December 18, 2019 - Pittsburgh City Paper

PITTSBURGH’S P PI ITT TTTSB SBU GH’S SB SBUR ALTERNATIVE ALTE AL TERN RNAT ATTIV IVE FOR NEWS, NE EWS S, AR A ARTS RTS T + EENTERTAINMENT EN NTTE ERT RTA AIIN NM MEEN NT SINCE SI S INC NCE 19 1 1991 991 91

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DEC. 18-25, 2019

How conversations with strong Black women have helped INEZ become a powerhouse in Pittsburgh’s music scene

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Thanks... for Drinking Responsibly this Holiday Season!

Happy Holidays from

RESPONSIBILITY M AT T E R S

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 18-25, 2019

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650 Smithfield Street, Suite 2200 Pittsburgh, PA 15222 412.685.9009 E-MAIL info@pghcitypaper.com

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DEC. 18-25, 2019 VOLUME 28 + ISSUE 51 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 Senior Account Executive JOHN CLIFFORD Sales Representative KAITLIN OLIVER Operations Coordinator MAGGIE WEAVER Events and Marketing Coordinator BRYER BLUMENSCHEIN Circulation Manager JEFF ENGBARTH Featured Contributors REGE BEHE, LISSA BRENNAN, LYNN CULLEN, TERENEH IDIA, CHARLES ROSENBLUM, JESSIE SAGE Interns JOIE KNOUSE, ELISE LAVALLEE Office Administrator RODNEY REGAN National Advertising Representative VMG ADVERTISING 1.888.278.9866 OR 1.212.475.2529 Publisher EAGLE MEDIA CORP.

FIRSTSHOT

BY JARED WICKERHAM

Visitors walk through Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens’ Winter Flower Show and Light Garden, on display through Jan. 12, 2020.

GENERAL POLICIES: Contents copyrighted 2019 by Eagle Media Corp. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher. The opinions expressed in Pittsburgh City Paper are those of the author and not necessarily of Eagle Media Corp. LETTER POLICY: Letters, faxes or e-mails must bwe signed and include town and daytime phone number for confirmation. We may edit for length and clarity. DISTRIBUTION: Pittsburgh City Paper is published weekly by Eagle Media Corp. and is available free of charge at select distribution locations. One copy per reader; copies of past issues may be purchased for $3.00 each, payable in advance to Pittsburgh City Paper.

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COVER PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM READ THE STORY ON PAGE 16

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 18-25, 2019

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CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

Established by Operation Safety Net, bronze plaques with the names of the homeless who have died in Pittsburgh are shown Downtown

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THE BIG STORY

HUMANIZING HOMELESSNESS How Pittsburgh is attempting to help its homeless population

F

BY RYAN DETO // RYANDETO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

OR THE LAST THREE YEARS, donations on Giving Tuesday have been growing for Light of Life Rescue Mission, which provides food and shelter to the homeless at its facility in the North Side.

The Tuesday following Thanksgiving has become an unofficial day to donate to charity, and locally, Give Big Pittsburgh compiles all the donations on that day and ranks which organizations have garnered the most support.

In 2017, Light of Life raised about $69,000 on Giving Tuesday. That figure grew in 2018 and jumped to more than $153,000 in 2019. According to Give Big Pittsburgh, Light of Life has topped the list of local nonprofits the last three years.

Pittsburgh is clearly experiencing a surge in support for homeless advocacy and causes, and Jerrel Gilliam, director of Light of Life, says it’s happening at a vital time. Gilliam says the homeless population in Pittsburgh has been growing, stretching the already limited dollars of local shelters, religious groups, and organizations that provide services for homeless people.

“We have been tremendously blessed by the outpouring to help us and other similar organizations,” says Gilliam. “I am appreciative of the attention it’s getting. I have noticed personally a change in homelessness this year, and the Downtown businesses will tell you there were more homeless people on the street.”

But the increased attention hasn’t all been good. Reports of homeless-

ness in Downtown this summer were lumped together with reports of violent crime and panhandling. News coverage and pressure from a local foundation led to demands for Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto to increase police presence, to which he reluctantly obliged.

“It’s not simply a police issue,” Peduto told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in August. “It is an issue that deals with mental health, homelessness, and addiction.”

Gilliam says this kind of reaction, one led by legal and punitive actions against homelessness, isn’t helpful. Currently, Light of Life is transitioning to a harm reduction strategy, which means housing will be provided, even if people are still using drugs or alcohol.

“One of the answers is not making it a legal issue, like hardening our loitering laws,” says Gilliam. “If you just get tough on them, they just move along. We need to humanize homelessness. Each of these people are someone’s son or daughter or father or mother.”

ONE OF THE ISSUES in treating homelessness is the unreliability of the numbers. While there’s anecdotal evidence of increasing numbers of homeless people in Pittsburgh, the data tells another story. Allegheny County Department of Human Services reports that homelessness numbers have decreased over the last three years, from 1,573 homeless people in Allegheny County in 2014 to 774 people in 2019.

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 18-25, 2019

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HUMANIZING HOMELESSNESS, CONTINUED FROM PG. 7

But advocates say this data is incomplete because the weather and the number of volunteers can affect the count, not to mention that people in transitional housing situations who are staying with friends or relatives aren’t included in the count.

Gilliam says the current federal guidelines for how the homeless population is counted underestimates the scope of the problem, since people need to participate in certain programs related to homelessness for 30 days to be counted.

“It changed from people being counted if they don’t have a permanent address, to now they need be ‘certified homeless,’” says Gilliam.

He acknowledges that Pittsburgh’s homeless populations are nowhere near the figures of cities like Los Angeles, but that doesn’t mean homeless advocates in the city should rest on their laurels. For one, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, Pennsylvania saw the largest decrease in homeless shelter beds between 2016 and 2017, losing 382 beds.

Gilliam adds that Light of Life, which is faith-based, has increased its outreach and started providing services

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CP PHOTOS: JOIE KNOUSE

A volunteer and staff member, Kevin Hutchison, scoop dessert for the clients at Light of Life Rescue Mission

to homeless people in camps, instead of just waiting for people to come to their kitchen or shelter. Another area of Gilliam’s work is in changing how homelessness is perceived. Light of Life is starting a public relations campaign

showcasing four different portraits: a person with a homeless sign, a college student with a backpack, a mom and child in a park, and a typical middleaged person. The idea is to show how all of these people can be homeless.

“Which of these people are homeless? It can be anyone,” says Gilliam.

For example, Gilliam says he has spoken with Community College of Allegheny County president Keith Bullock, who said there has been an increase in homeless students at CCAC. Gilliam hopes the campaign will help change people’s attitude on homeless people in city neighborhoods and throughout the county. He says Light of Life is starting to change by making the entrance to their shelter more welcoming, more like being greeted by a hotel concierge than entering a Department of Motor Vehicle office.

“There was a situation a while back where a homeless person died on the North Side, followed by a big outcry,” says Gilliam. “The people most angry didn’t even know this person’s name. And there were no drugs found and no paraphernalia, but the assumption was this person overdosed and was another nuisance in our society. We need to quit that.”

ALLEGHENY COUNTY human services, which is responsible for the tens of millions in federal funds the county receives to address homelessness, is also is looking to change the way home-

lessness services are perceived.

The county recently awarded a contract to Pittsburgh Mercy to operate a “low-barrier” shelter that would reach the homeless population not being served at existing shelters. This kind of shelter has flexible rules, like allowing participants to continue drinking or using drugs. This plan has been supported by the Pittsburgh Foundation, which has directed about $8 million towards addressing homelessness this year, according to the P-G. “It’s tough to find a space that we can afford in this community right now and that meets the needs of the people,” Jeanne Pearlman, senior vice president for program and policy at the Pittsburgh Foundation, told P-G in September.

Allegheny County officials are also looking to prevent evictions throughout the county, and provide help to people who are in danger of being evicted.

Pittsburgh city officials are collaborating with the county, community groups, and area nonprofits to figure out how best to address homelessness. Laura Drogowski works on homeless policy for the city, and acknowledges the county

Clients at the Light of Life Rescue Mission stand in line to pick up their lunch

numbers on decreased homelessness.

But she also notes that issues around homelessness are more complex than just counting who checks into certified homeless shelters.

“Experiences of homelessness (par-

ticularly Downtown) are visible and continue to attract attention,” Drogowski said in an email to Pittsburgh City Paper.

“Shelters across the region are often at capacity or may not be equipped to accommodate individuals with prob-

lematic substance use or other complex unmet mental health or medical needs.”

To address these complex issues, the city allocated $1.18 million out of the city budget to homeless service providers in Pittsburgh in 2019.

Drogowski notes that Pittsburgh Public Safety officials and Pittsburgh Police are undergoing training to help officers engage with homeless Pittsburghers better and funnel them to services that might address some of their needs.

“Harm reduction is essential and means that services need to adapt to people, not vice versa” writes Drogowski.

“If something isn’t working, are we asking how programs can evolve? We can reflect, examining the service by not just blaming the person or labeling them as a ‘problem.’”

In the end, Drogowski hopes that conversations will start changing surrounding homelessness, and that compassion for those experiencing it never waivers.

“Acknowledge people. Be kind. Have a conversation,” writes Drogowski. “A person experiencing homelessness is a person.”

•

Follow senior writer Ryan Deto on Twitter @RyanDeto

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 18-25, 2019

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THIS WEEK ONLINE AT PGHCITYPAPER.COM

PORT AUTHORITY LAUNCHES FREE WI-FI SERVICE ON MORE THAN 400 BUSES The Port Authority of Allegheny County announced the service as part of the “latest investment in technology aimed at enhancing the customer experience.”

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.JUST JAGGIN’.

PARENTING IN THE CLUTCH

BY JOSH OSWALD // JOSWALD@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

R

EGGIE JACKSON. Michael Jordan.

Josh Oswald. You’ve heard these names countless times. The best of the best in their individual fields, you’re thinking.

In Game 6 of the 1977 World Series, Reggie Jackson hit three home runs with three swings of the bat to lead the New York Yankees to the world championship.

Michael Jordan hit a jump shot with 5.2 seconds in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA finals to secure Chicago’s sixth championship over the course of eight years.

They call it “the zone,” and from Dec. 9 to Dec. 12, I was the closest I’ll ever be to elite athleticism. My game: single parenting; my trophy: survival.

“Athletes tend to experience peak performances when they know they are being challenged — not when they’re expecting an easy win or likely to lose to a superior opponent. Most flow performances seem to occur when athletes are being pushed, or their limits are being stretched,” according to SportingNews.com.

While I’ve been up against these formidable opponents (my children) for longer stretches before, last week’s performance will be spoken of alongside Secretariat’s 31-length Belmont win, Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game, and Usain Bolt’s 2009 World Championship performance for years to come.

To understand the significance of this accomplishment, you must first understand the game. Like most professional sports, your biggest enemy in solo

parenting is the clock. You need to sleep enough to be rested, while ensuring you don’t oversleep, as the morning is parenting’s game seven. There are Mickey Mouse Eggo waffles to be toasted, syrupped, and served, lunches to be made, clothes to be selected and at times forcefully put onto your children, bookbags to be packed with nap-time stuffed animals, fights over the television to be diffused.

When my wife Emily is at home to co-parent, I’m at best a Toni Kukoč, serving up assists and tying up loose ends as she captains us to victory. But when I’m left to my own devices, I am the Michael Jordan! I’m toasting waffles and prepping lunches with individual sides for each kid’s specific taste. I’m orchestrating outfits like Lorin Maazel. Did we leave a key for the dog walker? Check! Have those elves been moved to a new location each night? Swish from way downtown! Did I prepack their swimming gear in the car for tonight’s lessons? You bet your balls I did.

My three home-run game was definitely driving my son Marty to the bus, as it arrived, with a car windshield that was opaque with frost. I stuck my head out the driver’s side window and Ace Ventura’d our way to the stop safely and right on time.

But like any true champion, I’m not one to boast, brag, and bluster. This was simply a red-letter date in the history of parenting that needed to be documented.

I owe it to you, the fans.

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Follow digital media manager Josh Oswald on Twitter @gentlemenRich

classifieds.pghcitypaper.com PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 18-25, 2019

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.RESTAURANT REVIEW.

INDEPENDENT BREWING COMPANY

BY MAGGIE WEAVER MWEAVER@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

I

NDEPENDENT BREWING Company

has a “terrible name,” according to owner Peter Kurzweg. And it’s true that it’s a bit of a misnomer: The Squirrel Hill tavern doesn’t brew a single beer, but serves in support of other independent, craft breweries.

Kurzweg opened the bar with his brother six years ago, only five days after they purchased the building. The duo designed it in the style of a preprohibition era “cartel,” as Kurzweg calls it, a group of local brewers that joined together to sell their beer under a shared label. Kurzweg sees Independent as a “modern analog to that.”

Today, Independent Brewing Company isn’t exclusive to local brewers, though Western PA breweries still have priority.

Kurzweg says that about 90 cents of each dollar from the tavern stays local. “[Independent] is the big middle finger to Budweiser,” says Kurzweg. “By choosing what’s in this glass, we are making a big economic choice that we don’t want wealth to be consolidated in huge, multinational companies. We want it to be consolidated with the people we know, and we want it to be shared.”

The tavern’s food menu is run by Jamilka Borges, an acclaimed chef known for her time at Bar Marco, Spoon, and now, the trio of Hidden Harbor, Lorelei, and Independent Brewing Company, which are under the same ownership.

Independent Brewing Company may be beer-focused, but Borges’ menu is far from the typical bar food. Her fall menu features a Kerala-style flank steak, homemade sweet potato ravioli

CP PHOTO: JOIE KNOUSE

Craft beer on tap along with dayboat scallops (front) and sweet potato ravioli (back) at Independent Brewing Company in Squirrel Hill

with pan-fried sage, and empanadas.

“At the end of the day, we are a neighborhood restaurant,” says Borges.

“And that’s what we are trying to be.

Not fussy, but not your typical fare.”

During an evening visit, I had four items from Borges’ short bill of fall dishes: mussels in a coconut curry, loaded sweet potatoes, melted aged provolone, and wheat gemelli.

The execution was hit or miss. My bowl of mussels, paired with squash, basil, and grilled focaccia, was almost unbearably salty, though at the same time, syrupy sweet. A gigantic bowl of home-

made gemelli pasta was delicious, paired with Brussels sprouts and pomegranate to break up the lush parmesan sauce.

INDEPENDENT BREWING COMPANY 1704 Shady Ave., Squirrel Hill. independentpgh.com

Melted provolone, paired with an Italian eggplant dish, caponata, was tasty but too rich to eat a whole plate.

Caponata was the most interesting

FAVORITE FEATURES:

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Gallery Wall

Cocktails

Burger Night

Alternate Histories has taken over the back wall of Independent, and it’s wonderful. Look to the frame-covered wall for dinosaurs rampaging through the ‘Burgh!

If beer’s not your thing, the pub has an interesting list of cocktails. Try the Indianspiced Dark & Stormy.

Despite Kurzweg’s quote above, Mondays at Independent Brewing Company are burger night. “A burger a week probably never killed anyone ... right?” says Richard F. Independent, the tavern’s “founder” on the restaurant’s website.

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

piece of the plate — the provolone was a bit flat — and held a deep, roasted stew-like flavor.

The chef’s loaded sweet potatoes were a triumph; I couldn’t get enough of the dish. Huge chunks of crispy sweet potato — almost as big as a whole baked potato — were topped with kimchi and crema. A smart addition of miso added a subtle savory flavor that balanced the sharp kimchi.

Borges, as Kurzweg puts it, has seen the “top of the culinary mountain.” Her culinary influences come from everywhere — Puerto Rican, Italian, and French cuisines, restaurants she has worked in across the country — and the menu gives craft beer drinkers the chance to expand their palates past typical pub food.

“One area where craft beer needs to improve — and it needs to do quickly — is start involving more people and more cultures,” says Kurzweg. “I think part of that is to have an empanada with your beer instead of a burger.”

•

Follow staff writer Maggie Weaver on Twitter @magweav

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 18-25, 2019

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Buttered rum

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BY MAGGIE WEAVER // MWEAVER@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

E

VERY YEAR, I find myself drinking

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the same things at holiday gatherings: beer, wine, and mugs of uninspired eggnog. Craft cocktails fade into the distance as calendars descend into chaos, replaced by bowls of toospirited punch and vodka on ice.

This year, we’re leaving dull drinks behind and turning to three painless holiday cocktails that require minimal equipment and no shaking. They’re some of the most uncomplicated — and most delicious — seasonal drinks. Enjoy!

HOT BUTTERED RUM This drink requires a bit of advance preparation, but the end product is more than worth it. The drink tastes like a warm and spicy alcoholic cookie. It’s cozy enough to curl up on the couch with and perfect for a marathon of bad holiday movies.

Ingredients: 2/3 cup packed dark sugar 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1/4 cup honey 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves Salt Spiced rum Boiling water

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In a mixer, beat together sugar, butter, honey, a pinch of salt, and spices. Set aside (this keeps for a while in the fridge).

Take one tablespoon of the butter mixture and melt with hot water in a mug, about three-quarters of the way from the top.

Top with two ounces spiced rum and a bit

of ground nutmeg for garnish.

For a big-batch cocktail (serves four), combine the entire butter mixture with eight ounces of rum with two cups of water. To make non-alcoholic, mix with coffee or hot chocolate.

OLD FASHIONED Does your family break out a puzzle at every gathering? Do you suffer through too many rounds of Monopoly or charades? Do you hate losing? Numb the pain with a strong, sturdy Old Fashioned.

Ingredients: 2 ounces whiskey 2 dashes angostura bitters 1/4 ounces simple syrup Orange peel, for garnish Pour everything over ice in a rocks glass, give it a few swirls with a spoon, and you’re good to go. For a holiday spin, swap the simple syrup for maple and add a few cranberries.

COFFEE WITH CREAM This drink is similar to a White Russian, but better (a special thanks to the staff at Pennsylvania Libations for this recipe).

It’s simple: just pour a one-to-one ratio of Maggie’s Farm Rum coffee liqueur and any cream bourbon over ice.

If you like to roll out of bed late after a long day of family, this drink is for you. A Maggie’s Farm and bourbon boosted iced coffee — there’s caffeine in the liqueur — will perk you up immediately. Switch to the local distillery’s seasonal peppermint coffee for a taste of the holidays.

•

DINING OUT

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

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THIS WEEK’S FEATURED RESTAURANT

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

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BAJA BAR & GRILL 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.

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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.

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.

EIGHTY ACRES 1910 NEW TEXAS ROAD, MONROEVILLE/PLUM 724-519-7304 / EIGHTYACRESKITCHEN.COM Eighty Acres Kitchen & Bar offers a refined, modern approach to contemporary American cuisine with a strong emphasis on local, farm-totable products.

ELIZA HOT METAL BISTRO 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.

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.

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 18-25, 2019

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THE LOCAL 913: THE REGAL SWEET

BY LIZ FELIX // LIZ@WYEP.ORG

The first time Gary Musisko was invited to join one of Kirk Salopek’s bands, it did not go well. Musisko describes himself at the time as a flaky bandmate who let the others down. The situation came to a head during his first show singing for Salopek’s post-rock group Mandrake Project, when he was forcibly removed from the venue.

But Musisko speaks highly of Salopek’s maturity. The two remained friendly, and Musisko says that in the years since STAY UP-TODATE WITH THIS that experience, he pulled himself WEEK’S LOCAL together. And now, MUSIC NEWS nine years later, WITH CP MUSIC he’s singing in WRITER JORDAN a new Salopek project, The Regal SNOWDEN Sweet. The debut AND WYEP EP channels the EVENING MIX straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll of the HOST LIZ FELIX mid-’70s, complete Listen every with thick guitar Wednesday riffs and at 7 p.m. on blasting horns.

91.3FM WYEP It’s a 25-minute all-out party.

And coincidentally, one song on the EP, “Believer,” tells a redemption story.

Musisko says he was writing about a man who backslides into crack and alcohol addiction while visiting a sex worker on the North Side, only to be saved by his friends.

It sounds serious, but ultimately, “Believer” is intended to be fun. Musisko jokes that the song is a blend between an addiction story and “that Grand Funk Railroad song, ‘We’re an American Band.’

We’re coming to this town. We’re going to party down.”

“It’s less head music and more body music,” he says. “I think that’s the direction of a proper rock ‘n’ roll song.” •

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PGHCITYPAPER.COM

CP PHOTOS: JARED WICKERHAM

INEZ at the YMCA Lighthouse Project in Homewood

.MUSIC.

BITS AND PIECES

BY JORDAN SNOWDEN // JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

A

S SOON AS INEZ’S food came out at Friendship Perk & Brew — a hot and steamy

steak sandwich — she pushed it to the side.

“I’m not hungry anymore,” she says. “I’m going to save it for my mom.”

INEZ, whose real name is Danielle Walker, was nervous, and it took a few minutes for her to warm up. She looked away while talking, but that gaze is just about the only thing Walker holds back. Her voice is full of passion, strength, and honesty, and can pivot effortlessly between vulnerable and assertive.

We met up to chat about her debut album, Voicemails & Conversations, out Dec. 19, which Walker composed and arranged in its entirety (aside from Clara Kent’s verse on “Clouds”).

“I did not think that, before having an album out, I would be able to play [Mr.] Smalls, and Hartwood Acres, and Thunderbird [Café], and get messages from women all across the world, literally, ‘Your song, your voice, helped me through this situation,’” says Walker. “That’s the most humbling, overwhelming, scary thing ever, because I was that girl, [sitting] in her room, with the lights off, with the curtains closed, not wanting to be alive anymore.”

AT 14, WALKER was in a double fatal car

crash. On the way to her brother’s prom date’s house, Walker, her brother, and her father were hit by a vehicle going 60 mph on Bennet Street, in Homewood.

The two people in the oncoming vehicle were running from an undercover police car and died on impact.

“I was the least physically injured, my dad and brother had broken bones and stitches and all that, but I was the only one who saw the dead bodies,” says Walker. “That’s also why music has always been my sanctuary and place of refuge because right after that, my parents bought me my first beats-making software. They didn’t really know how to help me. I didn’t know what depression was as a kid. It was a word everyone threw around, but feeling it for the first time was the wildest thing.”

That was 2006. In 2007, the circumstances in Walker’s life hadn’t gotten any better. Her mother had a stroke, her grandfather passed away, and she was dealing with PTSD and depression from the crash. Sometime in May of that year, Walker saved a voicemail from a boy she had a relationship with at the

VOICEMAILS & CONVERSATIONS available Dec. 19 on all major streaming platforms

time. It would be the first of many, from relatives and friends, that she would hold on to over the years.

“Although the person wasn’t any good, he helped me get through it,” says Walker. “Sometimes I’m very weird with the things that I choose to be sentimental about. Instead of keeping [objects], I would keep voicemails. I have voicemails from different family members, from birthdays, exes sending me stuff, so I wanted to make a project around little soundbites of things that have impacted me or made me feel good or made me feel horrible.”

VOICEMAILS & CONVERSATIONS is an audio diary of her growth as a woman from the time she received that first saved voicemail until now. The idea for the project came to her in 2016 and was originally meant to focus more on her past relationships and experiencing love as a young Black woman. Walker was planning to follow-up with her exes to

record new soundbites, but the men overwhelmingly declined.

“I understood that,” says Walker. “[But] I was like, ‘I’m not going to give up on the idea.’ I just had to morph it a little bit.”

At the end of the light, airy, and wishful love track, “Heartbreak,” instead of a man’s voice, listeners are met with the encouraging tone of a woman telling Walker, “It sounds like he knows that you are special and valuable to him.”

Without the collective support of strong women in Walker’s life — specifically strong Black women — she wouldn’t be the powerhouse she is today, and Voicemails & Conversations would not exist.

“It feels really good to be in a bad place and the people who are helping pick you up look like you, talk like you, they love hard like you, and they want to see you win,” says Walker.

It was her mother who convinced Walker to see a therapist in high school,

a Black woman in East Liberty whom Walker saw until she was 23. It was her Berklee College of Music advisor, another Black woman, who gave Walker the support she needed to complete her online bachelor’s in music production while working two jobs. It was her aunts, nieces, and cousins who came to Walker’s house in all-black to be in her music video for “Get It Off Your Chest,” an emotional response to getting her heart broken.

“I needed to unload some [stuff] and so in the video, I said I’m going to put all the women who have been holding my hand in it,” says Walker. “Black women this year have been my champion, have been my support. Clara [Kent] is my lifeline. … It gets really overwhelming, and I could go on and on and on about how women have impacted me positively this year.

“To see pictures of me smiling and performing and being happy — I just want people to know if I could go through all of that, so can you,” says Walker. “I hope that people have a support system, and a belief in themselves that things do get better.”

•

Follow staff writer Jordan Snowden on Twitter @snowden_jordan PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 18-25, 2019

17

NAME: Costas Karakatsanis, Shadyside WORK: Collections Research, Carnegie Museum of Art

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

.ART . .

BACKSTAGE

BY LISSA BRENNAN // CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

WHAT DO YOU DO? Investigate the background and history of works in the collection, the provenance and various stories associated with the artist or the work itself. I go methodically through the archives sequentially.

If we have specific interest because of an exhibition or questions, we focus on that work. My broader emphasis is to go through everything; the purpose is to learn as much as we can. What’s on view is a relatively small percentage of what we own. With modern work, you don’t have to do very much, but with an old master painting, you may do a lot more.

everything they bought, where, what they paid. But some of our most important collectors didn’t keep any. You have to do a little more detective work.

I IMAGINE THE NUTS AND BOLTS COMES EASILY– It never comes easy. You have to assess the validity of information because people write whatever they want. So the reliability and the confidence you have in a source has to be evaluated.

HOW IS INFORMATION USED PRACTICALLY? We had a painting by a British old master we wanted to exhibit in very bad shape.

Research showed it was in at least one, maybe two fires. When we discovered that, we could understand why it was the way it appeared. Now that we knew the circumstances, we understood how to treat the painting.

Stories can be very interesting for our audience. We have a painting, completely unrecognized for a hundred years in a dental school, by a major impressionist painter, [Édouard] Manet. It is a long story. But the dental school no longer owns the painting. It sold for seven figures in the 1980s.

IS THERE A PAPER TRAIL? In an ideal situation. Some collectors are very meticulous, keeping records of

THEY MUST HAVE BEEN HAPPY. Actually, they had two. The researcher said, “Yes, this is a Manet, but there

18

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

should be two.” They went back in the basement and found the other one. It’s a very interesting story. And what’s more interesting is that a person decided that he had very happy memories of Pittsburgh, so [they] bought it and gave it to us.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE ARTIST? I like a lot of different kinds of things.

I started traditionally like most people with certain areas of art history. Then, you grow; the more you look, the more you grow.

DO YOU HAVE WORKS THAT ARE PARTICULARLY INTERESTING TO YOU? Every day. I started interested in the history of collecting in Pittsburgh and why we lost a lot made with Pittsburgh money that didn’t stay in Pittsburgh. I’ve progressed to people who I didn’t know at the time were collectors in Pittsburgh and studied their collecting habits, what kind of passions they had, why they left or didn’t leave things to the Carnegie.

That’s an ongoing interest.

YOU STUDIED ART HISTORY IN SCHOOL? I have a Ph.D. in chemistry. I was a research director for many years at Bayer, retired early, and didn’t want to stay home. I have two main interests, music and art, and wanted to do something in one. The former president of the Carnegie was a carpool buddy of mine from my years at Bayer. I ran into him at the symphony. He says, “What are you gonna do?” I said, “You know, I don’t know.”

He said, “Have lunch with me, maybe I have something.” That was thirteen years ago.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE MUSEUMS BESIDES CMOA? The two museums at Yale, the Frick in N.Y. The Louvre, Musée Versailles. Last year we were at the Louvre, and I pointed to my wife, “They have a mistake on their label.”

DID YOU TELL THEM? I meant to write to them. I haven’t yet.

My wife says, “Only you.”

•

.LITERATURE.

CHRONIC POETRY

BY REGE BEHE CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

S

HANNON SANKEY GREW up in various communities in the South Hills, moving frequently, never staying long enough anywhere to feel comfortable. Suffering from Crohn’s disease — she underwent chemotherapy for five years as part of her treatment regimen — added another layer of discomfort.

Sankey tackles these issues in her recently published chapbook from TAR Chapbook Series, We Ran Rapturous.

“For this work especially, but in a larger sense in all my work, I think a lot about containers, both in content and in form,” Sankey says. “So, you’ll see a lot of the poems are prose containers. For this work, I’m dealing with chronic illness, I’m dealing with an ancestral meditation, and all of it is very serial and dreamlike, so you need to use rooting, grounding images.”

A graduate of Chatham University’s Master of Fine Arts program, Sankey works as a copywriter and teaches creative writing and sustainability at Penn State Fayette in Lemont Furnace, Fayette County. Writing about Crohn’s disease, as well as her mother, who suffers from seven autoimmune afflictions, wasn’t a priority.

When she finally decided to write about those illnesses, Sankey had “a lot of darkness and power and magic to draw on. ... For a long time, I resisted writing about it. I didn’t want it to even inhabit my body, let alone write from it.”

While in the MFA program at Chatham, Sankey noticed that many of her peers were examining their own traumas. That gave her the permission she needed to write about her disease. The first poem in the chapbook, “Disabled,” illustrates the first tentative exploration of her affliction:

I don’t choke on the word.

It is a red spice from my mother’s cabinet.

“It took the better part of the last decade to allow myself the accommodations that were necessary to even arrive at this chapbook,” Sankey says. “In

WE MOVED. Ʃ IJĕūĒƞöīð ūŞööū Lj Űĕūö ƦƧƦƥ Lj ĕūūŤéŰŞČĒƽ ƦƪƧƧƧ ,ƙöêūĕƅö YÎijŰÎŞƌ Ʀƽ ƧƥƧƥ Lj ƆƆƆǂśČĒêĕūƌśÎśöŞǂêļIJ

[“Disabled”], the speaker gifts herself all the darkness, the terror, the magic, of disabled as an identity. It’s a reclaiming of power. … It feels amazing to hold the book in my hands and outside of myself, because it’s so heady to write from the body, especially when it’s one of chronic illness.

It feels like you’re standing on a really precarious foundation.”

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SHANNONSANKEY.COM In addition to being physically debilitating, Crohn’s disease also is a mental battle, sufferers always on edge about when symptoms will appear. Exploring the mental state of chronic illness, and Crohn’s specifically, became the raw material for Sankey’s poems.

“Crohn’s changes your relationship to food,” she says. “It changes your relationship to community, to sustenance, to survival. And some of the poems address that, the speaker grappling with ‘every timesw I feed myself, I’m feeding the thing that destroys me.’ It causes a huge psychic dissonance, but it can be super interesting for a poet. But as a person, it’s awful.”

31 TU ES DAY, D EC EM B ER

•

Follow featured contributor Rege Behe on Twitter @RegeBehe_exPTR PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 18-25, 2019

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF A24

Waves

.FILM.

WAVES

BY HANNAH LYNN // HLYNN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

F

LORIDA IS AN ideal setting for familial turbulence, because it has a physical and cultural climate that is constantly shifting. It’s a chaotic place, which is maybe why director Trey Edward Shults chose it as the location for Waves, a drama about the dark forces that can pull a family together, or drive it apart.

The film is split into two distinct parts, each with a different protagonist.

The first focuses on Tyler, a high school senior with wrestling prospects and a pretty girlfriend. He seems to have everything going for him, except for a nagging shoulder injury. His domineering dad, Ronald (Sterling K. Brown), pushes his son emotionally and physically. After learning that the shoulder injury is actually a severe tear that requires surgery and that he has to quit wrestling, Tyler doesn’t tell anyone, including his dad, as he feels his world start to crumble. The struggle is only exacerbated when his girlfriend Alexis (Alexa Demie) finds out she is pregnant. They go to an abortion clinic, but Alexis can’t follow through and wants to keep the baby. (I’m sure there are men capable of writing nuanced abortion clinic scenes, but Shults is not one of them.)

Tyler begins to lose his grip, sliding through the stages of grief over losing his good life, but focusing most acutely on anger. He yells at his parents, drinks too much, and punches a hole in his bedroom wall. On the night of the school dance, Tyler sees a photo of Alexis with

another date and drunkenly drives to a party to confront her. Their fight ends violently, with repercussions that affect the rest of Tyler’s life, and his family’s.

WAVES Opens Fri., Dec. 20 at Harris Theater, 809 Liberty Ave., Downtown. cinema.pfpca.org

Tyler’s outcome causes a cataclysmic shift in the family. His kind and quiet sister Emily (Taylor Russell) is left to pick up the shattered pieces, mostly taking care of herself as her father and stepmom (Renée Elise Goldsberry), struggle to keep themselves, and their marriage, together. Emily begins dating a nice boy, Luke (Lucas Hedges) who is also one of her brother’s former wrestling teammates, and whose estranged father is dying. The two bond over shared emotional trauma. They’ve both had to grow up quick due to their family situations, but also find plenty of time to be teenagers together, hanging out at a diner and running through sprinklers on a golf course.

The past few years have seen an influx in Floridian movies that home in the specific look and feel of the place, like The Florida Project and Moonlight.

But unlike those films, Waves´ aesthetic feels forced, carefully curated to the point of being obvious. One of Tyler’s

angry scenes features the Kanye rager “I am a God.” The soundtrack also features Frank Ocean, Chance the Rapper, Alabama Shakes, and other artists that feel like they were chosen more for their recognition than anything else. There are lots of shots of teens sticking their head or hands out of a moving car to show that they feel free.

It’s hard for me to tell what part of the movie’s flaws come from the fact that Shults, who is white, wrote and directed an intergenerational drama about Black masculinity. Again, it’s possible for people to effectively write what they don’t know, but something feels disconcerting about the way Shults chose to portray Black pain (and the way the most likeable man in the movie is white).

What weighs the film down the most is its commitment to its title; Waves has so many peaks and valleys that it starts to feel manipulative of the audience’s emotions. Instead of an insightful drama, we get a melodrama trying to tackle everything at once. There are some strong acting performances, and any of the subplots and characters could’ve been their own complete movie.

Instead, Shults tried to fit too many complex elements into one story. Waves tried to break from traditional form by creating a film that didn’t fit within a typical arc. Instead, it feels like he made two loosely connected, but ultimately disjointed films.

•

.EVENT.

CHRISTMAS EVE ON THE MOON, BABY

BY AMANDA WALTZ AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

I

N THE YEAR and a half since former

Pittsburgh drag queen, the moon baby, moved across the state to Philadelphia, she believes her act has evolved.

“When I was in Pittsburgh, I was good but I was very, like, drunk girl in a t-shirt aesthetic,” says moon baby, real name Sam Perry. “I didn’t really push myself.”

Now she’s ready to showcase her new and improved self for Christmas Eve On the Moon, Baby at the Ace Hotel. In its fifth year, the annual yuletide event features moon baby doing what she calls a “lounge lizard-y” cabaret act with her pianist partner, Jonathan Russell.

Besides indulging in a little adult fun, moon baby says the event also provides a space for queer people to express what the season means to them.

Among the festivities, for example, is a parody of the famous holiday song “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas” titled “I’m Beginning to Want to Just Say F*ck This,” which moon baby says is about the current political climate.

“We save that for the end,” she says, adding that they plan on performing it in the hotel lobby area well after any lingering children have gone to bed.

While moon baby has returned to Pittsburgh for a variety of performances, including the regular Bathhouse Betty party at Hot Mass, she sees the Christmas Eve event as a return to her beloved

PHOTO: JOSH BONDI

Christmas Eve On the Moon, Baby with moon baby (left) and Jonathan Russell (right)

CHRISTMAS EVE ON THE MOON, BABY AT ACE HOTEL 9 p.m. 120 S. Whitfield St., East Liberty. Free. acehotel.com/pittsburgh

Ace Hotel, where she regularly worked and performed.

“Ace is a special place for me,” she

says. “So many times when I come home for a show, I don’t really get to see many people or socialize with them

because, even if they come to a show, I’m working. But this is the kind of show where I can just kind of kickback … and I can see a bunch of people at one time, and it feels like home to me, for sure.”

It’s the place where she debuted her 2018 EP Barbara, which, as she points out, preceded an album of the same name by RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Trixie Mattel.

“I was just like, ‘That’s so great for me, now two drag queens who make music have an album under the same name, and one of them has two-million followers on Instagram. I’m screwed,’” she says.

But the incident hasn’t deterred her, as this summer she plans on releasing an updated version of the Urallpoor. us EP she recorded five years ago with Wise Blood, the local musician who now goes by Chris Laufman.

“The music world wasn’t really hip to the trend of a drag queen or non-binary person making music,” she says of the EP’s original release on Soundcloud. “It got coverage but didn’t ever blow up.”

That changed two months ago when Urallpoor.us hit Spotify, where she says some of the tracks have racked up 12,000 streams. The newfound success inspired her to remix the EP with new songs.

With a more polished act and new music on the horizon, the upcoming year seems like a promising one for the drag queen who got her start doing shows at various Pittsburgh venues.

While her future lies in Philadelphia, a larger city where she says the demand for drag queens has allowed her to perform full time, she plans on continually returning to Pittsburgh for events like Christmas Eve On the Moon, Baby.

“Now I get to bring that back to Pittsburgh and I’m not unrecognizable, it’s just like, it’s better, which is a treat to come back and show my friends.”

•

Follow senior writer Amanda Waltz on Twitter @AWaltzCP

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 18-25, 2019

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Purple roses honoring Antwon Rose II

.ART . .

STONES AND ROSES

BY HANNAH LYNN // HLYNN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

P

“Whole People, All People.” metrocommunityhealthcenter.org

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PGHCITYPAPER.COM

ITTSBURGH EXPERIENCED some of the most difficult events in its history in 2018. In June, 17-year-old Antwon Rose II was shot and killed by an East Pittsburgh police officer, who was later found not-guilty in his homicide trial, both of which sparked passionate protests in the city. Then in October 2018, the shooting at Tree of Life made Pittsburgh the center of the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history. It’s a lot of pain for a city to bear, especially for the communities most affected.

But in the time since, it’s been encouraging to see communities show solidarity for each other when it mattered the most. Stones and Roses, an exhibit by Jewish social justice organization Repair the World at East End Cooperative Ministry, brings together photography and paintings about the aftermath of both shootings.

The show features several photographs by Brian Cohen, who captured scenes of protests in reaction to both tragedies. Photos from a student march

show large crowds of young people showing up for Rose, carrying signs that said “How old was he? 17.” and “3 shots in the back. How do you justify that?”

More detailed shots focus on purple felt roses affixed to trees, which were crafted

by Jewish social justice group Bend the Arc during the homicide trial of the police officer who shot Rose.

In turn, Bend the Arc commissioned paintings from artist DS Kinsel, co-founder of BOOM Concepts, on the one-year anniversary of Tree of Life. The

Stones and yahrzeit candles honoring Tree of Life victims

STONES AND ROSES Continues through April 21, 2020. East End Cooperative Ministry, 6140 Station St., East Liberty. Free. werepair.org/pittsburgh

paintings feature the names of other cities that have experienced violence during the Trump administration, especially those with events tied to white supremacy, including Charlottesville, Louisville, Poway, and El Paso. The signs were first featured at a press conference Bend the Arc held in October, days before President Trump’s visit to Pittsburgh for a Marcellus Shale conference, and right around the first anniversary of Tree of Life shooting. Cohen’s photos show volunteers holding Kinsel’s paintings at Point State Park, as well as the news cameras pointing at them.

Now, the paintings hang at East End Cooperative Ministry among Cohen’s photos, including more scenes from that day, like Kinsel’s paintings surrounded by carefully placed rocks and yahrzeit candles (Jewish memorial candles).

The exhibit gets its name, Stones and Roses, from different ways of mourning, and how communities help each other to do so. Roses, for Antwon’s name and for the purple roses Bend the Arc started making after seeing how people supported the Jewish community after Tree of Life, which included volunteers hanging hand-knit Stars of David around Squirrel Hill. The stones represent the Jewish tradition of leaving rocks instead of flowers when visiting a gravestone.

The show also features paintings from Muslim artist Ebtehal Badawi, including a unity poster she made that reads “Pittsburgh Builds Bridges,” as

well as work from the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh’s CHUTZ-POW! comic series about superheroes of the Holocaust.

Everything about the show is a community effort, from events in the photos, to the way the exhibit brought local, likeminded organizations together. Stones and Roses, which runs through April 21, 2020, has support from Bend the Arc, the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center, the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, 1Hood, and BOOM Concepts.

Julie Mallis, program director at Repair the World, says they were hanging pieces for the exhibit when they heard the news of an anti-Semitic attack at a kosher market in New Jersey that killed three people last week. Simultaneously, Trump issued a confusing, but certainly divisive, executive order concerning the definition of Judaism and anti-Semitism.

Mallis worries that some of the photos depicting police in riot gear arresting peaceful protesters will provoke a negative reaction, but ultimately, the exhibit is about unity.

When the exhibit ends in April, it will coincide with Yom HaTzedek, a new Jewish holiday focused on social justice. To close it out, Repair the World will host a zine-making workshop with Shulayim L’Shalom, a group for LGBTQ Jewish youth.

“I want people to feel a sense of community and support, and less about feeling angry and sad,” says Mallis.

“Even if they don’t share your identity, people still care.”

•

Follow staff writer Hannah Lynn on Twitter @hanfranny PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 18-25, 2019

23

SEVEN DAYS OF CONCERTS CATTIVO CHRISTMASLAP SAT., DEC. 21 Whether Beauty Slap is playing The Rex Theater, Brillobox, Spirit, or Hartwood Acres, there’s a reason why the band’s shows consistently sell out. The electro-brassthunder-funk music slaps you in the face, absorbs into the bloodstream, and infects you with a body-gyrating beat that doesn’t stop until they put down their instruments.

Beauty Slap has been around since 2014, and performances in Pittsburgh used to be few and far between. But since releasing their debut album, Permastank, in August, the group has been playing shows once a month; the last Beauty Slap performance of the year takes place at Cattivo. A step away from their traditional tunes, expect electronic-jazzfusion Christmas jams with guest DJ sets from Saumera and Suave Pav. 9 p.m. 146 44th St., Lawrenceville. $15. thebeautyslap.com PHOTO: BRAD MANISCALCO

Beauty Slap

FULL LIST ONLINE pghcitypaper.com

THURSDAY DEC. 19 HIP HOP/R&B BRITTNEY CHANTELE. Pittsburgh Community Broadcast Center.

6:30 p.m. South Side.

HOLIDAY SARA EVANS. The Palace Theatre.

7:30 p.m. Greensburg.

CHRISTMAS BRASSTACULAR. Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center.

7:30 p.m. Beaver.

JAZZ RML JAZZ. Jackson’s Restaurant Beaver Valley Mall.

7 p.m. Monaca.

ROGER HUMPHRIES. Con Alma.

8 p.m. Shadyside.

24

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

JEFF BERMAN. Kingfly Spirits.

7 p.m. Strip District.

TERESA HAWTHORNE. Wallace’s Whiskey Room + Kitchen.

7 p.m. East Liberty.

ACOUSTIC THE SHAMELESS HEX. Hop Farm Brewing.

8 p.m. Lawrenceville.

ELECTRONIC NGHTMRE. Stage AE. 8 p.m. North Side.

METAL MICROWAVES, COME HOLY SPIRIT, TRVSS. Brillobox.

8 p.m. Bloomfield.

FOLK SEE THE SUMMER. Spoonwood Brewing. Co. 8 p.m. Bethel Park.

CLASSICAL MAGIC MEETS MUSIC. Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.

5 p.m. Oakland.

MULTI-GENRE GLO PHASE, JOCELYN RENT, SAMURAI VELVET, SIERRA SELLERS. Spirit.

9 p.m. Lawrenceville.

FRIDAY DEC. 20 JAZZ

THE 2019 SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS. The Palace Theatre.

7:30 p.m. Greensburg.

REGGAE THE FLOW BAND. Wallace’s Whiskey Room + Kitchen.

7 p.m. East Liberty.

AMAHL & THE NIGHT VISITORS. New Hazlett Theater.

7:30 p.m. North Side.

ALTERNATIVE/INDIE

CELLO FURY & FRIENDS. Hard Rock Cafe.

9 p.m. South Side.

ACOUSTIC

C STREET BRASS QUINTET. The Frick.

7 p.m. Point Breeze.

HIGHMARK HOLIDAY POPS. Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

8 p.m. Downtown.

ROCK

RML JAZZ. Holiday Market.

4:30 p.m. Downtown.

JIM DONOVAN AND THE SUN KING WARRIORS. Moondog’s.

8 p.m. Blawnox.

HOLIDAY

PUNK

PA METALCORE HOLIDAY SHOWCASE. Preserving Hardcore.

7 p.m. New Kensington.

THE AFFORDABLE FLOORS, DINOSOUL. Thunderbird Café & Music Hall.

8 p.m. Lawrenceville.

WHY? Club Cafe. 6:30 p.m. South Side.

SIX DEMON BAG, ELKHOUND, BANANAFISH. Hambone’s. 7 p.m. Lawrenceville.

HIP HOP/RAP WINTERFELL, FEDD THE GOD, REESE YOUNGN. Mr. Smalls Theatre.

7 p.m. Millvale.

SATURDAY DEC. 21 HOLIDAY A TINY GIFT. Third Presbyterian Church.

7:30 p.m. Oakland.

WESTMORELAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. The Palace Theatre.

7:30 p.m. Greensburg.

MOVING SHADOWS: A DARK SOLSTICE CELEBRATION. Mr. Smalls Theatre.

8 p.m. Millvale.

A DUBSTEP CAROL. Twentyfourpgh.

7 p.m. Duquesne.

ETERNAL BOY, KEEP FLYING. The Smiling Moose.

6:30 p.m. South Side.

YINZMAS 2019.

Mr. Smalls Theatre.

5 p.m. Millvale.

JESSICA LEE. 3rd Street Gallery.

7 p.m. Carnegie.

COUNTRY RUMPKE MOUNTAIN BOYS. Thunderbird Café & Music Hall.

8 p.m. Lawrenceville.

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

THE NËRD HËRDËRS / ALI SPAGNOLA’S POWER HOUR DRINKING GAME

The Nërd Hërdërs

SAT., DEC. 21 Make sure to eat before heading to Club Cafe on Saturday for a dual show from local hard rockers The Nërd Hërdërs and comedian/musician/Pittsburgh native Ali Spagnola.

It’s a concert, but also a club-wide drinking game. (And fittingly, the debut of The Nërd Hërdërs’ Snow Song Porter, a beer collaboration with Quinn Brewing.) Spagnola will be playing The Power Hour Album, a collection of 60 one-minute party songs. The Nërd Hërdërs will play 60 cover songs, all — you guessed it — one minute long. The aim is to take a shot of beer every time the song changes. Good luck! Maybe post up near a trashcan if you’re new to power hours. 6 p.m. 56 S. 12th St., South Side. $12. clubcafelive.com

ROCK LSD, JIMMY MAC & THE ATTACK. Moondog’s.

8 p.m. Blawnox.

SHADE, OLYMPUS MONS. Gooski’s.

9 p.m. Polish Hill.

GALACTIC EMPIRE. Rex Theater.

6 p.m. South Side.

A WILL AWAY. Black Forge Coffee House.

7 p.m. McKees Rocks.

ELECTRONIC BETA LIBRAE, ADAB. Hot Mass.

12 a.m. Downtown.

EMERSON JAY. Club Cafe.

10 p.m. South Side.

SUNDAY DEC. 22 HOLIDAY FESTIVUS XV. Hambone’s.

8 p.m. Lawrenceville.

TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA. PPG Paints Arena.

8 p.m. Uptown.

THE HOLIDAYS AND ALL THAT JAZZ. Wyndham Pittsburgh University Center. 4:30 p.m. Oakland.

MONDAY DEC. 23 JAZZ HOWIE ALEXANDER TRIO. Con Alma.

5 p.m. Shadyside.

make the right choice,

don’t drink & drive.

BOTH LOCATIONS PITTSBURGH & NEW BRIGHTON!

THE ATTIC MUSIC GROUP. Wolfie’s Pub. 7 p.m. Downtown.

WEDNESDAY DEC. 25 DRAG DJ ALLINALINE (STUFF YINZ STOCKING DRAG SHOW).

The Smiling Moose.

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

513 GRANT AVENUE • MILLVALE Questions? Call Us 412-821-8484

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VANDOREN STEP-UP YOUR SOUND ARTIST CLINIC & REED TESTING DEC 12TH • 5-8PM Reed testing and sampling of Vandoren Reed, Java, Java Reds, V16, traditional reed styles.

Reserve seat in advance for a free gift.

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For Saxophone and Clarinet Artist Clinic: Dr. Amanda R. MorrisonSlippery Rock University, Vandoren Artist Clinician, The PM Woodwind Project, Milano Duo

VISIT FACEBOOK.COM/BRIGHTONMUSIC.COM FACEBOOK COM FOR MORE DETAILS. 2110 BABCOCK BLVD • PITTSBURGH, PA • 412.821.5908 1015 THIRD AVE • NEW BRIGHTON, PA • 724.843.9380

BRIGHTONMUSIC.COM PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 18-25, 2019

25

.STYLE.

CLOTHES MAKE ...

BY TERENEH IDIA CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

Name: Hoa Le Entrepreneur and chef •

•

•

Shaka in Federal Galley 200 Children’s Way, North Side. federalgalley.org

WHEN DID SHAKA OPEN? HOW DID YOU GET STARTED? Shaka opened in August 2019, but prior to that, I ran a Vietnamese concept in Smallman Galley for two years called Banhmilicious. Poke is not a big thing in Pittsburgh yet; right now there are only like four or five options. So I had one poke dish at Banhmilicious and people loved it, so why not give this concept a try?

TELL ME ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE WEARING TODAY. When I started work, I was in corporate America, so [I wore] dresses, pencil skirts, blazers, and I enjoyed that part.

But once I started in the kitchen, I got a workout. [Laughs] It is a different environment. All the odor in the food gets trapped, so you want to wear something that is light and breezy. I also do a lot of yoga, so I have a lot of athletic clothes. So most of the time I just wear yoga pants and a black plain t-shirt in the kitchen. It’s comfortable; you move a lot [so] you need a fabric that can work with you.

DO YOU WEAR AN APRON? Sometimes I do, if I work with something really messy. But we work with a lot of raw fish, it’s very lean [and] clean, and the kitchen stays neat so it’s not necessary to wear an apron.

DOES THE OPEN KITCHEN PLAN IMPACT WHAT YOU WEAR? Exactly. Everyone has to look sharp, clean clothes, ironed. It is easy for me because athletic wear is everywhere.

You see people wearing it, and it is easy to transfer it into your work-life.

CP PHOTO: TERENEH IDIA

Hoa Le

THE ATHLETIC WEAR/SPORTSWEAR IS PERFORMANCE WEAR. Yes, it helps you shape your body a certain way; it can help your posture, you have to stand straight. I like it.

WHAT ABOUT FOOTWEAR? I wear Crocs every day. Just black Crocs — they’re comfortable, affordable, slipresistant, and work great in the kitchen.

WHAT ABOUT ACCESSORIES? In the kitchen, I keep it to a minimum, so I don’t wear any necklaces. I have a little earring on because I want to look girly — a little bit. [Laughs] They have a hook and they’re really secure. I wear my engagement ring and that’s pretty much it. My

hair is super long, typically I put it in a ponytail. It is growing so long it gets heavy, so now I wear it in a braid.

DOES WEARING A KIND OF UNIFORM EVER GET BORING? In my twenties, I never wore the same outfit twice. [Laughs] I would add accessories, necklaces, scarves. My coworkers said I never wore the same outfit — I had fun. But now with a different environment, your style changes as well.

I love this new style. It is so comfortable, relaxing, movable. So I just want to be free and be more creative, dance to the music, and have fun cooking. I go through phases, so now comfort is more important to me. People are not

Follow featured contributor Tereneh Idia on Twitter @Tereneh152XX

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PGHCITYPAPER.COM

really looking for a fashionista in the kitchen. [Laughs] As long as you look clean and make the food the right way, that’s what matters most. In order to do that, I have to be comfortable.

DO YOU HAVE ANY GIFTS FROM SOMEONE THAT YOU WEAR OFTEN OR EVERY DAY? The earrings are from my mom. They are from Vietnam; it speaks to my culture. I wear it every day. The engagement ring is a gift from my fiancé; I wear it every day.

DO YOU WEAR A GIFT TO YOURSELF THAT YOU WEAR OFTEN? The things I bought for myself are still in my closet.

•

.MUSIC.

FIRST OF HIS NAME

BY JORDAN SNOWDEN JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

S

OMETIME IN EARLY 2020, Ryan

Haynes is releasing his debut album, though “debut” might be the wrong word. For years, Haynes has performed, toured, and released music as DJ Afterthought. But releasing his new project under his real name is a significant choice, a way to keep the two music projects entirely separate.

“I’m not moving away from Afterthought,” says Haynes. “The Afterthought stuff is a lot of hip hop and EDM, and as much as I enjoy doing that and want to pursue that, I never really took time for myself that was maybe more me, that I really wanted to create.

So, this gives me the outlet to separate myself creatively as an artist from myself as a producer.”

Ahead of the album’s release, Haynes is throwing a show at Thunderbird Café

PHOTO: JUSTIN MAIN

Ryan Haynes

RYAN HAYNES RELEASE SHOW & TOY DRIVE 8-11 p.m. Thu., Dec. 19. Thunderbird Café & Music Hall, 4023 Butler St., Lawrenceville.

Free with RSVP. ryanhaynesmusic.com

& Music Hall on Thu., Dec. 19 that will double as a toy drive for Toys for Tots. The event is the first time the new album will be heard in its entirety.

“It’s more of like a debut show than a release show,” says Haynes. “The main

focus is to bring awareness and bring as many toys for the holidays. That’s the number one thing, and for everyone to come and have a good time.”

A father himself, Haynes has a soft spot for kids, especially during the holi-

days. “They’re the most innocent people,” he says, and chose to hold a collection for Toys for Tots because it’s a tangible way to give to underprivileged children.

“I know if we have toys they’re going to go to some kids, and they’re going to genuinely bring some happiness and good to something. It’s not some dollar amount given to something we may never see,” he says.

While Haynes’ new project is not yet available to stream, on Fri., Dec. 6, he dropped one of the tracks, “Fingertips,” with an accompanying music video on Mon., Dec. 16. It features Haynes singing over a soothing down-tempo beat and a drawn-out echoing guitar. Instead of a lyrical bridge, local guitarist Garrett Hunter takes over, creating a blend of clean rock, pop, and alternative R&B. Hunter, along with Haynes’ co-producer Kali, joins Haynes during the upcoming show. It will be the first time Haynes performs with a live guitarist. And Kali will be live engineering.

“I’ve been going through years of sending people music, and I can kind of tell now when people are just being nice or don’t even listen to it,” says Haynes.

“I’ve never gotten a better response for any music I’ve ever done. It definitely makes me optimistic at the very least.”

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 18-25, 2019

•

27

PHOTO: KLOREBEL

Hand-drawn illustration of PNC Park by Kirsten Lowe-Rebel of KloRebel, a vendor at Peoples Gas Holiday Market

.ART . .

PROCRASTINATION SALVATION

BY AMANDA WALTZ // AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

L

OOKING FOR UNIQUE, last-minute

gifts? Pittsburgh City Paper has a few markets with great finds for anyone on your list, whether it’s a family member, friend, or four-legged companion.

Head to the Howliday Market at Ace Hotel (6-10 p.m., Thu., Dec. 19. 120 S. Whitfield St., East Liberty. $10 donation. acehotel.com/Pittsburgh), an event offering everything for that special pup in your life. It also serves as a benefit for three animal rescue groups – the Bow Wow Buddies Foundation, Biggies Bullies, and Humane Animal Rescue.

Jamie Paustenbaugh, a scout for Howliday Market organizer Camp Bow Wow Pittsburgh, says the event will feature many vendors specializing in handmade pet accessories, treats, and toys, as well as on-site artists specializing in caricature and pet portraits.

There will also be handmade jewelers, pet photos with Santa, and more.

“We anticipate this to be a wellattended event, as we’ve done similar

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PGHCITYPAPER.COM

holiday events at Ace Hotel in the past,” says Paustenbaugh.

For the foodie in your life, check out the Bloomfield Saturday Winter Market (11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sat., Dec. 21. 5050 Liberty Ave., Bloomfield. Free. bloomfieldnow.org).

The neighborhood staple, which happens twice a month, features a long list of vendors selling sustainably grown coffee beans, handcrafted teas, homemade delights like baked goods and small-batch hummus, and more. There are also vendors selling non-food items like all-natural skin care and soap.

The Small Mall store combines new art with body-positive stocking stuffers during the Fizzpop (up) market (1-4 p.m.

Sat., Dec. 21. 5300 Butler St., Lawrenceville.

Free. caseydroege.com/small-mall). See the latest works on display at the artistrun space while perusing fun, adultoriented goods from Fizzpop, a local company that specializes in pins, patches, and other small items celebrating the

many variations of the female form.

Sing while you shop during the Carol Sing and Artisan Market at De Fer Coffee & Tea (7-9:30 p.m. Sat., Dec. 21. 2002 Smallman St., Strip District. Free. defer.coffee). Hosted by Sparks House, a local, faith-based arts nonprofit, the event will feature live music and a market selling a variety of handmade goods, including knitwear, jewelry, paintings, woodworks, and more.

If you’re heading Downtown for the many seasonal festivities, you may as well visit the Peoples Gas Holiday Market in Market Square (Continues through Mon., Dec 23. Forbes Ave. and Market St., Downtown. Free. peoples-gas.com/holidaymarket). Inspired by German Christmas markets, the annual tradition boasts a small village of tiny chalets selling goods from local artists and from around the world, including Irish gifts at the Celtic Gift Shoppe and Pittsburgh-inspired designs from KLoRebel Art.

•

Sponsored by

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

TUE., DEC. 31ST. NEW YEARS EVE W/ PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER & CREATIVES DRINK 9 P.M. THE PENNSYLVANIAN, DOWNTOWN. 21+ Event. $45-$75. eventbrite.com.

WED., JAN. 1ST. MESSFEST 10 A.M. CARNEGIE SCIENCE CENTER, NORTH SHORE. All Ages. $11.95-$19.95. 412-237-3400 or carnegiesciencecenter.org.

TUE., DEC. 31ST NEW YEARS EVE WITH PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER & CREATIVES DRINK

THU., JAN. 2ND. LIBERTY MAGIC: ROBERT RAMIREZ IS THE MUSICAL THEATER MAGICIAN

SUPERVANA RAGE ON

7:30 P.M. LIBERTY MAGIC, DOWNTOWN. All Ages. $40-$65.

412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.

7:30 P.M. CRAFTHOUSE STAGE & GRILL, SOUTH HILLS. Under 21 with Guardian. $13-$25.50. 412-653-2695 or ticketfly.com.

THU., JAN. 2ND. ART TIL’ 8

SAT., JAN. 4TH. SKYWATCH

5 P.M. CARNEGIE ART MUSEUM, OAKLAND. All Ages. $6-$10.

412-622-3131 or cmoa.org.

7 P.M. CARNEGIE SCIENCE CENTER, NORTH SHORE. All Ages. $11.95-$19.95.

412-237-3400 or carnegiesciencecenter.org.

FRI., JAN. 3RD. PUNCHLINE 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TOUR

SAT., JAN. 4TH. JACK SWING W/ BACK ALLEY SOUND

8 P.M. THE REX THEATER, SOUTHSIDE. 412-381-1681 or greyareaprod.com.

10 P.M. CLUB CAFÉ, SOUTHSIDE. 21+ Event.

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

FRI., JAN. 3RD. THE VICS W/ DRAUVE

SAT., JAN. 4TH. BLOOMFIELD SATURDAY WINTER MARKET

6 P.M. CLUB CAFÉ, SOUTHSIDE. 21+ Event. $10. 412-431-4950 or ticketweb.com/opusone.

FRI., JAN. 3RD. A SUNDAY FIRE 6:30 P.M. BLACK FORGE COFFEE HOUSE, MCKEES ROCKS. All Ages. $10.

412-291-8994 or blackforgecoffee.com.

FRI., JAN. 3RD. I LOVE PGH HIP HOP SHOWCASE 7 P.M. SMILING MOOSE, SOUTHSIDE. 21+ Event. $20. 412-431-4668 or ticketfly.com.

FRI., JAN. 3RD.

THE PENNSYLVANIAN, DOWNTOWN.

11 A.M. 5050 LIBERTY AVE., BLOOMFIELD. ALL AGES. Free.

412-681-8800 or bloomfieldnow.org.

SAT., JAN. 4TH. NEW YEAR / NEW GALAXY WITH STARSHIP MANTIS 7 P.M. BLACK FORGE COFFEE HOUSE, MCKEES ROCKS. All Ages. $15.

412-291-8994 or blackforgecoffee.com.

SAT., JAN. 4TH. THE FOUR HORSEMEN 6 P.M. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE, WEXFORD. Under 21 with Guardian. $18-$29.50. 724-799-8333 or ticketfly.com.

SUN., JAN. 5TH. JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR : 50TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR 6:30 P.M. BENEDUM, DOWNTOWN. All Ages. $33-$118.

412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.

MON., JAN. 6TH. THE MAGIC SCHOOL BUS LIVE 10:15 A.M. THE BYHAM THEATER, DOWNTOWN. All Ages. $12.

412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.

TUE., JAN. 7TH. TUESDAY NIGHT BLUEGRASS SESSIONS 8 P.M. THUNDERBIRD CAFÉ & MUSIC, LAWRENCEVILLE. 21+ Event. Free.

412-682-0177 or thunderbirdmusic.com.

TUE., JAN. 7TH. THOMAS WENDT QUARTET 5 P.M. BACKSTAGE BAR, DOWNTOWN. All Ages. Free. 412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.

SAT., JAN. 4TH. MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK

WED., JAN. 8TH. HUNKS THE SHOW

7 P.M. THE ROXIAN THEATER, MCKEES ROCKS. All Ages. $32.50-$42.50.

412-331-1050 or roxianlive.com.

6 P.M. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE, WEXFORD. Under 21 with Guardian. $16-$30. 724-799-8333 or ticketfly.com.

FOR UPCOMING ALLEGHENY COUNTY PARKS EVENTS, LOG ONTO WWW.ALLEGHENYPARKS.COM PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 18-25, 2019

29

.FOR THE WEEK OF DEC. 19

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In 1933, Sagittarian artist Diego Rivera was commissioned to paint a huge mural in one of the famous Rockefeller buildings in New York City. His patrons didn’t realize he was planning to include a controversial portrait of former Soviet Communist leader Vladimir Lenin. When the deed was done, they ordered him to remove it. When he refused, they ushered him out and destroyed the whole mural. As a result, Rivera also lost another commission to create art at the Chicago World’s Fair. In any other year, Sagittarius, I might encourage you to be as idealistic as Rivera. I’d invite you to place artistic integrity over financial considerations. But I’m less inclined to advise that in 2020. I think it may serve you to be unusually pragmatic. At least consider leaving Lenin out of your murals.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “People mistake their limitations for high standards,” wrote Capricorn author Jean Toomer. In my astrological opinion, it’s crucial that you avoid doing that in 2020. Why? First, I’m quite sure that you will have considerable power to shed and transcend at least some of your limitations. For best results, you can’t afford to deceive yourself into thinking that those limitations are high standards. Secondly, Capricorn, you will have good reasons and a substantial ability to raise your standards higher than they’ve ever been. So you definitely don’t want to confuse high standards with limitations.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Historians once thought that 14th-century Englishmen were the first humans to track the rhythms of the planet Jupiter using the complicated mathematics known as calculus. But in 2015, researchers discovered that Babylonians had done it 1400 years before the Englishmen. Why was Jupiter’s behavior so important to those ancient people? They were astrologers! They believed the planet’s movements were correlated with practical events on earth, like the weather, river levels, and grain harvests. I think that this correction in the origin story of tracking Jupiter’s rhythms will be a useful metaphor for you in 2020. It’s likely you will come to understand your past in ways that are different from what you’ve believed up until now. Your old tales will change.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): China produces the most apples in the world. The United States is second. That wasn’t always true. When Europeans first reached the shores of the New World, crab apple was the only apple species that grew natively. But the invaders planted other varieties that they brought with them. They also imported the key to all future proliferation: honeybees, champion pollinators, which were previously absent from the land that many indigenous people called Turtle Island. I see 2020 as a time for you to accomplish the equivalent, in your own sphere, of getting the pollination you need. What are the fertilizing influences that will help you accomplish your goals?

ARIES (March 21-April 19): The English word “hubris” means prideful, exaggerated selfassurance. In the HBO TV series Rome, the ancient Roman politician and general Mark Antony says to his boss Julius Caesar, “I’m glad you’re so confident. Some would call it hubris.” Caesar has a snappy comeback: “It’s only hubris if I fail.” I’m tempted to dare you to use you that as one of your mottoes in 2020, Aries. I have a rather expansive vision of your capacity to accomplish great things during the coming months. And I also think that one key to your triumphs and breakthroughs will be your determination to cultivate a wellhoned aplomb, even audacity.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): For years I’ve lived in a house bordering a wetland, and I’ve come to love that ecosystem more than any other. While communing with reeds and herons and muddy water, my favorite poet has been Taurus-born Lorine Niedecker, who wrote about marshes with supreme artistry. Until the age of 60, her poetic output was less than abundant because

she had to earn a meager living by cleaning hospital floors.

Then, due to a fortuitous shift in circumstances, she was able to leave that job and devote more time to what she loved most and did best. With Niedecker’s breakthrough as our inspiration, I propose that we do all we can, you and I, as we conspire to make 2020 the year you devote more time to the activity that you love most and do best.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In the English language, the prefix “re” comes at the beginning of many words with potent transformational meaning: reinvent; redeem; rediscover; release; relieve; redesign; resurrect; rearrange; reconstruct; reform; reanimate; reawaken; regain.

I hope you’ll put words like those at the top of your priority list in 2020. If you hope to take maximum advantage of the cosmic currents, it’ll be a year of revival, realignment, and restoration.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I won’t be surprised if you’re enamored and amorous more than usual in 2020. I suspect you will experience delight and enchantment at an elevated rate. The intensity and depth of the feelings that flow through you may break all your previous records. Is that going to be a problem? I suppose it could be if you worry that the profuse flows of tenderness and affection will render you weak and vulnerable. But if you’re willing and eager to interpret your extra sensitivity as a superpower, that’s probably what it will be.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Does the word “spirit” mean anything to you? Or are you numb to it? Has it come to seem virtually meaningless — a foggy abstraction used carelessly by millions of people to express sentimental beliefs and avoid clear thinking? In accordance with astrological omens, I’ll ask you to create a sturdier and more vigorous definition of “spirit” for your practical use in 2020. For instance, you might decide that “spirit” refers to the life force that launches you out of bed each morning and motivates you to keep transforming yourself into the evermore beautiful soul you want to become.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “There are people who take the heart out of you, and there are people who put it back,” wrote author Charles de Lint.

According to my analysis of the astrological omens, your heart will encounter far more of the latter than the former types of people in 2020. There may be one wrangler who tries to take the heart out of you, but there will be an array of nurturers who will strive to keep the heart in you — as well as boosters and builders who will add even more heart.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Composer Igor Stravinsky was born a Russian citizen, but later in life became a French citizen, and still later took on American citizenship. If you have had any similar predilections, Libra, I’m guessing they won’t be in play during 2020. My prediction is that you will develop a more robust sense of where you belong than ever before. Any uncertainties you’d had about where your true power spot lies will dissipate. Questions you’ve harbored about the nature of home will be answered.

With flair and satisfaction, you’ll resolve long-running riddles about home and community.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “Friendship is a very taxing and arduous form of leisure activity,” wrote philosopher and educator Mortimer Adler. He was exaggerating a bit for comic effect, but he was basically correct.

We all must mobilize a great deal of intelligence and hard work to initiate new friendships and maintain existing friendships.

But I have some very good news about how these activities will play out for you in 2020, Scorpio. I expect that your knack for practicing the art of friendship will be at an all-time high. I also believe that your close alliances will be especially gratifying and useful for you. You’ll be well-rewarded for your skill and care at cultivating rapport.

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

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PGHCITYPAPER.COM

SEVEN DAYS OF ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT

PHOTO: L. WELSH PHOTOGRAPHY

^ Sun., Dec. 22: Alpacas and Ales

THURSDAY DEC. 19

COMMUNITY We’re nearing the end of this holiday season and there’s a good chance your stress is reaching its tipping point, but instead of freaking out that you still haven’t picked out that perfect gift for a loved one, take a load off at this month’s Neighborhood Happy Hour. Every month, the Kelly Strayhorn Theater invites the community to mingle over bites from

food trucks and drinks in their lobby bar as a way to “spark conversation” with their East Liberty neighbors. After you’ve got your drink on, get your shopping done at this month’s special Holiday Bazaar featuring a variety of vendors. 5-7 p.m.

5941 Penn Ave., East Liberty. RSVPs are encouraged. kelly-strayhorn.org

KARAOKE There might be 525,600 minutes in a season of love, but there’s only one chance to live out your Broadway dreams on stage at Glitter Box Theater. Sing (or sing-along to) all of your Broadway

favorites at NonStop Broadway karaoke.

Purchase a singing ticket and you’ll have a choice of 600 songs and the stage for yourself, or belt back-up from general admission all night long. 7-9 p.m.

460 Melwood Ave., Oakland. $5-10. theglitterboxtheater.com

FRIDAY

of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

See the classic tale put to song and dance at the Byham Theater, complete with dancing ghosts, a Christmas chicken, special effects, and no shortage of “bah, humbugs!” Continues through Sun., Dec. 22. 10 Sixth St., Downtown. $17-62. trustarts.org

ART

DEC. 20 STAGE

Even Scrooge sings in the musical version

Resonance Works presents Amahl and the Night Visitors, a one-act opera by Gian Carlo Menotti, at the New Hazlett Theater.

The new production from emerging director Haley Stamats tells the Biblically CONTINUES ON PG. 32

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 18-25, 2019

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CALENDAR, CONTINUED FROM PG. 31

^ Fri., Dec. 20: Amahl and the Night Visitors

inspired story of Amahl, a poor shepherd boy who, along with his mother, play host to three kings on their way to Bethlehem.

The show will feature local singers and musicians, including the Resonance Works debut of young soprano Emmanuel Tsao as Amahl and mezzo-soprano Olga Perez Flora as the mother. 7:30 p.m. Continues on Sun., Dec. 22. 6 Allegheny Square East, North Side. $25-50. Free for kids 10 and under. resonanceworks.org

enjoy a specialty cocktail or holiday treat available to purchase at the theater during the event. 9:30 p.m. Also Sat., Dec. 21.

621 Penn Ave., Downtown. $11. ppt.org

FILM

Come with it now! Penguins on Parade runs every Saturday and Sunday through Sun., Dec. 29 outside the PPG Aquarium.

Believe it or not, the weekly event involves penguins from the Pittsburgh Zoo going for a stroll in the great outdoors and possibly playing in the snow. For the safety of the penguins, temperatures have to be below 45 degrees and they only stay out as long as they’re in the parading mood, so get there on time. 11:30 a.m. 7370 Baker St., Highland Park. Included with general Zoo admission. pittsburghzoo.org

Have the hap-hap-happiest Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate, during a special Yinzer Yuletide screening of the 1989 comedy National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation at Pittsburgh Public Theater. Chevy Chase reprises his National Lampoon’s Vacation role of Clark Griswold, a suburban family man trying to overcome annoying relatives, hostile decorations, and an uncaring boss to have the best holiday ever. Between laughs,

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SATURDAY DEC. 21 PENGUINS

DANCE Performing in The Nutcracker is a rite of passage for ballet dancers, and luckily for Pittsburgh, this means audiences have multiple opportunities to view the classic tale. Most are familiar with Pittsburgh Ballet Theater’s annual holiday show, but for a more intimate performance, don’t miss the students of Texture Ballet School taking on the epic tale at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center. Guest dancers from Texture Contemporary Ballet will join the students on stage for a performance set to Tchaikovsky’s famous score. 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Also 2 p.m., Sun., Dec. 22.

980 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $23.75. textureballet.org

COMEDY Comedian Krish Mohan tells jokes, but he does more than just try to make people laugh. He dives head first into politics with apprehension about

skewering anti-immigrant sentiments, racism, religion, and other social issue.

His Facebook page describes him as a “social vigilante.” His one-hour comedy show, Politely Angry, will begin at the Glitter Box Theater before heading to a handful of east coast cities. 7:30 p.m.

460 Melwood Ave., Oakland. $10. ramannoodlescomedy.com

SOLSTICE For most people, the winter solstice is a cause for celebration, marking the transition to longer, brighter, and eventually warmer, days. Moving Shadows: A Dark Solstice Celebration, on the other hand, champions the darkness of the season. At Mr. Smalls Theatre, check out live music from NØIR, Seeming, Ships In The Night, Doors In The Labyrinth, and DJ Castillo.

Other highlights include a marketplace with Distortion Productions LLC, Heidi’s Spooky Creations, and Heroineburgh;

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^ Sat., Dec. 21: Penguins on Parade

and performances from Electric Mirage Bellydancers. 8 p.m. The Funhouse at Mr. Smalls, 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $13.40. mrsmalls.com

SUNDAY DEC. 22 BEER Gibsonia brewery Strange Roots works with local ingredients and farmhouse brewing, so it’s only fitting that they bring some local farm animals to their beer garden for Alpacas and Ales. Stone’s Throw Farm will bring some of its alpacas to hang out just before the holidays, which in some cases, might be more relaxing than hanging out with family members. The farm will also have a pop-up store inside the brewery.

12-4 p.m. 4399 Gibsonia Road, Gibsonia. strangerootsbeer.com

COMEDY Kansas City-born touring comic Chris Porter takes the stage at the Pittsburgh Improv. The Last Comic Standing finalist has showcased his own brand of humor in various streaming comedy specials, including Ugly & Angry and Lost & Alone.

In his latest one-hour special, A Man From Kansas, Porter discusses “everything from hipsters ruining food to dick pics to playing beer pong with celebrities.” See what the Kansas man has to offer during his latest Pittsburgh gig. 7 p.m. 166 E. Bridge St., Homestead. $20-70. improv.com/pittsburgh

MONDAY DEC. 23 MYSTERY Bad news: Santa Claus has been murdered. (The man had a lot of enemies.)

Even worse news: you are a suspect.

͞KƵƌ ĞdžĞĐƵƟǀĞ ĐŚĞĨƐ Ăƚ Z sK ĞŶũŽLJ ͚ĐŽŽŬŝŶŐ ĨƌŽŵ ƐĐƌĂƚĐŚ͛ ĂŶĚ ĂƌĞ ŝŶƐƉŝƌĞĚ ďLJ ƚŚĞ /ƚĂůŝĂŶ DĞĚŝƚĞƌƌĂŶĞĂŶ tĂLJ ŽĨ ĐŽŽŬŝŶŐ͕ ǁŚŝĐŚ ŝƐ ƐŝŵƉůLJ ďĞƩĞƌ ʹ ďĞƩĞƌ ŝŶŐƌĞĚŝĞŶƚƐ͕ ďĞƩĞƌ ƌĞĐŝƉĞƐ͕ ďĞƩĞƌ ĐŽŽŬŝŶŐ ŵĞƚŚŽĚƐ͕ ďĞƩĞƌ ŇĂǀŽƌƐ ĂŶĚ ďĞƩĞƌ ĨŽƌ LJŽƵ͕͟ ĨŽƵŶĚĞƌ ĂŶĚ ŽǁŶĞƌͲƉĂƌƚŶĞƌ ŽĨ &ŽŽĚ&ŝƌƐƚ 'ůŽďĂů ZĞƐƚĂƵƌĂŶƚƐ͕ /ŶĐ͘ ƌĂĚ ůƵŵ ĞŵƉŚĂƐŝnjĞĚ͘ ůƵŵ ŽƌĐŚĞƐƚƌĂƚĞĚ ƚŚĞ ďƌĂŶĚ ǀŝƐŝŽŶ͕ ĂŶĚ ŵĞŶƵ ŝƚĞŵƐ ǁĞƌĞ ĚĞǀĞůŽƉĞĚ ďLJ ŚŝĞĨ ƵůŝŶĂƌLJ KĸĐĞƌ :ŽŚŶ /ŵďƌŝŽůŽ͘ ͞dŚĞ /ƚĂůŝĂŶ DĞĚŝƚĞƌƌĂŶĞĂŶ tĂLJ ŽĨ ĐŽŽŬŝŶŐ͕ ĚŝŶŝŶŐ ĂŶĚ ůŝǀŝŶŐ ŝƐ ǀĞƌLJ ũŽLJĨƵů͕͟ ůƵŵ ĐŽŶƟŶƵĞĚ͘ ͞ ŶĚ ŶŽǁ ǁĞ ĂƌĞ ƉƌŽǀŝĚŝŶŐ ŽƵƌ ŐƵĞƐƚƐ ĂŶ ŽƉƉŽƌƚƵŶŝƚLJ ƚŽ ĞdžƉĞƌŝĞŶĐĞ ƚŚĞƐĞ ƚLJƉĞƐ ŽĨ ĨŽŽĚƐ ǁŝƚŚŽƵƚ ŚĂǀŝŶŐ ƚŽ ǀŝƐŝƚ ƚŚĞ ŵĂůĮ ŽĂƐƚ ŽĨ /ƚĂůLJ͘͟ dŚĞ ƵƉĚĂƚĞĚ ŵĞŶƵƐ ʹ ǁŚŝĐŚ Śŝƚ

WŝƩƐďƵƌŐŚ ůŽĐĂƟŽŶƐ ŝŶ ůĂƚĞ ^ĞƉƚĞŵďĞƌ ʹ ĞŵƉŚĂƐŝnjĞ ŵŽƌĞ ƉůĂŶƚͲďĂƐĞĚ ŽīĞƌŝŶŐƐ ĂůŽŶŐ ǁŝƚŚ ĨƌĞƐŚ ƐĞĂĨŽŽĚ͕ ĨƌĞƐŚ ůĞŵŽŶƐ͕ ƐƚŽŶĞͲƉƌĞƐƐĞĚ ŽůŝǀĞ Žŝů͕ ĂŶĚ ƐĞĂ ƐĂůƚ͘ ŬĞLJ ĂĚĚŝƟŽŶ ŝƐ DĞĚŝƚĞƌƌĂŶĞĂŶ ŽůŝǀĞƐ͕ ĂǀĂŝůĂďůĞ ŽŶůLJ Ăƚ Z sK͕ ƚŚĂƚ ĂƌĞ ŚĂŶĚƉŝĐŬĞĚ ŝŶ ^ŽƵƚŚĞƌŶ /ƚĂůLJ͘ ŚĞĨƐ ĂƌĞ ĂůƐŽ ƌŽůůŝŶŐ ŽƵƚ ŶĞǁ ĞŶƚƌĞĞƐ͕ ůŝŬĞ ƚŚĞ ůŝŶĞ ŽĨ ůĨƌĞĚŽ &ƌĞƐĐŽƐ͕ ĚŝƐŚĞƐ LJŽƵ͛ůů ĨĞĞů ŐŽŽĚ ĂďŽƵƚ ĞĂƟŶŐ͘ dŚƌĞĞ ƉůĂƚĞƐ ŝŶĐůƵĚĞ ͚ŵĂĚĞ ĨƌŽŵ ƐĐƌĂƚĐŚ͛ ĨĞƩƵĐĐŝŶĞ ĂůĨƌĞĚŽ͗ ƉƌŝŵĂǀĞƌĂ͕ ƐŚƌŝŵƉ ĂŶĚ ůŽďƐƚĞƌ͕ ĂŶĚ ĐŚŝĐŬĞŶ ĂŶĚ ƐƉŝŶĂĐŚ͘ ŶĞǁ EĞĂƉŽůŝƚĂŶ ƉŝnjnjĂ ŵŝdžĞƐ ƌŽĂƐƚĞĚ ƌĞĚ ƉĞƉƉĞƌƐ͕ ĨƌĞƐŚ njƵĐĐŚŝŶŝ͕ ƐŚŝŝƚĂŬĞ ŵƵƐŚƌŽŽŵƐ͕ ƚŽŵĂƚŽĞƐ͕ ĂŶĚ ďĂƐŝů͘ Z sK ŝƐ ĂůƐŽ ŝŶƚƌŽĚƵĐŝŶŐ ŶĞǁ ŚŽƵƐĞ ǁŝŶĞƐ͕ ŶĂŵĞĚ ͚WŝĐĐŽ͕͛ ƚŚĂƚ ĂƌĞ ĐƌĂŌĞĚ ŝŶ ^ŝĐŝůLJ ƵƐŝŶŐ ƐƵƐƚĂŝŶĂďůLJ ĨĂƌŵĞĚ ŐƌĂƉĞƐ ĨƌŽŵ ĨĂŵŝůLJͲŽǁŶĞĚ ǀŝŶĞLJĂƌĚƐ͕ ŵĂĚĞ ĞdžĐůƵƐŝǀĞůLJ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ ďƌĂŶĚ͘ dŚĞ ŶĂŵĞ WŝĐĐŽ͕ ͞ƉĞĂŬ͛ ŝŶ ŶŐůŝƐŚ͕ ŝƐ Ă ƉůĂLJ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ƌŝƉĞŶĞƐƐ ŽĨ ŚĂŶĚ ƉŝĐŬĞĚ ŐƌĂƉĞƐ ĨƌŽŵ ƚŚĞ ƌĞŐŝŽŶ͘ WŝĐĐŽ ǁŝůů ĐŽŵĞ ŝŶ Ă ƐŵŽŽƚŚ ĂŶĚ ƌŝĐŚ ƌĞĚ ďůĞŶĚ ĂŶĚ Ă ĐƌŝƐƉ ǁŚŝƚĞ ďůĞŶĚ͘

CONTINUES ON PG. 34

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 18-25, 2019

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CALENDAR, CONTINUED FROM PG. 33

Looking for the next fitness craze?

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classifieds.pghcitypaper.com ^ Sat., Dec. 21: The Nutcracker

Indulge in an old-fashioned murder mystery with Who Killed Santa? — a super-secret interactive dinner from Confluence Catering with food from Chef Carlos and game written by Mariah Torres. As the event’s “A Visit from St. Nicholas” parody explains, “ Did Ho, Jo or Hoe do it for the dough?

And speaking of dough, did Gingerbread know? Come join us for dinner to find all our clues, Who killed Santa Claus?

It might’ve been you!” As if the murder and intrigue hadn’t piqued your curiosity, the location of the dinner remains under wraps until your ticket is confirmed. Good luck out there.

7 p.m. Location given upon ticket purchase. $25. “Who Killed Santa Mystery Dinner” on Facebook

TUESDAY DEC. 24 EVENT It’s not every year that the eight nights of Hanukkah overlap with Christmas, so Rodef Shalom is taking full advantage and combining the two with another beloved Jewish holiday tradition: eating Chinese food at

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PGHCITYPAPER.COM

Christmastime. Latkes and Lo Mein: Hanukkah Dinner and Movie Night invites guests to nosh, watch the Barbra Streisand classic Funny Girl, and light the candles for Hanukkah’s third night. It’s BYOB — Bring Your Own Blankets, Pillows, and Menorah.

6 p.m. 4905 Fifth Ave., Oakland. $10. rodefshalom.org

WEDNESDAY DEC. 25

DRAG Christmas comes to a close with Stuff Yinz Stocking, a drag show and potluck dinner hosted by burlesque performer Kat De Lac at the Smiling Moose. Get your jollies out during performances by a line-up of local drag talent, including Cherri Baum, Elizabeth Wayne Gaycee, and Andromeda, and music by DJ ALLINALINE. Bring a dish for the feast, sip some hot spiked cider, and don your most hideous acrylic knitwear for the ugly holiday sweater contest. 8 p.m.-2 a.m.

1306 E. Carson St., South Side. smiling-moose.com •

NOTICE TO BIDDERS AECOM has been retained

by PennDOT, District 11-0, to provide bridge inspection services for SR 837 over former Union RR in Allegheny County, PA. The services required are as follows:

classifieds.pghcitypaper.com

s Traffic Control Services (PATA 103) with Crash Truck s Concrete Core Removal s Underbridge Inspection Unit (Min. 60 ft horiz. reach) s Rope/Basket Access (90 ft max. height)

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Interested firms shall contact Steve Rodgers at 412-316-3541 or steve.rodgers@aecom.com for a bid package.

Bids are due January 4th.

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UATC, LLC has an opening in Pittsburgh, PA for the following: Control Systems Engineer (Ref#4347452) Dvelp real-time sftwre for cntrol of safty-criticl automtiv apps. Refer to Ref# & mail resume to UATC, LLC, Attn: A. Kothari, 455 Market St, 8th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105.

OFFICIAL ADVERTISEMENT

THE BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH Sealed proposals shall be deposited at the Administration Building, Bellefield Entrance Lobby, 341 South Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213, on January7, 2020 until 2:00 P.M. local prevailing time for:

PGH. BRASHEAR H.S. Locker Room Renovations, Phase 1 General, Plumbing, Mechanical, Electrical and Asbestos Abatement Primes

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PGH. GREENFIELD PREK-8 Restroom Renovations General, Plumbing, Mechanical, Electrical and Asbestos Abatement Primes Project Manual and Drawings will be available for purchase on December 9, 2019 at Modern Reproductions (412-488-7700), 127 McKean Street, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15219 between 9:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. The cost of the Project Manual Documents is non-refundable. Project details and dates are described in each project manual.

We are an equal rights and opportunity school district.

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NAME CHANGE

NAME CHANGE

NAME CHANGE

NAME CHANGE

IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-19-13824. In re petition of Mussab Gebriel El Haddad for change of name to Mussab Gebriel Haddad.

To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 8th day of January, 2020, at 9:45 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for

IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-19-15456. In re petition of Carson Longenett for change of name to Carson James Mur. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 6th day of January, 2020, at 9:45 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for

IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-19-16585, In re petition of Jessica Morris parent and legal guardian of Paige E. Bayton, Hannah L. Bayton, Harmony D. Bayton & Isabella M. Bayton, for change of name to Paige E. Morris, Hannah L. Morris, Harmony D. Morris, and Isabella M. Morris. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 31st day of January, 2020, at 9:45 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for

IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-19-15968, In re petition of Hamida Wasim parent and legal guardian of Muhammad Rohaad Wasim, for change of name to Rohaan Wasim.

To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 22nd day of January, 2020, at 9:45 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 18-25, 2019

35

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PGHCITYPAPER.COM

ACROSS 1. SPOILER ALERT: They do Santa’s work 6. Irish watering hole 9. Winner’s take 14. St. Teresa’s home 15. São Paulo-toRio dir.

16. Shaped like a volcano 17. List of those working toward their Masters?

20. Avocado ___ 21. Pickling ingredient 22. Second-row window seat 23. Family name of “Vacation” movies 26. Make some ratings 28. Verizon CEO Vestberg 29. Germanic cry 30. Guy Fawkes representation, e.g.

33. Double-LP sleeve format 38. Nit to pick 39. Jewish grunt 40. “Ask me in a bit” 41. Flips out 43. Pizzeria best sellers 44. Poetical activity 45. Drummer’s job 46. Grille protector 50. Baptism V.I.P. 54. On the safe side when sailing 55. Noisy ruckus 57. Japanese pond critter

58. “12 Days of Christmas” gift, and hint to this puzzle’s theme 62. Christmas party, e.g.

63. Valuable stone 64. Often-swiped novel 65. Tennis star no matter how you look at her 66. Drink served at a 6-Across 67. They’re immediately after this clue

DOWN 1. Gog’s partner in Revelations 2. To have, in Paris 3. Frauds ___ Vanilli 4. Alien from Melmac 5. Vulcano of “Impractical Jokers” 6. They’re clutched by the mortified 7. Typed Ctrl-Z, say 8. “I’ve ___ thinking...”

9. Toxic compound banned since the 1970s 10. Dye job giveaway 11. Stunned 12. Round numbers?

13. Historical works involving Aegir and Bragi 18. Key material 19. Do something!

24. Uses UPS

25. Engage in fighting 27. Defeat definitively 29. Relaxed comment 30. Early bird?

31. Do teased with a pick 32. Ancient oath 33. Test with five subjects 34. Apostle’s belief 35. Like Claritin and Robitussin 36. Actress Greta of “Russian Doll” 37. Test administrators?: Abbr.

39. Jamie’s co-worker in Progressive ads 42. Hells Canyon home

43. Family vehicle 45. “La ___” (opera that starts on Christmas Eve) 46. Places to do crosswords, or maybe write poetry 47. Still kicking 48. Party hearty 49. Fashion’s Geoffrey 50. Austro-Hungarian logician Kurt 51. “Don’t remind me” 52. Fire up Insta, say 53. Box set components 56. 2018 Literature Nobelist Tokarczuk 59. Certain Mustangs 60. Hot color 61. Nigerian language LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

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journeyhealthcare.com PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 18-25, 2019

37

PEEPSHOW A sex and social justice column

BY JESSIE SAGE // PEEPSHOWCAST@GMAIL.COM

A

S AN ORGANIZER with the Pittsburgh chapter of the Sex Worker .Outreach Project (SWOP), I often receive swag and supplies from some of the organizations we partner with. Recently, Planned Parenthood physicians gave our group several bags of condoms to pass out at events we host. After the meeting, I put them in my trunk to save for our next event and then promptly forgot about them.

I was reminded of their presence, however, when one of my teenagers opened the trunk to load his sports equipment for a game and asked me why there were hundreds of condoms spread around. Apparently, they had spilled out of the bags.

I told him that they belonged to SWOP, but that they were really just for anyone who needed them — the subtext, of course, being that this included him when he was ready. While I didn’t intend on having a conversation with him about safer sex practices at that moment, a truck full of condoms served to prompt one.

After this conversation, where he was more open to asking questions than I expected him to be, I started to think about the ways that the simple presence of condoms invited conversations about safer sex practices that might otherwise be difficult to initiate.

In other words, their mere presence served as a symbol of my own com-

... BARRIERS TO ACCESS CERTAINLY DIDN’T DISCOURAGE ME FROM HAVING SEX, IT JUST MADE IT HARDER TO DO IT SAFELY. mitment to sexual health, and my absence of the shame about sex, which would prevent my kids from asking me the questions that they need answers to.

I remember being a teenager who

had only recently started having sex and feeling like there were so many barriers to condom access, as well as access to other forms of birth control.

Going to a clinic required transportation and knowledge of how to navi-

gate medical care, which I hadn’t had to do without parent assistance in any other context. Buying condoms at the pharmacy when I had little access to money was a challenge. I distinctly remember one time when my boyfriend and I walked into a CVS with all of the change we could scrounge up and stood there embarrassed as the clerk counted out several dollars of quarters, dimes, and nickels. And broaching the topic of my sexual health needs with my parents, not knowing how they would respond seemed terrifying.

Now, as a parent of teenagers, I think back to this time and recognize that these barriers to access certainly didn’t discourage me from having sex, it just made it harder to do it safely.

And, the fact that my parents didn’t have this conversation or facilitate access only made me reticent to turn to them when I had issues related to my sexual health.

Since my overflow of condoms got the attention of my own kids, it struck me that having them accessible to adolescents can serve as an important symbol of both taking their autonomy and sexuality seriously, but also an openness to being able to help them navigate the challenges that come with sexuality. I’ve decided to put some in a jar for anyone who needs them.

•

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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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 18-25, 2019

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