July 3, 2019 - Pittsburgh City Paper

PITTSBURGH’S ALTERNATIVE FOR NEWS, ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT SINCE 1991

PGHCITYPAPER.COM JULY 3-10, 2019

The Fast (melting ice cream) and the Furry-ous

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See and hear her art.

SOUND FOR ANDY WARHOL’S KISS LIMITED EDITION LP NOW AVAILABLE In conjunction with the exhibition, a commissioned score, Sound for Andy Warhol’s Kiss, is a limited-edition vinyl double LP. Recorded live in The Warhol theater, the LP features Kim Gordon, Bill Nace, Steve Gunn and John Truscinski. Available at The Warhol Store or via store@warhol.org.

Kim Gordon: Lo-Fi Glamour is generously supported by Alexa and Adam Wolman The Andy Warhol Museum receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency and The Heinz Endowments. Further support is provided by the Allegheny Regional Asset District.

Image: Kim Gordon, Product Owner (detail), 2017, Courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery, New York

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JULY 3-10, 2019

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JULY 3-10, 2019 VOLUME 28 + ISSUE 27

Yoga in Market Square during Open Streets

FIRSTSHOT

BY JARED WICKERHAM

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 Designers JOSIE NORTON, JEFF SCHRECKENGOST Events and Sponsorship Manager BLAKE LEWIS Sales Representatives KAITLIN OLIVER, NICK PAGANO Office Coordinator MAGGIE WEAVER Events and Marketing Coordinator BRYER BLUMENSCHEIN 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 Interns SARAH CONNOR, JARED MURPHY, EMILY WOLFE 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 PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM PITTSBURGH FURRY “RHYTHM” AT KLAVON’S ICE CREAM PARLOR

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SUMMER EVENTS2019

PortAuthority P ortAuthority

Let’s Connect.

Stop by and see us at local community events all summer long. Visit our tent to learn more about new technologies and other improvements designed to enhance your riding experience.

Upcoming Events: • Health and Wellness Market at Market Square Mondays from 11am-2pm • Fashion Market at Market Square Fridays from 11am-2pm • Deutschtown Music Festival 2019 (Free local music festival on the North Side) July 12-13 • Picklesburgh (Roberto Clemente Bridge & Ft. Duquesne Boulevard) July 26-28

PortAuthority.org

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JULY 3-10, 2019

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THE BIG STORY

WE ALL SCREAM “W

BY MAGGIE WEAVER // MWEAVER@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

HERE’S THE BEST ice cream in

Pittsburgh?”

Throughout the summer, this is a question asked by locals and visitors alike. It reignites a never-ending debate with no right answer. There’s no “best” because Pittsburgh has it all: old-timey scoop shops that have been around for decades, roadside storefronts twisting the perfect soft serve, and ice cream that resembles a science experiment, scraped flat and rolled into a swirl. Each shop has its own niche, its own personality, and its own flavor.

In a city full of ice cream, here are a few spots doing something different. It’s an incomplete list, but if you’re looking for something a little unorthodox, it’s a good place to start.

Pittsburgh furry Rhythm beats the heat at Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor.

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

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THE “JUST HAPPENS TO BE VEGAN”

Rooted Ice Cream rootedicecream.com

E

MMA NEELY started Rooted Ice Cream in her apartment.

In 2018, with nothing but an ice cream maker she bought at Goodwill and a love for the frozen treat, Neely took her first steps toward Rooted, Pittsburgh’s latest vegan, small-batch ice cream brand.

She uses a cashew base with just a touch of coconut oil (the flavor isn’t detectable). Her flavors incorporate the artisanal side of ice cream — black sesame with a rose vanilla swirl, roasted pistachio, and fig — but her plain vanilla evokes nostalgia. It tastes like family gatherings, when someone drags out a worn ice cream maker and hours later, dishes out the perfect vanilla.

This summer, Neely has a residency at the Butterwood Bake Consortium in Lawrenceville and sells her pints at farmer’s markets across the city. Come fall, look out for a possible ice cream CSA. For now, Neely’s content serving up good ice cream that “just happens to be vegan.”

CP PHOTO: MAGGIE WEAVER

THE CANDY SHOP

Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor

2801 Penn Ave., Strip District. klavonsicecream.com

K

LAVON’S ICE CREAM PARLOR opened in 1923 as a neighborhood apothecary and ice cream shop.

And more than 90 years later, you can still swing on bar stools while sipping on a milkshake with two straws and nibbling on penny candy. It’s a soda-shop time machine.

Klavon’s interior may travel back to the Jazz Age, but its ice cream doesn’t. There are the classics — floats, milkshakes, and ice cream sodas — along with a long bill of inventive sundaes (peanut butter and jelly, anyone?) and quite possibly its best creation, ice cream pizza. Yes, that’s right. Klavon’s, only by pre-order, stacks its ice cream on top of a Prantl’s Bakery cookie. With five cookie options and 10 ice cream options, the combinations are limitless. It’s a Pittsburgher’s dream come true, two beloved ‘Burgh businesses coming together for a sweet, tasty union.

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JULY 3-10, 2019

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MEET THE FURRY

BY LISA CUNNINGHAM LCUNNING@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

April aka Rhythm the Mouse

We decided to combine one of the city’s most anticipated events with some of the best summer treats in town and invite a local furry to pose as our cover model in honor of Anthrocon, the annual furry convention coming to town this week.

April, a 25-year-old from Carnegie, answered our call to bravely pose in her yellow mouse fursuit while holding an ice cream cone outside Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor in the Strip District during a hot June weekend.

Tell me about your fursona.

Rhythm is a happy, yellow mouse who loves to groove! I usually carry around a speaker in my backpack and play electronic dance music, and I love to dance while wearing her! I designed Rhythm to reflect myself — someone who’s small, bubbly, and loves music as much as I do.

What’s your favorite part about Anthrocon?

Shopping! There’s a large room called the “Dealer’s Room” and “Artist Alley,” where artists and vendors sell artwork, plushies, T-shirts, fursuit accessories, and more. It’s always a blast to walk around and buy cool stuff.

How long have you been a furry?

I’ve been a furry for six years. I discovered furries through a friend when I was in college. I thought furries were a little unusual at first, but my friend told me to come down to Anthrocon and give it a chance, so I did, and I loved it!

I love the artwork and costume creation so much. Plus, I’ve met so many awesome people through this community through the years and I’ve made lifelong friends.

What do you wish more people in Pittsburgh knew about furries?

Furries are just people who love art, cartoons, movies, games, costumes, and having fun!

What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Cookies and Cream! Or if it’s available, Cinnamon Bun. Yum! •

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PHOTO: SAM WEAVER

THE SWEET FLEET

Millie’s

Millie’s Shadyside, 232 S. Highland Ave., Shadyside.

Millie’s Market Square, 246 Forbes Ave., Downtown.

Summer of Softserve, 6425 Penn Ave., Bakery Square. millieshomemade.com

Y

OU CAN’T talk about Pittsburgh ice cream without mentioning Millie’s.

Originally planned to be wholesale-only, Millie’s Homemade Ice Cream has quickly grown into a small fleet of pop-ups, scoop shops, and an adorable 1974 Morrison Bedford ice cream van.

Millie’s ice cream, as a whole, is incredible. Flavors rotate and can be served in homemade waffle cones. (They are hard to resist; the whole shop smells like fresh waffles.)

It’s the vegan options that keep me — not a vegan — coming back for more.

Millie’s vegan ice cream doesn’t taste plant-based. There’s no grainy texture left in your mouth or a not-so-subtle addition of coconut. The vegan dark chocolate is one of the richest, most satisfyingly chocolate scoops I have ever eaten.

It’s also one of the only shops to offer dairy-free soft serve. At the summertime popup in Bakery Square, Summer of Soft Serve, Millie’s twists a non-dairy flavor every day.

It’s not your typical soft serve. It’s better.

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WE ALL SCREAM, CONTINUED FROM PG. 8

THE INNOVATORS

SERVICES

Sugar Spell Scoops 1014 N. Canal St., Sharpsburg. sugarspellscoops.com

Services are offered to everyone, regardless of identity, income, or insurance status.

S

UGAR SPELL SCOOPS has spaghetti and meatballs in its freezer. Or, at least what looks like spaghetti. In reality, it’s cheesecake ice cream strung out to look like noodles, topped with red sauce — aka strawberry jam — and two chocolate ice cream meatballs.

This “‘sketti and meatballs” sums up Sugar Spell Scoops’ vibe pretty well: a little wacky, whimsical, and completely fun.

Sugar Spell Scoops started in 2016 as a pop-up. Owner Amanda Burk introduced her line of vegan ice cream to crowds at VegFest, and as one of the first all-vegan ice cream options in Pittsburgh, her scoops were in high demand.

Three years later, Burk opened a brick-and-mortar shop in Sharpsburg.

Her childlike creativity shines in flavors like Dunkaroos or Cosmic Brownie. Sugar Spell Scoops takes the pretension out of vegan dessert while maintaining quality. It’s a little zany, but always tasty, and always fun.

• Full medical practice • Mental health services • Community health Navigator program • Transportation program CP PHOTOS: MAGGIE WEAVER

• Food box program • Discounted pharmacy THE SANDWICH SPECIALISTS

program

Leona’s Ice Cream Sandwiches

CONTACT 1789 S. Braddock Ave, #410 Pittsburgh, PA 15218 M Th F 8 AM - 4:30 PM Tu W 8 AM - 7:30 PM To make an appointment: (412) 247-2310 Proudly serving LGBT patients since 1999.

“Whole People, All People.” metrocommunityhealthcenter.org

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Multiple locations. leonaspgh.com

K

ATIE HELDSTAB and Christa Puskarich take ice cream sandwiches to a whole new level. Eating one sandwich requires two hands. They’re huge — an entire half-cup of ice cream is stuffed between two homemade cookies — and seriously delicious.

Leona’s is built on a stand-out foundation: giving an ice cream option to “every belly.” Heldstab is lactose intolerant, which was part of the motivation behind Leona’s. Every pint and every sandwich is 100 percent real dairy and 100 percent lactose free.

Leona’s cookies and ice cream, though stunning solo, are even better together. The duo’s flavor combinations — rhubarb on brown sugar shortbread, honeycomb on double chocolate chunk — are simple and expertly crafted. There’s nothing else like them.

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JULY 3-10, 2019

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CP PHOTO: MAGGIE WEAVER

THE ROADSIDE ASSISTANTS

Page Dairy Mart 4112 E. Carson St., South Side. pagedairymart.net

T

HE OPTIONS AT Page Dairy Mart are endless. Its soft serve goes way

beyond chocolate and vanilla — though Page’s vanilla is truly one of the best in the city — with options for amaretto, pina colada, key lime pie (with graham cracker crumbs), cheesecake, pistachio, and more.

But sundaes are the shop’s primary claim-to-fame. If you’ve been in the market for a hot apple dumpling sundae, look no further than Page’s.

Plus, city-themed flavors abound: The Yinzer sundae sports a blonde brownie from A-La-Carte in Pleasant Hills; the new Grandview sundae offers slices of cake from Grandview Bakery; waffles from Waffleonia in Squirrel Hill adorn the Belgian waffle sundae; and the milkshakes can be ordered “South Side” with a sco scoop of vanilla and a sundae topping of your choice on top.

They are even able to source cookies from the coveted ovens of Nancy Nan B’s in Homestead. One of the bakery’s famous ch chocolate chip cookies is warmed, then placed on the side of Page’s soft serve. Hot fudge and whippe cream top it off, making for a delicious, whipped truly Pittsburgh treat.

•

F Follow staff writer Maggie Weaver on Twitter @magweav o

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Thai & Burmese Specialties!

DINING OUT

Pad Thai

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

SPONSORED LISTINGS FROM CITY PAPER ’S FINE ADVERTISERS

Noodle

THIS WEEK’S FEATURED RESTAURANT

4770 Liberty Ave 412.904.1640 padthainoodlepittsburgh.com

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

BAJA BAR & GRILL

EIGHTY ACRES

1366 OLD FREEPORT ROAD, FOX CHAPEL 412-963-0640, WWW.BAJABARGRILL.COM The Baja Bar & Grill is the perfect destination any time of the year for dancing to live bands and taking in great entertainment every weekend.

In addition, there’s good food along with amazing views of the Allegheny River and the Fox Chapel Marina.

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.

BEA’S TACO TOWN

331 TECHNOLOGY DRIVE, PITTSBURGH 412-621-1551, ELIZAHOTELINDIGO.COM Set on the site of former iconic iron works, Eliza Furnace, Eliza is an American Bistro exploring classic Pittsburgh flavors, beloved by those that worked the furnaces, combined with the fresh perspective and seasonal sourcing that define what we eat in our region today. Relax with great food, cocktails, and enjoy live entertainment on the rooftop bar.

633 SMITHFIELD STREET, DOWNTOWN 412-471-8361, WWW.BEATAQUERIA.COM Authentic Mexican cuisine in the heart of Downtown Pittsburgh! Bea Taco Town offers tacos, burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, and much more all with traditional recipes. Slow cooked meats and fresh vegetables prepared daily will have you coming back to try it all.

CARMELLA’S PLATES & PINTS 1908 EAST CARSON STREET, SOUTHSIDE 412-918-1215, CARMELLASPLATESANDPINTS.COM Featuring an upscale ambiance, Carmella’s is located in the heart of South Side, serving a variety of refined comfort cuisine for dinner and brunch. The décor features a lodge-like feel with a wood beamed cathedral ceiling, stained glass and open fireplace. A local purveyor delivers fresh ingredients daily, which are crafted into unique and inventive meals, served alongside a curated cocktail list and comprehensive wine selection.

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.

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

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. They also feature a cocktail menu of tequila-based drinks to pair the perfect margarita with your meal.

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JULY 3-10, 2019

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.ON THE ROCKS.

THERE’S BOOZE IN MY ICE CREAM

BY MAGGIE WEAVER MWEAVER@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

A

DDING ALCOHOL to ice cream is

not a particularly novel concept. ice cream brands like Häagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s have debuted their own flavors blended with rum and bourbon. Boozy shakes have become a burger joint solution to the choice between beer or milkshake.

Floats are switching out root beer for red wine.

Arsenal Cider House has created its own version of the drunken dessert: alcoholic sorbet.

The Civil War-themed cider house and winery has a long bill of spirits. At its Lawrenceville cider house (Arsenal also has locations in Wexford and Finleyville), a chalkboard is covered in tiny writing. There’s barely enough room for all of the draft ciders on one board.

But behind the bar sits Arsenal’s real champion: the ice cream maker.

When I visited, the sorbet of the day was cherry mead. Armed with a cup of cider and its frozen sibling, I headed into the sunny beer garden to eat the sorbet before it melted.

The sorbet was like a tastier version of a frosé (frozen rosé). Arsenal listed it somewhere around 8 percent alcohol .Popular

CP PHOTO: MAGGIE WEAVER

Market Street’s vanilla ice cream and Wigle’s Port Rye Whiskey at Market Street Grocery

per volume — it definitely had a kick — but didn’t taste particularly boozy. It was fruity, crisp, and super sweet.

MARKET STREET GROCERY offers another

way to eat, and drink, your dessert.

Pittsburgh Ice Cream Co., the city’s farm-to-cone creamery, used to host a scoop shop on the end of the deli counter inside Market Street Grocery.

ARSENAL CIDER HOUSE AND WINE CELLAR 300 39th St., Lawrenceville. arsenalciderhouse.com

MARKET ST. GROCERY 435 Market St., Downtown. marketstreetgrocery.com

Recently, the specialty store, wine bar, and coffee house bought out the smallbatch creamery.

Market Street Grocery is currently in the midst of revamping its ice cream program (kitchen changes have led to some delays), and intend to continue the Pittsburgh Ice Cream Co. tradition of churning with Wigle Whiskey. They have plans to use both ingredients and spirits from the local distillery.

When I stopped by on a weekday afternoon, there were only two flavors available, and none of them featured a spirit.

But the grocery offered a compromise.

With a bowl of Market Street’s vanilla

ice cream in hand, I took up a seat at the store’s bar.

The bartender and I decided that Wigle’s Port Rye Whiskey, a rye finished in port wine barrels, and the market’s sweet, simple vanilla would make a great pair. We were right. Wigle’s rye had a spice that melted into the vanilla, the burn just barely cutting through the creaminess. I cannot recommend this combination enough.

Market Street Grocery’s ice cream program is on its way, but for now, there’s nothing wrong with grabbing some ice cream and heading straight to the bar.

•

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Dog-Friendly taproom with outdoor seating, firepits, games and more!

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angeliasitaliangrille.com

.JUST JAGGIN’.

GIVE AND LET LIVE

BY JOSH OSWALD JOSWALD@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

I

SEEM TO get asked for money on

the street a lot, so I’ll usually give a dollar or two, sometimes more.

Since I don’t donate a lot of money to organizations, though I intend to (I’m looking at you, NPR), I see this as a convenient way to help someone out.

But I’ve run into some peculiar situations doing this.

A month or two ago, a man on the street stopped me on my way to work.

I reached into my pockets or wallet, making some kind of gesture that indicated I was agreeable to the upcoming request. But the man waved it off and asked instead if I would go and buy him breakfast at McDonald’s. The McD’s was half a block away, and I remembered I had a $10 bill in my pocket, which would cover even the most expensive breakfast sandwich.

So, we went into the restaurant, made our way up to the counter, and I motioned to the cashier to indicate that he would be ordering, and I would be paying. I don’t know what that motion is, but somehow I made it, and she understood it. The man looked at me and asked if he could get the Big Breakfast. I nodded. Go big or go home.

He ordered, and I couldn’t hear what he told the cashier beyond “two chocolate milks.” Ahh, a sweet tooth.

When I looked at the cashier, she said, “That’ll be $12.75.” I’ve made some questionable decisions at McDonald’s in my day, but can’t recall racking up a bill over $10. I just hope he enjoyed the meal and his gallon of chocolate milk.

When I lived in New York, I would walk past the same guy outside my apartment every now and then and he would ask for money to tell jokes. I offered to give him money without the jokes, but he insisted. The one I remember was quite

raunchy, but also strangely amusing.

After a month or so we began to recognize each other. And one late night, I offered to take him to a diner, so we could grab something to eat. It was probably 3 a.m., and I was hungry. I thought it would be interesting to sit and talk, judging by his taste in jokes. We sat down at the counter, and I ordered a cheeseburger. Then he ordered “two cheeseburger deluxes to go.” Never saw him again. I wonder if he ate both of those burgers the same night.

Once after a concert, a guy asked me for money to get a drink. It just so happened I was on my way to get a drink.

So, I asked if he wanted to come along.

There was some NFL Films program on the TV, and we sat, had a drink, and talked about Barry Sanders with the bartender. It was quite pleasant.

I figure if you are going to give money to someone who asks for it, take some time and try to get to know them and what they’re going through.

They might appreciate that more than the money. The worst that can happen is they leave you eating a giant cheeseburger by yourself at 3 a.m., which really isn’t that bad.

•

Follow digital media manager Josh Oswald on Twitter @gentlemenRich

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JULY 3-10, 2019

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CP PHOTO: LISA CUNNINGHAM

Fireworks in Downtown Pittsburgh

.NEWS.

PYROTECHNIC POLLUTION? Do Fourth of July fireworks pollute Pittsburgh air?

BY EMILY WOLFE // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

P

ITTSBURGH’S LOVE of fireworks

is well documented. Whether it is Light Up Night or the nation’s biggest fireworks day, the Fourth of July, the Steel City excels in lighting up the sky with pyrotechnics. According to KDKA, there are at least 20 firework displays that will explode across the Allegheny County sky Thursday night if the weather cooperates.

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But with the annual celebration coming on the heels of a few weeks of particularly bad news about Pittsburgh’s air quality, the question should be raised: Are fireworks making things worse for a city with some of the worst air quality in America?

Albert Presto, an associate research professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s mechanical engineering department and

an atmospheric pollution expert, says the answer is yes, but only in the short term. Fireworks do release harmful fine particulate matter, which has been linked to health problems like asthma and heart attacks, into the atmosphere when they burn.

But the amount released by a fireworks show isn’t significant enough to be a cause for worry, Presto says.

“The way a firework works, the reason it’s sparkling is that you’re burning something. There’s usually metal in the firework, and that’s what causes the colors, as the metal gets really hot,” says Presto. “So you get a little bit of particulate matter from shooting off fireworks, but it’s not a big concentration change.”

A 2015 study in the journal Atmospheric Environment found that levels

of particulate matter across the U.S. increased by an average of 42 percent on July 4. Out of 315 air quality monitoring sites studied, 10 recorded a level of particulate matter deemed “dangerous” by the EPA after Independence Day celebrations.

An EPA statement issued in response to the study recommended sensitive groups sit upwind from fireworks.

“Short-term exposure to fine particle pollution (hours to days) can pose health concerns, especially for groups of people more sensitive to PM2.5 [particulate matter] pollution,” the EPA wrote. “So we caution those people to enjoy fireworks from a distance, and from upwind, to reduce their exposure.”

EPA data from the past two years shows that although most monitoring stations in Allegheny County recorded increases in particulate matter in the air around July 4 and 5, the change was a small one. The levels on those days stayed within the EPA’s 24-hour standard, meaning the air quality was not affected significantly.

Compared to the December fire at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works plant, which likely contributed to numerous

pollution spikes that exceeded EPA standards in Allegheny County, the impact of fireworks on Pittsburgh’s air quality appears small and brief. Longterm polluters like the Coke Works plant have a greater effect on health issues, like childhood asthma rates, according to a Duquesne University study.

While Pittsburgh might avoid widescale pollution from fireworks, more densely populated areas aren’t so lucky.

Celebratory fireworks set off in Delhi during Diwali festivities frequently leave the Indian city coated in thick, unhealthy smog. India’s supreme court banned firecracker sales ahead of the festival in 2017, but couldn’t prevent a night of fireworks that caused air pollution levels to rocket to 18 times the healthy limit.

Still, Presto reiterates that no one in Pittsburgh really needs to worry about their respiratory health when they go to a fireworks show.

“How long is a fireworks show?”

Presto asks. “Half an hour, an hour?

Even if it’s one hour out of every week, like on the Pittsburgh scale of fireworkshappiness, it’s not really going to push the needle that much.”

•

JENSORENSEN

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JULY 3-10, 2019

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.GABBY NORMAL.

BUDDY SYSTEM?

BY GAB BONESSO // CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

H

OW CAN I continue to teach kids compassion when they don’t always see it from adults?

It’s been seven years now that I have traveled the mid-Atlantic region of America spreading a pro-kindness/ anti-bully message. I have been to schools, churches, community centers, libraries, AARP meetings … You name it, I’ve been there.

It’s been a dream job getting to do something that I deeply believe in while helping others along the way.

The main points of the pro-kindness movement are tenets that I practice in my own life. I think that’s why this has been such a good fit for me because I truly believe in everything I promote.

I promote advocating for yourself if you are being threatened by a bully.

I promote self-love because I truly feel that if you love yourself, you can overcome the cruelty of others. And if you love yourself, you won’t become a bully.

One of the practices I cover is inclusion. If you see someone sitting alone at lunch or recess, walk over and ask if you can hang out with them.

A lot of schools now have “Buddy Benches.” The idea of the bench is that if anyone is lonely they can sit on the bench and when someone sees them they can come over, sit with them, and be their buddy. It’s a pretty awesome concept.

There is also a lot of emphasis on

welcoming new students to the school.

Most schools have a “first week of school buddy” who shadows the new kids to make them feel more welcome.

In my program, I offer conversation starters to help make new friends.

Finally, we talk about the role of the bystander. We tell kids that if you see something, say something. We remind the students to look out for one another.

THESE KIDS ARE SURROUNDED

BY A NATION OF BYSTANDERS. I started this column questioning whether my efforts would accomplish anything when our country’s leaders are putting kids in detainment centers that aren’t fit for animals, let along kids.

These are children who are not being included or welcomed. Sure, there are lawyers attempting to advocate on their behalf, but there are no buddy benches for these kids. They are surrounded by a nation of bystanders.

It seems impossible to teach compassion to kids on a local level when they witness zero compassion from our country on a national and international level.

•

Follow featured contributor Gab Bonesso on Twitter @gabbonesso

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Essential Machine

.MUSIC.

THE FAMILY THAT PLAYS TOGETHER

BY JORDAN SNOWDEN // JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

T

HE LINES BETWEEN work and play can get fuzzy when playing in a family band. Songwriting is brought up at dinner, or an old fight gets rehashed during practice. For married couple Karen and RJ Dietrich, the drummer and guitarist, respectively, in the local indie rock band Essential

Machine, their family-band boundaries are even more delicate — the third member of Essential Machine is their son, Robert Dietrich.

“He just turned 18, so it’s a little bit different now because he’s a legal adult,” says Karen. “But before, when he was younger, it was like, ‘I’m his mom but also

ESSENTIAL MACHINE AT DEUTSCHTOWN MUSIC FESTIVAL 10 p.m. Sat., July 13. Pittsburgh Winery Satellite, 709 East St., North Side. essentialmachine.com

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his colleague in a band,’ so sometimes that would be a little hard to manage.”

Karen and RJ started Essential Machine in the late 2000s — Karen playing concert bells and singing alongside RJ’s vocals and guitar. She soon switched to drums and they played together for years as a duo. Then one day when he was 12, Robert started showing an interest in music.

“The way he started in the band wasn’t like, ‘now you’re this age or you’re doing this and that in the band,’”

says RJ. “It was more like he started playing music on his own and we were like, ‘Oh, do you want to play this song with us?’ and he was like, ‘Yeah.’

So it kind of happened organically. It always was Robert’s doing this because he wants to. We always made sure he knew that it was voluntary for him, and only if he really wanted to do it.”

Robert began by playing the flute in elementary school, and eventually filled out Essential Machine’s sound on the keyboard.

“This is my first band,” says Robert. “It’s kind of weird, my first band being with my family. But I think there’s something to be said about how the songwriting process changes when you’re with your family. We’re always near each other all the time so we’re super in tune with how each other is feeling all the time. That changes the creative process a lot.”

easier to kind of be vulnerable or it’s easier to take some risks as you know that you feel safe around your family,” says Karen. “Also, because he’s an only child, [they] become a little bit closer to their parents. And Robert’s always been in the adult world, spending time with mostly adults, so in that way, it’s been easier to work with him as a bandmate

“IT’S EASIER TO TAKE SOME RISKS AS YOU KNOW THAT YOU FEEL SAFE AROUND YOUR FAMILY.” Recently, Robert’s involvement in the band has become more extensive.

Essential Machine’s April 5 release Wildfires — the group’s first full-length album — marks Robert’s biggest contribution to the band to date.

“He really took the initiative this time when the songwriting was happening,” says RJ. “For instance, ‘Catacombs,’ he and Karen wrote that, and that’s how the song started.

He really started getting much more interested in songwriting and what he added made it so much more unique.”

Songwriting was always something Robert was interested in, but he only just started becoming comfortable with the process.

“I just had to come to my own,” says Robert. “I had to get my own grasp of my own style. Now I’m at the level where I’m making more meaningful contributions to the band.”

This may be because of the open line of communication RJ and Karen strive for in their family dynamic.

“We know each other so well it’s

because I think we’ve always treated him as an adult, even when he wasn’t so much.”

Robert credits his musical outlook to being treated as sort of an honorary adult. For years, he’s been in the Pittsburgh music scene around mature, established, professional musicians.

“That sort of made me reflect that [mentality],” says Robert, “and I take the band really seriously in a way a lot of people my age may struggle with because they may not have the experience in the scene like I have.”

Both RJ and Karen feel grateful that they can give their son this unique experience, one RJ, who started playing in a band at 13, wishes he could have had.

“Essential Machine is by far the most successful music project I’ve ever been in,” says RJ. “[Robert will] always have the time where we played these really cool shows in neat spaces and meet really cool people. So I feel like that’s a gift that is really awesome to be able to give to your child. Regardless of what he ends up doing when he becomes my age.”

•

Follow staff writer Jordan Snowden on Twitter @snowden_jordan PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JULY 3-10, 2019

21

SEVEN DAYS OF CONCERTS HOP ALONG TUESDAY, JULY 9 It’s not just Frances Quinlan’s remarkable voice — scratched, hurt, vulnerable, and angry — that makes Hop Along such a special band, it’s the way every syllable of her lyrics land on the music underneath. There’s the irresistible, inviting “eight-forty-five-A-M” that opens “The Knock” and the strained promise of “this is never going to happen to me” on “Texas Funeral,” both from 2015’s Painted Shut; and most recently, the heartsick repetition of “we will both find out, just not together” on “How Simple” from 2018’s Bark Your Head Off, Dog. Of course, having someone like Quinlan out front can overshadow what amazing chemistry the whole band has in songwriting, production, and performance. For proof of the latter, catch Hop Along with Kississippi at Rex Theater. 8 p.m. 1602 E. Carson St., South Side. $18.50 rextheater.net PHOTO: MATT ALLEN

Hop Along

FULL LIST ONLINE pghcitypaper.com

THURSDAY JULY 4 REGGAE THE FLOW BAND. Baja Bar and Grill. 2 p.m. Fox Chapel.

PUNK 3WEEKOLDROSES. Preserving Hardcore. 6 p.m. New Kensington.

COUNTRY

ROCK

METAL

GET THE LED OUT. The Palace Theatre. 8 p.m. Greensburg.

BRIMSTONE COVEN, MOLASSES BARGE. Howlers. 9 p.m. Bloomfield.

BILLY PRICE AND THE NIGHTHAWKS. Thunderbird Café & Music Hall. 8 p.m. Lawrenceville.

BIG EYES, MEDIUM UGLY. Nettle Nest. 7 p.m. Downtown.

SAY AHH, HIGH N DRY. Jergel’s. 8 p.m. Warrendale.

BLUES

BRANDON LAY. Heinz Field.

2 p.m. Downtown.

THE CONTENDERS. Cioppino Restaurant & Cigar Bar. 7 p.m. Strip District.

DREW HALE BAND. Tequila Cowboy. 8:30 p.m. North Side.

LUXURY MACHINE. Club Cafe.

10:30 p.m. South Side.

POP

DJS

NO BAD JUJU. Rivers Casino.

7 p.m. North Side.

DJS

PEACE AND RHYTHM (PANDEMIC). Brillobox.

9:30 p.m. Bloomfield.

JAZZ

DJ SAMUEL ANDRES (THE WARM UP).

The Goldmark.

7 p.m. Lawrenceville.

ROGER HUMPHRIES. Wallace’s Whiskey Room. 7 p.m. East Liberty.

DJ CONNOR (80S NIGHT).

Rugger’s Pub. 9 p.m. South Side.

FRIDAY JULY 5

DJ ADMC (NICKI VS CARDI).

Belvederes. 9 p.m. Lawrenceville.

DJ GROVER. Baja Bar and Grill.

7 p.m. Fox Chapel.

ACOUSTIC

JAZZ

DARYL SHAWN. Backstage Bar. 5 p.m. Downtown.

REGGIE WATKINS TRIO. Wolfie’s Pub. 8 p.m. Downtown.

SAME MOON. Spoonwood Brewing Co. 8 p.m. Bethel Park.

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COUNTRY CROSS CREEK. Crafthouse Stage & Grill.

9 p.m. Whitehall.

ELECTRONIC PVKVSV. Bierport.

8 p.m. Lawrenceville.

SATURDAY JULY 6 JAZZ LUCARELLI TRIO. Cioppino Restaurant & Cigar Bar. 7 p.m. Strip District.

ROCK STACKED LIKE PANCAKES. Mr. Smalls Theatre.

7 p.m. Millvale.

THE KILLIFISH. Wigle Whiskey.

7 p.m. North Side.

WASHER, RAVE AMI. Howlers. 9 p.m. Bloomfield.

RIGHT TURNCLYDE. Bakery Square. 11 a.m. East Liberty.

ANCIENT SKVLLS, WEIRD CORNERS. Gooski’s. 9 p.m. Polish Hill.

GARAGE SPACE, BAD FRIEND BEN. Mr. Smalls Theatre. 8 p.m. Millvale.

DJS

JAZZ

TITLE TOWN SOUL & FUNK. Spirit. 9 p.m. Lawrenceville.

DTC ORGAN TRIO. City of Asylum. 6 p.m. North Side.

DAN BUBIEN AND THE DELTA STRUTS, THE PIERCE DIPNER BAND. Market Square. 5 p.m. Downtown.

DJ ECLIPSE, DJ CRASHZER0 (REQUIEM).

Cattivo. 10 p.m. Lawrenceville.

THE TUBBY DANIELS BAND. Metropolitan Club.

5 p.m. Downtown.

PUNK

BLUES

INDIE THE UNIVERSE ONLINE, THE GRASPING STRAWS. The Government Center.

8 p.m. North Side.

PONY, LEM (EP RELEASE). Mr. Roboto Project. 7 p.m. Bloomfield.

FRY JONES. 222 Ormsby. 7 p.m. Mt. Oliver.

FOLK/AMERICANA DYADO, ALAN GETTO. Full Pint Wild Side Pub. 8 p.m. Lawrenceville.

MULTI GENRE

RECONQUISTA. Club Cafe.

10:30 p.m. South Side.

BLINK 182, LIL WAYNE. KeyBank Pavilion. 7:30 p.m. Burgettstown.

THE LIVING STREET. Krazy Karen’s Cafe & Galleria. 8 p.m. Sharpsburg.

EDDAN SPARKS TRIO. Wolfie’s Pub. 8 p.m. Downtown.

JOEY MCGEE, JOE ZELEK BAND. Club Cafe. 7 p.m. South Side.

COVERS IDENTITY CRISIS. Baja Bar and Grill. 8 p.m. Fox Chapel.

PIXELATED (90S). Enix Brewing.

6:30 p.m. Homestead.

ACOUSTIC VERA AND ADRIANO. Casa Brasil. 7 p.m. Highland Park.

ELECTRONIC DIMMISH. Brillobox. 9 p.m. Bloomfield.

PETE KAUFMANN, TAIGA KODA. Hot Mass. 12 a.m. Downtown.

CHILLENT. Thunderbird Café & Music Hall. 8 p.m. Lawrenceville.

POP GABBY’S WORLD, BELLOWS. Mr. Roboto Project. 7 p.m. Bloomfield.

PARODY WEIRD AL YANKOVIC. Benedum Center. 8 p.m. Downtown.

PUNK/METAL EDHOCHULI, GLASSING. Spirit.

9 p.m. Lawrenceville.

SUNDAY JULY 7

SONS OF TEXAS. Crafthouse Stage & Grill. 7 p.m. Whitehall.

CLASSICAL

NIED’S HOTEL BAND. Portogallo Peppers N’AT. 2 p.m. Braddock.

ED MOORE. St. Paul Cathedral.

3:30 p.m. Oakland.

ANDRE BOHREN, HARRY HARDIN. Music Night On Jupiter.

4 p.m. Allison Park.

REGGAE SUBLIME, ROME. Stage AE. 6 p.m. North Side.

ROCK

MONDAY JULY 8 PUNK CITYCOP, THE GRIEVANCE CLUB. Mr. Roboto Project.

7 p.m. Bloomfield.

PHOTO: MERRICK ALES

Black Pumas

BLACK PUMAS WEDNESDAY, JULY 10 Fans of Alabama Shakes, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, and The Black Keys: meet your next favorite band. Named NPR’s Breakout Band of 2019, Black Pumas released its self-titled debut album June 21 — after teasing singles “Colors,” “Fire,” and “Black Moon Rising” earlier this year — boosting the Austin-based group from local Texas talent to national up-and-comers. Along with the album release, the band announced an extensive series of worldwide tour dates, including a Pittsburgh stop at Spirit. Check out the duo before they hit it (even) bigger. 9 p.m. 242 51st St., Lawrenceville. $15-17. spiritpgh.com

BLUES JIMMY ADLER. Wolfie’s Pub. 6 p.m. Downtown.

ROCK/PUNK HETEROFOBIA, CREMALLERAS. Blumcraft. 8 p.m. Oakland.

TUESDAY JULY 9

METAL

ACOUSTIC

COUNTRY

ANTHONY PICONE. Moondog’s.

7 p.m. Blawnox.

BRIAN JUNKER, DONNAO, TOM HOFFMAN. Schenley Plaza.

11 a.m. Oakland.

JAZZ SHAMIE ROYSTON QUINTET. Cabaret at Theater Square.

8 p.m. Downtown.

BOILERMAKER JAZZ BAND. Katz Plaza.

5 p.m. Downtown.

WOLVHAMMER, VAULTED, BEAR SKULL. Spirit. 9 p.m. Lawrenceville.

ALEXANDRA KAY. Hard Rock Cafe.

8 p.m. Station Square.

AMERICANA PATRICK SWEANY. Club Cafe. 8 p.m. South Side.

WEDNESDAY JULY 10 ROCK KING CATFISH, YOUNG LUNGS. The Government Center. 6 p.m. North Side.

DEADGRASS. Hard Rock Cafe.

8 p.m. Station Square.

SHINEDOWN. KeyBank Pavilion.

6:30 p.m. Burgettstown.

THE FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS. Jergel’s. 8 p.m. Warrendale.

JAZZ RML JAZZ. Edgewood Winery.

6:30 p.m. New Kensington.

FUNK THE MAGIC BEANS, THE CLOCK READS. Thunderbird Café & Music Hall.

8 p.m. Lawrenceville.

ELECTRONIC SEB EL ZIN, ISHTAR, 8 CYLINDER. Mr. Smalls Theatre.

8 p.m. Millvale.

BLUES SOUTHERN AVENUE. Club Cafe. 8 p.m. South Side.

These listings are curated by Pittsburgh City Paper’s music writer Jordan Snowden and include events from our free online listings. Submit yours today at www.pghcitypaper.com/submitevent PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JULY 3-10, 2019

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.FILM.

BACKSTAGE

BY LISSA BRENNAN INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

NAME: Steven Haines, Homestead WORK: Microcinema Presenter WHAT IS MICROCINEMA? [Films] from flea markets, estate sales, thrown in the trash. Educational and industrial, home movies, put together in programs — ephemeral stuff not screened elsewhere. I’d say the golden era is the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s. Every school had films, they all went in the trash and filtered into people’s hands. I have a lot of mid-century stuff, probably the earliest I have is late ’20s.

AT WHICH TIME FILM WOULD HAVE BEEN EXPENSIVE. This collection is all shot by the same person over about 15 years, and you can tell it’s a well-off family — on vacation, attending events, leisure activities. You didn’t really see working class stuff until after WWII, when it became more affordable.

WHO DO YOU DO PROGRAMS WITH? Independently, and also for Jump Cut, who the next event is for on the Fourth of July at Glitter Box. IS THERE A SPECIFIC TYPE YOU CONCENTRATE ON? I’m keeping it as expansive as possible; I don’t want to box myself into a corner.

I hesitate to say that I’m more interested in one form or another because I watch everything. I like to think I’m really anti-snobbery. I go home and watch Netflix romcoms, to the Waterfront to see Hollywood blockbusters. But what I really like to look at is what’s overlooked otherwise.

There’s plenty of stuff in my collection that probably doesn’t exist anywhere else, made and distributed to schools and workplaces around the country 50 years ago that at some point nobody cared about and thought was trash. I like the idea of keeping it around and sharing it with audiences.

HOW’D YOU GET STARTED? I’ve gone to flea markets my whole life.

I had random films acquired over the years, then at some point got my first good projector. I thought, “I need films.

Where are the films?”

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PGHCITYPAPER.COM

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

Steven Haines

HOW DO YOU TURN THEM INTO A PROGRAM? I have dozens and dozens of program ideas. I want to be respectful. I don’t want to contextualize in a way that pokes fun at the footage or makes light of the situation. I get in an iffy area when it comes to chopping up films. I consider myself a preservationist, but sometimes you have a print that’s compromised, that’s beat up in a number of ways, so I can chop it up. I think, “Can I put together some kind of hodgepodge show of clips, one thing working off something else in an unusual way?” It’s heavily curated. I take notes on everything, practical notes on condition, but also [ask], “Could this fit in a particular program?” I keep all the notes on just

a fraction of my collection, the ones I’ve watched.

YOU HAVE ONES YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED? Oh yeah, I’ve got thousands and thousands.

HOW MANY IN TOTAL DO YOU HAVE? Um. Some thousands? That’s one thing ...

I really need an inventory.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE BUYING WHEN YOU BUY IT? Sometimes I’ll have an idea what it is, sometimes I’ll have no idea what it is, sometimes it’s a mystery box of film and I’ll find something incredible in there.

Home movies are cool because so

much is mundane and typical, but then you’ll have something totally unexpected and completely delightful. The collection from the ‘20s has so much leisure footage in there, which has its own kind of interest — Coney Island, classic fun stuff. But the gentleman who shot those also had a penchant for catching footage of disasters, so occasionally a shot of people relaxing on the beach will be interrupted by footage of a house fire. Where else do you find that kind of juxtaposition?

YOU REALLY WOULDN’T BE EXPECTING A HOUSE FIRE. Pretty much every time I thread up the projector, I have no idea what I’m going to see.

•

.VOICES.

INDEPENDENCE FOR WHOM?

BY TERENEH IDIA // CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

T

HE FOURTH OF JULY is upon us.

A day when many celebrate “Freedom” and others reflect on what “Freedom” would look like when it is finally won. Growing up, we had sparklers, fireworks, and a picnic BBQ. But as I got older, I started to wonder about the holiday.

It wasn’t one specific thing that made me rethink how or if I should celebrate it.

The first was hearing the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall refer to the Constitution as “defective from the start” in 1987, noting several errors, including the continuation of slavery, and the opening words “We The People” leaving out the majority of the people living in the United States at that time.

The addition of amendments, updates, changes, and Bill of Rights in the 200+ years since is proof that there was — and is — so much work to be done.

Though he was not discussing the Declaration of Independence, Marshall’s words made me think of other landmark documents that have shaped the United States of America. Where are the other flaws and oversights? Clearly a country in the state of turmoil that we find ourselves in today is far from perfect.

My second awakening came when I heard the full Declaration of Independence read aloud on NPR. I stopped in my tracks when I heard these lines: “... the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction, of all ages, sexes

and conditions.”

Genocidal European settlers hellbent on so-called Manifest Destiny, who killed 90 percent of the Indigenous people through warfare and disease, as well as white male slave owners, calling anyone else a savage is the very definition of hypocrisy.

On July 5, 1852, while the United States was still very much a slave-holding country, Frederick Douglass gave a keynote address on Independence Day (proof that no matter what the state of Black America, White America wants to hear good news from us).

But Mr. Douglass did not satisfy in his speech called, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” “... Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me.

The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine.

You may rejoice, I must mourn ...”

I, too, wonder what to celebrate on Independence Day when the document at the basis of this holiday has a goal to own enslaved Africans and kill First Nations people. Can we reframe, rededicate what the United States of America can be? Or is a nation built on genocide and slavery that refuses the reality of its past and present forever scarred?

Follow featured contributor Tereneh Idia on Twitter @Tereneh152XX

•

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, JULY 9 • 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM LECTURE: DOWN AND OUT BUT NOT DEAD: STORIES FROM THE MONOGAHELA RIVER VALLEY AND REVITALIZATION THROUGH PLACEMAKING PRESENTER: WILL PRINCE MAIN STREET MANAGER, WASHINGTON COUNTY

A highlight of historic sites, communities, and events in the Monongahela River valley to help explain the resilience of the region in the context of industrial loss. We consider how various cultural resources and tools of historic preservation have been or could be used to spark economic rejuvenation in Mon Valley communities. Through consideration of the history of places like the Carrie Furnace, McKeesport International Village or Elizabeth’s Plum Street, this lecture will gauge traditional and unconventional solutions to promoting and improving reinvestment opportunities in communities with limited resources or capacity to change the perception of “down and out,” places in the Mon Valley and beyond.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER: William (Will) Prince is the Main Street Manager of the Washington Business District Authority of Washington County. A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, Will completed a two-year stint of national service through AmeriCorps and the Student Conservation Association. He also managed and helped expand the nation’s first Trail Town Program at The Progress Fund connecting outdoor recreation and small-town revitalization. A former board member and president of the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh, Will is a graduate of the Master of Preservation Studies program at Tulane University. A native of the Mon Valley town of Elizabeth, Will continues to volunteer for his home town’s Area Development Corporation.

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

744 REBECCA AVENUE

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27

.ART.

BIRDS OF A FEATHER

BY AMANDA WALTZ // AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

F

URRY CULTURE tends to attract

creative types. Unlike most other fandoms, furries are both the creators and the consumers of their culture. They’re in charge of creating their own costumes, literature, and art. At least that’s according to Eric Zawrotny, a furry and Anthrocon artist from Brighton Heights.

“Being able to create your own material in a very do-it-yourself fandom, it really draws artists in,” says Zawrotny.

Zawrotny has been a furry since 2001 and dresses in a mascot-like fursuit as Sebastian Silverfox, a “fursona” based on the kitsune, a mythical Japanese fox creature with multiple tails. He’s been attending Anthrocon on and off since 2003, where he sells and auctions off watercolor paintings of what he calls “more stylized wildlife.”

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PGHCITYPAPER.COM

Ava Wos as Akela shows off her furry artwork CP PHOTO: JARED MURPHY

LITERATURE

FURRY NATION

BY LISA CUNNINGHAM LCUNNING@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

PHOTO: MARCUS JANKE

Eric Zawrotny as Sebastian Silverfox (left) and his watercolor artwork

One new artist showing at the 2019 Anthrocon, taking place from July 4-7 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, is 12-year-old Ava Wos of Penn Hills.

She became interested in furries when she turned 11 years old and has since adopted a wolf-fox fursona named Akela. She also has multiple sketchbooks filled with furry pencil sketches, both personal and commissioned, some of which will be at the convention this year.

“I’ve always been interested in art,” says Wos. “I’ve been drawing since I was around three. I draw all kinds of different characters.”

Another Anthrocon artist, Caitlin Stone, believes the convention offers a ton of opportunities for attendees to both buy and sell work.

“A big chunk of Anthrocon’s floor space is dedicated to artwork in its various forms,” says Stone, a Shaler resident and self-described “Jill of all trades” who specializes in bird-based multimedia artwork. She has a variety of fursonas that incorporate her own handmade ears and tails, as well as other elements like a floor-length cape with moth wings. This year, she plans on attending the convention dressed in a raven mask and arm wings.

In the past, Stone has contributed her mixed-media sculptures – sort of stuffed animals with soft, posable bodies and sculpted elements like heads, horns, and claws – to Anthrocon’s Art Show, where guests can bid on original or limited edition pieces.

Last year, she donated a griffin sculpture to the convention’s charity auction, which bids off pieces to raise money for animal charities and rescue groups in Western Pennsylvania.

ANTHROCON 2019: SURF PACIFIC Thu., July 4-Sun., July 7. David L. Lawrence Convention Center, 1000 Fort Duquesne Blvd., Downtown. $35-45. anthrocon.org

There’s also the dealer room for full-time arts vendors and the more casual Artists Alley for those with a limited inventory or who can only reserve a booth for one or two days.

Jennifer Opferman, owner of The Garment Goddess, started selling her hand-sewn ears, tails, and other costume items at Anthrocon six years ago. She also sells at other local fan conventions like Tekko, but looks forward to Anthrocon

each year.

“I always have other vendors be like, ‘Oh, you’re doing the furry convention?’” says Opferman, “and I always tell them that it is the highest-grossing convention I work.”

A third of her sales are commissions, including one instance when she made a four-foot long possum tail for a customer.

For the first time this year, Opferman expanded her offerings with leather dragon-wing necklaces and floral headbands outfitted with fake antlers, the latter of which sold out when she debuted them at Tekko.

Opferman says she feels embraced by the Anthrocon community, despite not being a furry herself (though she does dress in costume at the convention). This sentiment is echoed by newcomer Wos, who is excited to experience what will be her first Anthrocon.

“I like how welcoming everybody is and how friendly it is, and it’s fun because people who aren’t as outgoing and are introverted rather than extroverted, they can be more themselves with their costumes,” says Wos. “It’s kind of like cosplaying, where we can just be somebody else who also represents ourselves.”

•

Furries are like sports fans who paint their bare chests in hopes of being seen on TV. It’s an analogy found early in Joe Strike’s 2017 book Furry Nation: The True Story of America’s Most Misunderstood Subculture, and one he disputes. Not all furries are in it for the attention, he points out, and only a small percentage of the community actually wears fursuits. But it’s an analogy that’s apt for Pittsburgh, the sports town where Anthrocon, the annual furry convention, has been held since 2006.

Pittsburghers gather Downtown every summer to watch and take selfies with the furries, many of whom happily pose furrynation.com for photos or wave and perform for the crowds.

But while the furries have gotten a lot of local media attention over the years, it’s difficult to really understand the subculture without getting to know the people behind the masks.

Furry Nation provides a glimpse into the world with guidance from Strike, who is himself a furry. It often reads more like a book report than as an exposé for curious onlookers, but the author shares stories that humanize the fandom. It’s hard not to be excited for him as he describes personal moments, like stepping into his very first fursuit — a Komodo dragon, complete with an articulated tail.

Those hoping to hear about the more taboo part of furry culture will skip straight to the chapter titled “The Naughty Bits.” Yes, furry porn exists and is sold at conventions. But like the fursuits, it’s really just a small part of a larger community that, when it comes down to it, really isn’t that shocking. •

Follow senior writer Amanda Waltz on Twitter @AWaltzCP PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JULY 3-10, 2019

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th Park Theatre ^ California Suite at Sou ^ The Ever After at South Park Theat re

.STAGE.

SMALL THEATRE, BIG IDEAS

BY AMANDA WALTZ // AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

W

ITH JUST 136 seats, the South Park Theatre has to be creative when it comes to putting on its productions each year, which include a wide range of genres, from musicals to dramas.

“It’s a fairly intimate stage,” says South Park Theatre executive director, Lorraine Mszanski. That’s why they go with productions like The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a comedy musical, currently running until July 13, with a small cast and a single set.

“It’s hard for us to do those big, golden era musicals, so we have to be rather crafty in what we choose.”

That’s what the nonprofit community theater has done for the last 25 years, all in a charming, rustic-looking building surrounded by the greenery of Allegheny County South Park. Each year, the company puts on eight productions on the indoor Main Stage from April to October, and five Children’s Theatre productions on its outdoor stage from June to August.

The company also runs children’s theater camps in the summer and winter.

But even though the company offers

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productions nearly every day of the week during certain seasons, all with affordable ticket prices, there are still challenges, particularly with outreach.

“There’s a lot of people from South Park or the South Hills that say they never knew we were there,” says Mszanski. “So we’re working on that for sure.”

One way Mszanski intends to do that is by expanding the types of plays the company puts on.

SOUTH PARK THEATRE Corrigan Drive at Brownsville Road, Bethel Park. southparktheatre.com

“We’re trying to bring some familiar titles that the general public might already be aware of and bring that theater to the backyards of our community,” says Mszanski. “We also make a strong effort to introduce our community to some newer works they have not heard of before.”

In addition to The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, she also cites Mom’s Gift, an upcoming dramedy featuring what she calls a “heart-

wrenching ending.”

“It’s a very cool twist at the end,” says Mszanski. “It’s very moving … It’s a really beautiful and smart script.”

South Park Theatre is also trying to redefine the amateur, DIY identity applied to its brand of theater.

“The term ‘community theater’ is a very loaded term,” says Mszanski.

She believes that, over a quarter of a century, South Park Theatre has grown from the idea of “everybody just chip in and get her done” to now employing a full staff of professional artists, who also work at other area theaters. With a full crew, they’re able to turn shows around quickly, a necessity in a venue where Main Stage shows run for three weekends and then have to be quickly broken down after the last performance to prepare for the next show.

The company also pays its actors, who Mszanski says are all local hires.

But the theatre’s main focus remains on creating shows for all ages. While some of the Main Stage performances are family-friendly, Mszanski says the summer Children’s Theatre shows tend

to be more accessible fairytales, either in their original or modernized versions, all performed by youth talent.

“We call it ‘theater for kids, by kids,’” says Mszanski. She adds that these shows — which take place all through the summer, every Monday through Wednesday — attract anywhere from 200-300 kids and their families.

Most of all, Mszanski wants people to see that, with South Park Theatre, people living in and around Allegheny County South Park don’t have to travel to Downtown Pittsburgh to see great productions.

“I think we’re moving in a really positive direction in terms of [the] kinds of plays and professionalism we bring,” says Mszanski. “I want to continue going in that direction so that people in our community feel like they don’t have to spend a lot of money to see something new, or see something engaging and entertaining and thoughtful and smart.

They can come to South Park Theatre for that and enjoy the beautiful atmosphere it’s in. … I want us to be a destination for people to experience that art and culture.”

•

.MUSIC.

HAVE YOU LISTENED TO VYBEKINGS, THE DJS THAT A RE OPENING FOR YOU? I hadn’t before, but I have now, and I’m happy that they are on the bill as well because they can have similar sounds as I can, and they’re not heavy in one direction.

It’s a mix of genres, which is what I do as well, so I think it’s actually a great match. After listening to how they mix and perform, I thought I couldn’t get anybody better.

PA ALL SUMMER

BY JORDAN SNOWDEN JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

D

IPLO REMEMBERS Philadelphia DJ

and producer Dosk as the “USB kid.” After the young musician — real name Dylan Doskicz — missed the opportunity to play the 2016 Mad Decent Block Party due to technical difficulties, Diplo gave Doskicz a pep talk backstage, telling him to use a USB in the future to prevent that kind of mishap.

That was early in Doskicz’s still budding career. He now laughs at the snafu, citing it as a learning experience. “You can fail, you just have to fail in a smart way,” says Doskicz. “You have to learn from it, know how you messed up, and how not to do it again. But you need to fail. Success doesn’t taste as good without failure.”

Currently, after a promotions slip-up last year, Doskicz is learning how to properly market, promote, and execute his own shows. On July 5, Doskicz kicks off PAallDay, his first headlining tour set to hit four cities in Pennsylvania, starting in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh City Paper chatted

PHOTO: CODY GUZZIE

Dosk

DOSK: PAALLDAY TOUR Fri., July 5. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Scenario. 1005 E. Carson St., South Side. scenariopgh.com

with Doskicz about the tour and growing as an artist, ahead of his first stop.

SO WHY IS PITTSBURGH YOUR FIRST STOP INSTEAD OF PHILADELPHIA, WHERE YOU’RE FROM? I wanted to end in Philly since that’s going

to be the biggest capacity venue. I wanted to have more time to promote it. Also, I wanted to start in Pittsburgh because I’ve had a lot of people in the past few years wanting me to go out there and play in Pittsburgh and I’ve never able to find the right venue or club to actually have me over there. Then Nick from Scenario contacted me through Twitter and we kind of just went back and forth.

I’m excited to kick it off there. It’s probably going to be a crazy show.

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE GOING ON YOUR FIRST HEADLINING TOUR? It’s interesting for sure, especially because I announced it by myself with no opening acts. I kind of fill in the opening acts before [shows] so it’s really up to me and my team to promote the most out of it. It’s nerve-wracking for sure. Once you announce, that’s when the journey really begins. You have to try and get people to come, sell the tickets. I don’t have anyone backing me so it’s really just me getting the word out as much as possible, and working with venues and their teams.

I’m nervous for it but also really excited because this is hopefully going to be the start of the rest of my life.

Hopefully, I can start it off right.

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JULY 3-10, 2019

•

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FUNAN

BY AMANDA WALTZ AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

PHOTO: GKIDS

Funan

Beginning in 1975, the Khmer Rouge unleashed a reign of terror across Cambodia, killing between 1.7 and 2 million Cambodians, and exiling more. The horrific period unfolds from the perspective of a Cambodian family in Funan, the debut feature from Cambodian-French filmmaker, Denis Do. The French-language animated film — which makes its Pittsburgh premiere at Row House Cinema — focuses on Chou (voiced by Bérénice Bejo), who becomes separated from her young son, Sovanh, in the chaos of the Khmer Rouge revolution. Along with her husband, Khuon (Louis Garrel), and several other relatives, Chou vows to survive the atrocities of a work camp in order to reunite with Sovanh, who witnesses his own version of the regime’s crimes.

FUNAN Defined by Sat., July 6-Thu., a clean, July 11. Row House illustrative Cinema, 4115 Butler style and St., Lawrenceville. $8. slow-burn rowhousecinema.com storytelling, Funan depicts the characters’ maddening crawl towards death, either by starvation or illness, even when execution is avoided by any means necessary. The overwhelming sense of danger builds enough tension to carry the story to its poetic climax.

In a statement, Do describes the film as directly inspired by his own mother, who survived the Khmer Rouge before migrating to France, where Do was born.

The choice to use suggestive imagery that only hints at the nightmarish acts, rather than wallowing in the gory details, teeters on flinching away from modern Cambodia’s darkest days. But perhaps that’s the point for Do, who, in producing a deeply personal story, would rather not exploit the unimaginable ordeal through which his own mother lived.

The film is also all too relevant in a time when refugees and migrants in Syria, Myanmar, and on the U.S.-Mexico border now face their own horrors — only this time, social media and the news cycle won’t let us look away. •

PHOTO: VULCAN PRODUCTIONS

Ghost Fleet examines the slave labor of the Thai fishing industry.

.FILM.

FISHING FOR ANSWERS

BY HANNAH LYNN // HLYNN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

I

T’S EASIER TO live in ignorance and think of slavery of something long past, a dark part of American history (with an eternal legacy). But the reality of slavery is that it takes many shapes, in many places, and is an ongoing horror. The documentary Ghost Fleet goes deep into the world of slave labor currently happening in Thailand’s fishing industry.

Overfishing has occurred for years, with ships venturing farther out to sea to capture more supply. This makes the job more grueling and positions more difficult to fill.

So, fishing companies started capturing men and teenagers, forcing them to work on the ships. Several survivors who speak in the film describe not seeing land or leaving the ship for years. They recall getting beaten with a stingray tail, being given meth to stay awake, losing limbs, and watching friends die in front of them. One former slave called the ships “where we lived without life.” They were worked to the bone for years, and those lucky enough to escape ended up stranded in a country other than their own.

Directors Shannon Service and Jeffrey Waldron follow a team of activists from the Labour Rights Promotion Network Foundation (LPN), led by Patima

Tungpuchayakul, as they travel to remote Indonesian islands, looking for the escaped, stolen men. Patima is joined by Tun Lin, a labor rights activist and former slave, and Chutima “Oi” Sidasathian, a translator and journalist.

GHOST FLEET DIRECTED BY: Shannon Service and Jeffrey Waldon Opens Fri., July 5 at Harris Theater

The heartbreak doesn’t end with the stories of how these men were captured and held; it continues long after they escape. Patima meets several men living in Indonesian islands who long to return home to Thailand and see their families, who haven’t heard from them in a decade or more. But, often, they married and had kids and are now unable to leave.

Sometimes they’ve forgotten their native language. The team takes videos of these men, promising to find their family back home and show it to them. In one of the few heartwarming scenes, Oi posts a photo of a man named Pong on the LPN Facebook page, asking if anyone knows his family. A few minutes later, they have Pong’s dad’s phone number.

While Ghost Fleet goes into great

detail about some aspects of the fishing industry in Thailand, it leaves out others by focusing mostly on the men. Of course their stories deserve to be told, but the film would’ve been more thorough if it put the issue of fishing slave labor into a larger context. It’s not until the last five minutes that the film mentions the fish these captured men catch might be casually sold in American grocery stores. It’d be useful to have more information on what happens to fish after they’re caught and how people might avoid buying it. (Although the fishing companies obviously try to hide which fish were caught by slaves.)

Similarly, Ghost Fleet gives only a passing reference to the environmental effects of this kind of mass fishing (which is the reason the fishing companies had to send the ships out so far in the first place.)

When we finally see a clip from one of the ships in action, it’s just an unfathomable amount of fish, and it’s untold what damage this does to the ocean.

Ghost Fleet is bleak, and doesn’t leave much reason for viewers to feel hope, though that’s not really the point. It takes viewers on a dark, painful journey into the horrors of the sea. But it shows that there are people like Patima, who, with the LPN, has rescued over 4,000 men.

Follow staff writer Hannah Lynn on Twitter @hanfranny

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•

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JULY 3-10, 2019

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^ Artwork by Nathalie Lawhead

.ART.

GAME ON

BY HANNAH LYNN // HLYNN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

E

VERY MONTH on First Friday in the Bloomfield-Garfield corridor, the gallery space LIKELIKE puts on an art show that’s different from most of the other galleries on Penn Avenue. Most First Friday shows are typical to art crawls, involving stationary art hanging on the walls, but LIKELIKE’s focus is on something different: video games.

Described as a “neo-arcade,” LIKELIKE is a kind of revival of the communal, public game-playing spaces that existed in the earlier era of video games. But instead of reviving old games, the space features independent

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video game developers and traditional artists who happen to use video games as their medium.

Video games are often not included in traditional art spaces, and when they are, it can be an awkward fit. “If you put a video game into a normal, traditional art gallery, people might be turned off or might not feel like interacting,” says Paolo Pedercini, executive director of LIKELIKE. “It’s just a different kind of context and language.”

The shows usually pull together several different artists to fit one theme, like June’s Other Futures, which explored optimistic alternatives to

depictions of a dystopian future, or the responsive Shoot Not Shoot from March 2018, which reacted to the Parkland shooting with first-person shooter games reimagined. The gallery often features VR or other specialized hardware most people don’t have access to.

But the July 5 show, System Error, features the work of Irvine, Calif.-based artist/game designer, Nathalie Lawhead (sometimes known by her online handle AlienMelon.) The name of the show reflects Lawhead’s work, which has a purposefully glitchy, zine-like quality in its aesthetic.

Some of Lawhead’s work is parody,

The 5th Judicial District of Pennsylvania and Allegheny County Pretrial Services urges you to enjoy your weekend out in Pittsburgh but

make the right choice,

don’t drink and drive.

LIKELIKE’s June exhibit, Other Futures

like the Electric File Monitor app, which is billed as a “prison-industrial complex for your home or work computer,” and randomly accuses files of having a virus, making them beg for their innocence. Another, Froggy, reimagines the classic game Frogger, but with a frog existing in a postapocalyptic earth, dodging exploding cars on “Armageddon Highway.” Lawhead describes her work as exploring brokenness, distortion, and “what it means to be a person in that virtual realm.” It has humor and irony, but also often sadness or feelings of existential dread.

“There’s something extremely fascinating to me about when we were just trying to figure out what software is … how you even interact with a machine, and it’s extremely bad and colorful and clumsy,” says Lawhead. “I think it’s very interesting when you take something that’s alluding to how computers used to be and put them on a modern machine, how different and unusual and out of place it is.”

She describes this as a time before computers were confined to accomodate Big Tech.

“Gradually, things are being pushed to go through App Store only and GooglePlay only, and [Microsoft Store], so it’s harder to distribute experimental work,” Lawhead says (she distributes her games through itch.io, a site that hosts indie video games).

“In these stores, there are restrictions for quality or however they feel like software should be, so it restrains what you can do as an artist.”

The visitors that come through

LIKELIKE each month, Pedercini says, are a mix of people who are specifically interested in independent video games and people interested in art who happened upon the gallery. “That’s the kind of public that I like to intersect: a curious public that is ready to be stimulated or see some culture but they’re not necessarily gamers,” he says. “It’s interesting to have the works that I put out as an entry point or re-entry point to that world that people abandoned or completely ignored, mostly because they thought the games were stupid or childish, which is true. Most of them are.”

SYSTEM ERROR: A NATHALIE LAWHEAD RETROSPECTIVE 7-11 p.m. Fri., July 5. LIKELIKE, 205 N. Evaline St., Garfield. Free. likelike.org

It seems to be the theme of the gallery, tapping into some sense of nostalgia for how computer programs used to work or look, without a hollow nostalgia that has the impossible goal of reliving the past. Instead, LIKELIKE works to broaden the public perception of what games can do, say, or make people feel.

“There’s so much work out there by experimental [artists] that are saying games don’t have to be fun, games can be painful and unique and difficult and off-putting, and jarring, and all sorts of other things that games are typically not classified as,” says Lawhead.

•

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JULY 3-10, 2019

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CP PHOTO: JARED MURPHY

Water Trash

.MUSIC.

JAZZ FEET

BY SARAH CONNOR // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

T

HE MEMBERS of local rock band Water Trash have been playing together for nearly a decade, but its current lineup is only around two years old.

The group — featuring Ryan Hartman (guitar/vocals), Ryan Killen (keyboard), Carter Vannoy (lead vocals/guitar), Cheyenne Raithel (drums), and Victor Tonti (bass) — met through the youth music education group For Those About to Rock Academy. The organization is based out of Ambridge, and run by local musician and producer David Granati, of The Granati Brothers.

“I’ve been playing bands with Victor since I was probably eight or nine,” says Vannoy, who is now 19.

In the past two years, the band has released one EP, Jazz Feet, two fulllengths, Water Trash and No Dice, and performed all over the city, from house venues in Oakland to the Mr. Roboto Project. In mid-June, Water Trash hit the road for a tour spanning Michigan

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to Washington, D.C. Since each member of the band is working full-time, they planned out tour dates for weekends throughout June and July.

WATER TRASH OPENS FOR THELMA & SLEAZE 9 p.m. Thu., July 4. Spirit, 242 51st St., Lawrenceville. $5. spiritpgh.com

The driving is up to Hartman, who has an internship in Akron, Ohio during the week. “It’s just the five of us, sweating, driving around in my 2011 Honda Odyssey. I’ve got a mom car that I drive my kids, or bandmates, around in,” he says.

Thus far, they have played Detroit, Cleveland, Long Branch, N.J., Lancaster, Pa., Columbus, Ohio, and Huntington and Martinsburg, W.Va. This week, the fivesome plays a show in their hometown, at Spirit. After that they’ll make a couple more stops before finishing

the tour back home in Pittsburgh with a set at Verdetto’s for the Deutschtown Music Festival.

“There’s a lot more space to fill [at the shows on tour],” says Vannoy. “At a house show, if 30 or 50 people show up, you’re playing for a packed house, and you’re like ‘this is awesome, I’m like a rock star!”

After the tour wraps up, Water Trash is making plans to record a new album this fall. Killen teased the record, saying the style will change from alt-pop-rock to a more psychedelic sound. The group has plenty of other releases planned for the future as well, with seven more records already partially written.

But for the near future, Water Trash is looking forward to finishing out the summer tour, and continuing to perform in the fall, particularly a Sept. 6 gig at Mr. Smalls, where the band will join Brittney Chantele, Isaiah Small, Jack Swing, and DJ Aunt Buck for the Back to School 2019 festival.

•

.FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 4

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Leo author Donald Miller reminds us that fear can have two very different purposes. On the one hand, it may be “a guide to keep us safe,” alerting us to situations that could be dangerous or abusive. On the other hand, fear may work as “a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life.” After studying your astrological indicators for the coming weeks, Leo, I have come to the conclusion that fear may serve both of those functions for you. Your challenge will be to discern between them; to know which situations are genuinely risky and which situations are daunting but promising. Here’s a hint that might help: trust your gut feelings more than your swirling fantasies.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Why do flocks of geese fly in a V-formation?

Because to do so enhances the collective efficiency of their travel. Each bird generates a current that supports the bird behind it. Let’s make this phenomenon one of your power metaphors for the coming weeks. What would be the equivalent strategy for you and your tribe or group as you seek to make your collaborative efforts more dynamic and productive? Unforeseen help will augment any actions you take in this regard.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “A conversation is a dialogue, not a monologue,” mused Libra author Truman Capote. “That’s why there are so few good conversations: due to scarcity, two intelligent talkers seldom meet.”

That cynical formulation has more than a few grains of truth in it, I must admit. But I’m pleased to tell you that I suspect your experience in the coming weeks will be an exception to Capote’s rule. I think you have the potential to embark on a virtual binge of rich discussion and intriguing interplay with people who stimulate and educate and entertain you. Rise to the challenge!

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In accordance with astrological rhythms, you are authorized to make the following declarations in the next two weeks: 1. “I refuse to participate further in this situation on the grounds that it might impinge on the expansiveness of my imagination.” 2. “I abstain from dealing with your skepticism on the grounds

ARIES (March 21-April 19): When the universe began 13.8 billion years ago, there were only four elements: mostly hydrogen and helium, plus tiny amounts of lithium and beryllium. Now there are 118 elements, including five that are key components of your body: oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. All of those were created by nuclear reactions blazing on the insides of stars that later died. So it’s literally true to say that much of your flesh and blood and bones and nerves originated at the hearts of stars.

I invite you to meditate on that amazing fact. It’s a favorable time to muse on your origins and your ancestry; to ruminate about all the events that led to you being here today — including more recent decades, as well as the past 13.8 billion years.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Cancerian voice actor Tom Kenny has played the roles of over 1,500 cartoon characters, including SpongeBob SquarePants, Spyro the Dragon, Jake Spidermonkey, Commander Peepers, and Doctor Octopus. I propose that we make him your role model in the coming weeks. It will be a favorable time for you to show your versatility; to demonstrate how multifaceted you can be; to express various sides of your soulful personality.

that doing so might discourage the flights of my imagination.” 3. “I reject these ideas, theories, and beliefs on the grounds that they might pinch, squash, or deflate my imagination.”

What I’m trying to tell you, Scorpio, is that it’s crucial for you to emancipate your imagination and authorize it to play uninhibitedly in the frontiers of possibilities.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Dear Sagittarius: I invite you to make a copy of the testimonial below and give it to anyone who is in a position to support your Noble Experiment.

“To Whom It May Concern: I endorse this Soulful Sagittarius for the roles of monster-tamer, funlocator, boredom-transcender, elation-inciter, and mountaintop visionary. This adroit explorer is endowed with charming zeal, disarming candor, and abundant generosity. If you need help in sparking your enthusiasm or galvanizing your drive to see the big picture, call on the expansive skills of this jaunty puzzle-solver.”

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Life will conspire to bring you a surge of love in the coming weeks—if you can handle it.

Can you? Will you be able to deal adeptly with rumbling love and icy hot love and mostly sweet but also a bit sour love? Do you possess the resourcefulness and curiosity necessary to have fun with funny spiritual love and runningthrough-the-labyrinth love and unexpectedly catalytic love? Are you open-minded and openhearted enough to make the most of brilliant

shadowy love and unruly sensitive love and tough graceful love?

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

I don’t endlessly champion the “no pain, no gain” theory of personal growth. My philosophy holds that we are at least as likely to learn valuable lessons from pleasurable and joyful experiences as we are from difficult and taxing struggles.

Having said that, I also think it’s true that our suffering may lead us to treasure if we know how to work with it. According to my assessment, the coming weeks will bring one such opening for you. To help you cultivate the proper spirit, keep in mind the teaching of Aquarian theologian and author Henri Nouwen. He said that life’s gifts may be “hidden in the places that hurt most.”

Most American women couldn’t vote until a hundred years ago. Women in Japan, France, and Italy couldn’t vote until the 1940s. Universal suffrage has been a fundamental change in how society is structured. Similarly, same-sex marriage was opposed by vast majorities in most countries until 15 years ago, but has since become widely accepted.

African-American slavery lasted for hundreds of years before being delegitimized all over the Western world in the nineteenth century. Brazil, which hosted forty percent of all kidnapped Africans, didn’t free its slaves until 1888. What would be the equivalent of such revolutionary transformations in your own personal life? According to my reading of the astrological omens, you have the power to make that happen during the next twelve months.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):

The Japanese word “wabi-sabi” refers to an interesting or evocative imperfection in a work of art that makes it more beautiful than if it were merely perfect. “Duende” is a Spanish word referring to a work of art that gives its viewers the chills because it’s so emotionally rich and unpredictably soulful. In the coming weeks, I think that you yourself will be a work of art with an abundance of these qualities. Your wabi-sabi will give you the power to free yourself from the oppressive pressures of seeking too much precision and purity. Your duende can give you the courage you need to go further than you’ve ever dared in your quest for the love you really want.

Gemini musician Paul Weller is famous in the UK, though not so much elsewhere. According to the BBC, he is one of Britain’s “most revered music writers and performers.” To which I say: revered, maybe, but mentally healthy? Not so much. He bragged that he broke up his marriage with his wife Dee C. Lee because “things were going too well, we were too happy, too comfortable, everything seemed too nice.” He was afraid that “as a writer and an artist I might lose my edge.” Don’t you dare allow yourself to get infected with that perverse way of thinking, my dear Gemini. Please capitalize on your current comfort and happiness.

Use them to build your strength and resilience for the months and years to come.

GO TO REALASTROLOGY.COM TO CHECK OUT ROB BREZSNY’S EXPANDED WEEKLY AUDIO HOROSCOPES AND DAILY TEXT-MESSAGE HOROSCOPES. THE AUDIO HOROSCOPES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE BY PHONE AT 1-877-873-4888 OR 1-900-950-7700

Pittsburgh’s lone liberal talkshow host for 30+ years Listen live every weekday at 10 a.m. at lynncullen.pghcitypaper.com PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JULY 3-10, 2019

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Mikhail’s poetry draws from many sources, including her experiences growing up in Iraq and as a journalist. Many of her poems are comprised of short, compact stanzas, especially her Tablets series.

.LITERATURE.

THE STORIES DIDN’T KILL HER

From Tablets IV: Their stories didn’t kill me but I would die if I didn’t tell them to you.

BY REGE BEHE CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

D

URING THE Persian Gulf War

of 1991, Dunya Mikhail, then working as a journalist at the Baghdad Observer, was placed on a list of suspected traitors to Iraq.

She had not committed a crime. She did not speak out against Saddam Hussein or the Iraqi government. True, the poetry collection she had published, The War Works Hard, used metaphors to avoid censorship, but Mikhail insists there were no overtly political passages.

Nevertheless, she was questioned by the Iraqi government and her work was labeled subversive. The reason? Mikhail was not overtly pro-Hussein.

“Back then, you were supposed to take sides. Their side,” says Mikhail, who eventually fled Iraq and settled in Detroit in 1995. “So the book was not taking a side about the war. It was not about the Iranians; it was about humans like us. It

PHOTO: NINA SUBIN

Dunya Milkhail

ART OF TRANSLATION SERIES: DUNYA MIKHAIL 7 p.m. Mon., July 8. Alphabet City, 40 W. North Ave., North Side. Free.

RSVP requested. alphabetcity.org

was full of metaphors and it was meant that way. It was meant to not be understood by censors.”

Since settling in the U.S., Mikhail has

BETWEEN THE LINES The Full Pint Wild Side Tap Room in Lawrenceville hosts the Hell’s Lid Reading Series. Featured writers and poets include Tai Chirovsky, Janette Schafer, Ben Smiley, Angele Ellis, Rita Staci B, and Cal LaFountain. 2 p.m. Sun., July 7.

5310 Butler St., Lawrenceville. Free, but donations accepted. fullpintbrewing.com.

earned a Guggenheim Fellowship and the United Nations Human Rights Award for Freedom of Writing. She currently serves as a special lecturer of Arabic at Oakland University in Michigan.

Working as a translator and poet — her collections have been published in Arabic and English — simultaneously leads to “possibilities and risks,” says Mikhail. “Translators, when they translate something that is not theirs, they are very faithful. They want to do their best to convey the meaning of the original poem.

It’s wonderful, but sometimes being faithful is not necessary. Each language has its own cultural connotations. Sometimes being faithful is not necessarily the best way of translating a poem, in my opinion.”

The series is inspired by Mikhail’s fascination with Sumerian clay tablets from Mesopotamia that date back to 3200 BC. The tablets are considered to display the world’s first written language using symbols and languages. Mikhail considers herself to be a Sumerian.

“It’s fascinating to me for two reasons,” says Mikhail. “First, how they expressed their feelings or ideas through those images. … Second, and more importantly, I think these [tablets] are political by default because expressing things through images and symbols is political. I tried to imitate that spirit. I call it Iraqi haiku.”

Mikhail loves the elasticity of poetry, how a poem can be interpreted in different ways. But she’s not sure if the form is transcendent or life-affirming or healing.

“I’m not one of those who believes that poetry is medicine,” Mikhail says.

“I said in another interview, ‘it’s not medicine, it’s an X-ray’ … One of the things that poetry does is [it] brings memory to the future so it becomes permanent.”

Mikhail’s forthcoming poetry collection, In Her Feminine Sign (New Directions), will be released July 30.

•

Follow featured contributor Rege Behe on Twitter @RegeBehe_exPTR

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WED., JULY 17 SANCTUARY 5 P.M. CRAFTHOUSE SOUTH HILLS. Minors must be accompanied by an adult. $14-16. 412-653-2695 or ticketfly. com. With special guests GHOST SHIP OCTAVIUS, Whitethrash, and LEPROSY.

WED., JULY 17 HUNKS — AN ALL MALE REVUE 6 P.M. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE WARRENDALE. Minors must be accompanied by an adult. $16-30.

724-799-8333 or ticketfly.com.

WED., JULY 17 I’M WITH HER: SARA WATKINS - SARAH JAROSZ AOIFE O’DONOVAN

TUE., JULY 23 ROBERT RANDOLPH & THE FAMILY BAND 6 P.M. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE WARRENDALE. Minors must be accompanied by an adult. $30-42. 724-799-8333 or ticketfly.com.

7:30 P.M. BYHAM THEATER DOWNTOWN. $40-50. 412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.

3 P.M. NORTH PARK ALLISON PARK. Free event. alleghenycounty.us/parks

SUN., JULY 21 LIZ COOPER & THE STAMPEDE

THU., JULY 18 WALKER HAYES

SAT., JULY 20 PUPPY YOGA

6 P.M. CATTIVO LAWRENCEVILLE. 21 and up. $12-15. 412-687-2157 or ticketfly.com.

With special guest James Wolff.

6 P.M. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE WARRENDALE. Minors must be accompanied by an adult. $20-32.

724-799-8333 or ticketfly.com.

9 A.M. BOYCE PARK PLUM. $15-19. alleghenycounty.us/parks

THU., JULY 18 FLETCHER’S GROVE / TRAILHEADS / ELECTRIC ORANGE PEEL

SAT., JULY 20 SODAJERK REUNION 7 P.M. THUNDERBIRD CAFÉ & MUSIC HALL LAWRENCEVILLE. 21 and up. $12.

412-331-1050 or roxianlive.com

8 P.M. THUNDERBIRD CAFÉ & MUSIC HALL LAWRENCEVILLE. 21 and up. $12 412-331-1050 or roxianlive.com

SAT., JULY 20 SH!TFACED SHAKESPEARE: ROMEO & JULIET

THU., JULY 18 PETER PAN

8 P.M. BYHAM THEATER DOWNTOWN. 18 and up. $20-25. 412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.

7:30 P.M. BENEDUM CENTER DOWNTOWN. $26.25-81.25.

412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.

SAT., JULY 20 WINE & SPIRITS FESTIVAL

FRI., JULY 19 RANDY BAUMANN’S THUNDERBIRD RAMBLE

4 P.M. MANSION LAWN HARTWOOD ACRES MANSION. 21 and up. $25-31. alleghenycounty.us/parks

8 P.M. THUNDERBIRD CAFÉ & MUSIC HALL LAWRENCEVILLE. 21 and up. $15 412-331-1050 or roxianlive.com

SUN., JULY 21 SHARPTOOTH/ OBEY THE BRAVE

SAT., JULY 20 WON’T YOU BE MY POLLINEIGHBOR?

5:30 P.M. SMILING MOOSE SOUTH SIDE. All-ages event. $13-15. 412-431-4668 or ticketfly.com. With special guests Born a New, Downswing, and Plasmid.

SUN., JULY 21 GUIDED HIKE: TREES 2 P.M. BOYCE PARK PLUM. All-ages event.

Free event. alleghenycounty.us/parks

SUN., JULY 21 SIMPLE HERBAL REMEDIES WITH A PARK NATURALIST 2 P.M. MANSION PARKING LOT HARTWOOD ACRES MANSION. All-ages event. Free event. alleghenycounty.us/parks

MON., JULY 22 GREEN ARTISTS AND WRITERS CAMP 9 A.M. TRUST ARTS EDUCATION CENTER DOWNTOWN. Students grades 4-6. $125-150.

412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.

TUE., JULY 23 THE BLUE HOTS 5 P.M. AGNES KATZ PLAZA DOWNTOWN. Free event. 412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.

TUE., JULY 23 ROCK OF AGES 7:30 P.M. BENEDUM CENTER DOWNTOWN. $26.25-76.25 412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.

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PHOTO: ADAM THOMAS - CAPTURED::PITTSBURGH

SEVEN DAYS OF ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT

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^ Fri., July 5: An Evening of Magic and Music

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THURSDAY JULY 4

you’re there, catch “Weeds” by David Covell, a series of sketches inspired by his life in Maine. 1-5 p.m. 5006 Penn Ave., Bloomfield. Free. irmafreeman.org

FILM

MAGIC

Salute the flag of microcinema with Jump Cut’s 4th of July Party at Glitter Box Theater. Jump Cut is bringing the beer, food, and projectors, while Pittsburgh experimental film group Flea Market Films supplies a 16 mm film program of “space age nationalism, wide-eyed home movies, drive-in movie trailers, cringe-inducing civics lessons,” and more. Or, put more succinctly, “It’s like America put into a blender and projected onto a screen.”

Freedom isn’t free and neither is this event, but $10 ain’t bad for a night of good films, good people, and good food. (For more on the event, read CP’s interview with one of the organizers on page 26.)

5 p.m. 460 Melwood Ave., Oakland. $10. jumpcuttheater.org

Magician Tanya Solomon and local avant-garde performer Phat Man Dee join forces for An Evening of Magic and Music at Club Cafe. Hailing from New York City, Solomon has been highlighted in Salon, Refinery 29, Time Out New York, and other publications as one of the few women in the magic scene, as well as for her distinctive blend of awesome illusions, comedy, and vaudevillian showmanship. Along with Phat Man Dee’s own brand of jazzy, social-justice-minded music, the evening promises to be one you won’t soon forget. 7-9 p.m. 56 S. 12th St., South Side. $10. clubcafelive.com

FRIDAY JULY 5

PHOTOGRAPHY Don’t miss the last day to catch And So We Are Here, and exhibit by Washington D.C.-based photographer Chris Mills at the Irma Freeman Center for Imagination.

The series features large-format photos of landscapes, often deep within a forest, that “invite us to consider that what we see is ultimately a reflection of self.” While

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ART Artisan Tattoo Gallery showcases the art and tattoo work of six talented individuals for its annual Resident Artist Group Show. See work by Jason Angst, Kati Zmenkowski, Rita Perez, Christi Ane, Matt McKelvey, and Shervin Iranshahr during a reception that includes free beer tastings from Vecenie Beer Distributing Co., a live DJ, and more.

This event will take place during the First Friday Unblurred gallery crawl. While the show is all-ages, parents and guardians should note that it contains adult themes. 7:30-10:30 p.m. 5001 Penn Ave., Garfield. Free. artisanpittsburgh.com CONTINUES ON PG. 42

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JULY 3-10, 2019

41

CALENDAR, CONTINUED FROM PG. 41

^ Sat., July 7: Pittsburgh Reptile Sale and Show

SATURDAY JULY 6

PHOTOGRAPHY We’re used to seeing our furry friends take over the streets of Downtown every year during Anthrocon, but the local photography group Captured::Pittsburgh invites them indoors. Every year, the organizers temporarily convert a local storefront into a furry-run business and invite photographers to capture the furries at work. This year, it’s Arcade Comedy Theater getting the Furry treatment as it transforms into FURcade Comedy Theater, with furries running everything from the ticket booth to the lighting. Don’t miss this opportunity to snap an Anthrocon photo unlike any other. Your friends’ Furry selfies outside Joe & Pie will cower in jealousy. 9:30 a.m. 943 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $0-15. arcadecomedytheater.com

ART Spend the afternoon checking out the current exhibits at the Mattress Factory, then use it as inspiration to create

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artwork of your own. At ARTLab, the art museum’s ongoing drop-in interactive program, visitors of all ages can learn to create masks based on a simple line drawing. Be sure to check out the installations from street art duo OSGEMEOS, whose brightly painted faces are sure to inspire masks fit for Pittsburgh’s next Picasso.1-4 p.m.

500 Sampsonia Way, North Side. Free with museum admission. mattress.org

SUNDAY JULY 7 REPTILES Ever seen a lizard wearing clothing?

Well, there’s no better place to do so than the Pittsburgh Reptile Sale and Show at the Harmar House. The event features thousands of animals, including snakes, spiders, birds, gators, turtles, mice (live and frozen) and more. The event is a great place to buy a pet, learn about unfamiliar animals, or simply ogle the wide array of critters. Photos are encouraged! 9 a.m.-3 p.m. 1321 Freeport Road, Cheswick. $6. pghreptileshow.com

FOOD Onion Maiden and SKULL Records are teaming up for another episode of Give Me Your Soul Pop Up Kitchen. The popular metal-inspired vegan restaurant is cooking up a menu of Southern comfort food set to the sounds of punk, Southern soul, and metal tracks from DJ Skull and friends. Past menus have included fried chick’n sandwiches, fish-fried banana blossoms, and gumbo. 12-10 p.m.

639 E. Warrington Ave., Allentown. Search “Give Me Your Soul VIII” on Facebook.

MONDAY JULY 8 LECTURE Steelers players are often idolized in Pittsburgh, but when a football player is also a war veteran, their legend is elevated to a Mr. Rogers-like status. Rocky Bleier is one of those players. The former Steelers star served in the Vietnam War and was injured in combat. After two years of recovery, he fought his way back onto the football field and eventually earned

a starting spot with the Steelers’ in the 1970s. Bleier will be speaking with a panel about his new book, Fighting Back, that chronicles his story returning to the football field after combat.

Admission includes access to the Heinz History Center’s Vietnam War exhibit; a meet and greet with Bleier precedes the talk. Veterans and active-duty members can attend for free. 7-9 p.m.

1212 Smallman St., Strip District. $15. heinzhistorycenter.org

TUESDAY JULY 9 TALK Pennsylvania does a particularly poor job of educating its minority children.

According to a 2017 study from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a childwelfare organization, Pennsylvania ranked 32nd in how well its AfricanAmerican children performed in school, the lowest among states in the Northeast. For Latinos, it was even worse: Pennsylvania ranked 48th. That topic will be discussed in full by a panel at

ARTWORK: “LOST IN THE WOODS/SYNODIC PERIOD” BY CHRIS MILLS

^ Fri., July 5: And So We Are Here

The August Wilson African American Cultural Center. The talk, entitled Unfulfilled: The Promise of Equal Education, will include insight from community activist Michael David Battle, Slippery Rock University professor Fadoua Loudiy, and others. The panel discussion takes place in Gallery 1. 6 p.m. 980 Liberty Ave., Downtown. Free. aacc-awc.org

Works Cinema. 7 p.m. 425 Cinema Drive, South Side. $20. clevelandcinemas.com

EVENT

Carnegie Museum of Art guests will have the opportunity to create their own art when the museum hosts a class with Cynthia Lee, a Pittsburgh-based comics artist and illustrator. Titled Emotional Landscapes, the class focuses on helping guests create connections between their feelings and shape, color, and texture. Come to CMOA and draw some mountains and beaches while mining your deepest emotions for a creative outlet. 2-4 p.m. 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland.

Free. Registration required. cmoa.org

PechaKucha 20x20 invites creative individuals to share 20 images, each for 20 seconds. The photos advance automatically, as the presenter discusses them. PechaKucha nights are informal gatherings for people to share their ideas, ranging from creative works and innermost thoughts to old photos. The first PechaKucha night was held in Tokyo in 2003, and they’re now held in more than 1,000 cities around the world. Pittsburgh’s PechaKucha night will take place at City of Asylum. 6:30-9 p.m. 40 W. North Ave., North Side. Free. pechakucha.com

STAGE National Theater Live brings Britain’s best productions to screens across the globe.

To celebrate its 10th anniversary, the organization is resurrecting its biggest broadcast, Hamlet (seen by 900,000 people internationally), for one night only. Watch Benedict Cumberbatch to his own self be true as the title character on stage at the Barbican Theater in London from a seat at SouthSide

WEDNESDAY JULY 10 ART

POETRY Each summer, the Pittsburgh Poetry Collective hosts a competitive poetry slam to select a spoken-word poet to represent the city at the Individual World Poetry Slam. However, this year the organization has chosen to do something a little bit different in the form of the Steel City Slam, an event featuring popular pieces from previous competitive shows, as well as new material. Steel City Slam will take place at City of Asylum’s Alphabet City. 7-10 p.m. 40 W. North Ave., North Side. $10. alphabetcity.org • PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JULY 3-10, 2019

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ACROSS 1. Madonna nickname 6. Name on a credit card 10. Pixar movie inspired by the Day of the Dead 14. Stevia rival 15. Busy travel nights 16. Shortly 17. Thing blown after a heavy rainstorm?

20. Canadian Football League division 21. Canadian Football League scores: Abbr.

22. Heads into the pool?

23. ___ homo 25. Peter Parker’s girlfriend 27. Kangaroo’s hereditary piece?

33. Crossword birds 34. Mario’s wheels 35. That sorta thing 37. Iraq’s ___ City 38. Barbecue meat 40. Roman censor 41. Bioguard Lo ‘N ___ (pool pH reducer brand) 42. Like one end of the pool 43. The Good, the Bad & the Queen singer Albarn 44. Activity similar to bar hopping?

48. “___ we forget” 49. Car maker Ferrari 50. With 6-Down, “Even Flow” singer 53. It started after the July Crisis: Abbr.

54. Carefree life 58. Sleazeball magician?

62. Sticking point?

63. British noble 64. Hospital area 65. Thicket trees 66. It’s worth a nickel 67. Unionize?

DOWN 1. Cory Booker’s side eye, e.g.

2. Blue hue 3. Outfit 4. Ana of “Wine Country” 5. Multi-core?

6. See 50-Across 7. “All in the Timing” playwright David 8. Darn it all 9. Cricket bat wood 10. House of cards?

11. Broadcasting 12. Haan of shoemaking 13. Tipjar notes 18. Cortizone target 19. Clarifying phrase 24. Shot amts.

25. Athlete who plays for “Big Blue”

26. Slacker’s bugaboo 27. Singer/ songwriter Glynne 28. Sonicare rival 29. Wicket W. Warrick’s home moon 30. Giraffe cousin 31. City where the first 2020 Democrat debates were held 32. “Rocketman” subject, familiarly 36. Big ape 38. Admit, with “up” 39. Beat and humiliated, on-line 40. Afro-Brazilian martial art 42. Meganerd 43. Border dispute

area: Abbr.

45. Our moral superiors 46. Hairstyle for Gabe Kaplan 47. History chapter 50. Topiary’s side 51. Kind of pickle 52. Beat it 53. Big troubles 55. Maker of the Aspire laptops 56. Toffee candy bar 57. Look at 59. “Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery,” e.g.

60. “How about that!”

61. 45, for a 7” LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JULY 3-10, 2019

45

PEEPSHOW A sex and social justice column

BY JESSIE SAGE // PEEPSHOWCAST@GMAIL.COM

O

N JUNE 21, columnist E. Jean

Carroll published an excerpt from her new memoir, What Do We Need Men For?, in New York magazine, alleging a violent assault by President Trump more than 20 years ago in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room. She joins more than 20 women who have publicly accused President Trump of sexual misconduct, with accusations ranging from inappropriate sexual advances to rape.

Trump denied the allegations, telling reporters from The Hill, “I’ll say it with great respect: Number one, she’s not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?” That he responded so cavalierly to something as serious as rape — denying it on the grounds of how attractive he finds her — points to a much larger cultural problem. Sexual abuse and misconduct on the part of powerful men (Trump is by no means the only one) has become a regular fixture of the political landscape — so much so that they fail to provoke adequate outrage. A former White House official told The Atlantic, “I didn’t read it, we’re just kind of numb to it all at this point.”

Yet while White House officials and political pundits may be numb, we should stop to ask what sort of impact this has on those who have experienced sexual assault and/

or rape, and how survivors are supposed to navigate a world where they are being bombarded with news that forces them to constantly confront these conversations.

Last week, I posed this question to Jane (name has been changed to protect her privacy), who responded with her own story of sexual assault. For her, one of the more difficult things about these seemingly commonplace allegations is having to listen to people around her discuss them.

“Sexual allegations in the news solicit opinions and comments from others that can feel deeply personal,” she says. “Hearing someone say that a woman is speaking out against an

accuser to ruin his life, or suggesting that she is some way deserves the assault, really hurts.”

The fact that most survivors do not share their stories with acquaintances and coworkers, and often not even with those close to them, means that in any given group there are likely to be survivors who feel implicated by the conversation.

“I can’t help but project [the comments of others onto] my own situation,” Jane says. “It feels like people you know are casting judgment against you, albeit unknowingly.”

Dr. Nancy Fair, who has a private psychotherapy practice in Pittsburgh, says that while this may feel isolating,

Jane is not alone in her feelings.

“After all of these years, people still blame women, and this is not okay,” says Fair.

This is clear from Trump’s own statement. He doesn’t talk about the seriousness of rape, or that doing so would be inconsistent with his character; instead, he says she isn’t his type, and he didn’t happen to do it. Of her patients, Dr. Fair says, “They feel unsafe because they know if something happens, they will be blamed.”

While it would be easy to say that those who feel triggered by the news should try to limit their exposure to it, this obviously doesn’t solve the larger issue of how to navigate the social world where sexual assault has become part of public discourse.

And importantly, it puts the onus on survivors to change their behavior in order to protect themselves, once again blaming the victim. Instead, we need to collectively take responsibility for how we deal with and talk about sexual assault in our culture.

While the #MeToo movement opened up space for survivors to begin to tell their stories, we need to carry this through to real structural change regarding how we relate to and treat each other, and what we expect from our politicians. This should start with becoming un-numb, and taking the stories of survivors seriously.

•

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? ASK JESSIE! EMAIL INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM. QUESTIONS MAY BE CONSIDERED FOR AN UPCOMING COLUMN.

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3. Hepatitis C Treatment 4. Psychiatrists on Staff

WWW.POSITIVEPATHWAYSPA.COM Your pathway to a fresh start and new way of thinking begins with a phone call.

We Accept:

CALL NOW: 412-224-2812 PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JULY 3-10, 2019

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JULY 5-7 ONLY!

WE LIKE FREEDOM, AND SO DO THEY! "LIBERATE" A CAT* FROM OUR SHELTERS AND WE'LL REDUCE THEIR ADOPTION FEE TO JUST $40!

*Promotion applies to adult cats 6 months of age and older. To view adoptable animals, visit: HumaneAnimalRescue.org/available-pets