.

A passion project rather than a source of income, the three Longturn

Longturn’s First Birthday Party at Brillobox

LONGTURN PRESENTS:

BREACH

Sat., Dec. 8. Brillobox, 4104 Penn Ave., Lawrenceville. $15. longturnmusic.com

officers – Barstow, Liam Regan, who’s head of business, and head of booking, Elias Menninger– have 9-to-5 jobs. They plan events, book acts, and run the collective during their free time.

“Right now, we all have pretty intense day jobs,” says Barstow. “Sometimes it can be tough, like we’ll be posting stuff or discussing booking over a lunch break, but most of the time the two don’t overlap.

Honestly, it’s a really cool balance.”

In addition to working a second shift to make the DJ union possible, they wanted to bring Pittsburgh ties and the blue-collar work ethic into their creation. During the manufacturing boom, factory workers would work 12-hour day or night shifts. In order to switch shifts after two weeks, one of the groups would work 24-hours straight. That allday labor was called the “longturn.”

While learning about Pittsburgh history, Menninger and his dad came across that information and felt the name was perfect for the collective.

Unlike the factory workers, Barstow, Regan, and Menninger don’t make any money from Longturn Music. All the

income goes right back into the business, giving them more freedom when planning events.

“To not have to worry about whether it’s going to pay bills liberates us to be way riskier and more exciting with our bookings and what we make our parties like because we’re not thinking ‘How are we going to make money?’,” says Barstow.

“We’re thinking ‘How are we going to make this an awesome time?’”

Since creating Longturn a little over a year ago, the attendance at shows has unexpectedly grown. The first show the collective held had a decent turnout, but it was mainly friends and friends of friends who came to support, but weren’t necessarily into the genre of music.

At the most recent Longturn event, Kill Frenzy – a Belgian DJ – played at Spirit. Barstow says 400-450 people attended.

“I knew like 50 of them, which is crazy to me because that means people are finding out about us through the music and more organically, it’s not just friends.”

The first Saturday of every month, one of Longturn’s resident DJs plays at Brillobox, the collective’s home base. The group also brings in acts from out of town, mainly DJs from Europe and the U.K. because house and techno music is significantly bigger overseas than in America.

“Our resident DJs are really strong, but in terms of getting people interested that otherwise don’t know what we’re doing, bringing in a bigger name brings in so many different faces who might not otherwise check us out,” says Barstow. “But we always want to make sure that when new people come to our parties that they feel welcome. We don’t want them to feel like an outsider and have us create the same experience that we came into.”

•

Sponsored by

A Holiday Treat for the Entire Family!

Starring Broadway & TV’s

RICHARD THasOScrMoogAe S

December 7 - 23 Byham Theater

½ Price Tickets $As low as for kids 3-14! 17

pittsburghCLO.org 412-456-6666 Groups 10+ 412-325-1582

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

29

HALLMARK HANUKKAH

BY HANNAH LYNN HLYNN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

There are infinite Christmas movies currently available, and for those who don’t celebrate the holiday, it can be a bummer.

Not a big enough bummer to ruin a day or month, but still a medium-sized bummer. It would be nice to have one, completely nonsensical, corny Hallmark Hanukkah movie.

So, here is my pitch for Love and Latkes.

As the holiday season rolls around, Rebecca (an Alison Brie-type) finds herself single, with no one to accompany her to the Hanukkah ball, which stings all the more since she’s the one running it. One night, she starts a small oil fire while testing a latke recipe. Firefighter David (a Max Greenfieldtype) arrives and gives IT WOULD her some safety tips, BE NICE TO and a dashing smile.

HAVE ONE, At the Hanukkah COMPLETELY ball, Rebecca is NONSENSICAL, running around CORNY trying to make sure HALLMARK the whole thing is HANUKKAH perfect because her PR company is very MOVIE. high-powered and she’s up for a promotion and her boss is a withering crone. The chopped liver is running low, the music’s not working, and one of the servers is drunk on Manischewitz — oy vey! To top it all off, Rebecca runs into her ex, Christopher (a blonde actor with thin lips). They haven’t spoken since he dumped her, claiming he wanted to marry a nice Christian girl. But here he was with a beautiful Jewess (Gal Gadot) on his arm. In her shock, Rebecca stumbles, knocks over a lit menorah, starting another fire. When David shows up this time, sparks fly.

Things are going great with David until he invites her to meet his Bubbe, but she gets too caught up in work and stands them up. Desperate for his forgiveness, Rebecca races to the fire station. Barging in, she sees David and his fellow firefighters saying a prayer over candles. She forgot it was Shabbat. After joining in on the traditional firefighter Shabbat dinner, Rebecca and David talk it out. She agrees to work less and he agrees to not stifle her ambition and they live happily ever after. •

30

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

PHOTO: NETFLIX

Danielle Macdonald and Jennifer Aniston in Dumplin’

.SCREEN.

DUMPLIN’ AND DOLLY

BY HANNAH LYNN // HLYNN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

D

OLLY PARTON is the patron saint of

garish self-acceptance. Everyone who worships her shares a love for a defiant genre of optimism covered in rhinestones. Dumplin’, a teen dramedy directed by Anne Fletcher (and based on a young adult novel of the same name by Julie Murphy), is a heartwarming, corny, and musical story about a Texas teenager struggling to accept her weight under the scrutiny of her beauty queen mother.

Willowdean Dickson (Danielle Macdonald) feels lost after the death of her aunt, who taught self-love through the quotes and discography of Dolly Parton.

Will weighs enough that the cruelest kids at school shout “whale!” out of their car windows as they drive by, but she either ignores the bullies or kicks them in the groin. Her mother, Rosie Dickson (Jennifer Aniston), is a former beauty queen and pageant-organizer who dotes on the contestants but calls her daughter “Dumplin’” with barbed affection.

To rebel, Will signs herself up for an upcoming pageant, with the support of her best friend Ellen (Odeya Rush). But tensions rise when Ellen — skinny, offensively pretty — has a knack for the pageant world that rubs Will the wrong way.

She turns to the expertise of a group of Dolly Parton drag performers who know

more about performing than any beauty queen. Will is also anxious about her love interest Bo (Luke Benward), a pretty boy who Will doesn’t believe when he says he likes her.

DUMPLIN’

DIRECTED BY: Anne Fletcher STARRING: Danielle Macdonald and Jennifer Aniston Streaming on Netflix Fri., Dec. 7

The movie grapples with what it means for a woman to be fat in a world that deems it both a sin and a personal failure. When another girl, also called “whale” by her classmates, enters the pageant, Will starts to see her rebellious act less as a way of sticking it to her mom and more as a way of upending strict beauty standards.

In one scene, Ellen gets frustrated at Will’s claims that she’s not “fit for the revolution” because her looks meet the standard. Will’s kind of right though – what does Ellen have to rebel against?

She looks like Mila Kunis. Can’t she cheer from the sidelines? The movie half-raises a lot of questions, only answering some of them.

Dumplin’ is subversive in more subtle ways, too. There are hardly any men at

all, save for the love interest and a pageant MC. Aside from the acting, it’s also directed, written, produced, edited, and scored by women.

Dolly Parton doesn’t physically appear in the movie and wasn’t involved in its creation. Still, she’s omnipresent. The soundtrack is almost exclusively Dolly, a combination of original, reworked, and brand-new songs (Goddess bless a “Jolene” club remix). There’s an entire room in the Dickson house dedicated to a Dolly shrine (I once did the same with a defunct fireplace). The drag queens find a thrill and solace in dressing as Dolly, as many do in real life. Everyone in the movie has dozens of Dolly quotes on hand at all times (same).

Macdonald has the spunk to play Will, but at 27, she doesn’t embody the teen spirit as easily as the younger actors. But her and Rush play their friendship idyllically: running into each other’s arms, holding hands, singing in the streets.

Whether or not Aniston can pass for an uptight Southern Belle is up for debate.

Dumplin’ is certainly corny and has the expensive-TV-movie quality common in Netflix originals. But the corniness doesn’t hinder the movie’s goals, nor is it done on accident. As Dolly says, “Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”

•

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

31

FEATURED ON INK MASTER :ANGELS

PYRAMID

TATTOO & Body Piercing

PHOTO: TIM NORRIS.

The Hip Hop Nutcracker

.DANCE.

WINTER DANCE PYRAMIDTATTOO.COM

BRIDGEVILLE, PA

blogh.pghcitypaper.com

Work yourself into a lather.

Rinse.

Repeat.

BY STEVE SUCATO // CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

I

T TOOK MORE than two years to

renovate Point Park University’s new state-of-the-art Pittsburgh Playhouse, adding the 550-seat PNC Theatre and a 2,738-square-foot soundstage, among other new features. The space opened in October, but this week marks the first production in the new spot, with a stellar program featuring student dancers and four world-renowned choreographers — including Tyce Diorio of Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance fame.

With such a lineup of choreographers and works — including BalletMet artistic director Edwaard Liang’s calligraphy inspired “The Art of War,” Canadian choreographer Aszure Barton’s moving “Happy Little Things,” Berlin State Ballet artistic director Nacho Duato’s “Las Palmeras” and “Chaplin … Then and Now,” a re-working of Diorio’s Charlie Chaplininspired group jazz number from Season 9 of SYTYCD — the production has the potential to be one of the year’s best.

Conservatory Dance Company’s Winter Dance Concert runs Dec. 7 – 16 at the PNC Theatre in Point Park University’s new Pittsburgh Playhouse, 350 Forbes Ave. Tickets are $10-24 and can be purchased by calling 412-392-8000 or visiting pittsburghplayhouse.com.

HIP HOP NUTCRACKER New York choreographer Jennifer Weber

as master of ceremonies.

A Bessie-nominated choreographer who has worked with New York City Ballet principal dancer Tiler Peck and hip-hop dance star Lil Buck, Weber says, “We tried to stay true to the essence of The Nutcracker story while giving it a hip-hop twist.”

In doing so, Weber uses Tchaikovsky’s original score to weave a heartwarming tale of Maria Clara’s journey from the present into the past and back again to restore the magic in her parents’ relationship.

Tickets are $30-75 and can be purchased by calling 412-456-6666 or visiting trustart.org.

PHOTO: KATIE GING

Amanda del Valle and Keegan Lloyd in Edwaard Liang’s “The Art of War”

re-imagines E.T.A. Hoffmann’s classic tale and Tchaikovsky’s iconic score in The Hip Hop Nutcracker (2013). The hit production for a new generation of Nutcrackergoers pulls into town for two shows as part of the Cohen & Grigsby TRUST PRESENTS Series, Tue., Dec. 11 and Wed., Dec. 12 at Downtown’s Benedum Center.

Set in contemporary New York City and stacked with references to 1980s hip hop, The Hip Hop Nutcracker features a cast of a dozen all-star dancers along with DJ BOO, an electric violinist, and legendary rapper Kurtis Blow serving

DARK FAIRYTALE Dancer/choreographer Trevor Miles teams up with visual artist and VJ Julie Mallis to explore the escalating opioid crisis in XYLO 2. Choreographed by Miles with rapid-fire computer-generated imagery by Mallis, the work-in-progress showing, part of the pair’s weeklong KST Fresh Works Residency, is set to an original soundtrack and tells the dark tale of a teenager’s first foray into use of heavy narcotics.

8 p.m. Fri., Dec. 7. KST’s Alloy Studios, 5530 Penn Ave., East Liberty. Pay What Makes You Happy ticket pricing.

412-363-3000 or kelly-strayhorn.org

Follow featured contributor Steve Sucato on Twitter @ssucato

32

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

•

PHOTO: GREGORY NEISER

Nevada Color

.MUSIC.

NEW RELEASES

BY JORDAN SNOWDEN // JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

I

T’S BEEN FOUR years since Nevada

Color released new music. But that doesn’t mean the group of Point Park graduates has been idly sitting around.

They’ve been touring. They’ve been writing. They’ve been working with producers and songwriters in Los Angeles and Nashville.

And on Fri., Nov. 30, Nevada Color dropped a three-track EP titled Rosewater.

After the indie-rock group released its debut LP, Adventures, in 2014, it signed a deal with the label Great Point Media.

But differences existed.

During the band’s time with Great Point Media, Nevada Color recorded about 300 songs and an EP, none of which were released.

Rosewater, for Nevada Color, is a fresh start, a reflection of the past four years.

“Leaving the record label is like turning a new leaf,” says guitarist Adam Valen. “The label just had certain expectations as far as the style of music went. Our finished material was a little off expectation from what they wanted, and we just couldn’t come to terms with putting it out so we kind of just cataloged it.”

But the time Nevada Color spent with Great Point Media didn’t go to waste.

Working with the label gave singer Quinn Wirth and guitarist Max Kovalchuk the opportunity to travel and participate in co-writing sessions with multi-platinum record producer Matt Mahaffey, producer/songwriter Cason Cooley, bluegrass guitarist and vocalist Josh Williams, and artist Kurtis John, to name a few.

“It is one of those situations where — who’s to say we’d be where we are right now had we not done the record deal,” says Valen. “We’ve done so many cool things because of it, including the songwriting and trips to New York to play in front of agencies, labels. It was a good experience. We, as songwriters, have definitely matured this past three to four years being with the record label.”

Although none of the songs on Rosewater were born from that period, the time spent working in LA and Nashville had a significant influence the band.

“We were able to direct our sound to more of a pop sensibility, and tinker with sounds when recording,” says Valen. “We really honed in on what we wanted the record to sound like and what we wanted the new songs to sound like.”

This change of pace is evident in the upbeat, stirring radio-ready tracks on Rosewater. The band’s collective favorite, “Outsiders,” is a blissful, harmonically rich track that Valen says is the most representative song to reintroduce Nevada Color to the world.

It showcases their genre mastery and was previewed on Alternative Press earlier this week. “[Alternative Press] is a publication I followed since middle school, so it’s kind of wild,” says Valen. “We wanted to partner with somebody that fit the sound and audience, that would want to introduce one of our songs. We’ve been working towards this moment for the last four years and it’s finally happening.”

•

6921 Fifth Avenue • Pittsburgh, PA 15208 compassselfstorage.com • (412) 440-5325

The

Mister Bunch

Mister Grooming & Goods 4504 Butler Street 412.326.5964

Mistergroomingandgoods.com PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

33

CP PHOTOS: JARED WICKERHAM

Inside the Tepper Business School on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University

.ARCHITECTURE.

BUSINESS BUILDING

BY CHARLES ROSENBLUM // CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

A

FTER $205 million and three years

of construction, Carnegie Mellon University’s David A. Tepper Quad is complete. The five-story building in Oakland — built by Moore Ruble Yudell in association with Pittsburgh’s Renaissance 3 Architects — will house CMU’s Tepper School of Business, which promotes itself as “the world’s most forward-looking business school,” with an ethos that emphasizes interconnectedness among people and fields of study.

Accordingly, said Tepper Dean Robert

Dammon, the new building must “showcase and elevate CMU’s culture of cross-campus collaboration and interdisciplinary problem-solving.”

Expectations for new architecture are high at the campus level as well. President Farnam Jahanian called Tepper Quad a “new front door of Carnegie Mellon University.” At opening ceremonies, he concluded, “This building says a lot about who we are as an institution and where we’re going.”

Many of these expectations are well

met. Twenty-four classrooms in various configurations are wired for the latest teaching media and accompanying global communications, as is the new 600-seat auditorium, CMU’s largest. The Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship includes 10 “maker spaces” to support the hands-on experimentation of startup development.

There is a new center for technologyenhanced learning and an interactive global languages and cultures room. An executive education center occupies the fifth floor, and both a welcome center

Follow featured contributor Charles Rosenblum on Twitter @CharlzR

34

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

and fitness center occupy the first.

Tepper Quad seems to have a distinct space for every purpose.

Perhaps even more notable are the less specialized spaces. Architect Buz Yudell commented, “there needs to be a diversity of types of space, of characters of space, from sort of quiet to lively, from spaces of movement to spaces of repose.”

So the building is filled with meeting rooms and breakout spaces — unassigned areas for informal collaboration.

The first two floors have great swaths of public space, with custom furniture for small clusters of people. In the more private upper floors, coffee stations near extra-wide hallways can accommodate spontaneous conversations.

The best of these open spaces is the building’s main atrium. Tepper Quad’s sunlit, four-story lobby and food court is traversed by curving walkways with ovoid openings to accommodate stairs and accentuate views. Comparison shopping shows that essentially all new business schools get some variety of a soaring lobby, but this one is positioned as more of a campuswide amenity.

The problem is that the exterior design of the building appears as an unraveling jumble of missteps and shortcomings. Its yellow brick and horizontal windows haven’t advanced much from the GSIA building of 1952, except for some oddly off-grid windows. One administrator admitted that during the Tepper Quad’s design process, he wanted “to be more inspired by the building,” so the team “changed it and made it more inspirational.”

So the 1950s design has shards of a 1970s building tacked on or pushing out at angles. These misplaced refer-

ences to previous decades say nothing about a harmonious present, let alone a promising future.

Meanwhile, the metaphorical front door along Forbes Avenue, approached from Craig Street, is actually two small and slightly confusing entries, one for a narrow stair tower, and the other to a long and uncharacteristically dead corridor along the auditorium. The main front

door is further up the street, not optimally placed for the neighborhood. Nor does it connect with the spaces above the way the building façade suggests that it does.

The whole building aims toward the rest of campus at a strangely oblique angle, with the pleasant atrium presenting a strangely blank glass façade to pedestrians from the other direction. From inside the atrium, you seem to be looking

at the bus stop. That area in that view will be getting a redesign, but not enough to anchor such an important campus view.

The David A. Tepper Quad is a praiseworthy achievement across many of its stated goals, but it also falls terribly short in some crucial areas of architecture. The building needs to articulate a vision of the future as emphatically as its advocates do.

•

HALF PRICE

DEALS!

Go to

justpayhalfpittsburgh.com for half price deals!

als include:

Some of our de

Smokin’ Hot App! Over 20 Pittsburgh Restaurants!

Moon, Carneg ie, Robinson & Imperial Lo cations

Restaurants • Events • Family Fun Activities • And More!

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

35

Crocheted items from Plant Lady Wannabe (above); handmade liquid soap from Hip Modern Soap (below)

.ART.

HANDMADE FOR THE HOLIDAYS

BY LISA CUNNINGHAM // LCUNNING@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

H

ANDMADE ARCADE doesn’t just reward folks looking for unique gifts, it benefits local artists.

The region’s largest independent craft fair returns to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center this weekend, giving local artisans the chance to sell their wares to one of the biggest crowds they’ll see all year.

For the first time this year, the artists will also have an extra night to sell. The event is opening a day early on Friday night for The Cutting Edge, a fundraiser aimed at keeping Saturday’s event free to shoppers. For $30, you can shop from vendors before they open to the public and participate in hands-on activities, including block prints with East Liberty’s DIY school WorkshopPGH. DJ Jeff Bower will provide music and there will be a cash bar.

Artists spend months preparing for this event, like Pittsburgh artist Annie

THE CUTTING EDGE: A FUNDRAISER FOR HANDMADE ARCADE 5:30-8:30 p.m. Fri., Dec. 7. $30. 18 and over. David L. Lawrence Convention Center, 1000 Fort Duquesne Blvd., Downtown.

HANDMADE ARCADE

11 a.m.-7 p.m., Sat., Dec. 8. David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Free. handmadearcade.org

Cole, owner of Plant Lady Wannabe, who will sell her crocheted cacti at the craft fair for the second year in a row.

Cole also sells her goods at local stores including love, Pittsburgh, Wild Card, Farm and Forest, and Songbird Artistry.

But Handmade Arcade allows shoppers to meet the artists behind the products.

“I love the creativity of my fellow makers, and I love the desire to shop for

handmade goods rather than le says. from big box stores,” Cole old have “The items that are being sold meaning and care put into them ink and in that same way, I think ng the shoppers are shopping with more intention.” me The event has become on. a local holiday tradition. ts This weekend marks its g14th anniversary and largn, est to date. Jennifer Baron, ecHandmade Arcade’s direcuttor of marketing and outrs reach, told CP that vendors in 2017 saw a total of ay. $400,000 sales in one day. nd Carrie Robertson and ttsJohn Elliff, owners of Pittsburgh’s Hip Modern Soap Company, are returning to Handmade Arcade for the fourth year this weekend and attribute the success of the show to

Follow editor Lisa Cunningham on Twitter @trashyleesuh

36

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

how well the event is curated.

“Handmade Arcade brings in massive crowds and it helps us gain customers that we would otherwise not reach,” Robertson says. “They work hard to make it more than just a shopping experience.”

Artists often use the opportunity to show off new works that haven’t been sold in the past. Plant Lady Wannabe will bring a Christmas cactus, and Hip Modern Soap Company will debut its new handmade liquid soap.

Family-friendly events on Saturday include beat-making with Refresh Collective, a collaborative clay photo booth with Union Project, and holiday wrapping paper silkscreen printing with Artist Image Resource.

•

Sponsored by

EARLY WARNINGS SPONSORED UPCOMING EVENTS FROM CITY PAPER’S FINE ADVERTISERS

WED., DECEMBER 19 A BENEDUM CHRISTMAS: HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS 7:30 P.M. BENEDUM CENTER DOWNTOWN. $29.

412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.

WED., DECEMBER 19 ONA 8 P.M. CLUB CAFÉ SOUTH SIDE. OVER-21 EVENT. $10.

412-431-4950 or ticketweb.com/opusone.

LIZ BERLIN

SCOTT BLASEY

of Rusted Root

of The Clarks

JACQUELYNN WARE

Celitic-Style Vocalist

WED., DECEMBER 19 CAT POWER 8:30 P.M. MR. SMALLS THEATRE MILLVALE. All-ages event. $39.50.

412-421-4447 or mrsmalls.com.

THU., DECEMBER 20 SHARPTOOTH 6:30 P.M. SMILING MOOSE SOUTH SIDE. 412-431-4668. All-ages event. $12.

412-431-4668 or ticketfly.com.

THU., DECEMBER 20 THE PRINCE PROJECT 7:30 P.M. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE WARRENDALE. $11.25-25.

724-799-8333 or ticketfly.com.

THU., DECEMBER 20 PITTSBURGH IMPROV JAM 10 P.M. GREER CABARET THEATER DOWNTOWN. $3.

412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.

FRI., DECEMBER 21 COLD ROSES: THE MUSIC OF RYAN ADAMS & THE CARDINALS 7 P.M. CLUB CAFÉ SOUTH SIDE. OVER-21 EVENT. $10.

412-431-4950 or ticketweb.com/opusone.

With special guest Mean Blue Planets.

FRI., DECEMBER 21 THE NIGHT RANGER BEFORE CHRISTMAS 8 P.M. THE PALACE THEATRE GREENSBURG. $29.50-49.50.

724-836-8000 or thepalacetheatre.org

FRI., DECEMBER 21 BIG SOMETHING

FRI., DECEMBER 21 CELLO FURY & FRIENDS HOLIDAY SHOW HARD ROCK CAFE STATION SQUARE 8 P.M. REX THEATER SOUTH SIDE. OVER-18 EVENT. $14-17.

412-381-1681 or greyareaprod.com.

With special guest Habatat.

FRI., DECEMBER 21 CELLO FURY & FRIENDS HOLIDAY SHOW 9 P.M. HARD ROCK CAFE STATION SQUARE. $10-15.

412-481-ROCK or ticketfly.com.

FRI., DECEMBER 21 SALSA FRIDAYS: DJ JEFF SHIREY 10 P.M. GREER CABARET THEATER DOWNTOWN. $5.

412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.

FRI., DECEMBER 21 SCHOOL OF ATHENS 10:30 P.M. CLUB CAFÉ SOUTH SIDE. OVER-21 EVENT. $8.

412-431-4950 or ticketweb.com/opusone.

With special guest SaVenger.

SAT., DECEMBER 22 LEGENDARY ALBUM SERIES: STEVIE WONDER’S SONGS

8 P.M. REX THEATER SOUTH SIDE. $15-20.

412-381-1681 or greyareaprod.com.

SAT., DECEMBER 22 BILLY PRICE 8 P.M. CLUB CAFÉ SOUTH SIDE. OVER-21 EVENT. $20.

412-431-4950 or ticketweb.com/opusone.

SUN., DECEMBER 23 FROM MAPS TO MERMAIDS: FORT PITT MUSEUM’S CARVED POWDER HORN 10 A.M. FORT PITT MUSEUM POINT PARK. $4.50-8.

412-281-9284 or heinzhistorycenter.org.

MON., DECEMBER 24 HOLIDAY FAMILY FREE DAY 10 A.M. CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF PITTSBURGH NORTH SIDE. 412-322-5058 or pittsburghkids.org.

TUE., DECEMBER 25 WALK THE BURGH TOURS TIMES VARY. DAVID L. LAWRENCE CONVENTION CENTER DOWNTOWN. $20-25.

412-246-9494 or walktheburgh.com.

FOR UPCOMING ALLEGHENY COUNTY PARKS EVENTS, LOG ONTO WWW.ALLEGHENYPARKS.COM PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

37

Clicking “reload” makes the workday blogh.pghcitypaper.com go faster

ONLINE THIS WEEK PGHCITYPAPER.COM

PHOTO: CROWN MEDIA

Molly, an app developer, and Jeff, a man, in Mingle All the Way

In the spirit of the holiday season, Pittsburgh City Paper presents a holiday film advent calendar.

One holiday movie review, every day ‘til Christmas (probably).

DID THIS AD GET YOUR ATTENTION? Do you love reading City Paper?

Do you love helping local businesses?

You could help a business put their ad here.

Pittsburgh City Paper advertising department is seeking a Senior Account Executive. In this role, you will identify and develop new business opportunities; keep and grow existing client relationships; offers solution that help clients achieve their business goals, closes business and meet set sales target.

3+ years of sales experience in the Pittsburgh Market required.

Please send resume to justin@pghcitypaper.com

Pittsburgh City Paper is an EOE.

38

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

JENSORENSEN

t u o h t i w r inte w s i h t n u f Have k! n a b e h t g breakin

50% OFF

50% OFF

PAIR OF BOYCE PARK SKIING & SNOWBOARDING PASSES

0

$3

$15

BURGH BARGAINS.COM

PAIR OF BOYCE PARK SNOWTUBING PASSES

5

$2

$12.50

50% OFF

PAIR OF NORTH/SOUTH PARK ICE SKATING PASSES

0

$2

$10

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK FOR THE LATEST DEALS! PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

39

CALENDAR DECEMBER 6-12

PHOTO: ST. PETER & ST. PAUL UKRANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

^ Sat., Dec. 8: Cookie Walk

THURSDAY DEC. 6 STAGE

Settle in for a humorous Pittsburgh spin on the 1988 action and, arguably, Christmas movie Die Hard. In a live show complete with old-timey Foley effects and audience participation, Bricolage and Midnight Radio follow wisecracking New York cop, John McClane, as he battles a group of terrorists who crash an office holiday party. Along the way, performers add local touches to the familiar blockbuster tale. Be sure to arrive early for a pre-show happy hour with free drinks and interactive,

40

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

retro-themed activities. Continues through Sat., Dec. 22. 937 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $25-35. Bricolagepgh.org

MUSIC

WYEP’s Holiday Hootenanny brings folk music, hip-hop, funk, country, rock, and R&B from 20 Pittsburgh bands and musicians for its annual holiday celebration. So, dancing is a definite.

Before heading to the August Wilson Center for all the fun, check out the Holiday Hootenanny Scavenger Hunt for a chance to win tickets to the ultimate hootenanny, Mumford and Sons’ March 2019 show at PPG Paints Arena.

Proceeds will be donated to the Tree of Life Synagogue Fund. 6 – 10 p.m.

August Wilson Center, 980 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $30 - $35. wyep.org/hoot18

MUSIC

Put on headphones and listen to percussionist Ben Bennett and vocalist Charmaine Lee’s Sept. 2018 performance at Downtown Music Gallery in New York. It’s a mesmerizing 14-minute performance showcasing the duo’s innovative mix of drums, electronic instruments, and vocals to make dizzying, hypnotic music.

If that YouTube version does anything for you, then don’t miss this opportunity to see the real thing in Pittsburgh at 3577 Studios, with saxophonist Patrick Breiner.

8 p.m. 3577 Studios, 3577 Bigelow Blvd., Polish Hill. $8. 3577studios.com

FRIDAY DEC. 7 TOUR

For Glassworks Studios in the West End, the restoration and creation of stained glass is the intersection of passion and creativity. From restoring one-of-akind Tiffany treasures to installing new windows in regional churches, the third-generation business epitomizes craftsmanship. Glassworks is opening its doors for a tour sponsored by the Pittsburgh Arts Council. Advanced registration is required, as space is limited in the workshop. Expert glass conservator

^ Sat., Dec. 8: Sleepover at Carnegie Science Center

and co-owner Kirk Weaver, who learned the plate glass restoration trade from his grandfather, will lead the tour of the workshop. Touring participants will experience firsthand the stained glass conservation process practiced by Glassworks for more than 100 years.

The studio has restored thousands of stained glass windows in churches and homes both regionally and nationally.

12 p.m. Pittsburgh Stained Glass Studios, 160 Warden St., West End. $8.

Pittsburghartscouncil.com

COMEDY

In his memoir Unsuccessful Thug, comedian Mike Epps recounts how he got his start as an incompetent criminal — calling the police to save him from a dog whose house he was robbing — before making it big as an actor and standup.

Today, Epps’ brand of self-effacing comedy has landed him big-time roles in films like Next Friday, The Hangover, and How High.

Epps performs at Pittsburgh Improv for four shows this weekend. 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Also Sat., Dec. 8. $35. improv. com/pittsburgh

DEC. 8

discuss expungements, record sealing, and pardons. She will be able to answer any questions on the intricacies of these topics, as well as help people determine if they are eligible to have their criminal records cleared. BGC recommends that people call ahead at 412-353-9881 to RSVP. 10 a.m.- 12 p.m. 113 N. Pacific Ave., Garfield. Free. bloomfield-garfield.org

CLINIC

WALK

SATURDAY Having a criminal record can make it difficult to obtain a job, a house, and other necessities that are integral to living a good life. It’s a Catch-22. Punishment for crimes is meant to rehabilitate people, but that record of punishment often makes it harder for people to rehabilitate.

The Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation wants to help. The nonprofit is hosting an Expungement Clinic to help people start the process of clearing their criminal records. Duquesne University School of Law professor Tracey McCants Lewis will

The start of the holiday season means calories don’t count, right? Filling the halls of the St. Peter & St. Paul Ukranian Orthodox Church on Saturday will be homemade cookies and pastries ranging from chocolate chip to Italian rum balls and every buttery, sugary decadence in between. It’s their 15th Annual Cookie Walk: Desserts are sold by the pound, and proceeds will enable the St. Matrona Sisterhood to continue its maintenance and beautification projects of the church — a Pittsburgh National Landmark

Building — and support its community outreach programs. Gluten-free cookies are also available. 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. 220 Mansfield Blvd., Carnegie.

Orthodoxcarnegie.org

SLEEPOVER

The best way to spread Christmas cheer is to ... have a sleepover? See Elf on the big screen at the Carnegie Science Center’s holiday sleepover.

Watch Buddy the Elf journey through seven layers of the candy cane forest, the sea of swirly twirly gumdrops, and the Lincoln Tunnel in the Science Center’s giant theater. After the movie, perform festive experiments and create a hot chocolate concoction that would make Santa proud.

Sleepovers include a late-night snack, breakfast, and free admission for the next day. 6 p.m. Carnegie Science Center, 1 Allegheny Ave., North Side.

Carnegiesciencecenter.org CONTINUES ON PG. 42

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

41

CALENDAR, CONTINUED FROM PG. 41

7 DAYS

OF CONCERTS

BY JORDAN SNOWDEN JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

PHOTO: LOVE + WOLVES CO

Beauty Slap

THURSDAY OAR 7 p.m. Stage AE, North Side. promowestlive.com

FRIDAY Beauty Slap 10 p.m. Club Cafe, South Side. clubcafelive.com

SATURDAY Breach 9 p.m. Brillobox, Bloomfield. brilloboxpgh.com

SUNDAY Icarus Witch 6 p.m. Black Forge Coffee House, Allentown. blackforgecoffee.com

MONDAY Lindsey Stirling 7 p.m. Benedum Center, Downtown. culturaldistrict.org

TUESDAY Ingrid Michaelson 8 p.m. Carnegie Library Music Hall of Homestead, Munhall. librarymusichall.com

WEDNESDAY Every Time I Die 7 p.m. Mr. Smalls Theatre, Millvale. mrsmalls.com

FULL CONCERT LISTINGS ONLINE

AT PGHCITYPAPER.COM 42

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

^ Sat., Dec. 8: The Great Pittsburgh Spelling Bee

BEE

Harlem to Hollywood. The show, which is set in a therapist’s office, explores Yoba’s life from his childhood in the Bronx to his career in Los Angeles. The show, which premiered at the Apollo Theater earlier this year, features over a dozen character voices, incorporating humor and emotional drama, as well as musical performances.

8 p.m. 980 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $23.75. Aacc-awc.org

Pittsburgh. P-I-T-T-S-B-U-R-G-H. The Great Pittsburgh Spelling Bee returns this Saturday for its sixth year. Break out your dictionaries, study up, and commemorate a world before spellcheck at the adultsonly bee. For a small fee, contestants compete for the first place prize of $50 and other “special prizes.” Entrance is free for audience members. Go cheer on your favorite spellers while sipping on adult beverages. All proceeds benefit A Peace of Mind, Inc. 6 p.m. Bloomfield Garfield Community Center, 113 N. Pacific Ave., Garfield. (search “The Great Pittsburgh Spelling Bee” on Facebook.)

SUNDAY DEC. 9

MUSIC & FASHION

MUSIC

Sleep is known for heavy, relentless, repetitive riffs. Its best known track is probably “Dopesmoker,” which features a single, repeating guitar line being pummeled for a little over an hour (their record label called it “unmarketable”).

The trio broke up in the mid 1990s, but reformed in 2009 and released a fantastic record this year called The Sciences, which features the highlight-track “Marijuanaut’s Theme” (ha). Catch Sleep at Stage AE. 7 p.m. 400 N. Shore Drive., North Side. $25-45. Promowestlive.com

^ Mon., Dec. 10: Angela Rye

THEATER

Actor Malik Yoba has plenty of experience acting on screen, from his appearances in everything from sports comedy Cool Runnings, to political drama series Designated Survivor. But he’ll bring a more personal touch to the August Wilson Center with his one-man show,

Why shop at the mall listening to overplayed holiday tunes when there’s Mixed Threads? The Sunday event at Kelly Strayhorn Theater’s Alloy Studios combines street-level clothing designers and street-focused vintage vendors with music from local Pittsburgh DJs. The result? A shopping experience that’s part party, part expo. Vendors include farESH Brand, Native 412, Haus of Vain, ljiggy, and Reviving Real. For most of these designers, clothing is only available to purchase online, so now you can try before you buy, which works out,

^ Wed., Dec. 12: Paris to Pittsburgh

since the delicious vegan Cuban caterers, SaludPgh, will be feeding everyone.

12 – 8 p.m. KST’s Alloy Studios, 5530 Penn Ave., Friendship. Kelly-strayhorn.org

MUSIC

George Handel’s Messiah was written based off scripture from the King James Bible in 1741 and has been a staple of Christmas celebrations ever since.

Regardless of your religious affiliation or stance on classical/scriptural music, it’s straight-up delightful hearing this piece during the holiday season. At Calvary United Methodist Church, hear Handel’s masterpiece performed by chamber orchestra and Messiah Choir in the company of Tiffany stained-glass windows, cookies and candlelight. 4 p.m. 971 Beech Ave., North Side. $18. Calvarypgh.com

MONDAY DEC. 10 TALK

Attorney, commentator and self-described “empowermenteur” Angela Rye has become a leading liberal voice in media, with numerous appearances on television,

features in major print publications like Marie Claire, EBONY, and Washington Post, and her weekly podcast On One with Angela Rye. As the principal and CEO of IMPACT Strategies, a political advocacy firm in Washington, D.C., she advocates for economic empowerment, civic engagement, and political involvement among young professionals. Rye visits the August Wilson Center for TRUTHSayers, a series of lectures and discussions with celebrated Black activists and leaders.

7 p.m. 980 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $38.75. awc.culturaldistrict.org

TALK

Bestselling author Dave Eggers and Yemeni-American Mokhtar Alkhanshali take the stage at the Carnegie Music Hall for the Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures series.

They will discuss Eggers’ book The Monk of Mokha, the true story of Alkhanshali’s life as a 24-year-old college dropout in San Francisco who dreams of resurrecting the ancient art of Yemeni coffee. The book delves into Alkhanshali’s journey to his family’s ancestral homeland, where he braves an active war zone to bring a suitcase full of unroasted coffee back to the U.S. 7:30 p.m. 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. $15-35. pittsburghlectures.org

WEDNESDAY DEC. 12

PERFORMANCE

For over a decade, artist Rashaad Newsome has been working on his piece Shade Compositions, a performance art project highlighting verbal and physical ticks that stem from Black culture. When Newsome did the piece in San Francisco in 2012, it featured a chorus of performers making smacking “tsk” sounds, rolling their eyes, and making hand gestures. There were hardly any words, but it was obvious the performers were evoking a specific attitude. For Shade Compositions, presented by the Andy Warhol Museum and performed at Carnegie Music Hall, Newsome cast and choreographed local Black female and femme Black performers to orchestrate a statement on Black language. 8 p.m. 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. Free. warhol.org

MUSIC

CupcakKe is a sex-positive rapper with tight lyrical flow and confidence.

Listening closely to her latest album, Eden, Cupcakke raps about heartbreak, racism, and women empowerment while moans and giggles speckle the background. Joined by Moon Baby and Bambi, CupcakKe brings her distinctive music to Spirit on Wednesday.

8 p.m. Spirit, Lawrenceville. $26-55. spiritpgh.com

FILM

When President Trump decided to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, he uttered the infamous words “I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” and he had no idea what kind of storm he’d ignited. Mayor Peduto was quick to voice his support for the agreement and point out that the majority of the city didn’t vote for the president. Paris to Pittsburgh, a new documentary about the climate change debate, premieres on the National Geographic Channel. The film charts the economic and cultural impacts of global warming, as well as the protests and activism from people fighting for their right to a livable planet. 9 p.m.

National Geographic Channel. paristopittsburgh.com • PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

43

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER

REHEARSAL

Rehearsal Space

CLASSIFIEDS

starting @ $150/mo.

Many sizes available, no sec deposit, play @ the original and largest practice facility, 24/7 access.

FOR INFORMATION ON HOW TO PLACE A CLASSIFIEDS ADVERTISEMENT, CALL 412-316-3342

412-403-6069

HELP WANTED

WANTED TO BUY

ESTATE NOTICES

MISCELLANEOUS

WANTED! 36 PEOPLE

CASH FOR HOUSES. Any condition, as - is, hassle free, no realtor fees, close in 30 days or less.

Call 412-330-1287

CLARKE, Charlotte E., Deceased of Pittsburgh, PA. No. 021806235 of 2018.

William D. Clarke, Extr., 16997 Abby Circle, Northville, MI 48168

DISH TV $59.99 For 190 Channels + $14.95 High Speed Internet. Free Installation, Smart HD DVR Included, Free Voice Remote. Some restrictions apply. Call Now: 1-800-373-6508 (AAN CAN)

to Lose Weight. 30-day money back guarantee.

Herbal Program. Also opportunity to earn up to $1,000 monthly. 1-800-492-4437 www.myherbalife.com

Uber Technologies, Inc. has MULTIPLE POSITIONS open in Pittsburgh, PA for the following:

Software Engineer (Ref#3061260) Dsgn/archtct, dev &/or test SW apps using Uber’s tech stack. Software Engineer (Ref#3061454) Dsgn/architect, dvlp &/or test SW apps using Uber’s tech stack.

Refer to Ref# & mail resume to Uber Technologies, Inc, Attn: A. Aldrich, 685 Market St, Suite 400, San Francisco, CA 94105

OFFICIAL ADVERTISEMENT

THE BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH Sealed proposals shall be deposited at the Administration Building, Room 251, 341 South Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15213, on January 8, 2019, until 2:00 P.M., local prevailing time for:

Pgh. Brashear High School Bridge and Driveway Repairs General Prime Pgh. Grandview PreK-5 Finish Floor Replacements General and Asbestos Primes Pgh. Perry High School Concrete and Retaining Wall Repairs General Prime Pgh. Pioneer Education Center Vertical Transportation Modernization General and Electrical Primes Pgh. Phillips K-5 Air Conditioning Offices Mechanical Prime Pittsburgh South Annex (Online Academy) Vertical Transportation Modernization General and Electrical Primes Project Manual and Drawings will be available for purchase on December 3, 2018 at Modern Reproductions (412-488-7700), 127 McKean Street, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15219 between 9:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. The cost of the Project Manual Documents is non-refundable. Project details and dates are described in each project manual.

We are an equal rights and opportunity school district

44

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

Are you feeling sad or down?

Is your mood starting to affect your work, activities, or relationships? These are all symptoms of depression. The University of Pittsburgh is conducting a research study on depression for people aged 60 and older. Procedures are provided at no cost and involve medication, close clinical monitoring, and brain imaging without the use of radiation. Compensation is provided.

To learn more call 412-246-5825.

EMPLOYMENT PAID IN ADVANCE! Make $1000 Weekly Mailing Brochures from Home Genuine Opportunity. Helping home workers since 2001!

Start Immediately! www.IncomeCentral.net (AAN CAN)

MISCELLANEOUS CHEAP FLIGHTS! Book Your Flight Today on United, Delta, American, Air France, Air Canada.

We have the best rates.

Call today to learn more 1-855-231-1523 (AAN CAN)

JLIW FHUWLÀFDWHV FDQ EH SXUFKDVHG RQOLQH DW

TIGER SPA

schoolhouseyoga.com

Best of the Best in Town!

420 W. Market St., Warren, OH 44481 76 West, 11 North, 82 West to East Market Street.

End of downtown Warren, on right hand side.

Open 8am-12 midnight 7 days a week!

Licensed Professionals Dry Sauna, Table Shower, Deep Tissue, Swedish

330-373-0303 Credit Cards Accepted Bring this ad for a special treat!

DID THIS AD GET YOUR ATTENTION? Do you love reading City Paper?

Do you love helping local businesses?

You could help a business put their ad here.

Pittsburgh City Paper advertising department is seeking a Senior Account Executive. In this role, you will identify and develop new business opportunities; keep and grow existing client relationships; offers solution that help clients achieve their business goals, closes business and meet set sales target.

3+ years of sales experience in the Pittsburgh Market required.

Please send resume to justin@pghcitypaper.com

get your yoga on!

Pittsburgh City Paperis an EOE.

east liberty squirrel hill north hills

O CHRISTMAS TREE

BY BRENDAN EMMETT QUIGLEY // WWW.BRENDANEMMETTQUIGLEY.COM

ACROSS 1. Many sherpas 8. Wheel and deal 15. Strange things 16. Classic hairy costume 17. Ted Williams or Yogi Berra, e.g.

18. Clans’ patterns 19. Large blaze during mid-January?

21. Toward the back 22. Genetics strands 23. *That guy* at the party 25. Have a little lamb 27. Toddler’s jubilant cry 29. Pleasantly warm 31. Actor ___ Jackson Jr. 33. Stupefaction 34. Acquaintances hanging around a quarter-barrel?

37. New start in a beloved fiction series 38. Turn off 39. Exhausted 40. Developer’s work 41. Actor Omar 45. Peachtree Street city: Abbr.

46. Erie Canal mule

47. Harsh and unpleasant, as the weather 48. The one who won the race some other place?

55. Nipple rings 56. Marched, as a unit 57. Old-school film-editing device 58. Radio medium 59. Ore refinery 60. Certain night flights

DOWN 1. Innovator’s goal 2. Alimony recipient 3. First item on the agenda 4. Working hard 5. Facebook ___ (streaming service) 6. Chilling container 7. Exams with perfect scores of 1600 8. NYSNC* singer Joey 9. Bygone toothpaste brand 10. Soft ball company 11. Bubbly wine name 12. Jazz pianist Vince whose trio did the music for “A Charlie Brown Christmas” 13. Flag carrying

soccer officials 14. Some aliens 20. Dinner freebie 24. Isr.’s neighbor 26. Off 27. “Missed that” 28. Mother clucker 29. Snoozefest 30. Joint on the foot 32. Out of gas 33. Clean with a cloth 34. Put out of the way of 35. “My thoughts are ...”

36. Catered to?

37. Pretoria’s

land: Abbr.

40. Kind of salad 42. Settle beforehand 43. Prepared without meat or milk 44. Stockholm natives 46. Tired 49. Stir up 50. Programming section 51. Christmas tree topper 52. Buffalo’s coast 53. Office part 54. Hockey legend Gordie 55. Mornings, briefly LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

45

PEEPSHOW A sex and social justice column

THANK U, SEXT

BY JESSIE SAGE // PEEPSHOWCAST@GMAIL.COM

I

N 2011, TechCrunch quoted founder

and CEO of Snapchat, Evan Spiegel saying, “I’m not convinced that the whole sexting thing is as big as the media makes it out to be, I just don’t know people who do that. It doesn’t seem that fun when you can have real sex.”

Yet, the appeal of Snapchat is that the text and pictures sent through the app disappear. Spiegel himself admits later in the same interview that the app was inspired in part by the Anthony Weiner sexting scandal, noting the advantage of expiring data. In this regard, the statement is curious; the ephemeral nature of the Snap makes it ripe for sexting.

What is even stranger is his claim that sexting is something that people don’t do because it is more fun to have sex IRL. I think writer Sarah Nicole Prickett was on to something when she observed, “There is nothing like talking to somebody IRL, it’s true … But when it’s good, there’s really nothing like sexting.” She concludes, “Good sex I can usually leave wherever I found it, but good sexters I keep forever in my pocket.”

What Spiegel is downplaying in that statement is the extent to which many folks genuinely enjoy sexting, not as a sorry replacement for the sex they wish they were having, but as an exciting and

satisfying experience on its own. Ironically, while Snapchat publicly tried to distance itself from its association with sexting, in practice Snapchat provided a technology that makes many feel more comfortable having these sorts of sexual experiences on the internet, an experience that they indeed desire and enjoy. After all, there’s nothing like a sexy pic and some spicy dialogue to brighten your day at the office.

THERE’S NOTHING LIKE A SEXY PIC AND SOME SPICY DIALOGUE TO BRIGHTEN YOUR DAY AT THE OFFICE. No one knows this better than sex workers, who have capitalized on this desire, selling subscriptions to premium Snapchat accounts where their fans and clients can receive a steady stream of personalized pictures, videos, and messages that they don’t necessarily want permanently archived.

There is such widespread public recognition of this use of Snapchat that, beginning on Thanksgiving, these premium Snapchat accounts became the target of a widespread online harassment campaign: the #ThotAudit (Thot being

slang for whore: “That Ho Over There”).

Knowing that many successful sex workers make good money on Snapchat, the campaign, fueled by internet dude-bros who are reported to be rape apologists, threatened to turn sex workers selling Snapchat subscriptions into the IRS. The claim itself, that sex workers don’t pay taxes on online transactions, is ungrounded. Writer and porn performer Lorelei Lee tweeted, “Oh my god get over yourselves, sex workers already pay our taxes wtf stop it already.” These aren’t credible threats; the IRS whistle-blowing program isn’t set up for cases like this.

Instead, the campaign was intended to intimidate and harass women who have capitalized on male desire, who have turned the internet into a profitable place for themselves.

Snapchat’s sex-negative rhetoric and policies enable this sort of harassment, by providing a reason for trolls to vindictively report and police the sexual activity of women. Perhaps instead of throwing sex workers under the bus in a flimsy attempt at respectability, it’s time for Snapchat to admit that they were built on sexting and the labor of sex workers, so they can be part of the solution to issues like #ThotAudit, instead of part of the problem.

Jessie Sage is co-host of the Peepshow Podcast, which addresses issues related to sex and social justice.

Her column Peepshow is exclusive to City Paper. Follow her on Twitter @peep_cast.

•

Peepshow Podcast, Ep. 34 Episode 34 features an interview with Liara Roux, a sex worker, adult content producer, director, and political organizer.

Roux became particularly well known in sex work activism circles last year when they wrote an open letter to content subscription platform Patreon. Roux wrote the letter after Patreon announced its intent to change their Terms of Service, limiting the kind of content users could post.

This was particularly upsetting to porn performers and other sex workers who were made to feel welcome on the site several years ago when Patreon generated a lot of press claiming that it was one of the few sites that allowed sex workers to use mainstream credit card processing.

Roux points out that this is a well-recognized pattern. They say, “Initially [platforms] are very friendly to adult content creators because it gets more traffic to their site and expands their user base. As they are less reliant on sex workers, they start censoring them and eventually just end up kicking them off entirely.”

Listen to Peepshow for more on the social impact of platform policies, as well as a glance into Roux’s other projects. peepshowpodcast.com/ peepshow-podcast-episode-34

LIKE US ON ON FACEBOOK FACEBOOK @PittsburghCityPaper Keep up to date on the latest news and events in the city.

46

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

Treatment for Opiate Addiction Methadone/Suboxone

JADE Wellness Center

NOW OPEN IN SOUTH SIDE Locations in Monroeville, Wexford and South Side, PA

Premiere, Family Owned and Operated Outpatient Drug and Alcohol Treatment:

• SUBOXONE • VIVITROL • Group and Individualized Therapy

PITTSBURGH Methadone 412-255-8717 • Suboxone 412-281-1521 NOW ACCEPTING MEDICAID - info@summitmedical.biz

PITTSBURGH • SOUTH HILLS

NO WAIT LIST

Methadone 412-488-6360 • info2@alliancemedical.biz

Accepts all major insurances and medical assistance

BEAVER COUNTY

CALL NOW TO SCHEDULE

412-380-0100 www.myjadewellness.com

Methadone 724-857-9640 • Suboxone 724-448-9116 • info@ptsa.biz

Gain the confidence and coping skills you need to address life on life’s terms.

Addiction and mental health difficulties don’t have to define you forever.

If you’re ready to embark on a journey free from active addiction and mental health struggles, our certified therapists are ready to help you.

• Opioid Dependency Counseling • Alcohol Counseling • Depression • Anxiety • Anger Management • OCD

1. Group / Individual Counseling

RENEW YOUR IDENTITY AT POSITIVE PATHWAYS

2. Suboxone Treatment 3. Psychiatrists on Staff Your pathway to a fresh start and new way of thinking begins with a phone call.

We Accept:

CALL NOW: 412-224-2812 PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 5-12, 2018

47

COMING NOW

SOON!

AVAILABLE!

2 019 201

Penguins Penguins & & Paws Paws Calendars Calendars Calendar will feature members of the Pittsburgh Penguins with their pets and adoptable animals from Humane Animal Rescue!

Available November 23, 2018 To order, visit www.humaneanimalrescue.org/penscalendar

Proceeds For pre-order, visit www.humaneanimalrescue.org/penscalendar benefit the animals at HAR!

Humane Animal Rescue Visit our website at www.humaneanimalrescue.org for more details!