March 20, 2019 - Pittsburgh City Paper

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MARCH 20-27, 2019

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MARCH 20-27 2019 VOLUME 28 + ISSUE 12 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 Editorial Designer ABBIE ADAMS Graphic Designer JEFF SCHRECKENGOST Marketing and Promotions Coordinator CONNOR MARSHMAN Senior Sales Representative BLAKE LEWIS Sales Representatives KAITLIN OLIVER, NICK PAGANO Office Coordinator MAGGIE WEAVER Advertising Sales Assistant TAYLOR PASQUARELLI Circulation Manager JEFF ENGBARTH Featured Contributors REGE BEHE, GAB BONESSO, LISSA BRENNAN, LYNN CULLEN, TERENEH IDIA, CHARLES ROSENBLUM, JESSIE SAGE, STEVE SUCATO Interns JANINE FAUST, XIOLA JENSEN, JARED MURPHY Office Administrator RODNEY REGAN National Advertising Representative VMG ADVERTISING 1.888.278.9866 OR 1.212.475.2529 Publisher EAGLE MEDIA CORP.

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COVER ILLUSTRATION: DISCO RE A D T HE S TORY ON PAG E 6

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Win this week’s cover art!

The painting seen on this week’s cover was painted by Disco the penguin from the National Aviary.

Watch a video of the artist creating this week’s masterpiece at pghcitypaper.com.

Take a photo of this week’s cover and post it on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram; tag Pittsburgh City Paper (@pghcitypaper) and National Aviary (@national_aviary).

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CP PHOTO: RENEE ROSENSTEEL

Then, enter to win the artwork!

Spring guide As the sun begins to shine sporadically and flowers start to bloom in sidewalk cracks, it can only mean one thing: Spring is here. If, like a bear, you’ve been hibernating in your lair for several months, it’s time to get outside, stretch those legs, and explore all the city has to offer. The Pittsburgh City Paper Spring Guide is a map for making the city feel like new again, from flea markets to bike lessons to film festivals.

Walk on the Wild Side

BY LISA CUNNINGHAM

We’ve all seen adorable cartoon penguins slipping and sliding on icebergs, but you might be surprised to find out that most penguins live in warmer climates. Disco, this week’s cover artist, is one of 20 warm-weather African penguins found in Penguin Point at the National Aviary (aviary.org) in the North Side. Much like humans, the arrival of spring is a welcome change from the harsh Pittsburgh winters for penguins.

Their outdoor space includes heated nest cubbies throughout the exhibit in the cold months to help keep them comfortable.

Now that the weather is warming up, it’s a perfect time to come visit the penguins and the other birds at the Aviary. Book a penguin encounter and mingle with Disco and friends up close. There are also multiple exhibits throughout the bird zoo too, including the new Tropical Rainforest, where you’ll forget about shoveling sidewalks while hanging out with parrots and one of the zoo’s popular sloths amongst hundreds of tropical plants.

After you’ve met the African penguins, head to the Pittsburgh Zoo (pittsburghzoo.org) and meet some African elephants! We recommend a visit to the African Savanna, where you can also see rhinoceroses, zebras, leopards, giraffes, and lions.

Like your felines a little smaller? Schedule a visit to one of the city’s two cat cafes. Colony Café (colonycafepgh.com) in the Strip District and The Black Cat Market (blackcatmarketpgh.com) in Lawrenceville both offer visits with adorable, adoptable cats. More of a dog person? Volunteer to dog walk at one of the city’s animal shelters: Humane Animal Rescue (humaneanimalrescue.org) or Animal Friends (thinkingoutsidethecage.org).

Better yet, adopt one of those beautiful homeless babies.

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PHOTO: PAUL G. WEIGMAN

Gardens of the Rainbow at Phipps Conservatory

Get on a bike

BY JORDAN SNOWDEN

Biking is a fun and eco-friendly way to get around the city, but for those of us who haven’t touched a bike in 10 years, the idea of riding in the city can be incredibly daunting. On Sat., April 27, the Lawrenceville branch of the Carnegie Library (carnegielibrary.org) will offer a free class designed for new cylists looking to ride comfortably and confidently around town. Confident City Cycling teaches bike/body separation, brake modulation, weight distribution, and quick hazard avoidance.

After the class, participants will go on a group ride to practice strategies for crossing big intersections, riding on fast roads, reading traffic patterns, and road conditions. For those 16 and over, free Healthy Ride bike rentals will be available for the duration of the class.

For more bike-riding workshops and get-togethers, we recommend checking out BikePGH (bikepgh.org), a local nonprofit who holds bike-related events regularly.

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Stop and smell the f lowers

BY RYAN DETO

In the brief window between cold season and spring allergies, take advantage of clear sinuses and enjoy the whimsical floral scents of springtime.

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens (phipps.conservatory.org) is tops when it comes to seeing and smelling flowers from all over the world.

Starting on Sat., March 23, the Conservatory will host its Gardens of the Rainbow spring flower show, with dozens of varieties bursting into bloom.

One of Pittsburgh’s newer flower-full locales is the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden (pittsburghbotanicgarden.org) in Oakdale. This year, the garden, which offers ponds, meadows, trees, and a children’s area, opened a new exhibit called Garden of the Five Senses. Flower fans can smell, look, touch, taste, and hear all that spring has to offer.

By mid-April, Pittsburgh’s native flowers should be starting to bloom, and the Raccoon Creek Park Wildflower Center (visitpa.com) in Clinton is the best place to view them. Take a leisurely stroll by the marsh, through a meadow, and along the creek to gaze upon goldenrod, larkspur, and other local varieties.

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PHOTO: ROB THOMPSON

Catch mountain biking documentary Beautiful Idiot at the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival

Binge Break

BY HANNAH LYNN

It’s nice that we’ve come up with “binge-watching” as a euphemism for the unglamorous act of watching a whole series in one sitting. But as spring approaches, it might be time to give the binges a break and get out of the house — to watch movies in a theater. Hey, it’s better than nothing.

If actually being outdoors isn’t your forte, check out the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival April 5-7 at the Byham Theater (trustarts.org), which features three days of films focused on outdoor activities like climbing, skiing, beaver trapping, and more. You get to explore the outdoors without actually braving the elements!

If virtually exploring the outdoors isn’t appealing, try learning about organ transplantation on the biggest screen in Pittsburgh. Burden of Genius follows the work of Dr. Thomas E. Starzl, who performed the world’s first liver transplant and perfected the procedure in Pittsburgh. The documentary runs April 12-18 at the North Side’s Rangos Giant Cinema (carnegiesciencecenter.org). Other upcoming shows at Rangos include Rocky Horror Picture Show (April 27), The Dark Crystal (April 26-28), and Jimi Hendrix concert doc Electric Church (May 3-4).

Finders Keepers

BY MAGGIE WEAVER

Spring is, well, springing up, and fresh shoots mean one thing: fresh finds. Instead of trudging through produce aisles in the grocery store, get outside and explore what Pittsburgh has to offer.

Foraging in the city is surprisingly simple. Pittsburgh is filled with green spaces that are home to unknown, delicious treasures, all mapped out on an interactive map. Falling Fruit (fallingfruit.org), created by two avid foragers, shows hotspots for fallen goods across the ‘Burgh. It’s kept up by foresters, fregans, and foragers in the area, pinpointing hundreds of spots to pick out spring’s edible offerings, like chickweed and purslane.

If do-it-yourself harvesting isn’t all that appealing, the Allegheny Land Trust (alleghenylandtrust.org) is here to help. Join the organization, along with the Western PA Mushroom Club, in search of native fungi on Sat., April 13. You can also explore the season’s first signs of plant life in a Plant Pursuit hike with Jen Dalke of Blue Heron Nature Skills on Wed., April 17.

Or leave the forest behind and forage for new skills at one of the city’s many cooking classes.

Explore international cuisines at Gaynor’s School of Cooking (gaynorsschoolofcooking.com) — highlights include Spain, Thailand, and Japan; master the challenging art of French baking at East Liberty’s Macaron Bar (macaron-bar.com/ Pittsburgh); or hand-paint artisan truffles at A519 (a519chocolate.com) in Millvale.

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Through May 12 pittsburghkids.org

PHOTO: WORKSHOP PGH

Spring Plant Party at Ace Hotel

Make Cool Stuff

BY HANNAH LYNN

Being productive in the winter is tough because all you want to do is be wrapped under a blanket. But now that the ground is thawing, flowers are blooming, and the sun is shining (once a month), it’s a great time to celebrate the earth in creative ways. Workshop PGH will host Spring Plant Party on Sat., April 29, in collaboration with Shadyside Nursery, at the Ace Hotel (acehotel.com/pittsburgh). The event benefits environmental organization Tree Pittsburgh and features several gardening and craft workshops, including making an indoor herb garden, decorating a reusable tote, and creating a hanging moss ball.

If you want to learn skills that are less artful and more technical (and free), check out the useful car workshops hosted by Prototype PGH (prototypepgh.com). Instead of paying someone else to fix your car, do it yourself, with help from the Jump Your Battery, Change Your Tire workshop on Sat., April 27 and the Change Your Oil, Check Your Fluids workshop on Sat., May 18, both in the parking lot of the Blumcraft building.

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Electric Scooter Rideshare

Take a Hike

CP FILE PHOTO

Allegheny Cemetery

BY RYAN DETO

At 42 percent, Pittsburgh has the most urban tree cover of any city in the country. Enjoy the springtime return of green by hiking through the trees.

Pittsburgh has great trails through the region and even within the city.

Frick Park in Point Breeze offers a plethora of forested trails snaking their way past ravines and views of the Monongahela River. Most trails start at the Frick Environmental Center. Outside of the city, Settlers Cabin Park in Robinson has several quiet trails away, including a relatively easy hike down to a small but scenic waterfall. That trail starts at the end of Te Pee Drive in the park, just follow it down the hill.

For a more manicured hiking experience, consider a trek through Allegheny Cemetery in Lawrenceville. The paths are paved, but the terrain is hilly and meandering. In spring, the several different types of trees bloom with yellows, purples, and bright greens.

Download the app and start riding today!

Record Deals

BY ALEX GORDON

A new record shop called The Government Center (519 E. Ohio St. North Side) opens its doors on March 23 with a party and a handful of great local bands (including Meeting of Important People acoustic and some ex-Delicious Pastries).

They’re boasting a selection of thousands of new and used 45s and LPS. From there on out, treat this spring as a time to ramp up your vinyl collection since surely you’re sick of the albums you wore out during winter.

Sadly, this year saw the closure of Juke Records in Bloomfield, but many of Pittsburgh’s mainstays remain waiting for your visit. A few of our favorites: Amazing Books & Records (amazingbooksandrecords.com), Attic Record Store (atticrecordstoreinc.com), Get Hip Records (gethip.com), Vinyl Remains (vinylremainspg13.com), and of course, the legendary Jerry’s Records (jerrysrecords.com).

It’s always a good day to shop for records, but be on the lookout for deals and new releases on Sat., April 13 during Record Store Day (recordstoreday. com), when stores all over the country will celebrate vinyl with new releases, discounts, and events.

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Spring Cleaning (and Claiming)

BY AMANDA WALTZ

Clean out your closets and make room for a whole new spring wardrobe at various spring markets and fairs popping up all over town.

On Sat., March 23, the Vintage Pittsburgh Retro Fair returns to the Heinz History Center (heinzhistorycenter.org) with dozens of local vendors. Presented in partnership with The Neighborhood Flea, the event features a wide array of items, including vintage clothing, accessories, and home decor, plus handmade goods like jewelry, candles, and artwork. In addition to shopping, enjoy delicious food and drinks from local hot spots, including tasty treats and beverages both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.

On Sun., March 24, hit up the Pittsburgh Pickers: Vintage Market at the Ace Hotel (acehotel.com/pittsburgh). Presented by Retro Gems and Zeds, the event features 20 different local resellers and collectors, dealing primarily in vintage clothing and nostalgia from the 1970s through the 1990s. There will also be food and drink from the Whitfield.

On Sat., April 6, head to the ground floor of the Blumcraft Building for the Babyland Spring Cleaning Sale (search Facebook for “Babyland Pittsburgh”). Presented by Babyland, a collection of studios and shop spaces used by members for work, art, and activism, the afternoon includes handmade, vintage, and secondhand goods, including wood and metal work, clothing, prints, and more. Beverages and treats like bagels, tamales, and pupusas will also be for sale.

Looking for cool glassware, kitchen gadgets, or furniture? On Sat., April 6, the PGH Vintage Mixer Home Show presents two floors of antique and vintage home goods at the Teamsters Local Union 249 (pghvintagemixer.com). Over 30 local and regional vendors will have items to suit a variety of tastes, from kitschy décor to fun, yet functional pieces. There will also be pizza, coffee, and adult beverages from Pittsburgh businesses.

On Sat., April 27, Handmade Arcade celebrates its 15th anniversary by spotlighting new crafters at the first-ever Shop and Sell spring pop-up market at Construction Junction (cjreuse.org). Meet and shop from a new crop of craft hobbyists, enthusiasts, and rookies joining the local craft and maker scene. The event includes 30 vendors, free maker activities by the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse and Pittsburgh Zine Fair, and on-site food and coffee trucks. You can also sample and purchase Crafted Apple, a special, limited edition collaborative release from Handmade Arcade and Threadbare Cider.

PHOTO: HANDMADE ARCADE

Jewelry by Leshia Seager at Shop and Sell spring pop-up market

There are plenty of chances to find unique items when the PGH Flea returns to Spirit (spiritpgh.com) in Lawrenceville. The expansive, indoor monthly market features tons of local vendors selling everything from clothing and accessories to vinyl. Whether you like the offbeat, the cute, or the crafty, you’re sure to find something to fit your taste. Plus, Spirit offers a pizza-based brunch to keep you shopping all day long.

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You stink. Your kids stink. Your house stinks. It’s probably been about five months since you’ve been able to open your windows or spend any time outside that wasn’t sprinting to a car or bus before you’re overwhelmed by an arctic blast. Clean up your children with a fresh breeze offered at any of the great local parks. My kids really like the Highland Park Super Playground (Reservoir Drive), which features sprawling, castle-like wooden structures for climbing. There are a lot of nooks and crannies, though, so keep an eye on your little flight risks. If you are in the South Hills, a very aesthetically similar park to Highland exists at the Dormont Community Center (1444 Hillsale Ave.) “I love the Science Center” is the only quote I could get out of my son about a place he will visit any day of the week. If I had to wager a guess, I feel confident saying his favorite exhibit is the H2Oh! exhibit based on the hours we’ve logged there making it rain, building dams, and floating boats. But he loves all the great things to see and do at the Carnegie Science Center (carnegiesciencecenter.org), including the Miniature Railroad & Village, SpacePlace, and the great selection of rotating exhibits, like Da Vinci The Exhibition. I take personal joy in trying to beat that stubborn air hockey robot that I know laughs at me after I walk away.

I’m also pretty excited when the basketball robot misses. You won’t replace us, Johnny 5!

The Pittsburgh Children’s Museum (pittsburghkids.org) has so many fun things to do that it can take several trips to soak it all in. A great rotating selection of exhibits keeps each visit fresh. But the staples remain strong as the backbone of any visit. Check out the garage where you can drop parachutes from a second story platform, race wooden cars on side-by-side tracks, wheesh and whoosh on a giant wooden railroad, and watch a ball roll the length of the ceiling on a fascinating wire track. The Makeshop is another must see and features “a space for children and families to make, play, and design using ‘real stuff’— the same materials, tools, and processes used by professional artists, builders, programmers, and creators of all kinds.”

Suns out, headphones out

CP FILE PHOTO

Pittonkatonk

BY JORDAN SNOWDEN

While you wait for summer’s official outdoor concert season to begin, capitalize on getting outside and listening to music any chance you can this spring.

It will be impossible to not feel good, listening to Benji. belt out the tropical sounding “Tamale” at Wilkins Block Party (wilkinsblockparty.com) in Schenley Park on Sat., April 27. Also set to perform is Chet Vincent and Biirdwatcher, along with a one-time jazz and fusion jam set hosted by Beni Rossman and Steve Ippolito of Starship Mantis and The Clock Reads, with more acts to be announced.

The outdoor camaraderie continues with two free outdoor music festivals on Sat., May 11. In Millvale, it’s the third annual Millvale Music Festival (millvalemusic.org). The daylong event showcases local musicians and bands, while also giving attendees a chance to explore the charming borough right across the river from Lawrenceville. In Oakland, fans of brass music will gather in Schenley Park for Pittonkatonk (pittonkatonk.org), a daylong festival in celebration of May Day with a potlock and an opportunity to engage with local social and environmental justice organizations.

Staging Spring

BY LISA CUNNINGHAM

If you love theater, you’re living in the right city. Pittsburgh is blessed with a large number of amazing venues with productions throughout the entire year. A few of our favorites this spring are Pittsburgh Public Theater (ppt.org), City Theatre (citytheatrecompany.org), Pittsburgh CLO (pghclo.org), and n find info on these and Prime State Theatre (primestage.com). You can other productions in our paper each week. ls Spring also brings two unique festivals al to the city. The Pittsburgh Fringe Festival g (pittsburghfringe.org) is a four-day performing r, arts festival bringing edgy works of theater, y comedy, spoken word, dance, and even puppetry d to multiple venues in Pittsburgh’s East End starting on Thu., April 4.

For the younger folks in your family, head to Downtown’s Cultural District for the EQT Children’s Theater Festival (pghkids.trustarts.org) on May 16-19. The popular festival is always a big hit with kids of all ages, with family-friendly performances and free hands-on activities all weekend long.

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Throwing the Distance

BY ALEX GORDON

Winter hibernation can be fun for a while, but it tends to lose its luster around Pitchers and Catchers. By the time spring officially kicks off on March 21, most Pittsburghers have a healthy stow of pent-up energy dying to get out. The solution? Throw something.

In order to avoid pulled muscles, start slow with some frisbee golf (frolf) at the Schenley Park Disc Golf course (1 Overlook Drive, Oakland). It’s has all of the pleasant exertion of an Ultimate game mixed with the strategy of golf, with no running or country clubs involved.

If you find that lacking for violent undertones, head over to one of Pittsburgh’s burgeoning axe-throwing companies, such as Lumberjaxes (axethrowingpgh.com) or New Generation Axe Throwing (throwaxes.com). It’s deeply satisfying and good practice if you should ever run into a zombie holding a wooden bullseye.

Lastly, some equally fun but less novel options: play darts at dive bars (Dee’s in South Side or Take A Break in Lawrencville), join a cornhole league through Steel City Cornhole (steelcitycornhole.com), or get down with skeeball or puck bowling at Games N’at. Or, you know, just buy a football or something.

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REGIONAL JURIED ART EXHIBIT

ERIE ART GALLERY JUNE 1-30, 2019 Call For Art Entries

from LGBTQ artists within a 150-mile radius of Erie \ Pennsylvania.

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CP PHOTO: LISA CUNNINGHAM

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Spectator Sports

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After spending all winter cheering on the Steelers, it’s time to put away the sweats, get off the couch, and go play some sports yourself. Nah, just kidding. It’s Pittsburgh, which means it’s just time to go watch other people play different sports while stuffing your face with hotdogs and Crackerjacks. There are lots of local teams playing in spring, like the Steel City Roller Derby (facebook.com/steelcityrollerderby), whose season just kicked off last week; Pittsburgh Passion (pittsburghpassion.com), the city’s women’s football team, has its home opener on Sat., April 6; and we can’t miss mentioning the Pittsburgh Penguins’ (nhl.com/penguins) whose regular season wraps up the first week of April. (Fingers crossed they make it to the playoffs.)

Two teams in town offer amazing views of the Downtown skyline while taking in a live game. The Pittsburgh Pirates (mlb.com/pirates) home opener kicks off at 1:05 p.m. on Mon., April 1 with breathtaking views from inside PNC Park, right by the Allegheny River on the North Side. Want a different view of Downtown?

Check out the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (riverhounds.com) across the river at Highmark Stadium in Station Square, for its home opener on Sat., April 13.

There’s nothing quite like seeing a soccer ball soaring through the air in front of the skyline on a beautiful spring day.

Drinking Spring ng

BY MAGGIE WEAVER

Pull your walking shoes out of their winter hiding g spots because it’s time to revisit a beloved warm-weather eather activity: bar crawls. n head In Bloomfield, start at Tina’s and Brillobox, then down Liberty Avenue to enjoy some open-air seating att Lot 17. eny City Down Western Avenue on the North Side, hit Allegheny legheny Brewing before moving onto Siempre Algo, Max’s Allegheny Tavern, and ending in Federal Galley’s beer garden.

Discover city brews on The Great Pittsburgh Beer Thru es, divided iinto t legs of Hike, a Google Maps trail that marks local breweries, varying lengths. Not into beer? Hold out for the Pittsburgh Wine Festival (pittsburghwinefestival.com), a global tasting of over 500 wines on Wed., May 1 at Heinz Field.

But spring crawls aren’t limited to bars. Pop in and out of Sewickley stores during the neighborhood’s annual Soup Crawl (exploresewickley.com) on Sat., April 6. Flavors of Lawrenceville come together on Sun., April 14 during Taste of Lawrenceville (search Facebook for “Taste of Lawrenceville”), with restaurants and breweries joining together, and featuring a Game of Thrones pop-up bar to honor the show’s final season.

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

Larimer Stories by John Pena

Art Crawls

BY AMANDA WALTZ

Start spring on a therapeutic note at XOXO: An Exhibit about Love & Forgiveness (pittsburghparks.org). Presented by the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and the Frick Environmental Center, the all-ages exhibit invites Frick Park visitors to work together and create art through interactive experiences designed to provide insight into various expressions of love and forgiveness. There are crafts to be made, soft sculptures to hug, and fun, collaborative activities, all of which encourage kids and adults to connect with their feelings in meaningful ways. For those who prefer a guided tour, sign up for Nature XOXO, a free event on Sun., March 31.

Visitors will embark on a guided hike through the park, then write a love letter to the trees and trails.

For the outdoorsy art lover, the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council hosts a variety of public art tours throughout the city. On Fri., March 29, go on a Downtown Public Art Walking Tour starting in Market Square. On Fri., April 12, go for two-wheels with the Larimer Bike Tour. Or, if you don’t want to spend the money (both tours cost $8), take a self-guided walking tour with the Pittsburgh Art in Public Places guidebook, which features tours of Downtown neighborhoods and the North Side (guidebooks are available for free at 810 Penn Ave., Downtown, at the Visit Pittsburgh Welcome Center at 120 Fifth Ave., Downtown, or

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CP FILE PHOTO

Pittsburgh Glass Center during Unblurred: First Friday Art Crawl

online at pittsburghartscouncil.org/tourbooks). Each tour takes 80-120 minutes.

Also, don’t forget the city’s reoccurring nightly art crawls throughout the year: Downtown Gallery Crawl (trustarts.org) in the Cultural District is on Fri., April 26, and the next Unblurred: First Friday Art Crawl (pennavenue.org) on Penn Avenue in BloomfieldGarfield is on Fri., April 5. Galleries open their doors for free during both gallery crawls.

•

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23

.FOR THE WEEK OF MARCH 21.

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

In the animated kids’ film Over the Hedge, ten talking animals come upon a massive, towering hedge they’ve never seen. The friendly group consists of a skunk, red squirrel, box turtle, two opossums, and five porcupines. The hedge perplexes and mystifies them. It makes them nervous. There’s nothing comparable to it in their previous experience. One of the porcupines says she would be less afraid of it if she just knew what it was called, whereupon the red squirrel suggests that from now on they refer to it as “Steve.” After that, they all feel better. I recommend that you borrow their strategy in the coming weeks. If a Big Unknown arrives in your vicinity, dub it “Steve” or “Betty.”

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

I urge you to locate a metaphorical or very literal door that will give you access to a place that affords you more freedom and healing and support. Maybe you already know about the existence of this door—or maybe it’s not yet on your radar. Here’s advice from Clarissa Pinkola Éstes that might help. “If you have a deep scar, that is a door,” she writes. “If you have an old, old story, that is a door. If you love the sky and the water so much that you almost cannot bear it, that is a door. If you yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door.”

CANCER (June 21-July 22):

Musician Carole Kaye is the most famous bass guitarist you’ve never heard of. Over the course of five decades, she has plied her soulful talents on more than 10,000 recordings, including gems

by Frank Zappa, Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra, Simon and Garfunkel, and the Beach Boys.

Twenty-seven-time Grammy winner Quincy Jones has testified that Kaye has written “some of the most beautiful themes I’ve ever heard in my life” and that she “could do anything and leave men in the dust.” I trust this horoscope will expand the number of people who appreciate her. I also hope you’ll be inspired to become more active in spreading the word about the gifts that you have to offer the world. It’s high time to make sure that people know more of the beautiful truth about you.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):

“When you want happiness, what are you

ARIES (March 21-April 19):

During the coming weeks, everything that needs to happen will indeed happen only if you surprise yourself on a regular basis. So I hope you will place yourself in unpredictable situations where you won’t be able to rely on well-rehearsed responses. I trust that you will regard innocence and curiosity and spontaneity as your superpowers. Your willingness to change your mind won’t be a mark of weakness but rather a sign of strength.

wanting?” asks aphorist Olivia Dresher. The repeat of an event that made you feel good in the past? A sweet adventure you’ve thought about but never actually experienced? Here’s a third possibility. Maybe happiness is a state you could feel no matter what your circumstances are; maybe you could learn how to relax into life exactly as it is, and feel glad about your destiny wherever it takes you. In my opinion, Leo, that third approach to happiness will be especially natural for you to foster in the coming weeks.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

There are old traditions in many cultures that pay special attention to the first brick or stone that is laid in the earth to initiate the construction of a future building. It’s called a cornerstone or foundation stone. All further work to create the new structure refers back to this original building block, and depends on it. I’m pleased to inform you that now is a favorable phase to put your own metaphorical cornerstone in place, Virgo. You’re ready to begin erecting a structure or system that will serve you for years to come.

Be sure you select the right place for it, as well as the best building materials.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):

Born under the sign of Libra, Ivan Kharchenko (1918–1989) was a military officer and engineer for the Soviet army. His specialty was disarming explosive devices before they detonated. Over the course of his career, he defused an estimated 50,000 bombs and mines. Let’s make him your patron saint for the coming weeks. Why?

Because I suspect you will be able to summon a metaphorical version of his power: an extraordinary capacity to keep volatile situations from blowing up. You’ll be a virtuoso at waging peace and preventing strife.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):

There was a time, less than a century ago, when pink was considered a masculine color and blue a feminine hue. In previous eras, many European men sported long hair, wore high heels, and favored clothes with floral patterns. Franklin D. Roosevelt, one of America’s most prominent 20th-century presidents, sometimes wore skirts and feather-bedecked hats as a child. With these facts as your keystone, and in accordance with astrological omens, I encourage you to experiment with your own gender expressions in the coming weeks. It’s prime time to have fun with the way you interpret what it means to be a man or woman — or any other gender you might consider yourself to be.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

According to estimates by population experts, about 109 billion humans have been born on planet Earth over the millennia. And yet I’m quite sure that not a single one of those other individuals has been anything like you. You are absolutely unique, an unmatched treasure, a one-of-a-kind creation with your own special blend of qualities. And in my prophetic view, you’re ready to fully acknowledge and celebrate these facts on a higher octave than ever before.

It’s high time for you to own your deepest

authenticity; to work with extra devotion to express your soul’s code; to unabashedly claim your idiosyncratic genius.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

We don’t know as much about European history between the sixth and ninth centuries as we do about other eras. Compared to the times that preceded and followed it, cultural and literary energies were low. Fewer records were kept.

Governments were weaker and commerce was less vigorous. But historians don’t like to use the term “Dark Ages” to name that period because it brought many important developments and activities, such as improvements in farming techniques. So in some ways, “Lost Ages” might be a more apropos descriptor. Now let’s turn our attention to a metaphorically comparable phase of your own past, Capricorn: an era that’s a bit fuzzy in your memory; a phase about which your understanding is incomplete. I suspect that the coming weeks will be an excellent time to revisit that part of your life and see what new evidence and insights you can mine.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):

Why do some American libraries ban certain books, ensuring they’re unavailable to local readers? The reasons may be because they feature profanity or include references to sex, drug use, the occult, atheism, and unusual political viewpoints. Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis is one of the most frequently censored books. Others are Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Beloved, by Toni Morrison, and The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. In my astrological opinion, these are exactly the kinds of books you should especially seek out in the coming weeks. In fact, I suggest you commune with a variety of art and ideas and influences that are controversial, provocative, and intriguing.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

At the age of 97, Piscean cartoonist Al Jaffee is still creating new material for the satirical Mad magazine, where he has worked since 1964.

There was one 63-year stretch when his comic stylings appeared in all but one of Mad’s monthly issues. I nominate him to be your role model during the next four weeks. It’s a favorable time for you to access and express a high degree of tenacity, stamina, and consistency.

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MARCH 20-27, 2019

25

.RESTAURANT REVIEW.

CRAFTY CUISINE

BY MAGGIE WEAVER MWEAVER@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

A

T FIRST GLANCE La Feria doesn’t look like a restaurant. Without .a sidewalk board declaring “La Feria: Peruvian restaurant and folk art shop” I could have walked right past.

Inside, it’s more like a museum, with a collection of Peruvian folk art bursting with color, texture, and history.

La Fiera, which sits above Pamela’s Shadyside location, is a craft gallery and restaurant hybrid.

La Fiera is a sibling of Pamela’s.

Pamela Cohen and Gail Klingensmith, owners of the diner, partnered with Luisa Porras, opening the restaurantretail combo in 1993.

LA FERIA PERUVIAN RESTAURANT & GALLERY 5527 Walnut St., Shadyside.

412-682-4501 or laferia.net

The store showcases a diverse artistic landscape. Porras sources from frequent trips to Peru, hand-picking creations made with some of Peru’s oldest techniques, such as the intricate carving on mates burilados (gourds) and the Europeanadapted reverse-painted mirrors. A few steps into the shop, it turns into a restaurant, marked by a “Cantina” sign, with carpet swapped for tile and crafts for tables.

It’s a bit of a maze to actually eat at La Feria. Even entering feels wrong, moving through a lobby packed with diners waiting for coffee and eggs at Pamela’s, but up the staircase is a meal worth ditching pancakes for.

The menu is filled with both traditional and fusion dishes, featuring a few Peruvian-imported spices and goods. I

CP PHOTO: JARED MURPHY

Ají de Gallina (shredded chicken in a creamy peanut sauce) with sweet potato chips

tried three dishes: a chicken and cilantro empanada, the ropa veija (shredded beef), and escabeche de pollo (chicken), and washed it down with a Peruvian essential, Inca Kola.

Inca Kola, as my server described it, has “definitely a unique flavor.” A friend who visited Peru told me it was a musthave, the “golden cola” a staple in her Peruvian diet. The soda was bright green,

so neon it was practically glowing. One sip and I understood my server’s choice words; Inca Kola is a definite acquired taste. It was bubblegum in a can.

Thankfully, my empanada arrived soon after the kola. The pocket was a gorgeous, golden brown. The dough was a dream. It started with a crunch and quickly softened with the warm center.

Vinegar-fermented onions paired brightly

FAVORITE FEATURES: All-day Service

Nothing is sweeter than the words “service all day.” There’s no bad time for Peruvian food, and La Feria knows it.

Pamela’s eaters

Even employees at Pamela’s know the second floor brings good flavor, taking their lunch breaks to grab some rice from the upstairs counter.

The Fair

La Feria, in Spanish, means “the fair.”

That’s what the La Feria is, a fair of Peruvian culture.

with the buttery bake.

La Feria, much to my excitement, offered a combination platter to try two of their Peruvian specialties. My plate was a semi-organized mountain of ropa viejo, chicken, rice, salad, and French bread. It took me through two very different sides of Peruvian cuisine, one dish zinging with citrus, the other warm and robust. I worked clockwise, starting with the beef, tomatoes, and onions. It was hearty and modest, countered by the sweet, tangy chicken.

La Fiera is a festival of Peruvian culture, working to preserve the “quality and tradition of Peruvian folk art.” It’s a place to learn, experience, and of course, eat. Come for the crafts, stay for the cuisine. That’s what the La Feria is, a fair of Peruvian culture.

•

Follow staff writer Maggie Weaver on Twitter @magweav

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MARCH 20-27, 2019

27

Thai & Burmese Specialties!

Pad Thai

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BY AMANDA WALTZ // AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

F

EW PEOPLE HAVE influenced my

husband’s life like Stanley Tucci.

The character actor, whose mischievous charm, love of food and drink, and onscreen reputation as a willing second-fiddle to many of Hollywood’s strong, leading women have garnered him cult status. That’s definitely true in my house, where his cookbooks are prominently displayed in our kitchen.

So it’s no surprise that his short-lived 2011 PBS show Vine Talk inspired us to go on a journey of self-discovery and boozy antics.

The Vine Talk format is simple — Tucci invites his famous friends to sample several bottles of one varietal while they discuss their latest projects and careers (Nathan Lane really tears up the Riesling episode). The catch is all the wines are obscured, so no one knows the labels, how much they cost, or where they’re from. In the end, they all vote on which one they think is the best and the winner is revealed.

We decided to copy this formula with Wine Night. Our guests each bring a secret wine (because we’re financially insecure millennials, nothing costs more than $20) and, after a system involving numbers written in Sharpie and switching bottles around like a cup-and-ball game, the fun begins. We pass around each bottle, all of them sheathed within their brown Wine and Spirit bags, and proceed to taste,

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comment, and write down our thoughts.

Then we vote, which can get playfully heated depending on the ABV. So far, we’ve tried pinot noir, rosé, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, merlot, syrah, malbec, and, most recently, pinot grigio. Adjectives like “peppery” and “fruit-forward” are often thrown around.

A variety of cheese and other fine snacks are served (malbec pairs surprisingly well with Cheddar Jalapeno Crunchy Cheetos).

And each night ends with a drunken round of Jackbox games, Mario Party, or, in one instance, karaoke.

While my husband’s parents have always enjoyed wine, the closest my family gets to vino is my sister popping open a bottle of Red Cat, so my palate was indifferent at best. Most of my wine experiences involved indiscriminately filling a plastic cup with Bota Box at a party, where it was more chugged than sipped. But Wine Night has made the world of wine less intimidating, redefining it, not as a drink consumed only by snooty Frasier-types, but as accessible and unpretentious. It’s also taught me patience — over time, a wine that starts out as smelling like “baby diaper” breathes into something more complex and pleasurable.

More than anything, though, Wine Night has shown that, no matter what you’re drinking, it’s best when shared with loved ones and friends.

•

DINING OUT

OPEN 11AM-4PM

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

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BAR LOUIE

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1025 BROAD ST., NORTH VERSAILLES 412-829-2911 / BROADSTBISTRO.COM Broad Street Bistro is a neighborhood restaurant offering daily specials.

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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 house-made 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-totable 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.

LEON’S CARIBBEAN

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.

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 like Pad Thai and Coconut Curry Noodle

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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.

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.

The best gifts are edible.

1910 New Texas Rd. Pittsburgh, PA 15239 724.519.7304 EightyAcresKitchen.com

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MARCH 20-27, 2019

29

.FOOD .

BURLESQUE BRUNCH

BY MAGGIE WEAVER MWEAVER@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

P

ICTURE THIS: music starts to play, a

spotlight swings to hit center stage, illuminating a performer. The star, moving to the rhythm, pulls out a bowl of spaghetti. Welcome to Brunchlesque.

Take A Bite Brunchlesque is a “magically delicious” show created by the Velvet Hearts Pittsburgh. This celebration of brunch is part of a birthday performance for producer and burlesque artist Danielle Jackson Thorn (aka Luscious D), with a variety of acts from the Velvet Hearts Pittsburgh and Columbus.

The Velvet Hearts are the city’s original queer performing arts troupe. Since founding in 2008, the Hearts have moved across state lines, establishing groups in Columbus and Cleveland. Jackson Thorn has been with the Velvet Hearts since 2016, debuting as a director in 2017.

In its purest form, burlesque is the art of the tease. The name, derived from the Italian word burlesco, alludes to joke and ridicule. Burlesque focuses on character play, flirting with concepts that are both taunting and erotic.

Today, the art is in a neo-burlesque era, deviating from the classic showgirl form. Performances combine sideshows (hula hoop, fire play) spoken word, and dance, and branch into sub-categories like nerdlesque (using cosplay and comics) or boylesque (male-identifying performers).

PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE VELVET HEARTS PITTSBURGH

Performers from Brunchlesque

Troupes are, as Jackson Thorn describes them, “one sparkly family.”

Jackson Thorn’s performance family is the inspiration behind brunchlesque.

“When I hang out with my friends, I want to have Sunday brunch,” she says. “It brings people together. It’s family time.”

TAKE A BITE BRUNCHLESQUE

Sun., March 24. 2-4 p.m. Better. A Studio for You. 730 Brookline Blvd., Brookline. $15.

Search the event name on Facebook.

At Brunchlesque, edible props are everywhere. Jackson Thorn compares the diverse cuisine in performances to the variety of options in Pittsburgh. A meal at Franktuary in Lawrenceville is wildly different from the Eat’n Park buffet. Brunchlesque artists take cues from all angles of brunch, using ice cream sundaes, pizza, bananas, s’mores, and spaghetti.

“You can get pretty seductive with spaghetti,” she says. “You have to see it

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to understand.”

Artists use their personality and character to create with food. Jackson Thorn, for example, known for her bodypositive spoken pieces, is heading for something more sultry. The artist, who is fiber glycemic and sensitive to gluten, is paying tribute to her allergies. Her act, a play on BDSM, is a mix of sexy and silly.

She’s punishing the food that makes her sick. It’ll be a little wacky, a little weird, and totally dazzling.

•

PHOTO: SEAN QUINLIN

Bassburgh Promotions event at Braddock Elk

.MUSIC.

YOU’RE A RAVER, HARRY

BY JORDAN SNOWDEN // JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

I

T’S BEEN 22 YEARS since Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone first hit bookstores, and 18 years since the first movie was released. But the fandom is as lively as ever. Just a few weeks after the Harry Potter Film Festival at Row House Cinema, another Hogwartsthemed event is happening in Pittsburgh.

This time, Pittsburgh Potter mania is flying into new territory: an electronic dance party.

On March 23, EDM and magic will blend together for You’re a Raver, Harry at the Braddock Elk lodge.

“We felt like there was a lot we could do in terms of decoration and immersing people in the Harry Potter universe, combined with a dance show,” says Chris Stankay, one of the owners of Bassburgh, the promotional team behind the event.

Attendees will find a giant sorting hat, house flags on the walls, Azkaban wanted posters of all the DJs, Chamber of Secrets warnings on the mirrors in the bathrooms, and Moaning Myrtles around toilets, along with costume contests, free pizza, vendors, live painting, and two floors of music with themed stages.

“If one DJ’s playing house on the top floor, we’ll have the other DJ playing something different on the bottom floor,” says Stankay. “I personally like to find

clips from the movies, and I’ll have those samples or memorable quotes people will recognize if they heard it. I’ll try to mix that into the music at certain points so it all kind of blends together well.”

YOU’RE A RAVER, HARRY 7:30 p.m. Sat., March 23. Braddock Elks, 424 Library St., Braddock. $15-20. facebook.com/bassburghpromo

Themed dance parties have been a staple of Bassburgh Promotions since its creation in 2016. Before the company began bringing global headlining EDM acts like early German dubstep influencer Bukez Finezt to Pittsburgh, or hosting monthly electronic nights at clubs around the city, the first few shows the team held were themed.

Recently Bassburgh held a Great Gatsby themed event at Scenario in South Side, and in December, hosted a holiday-themed Stache Bash at Cattivo, complete with a mustache and ugly sweater contest.

“We like to combine fun things that people will be excited about with an [EDM] show,” says Stankay. “[Along with] providing opportunities for all the local DJs in the city, because there’s a lot and they all deserve to play.”

•

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MARCH 20-27, 2019

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PHOTO: MELINKA BASS

Still from Creature Companion

.ART . .

GOTHIC EXPERIMENT

BY AMANDA WALTZ // AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

A

RTIST AND FILMMAKER Melika Bass uses several elements to bring an experimental .quality to her films. But there’s one thing she wishes she could convey, especially when it comes to her 2011 film Shoals: smell.

“Shoals has a really heightened sense of sweat and wind and grime,” Bass says of the film, which is set on set on the grounds of a rural sanitarium and follows three young women under the control of a cult leader.

“It was in this sort of dairy farm country and, man, it just smelled like dung for the whole shoot. Somehow that helped us in our endeavors.”

On March 21, Shoals will be shown along with Bass’ new film, Creature Companion, at the Silver Eye Center for Photography for Prairie Gothic: Films by

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Melika Bass. The event marks the Pittsburgh debut of Bass, a Chicago-based experimental film and multichannel installation artist whose work has shown in museums and at festivals all over the U.S. and abroad, including the BFI London Film Festival, the Kino der Kunst in Munich, and the Torino Film Festival in Italy.

Shoals and Creature Companion will screen as part of Channel Silver Eye, a microcinema series showcasing experimental films and videos.

The films are also being shown in conjunction with Silver Eye’s current exhibition Gothic Fictions, which features three artists who draw inspiration from the gothic stories of writers like Edgar Allan Poe and Flannery O’Connor, as well as modern horror and true crime narratives.

Bass, who grew up in North Carolina and Virginia, admits to having “predilections towards Southern Gothic themes and images and tones.”

This fascination continued when she moved to Chicago and began transposing the style and tropes familiar to gothic literature and images onto what she calls “seemingly neutral” Midwestern landscapes, which is displayed in Shoals and Creature Companion. “[The films are] definitely both haunting and creepy,” she says. “But they’re also both a little funny, and I think the absurdity that’s in the movies about the situations that we’re looking at and about the way people are behaving is also critiqued … The films are making certain banal, everyday behaviors a bit

uncanny and hopefully asking people to question that.”

She adds that the films deal with the female body and the power dynamics associated with that, as well as the idea of wellness. “[Creature Companion] is a much more overtly feminist film, and it’s definitely about women whose bodies are being watched or being managed in some way, which Shoals is as well,” says Bass, adding that Shoals also features a rink-a-dink rural “snake-oil salesmen.”

The films are shot on 16mm or Super 16mm film, respectively, and then digitally transferred, a process Bass says allows her to retain the grainy, textural quality of a celluloid image while still being able to manipulate the color and sound. It also enables her to give Shoals, a historical fiction film, a look that is something like “1870 meets 1970” by copying the style of early photography and albumen prints.

PRAIRIE GOTHIC: FILMS BY MELIKA BASS 7 p.m. Silver Eye Center for Photography.

4808 Penn Ave., Bloomfield. Free or pay-what-you-like. silvereye.org

Creature Companion, a performance film described on Bass’ website as a “slow-burning, saucy, abstracted fable on the longing and laboring female body,” also showcases her dance and theater background. Bass, who has been making films since 1995, believes filmmaking allows her to explore her various interests.

“What I’m making is definitely on the edge in some ways of being documentary and fiction and experimental and art world,” says Bass. “It has its toes in all of those.”

She looks forward to showing how experimental films have the power to challenge viewers, especially in the case of Shoals and Creature Companion, which take on the guise of social experiments by dropping the audience in the middle of situations that force them to scramble and figure out what’s going on.

“Even if they haven’t seen any experimental films or even know what that is, I would encourage people to come to have a kind of unusual experience with an open-ended immersive narrative,” she says.

•

Follow senior writer Amanda Waltz on Twitter @AWaltzCP PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MARCH 20-27, 2019

33

FAILING UP

BY ALEX GORDON ALEXGORDON@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

PHOTO: NETFLIX

Michael Bentt was a boxer who didn’t like getting punched. Nor did he seem to enjoy being the one doing the punching. He didn’t particularly like boxing in general, but was forced into it by a relentlessly overbearing and abusive father. And somewhat predictably, that toxic mix of anger and need for his father’s approval made Bentt into a very good boxer. He became a minor star before a brutal TKO in 1994 forced him to retire.

Bentt’s story kicks off the first episode of Netflix’s new documentary series Losers, about the lives of athletes who suffered humiliating, strange, and well-documented losses.

Subjects include a bottom rung soccer club, a curling team, and a dog sled race. Patched together from archival footage, interviews, and animated re-enactments, the show takes an empathetic, if somewhat flat, look at the way we process defeat.

In episode one, a boxing trainer discusses the tragedy that befalls athletes when they pass their prime and like Bentt, have dedicated every waking moment to one set of skills while ignoring all others. But Bentt’s story is far more uplifting than many of his peers’. After the injury sidelined his career, he found his way into the film industry and began working as a technical advisor, trainer, and actor (he played Sonny Liston in Ali).

Listening to Bentt discuss it now, it seems like the job he was born to do, harnessing his love for the arts and re-discovering his passion for his first career.

Each episode looks at the concept of losing from different angles, which is both interesting and a little frustrating in its lack of cohesion. But overall the vibe is pleasant and entertaining, telling lesser-known stories of likable people making peace with failure. • 34

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

PHOTO: THE ORCHARD

José Acosta and Natalia Reyes in Birds of Passage

.FILM.

DRUG WARS, REVISITED

BY HANNAH LYNN // HLYNN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

I

N AMERICAN TELEVISION and film, the Latin American drug wars are .mostly understood to be full of barbaric violence stemming from a culture that encourages it. There is little room for nuance that might paint a more complex narrative.

Colombian drama Birds of Passage, directed by Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra, follows the early years of the drug trade in Colombia from the mid-1960s to late 1970s, told through generations of a Wayúu family — an indigenous people native to the northern part of the country. While the film is about the drug trade, it’s also about what happens when greed and corruption infiltrate a family and infect the whole bloodline. As Guerra puts it, “This is not about turning criminals into heroes, but exploring what savage, untamed capitalism has done to our soul, to the spirit of our people.”

The film opens with Zaida (Natalia Reyes) ceremonially entering womanhood, performing a ritual mating dance — la yonna — with suitor Rapayet (José Acosta), a quiet and brooding man. It’s a mesmerizing scene that kicks off an epic story that sprawls across both families (and eventually the one they make with each other). Rapayet finds he can make good money in the drug business, but what starts off as selling a couple kilos

of weed to American Peace Corps volunteers escalates into a more lucrative, and inevitably violent business, much to the dismay of his mother-in-law and tribal matriarch Ursula (Carmiña Martínez).

Rapayet is pulled between his family and Wayúu traditions, and the intoxicating power and wealth that comes from working with the alijunas (nonindigenous people). The more money, the more blood, and the more blood, the less family they have left. When a line is crossed with another drug-trading family, a war ensues, in which both parties know there is no real victory.

BIRDS OF PASSAGE

Directed by Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra. Opens Fri., March 22 at Regent Square Theater

Like any movie about the drug trade, Birds of Passage is a violent film, but the violence isn’t gratuitous or swaggering, with bodies shot up just for the sake of it. There isn’t a surplus of lavish party scenes with naked women as accessories. The money is abundant and so are its rewards, but it’s revered. No one is happy. Even after Rapayet has acquired wealth for his family, their slick modern house stands in the middle of the desert, alone.

The acting is strong, especially from

Martínez, who plays Ursula with the protective stoicism of a woman completely dedicated to her family. But the film’s cinematography stands out the most, using the expanse of the setting to its fullest extent. The Guajira Peninsula, where the movie is set, ranges between dry and windy desert, and lush tropics by the water. Colors are used strategically, employing the bright red of clothing or blood to contrast the beige expanse.

It’s clear how much care and research went into the movie and its depiction of the Wayúu culture, which is refreshing, considering how little time and energy has historically been put into indigenous stories. Gallego stated that 30 percent of the crew working on the film were Wayúu and that the filmmakers spent years researching the history of not just the drug trade, but the mythology, music, clothing, and language of the Wayúu. Though there is some Spanish and English sprinkled in, most of the film is spoken in Wayuunaiki.

Irreparable damage has been done by the many two-dimensional depictions of the Latin American drug trade. So many stereotypes and caricatures have characterized Latin drug lords as either heartless savages or revered masterminds.

But Birds of Passage tells a different story, way more complex, and compelling, than its predecessors.

Follow staff writer Hannah Lynn on Twitter @hanfranny

•

.GABBY NORMAL.

(ALMOST)

GOING CLEAR

BY GAB BONESSO CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

T

HE SUMMER I was eight, my father was going through a spiritual rough patch. The year prior, he sold his bar (which had been a life-long dream of his), and he quickly changed gears to a new kind of business. I can’t go into all the details but are you familiar with the term “fake Gucci products?” Yeah, that business didn’t work out either. (That story is a whole other column.)

Dad began spending the summer not working, ordering L. Ron Hubbard books, and spending six hours a day vacuuming our swimming pool. It is important to note that our pool water was green most of that summer. His vacuuming was more habitual than practical.

Dad was not only reading L. Ron Hubbard books, but he was also receiving mail from the Church of Scientology.

He was actually thinking about joining.

My mom was not happy about this.

CP PHOTOS: GAB BONESSO

Left: Mail from the Church of Scientology. Right: Gab Bonesso.

She converted to Catholicism to marry the man and she was not about to enable my father with this quest.

Cue: Gabby, a curious eight-yearold whose favorite past time was to ask questions.

“What book are you reading, Dad?” “What’s Scientology?”

“Who’s L. Ron Hubbard?”

Dad finally found someone who wanted to hear the good word, and it was me!

One afternoon while my mother was busy cleaning motel rooms, my father sat me down on our couch and said that he wanted to try something.

He said he wanted to “clear” me. He said it would be cool and he knew that

Follow featured contributor Gab Bonesso on Twitter @gabbonesso

I could do it.

I remember him leading me into meditation. He had me explain the imagery that I was seeing in my head.

I remember seeing a forest in technicolor and then the sun was blinding until I walked through a patch of trees into a valley where I saw the start of a rainbow.

To this day, I still misremember that memory as something that really happened.

I’ve argued with my childhood best friends, “Remember when we walked through the woods and found the magical valley?” and they look at me like I’m on drugs.

I don’t know what any of this means. My father got a job at the end of summer that actually changed his life, and his L. Ron Hubbard books began to collect dust on a shelf.

I still think about that summer, and even though my dad has been dead for 20 years, he still gets mail from the Church. With everything going on with the Catholic Church, I too am feeling spiritually vacant this year.

Maybe this summer I should explore the Church of Scientology as an adult. Who knows? I might even find Tom Cruise waiting for me at the end of that rainbow.

•

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35

.MUSIC.

STREET RELIEF

BY JORDAN SNOWDEN JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

T

HERE’S A MISCONCEPTION that

charity marketing strategies must evoke sadness and guilt. Picture Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel” playing loudly as sick animals look directly into the camera and thus, into the viewer’s soul.

Josh Corcoran is proving otherwise with Spare Change, a video series that uses music to unite musicians, businesses, and the local community in support of charity.

“If we’re doing our job right,” says Corcoran, “we’re hoping to really showcase charities in a different light, and the approach of being creative for charities, and how they can market themselves a different way.”

The idea for Spare Change came during a night in South Side in early 2017. Corcoran had just lost his job and found out that he and his wife were expecting a daughter. Frantically sending out resumes during the day, he met up with his friends at night to relax through music.

“For some reason, it was a warm February day in Pittsburgh,” says Corcoran. “We decided to go out into the streets and started to busk as a joke.

We started making money from people, and then this guy came up asking for spare change.”

Corcoran took all the money they had made from their guitar case and gave it to the gentleman.

“His reaction, he was so floored that we were like, ‘Wow, what else can we do with the money we make from music?’

That very night I started filming on my phone,” says Corcoran.

They continued their adventure, and the video became the first episode of Spare Change. After posting the video and receiving positive reactions online, Corcoran and his friends continued busking around town, filming, and donating the money they made to local causes.

To give their videos a soundtrack, they reached out to bands they were fans of, such as Dispatch and Bryce Vine, and asked for permission to use their music.

“Bryce Vine, he said, ‘Anytime you

PHOTO: STONE SWIESS

Rock Reggae Relief/Pressure Busspipe

want to use my music, go for it.’ So, after that first year, we started getting musicians to be in the videos themselves and Bryce Vine, who let us use his music before, was now in our 12th episode.”

THIS SUMMER, DON’T BE SURPRISED TO SEE A NATIONAL ACT BUSKING ON THE STREETS OF PITTSBURGH. Spare Change has evolved into a video series that invites musicians to perform on behalf of their favorite charity.

The artists often busk and then turn their concert into a fundraising event by passing the Spare Change bucket around for a cause of their choosing. The whole process is edited into a video used to create an online campaign to invite more

donations. Charities have included the American Cancer Society, the Jewish Federation Victim of Terror Fund, and the Rock, Reggae, and Relief festival.

“Their mission to raise money for non-profits, and the ability to connect a band with a good cause through their audience, is inspiring,” says Chris O’Brian of Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, who appeared in episode 13 of Spare Change.

Recently, Spare Change won $25,000 from Chip and Joanna Gaines of Fixer Upper as part of their “Chipstarter” contest, where interested parties could win any amount to “fund their dreams.” Out of 200 submissions, Spare Change was one of 12 finalists.

“They flew us down to Waco, Texas, and awarded all 12 [finalists] whatever they had asked for,” says Corcoran.

“We didn’t find out until we were on stage. We’ve gotten great feedback from these musicians who see it as an outlet to showcase their more charitable side. But to have recognition from a finalist perspective of Chip and Joanna Gaines is like, ‘Wow, we’re really onto something here.’”

After winning Chipstarter, Corcoran

Follow staff writer Jordan Snowden on Twitter @snowden_jordan

36

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

began thinking about how to better market and release Spare Change videos.

First, he upgraded their production capabilities. Up until that point, Corcoran and the Spare Change team were filming and editing the videos on a phone. The team is also planning to have a per-episode budget and a consistent release schedule.

“Before, we were kind of running and gunning, film, release, film, release,” says Corcoran. “Now, we’re going to try to be really specific about releases, almost like a [TV] season.”

As artists make tour stops in Pittsburgh, Corcoran plans to shoot episodes around their shows. Then this fall, an episode will drop every two weeks, the time in-between allotted to promote the musician’s chosen charity.

“We want to become the music video series in Pittsburgh that bands look forward to when coming because they can use this opportunity to make an impact,” says Corcoran.

While Spare Change won’t be releasing anything this summer, don’t be surprised to see a national act busking in the streets of Pittsburgh.

•

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MARCH 20-27, 2019

37

.ART . .

BACKSTAGE

BY LISSA BRENNAN CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

NAME: Jasen Bernthisel, Wilkinsburg WORK: Art Preparator at Wood Street Galleries, Space, 937 Gallery, and 707 Gallery

WHAT DO YOU DO EVERY DAY? Anything from something as straightforward as hanging paintings on a wall to as complex as the engineering of a large mirrored room. We know ahead of time about the fabrication process of installations so work months in advance, leading up to one show while putting up another. Things break constantly, especially with robotic and more in-depth media pieces, so we spend a lot of time learning how things work. How do we keep this motor running? What’s the software artists are using in case we need to modify if something goes wrong? Every show brings new tasks we’re actively responding to, and it’s extremely varied in the day to day.

But the safety and strategy of how to install a work, sometimes with things that are mostly just concepts, is a large part of it.

“CONCEPTS” MEANING WORKS THAT DON’T EXIST YET? Sometimes. Artists send specs that are “I want to do this.” It’s all in their head and [we’re told to] “make this happen.”

A lot of our work is translating artists’ thoughts into actual physical spaces and physical works, translating ideas into installations and immersive experiences.

AND THE ARTISTS AREN’T PRESENT. Oftentimes not. With Wood Street, we work mostly with international artists almost exclusively.

HOW DO YOU STAY TRUE TO A CONCEPT WHEN THERE’S NO PROTOTYPE TO FOLLOW? A lot of back and forth. A lot of Skype.

At times we need something specific or crucial to proceed further and when our artists aren’t here, we have to intuit what’s in their best interest and the best interest of the piece. Luckily, we have a lot of really smart people on our team that are able to negotiate the potential of the artistic vision. There’s a lot of

38

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

CP PHOTO: JARED MURPHY

Jasen Bernthisel in the Infinity Room installation by artist Refik Anadol at Wood Street Galleries

navigation, and they trust us to make decisions for them based on our experience. We have a rapport established that allows that. But sometimes the course is completely mapped out.

DO YOU PREFER WORKING OFF A REGIMENTED BLUEPRINT OR LESS EXPLICIT FRAMEWORK? I love a technical drawing that has everything down to the millimeter. When I get that information, I know exactly what I need to do. That said, when I’m given carte blanche to go ahead and pursue the best way, it allows for a lot of creative problem solving. The collaboration that happens can be really exciting.

IS IT PREDOMINANTLY TECH OR ARE

YOU ALSO WORKING WITH RAW MATERIALS LIKE WOOD AND PAINT? We kind of function as general contractors. Our entire crew are capable of building walls to OSHA specifications, making sure galleries are completely accessible. We’re painters in terms of wall prep and treatment, pretty competent wall framers and dry wallers. We have to run this gamut of being very versatile.

HOW DO YOU KNOW ALL THIS? I studied sculpture at Ohio University, learned all the ins and outs of how to work with material. Now there’s a lot of learning on the go, but doing this a number of years, you have the basics of what could possibly happen when you get thrown a project, tweaking knowledge

you already have.

HOW HAS WORKING WITH OTHERS’ ART INFORMED YOUR OWN? I notice the community around me permeating what I’m doing on a level that’s not necessarily specific and conscious but more innate and ingrained. There’s a lot of transmutation of ideas.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE PROCESS? Anything very complicated, potentially dangerous, requiring a lot of engineering, and also maybe in the realm of “we don’t quite know how to do this.” That level of challenge makes it feel more as though I’m inserting a part of myself because I really have to activate my brain to make it happen.

•

Record Store Day 2019 Saturday, April 13

PHOTO: SCOTT SPINDLER

Buffalo Rose

.MUSIC.

OPEN AT 8AM 20% OFF all USED vinyl & CD’s!

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THE 412 is a new music section where CP reveals a more fun side of the local music scene, by asking four questions about music, one question about Pittsburgh, and two questions about drinks.

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ATTICRECORDS@VERIZON.NET

BY JORDAN SNOWDEN // JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

S

INCE BUFFALO ROSE released its debut album last year, the six-member band lost — and then added — a vocalist to the group. With the addition of Rosanna Spindler, Buffalo Rose’s sonic direction moved towards pop.

“We’ve been writing poppier and poppier songs as we’ve gone along,” says Lucy Clabby, Buffalo Rose singer and songwriter. “[Bandmate Shane McLaughlin] and I have this tendency to write songs and say they’re not going to be Buffalo Rose songs, but we always end up turning them into Buffalo Rose songs.

That’s just our sound now. Also, we were excited about having Rosanna on board now, and we wanted to try something new because she’s new.”

Four nights a week, Buffalo Rose works on its next album in a space they rented in the Unity Center of Pittsburgh. This is where the members are putting together their new single, “Rocketship,”

QUESTIONS ABOUT MUSIC WHAT PITTSBURGH MUSICIAN ARE YOU MOST EXCITED TO SEE GROW IN 2019?

Brittney Chantele AND A BAND? Sad Girls Aquatics Club WHAT’S A SONG YOU CAN’T HELP BUT DANCE TO WHEN IT STARTS PLAYING? “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” – Eurythmics WHAT THE LAST CONCERT YOU ATTENDED? Working Breed and the Summercamp at Howlers

which was mixed by Grammy-winning engineer, Jimmy Hoyson. Buffalo Rose is debuting “Rocketship” Friday, along with other new music, at SongSpace at First Unitarian.

“ROCKETSHIP” SINGLE RELEASE WITH MADELINE RAE AND THE DAISYCHAIN

8 p.m. Fri., March 22. SongSpace at First Unitarian, 605 Morewood Ave., Shadyside. $12-15. buffalorosemusic.com

“The sound there is incredible,” says Buffalo Rose singer and songwriter McLaughlin. “There’s huge ceilings, and we’re bringing in a big light show. Our friend Max Sommerville from Wreck Loose is going to play this super old organ that was a gift from Andrew Carnegie that [the church] is letting us use.”

QUESTION ABOUT PITTBURGH BEST PLACE TO HANG AFTER REHEARSAL? Outside: Frick Park, Inside: Kelly’s

QUESTIONS ABOUT BEER WHAT’S A BEER FLAVOR YOU WISH EXISTED? Honeydew or Cool Ranch Doritos flavor? I actually feel that there are enough flavors of beer and would like the world of beer to return of the focus to barley. Maybe a farm flavor. Crop Rotation Ale. THERE’S A NEW STRAWBERRY LEMONADE FAVORED NATURAL LIFE. THOUGHTS? No, thank you.

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MARCH 20-27, 2019

39

PHOTO: MARK SIMPSON PHOTOGRAPHY

Uncharted dancers Alexandra Tiso and Alan Obuzor

.DANCE.

UNCHARTED

BY STEVE SUCATO // CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

A

LEXANDER GRAHAM BELL’S adage

“When one door closes another door opens,” proved true for Texture Contemporary Ballet’s Alexandra Tiso.

The company’s longest tenured dancer came to Pittsburgh from her hometown of Tampa, Fla. to attend Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s prestigious graduate program with the hopes of earning a spot in the professional company.

When that door closed, Alan Obuzor, an instructor of hers at PBT, opened the door to join his recently launched company Texture Contemporary Ballet.

Seven years later, she has become an integral part of the organization that has grown from project-based to fulltime dance company.

Tiso began her dance training at age three because her parents thought it would help focus her, especially concerning a speech impediment she had. ..

“I had my own made-up language and wasn’t talking to anybody,” says Tiso.

“When my parents went to pick up my older sister at dance class, they noticed I was really into what I was seeing. They thought maybe if they put me in dance class, I would start talking [in English] to the other kids.”

Tiso says the ploy worked somewhat, but more importantly, it led to her falling totally in love with dance. That love has grown at Texture where she says she not only gets to improve her dancing and perform, but also broaden her horizons as an artist.

“What has kept me at Texture is that I have been given a lot of other opportunities,” says Tiso. “I teach company class, am an artistic administrator, and I have gotten to choreograph [in the company] multiple times, which has really been wonderful.”

TEXTURE CONTEMPORARY BALLET PRESENTS UNCHARTED

8 p.m. Fri., March 22; Sat., March 23; and 2 p.m., Sun., March 24. New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square East, North Side. $20-30.

412-320-4610 or textureballet.org

Tiso will have another opportunity to show her choreographic skills in a new work she is co-creating with Texture associate artistic director Kelsey Batman for the company’s upcoming program Uncharted. Their work “Up&Up” is titled after a song by Coldplay whose music provides the soundtrack for the 30-minute ballet for 10 dancers (including Bartman and Tiso) in sneakers. It is one of two works in the program themed around public versus

Follow featured contributing writer Steve Sucato on Twitter @ssucato

40

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

private personas. Here, Bartman and Tiso touch on the possible tragic downsides of disguising troubling issues in one’s life.

Artistic director Obuzor’s contributes “The Piece,” a rare 40-minute behind-the-scenes look at how Obuzor creates a ballet for Texture. And former PBT dancer Christopher Bandy’s new work for the company “‘til the wheels come off” features six dancers to music

by Tom Waits, and, like “Up&Up,” deals with public versus private personas.

For Tiso, another aspect of her fit at Texture is the athleticism found in many of the company’s works that play into her strengths as a dancer.

“When I am onstage dancing, it is like an unfurling of all my energy,” Tiso says. That athleticism is also what attracts audiences to the company and will be on full display in Uncharted.

•

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.LITERATURE.

FAVORITE SPY

BY REGE BEHE CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

Dr. Stacy Lane, D.O. • 412-515-0000

M

ARIE BENEDICT never lacks

for material. The Sewickleywriter keeps a list of women who have made contributions to the arts, sciences, and history, but are relatively unknown.

The only reason they aren’t more famous is history’s tendency to be written with a patriarchal bias. “I have running lists of women, huge numbers of women,” says Benedict, the pseudonym of Heather Terrell. “I’m constantly adding to that list. I find them everywhere.”

The topic of Benedict’s latest novel, The Only Woman in the Room, was hiding in plain sight. Actress Hedy Lamarr is best known for her sultry roles in Ziegfeld Girl, Samson and Delilah, and The Heavenly Body.

But Lamarr also made significant contributions to modern technology.

The ubiquity of cell phones and wireless internet can be directly traced to Lamarr’s groundbreaking work. Collaborating with avant-garde composer George Antheil, Lamarr invented the technology that became the basis for Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth. “Every one of us, every day, holds a piece of Hedy Lamarr’s invention in our hand,” Benedict says. “We have really no sense of that, and there’s been no broad-scale acknowledgment of her invention until recently.”

Benedict worked as a lawyer before becoming a writer. She started with historical fiction before turning to young adult novels. Her current niche started in 2016 when she released The Other Einstein, about Albert Einstein’s wife Mileva Maric. In Carnegie’s Maid (2018), she created a fictional character based on her research of a possible confidante to industrialist Andrew Carnegie.

The Only Woman in the Room has earned Benedict the best reviews of her career and reached No. 7 on the New York Times’ Best Seller list in February.

Lamarr’s story is improbable. Born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in Austria in 1914, she started as an actress in Austrian theater and attracted the attention of a suitor. Friedrich Mandl was a notorious Austrian arms dealer

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who had ties to Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. Feeling she had no choice, Lamarr, then 18, accepted Mandl’s proposal of marriage (he was 33), in part to shield her parents’ Jewish roots.

After the marriage, Lamarr went to functions attended by powerbrokers connected to the rise of Nazi Germany.

“She was at this incredible intersection, this incredible crossroads,” Benedict says. “She was privy to information that very few people were privy to because of her husband’s role. Because of her beauty, she was at these parties and dinners and events, always at her husband’s side, but always invisible. Because she was beautiful, that’s all people could see.

They assumed that beauty and intellect could not coexist, and therefore she was incapable of understanding what they were talking about, whether it was weaponry or military plans or schemes for the Jewish people. … She would put that information later to good use.”

Lamarr fled from Mandl and escaped to Paris and then London, before eventually immigrating to the U.S. She became one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s biggest stars through the influence of studio mogul Louis B. Mayer. Riddled with survivor’s guilt, she decided to use the knowledge she had gleaned at Mandl’s side to invent a frequencyhopping weaponry system.

But Lamarr was rebuffed when she

Follow featured contributor Rege Behe on Twitter @RegeBehe_exPTR

approached military officials with her invention because she was a woman.

“If they had been able to consider her intellect and innovative skills and adopted her invention when it was offered, what might have happened during World War II?” Benedict says. “How might the outcome have shifted if her invention had been utilized? In that way I think The Only Woman in the Room becomes a cautionary tale about underestimating women and their contributions.”

•

BETWEEN THE LINES

127 Anderson Street - Suite 101 Timber Court Building, PIttsburgh, PA 15212 Phone: (412) 322-4151

WASHINGTON, PA LOCATION 95 Leonard Avenue - Suite 203 Washington PA 15301 Phone: (724) 249-2517

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PYRAMID

TATTOO & Body Piercing

Park Yeon-mi, an author, actor, and defector from North Korea, will speak March 20 at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater, in East Liberty. Park escaped to China from her homeland in 2007 with her family, where she and her mother were taken by human traffickers. They eventually made their way to Mongolia before being sent to Seoul.

Park has since become an antitrafficking advocate and moved to New York City in 2014 to complete her memoir, In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom.

Admission for the 7:30 p.m. event, hosted by the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh, is $40, and $25 for students and veterans. 412-281-7970 or worldpittsburgh.org

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BRIDGEVILLE, PA

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MARCH 20-27, 2019

41

.DATING.

BANDING TOGETHER

BY MAGGIE WEAVER MWEAVER@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

A

BAD DATE was the last straw

for Anne Lopez. She paid the tab, left her suitor at a bar, and thought “I can’t do this anymore.” Fed up with terrible matches, she created Green Band.

Green Band is a lime green bracelet made of silicone, similar to those from the Livestrong craze. The movement is an alternative to online dating, focusing on in-person meetups. The bands communicate a green light for other singles, indicating a willingness to be approached, have conversations, and connect.

“I had such bad experiences online,” Lopez says. “And I was trying really hard. I felt like I was doing all the right things, not playing games and giving people a chance, but just one after another, it was such a waste of time.”

Dating apps preach love at first swipe when, for many users, viable matches are few and far between. There are pre-date conversations and judgements that don’t necessarily match the reality of an in-person meeting. As Lopez puts it, meeting face-to-face, at the very least, is a time saver. In person, “you just know instantly whether they’re an option or not.”

“When dating sites took over,

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PGHCITYPAPER.COM

PHOTO: COURTESY OF GREEN BAND/ ANNE LOPEZ

“I ENVISION A DAY WHEN YOU CAN GO IN A GROCERY STORE AND SEE TEN OPTIONS. HOW GREAT WOULD IT BE IF YOU KNEW THAT THE CUTE GUY AT THE CEREAL AISLE WAS SINGLE?” everyone went to their phone and thought, ‘this is the way I’m gonna do it,’ and forgot how to meet new people

in real life,” Lopez says.

Swiping at home keeps dating safe, away from the vulnerability of

in-person rejection. Even inside bars, an easy space for connection, people cling to groups.

Green Band aims to change this culture. Members of the movement are encouraged to wear the band all the time, as an easy way to ask if people are single without being “totally weird.”

“Instead of ‘Are you single, do you want to go out on a date with me, right now?’ the band gives you an opener,” says Lopez, who though now in a relationship, used to wear her band everywhere. “I envision a day when you can go in a grocery store and see ten options. How great would it be if you knew that the cute guy at the cereal aisle was single?”

Lopez creates a causal approach to organized dating. There’s no threeminute time cap or ringing bells (though she says she’s open to anything). She loses “life partner” pressure by making the band about community.

Singles and non-singles (only singles wear green bands) are welcome at all events. Green Band provides a network for all Pittsburghers.

Now, she’s focused on building trust. The next step for Green Band is addressing common fears and questions like, “Who will be there?” and “What if it’s awkward?”

“I know we’re onto something, because so many people love this idea.

We just have to find the right way to reach people,” she says.

Still new to the city, Green Band already has success stories — even one from the founder herself. She has plans for 2019 events, hinting at collaborations with matchmakers and bars, trivia nights, and dating games.

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LET S GET ’

S CIAL .VOICES.

DO YOUR MATH

@PGHCITYPAPER

BY TERENEH IDIA // CPCONTRIBUTOR@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

D

“

O YOUR MATH.”

The calculations. Not homework but daily life work. If you’re paying attention, you do it sometimes. If you’re Brown, most days. If you’re Black, always. Every day or e’rydamnday.

What’s the constant? It’s white + supremacist + patriarchy (WSP).

The variable: you. Add or subtract points on how closely you connect to the constant.

White: Add the most points for white.

Also add points if you’re: white presenting, white adjacent, white passing.

Points are reduced from zero to negative numbers the “further” from white you get on the WSP scale.

Patriarchy: Cis heterosexual male — you get the most points.

That’s the system we operate in, do your math.

Every encounter is burdened with this equation, and we may not even know it. We are not always aware of the count.

The real trauma, the issue, the problem is you never know who is counting, you never know when the math is going to tip the scale against you.

Something simple turns into a problem. Something innocuous done by a white man is death sentence if a Black man does the same thing.

The WSP tells a Black man to wear a suit, while a white man can wear a t-shirt and jeans — anywhere, all day, everywhere and be considered appropriate. The WSP tells the Black man in a suit that he is being “uppity and pretentious” and “who does he think he is?” The WSP tells the Black woman in a suit that she must be the flight attendant, security guard, or waitstaff because “I have never seen anyone that

looks like you here.”

The math tells the Black woman that her cornrow braids, glitter eyeshadow, and nail art is ghetto until a white woman does it — then it is fashion, edgy, and stylish.

The WSP tells the white woman she is wearing something that can get her sexually assaulted. It tells the same woman how to dress, act, speak, think, to attract a man because that is her reason for being.

The math tells the Black woman she is not a woman.

The WSP follows a Black person in a store and opens their bag. The WSP doesn’t see the white kids shoplifting.

The WSP tells a Black person that wanting to be treated fairly is a “utopia” and it won’t “happen in your lifetime.”

Which is basically like carrying a “go to jail for nothing” or “license to die at any time” card for the rest of your life.

The WSP tells a Black person that they have to be humane, more humane than the inhumane person who is denying their humanity.

The toxic beauty of this equation is that it could be or may be someone with only one connection to the constant, who attempts to curry favor and use the math against you, against themselves: 53 percent of white women voted for the current occupant of the White House.

And Chuck D told us back in 1990: “Every brother ain’t a brother ‘cause of color.”

Now imagine a new equation. An equation that just includes one constant: Life.

So the math would go something like this: You’re alive. Add one point.

That’s it, that’s the math.

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Follow featured contributor Tereneh Idia on Twitter @Tereneh152XX

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LANDMARKS PRESERVATION RESOURCE CENTER - A program of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation Foundation

JOIN US AT THE LANDMARKS PRESERVATION RESOURCE CENTER FOR ONGOING WORKSHOPS AS WE CONTINUE PROGRAMMING ON ARCHITECTURE, HISTORY, DESIGN, URBAN PLANNING, AND OTHER TOPICS RELATED TO HOW CITIES FUNCTION AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION AS A TOOL OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.

TUESDAY, MARCH 26 • 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM LECTURE: REPURPOSING EVERYDAY BUILDINGS: EXTRAORDINARY RENOVATIONS OF ORDINARY STRUCTURES PRESENTERS: BEA SPOLIDORO & ERIC FISHER In the past, only large institutions could afford to completely renovate their buildings.

Yet now, private clients are often asking architects to radically renovate modest structures. Although their primary interest may be in lowering the project budget, many owners are also happy to preserve the past, minimize their use of vanishing resources and communicate a progressive brand. This lecture will feature examples of European adaptive reuse, where citizens respect history but funding is often sparse. Come learn why preserving a variety of buildings is important, not just those that have been deemed special and be introduced to examples of extraordinary renovations of ordinary structures and techniques for implementing adaptive reuse strategies in unexpected ways.

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS: Bea Spolidoro AIA, LEED Green Associate, WELL AP, is an Italian Architect registered in Pennsylvania who has been working with Pittsburgh-based firm Rothschild Doyno Collaborative since 2012.

She is an active member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) at a local level. Her Italian background motivates her to be a steward of healthy, sustainable design and of preservation. As a result, her projects aim to improve both the built world and society.

Eric Fisher AIA, LEED AP, is the principal at Fisher ARCHitecture, a Pittsburgh firm he founded in 2006. A fourth generation Pittsburgher, Eric has more than 25 years of experience as an architect, working in Europe and the United States, including a four-year apprenticeship with Richard Meier detailing the Los Angeles Getty Museum. He holds engineering and visual arts degrees from Dartmouth College along with an architecture degree from Harvard University.

THIS LECTURE IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. RSVPS ARE APPRECIATED: MARYLU@PHLF.ORGOR 412-471-5808 EXT. 527.

744 REBECCA AVENUE

WILKINSBURG, PA 15221

412-471-5808

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MARCH 20-27, 2019

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CP PHOTO: JARED MURPHY

CP staff writer Jordan Snowden getting her hair braided at Elevationz in Hazelwood

.ART . .

HAIR MAKES THE PERSON

BY JORDAN SNOWDEN // JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

U

P UNTIL RECENTLY, I chemically straightened my hair, conforming to an unrealistic, single-minded idea of beauty. But last week, emerging from the Elevationz hair salon in Hazelwood after six hours having my short, curly locks transformed into a long, luscious black-to-purple ombre braids, I felt beautiful, confident, and self-assured.

Braids have empowered Black women for centuries, and Margo Leigh — a wig, braid, and weave specialist as well as a coordinator for the upcoming Western Pennsylvania Hair and Fashion Expo — helped me channel that feeling.

While, today, braids are seen as a fun way to switch up a look, the hairstyle has a long, rich, cultural history. In

Africa, braids were used to show kinship, age, religion, and the like. Then, when African people were taken to America as slaves, they wore their hair in braids to stay connected to their roots, giving them a feeling of independence. This worked because the style stayed “neat and tidy,” a requirement for working on plantations.

Once slavery was abolished, Black women began to straighten their hair to fit into society’s standard of beauty, meaning White America’s standard.

In the 1970s and ‘80s, there was a resurgence of natural Black hairstyles — afros, cornrows, long, styled braids.

And in recent years, braided hairstyles have become so popular that famous

WPA’S HAIR AND FASHION EXPO

10 a.m. Sun., March 24. David L. Lawrence Convention Center, 1000 Fort Duquesne Blvd., Downtown. $35+. Search “Pa’s Hair and Fashion EXPO” on Facebook.

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PGHCITYPAPER.COM

White women like Christina Aguilera, from across the country, there will be Kylie Jenner, and Kim Kardashian classes on braiding, marketing for stylists, have worn them. And because of that, and weave techniques, as well as a appropriation has become the new braiding competition, a braid fashion topic of discussion when braided hairshow, and a six-person natural hair panel styles are brought up, taking away from discussion with Syleena Johnson, co-host the exquisiteness and deep history of TV One’s Sister Circle. It will be a of the hairstyle. (Note: This gathering to celebrate the uniqueonly scratches the surface ness and artsy side of braiding Watch our of POC and natural/braided while sharing tips and tricks behind-thehairstyles. For example, on styling and upkeep. scenes video at many Black women have When Leigh did my hair, pghcitypaper been turned away from jobs; it was the first time I ever had .com kids in school have been threatmy hair braided professionally. ened with expulsion for wearing I was nervous, but at Elevationz — braided or natural hairstyles.) also a tattoo parlor, store, and events This weekend, however, the Western space — each room is private. I enjoyed Pennsylvania Hair and Fashion Expo at the comfort of having my hair done withthe David L. Lawrence Convention Center out others coming and going, the sound provides an opportunity to focus on of hair dryers blasting in the background. the beauty and technique of braids and I’ve never felt so content with myself natural hairstyles. Featuring educators, or more connected to my roots, seeing motivational speakers, and fashion icons the art in hair.

•

.JUST JAGGIN’.

THE WAITING GAME

BY JOSH OSWALD // JOSWALD@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

W

ARM WEATHER is shambling toward Pittsburgh. And as we ease our way outside again to shop for mulch and various seeds, many of us will meander across the Clemente Bridge to PNC Park for another year of baseball. Some will mill around the offbrand merch dealers. Others will pause halfway across to take in the blerps and bleeps of the Sax Man. But we’ll all end up at the game at some point.

Recently, Major League Baseball and many of its fans have been discussing ways to make the individual games faster.

And while many fans would love to see a bit more spring in the step of a pitcher between deliveries, I caution otherwise.

An MLB team’s schedule spans three out of Earth’s four seasons, features 162 regular season games per year from April to September, and each game takes about three hours and eight minutes to bring to completion. To rush its three acts is to destroy its narrative structure. The excitement of baseball is the waiting.

For every walk-off homerun, there are roughly 61 foul balls (I did the math).

It was 45 years between Carl Yastrzemski’s Triple Crown and Miguel Cabrera’s in 2012. There are only 18 minutes of in-game action during any one game.

Yes, the traditional definition of what Americans consider excitement is at a

premium for any single game, season, lifetime. But a great personal experience doesn’t require a great game, great play, or big win.

310346_4.75_x_4.75.indd 1 Memories are being created between pitches for fans in attendance and those watching or listening from home. Sworn enemies from opposing fanbases bond over their mutual love of statistics and strategy. You may not know that guy’s name in front of you, but you sure as hell know his son is going to Cornell next year. Pregnant wives, due at any moment, agree to go to neighborhood bars to watch a team’s first playoff appearance in 21 years*. Friends place bets on who can kick Starting the process Do you qualify for Advocating on your 30-yard field goals. Fans reminisce about is easy and takes behalf with former games, players, stadiums, at-bat only minutes to Call for a FREE applications, appeals complete evaluation & hearings music, player meltdowns, stadium theme music, their families, other people’s If you are unable to work due to a physical, medical or mental disability families, underperforming prospects, & are under the age of 62, their new car, their old car, life.

Helping Professional baseball is over 146 years 1000s Get 1000’s old, and we must respect the wisdom • Steady monthly income depending on your paid in amount it’s gained in that time. The game is They Deserve deliberate, the season is leisurely — • Annual cost of living increases characteristics we harried humans can only aspire to. So even if you don’t like baseball, take some time to appreciate the moments between life’s excitements.

Call for a Free Consultation But who doesn’t like baseball? *This may or may not be based on personal experience. OK. It is.

SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY

1

•

Follow digital media manager Josh Oswald on Twitter @gentlemenRich

2

3/13/19 8:49

3

(855) 447-5891

Bill Gordon & Associates, a nationwide practice, represents clients before the Social Security Administration. Member of the TX & NM Bar Associations.

Mail: 1420 NW St Washington D.C. Office: Broward County, FL. Services may be provided by associated attorneys licensed in other states. * The process for determining each applicant’s disability benefits varies greatly, and can take upwards of two years.

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MARCH 20-27, 2019

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CP PHOTO: JARED MURPHY

.ARCHITECTURE.

Shakespeare Giant Eagle shopping center at Penn and Shady

FEEDBACK LOOP

BY CHARLES ROSENBLUM // CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

O

N MARCH 13, Phil Bishop, vice president of Echo Realty, presented a redevelopment proposal for the Shakespeare Giant Eagle shopping center at Penn and Shady. Councilwoman Erika Strassberger introduced the project to an audience of about 200 in the Parish Hall of Calvary Episcopal Church.

This was the second major community presentation of the project, and the reaction to very preliminary studies was mostly adversarial.

Echo, which is essentially the real estate arm of Giant Eagle, plans to demolish the existing strip, though the adjacent historic church and chiropractic office would remain. The new scheme would place a one-story grocery store along Penn Avenue with 38,000 square feet of space, down from the current 54,000. Approximately nine retail storefronts of various configurations would face Shady and turn the corner to Penn.

Above these, five additional floors of construction, rising to 70 feet, would house 200 to 250 apartments, mostly at market rate. The 10 percent of “workforce development” apartments, though not currently priced, would be affordable to a family of four with a $75,000 annual income. A parking garage bordering

Aurelia Street and the Village of Shadyside would provide spaces for 584 cars.

Echo put itself at a disadvantage by presenting preliminary massing schemes instead of rendered architecture. Apartments are orange, the store is blue, retail is beige, and the garage is grey. But the presentation materials give zero sense of the potentially mitigating architectural qualities of the project — the residential and commercial contexts, on-the-street experiences of the designs, uses of landscape or the very meager open space. Bishop referred to more developed drawings by Strada architects, but he did not present them.

Then again, no amount of detailing or rendering could hide the fundamental difficulties of this scheme so far. It reflects real estate’s desire to stuff the site with revenue-generating functions and little else. One commenter decried the failure to consider “quality of life.”

And there were plenty of other complaints. Commenters repeatedly complained about traffic in a scheme which will attract many more cars to already-congested streets, while restricting access. “We’re studying that … meeting with the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure,” Bishop said.

But not all complaints were suitable critiques. Much of the room, measured in a few comments and plenty of crowd response, had a repeated bias against rental units. A millennial-age speaker who advocated up for additional workforce development units was actually booed by the crowd.

Similarly, with a rough count of three African-American people in a selfdescribed open meeting for neighbors of a shopping center where a large percentage of patrons are Black, Pittsburgh’s de facto segregation appeared to be in its ugly full force.

Cassandra Osterman, a graduate architect speaking as a meeting attendee, asked if the developers planned any meetings as design charrettes, with participants having a chance to make tangible suggestions for function and design of the development on paper, similar to the recent process for the ShurSave development in Bloomfield.

Bishop responded that this meeting was the opportunity for input, but the team might come back with a scheme that proposes development without housing. Councilwoman Strassberger expressed willingness to have “as many conversations as necessary.”

Follow contributing writer Charles Rosenblum on Twitter @CharlzR

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But that just makes this seem like a frustrating continuation of the process starting a few years ago when Giant Eagle representatives proposed a scheme GetGo gas station on this site. The plan was quashed in part by neighborhood protest, and the same fate seems to await this proposal. Long-time Shadyside resident Judy Palkovitz declared that she had never before felt compelled to protest a project before Pittsburgh’s Zoning Board of Adjustment. “But I’ll do it if I have to.”

And this proposal should fail. Not just because it is overstuffed and underdeveloped, or because it displeases one neighborhood demographic. This project and others like it need to structure meetings involving all stakeholders to gather all representative views. That input needs to lead to alternative schemes, not just one-at-a-time presentations of under-cooked real estate formulas.

It’s great when neighborhood input has the weight to veto a bad project. But if that input isn’t fully representative of people and process, then it is a bitter victory. A well-orchestrated charrette process would give this redevelopment a chance to solve its fundamental failures of inclusion and design.

•

Sponsored by

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

WED., APRIL 3 SOCCER SHOTS 5 P.M. BOYCE PARK SOCCER FIELD BOYCE PARK. Ages 2-8. $110-120 (registration required). 412-350-2455 or soccershots.org/pittsburgh.

WED., APRIL 3 WEDNESDAY WINE FLIGHT: HEADING SOUTH 6:15 P.M. GREER CABARET THEATER DOWNTOWN. OVER-21 EVENT. $41.25.

412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.

FRI., APRIL 5 CHIP & THE CHARGE UPS ALBUM RELEASE PARTY 6:30 P.M. SMILING MOOSE UPSTAIRS SOUTH SIDE.

412-431-4668. All-ages event. $10-12.

412-431-4668 or ticketfly.com.

FRI., APRIL 5 JAMEY JOHNSON

THU., APRIL 4 PIYO LIVE: PILATES & YOGA FITNESS 6:30 P.M. ROUND HILL PARK VISITORS CENTER ROUND HILL PARK. $10-40

(registration required). 412-350-4636 or alleghenycounty.us/parkprograms.

THU., APRIL 4 SKULL FIST 7 P.M. CRAFTHOUSE SOUTH HILLS.

$15-17. 412-653-2695 or ticketfly.com.

FRI., APRIL 5 JAMEY JOHNSON 7:30 P.M. THE PALACE THEATRE GREENSBURG.

$45.75-65.75.

724-836-8000 or thepalacetheatre.org

FRI., APRIL 5 GEORGE WINSTON 8 P.M. CARNEGIE OF HOMESTEAD MUSIC HALL MUNHALL. All-ages event. $35-45.

412-462-3444 or ticketfly.com.

FRI., APRIL 5 THE CLARKS 8:30 P.M. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE WARRENDALE.

$25-30. 724-799-8333 or ticketfly.com.

FRI., APRIL 5 MIKE MAINS AND THE BRANCHES

THE PALACE THEATRE GREENSBURG

SAT., APRIL 6 SUNSQUABI 7 P.M. THUNDERBIRD CAFÉ LAWRENCEVILLE.

Over-21 event. $16.

412-682-0177 or greyareaprod.com.

SAT., APRIL 6 SWMRS 8 P.M. REX THEATER SOUTH SIDE. All-ages event.

$21. 412-381-1681 or greyareaprod.com.

SAT., APRIL 6 THE DUDE RANCH: BLINK-182 TRIBUTE 9:30 P.M. HARD ROCK CAFE STATION SQUARE.

$10-12. 412-481-ROCK or ticketfly.com.

SUN., APRIL 7 DAVID SEDARIS 7 P.M. CARNEGIE MUSIC HALL OAKLAND.

All-ages event. $35-55.

412-622-3131 or ticketmaster.com.

SUN., APRIL 7 ADRIAN BELEW 7 P.M. REX THEATER SOUTH SIDE. Over-21 event.

$30-35. 412-381-1681 or greyareaprod.com.

8:30 P.M. HARD ROCK CAFE STATION SQUARE.

SUN., APRIL 7 BIG SMO

$10-15. 412-481-ROCK or ticketfly.com.

7:30 P.M. CRAFTHOUSE SOUTH HILLS.

$17-20. 412-653-2695 or ticketfly.com.

MON., APRIL 8 REO SPEEDWAGON 7:30 P.M. THE PALACE THEATRE GREENSBURG.

All-ages event. $69.75-89.75.

724-836-8000 or thepalacetheatre.org

TUE., APRIL 9 DWAYNE DOLPHIN 5 P.M. BACKSTAGE BAR AT THEATER SQUARE DOWNTOWN. Free event.

412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.

TUE., APRIL 9 ALESANA & THE RED JUMPSUIT APPARATUS 6:30 P.M. CRAFTHOUSE SOUTH HILLS. $21-23.

412-653-2695 or ticketfly.com.

TUE., APRIL 9 PATTERNIST, DBMK, & WALKNEY 6:30 P.M. SMILING MOOSE UPSTAIRS SOUTH SIDE.

All-ages event. $10-12.

412-431-4668 or ticketfly.com.

TUE., APRIL 9 COME FROM AWAY 7:30 P.M. BENEDUM CENTER DOWNTOWN. $32-60.

412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.

FOR UPCOMING ALLEGHENY COUNTY PARKS EVENTS, LOG ONTO WWW.ALLEGHENYPARKS.COM PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MARCH 20-27, 2019

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CALENDAR MARCH 21-27

^ Thu., March 21: Pittsburgh Day of Puppetry

THURSDAY MARCH 21 PUPPETS

Forget tech and tourism, it’s time for Pittsburgh to focus on what really makes it great: puppets. Following Mayor Peduto’s official proclamation last year, March 21, 2019 marks the second annual Pittsburgh Day of Puppetry, and the Puppetry Guild of Pittsburgh is holding celebrations once again. Come to Brillobox to enjoy local puppet shows from experienced puppeteers. Feel free to try your hand at puppeteering in the spirit of the day — props and puppets will be provided. 6 p.m.

4104 Penn Ave., Bloomfield. Free. pgop.org

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LIT

Combined, artists Carrie Mae Weems and Claudia Rankine have been awarded the Prix de Rome, the National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, the Alpert, the Anonymous Was A Woman grant, the Poets & Writers’ Jackson Poetry Prize, and the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry, just to name a few. By means of contemporary visual artist and poetry, respectively, the two used their mastery of the arts to address topics of race, class, political systems, and more.

Weems and Rankine, who are both MacArthur Foundation fellows, join forces at the Carnegie Library Lecture Hall for its free Poets Aloud series, where the women will give a presentation

followed by a discussion between the two. 7-8 p.m. 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland.

Free. pittsburghlectures.org

LIT

Every week on the New York Times podcast Still Processing, writer and critic Wesley Morris dissects and analyzes the latest in pop culture news, from the history of modern sex scenes to the complications of Colin Kaepernick’s Nike sponsorship and grappling with the new allegations against Michael Jackson. Learn more about the show and Morris’ career with a behind-thescenes look at the writing world at a live-taping of the Longform Podcast at Frick Fine Arts, hosted by the Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series. 7:30 p.m.

650 Schenley Drive, Oakland. Free. writing.pitt.edu

STAGE

Before Sister Act became the most famous musical about nuns, there was Nunsense, a musical comedy about a group of New Jersey nuns trying to put on a talent show to pay for the funeral of sisters who died of foodborne illness. The Pittsburgh Musical Theater is upping the ante with Nunsense: The Mega-Musical at the Gargaro Theater. It’s just like the original musical, only it’s “been super-sized with more nuns and fun.” It’s certainly the best and only place in town to see dancing nuns! 7:30 p.m. Continues through Sun., March 31. 327 S. Main St., West End. $40. pittsburghmusicals.com.

PHOTO: MELISSA WALLACE

^ Thu., March 21: Nunsense: the Mega-Musical

FRIDAY

MARCH 22 MUSIC

“I felt it was really important to have a soundtrack to how people were feeling at the time,” rapper Jordan Montgomery told Pittsburgh City Paper about his debut album Driving While Black. The album, a standout in 2016, offered a snapshot of his experience with the burgeoning Black Lives Matter movement, both nationally and in Pittsburgh. Now three years later, that album lends its name to Montgomery’s record label, which also features Luc and Livefromthecity. Catch up with Montgomery’s more recent work at Driving While Black Records Pop Up Show at Oakland vintage shop Haus of Vain. He’ll be joined by his label mates, as well as Jaybee and DJ Aesthetics. 7 p.m. 4711 Centre Ave., Oakland. $3. drivingwhileblackrecords.com

SATURDAY MARCH 23 MUSIC

Now comfortably settled into its North

Side location, the recently opened record shop The Government Center is throwing a daylong party to celebrate. Things kick off at noon with Jonathan Chamberlain and Stephen Gallo (formerly of Delicious Pastries, RIP), and continues with Kerem Gokmen, Meeting of Important People, The Down Above, Pugglefox, Rave Ami, Throwjoy, and The Night’s Watch.

There’s free food, free drinks, and opportunities to win prizes. Say hello to your new friendly neighbors with The Government Center Grand Opening Celebration. 12 p.m. The Government Center, 519 E. Ohio St., North Side. Free. (Search “The Government Center” on Facebook) ^ Thu., March 21: Carrie Mae Weems PHOTO: JOHN D. & CATHERINE T. MACARTHUR FOUNDATION

FUNDRAISER

While Pennsylvanians prefer to ask a groundhog when spring officially starts, it’s technically always in late March when the trees begin to bloom again.

Tree Pittsburgh is throwing a fundraising party to celebrate the start of the season. Each guest will visit three different homes in Lawrenceville for drinks and hors d’oeuvres.

The final destination and dessert course will take you to the Butler Street Lofts, who is sponsoring the party. Those who RSVP will receive an email with details, including the schedule and locations for the evening. All proceeds benefit Tree Pittsburgh. Make sure to indicate dietary preferences when registering. Space is limited to 80 guests. 5 p.m. 212 45th St., Lawrenceville. $50. pgop.org

FOOD

The Carnegie International is coming to a close, but not without a bang. Or, in this case, a fry. Join the Carnegie Museum of Art for its final feast this Saturday, an epic tribute to the Pittsburgh fish fry. Fill up on Lenten favorites like fried cod, coleslaw, and apple crisp before roaming the galleries. Did we mention all-you-can-eat pierogi? 5-7 p.m.

Carnegie Museum of Art, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. $25. cmoa.org

BALL

Valentine’s Day may have passed, but there’s still plenty of love out there. It’s almost springtime after all (mating season and whatnot). Quantum Theatre can help with its annual party, Q Ball: Get Your Heart On at the Flashlight Factory. The event invites guests to explore love in the “impish forests of Shakespeare’s lovers, the hazy dens of the 1960s, and the dark ether of the future” with music by DJ Big Phil, as well as drinks and dessert.

VIP tickets include a performance by the Afro Yaqui Music Collective and food from Black Radish Kitchen. 6-11 p.m.

831 W. North Ave., North Side. $50-250. quantumtheatre.com CONTINUES ON PG. 50

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MARCH 20-27, 2019

49

CALENDAR, CONTINUED FROM PG. 49

7 DAYS

OF CONCERTS

BY JORDAN SNOWDEN JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

PHOTO: BIG BAD VOODOO DADDY

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

THURSDAY Travis Denning

7 p.m. Tequila Cowboy, North Side. tequilacowboy.com

FRIDAY

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

7 p.m. Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall, Homestead. librarymusichall.com

SATURDAY INCO FIdO

8 p.m. Howlers, Bloomfield. howlerspittsburgh.com

SUNDAY

.Michael., Giling, Andrew Muse + Olivia II, Sneeze Awfull

7:30 p.m. Three Pigs Collective, Lawrenceville. threepigsvintage.com

MONDAY Nils Frahm

8 p.m. Mr. Smalls Theatre, Millvale. mrsmalls.com

TUESDAY

Plague Vendor, Ugly Blondes 7 p.m. Club Cafe, South Side. clubcafelive.com

WEDNESDAY The Ghostwrite, Greg Rekus, Lem

7 p.m. The Black Cat Market, Lawrenceville. blackcatmarketpgh.com

FULL CONCERT LISTINGS ONLINE

AT PGHCITYPAPER.COM 50

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

PHOTO: SARA MURPHY

^ Sat., March 23: Q Ball: Get Your Heart On

HEALING

POETRY

Learn how to heal through art during a workshop at the Millvale Community Library. Presented as part of the Inside Our Minds’ Radical Mental Health Series, the event Experience Mapping: Understanding Your Story Through Art uses a creative medium to help you connect your mental health experiences with events in your life. Lead by local artist and #notwhite Collective member, Sara Tang, the guided workshop helps you chart personal experiences in a map format and use them to create expressive art and visual poetry pieces. 2-3:30 p.m.

213 Grant Ave., Millvale. Free.

Registration required. millvalelibrary.org

Let your fuck flag fly when the Glitter Box Theater hosts Free Fucking Poems about Fucking, an event focused (vaguely) around sex-themed poetry. Featured poets and performers include writers Chelsea Margaret Bodnar and John Thomas, drag performer Cherri Baum, and local stilt-walker Sundae Service, as well as many others. Get a raunchy face painting from Hanna Wilford or read your own filthy lit during open-stage time.

It’s an arts anarchy event for sex-positive people in a safe environment (in other words, don’t get handsy or the bouncer, Rocco, will have to intervene). 7:30 p.m.

460 Melwood Ave., Oakland. Free. theglitterboxtheater.com

SUNDAY

MARCH 24 MARKET

Out with the new and in with the old — Retro Gems and Zeds are continuing the “Pittsburgh Pickers” event series, making a space for some area names in the vintage community to present their finds and connect with one another.

Twenty different resellers and collectors

^ Tue., March 26: Tom Dugan in Wiesenthal (Nazi Hunter)

will come together at the Ace Hotel to promote their businesses, including Olden Threads, Stylevation Army and Pittsburgh ThriftRaff. Locally sourced regional food and drinks will be provided by Whitfield.

12 p.m. 120 S. Whitfield St., East Liberty.

Admission is free and open to the public. acehotel.com

ART

The gentrification of East Liberty and its quickly changing landscape has been a hot topic in recent history. Soon, 53 windows at the corner of Penn and Centre Avenues will bring a diverse set of new faces to the neighborhood in We Are All Related, a public art installation of nine-foot-tall portraits.

“This installation is my passionate attempt to counter the ugly rhetoric of separation and racism exploding all around us,” says

PHOTO: ANDREA LONDON

^ Sun., March 24: “Jashu with Pryan” in We Are All Related

Pittsburgh photographer Andrea London.

The stunning black-and-white portraits include a wide range of people from throughout Western Pennsylvania and include the words “We Are All Related” in 17 different languages. The kickoff party for the public art installation features live bands, food from Choolaah, and is being held in conjunction with the opening of an exhibit by the same name at 937 Gallery, Downtown. 2-4 p.m.

Public Plaza at Penn and Center Ave., East Liberty. Also at 937 Liberty Ave., Downtown. Through May 12. Both free. andrealondon.com/related.html

LIT

Musician, actress, and television personality Syleena Johnson stops by the Natural Way 2019 Hair & Fashion Show at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Johnson became an established singer and songwriter before appearing on numerous reality TV and talk shows, including R&B Divas, Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars, and Dish Nation.

She will give a beauty talk and sign copies of The Weight is Over: My Journey to Loving My Body From the Outside In, a holistic self-help book chronicling her journey to achieve better mental, emotional, and physical health. 3 p.m. 1000 Fort Duquesne Blvd., Downtown. $35 online/$45 door. pahairandfashionexpo.com

MUSIC

Electronic video game sounds of the ‘80s, dark magic conjuring dance music, retrowave post-punk, and goth coldwave meet up at Brillobox for a music-filled night that will make you feel like you went back in time, at least until you spot someone trying to sneak a vape hit. DJ Cutups plays between sets from Pittsburgh local Betamaxx and out-of-towners 6th Circle, Korine, and Child of Night.

There’s never a break in the action.

8 p.m. 4104 Penn Ave., Bloomfield. $10. brilloboxpgh.com

TUESDAY

MARCH 26 COMEDY

2016 America’s Got Talent finalist, Tape Face, takes miming to a new level. Born Sam Wills, Tape Face comes across as a Mr. Bean/Carrot Top hybrid. A mix of magic, performance art, and silent stand-up, his audience-engaging tour makes it impossible for those involved to stay quiet. 7:30 p.m. Carnegie Music Hall, 510 E. 10th Ave., Homestead. $30-125. librarymusichall.com

STAGE

Simon Wiesenthal was an author, student of architecture, and Holocaust survivor. But he’s best known, justifiably, as a “Nazi Hunter.” He spent the years after the war chasing and tracking down missing Nazi war criminals and bringing them to trial (famously including the capture of Adolf Eichmann). That

remarkable story has inspired films and books, including Wiesenthal’s memoir, and now August Wilson Cultural Center is bringing his story to the stage. Awardwinning actor and writer Tom Dugan wrote and stars in Wiesenthal (Nazi Hunter), a one-man play about this inspiring and unbelievable story.

Check pghcitypaper.com for our interview with Dugan. 7:30 p.m. Continues through Thu., March 28. 980 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $48.75-68.75. trustarts.org

MUSIC

Forget rummaging through thrift store video game bins; there’s another way to enjoy the sounds of Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) game soundtracks. Bit Brigade, known for performing rock covers of NES music, jumps onto the stage at Spirit with its Mega Man III tour. Scream “Watch out!” and “Go! Go! Go!” while simultaneously jamming out to the band as a gamer speed runs the game live. 9 p.m. 242 51st St., Lawrenceville. $15. bitbrigade.com •

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MARCH 20-27, 2019

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To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 15th day of April, 2019, at 9:45 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for

IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-18-17103, In re petition of Chelsea Marie Eddington for change of name to Charles Mortimer Eddington. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 26th day of March, 2019, at 9:45 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for

IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-19-1783, In re petition of Katie Heiles parent and legal guardian of Adaline Jean Stewart, for change of name to Adaline Jean Heiles. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 22nd day of March, 2019, at 9:45 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for

IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-19-2957, In re petition of Kelly Kristine Hennies for change of name to Kristine Voodoo Hennies.

To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 16th day of April, 2019, at 9:45 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for

IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-19-951, In re petition of Jesse Ryan Koskey for change of name to Jesse Ryan Kelly. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 5th day of April, 2019, at 9:45 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for

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RATE CHANGE

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ACROSS

1. “War on Poverty” pres.

4. Amount of goo 8. Key with 4 sharps: Abbr.

12. Punch but good 14. State of confusion 16. Beast ___ 17. Physics unit 18. Game building 19. Whiny brat’s sound 20. Just-addwater pills?

23. Overact 25. Takes in 26. Needlefish 27. Cleaner named after a Trojan War hero 31. Religious ceremony 35. Assns.

37. Ottoman Empire officer 39. Skip on, as activities 40. Ode stanza rapped by Wu-Tang’s GZA? 43. Now, in Nicaragua 44. Morales of Netflix’s “Ozark” 45. Magazine whose name is a pronoun 46. Smartphone feature 48. Art dealer Glimcher 50. Wednesday’s cousin 51. Candy vehicle

of the ‘70s 53. Dustin’s X-rated role 55. Show that changes all of comic Kaling’s costars?

61. Treat whose name is outlined in blue 62. Film selections?

63. Comment after a spectacular faceplant 66. “Leave the premises” 67. Gambler’s gambit 68. Gray grp.?

69. Listening devices 70. It has a cap and can sometimes be replaced 71. Ultimate degree

DOWN

1. Drugs on blotters 2. Gonzo journalism precursor Nellie 3. Event that seniors typically don’t attend 4. Exam where your rich parents might bribe to raise to the max score of 800: Abbr.

5. Turkish cabbage 6. Rural farm workers 7. Hits close to home?

8. Highest-paid actress of 2017 9. Drop anchor 10. Maroon 5 douchebag Levine 11. Actress Malone 13. Fine fellow 15. Writing material

21. Continental divide?

22. German poet Heinrich 23. Female arachnid’s pouch 24. Senator McSally 28. Rasta’s god 29. “A Death in the Family” writer James 30. African language with a clicking “X” sound 32. Baseball player who can play many positions 33. Mom and Pop, e.g.

34. Get beat by 36. Sensitive topics?

38. Way off in the distance 41. Deprive of water

42. Tom Collins ingredient 47. Maker of the VCS game system 49. Crossword bird 52. Type of sweater 54. 1998 Sarah McLachlan hit 55. Nearly all 56. Black-andwhite mammal 57. Bring in 58. One with control of their faculties 59. Metz miss: Abbr.

60. It might be uncharted territory 64. Boxer’s scrap 65. Autobahn speedometer meas., or what letters are swapped in each theme answer LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MARCH 20-27, 2019

53

PEEPSHOW A sex and social justice column

BY JESSIE SAGE // PEEPSHOWCAST@GMAIL.COM

A

PRIL WOULD was first introduced to giantess porn last year.

Working as a phone sex operator and audio narrator, she received a custom order for three recordings: “one where I played a very cruel giantess [crushing him at the end], one where I played a very romantic giantess, and one where I could take it in whatever direction I wanted.”

When Would made these first audios, she had no idea how prominent this fantasy was, or that doing these early audios would open the door to providing audio for Virtual Reality giantess porn. That genre of pornography uses camera tricks and green screens to portray larger-than-life women stepping on men, inserting them into their bodies, and threatening to crush people and things. “[VR] is the perfect medium for giantess fantasies,” she says. “Everything is animated in 3D and because it is so immersive, the viewer really does get the feeling that [they are] small and the giantess is very big.”

VR technology, however, is not necessary in order to create the giantess illusion. Phone sex operator and adult model Sammy Rei Schwarz says that it is all about perspective.

“I place the camera at a very low or close perspective, making myself seem as massive or as tall as I want. It is amazing what can be done just by

CP ILLUSTRATION: XIOLA JENSEN

“I CAN MAKE MEN FEEL AS TINY AS I WANT THEM TO.” playing around with camera angles.”

She adds, “It can also be fun to take shots of myself holding a small figure to represent the man.”

In perhaps the lowest-fi iteration of this fantasy, aural smut recording artist Muse uses hypnosis to make her customers feel as if they are small. She

started her career as a clinician using hypnosis to help folks quit smoking, but realized that there were more lucrative and creative uses for her skills.

“I can make men feel as tiny as I want them to,” she says.

Muse’s hypnosis customers often request that she use their small bodies

in very specific ways, like the time someone asked her to use him as a toothbrush. She says, “I had to ask him if he wanted to be held like a toothbrush or if he wanted to walk around in my mouth.”

While giantess customers often ask for specific things, Schwarz says that the fantasies themselves tend to fall into three broad patterns: “In the first, the woman is simply a giant, larger than all other humans. In the second, the woman is normal-sized human, but uses a drug or magic to shrink the man, making him so small that she becomes a giant. In the third, the woman is normal-sized, but uses a drug or magic to grow into a giant.”

Fetish model Lux Lives says, “I think there are a few core dynamics in giantess [porn] that draw people in — powerlessness, insignificance, and subversion of social taboos surrounding gender and size.”

Why people are aroused by giant women is perhaps a topic for another column. But we certainly shouldn’t assume that those who have this fetish actually want to be swallowed whole, or crushed, or used as a dildo. Instead, we should consider that some fantasy is meant to remain fantasy, as play.

In Schwarz’s words, “Since it’s purely fantastical, it really stimulates creativity and makes the femdom experience larger than life (pun intended).”

•

JESSIE SAGE IS CO-HOST OF THE PEEPSHOW PODCAST AT PEEPSHOWPODCAST.COM. HER COLUMN PEEPSHOW IS EXCLUSIVE TO PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER. FOLLOW HER ON TWITTER @PEEP_CAST. HAVE A SEX QUESTION YOU’RE TOO AFRAID TO ASK YOUR FRIENDS? ASK JESSIE! EMAIL INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM. QUESTIONS MAY BE CONSIDERED FOR AN UPCOMING COLUMN.

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55

Join us for the Pittsburgh Public Schools

ESL & Special Education CAREER FAIR

Saturday, March 30th • 9am–12pm Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers Building (10 South 19th Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203)

Meet and engage with hiring managers from PPS’ English as a Second Language (ESL) and Program for Students with Exceptionalities (Special Education) departments. Please bring copies of your resume.

T H E C A R E E R FA I R W I L L F E AT U R E On-Site Job Interviews

Light Refreshments Live D.J. The Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) (PP does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, ex, disability or age in its programs, activities or employment and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. Inquiries may be directed to the Title IX Coordinator or the Section 504/ADA Title II Coordinator at 341 S. Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 504 5213 or 412-529-HELP (4357).