SEPTEMBER 24 THROUGH OCTOBER 16
BY
Robert Askins TRACY BRIGDEN
DIRECTED BY
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 09.28/10.05.2016
EVENTS 9.30 – 8pm SOUND SERIES: AN EVENING WITH JOAN SHELLEY The Warhol theater This performance is co-presented with Calliope: The Pittsburgh Folk Music Society. FREE parking in The Warhol lot Tickets $15/$12 Members & students
Narcissister
10.02 – 10am-5pm RADical Day 2016 Featuring FREE admission FREE
11.4 – 8pm The Warhol theater | Tickets $15/$12 Members & students Co-presented with Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Art
10.7 – 7pm SENSORY-FRIENDLY EVENT FOR ADULTS (21+) A program designed specifically for adults with autism spectrum disorders and those with sensory sensitivities. There is a 20 person limit for the event, and registration is required. To register please contact Leah Morelli at morellil@warhol.org or call 412.237.8389. FREE
Playing at the boundaries of masquerade, performance art, and activism, her performances blend humor, pop songs, elaborate costumes, contemporary dance, and her trademark mask as tools in deconstructing stereotypical representations of gender, racial identity, and sexuality while revealing the eroticizing effects of our commodity-driven culture. Please note, this performance contains adult content, strong language and nudity.
10.8 – 10am SENSORY-FRIENDLY EVENT FOR TEENS AND YOUNG ADULTS A sensory-friendly program designed specifically for teens 14 to 21 years old with autism spectrum disorders and those with sensory sensitivities. There is a 20 person limit for the event, and registration is required. To register please contact Leah Morelli at morellil@warhol.org or call 412.237.8389. FREE
DarkMatter:
10.13 – 8pm TAKAO KAWAGUCHI: ABOUT KAZUO OHNO The Warhol theater Co-presented with Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania and The Asian Studies Center of the University of Pittsburgh FREE parking in The Warhol lot Tickets $15/$12 Members & students
#ITGETSBITTER 11.18 – 8pm Carnegie Lecture Hall (Oakland) | Tickets $15/$12 Members & students Co-presented with the Carnegie Museum of Art and Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Arts & Society and School of Art
DarkMatter, a trans South Asian performance art duo comprised of Alok Vaid-Menon and Janani Balasubramanian, refer to their performance #ItGetsBitter as an interruption, which exists within the boundaries of spoken word, stand-up comedy, fashion, and nursery rhymes. NEWS
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The Andy Warhol Museum receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency and The Heinz Endowments. Further support is provided by the Allegheny Regional Asset District.
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 09.28/10.05.2016
09.28/10.05.2016 VOLUME 26 + ISSUE 39
[EDITORIAL]
Oktoberfest Pumpkins Chocolate & Chili Kids & Trucks
Editor CHARLIE DEITCH News Editor REBECCA ADDISON Arts & Entertainment Editor BILL O’DRISCOLL Music Editor MARGARET WELSH Associate Editor AL HOFF Web Producer ALEX GORDON Staff Writers RYAN DETO, CELINE ROBERTS Interns STEPHEN CARUSO, MEGAN FAIR, IAN FLANAGAN, LUKE THOR TRAVIS
[ART]
{COVER ILLUSTRATION BY VINCE DORSE}
[COVER STORY]
Nearly 95,000 people called the 311 line last year, and the center processed close to 84,000 service requests. PAGE 06
[VIEWS]
“The first time I discovered that the police treated black men differently than white men was when New York City police officers killed Radio Raheem.” PAGE 16
Weekends in October!
Oct. 1 - 2 Oct. 8 - 9
Oct. 15 - 16 Oct. 22 - 23
Treat yourself to a spectacular weekend in the mountains and enjoy the best of Pennsylvania’s beautiful fall foliage!
Director of Operations KEVIN SHEPHERD Production Director JULIE SKIDMORE Art Director LISA CUNNINGHAM Graphic Designers JEFF SCHRECKENGOST, JENNIFER TRIVELLI
Autumnfest Lodging Packages
[ADVERTISING] Director of Advertising JESSIE AUMAN-BROCK Senior Account Executives PAUL KLATZKIN, JEREMY WITHERELL Advertising Representatives BLAKE LEWIS Classified Manager ANDREA JAMES National Advertising Representative VMG ADVERTISING 1.888.278.9866 OR 1.212.475.2529
Available weekends during Autumnfest, Oct. 1-23, 2016 PACKAGE INCLUDES: Available starting aat $330 per person, n, • Two nights of lodging • Breakfast both mornings kids 11 and under • $150 Resort Credit stay ay FREE! For information or to make your reservations, please call.
[MARKETING+PROMOTIONS] Marketing Director DEANNA KONESNI Marketing Design Coordinator LINDSEY THOMPSON
7Springs.com | 866.437.1300
[ADMINISTRATION] Circulation Director JIM LAVRINC Office Administrator RODNEY REGAN Administrative Assistant STEPHANIE DRISCOLL Interactive Media Manager CARLO LEO
[PUBLISHER] EAGLE MEDIA CORP.
[LAST WORD]
“A lot of these students aren’t holding on to the hatred that they’ve been taught.” PAGE 54
News 06 Views 16 Music 20 Arts 32 Events 36 Taste 40 Screen 45
Sports 47 Classifieds 49 Crossword 50 Free Will Astrology 52 Savage Love 53 The Last Word 54 NEWS
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GENERAL POLICIES: Contents copyrighted 2016 by Eagle Media Corp. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher. The opinions expressed in Pittsburgh City Paper are those of the author and not necessarily of Eagle Media Corp. LETTER POLICY: Letters, faxes or e-mails must be signed and include town and daytime phone number for confirmation. We may edit for length and clarity. DISTRIBUTION: Pittsburgh City Paper is published weekly by Eagle Media Corp. and is available free of charge at select distribution locations. One copy per reader; copies of past issues may be purchased for $3.00 each, payable in advance to Pittsburgh City Paper. FIRST CLASS MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS: Available for $175 per year, $95 per half year. No refunds. PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 650 Smithfield Street, Suite 2200 Pittsburgh, PA 15222 412.316.3342 FAX: 412.316.3388 E-MAIL info@pghcitypaper.com
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THIS WEEK
ONLINE
“OUR JOB IS TO PROVIDE SERVICE TO RESIDENTS WHO NEED HELP WITH ISSUES THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO THEM.”
www.pghcitypaper.com
Introducing CP Longform: Martin Esquivel-Hernandez traveled more than 5,000 miles to be with his family, but five years later, he faces deportation. Read his story at www.pghcitypaper.com.
The ’90s were alive and well in Pittsburgh over the weekend when the “I Love the ’90s” tour stopped at the Petersen Events Center on Sept. 24. View our photo slideshow on our Blogh at www.pghcitypaper.com. Not to brag, but Salt-N-Pepa already gave us a retweet.
The Group Against Smog and Pollution talks to City Paper about the history of pollution in Pittsburgh and what should be done to clean up the city today.
{CP PHOTO BY JOHN COLOMBO}
Ten-year 311 supervisor Naomi Johnson working at her desk
LIFE LINE
Listen at www.pghcitypaper.com.
CITY PAPER
INTERACTIVE
Our featured Statues photo from last week is by instagrammer @mitchell_barutha. This week’s theme is Lines. Use #CPReaderArt to tag photos of local objects and buildings with interestinglooking lines and we just may re-gram you.
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ENDY URBANIC gets a lot of weird phone calls. As the city of Pittsburgh’s 311 response-line manager, she and her staff handle their share of pothole reports and ordinary requests for repairs to city properties. But as a first point of contact for many city residents, the 311 line’s call log is all over the map. “We don’t use the ‘C’ word,” Urbanic says. “We don’t want to be thought of as the complaint center. Our job is to provide customer service to city residents who need help with issues that are important to them.” Next month the 311 line marks its 10th anniversary. It started as a central place for city residents to get non-emergency information, and has spawned a pothole database and a snowplow tracker, and provided
answers to questions ranging from the mundane to the bizarre to the romantic. The list of requests, which come in via telephone, email and Twitter, reads almost like a wacky Facebook comments section, with a little bit of everything (except emergencies, which are routed directly to 911).
The city’s 311 response line has handled all kinds of calls over the past 10 years {BY KIM LYONS} A sample: One caller wanted someone to investigate trumpet noises coming from the sky. Someone else wanted to know how to handle the neighbor’s noisy pet Canada geese. Another guy just wanted to know
how many minutes he had left on his cell phone. Most calls to 311 are routed either to a city department, such as public works, or one of the other agencies the city works with, such as the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority. And thanks to technology upgrades over the past two years, the 311 process has been streamlined. In the past, 311 employees would take a request and send it to the appropriate department, which would then note the action to be taken and send the request back to 311 with a status update. But now all requests get a tracking number that goes into a single database, which is integrated with county real-estate information when necessary. (Many of the requests are for overgrown or unsafe properties, which aren’t always on the city’s tax rolls). CONTINUES ON PG. 08
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 09.28/10.05.2016
HELP WANTED A list of bizarre calls received by the 311 response line {COMPILED BY KIM LYONS}
Caller said a nearby lot was so overgrown “there are guinea pigs growing in it.”
Caller suggested the city invest in an “Airplane Truck” so as to help other states in droughts.
Caller contacted the office regarding hearing trumpets coming from the sky.
Caller wanted to know how many minutes were left on their cellular phone.
Caller was inquiring about how she could report ghosts and spirits in her apartment. She was referred to the Allegheny County Health Department. CONTINUES ON PG. 09
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LIFE LINE, CONTINUED FROM PG. 06
While there isn’t always an obvious department to contact for every request that comes through 311, that doesn’t mean that those callers are out of luck. The 311 staff tries to handle a fair number of requests on its own. For instance, last year, when one of her frequent callers failed to call with her daily check-in, Urbanic requested that city police check in on her. (The woman was in the hospital.) Back in 2007, in addition to multiple requests for the mayor to keep the Penguins from moving out of Pittsburgh, a woman contacted the 311 center seeking a brick from the demolished Greyhound bus station, which held sentimental value for her parents. (They got her one.) But even with a little extra help from 311 staff, not all of the requests can be resolved, Urbanic admits. A few years ago, a bottle with a note in it dated Dec. 20, 1961, washed up in Temple, Texas. The note read, “This bottle has been thrown from the Norwegian Tank Ship Fagerfuell in the Mexican Gulf,” and included the name and address of a person in Pittsburgh. They weren’t able to track the person down, Urbanic says. Nearly 95,000 people called the 311 line last year, and the center processed close to 84,000 service requests. Urbanic expects the 2016 total to top 100,000 calls. She’s proud of the center’s dropped-call rate of 1 percent, which is below the industry standard of 5 percent. And compared to other 311 centers in the Association of Government Contact Center Professionals, Urbanic says Pittsburgh’s center has relatively low turnover. It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the 311 center, however. In 2004, with the city in dire financial straits, then-Mayor Tom Murphy closed the city service center. A couple of years later, Mayor Bob O’Connor began to move forward with plans to reopen the center. When O’Connor died, his successor, Luke Ravenstahl, took on the task. The service center was rebranded as the Ravenstahl Response Line, and it reopened in October 2006, staffed with three operators and a supervisor. It operated from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and got something of a bad reputation for being inconsistent, which Urbanic readily admits. Results were mixed and the center’s future was uncertain. But when Snowmageddon hit, everything changed. The huge blizzard in February 2010 dumped nearly two feet of snow on the
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 09.28/10.05.2016
Pittsburgh area in 24 hours, crippling the city and much of the Northeast. Urbanic says she barely left the office over the twoday period, and the 311 line was completely inundated with requests for snowplows. Thus began the 24-hour system that’s in place today. When Mayor Bill Peduto took office, in 2014, he listed upgrading the city’s technology, including the 311 line, among his top priorities. “We were a little worried because no one knew what was going to happen with the new administration,” Urbanic says. “We knew we needed to expand and we were working on a really old system.” It didn’t take long for Peduto’s administration to follow through: In October 2014, the city announced a three-year contract for $162,000 to upgrade the 311 center and create an app to allow 311 requests from mobile devices. The integration of Twitter — the @Pgh311 account has more than 7,700 followers — has been a “fabulous, cost-
“WE DON’T WANT TO BE THOUGHT OF AS THE COMPLAINT CENTER.”
effective way to process requests,” Urbanic adds. Still, while it’s become more technologically advanced, the 311 line isn’t always able to deliver the results callers are after. Cara Jette has been in contact with the city for two years trying to get a crosswalk repainted in her Allentown neighborhood. Repeated tweets to 311 didn’t yield much in the way of progress by the city until last week, when crews came to paint a crosswalk … at the wrong intersection. “The system is frustrating for those that follow up,” Jette wrote in a email, “and must be a complete joke for people who don’t have the time to follow up because it seems like the only way to get things done is to continually follow up and hope that things don’t get lost in translation.” For her part, Urbanic says it’s gratifying to see the results of 311 requests that are resolved successfully, whether directly or indirectly. She recalled a recent drug bust in a city neighborhood that had started with calls from neighbors to 311. Says Urbanic, “It’s great to feel like we’re able to keep people engaged in what’s going on their city.” I N F O@ P G H C I T Y PA P E R. C OM
JENSORENSEN
HELP WANTED, CONTINUED FROM PG. 07
Caller living in a high-rise apartment in Downtown was convinced the landlords had modified the thermostats to be able to monitor and record the actions of tenants.
Caller wanted to report often noticing a group of people in strange costumes performing satanic rituals in Schenley Park.
Caller on Black Street said her neighbors keep Canada geese as pets on their property and their honking is preventing her from getting any sleep.
Caller wanted to find out whether he was “allowed to shoot at the bad guys too” with his own guns if he happened to come across a police shoot-out in progress.
Caller was terribly upset about the passing of Mayor Bob O’Connor and said the picture of him on the Whirl magazine cover “is simply beautiful.” Requested prayer cards from his funeral service. (311 delivered.) I N F O @PGHC ITY PA PE R .C OM
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“A MALICIOUSLY DELICIOUS BLACK COMEDY...” — The Washington Post
“IT’S LOUD AND LEWD AND IRREVERENT... HOWLINGLY FUNNY”
“IT ENTERTAINS THE DEVIL OUT OF YOU”
— Washington City Paper
— Time Out NY
“FUNNY AS HELL” — NEW YORK POST
“RIBALD AND WICKEDLY “A TRIUMPH” — The Guardian FUNNY... SESAME STREET “OUTRAGEOUS” MEETS THE EXORCIST” — Entertainment Weekly
— The New Yorker
“DARKLY FUNNY”— The Hollywood Reporter “JOYFULLY ‘BLASPHEMOUS’ ” — DC Metro Theatre Arts
“THE THE FUNNIEST BROADWAY COMEDY IN YEAR YEARS” RS” — Time Out NY
“THE THE DEVIOUS PUPPET TYRONE WOULD MAKE AVENUE Q’S RESIDENTS R RE ESI S DENTS BLUSH” — DCist
“INTELLIGENT, “INTELL LIGEENT, B BLOOD-DARK LOOD-D DARK CCOMEDY” OMED DY” — Vulture
““RUN, RUN, D DON’T ON’T WALK K TO SEE HAND TO GOD” SEE —H AheNNeNNewewewDYYoYork TOimesGO OD” TThe Th orkk TTimes
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 09.28/10.05.2016
{PHOTO COURTESY OF MARK CHAMBERLIN}
The Rev. James Mulcahy
DRIVEN OUT Russia sends pastor packing for working with LGBT activists {BY TIM LOUIS MACALUSO} REV. JAMES MULCAHY sat with a group of
LGBT activists in the Russian city of Samara last July, having a cup of tea and talking about nothing in particular. Mulcahy, who served as pastor for Rochester, N.Y.’s Metropolitan Community Church from 2000 to 2012, says that the group was barely 20 minutes into its meeting when there was a knock on the door. “We were raided by four city police, and two camera crews were with them,” he says. “They told me I had to come with them and I wasn’t being arrested; I was being detained. They photographed me and took my fingerprints, so it sure felt like I was being arrested.” Samara police received an anonymous tip that Mulcahy was performing a same-sex marriage ceremony. He wasn’t, but police were expecting to catch him in the act, and that’s why the camera crews entered the room first, he says. After retiring as MCC’s pastor, Mulcahy says that he discovered the work he was always meant to do: supporting LGBT activists in Eastern European countries in their fight for acceptance. It’s a job that clearly comes with risks. The LGBT communities in some former Soviet satellite countries are still living discreet and often underground lives out of fear of social rejection, physical attacks and criminalization. Though homosexuality was illegal in the former Soviet Union, it’s technically not illegal in Russia today. But under President Vladimir Putin’s government, that’s debatable, Mulcahy says. “I was taken [to a police station] where
I was interrogated for four hours,” he says. The lead investigator was from the FSB, the Russian federal security service that is the modern version of the KGB. He had come with the intention of making an arrest and wasn’t pleased with the outcome, Mulcahy says. “I was not allowed to have an attorney with me at any point,” he says. “I was not allowed to have my own interpreter, and the interpreter that they gave me was working for the police. I understand enough Russian to know that he wasn’t translating everything to me.” Mulcahy would have gone to court immediately, but it was a holiday weekend in Russia. He did get to speak with an attorney just before he entered the courtroom, but she was not allowed to go into court with him. Mulcahy was charged with improperly providing religious services on a visitor’s visa, something not to be taken lightly in Russia. He made the equivalent of several motions in Russian courts to delay the trial until he could have a lawyer of his choice. He also asked to have witnesses with him, and asked if someone would go to his hotel room and get his medication. All of his motions were denied. “My trial lasted for four hours,” he says. “The TV stations were allowed to broadcast in the courtroom, and the nine o’clock nightly news, both local and national, reported the verdict. I was fined about 2,000 rubles, which is about $32, and given five days to leave the country.” Mulcahy is also banned from returning to Russia for three years, but those that
usually released after paying a fine. But now people are being fined far beyond their ability to pay.” But there is also room for optimism; many of the people in Eastern Europe are warm and loving when you meet them individually, he says. Mulcahy, who is 72 and not in the best of health, says that he went back to his hotel after the trial and was too sick to get up and get breakfast the next morning. “The owners, they had all seen the TV reports, and they knew who I was, but they couldn’t have been kinder,” he says. “They brought breakfast up to my room — that’s the level of kindness you find in ordinary people there.” Mulcahy left Russia four days after his courtroom ordeal. He had a ticket to fly from Samara to Moscow, and then out of the country, but he heard that he could be detained again in Moscow. So a friend helped him get a ticket from Samara directly to Helsinki, instead. The plan didn’t work, though — police still held him up in the Samara airport. “They interrogated me again and tried to get me to give up names of activists and their phone numbers, but I didn’t give them any information,” he says. “I knew they weren’t going to send me to some prison someplace, but I won’t pretend it was pleasant. But I think my ministry in Russia was actually enhanced by what they did and how they publicized it.” Mulcahy still gets emails and letters from Russians thanking him for what he did. “I have communications from Russians almost every day, one from the Arctic Circle, ‘Thank you for what you’ve done for us,’” he says. “What have I done? I got thrown out of the country. But in their eyes, I was willing to suffer what the LGBT community there suffers every day.”
[ SEPTEMBER 24 – OCTOBER 16, 2016 ]
CITY THEATRE [ 2016-17 SEASON ] SEPT. 24–OCT. 16, 2016
HAND TO GOD
JAN. 21–FEB. 12, 2017
“I KNEW THEY WEREN’T GOING TO SEND ME TO SOME PRISON SOMEPLACE, BUT I WON’T PRETEND IT WAS PLEASANT.”
OCT. 22–NOV. 20, 2016
ROBERT ASKINS
BY DIRECTED BY TRACY BRIGDEN
In a church basement in a little town in
MAR. 11–APR. 2, 2017
Texas, something evil is afoot. Or, well — at hand. The youth group has a monster in its ranks: a rogue puppet named Tyrone. He’s hijacked the hand of timid teen Jason and there’s nothing his classmates, his mother,
APR. 8–MAY 7, 2017
or the pastor can do to exorcise this foulmouthed demon. Hand to God is a thrill ride of a comedy about good and evil, sex and sin, faith, and the filthy mind of one twisted sock puppet. Don’t miss the Pittsburgh premiere of the uproarious Tony Award® Nominated
MAY 13–JUNE 4, 2017
know him say he will continue his work in some way. Pastor Todd Goewey, now the pastor at Pittsburgh’s own MCC church, served with Mulcahy years ago in Rochester. Gowey says Mulcahy was crucial in growing Rochester’s MCC congregation. “Jim is an amazing man. I knew it the first time I met and worked with him,” Gowey says. “It was Jim’s calling to go to Eastern Europe, meet with gay and lesbian people there, and let them know that they could indeed have a church, that it was OK to acknowledge their faith, and that God does love them. “He’s truly a man of God, humble and unassuming. He’s no different to me than other men who have answered God’s call to make changes throughout the world; I see him as Paul or St. Augustine.” A few years ago, Russia enacted a law banning “gay propaganda.” The law is supposed to protect children from receiving LGBT information, but it is subject to wide interpretation and fuels anti-gay sentiment and attacks on LGBT individuals across the country, according to some human-rights reports. Some Russian leaders want to expand and strengthen the gay-propaganda law. “Russia is a difficult place for LGBT people right now, and the law gets worse and worse,” Mulcahy says. “And it’s not just LGBT people; it’s any religion that isn’t Russian Orthodox Christianity.” But in some respects, repressive government actions aren’t as effective as they were prior to social media, and LGBT activists throughout the Eastern European region use social media to their advantage. And in Russia, LGBT activists tend to play a cat-and-mouse game with police: waving gay-pride flags in public or releasing rainbow-colored balloons. “Sometimes the community will do flash mobs,” Mulcahy says. “They will come together and minutes later, they will be gone. In the last couple of years, though, Russian activists will do it knowing they’ll be caught, beaten and arrested. They’re
Broadway hit The New York Times calls “flat out hilarious.”
I NF O @PGH C IT YPAPE R . C O M
Use Code CITYCITY for $5 off single tickets
Tim Louis Macaluso is a writer for the City Newspaper in Rochester, N.Y., where this story was originally published. Charlie Deitch contributed to this story.
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IMPORT/EXPORT Martin Esquivel-Hernandez traveled more than 5,000 miles to be with his family, but five years later he faces deportation {BY RYAN DETO} AT 6 P.M. on a late-summer day in 2011, in a slum in the Álvaro Obregón district of Mexico City, the garage on the bottom floor of Alma Brigido’s home was set on fire. The bed, the furniture and the television were engulfed by flames and smoke. The blue-painted iron garage door was turned black with soot. A neighbor ran across the alleyway with a hose and extinguished the blaze, and no one was hurt. But it was only the beginning of the harassment that Brigido and her partner, Martin Esquivel-Hernandez, would face in the coming months. Earlier that year, Esquivel-Hernandez had joined the Mexican Army, after his employer, German-based tool manufacturer Stihl, moved its offices out of the region. Once his training was complete, Esquivel-Hernandez was set to travel from state to state looking for, and taking down, drug cartels. Unfortunately for the Brigido and Esquivel-Hernandez family, the drug cartels already had a presence in their Mexico City neighborhood. Brigido believes a local cartel started the fire as a way to intimidate her because of Esquivel-Hernandez’s involvement with the army. Cartel members would also throw rocks at Esquivel-Hernandez’s home, demanding to see him, and even got in a
{PHOTO COURTESY OF IKE GITTLEN}
Martin Esquivel-Hernandez (right) with his family at an immigrant-rights rally in Beechview
violent scuffle with his brother while Esquivel-Hernandez was on vacation with Brigido and their two daughters, Luz and Samantha. When the couple returned home and heard the news, Esquivel-Hernandez was furious. “I am just trying to do the right thing,” Brigido recalls Esquivel-Hernandez saying. “This shouldn’t be happening to us.” Regardless, both realized it was time to leave: Their home and neighborhood were no longer safe for them. “I was not going to risk anything happening to my family,” says Brigido. Esquivel-Hernandez’s mother had moved to Pittsburgh in 2005, and in 2011, the family decided to join her there.
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Five years later, Esquivel-Hernandez, an undocumented American immigrant, now sits in a private prison in Youngstown, Ohio, charged by the U.S. District Court of Western Pennsylvania with felony illegal re-entry. Prior to his detainment, he had lived in Pittsburgh since 2012, with his wife, Brigido, his two daughters and his son Alex, an American citizen. In March, Esquivel-Hernandez was cited by Mount Lebanon Police for driving without a valid license (he presented his Mexican license). About a month later, he was picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers from his Pittsburgh home at 6 a.m. The day before, he was marching in an immigrant-rights rally, holding up a sign with his two daughters that read, “Not One More Deportation.” Esquivel-Hernandez has no criminal record. He has spent his years in the Steel
City volunteering for local Latino community groups, advocating for better Spanish-language services at Pittsburgh schools, and fighting for other immigrant rights, all while working in the residential-construction industry. “I can testify to his character,” says Rosamaria Cristello, of the Latino Family Center. During the county’s process of assessing the needs of the Latino community, Cristello struggled to find volunteers willing to conduct a meeting with Latinos in Natrona Heights, but says EsquivelHernandez and Brigido jumped at the chance “without hesitation.” City Paper first reported Esquivel-Hernandez’s plight in June, but there’s more to this story than just an undocumented Mexican facing deportation. While his wife and daughters were able to cross the border without documentation fairly easily, Esquivel-Hernandez’s journey to Pittsburgh was a 5,000-mile, nine-month ordeal. He was caught by border control four times in two different states; slept in abandoned homes while cockroaches crawled across his face; worked washing cars to make money to eat; and spent countless hours walking through the desert to reunite with his family. “I was always thinking of seeing my daughters and my newborn son,” Esquivel-Hernandez writes in a letter from his prison cell of his time attempting to cross the border undetected. “I knew if I didn’t make it, they were going to suffer without their father supporting them. Who would take better care of them than their mother and father together? That is what kept me going.” RYA N D E TO@ P G HC I T Y PA P E R. C OM
The rest of this story can be read online at www.pghcitypaper.com, as part of City Paper’s new monthly feature, CP Longform.
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Recovery is a journey, not a destination. 12
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 09.28/10.05.2016
City Paper gets back to its roots with monthly online-only longform stories There was a time when long stories were the signature of this paper. Being a weekly, we had time to really work a story, interview scores of sources, and then sit down and craft something that was not only informative, useful and well researched, but was also a joy to read. Maybe it was a deep dive into an important issue, or a feature story whose subject was worthy of an opus, not just a few paragraphs and a picture. But times changed. This industry changed, and this paper had to change with it. We had to abandon the longform story and adapt to life in a newer and much smaller news space. But one place you don’t have to worry about space is on the internet. Many print publications have moved their in-depth stories to their webpages, and starting today, we have, too. Once a month, we will post a new longform story from one of our writers. It will allow us to once again provide our readers with the in-depth storytelling that they had come to expect from this organization. This month, Ryan Deto takes you on one man’s journey from Mexico City to Pittsburgh to be with his family, and the legal battle he’s fighting to try to stay here. BY CHARLIE DEITCH
Explore South American Art and Architecture at CMOA!
Gymnasium HdM 0647, Photographer: Iwan Baan, Amsterdam
Building Optimism: Public Space in South America Through February 13, 2017 Discover design for urban life in South America that builds upon radical optimism—a belief that planning can shape and improve lives.
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October 7: Architecture Against All Odds: Architect Talk and Discussion Friday, October 7, 6–8 p.m. CMOA Theater FREE, seating is limited
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October 1: Members' Hours 10 a.m.–Noon
October 1–January 2, 2017
October 1: Hélio Oiticica: Film Screening and Conversation 1:30–3:30 p.m. FREE, seating is limited
Walk across sand and pebbles, traverse bold, colorful structures, and say hello to two friendly parrots. That's part of the experience of Tropicália (1966–67), a massive, multisensory installation at the heart of Hélio Oiticica: To Organize Delirium.
Join CMOA for an architecture talk and discussion with Marialuisa Borja, prinicipal for the architecture firm Al Borde. Based in Quito, Ecuador, Al Borde typically works on projects with low budgets; they attempt to turn a scarcity of resources into an advantage, considering not just money but also skills, knowledge, materials, property, and even friends and acquaintances as assets in the project.
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Hélio Oiticica: To Organize Delirium
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Join curator and CMOA director Lynn Zelevansky and filmmaker César Oiticica Filho, Oiticica's nephew, for a screening of the 2012 film Hélio Oiticica. October 20: Third Thursday: EDEN Transport yourself to Brazil with a trip through Hélio Oiticica: To Organize Delirium, beats by Rio-based DJ duo IOIA, and a late night café menu inspired by South American flavors. Tickets at cmoa.org/eden.
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{CP PHOTOS BY REBECCA ADDISON}
Protesters march Downtown during Donald Trump’s Sept. 22 visit and questioned the effects of Trump’s proposed energy policies on the environment.
NEWS ANALYSIS Unpacking Donald Trump’s nonsense on natural gas {BY CHARLIE DEITCH AND STAFF REPORTS} DONALD TRUMP came to Pittsburgh
Thu., Sept. 22, to talk energy policy at the Marcellus Shale Coalition’s Shale Insight Conference and Pittsburgh City Paper brought you a live blog from every moment of the protests outside. Later that day, we noticed that an anonymous commenter on the blog left us this note: “This is ridiculous. The man gave a speech that was more important than the insignificant protesters. Your story should be focused on the fine policies he presented today!” While we did watch the live stream, you are right, Unnamed Angry Person. So our staff decided to take a look at Trump’s “fine” speech, particularly the portions about natural gas. To be honest,
we’re not so fine with what he had to say. Based on press reports, his talk was a lot of noise made to reassure the industry that he’s on its side. But even leaving aside the fact that a continued reliance on natural gas would be a climate disaster, according to multiple sources, including the Union of Concerned Scientists, his promised fixes were as ridiculous as his premise. First, Trump promised to boost production of both coal and natural gas. That’s effectively impossible, given that the rise in gas production in the fracking era is the main cause of the decline in coal production, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Trump’s vow to deregulate gas production suggests that the industry is currently hamstrung — unable to produce.
Yet the reason gas prices continue hovering near an historic low is that it’s so easy to drill that there’s a gas glut, according to the EIA and the International Energy Agency. It’s hard to see how stripping rules protecting the environment, and the communities in which drilling operations and pipelines operate, would help, when from the industry’s perspective, there is too much gas already. (And when, in fact, the country is now the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas, according to the EIA.) Moreover, most gas regulations are enacted not by the federal government, but at the state level, something over which a Trump administration would have no control. Then there’s the assumption that all that gas is going to revive American man-
ufacturing — last week, Trump singled out the steel industry for rebirth. Cheap natural gas has helped manufacturers here, according to the International Business Times. But there’s plentiful evidence that the gas industry is more interested in lucrative overseas markets (according to observers including U.S. News and World Report), where the price is higher, than in using its product to “make America great again.” Unless, by “America,” you mean shareholders, and by “great,” you mean “richer.” C D E I T C H@ P G H C I T Y PA P E R. C OM
Editor’s note: Portions of this story appeared online at www.pghcitypaper.com on Sept. 22. Links to all source material can also be found there.
OaklandForever.org
NIGHT MARKET
MOVIE NIGHT
LOCAL VENDORS | LIVE MUSIC | FASHION SHOW Presented by:
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FRIDAY
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 09.28/10.05.2016
SEPTEMBER 30
5 - 11 PM
2 MOVIES | POPCORN | CITY OF PLAY SATURDAY
OCTOBER 1
7 - 11:30 PM
What does your child buy at convenience stores?
AND
PRESENT
StoryCorps Pittsburgh 2016
The RAND Corporation, in Pittsburgh, is conducting a research study to learn about what children, ages 11–17, purchase at convenience stores. Participation requires one 20 minute phone/internet survey and one 90 minute visit to the RAND study center.
StoryCorps oral history project will be in residence at the Senator John Heinz History Center
Children who complete the study will be compensated for their time and effort with $50 in gift certificates. Parking and travel compensation is provided. If you are interested and want to learn more about the study, please call 412-545-3005, e-mail c-storestudy@rand.org or visit us at www.rand.org/storestudy.
October 13–November 11 Reservations open starting September 29 More information at wesa.fm/storycorps
C O R P O R AT I O N
StoryCorps: the conversation of a lifetime
S TO R YC O R P S ’ P I T T S B U R G H R E S I D E N C Y
The 5th Judicial District of Pennsylvania and
S P O N S O R E D BY
Allegheny County Pretrial Services urges you to enjoy your weekend out in Pittsburgh but
make the right choice,
don’t drink & drive. NEWS
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 09.28/10.05.2016
LIFE IMITATING ART {BY CHARLIE DEITCH} THE FIRST TIME I discovered that police
End of Season Sale Now on Shrubs and Trees!
FIRST CLASS
[PITTSBURGH LEFT]
treated black men differently than white men was when New York City police officers killed “Radio Raheem” at the end of Spike Lee’s 1989 film Do the Right Thing. Now, to be honest, I didn’t come to that realization at the time. But as a high school senior from a small town with a tiny African-American population, seeing that movie made me realize that the world wasn’t as fair as I thought it was, and not all police were like Officer Jack Gallagher, who oversaw the schools’ street-safety patrols. We learned about the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement, but in my small corner of the world everything was pretty fair and balanced. But looking back, once I saw that film my eyes were opened to the shit-storm that an unequal society can rain down on certain segments of our population. It wasn’t until Sun., Sept. 25, when I woke to learn that actor Bill Nunn III, the Pittsburgh native who played Raheem, had died the night before after a battle with leukemia, that I realized the impact that role and that film had in shaping my political and social-justice ideologies. For those who don’t know, and I honestly pity you if you haven’t seen it, Do the Right Thing is set in Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy neighborhood on the hottest day of the year. The film centers on a pizzeria owned by an ItalianAmerican and his sons. Mookie, a guy from the neighborhood, works there delivering pizza. The film masterfully tells the story of this neighborhood, the people in it and their relationships. By the end, though, there is a racially charged fight that ends with Raheem killed by a police officer’s chokehold. In the midst of the chaos, Mookie throws a trash can through the shop window, a riot breaks out and the shop burns to the ground. Of course, black men were unjustly killed or injured or beaten by police prior to 1989. In fact, that film was partly inspired by the death of Michael Stewart, a graffiti artist who was beaten to death while in custody (the officers were charged and acquitted). But it wasn’t until I saw the film that my eyes were opened, and since then it’s been a steady stream of victims, blue uniforms, punches, chokeholds and bullets: Don Myrick, Rodney King, Jonny Gammage, Deron Grimmett, Jerry Jackson, Amadou Diallo, Patrick Dorismond, Jordan Miles, Leon Ford, Dontre Hamilton, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Harris, Freddie Gray, Keith Scott, Terence Crutcher.
Too many to mention; too many to be coincidental; too many. I’ve often been asked by people I know and readers of this paper how I can think that these shootings weren’t justified. I often ask how they could think they were. I grew up learning that you always respect the police; and in my small town I did. That’s what Do the Right Thing did for me. It changed my worldview, or rather it expanded it. Watching Nunn’s powerful performance as Radio Raheem having the life choked out of him, I started noticing that things weren’t right in the world. In 2014, the 25th anniversary of the film, members of the cast were interviewed plenty about their roles in the movie. In an interview done shortly after Garner was choked to death by New York City police, Nunn was asked by ABC News about the similarities between the movie and the real-life event. “[The Eric Garner case] is life imitating art,” Nunn said at the time. “First it was art imitating life and now it’s gone full circle, but the bottom line is we kind of did a thing about a moment in time that had happened. It wasn’t the first moment and it hasn’t been the last.” These problems have continued, and I’m puzzled why more people haven’t had their eyes opened to what’s going on. My consciousness was raised by a film — a powerful and emotional film, but a film nonetheless. Folks today don’t need a movie, because this horror is playing out in real life seemingly every day in our country. Yet, there are still people who refuse to see or acknowledge that black men are dying needlessly. Instead they point fingers at protesters and rioters and are quick to chastise their actions. I don’t necessarily agree with destroying property and reacting violently to these incidents, but I understand it. The word “marginalized” doesn’t even begin to explain what’s happening to African-American males who find themselves in confrontations with police officers where men are being beaten, choked or shot and then go unavenged by the justice system. How is the public supposed to respond at this point? In the film, Radio Raheem wore a huge gold ring on each hand; one said “love” and the other said “hate.” Nunn spoke of that in his 2014 interview. “I still believe that love is stronger than hate,” he said. In other words, it’s time for us to do the right thing. Here’s hoping it’s not too late.
“IT’S TIME FOR US TO DO THE RIGHT THING.”
C D E I T C H @ P G H C I T Y PA P E R. C OM
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THERE ARE MONSTERS OUT THERE. NEWS
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Weird Pittsburgh
SEND YOUR LOCAL WEIRD NEWS TO INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
{BY NICK KEPPLER}
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A political organization is protesting in front of the homes of state lawmakers who oppose its single-issue agenda. The Pennsylvania Liberty Alliance is a 501(c)4 group dedicated to the elimination of school property taxes. On IRS paperwork, 501(c)4s are “social welfare organizations,” but because they are not required to disclose contributors, they are often funnels for “dark money,” untraced spending by rich donors to influence politics. The Pennsylvania Liberty Alliance popped up last year when the state legislature considered a bill to abolish school property taxes. It was voted down in November. Group members have since demonstrated at the fundraisers, offices and occasionally homes of Democratic lawmakers who opposed the bill. A post on the Liberty Alliance’s Facebook page shows eight people outside the home of state Sen. John Blake, of Scranton, with a sign warning him, “Don’t Be a Judas.” (A commenter on the photo claims they overheard a neighbor phoning Blake and saying, “I don’t know, but they’re taking pictures on your front porch.”) A crowd of at least 15 came carrying signs to the Dauphin County home of state Sen. Rob Teplitz — or so they thought. Teplitz told PennLive.com a neighboring family was disturbed by a crowd and shouts on its lawn. Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa sent the group a letter warning that “further intimidation” will “be treated as criminal behavior and handled accordingly.” James Smith, a lawyer for the group, sent back a letter retorting, “In the fog of your power trip, you may be confusing Pennsylvania with North Korea or China or the Soviet Union of the 1980s.”
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Reports of creepy clowns in wooded areas have circulated around the country. Originating in the Carolinas, clown sightings have spread to Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. A woman in Cambria County reported a clown in a teal-colored outfit peering through her window, according to the Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown. The clown fled after he was spotted. Also, several people in Huntington County reported an individual in a clown outfit to authorities. In a press release, state police asked residents to call them if they “see anyone dressed as a clown on [their] property or along a country roadway.” Westmoreland County, however, is clown-free (for now), despite rumors to the contrary. “Westmoreland County Fire/911 Incidents,” a Facebook page run by several local firefighters (but not sanctioned by any department), claimed that clowns had been spotted in Greensburg. The city’s own Facebook page assured residents, “The City of Greensburg Police Department has had no reports of any ‘clowns’ in our area, friendly or otherwise.” The post urged citizens to “[p]lease refrain from possibly tying up our emergency lines in reference to” internet posts about “rogue clowns.”
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Beth Jean Dixon, a 63-year-old teacher at the Cumberland Valley Christian School in Chambersburg, apparently took her gun to work. Dixon allegedly left the loaded weapon in a school bathroom, which was used by four children before she remembered to retrieve it. The firearm reportedly sat atop a toilet tank in the unisex, one-toilet bathroom as kids ages 6 to 8 did their business. A child apparently told a parent about the gun, leading to Dixon’s resignation and arrest on endangerment charges. The Christian K-12 had no policy concerning firearms in the school. After the incident, the school’s president, Rev. Mike Sanders, told The Sentinel of Carlisle that he has temporarily banned them until the school board meets to rule on the issue.
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The NFL fined Steelers receiver Antonio Brown almost $20,000 for two odd displays in a game against the Washington, D.C., team with an unrepeatable racist name. After scoring a touchdown, Brown squatted
and gyrated his buttocks in what ESPN called a “twerk celebration.” The cost was a $12,000 fine and a 15-yard penalty. Brown also wore baby-blue cleats to FedEx Field, in violation of NFL uniform rules, at a price of $9,000. Brown told reporters there was a message behind his shoes, elaborated on at his website, but a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writer who searched Antoniobrown84.com couldn’t find an explanation.
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A shirtless man pacing on the rooftop of an apartment building in State College prompted an emergency call, reports the Centre Daily Times. Christian Sondergaard, 19 and “intoxicated,” according to police, apparently made his way off the roof, climbing onto a balcony and into a seventh-floor apartment (which eventually lead to felony trespassing charges). He then reportedly sprayed a fire extinguisher at two individuals sleeping on a couch and was emptying the extinguisher off the balcony when officers arrived.
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LOCAL
“IT’S A MORE ZOOM-OUT PERSPECTIVE OF MAJOR TRENDS THAT ARE HAPPENING.”
BEAT
{BY MIKE SHANLEY}
INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
VICTORY AT THE CROSSROADS, STRANGE MONSTERS, THE PARK PLAN 9 p.m. Sat., Oct. 1. The Funhouse at Mr. Smalls, 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $5-8. 412-821-4447 or www.mrsmalls.com
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Travis Crossroads and Liss Victory
{PHOTO COURTESY OF ERIN MCCANDLESS}
FOR THE WIN Most independent musicians don’t hit the road until they’ve released an album. Liss Victory packed up her guitar and hit the road almost as soon as she started performing in public. The Erie native spent the first four months of 2013 traveling throughout Pennsylvania and Ohio, playing open-mic nights and booking shows as she went. Pittsburgh served as a major hub during the journey, and it won her heart. “I thought, ‘I want to live here.’ I met the most amazing people within the first few days I was here on tour,” she says. Originally part of a two-guitar act, Victory eventually went solo, releasing a 7-inch single and an EP under her own name and eventually touring cross-country. While she continues to perform solo, she joined up with drummer Travis Crossroads, launching the band Victory at the Crossroads in late 2015. The duo’s songs have the barebones immediacy of indie rock, occasionally getting both thrashy (“A Curious Predicament”) and revealing a singer-songwriter depth (“Steel City Broad,” which the guitarist calls both a love song to the city and a call for self-honesty). Onstage, the band’s side-by-side set-up represents more than comfort. “As much as I love the frontman ethos and [like] to be the band leader, I also like to have a lot of equality in the people that I work with,” Victory explains. She prefers “to be on equal ground with the drummer, instead of me in the front, drummer in the back. That feels weird. One of the messages we send out with our music is equality, a positive change.” This outlook continues with Chetirye, a CD EP which the band releases on Sat., Oct. 1, with locals Strange Monsters (who release their own Destroy All). The title — “four” in Russian — acknowledges the number of songs on the disc and the number of people who helped make it. The band’s name is written in four different languages on the cover. “There’s like a whole meaning upon meaning upon meaning to the record itself, the songs and what Travis and I are doing as activists,” Victory says.
ESG
NEXT STAGE {BY MARGARET WELSH}
I
N THE WORLD of music festivals, conventional wisdom says that bigger is better. Growth — in the form of more acts, bigger headliners and longer duration — is often the yardstick for success. VIA organizers Lauren Goshinski and Quinn Leonowicz approach things differently. “Some of these festivals are a franchise at this point,” Leonowicz says. “When you go in, you have a menu and two things might be different, but generally it’s the same. And you get the same service and a hard seat to sit on. And it’s not a very intimate experience.” By contrast, VIA, which launched in 2010, is always shape-shifting, and not always in an expected direction. Last year, for example, festival programming took place over a 10-day period at venues in several different neighborhoods. This year is considerably more condensed: Events are
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 09.28/10.05.2016
packed into four days (Oct. 6-9), and most are happening under one roof, at the Ace Hotel, in East Liberty. (A few events take place at nearby satellite locations like the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater, the Alloy Studios and the East Liberty branch of the Carnegie Library.) “It’s a little more succinct this year, and that’s definitely on purpose,” Leonowicz says.
VIA FESTIVAL 2016 Thu., Oct. 6-Sun., Oct. 9. Most events at the Ace Hotel, 120 S. Whitfield St., East Liberty. Various times and ticket prices. For information, visit www.via-festival.com.
But the larger goals remain consistent: Create a space to explore and encourage conversations around the intersection of new music, art, media and technology —
while also throwing a good party. It’s not just music, of course. Programming includes a virtual-reality salon and a wide array of projects by visual artists. But this year’s extensive musical lineup is one of VIA’s most impressive and party-ready yet: Headliners include influential MC Rakim (he’ll be performing the 1987 record Paid in Full, in full) and South Bronx post-punk band ESG, whose heavily-sampled songs have left an indelible mark on genres from hip hop to punk. The group formed in the ’80s, but this is notably its first ever appearance in the state of Pennsylvania. DJ/writer/model/trans activist/party person Juliana Huxtable — who was in Pittsburgh last year for VIA’s #NOWSEETHIS event at the Carnegie Museum — returns with Shock Value, a New York City-based queer dance party which Huxtable cofounded and has also described as a CONTINUES ON PG. 22
LISTEN UP! You read City Paper’s music coverage every week, but why not listen to it too? Each Wednesday, music editor Margaret Welsh crafts a Spotify playlist with tracks from artists featured in the music section, and other artists playing around town in the coming days.
Find it on our music blog, FFW>>, at pghcitypaper.com
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C LU B | LO U N G E
UPCOMING CONCERTS 10/6 | 8:00 PM | AA
10/ 11 | 7:00 PM | AA
POST MALONE 10/ 15 | 8:00 PM | AA
10/ 16 | 7:00 PM | AA
110/20 0/20 | 9:00 PM P M | AA A
110/22 0/22 | 7:00 PM P M | AA
10/25 | 7:00 PM | AA
11/3 | 9:00 PM | AA
11/ 10 | 9:00 PM | AA
11/ 11 | 7:00 PM | AA
11/ 12 | 7:00 PM | AA
11/ 19 | 7:00 PM | AA
for tickets visit LIVEATDIESEL.COM or Dave’s Music Mine (southside) 1801 e. carson st | pittsburgh |412.481.8800
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“nightlife gender project.” For Goshinski and Leonowicz, having her back is a highlight of this year’s festival. “She’s such a multi-dimensional artist and being able to bring out a whole party from another city … is something new,” Goshinski says. She adds that, given the timing and the stateliness of the Ace Hotel ballroom where the party will happen, Shock Value for President has become a kind of unofficial festival theme. Other performers include heavy, noisey electronic artist Chino Amobi, rapper Junglepussy, electro-pop singer/songwriter Empress Of, versatile DJ Ben UFO, and 30plus other artists, including about 10 locals. Several artists, including melodic punk four-piece Aye Nako, vocalist/songwriter Fielded and local electronic artist Nancy Dr0ne will perform as part of Saturday’s Women in Sound showcase, titled Mothership: The Future is Female. Recording engineer Madeleine Campbell, who organized the showcase, says that it was inspired largely by pioneering funk artist Betty Davis, who is from and currently lives in Pittsburgh. “She was so ahead of her time and paved so many new paths for women musicians,” says Campbell. In conversations with Danielle Maggio, a Pitt Ph.D. candidate in ethnomusicology who studies the work of Davis and other musicians of color, Campbell started to wonder why Davis isn’t better known or more widely celebrated. “It got me thinking about the creative women I know whose genius is undervalued,” Campbell recalls. “This is a day for honoring women as creators.” That event also includes a panel discussion featuring Maggio, Huxtable, ESG’s Renee Scroggins, Pittsburgh-based musician Anqwenique Wingfield and others. “I think it’s like taking the temperature,” Goshinski says of the booking process, adding that, while they’re curating for a Pittsburgh audience, they also want to reflect the state of art in the world at large. “[There are] these larger trends and larger conversations going on. … [It’s a] more zoom-out perspective of major trends that are happening, and we’re just trying to explore pieces.” Long-time VIA attendees know that this year marks a return to East Liberty; in 2011, organizers worked with East Liberty community development groups and hosted programming in unused buildings along Broad Street. And in 2012, VIA held an event in the thenempty YMCA building on South Whitfield Street, now the site of the Ace Hotel. Which
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 09.28/10.05.2016
made having the Ace as a home base even more appealing. “We [know] the space,” says Leonowicz, adding that the layout and capacity of the venue also helped direct booking. “They’re not huge rooms. … But they’re really intimate spaces that Lauren can build into.” “And when you say Ace, you can’t not acknowledge the context of East Liberty, right?” Goshinski adds, nodding to the high-speed gentrification East Liberty has undergone in the last few years. “What Ace is [striving] to do … is to be a neighborhood venue and have its doors open as much as they possibly can. … And they’re also very aware of the larger context of what they’re participating in.” By its nature, VIA draws politically and socially aware artists, and Goshinski expects that conversations about art, race, gender, gentrification, community and tech culture will happen naturally. “We don’t want to hit people over the head with a didactic message,” she says. “It’s a very gentle line that we try to ride because we don’t want to tell people what to think. We just want them to experience it, and have conversations for themselves and participate instead of just consume.” MWE L SH @PGH C IT YPAPE R . C O M
Juliana Huxtable
diesel
NEXT STAGE, CONTINUED FROM PG. 20
NEW RELEASES {BY ALEX GORDON}
BRETT STAGGS NOTHING BAD EVER HAPPENS TO ME (SUPERMONKEY RECORDING CO.) BRETTSTAGGS.BANDCAMP.COM
What a charmed life Brett Staggs has lived, to hear it from the title track of his new album Nothing Bad Ever Happens To Me. It’s an upbeat countryrock tune, with tongue-in-cheek lyrics relaying a curriculum vitae of a smoothsailing life: I never get a fly stuck in my tea / I never run out of money / and I never get stopped by police. With that last part, it’s a little unclear what level of satire Staggs is reaching for, whether it’s a sardonic aping of privilege or simply a twist on the blues/folk tradition of listing all your problems in lyric form.
IT’S A LITTLE UNCLEAR WHAT LEVEL OF SATIRE STAGGS IS REACHING FOR. It doesn’t end up mattering much. The four songs on the EP are clever, charming and easy on the ears, particularly the closer, “Love in My Heart (Hell in My Soul),” which pleasantly yokes Bob Seger’s “Turn The Page” and brings the album some much-needed variety of tone. “Home Is Where the Party Is” skirts the expectation for Andrew WK-gone-country and instead delivers a clean, sweetly earnest song about friends, family and the powerful role music plays in those relationships. Instrumentation-wise, most of the heavy lifting goes to a distorted guitar, which appears often, and is successfully paired with an acoustic rhythm guitar. Like Nothing Bad ... as a whole, the instrumentation is clean, maybe less than revelatory, but wholly enjoyable. ALEXGORDON@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
BRETT STAGGS CD-RELEASE SHOW WITH BARRELS TO BEETHOVEN 9 p.m. Fri., Oct. 7. Mr. Smalls Funhouse. 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $7. 412-821-4447 or www.mrsmalls.com
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Call it comfort, call it home: Joan Shelley
SONGS OF LONGING {BY CARALYN GREEN} GO BACK TO a time when you felt serene in the present, but were already looking to the future when you’d be longing for this past. Now go back further. Go back to the passenger side of your mother’s boxy station wagon, a light drizzle falling outside its safe embrace, and a voice on the tape player, bell-like and sparse, over an acoustic guitar. It could be Joni Mitchell’s “Cactus Tree” or Judy Collins’ “Who Knows Where the Time Goes” — songs that reflect a previous generation’s revolution, and amplify the stillness within. It is in this tradition — Appalachian and Celtic folk, pastoral simplicity, an almost pathological nostalgia — that Kentucky singersongwriter Joan Shelley operates.
ripples with that very intimacy. Her songwriting is oblique without being heady, with references to blue shadows and glowing stars, the scent of wood and coffee, and pines that bend in the wind. It’s the opposite of confessional folk. “There’s something beautiful about not filling it all in for the listener,” says Shelley of songwriting. And her vocals? Instead of vibrato-heavy histrionics that often get defined as talent, it’s more like Shelley is articulating her inner world, and we’re just the lucky ones, privy to such grace. Over and Even is Shelley’s first album that’s landed her “any success,” she says, though she’s been writing and performing for years, both as a solo artist and in her band Maiden Radio. The album was written while Shelley spent time in Greece before a European tour. It was recorded one January weekend in a cold Kentucky farmhouse, with friends such as longtime collaborator Nathan Salsburg, as well as Will Oldham, who lent his vocals to the lovely, tender “Stay on My Shore.” Shelley is excited to play in Pittsburgh at The Andy Warhol Museum, which she hears has great acoustics — her favorite kind of venue. She’s interested, too, in how her music fits into the world of Warhol, which she calls “high highconcept art,” so different from what she creates. “This is not conceptual stuff,” says Shelley of her music. “This is trying to be as direct as possible.” Shelley’s music is direct, yes — a straight vocal tone, unobtrusive instrumentation, unfussy lyrics — but out of all that directness, something very complicated emerges. Call it comfort; call it home. It’s a place to rest your head, and breathe awhile.
“THIS IS NOT CONCEPTUAL STUFF.”
JOAN SHELLEY 8 p.m. Fri., Sept. 30. Andy Warhol Museum, 117 Sandusky St., North Side. $15. 412-237-8300 or www.warhol.org
“I have a drive to write when there is that kind of longing present,” says Shelley, on the phone from somewhere between Salt Lake City and Boise, just back from a U.K. tour and embarking on a handful of dates opening for Wilco. “The world is getting bigger and bigger, and I think that some people are reaching across that and getting nostalgic, and wanting their world to be intimate when it seems kind of blown open.” Shelley’s 2015 album Over and Even
I N F O@ P G H C I T Y PA P E R. C OM
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{PHOTO COURTESY OF CHROMATIC PUBLICITY}
CRITICS’ PICKS blogh.pghcitypaper.com
The first hit is free. Pity Sex
Actually, so are all the others.
[POP] + THU., SEPT. 29 It’s easy to get lost in a fog of The Beatles and The Who and forget that one of the most commercially successful artists to emerge from the British Invasion was Tom Jones, the dreamy baritone your mother had a huge crush on. He’s pumped out some iconic hits across the genre spectrum, and Jones’ most recent record, last year’s Long Lost Suitcase, has a country feel while retaining that charming tone for which he’s known. Catch Jones at the Benedum Center playing tunes from his half-centurylong career. Megan Fair 7:30 p.m. 237 Seventh St., Downtown. $59.50-85. All ages. 412-456-6666 or www.trustarts.org
[INDIE POP] + THU., SEPT. 29
Mutlu
Two decades into its career, Dressy Bessy has grown into the 2000s with grace while retaining the charm of the late ’90s. Dressy Bessy’s latest record, KINGSIZED, emanates a darker, saltier attitude than the previous release while holding onto a sweet melodic feel. Opening the gig at Club Café is The Garment District. That project of Pittsburgh’s Jennifer Baron has an intricate poppy folk and electro foundation that is irresistible and worth experiencing. MF 8 p.m. 56 S. 12th St., South Side. $12-14. 412-431-4950 or www.clubcafelive.com
[ROCK] + SAT., OCT. 01 Pity Sex, the most bummed-out band on Run For Cover’s roster, is currently touring on its latest effort, White Hot Moon. Gloomily catchy, Pity Sex wraps its listeners in a cloud of noisy guitars and understated melodies, seasoning a stew of Morrissey, Hum and The Cranberries with a dash of modern indie context.
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Cattivo also hosts locals Curse Words and rchrd prkr. Supplying the math and the twinkle, Curse Words holds down the sad-boy jams while rchrd prkr drips the riffage into a lo-fi indie soundscape. MF 7 p.m. 146 44th St., Lawrenceville. All ages. $13-15. 412-687-2157 or www.cattivopgh.com
[EXPERIMENTAL] + SAT., OCT. 01 The week of music veterans landing in Pittsburgh continues with a performance by the Legendary Pink Dots with Orbit Service at Brillobox. {PHOTO COURTESY Led by space-cadet OF CHRIS EPTING} psych dudes Edward Ka-Spel and Phil “the Silverman” Knight, LPD emerged from London in the early ’80s, growing and stretching its sound from jam-based to groovy electronic to rock-based psychedelic. What the Dots deliver in structure, Denver’s Orbit Service deconstructs in its noisy electronica, and the evening is sure to be one for sensory exploration. MF 9 p.m. 4104 Penn Ave., Bloomfield. $20-25. All ages. 412-621-4900 or www.brillobox.net
[SINGER/SONGWRITER] + SAT., OCT. 01 Mutlu sews together quiet acoustic themes with grooving rhythms and multi-genre influences. For someone with an EP called Caffeine & Whiskey, it only makes sense for viewers to enjoy the show with delicious libations at the Pittsburgh Winery. The singer/songwriter’s voice has a crisp, cleanliness that’s radio-ready and irresistible for fans of the adult-contemporary universe. Also performing is genre-bending hip-hop artist Kuf Knotz, whose sound and unique flow is light and uplifting. It’s hard not to smile when Knotz gets on the track. MF 9 p.m. 2815 Penn Ave., Strip District. $12-15. 412-566-1000 or www.pittsburghwinery.com
TO SUBMIT A LISTING: HTTP://PGHCITYPAPER.COM/HAPPENINGS 412.316.3388 (FAX) + 412.316.3342 X165 (PHONE) {ALL LISTINGS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY 9 A.M. FRIDAY PRIOR TO PUBLICATION}
ROCK/POP THU 29 PITTSBURGH WINERY. Boulevard of the Allies. Strip District. 412-566-1000. REX THEATER. Railroad Earth & Scott Pemberton. South Side. 412-381-6811. STAGE AE. Opeth w/ The Sword. North Side. 412-229-5483.
FRI 30 ANDY WARHOL MUSEUM. Joan Shelley. North Side. 412-237-8300. ARSENAL CIDER HOUSE & WINE CELLAR. Time Tested. Lawrenceville. 412-260-6968. BACKDRAFT BAR & GRILLE. Right TurnClyde. Baldwin. 412-885-1239. BENEDUM CENTER. Kansas. Downtown. 412-456-6666. BLOOMFIELD BRIDGE TAVERN. Fetish Noir, Paul McGinty & Open Hearts. Bloomfield. 412-682-8611. LINDEN GROVE. Dancing Queen. Castle Shannon. 412-882-8687.
MOONDOG’S.13 Saints, The Dirty Charms, Hedonism Bots. Blawnox. 412-828-2040. NIED’S HOTEL. Still Not Sober. Lawrenceville. 412-781-9853. ROCHESTER INN HARDWOOD GRILLE. SpinCycle. Ross. 412-364-8166. SMILING MOOSE. C.A.M.P, Conflict Cycle, Alter The Design, Mindless Chaos, and Prime 8. South Side. 412-431-4668.
THE HOB NOB LOUNGE. King’s Ransom. West Mifflin. 412-461-8541. MOONDOG’S. TheCAUSE. An evening of Grateful tunes. Blawnox. 412-828-2040. THE R BAR. Felix and The Hurricanes. Dormont. 412-942-0882. ROCHESTER INN HARDWOOD GRILLE. Eagles Tribute. Ross. 412-364-8166. TRAX FARMS. Right TurnClyde. Finleyville. 412-835-3246.
FULL LIST E ONwLwIN w.
SAT 01
BAJA BAR AND GRILL. Totally 80s. paper pghcitym PALACE THEATRE. The Fox Chapel. .co Beach Boys. Greensburg. 412-963-0640. 724-836-8000. BRILLOBOX. Legendary Pink Dots, Orbit Service. Bloomfield. MR. SMALLS THEATER. 412-681-4900. Dance Gavin Dance w/ The DIESEL. Blood On The Contortionist, Hail The Sun, Good Dance Floor, Shifting. South Side. Tiger, The White Noise. Millvale. 412-431-8800. 412-821-4447. DOWNEY’S HOUSE. Gone South. Robinson. 412-489-5631. BRILLOBOX. The Sextones. Bloomfield. 412-621-1900. HOWLERS. Lost Empires, Solarburn, Nervous Aggression. Bloomfield. 412-682-0320.
SUN 02
MON 03
TUE 04
MP 3 MONDAY
WED 05
LAIKA, THE ASTRO-HOUND
KEYSTONE BAR. The Bo’Hog Brothers. Sewickley. 724-758-4217.
{PHOTO COURTESY OF OLIVIA LOCHER}
DJS
Each week we bring you a new song by a local artist. This week’s track comes from Laika, The Astro-Hound, a project headed by Johnstown-based musician Sean Jackson. Stream or download “Died at Five” from the new record Kairos for free at FFW>>, the music blog at www.pghcitypaper.com.
THU 29 MR. SMALLS THEATER. Centrifuge Thursdays. At the Funhouse. Millvale. 603-321-0277. PERLE CHAMPAGNE BAR. Bobby D Bachata. Downtown. 412-471-2058.
FRI 30 ANDYS WINE BAR. DJ Malls Spins Vinyl. Downtown. 412-773-8884. THE FLATS ON CARSON. Pete Butta. South Side. 412-586-7644. ONE 10 LOUNGE. DJ Goodnight, DJ Rojo. Downtown. 412-874-4582. RIVERS CASINO. VDJ Jack Millz. North Side. 412-566-4663. ROWDY BUCK. Top 40 Dance. South Side. 412-431-2825. RUGGER’S PUB. 80s Night w/ DJ Connor. South Side. 412-381-1330. SPIRIT HALL & LODGE. TITLE TOWN Soul & Funk Party. Rare Soul, Funk & wild R&B 45s feat. DJ Gordy G. & J.Malls. Lawrenceville. 412-621-4900.
SAT 01 CATTIVO. Illusions. w/ Funerals & Arvin Clay. Lawrenceville. 412-687-2157. CONTINUES ON PG. 30
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WINDHAVEN
BAR AND GRILL
MARTY’S SUBURBAN
IRISH PUB
MULLI
SPORTS BA
FOR
BUD LIGHT BOTTLES
BUD LIGHT DR AUGHTS
BUD LIGHT 16OZ ALUMINUM BOTTLES
BUCK O F B UD
CRANBERRY
CRANBERRY
LOWER BURREL
WEST M
DO DROP INN BUD LIGHT BOTTLES NATRONA HEIGHTS
JAILHOUSE SALOON
the NF winninge ca
Enjoy Bud Light at these l during Steel
BUD LIGHT 16OZ ALUMINUM BOTTLES CORAOPOLIS
CASEY’S
DRAFT HOUSE
LORENZ CAFÉ
MEXI
BUD LIGHT 12OZ Cans
BUD LIGHT DR AUGHTS
BUD LIGHT 12OZ Cans
BU D L 16OZ DR A
NORTH HILLS
SOUTH SIDE
ELLIOT
J. CLARKS
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MOGIE’S
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DORM
GAN’S
BAR ON BROWN
AR & GRILL
R
KETS D LIGHT
BUD LIGHT BOTTLES
MIFFLIN
CHURCHILL
FL’s est an.
ALBERTS BUD LIGHT 20 OZ DR AUGHTS DORMONT
CARNIVORES BUD LIGHT 16 OZ DR AUGHTS
locations lers Games
OAKMONT
CASA
AL’S CAFÉ
J.R.’S BAR
WILLIAM PENN TAVERN
LIGHT AUGHTS
BUD LIGHT BOTTLES
BUD LIGHT PITCHERS
MONT
BETHEL PARK
NORTHSIDE
BUD LIGHT PITCHERS
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CONCERTS, CONTINUED FROM PG. 27
DIESEL. DJ CK. South Side. 412-431-8800. JAMES STREET GASTROPUB & SPEAKEASY. Silent Disco. North Side. 412-904-3335. ROWDY BUCK. Top 40 Dance. South Side. 412-431-2825.
FRI 30
SUN 02
SAT 01
THE FLATS ON CARSON. Pete Butta. South Side. 412-586-7644.
TUE 04 THE GOLDMARK. Pete Butta. Reggae & dancehall. Lawrenceville. 412-688-8820.
WED 05 SMILING MOOSE. Rock Star Karaoke w/ T-MONEY. South Side. 412-431-4668. SPOON. Spoon Fed. East Liberty. 412-362-6001.
HIP HOP/R&B FRI 30 1LIVE STUDIO. DJ Goodnight: Open Elements. Avalon. 412-424-9254.
SAT 01 1LIVE STUDIO. DJ Goodnight: Open Elements. Avalon. 412-424-9254.
BLUES THU 29 BENEDUM CENTER. Tom Jones. Downtown. 412-456-6666.
JAMES STREET GASTROPUB & SPEAKEASY. Jimmy Adler. North Side. 412-904-3335. MIKE’S NEW MOON SALOON. Jack of Diamonds. Gibsonia. 724-265-8188.
GETAWAY CAFE. The Witchdoctors. Brookline. 412-343-1333. KOLLAR CLUB. Bill Toms & the Hard Rain, Breiding, Bobick & Kondrich. 3rd Annual Slovak Heritage Concert. 412-431-2002. PITTSBURGH WINERY. Mutlu w/ Kuf Knotz. Strip District. 412-566-1000. PLUM AMERICAN LEGION. Jill West and Blues Attack. Verona. 412-795-9112.
JAZZ THU 29 JAMES STREET GASTROPUB & SPEAKEASY. Roger Humphries Jam Session. Ballroom. North Side. 412-904-3335. VALLOZZI’S PITTSBURGH. Eric Johnson. Downtown. 412-394-3400.
FRI 30 ANDORA RESTAURANT - FOX CHAPEL. Pianist Harry Cardillo & vocalist Charlie Sanders. Fox Chapel. 412-967-1900. BACKSTAGE BAR AT THEATRE SQUARE. Jeremy Fisher Jr. & Peter
3 $ .00 2 $ .50 2 $
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LITE BOTTLES & DRAFTS 16 OZ LITE DRAFTS
“Dead Flowers”
Hidden Twin
“Tonight Is a New Moon”
Bruce Springsteen
“It’s Hard to be a Saint in the City”
Grateful Dead
WED 05
“Playing in the Band”
THE BLIND PIG SALOON. Erin Burkett and Virgil Walters w/ Eric Susoeff & Jeff Bush. New Kensington. 724-337-7008.
ACOUSTIC
FRI 30
20 OZ LITE DRAFTS
The Karl Hendricks Trio
CIOPPINO SEAFOOD CHOPHOUSE BAR. Lucarelli Brothers w/ Peg Wilson. Strip District. 412-281-6593. CITY OF ASYLUM @ ALPHABET CITY. Jazz Poetry: Alexey Kruglov-Jaak Sooäär Quartet. North Side. 412-323-0278. JAMES STREET GASTROPUB & SPEAKEASY. Tony Campbell Jam Session. Speakeasy. Jessica Lee, Mark Strickland, George Jones & Guest. Ballroom. North Side. 412-904-3335. LA CASA NARCISI. Erin Burkett, Virgil Walters, Max Leake & Eric Susoeff. Live Jazz. Gibsonia. 724-444-4744. LEMONT. Take Two. Mt. Washington. 412-431-3100 x1. THE MONROEVILLE RACQUET CLUB. Jazz Bean Live. Every Saturday, a different band. Monroeville. 412-728-4155.
DOWNEY’S HOUSE. Aaron from The Lava Game. Robinson. 412-489-5631. ELWOOD’S PUB. Marshall Street ‘Rents. Rural Ridge. 724-265-1181.
SPECIALS
Here are the songs Brillobox owner and Bigfoot historian Lou Ickes can’t stop listening to:
SAT 01
THU 29
STEELERS GAME
HEAVY ROTATION
Ahn. Downtown. 412-325-6769. CITY OF ASYLUM @ ALPHABET CITY. Jazz Poetry: Alexey Kruglov-Jaak Sooäär Quartet. North Side. 412-323-0278. GRILLE ON SEVENTH. Tony Campbell & Howie Alexander. Downtown. 412-391-1004.
BACKSTAGE BAR AT THEATRE SQUARE. Ian McFeron. Downtown. 412-325-6769. PARK HOUSE. Shelf Life String Band. North Side. 412-224-2273.
trumpet &Dvorak: Symphony No. 8. Palace Theatre, Greensburg. 724-836-8000.
REGGAE
THU 29
FRI 30
MR. SMALLS THEATER. Anthony Green. Millvale. 412-821-4447. RIVERS CASINO. Michael Christopoher Trio. North Side. 412-566-4663.
CAPRI PIZZA AND BAR. ELWOOD’S PUB. Mary Bombo Claat w/ VYBZ Machine Lou Scherder. Rural Ridge. Intl Sound System. East Liberty. 724-265-1181. 412-362-1250. THE SOUTH SIDE BBQ CELEBRATIONS BAR RESTAURANT. Tony & GRILL. The Flow Germaine Singer/ Band. Robinson. Guitarist. South Side. 724-659-4333. 412-381-4566. JAMES STREET GASTROPUB & www. per pa SPEAKEASY. pghcitym .co AMEL’S. James Funkle Aaron Project: Buckley. Brookline. A Night of Bob Marley. 412-563-3466. North Side. 412-904-3335. DOUBLE WIDE GRILL. Bobby V. North Huntingdon. 724-863-8181. DOUBLETREE HOTEL. THE HOP HOUSE. The Claire Stucynski. Green Tree. Flow Band. Green Tree. 412-922-8400. 412-922-9260.
SAT 01
FULL LIST ONLINE
SAT 01
SUN 02 HAMBONE’S. Calliope Old Time Appalachian Jam. Lawrenceville. 412-681-4318. PITTSBURGH WINERY. Joel Ansett w/ Henry Bachorski. Strip District. 412-566-1000.
WED 05 ALLEGHENY ELKS LODGE #339. Pittsburgh Banjo Club. Wednesdays. North Side. 412-321-1834.
CLASSICAL FRI 30 ORGANIST JOHANN VEXO. St. Paul Cathedral, Oakland. 412-621-4951.
SAT 01 WESTMORELAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. Rossini: William Tell Overture, Aleksandr Arutiunian: Trumpet Concerto, Brandon Ridenour,
OTHER MUSIC
FRI 30 PITTSBURGH WINERY. Arc Iris. Strip District. 412-566-1000. RIVERS CASINO. Scott and Rosanna. North Side. 412-566-4663.
SAT 01 EAST LIBERTY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. Community Sing with Ysaÿe Barnwell. East Liberty. 412-441-3800. SPIRIT HALL & LODGE. NY Night Train Soul Clap & Dance Off w/ Jonathan Toubin & friends, DJ Mikey Tashjian. Original 45rpm 60s soul dynamite w/ a midnight dance contest. Lawrenceville. 724-920-4344. STEEL CITY SOCIAL CLUB. Clash of the Genres! Sheraden. 412-923-8213.
MON 03 HAMBONE’S. Ian Kane. Jazz Standards, showtunes & blues. Lawrenceville. 412-681-4318.
What to do IN PITTSBURGH
Sept 28 - Oct 4 WEDNESDAY 28 The Sleeping Beauty
BYHAM THEATER Downtown. 412-456-6666. Tickets: trustarts.org. 7:30p.m.
THURSDAY 29
Hannibal Buress - The Hannibal Montanabal Experience
PPAID PAI AID AI A D ADVERTORIAL ADVE DVERTO RTORIA RTO RIALL SPONSORED RIA SPON SPON PONSOR SO ED SOR ED BY BY
PITTSBURGH Oakland. Over 21 event. Tickets: carnegielibrary.org/afterhours. 7p.m.
HANNIBAL BURESS BYHAM THEATER SEPT 29
Through Thro Th roug ughh Oct. Octt 30. Oc 30
SUNDAY 2
Allison Crutchfield and The Fizz
Samuel Adams Rocktoberfest STAGE AE North Side. Over 21 event. Free event. Doors open at 5:30p.m.
CATTIVO Lawrenceville. 412-687-2157. All ages show. Tickets: ticketfly.com or 1-877-4-FLY-TIX. 7p.m.
Kansas
The Beach Boys
BYHAM THEATER Downtown. 412-456-6666. Tickets: trustarts.org. 7:30p.m.
BENEDUM CENTER Downtown. 412-456-6666. Tickets: trustarts.org. 7:30p.m.
THE PALACE THEATRE Greensburg. 724-836-8000. Tickets: thepalacetheatre.org. 3p.m.
FRIDAY 30 305
Oakland Forever Community Festival
MONDAY 3
Thought Pockets
DOWNTOWN PITTSBURGH Downtown. Free event. Through Oct. 7.
SOUND SERIES: An Evening with Joan Shelley ANDY WARHOL MUSEUM North Side. 412-237-8300. Tickets: warhol.org. 8p.m.
After Hours: Books First CARNEGIE LIBRARY OF
NEWS
MULTIPLE LOCATIONS Oakland. Free event. For more info visit oaklandforever.org. Through Oct. 1.
Say Ahh (A Tribute to Poison) HARD ROCK CAFE Station Square. 412-481-ROCK. Over 21 show.
MUSIC
BYHAM THEATER Downtown. 412-456-6666. Tickets: trustarts.org/dance. 8p.m.
Autumnfest Oktoberfest
SATURDAY 1
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Company
Tickets: ticketfly.com or 1-877-4-FLY-TIX. 10p.m.
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SEVEN SPRINGS. Tickets: 7springs.com or 866-437-1300. 11a.m. Through Oct. 2.
Styx
Martha Graham Dance
DogtoberFEST
ARTS
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EVENTS
BENEDUM CENTER Downtown. 412-456-6666. Tickets: trustarts.org. 8p.m.
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II Divo: Amor & Pasion Tour
THE WATERFRONT Homestead. Free event. For more info visit carmaa-petadoption.com. 11a.m.
HEINZ HALL Downtown. 412-392-4900. Tickets: heinzhall.org. 7:30p.m.
TUESDAY 4 Bret Michaels
Trax Farms 47th Fall Festival TRAX FARMS Finleyville. 412-835-3246. For more info visit traxfarms.com.
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JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE Warrendale. 724-799-8333. Over 21 show. Tickets: ticketfly.com or 1-877-4-FLY-TIX. 8p.m.
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[DANCE]
HE HAS SCULPTED A CINDERBLOCK WITH STRANDS OF DISCARDED WIGS
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MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY 8 p.m. Sat., Oct. 1. Byham Theater, 101 Sixth St., Downtown. $10-60. 412-456-6666 or www.trustarts.org
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Martha Graham Dance Company performs Pontus Lidberg’s “Woodland.”
Few names are as synonymous with American dance as Martha Graham’s. Graham’s anthology of influential modern-dance masterworks, including Appalachian Spring and Clytemnestra, are like beloved, well-worn shoes that audiences never seem to tire of. Graham’s namesake company returns to the city of her birth, and the Byham Theater, on Oct. 1 for a Pittsburgh Dance Council season-opener showcasing Graham classics along with works by contemporary choreographers in celebration of the company’s 90th anniversary. The 90-minute program begins with “Dark Meadow Suite,” an arrangement of highlights from Graham’s 1946 work “Dark Meadow.” Considered one of Graham’s most complex pieces, it was inspired by references in Greek mythology to the dark meadow of Ate. Wrote Graham, “Dark Meadow is a re-enactment of the Mysteries which attend the eternal adventure of seeking.” Next, Swedish choreographer Pontus Lidberg’s “Woodland” (2016) weaves a tale of emotional yearning. Set to music by Irving Fine, the work, in the contemporary dance style, features an ensemble of four couples and an isolated female soloist. Lidberg’s work is part of recent shift in the company’s programming to include more non-Graham dance works. “The new works we do are in conversation with the Graham classics, but not in the Graham tradition,” says Martha Graham Dance Company artistic director Janet Eilber, by phone from New York. Eilber says she asks choreographers creating new works to take inspiration from the Graham legacy, even if they vary stylistically. Created in 2007 to commemorate the anniversary of Sept. 11, Lamentation Variations is a series of dances, each four minutes or less, set on the company and inspired by Graham’s iconic 1930 solo, Lamentation, for which she was encased in a tube of fabric. Of the project’s dozen variations to date, Eilber says she chose for Pittsburgh her go-to combination of Taiwanese choreographer Bulareyaung Pagarlava’s quartet to music by Mahler; choreographer Richard Move’s glacially paced postmodern solo; and choreographer Larry Keigwin’s full-company variation that references the brevity of life. Preceding the variations will be archival film of Graham dancing Lamentation. Concluding the program will be the Graham favorite “Diversion of Angels” (1948). The work for eleven dancers, set to music by Norman Dello Joio, celebrates the three stages of love: mature love, erotic love and adolescent love.
{PHOTO COURTESY OF BRIGID PIERCE}
{BY STEVE SUCATO}
{PHOTO COURTESY OF THE RE:NEW FESTIVAL}
Jana Alvarez’s mixed-media work “The End”
[ART REVIEW]
RECLAMATION PROJECTS {BY VERONICA CORPUZ}
P
ITTSBURGH HAS LAUNCHED the in-
augural Re:NEW Festival at a time when environmental-justice issues are exploding across the United States. A pipeline leak renders Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee in states of emergency. A temporary injunction stops further construction of the Dakota Access pipeline. What one must remember, and thus protect, Standing Rock Sioux Chairman David Archambault II succinctly declares: “Mother Earth is sacred.” It is this sanctity that is an undercurrent of Re:NEW. In particular, the festival’s focal point, the North American premiere of Barcelona, Spain-based Drap-Art, seeks to elevate awareness around the dire consequences of environmental pollution. For this survey of Drap-Art’s first two decades, founder Tanja Grass has selected 40 artists from 16 countries to present 80 works that range from painting and drawing to sculpture, decorative craft, jewelry and furniture, all made from reclaimed or salvaged materials.
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 09.28/10.05.2016
There are many noteworthy pieces throughout the PPG Wintergarden, including nine stunning photographs by Klaus Pichler. A cloud of fruit flies hovers over a glass bowl of decomposed berries. A seemingly gilded pineapple rots with iridescent mold. Entitled “One Third,” the series references the United Nations study stating that one third of the world’s food goes to waste, mostly in industrialized nations, while 925 million people worldwide suffer from starvation.
DRAP-ART (PPG Wintergarden, 1 PPG Place) and the
RE:NEW FESTIVAL JURIED ART EXHIBITION (623 Smithfield St.) continue through Oct. 8. Downtown. 412-391-2060 or www.renewfestival.com
An equally strong voice challenging the ingrained, wasteful habits of consumer societies is HA Schult. “Trash People,” exhibited as a single sculpture, installation pho-
tograph and video, confronts irresponsible consumption with its assemblages of aluminum cans, plastic bottles and oozing orange foam in the form of life-sized humans. However, much of the work’s intensity diminishes when only a single Trash Person is presented. The power of Schult’s message is in its volume — when there are hundreds of sculptures standing side-by-side like the First Emperor’s Terracotta Army. An apocalyptic vision of the future, when trash overpowers and defeats humans. To balance the mix, Grass has selected many Spanish women artists to tell a different narrative of domestic labor and feminine power. There are the Pop-infused assemblages of Jana Álvarez, fashioned from electronic waste, plastic remnants, flipflops and motherboards, and Karol Bergeret’s discarded ironing boards turned into holy shrines for working women. There is the visual and linguistic play of Verónica Arellano’s portrait of Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt. Constructed of egg cartons
[ART REVIEW]
COMFORT LEVELS {BY AMANI NEWTON}
INFO@ PGHC ITY PAP ER.CO M
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The new exhibit at Future Tenant aims to unsettle. Future Tenant was founded in 2002 as an initiative of Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Fine Arts and Master of Arts Management program, in collaboration with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. The gallery’s mission is to link a diverse array of artists with aspiring arts managers in a laboratory setting. The current show is called A Black Man Made This Art, by Pittsburgh native and selfproclaimed cultural entrepreneur D.S. Kinsel. The mixedmedia exhibition, curated by Alecia Young, does a good job of illustrating how the pervasiveness of the Nword might materialize distressingly in the psyche of a young black artist. The art and curation appears intentionally, manically sloppy, and perturbation seems to be the exhibition’s raison d’etre. (And if you are uncomfortable with reading “nigga” over and over again, you might well be perturbed.) In several paintings, the word is manifested in bright hues, mostly in English, though sometimes the South African variant shows up. These paintings are juxtaposed, thrillingly so, with photographs of the artist as the strangefruit victim of a lynch mob, garroted with yellow police caution tape, and with portraits of the first black president defaced with acrylic paint. However, chances are that since this is 2016, in America, the audience is very, very familiar with the N-word, and perhaps consequently less uncomfortable. Which makes a further and more intimate analysis crucial to the success of the experience. One of the paintings reads: “This sign says nigga and was made by a black man.” OK? It’s a keen idea, but the execution is narrowly didactic, which can unfortunately make for the kind of experience that people are fond of excoriating “artistic types” over. Lots of questions are raised, but what is missing is the artist’s reckoning with his material. The exhibit also suffers from a case of unfortunate timing as regards other treatments of the matter. If the topic of ownership over the N-word appeals to you, may I suggest the first episode of Donald Glover’s (a.k.a. Childish Gambino) new FX show, Atlanta? In two short scenes, it offers a much broader didactic on the issue, a broad didactic being a hallmark of good art.
DRUE HEINZ LITERATURE PRIZE
R E AD I N G Featuring M E LI S S A YA NCY
Winner of the 2016 Drue Heinz Literature Prize
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Pulitzer PrizeWinning Author of Everybody’s Fool
TH U RS D AY, O C TO B E R 6, 2016, 7 P. M . Free and Open to the Public University of Pittsburgh, O’Hara Student Center, 3900 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260
A BLACK MAN MADE THIS ART continues through Oct. 23. Future Tenant, 819 Penn Ave., Downtown. www.futuretenant.org ARTS
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Author of Dog Years
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Work from D.S. Kinsel’s A Black Man Made This Art {CP PHOTO BY BILL O’DRISCOLL}
and varnish, her 97-square-foot painting is from a series of 10 portraits of prominent women. These are women with grit, gumption and “balls” or “huevos” — literally eggs and ovaries. The Wintergarden’s centerpiece is the glistening mural of salvaged CDs and DVDs by Haydee Acero, of Argentina. As the sunlight hits the various surfaces, the wall radiates with rainbows of color, a beauty that belies a more dismal fate for obsolete media. Amidst all the remnants and relics of technology and consumption, there remains an eternal hopefulness. The mural’s title, “La Trama,” means plot, conspiracy, weave, connection. Indeed, a woven and multifaceted storyline is an excellent metaphor for Drap-Art, as in addition to themes of eco-consciousness, there are many interconnected elements visitors can certainly appreciate and glean from the show. A regional counterpart to Drap-Art is Re:NEW’s Juried Exhibition, featuring 21 artists and 31 works from Pittsburgh and environs, selected by the Carnegie Museum of Art’s Eric Crosby, artist and BOOM Concepts co-founder D.S. Kinsel, and curator and art historian Kilolo Luckett. Highlights include Bradley Weyandt’s “Brunette Block,” named Best in Show. By salvaging castoffs, Weyandt manipulates forms into new functions; in this case, he has sculpted a cinderblock with strands of discarded wigs. Deceptively delicate, balanced at an angle, the block evokes layers of cultural references: The Nazis’ collection and reuse of human hair from concentration-camp victims. Multiracial artist Sonya Clarke’s use of hair in such work as “Abacus 1863.” The runway queens of Ru Paul’s Drag Race. The very choice of medium infuses the work with multiple meanings. Another notable winner is Jennifer Nagle Myers, recipient of the Tess Senay Raynovich Art and Earth Fund Award. “Waterfall Vision” comprises three parts: The first is a series of four drawings in Chinese ink and acrylic on slate panels; the second rests upon the floor in a serial of black and white ropes coiling around a copper pot filled with black ink, water and glitter; the last is a meditation created by Sonarchaeology Studios using waterfall sounds and other clips, including material from Ken Burns’ Civil War documentary. Unfortunately, much of the audio gets lost when there are multiple people in the adjacent performance area and artisan market. The piece may be best experienced during a contemplative Friday lunch hour. This is the greatest gift of Re:NEW: the time and space to reflect and learn. Then, beyond the festival’s closing, the seeds of action to protect and sustain what is sacred might blossom in due time.
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METROPOLIS THEATER PRESENTS
[DANCE]
LESS IS MORE {BY STEVE SUCATO}
TWO SOLO PERFORMANCES IN ONE SHOW
WHEN IT COMES to programming, Texture CMU DRAMA ALUMNUS
JON HAYDEN
DAWN OF THE DEAD ACTOR
DAVID CRAWFORD
Diaryof a POE’S Madman LAST NIGHT
Don’t miss this Suzi Bass Award-Nominated performance of Gogol’s mad masterpiece.
“THE ENERGY THAT HAYDEN PROJECTS TO THE AUDIENCE IS BEYOND ALL LIMITS AS HE DRAWS YOU IN....”
Edgar Allan Poe shares his feverish dying hours and some of his most beloved works.
“SUPERB WRITING AND A MESMERIZING PERFORMANCE PUT THIS IN THE HIGHEST ECHELONS OF STORYTELLING....”
— Robert Heller, Arts Atlanta Scene
— Jonny Sweet, TV Bomb
OCTOBER 5–16, 2016 | NEW HAZLETT THEATER TICKETS: MADMAN2016.TIX.COM INFO: MADMAN2016.COM
Contemporary Ballet usually follows the adage “more is more.” More dances, more dancers, more music and longer works. But for the troupe’s latest venture, Impulse, Sept. 30-Oct. 2 at the New Hazlett Theater, company directors Alan Obuzor and Kelsey Bartman have embraced the idea that less is more. The program contains just three works and half the number of dancers usually featured — a departure from the company’s usual jampacked, marathon productions. But while the show’s not bulging at the seams, audiences can expect from Impulse the same artistry, emotional range and energy the company consistently delivers, beginning with Bartman’s 17-minute “Lapsed Mastery,” set to music by Black Violin. The ballet, says Bartman, expands on material she created this past February and is tied to Black Violin’s music both in its drive and in common misconceptions about the duo’s young, classically trained African-American violinists. “First impressions and stereotypes can affect how your art is looked at,” says Bartman. “I like that they [Black Violin] are very much trying to make people aware of that.” TEXTURE CONTEMPORARY BALLET PRESENTS
IMPULSE 8 p.m. Fri., Sept. 30; 8 p.m. Sat., Oct. 1; and 2 p.m., Sun., Oct. 2. (Children’s performance: 4 p.m. Sat., Oct. 1; $10 per family). New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square East, North Side. $20-25. 888-718-4253 or www.newhazletttheater.org
Next, Bartman, Obuzor and company dancers Alexandra Tiso and Brynn Vogel collaborate on “Stories,” a 20-minute ballet for six dancers set to cover songs played
{PHOTO COURTESY OF MARK SIMPSON PHOTOGRAPHY}
Texture Contemporary Ballet dancers perform in Impulse.
and sung live by Bartman’s sister Krysta. The Bartman sisters came up with the idea and structure for the ballet that consists of a handful of love stories loosely tied together. Says Kelsey: “It was a challenging but kind of fun process. It was helpful that we’ve worked together for some time.” Rounding out the program is the premiere of Bartman and Obuzor’s 35-minute ballet “Laurie Blue,” set to a suite of songs from singer-songwriter Adele’s three albums, including “Crazy For You,” “I’ll be Waiting” and “One and Only.” The ballet for eight dancers (including Bartman and Obuzor) takes its title from the singer’s full name, Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, and its inspiration from her music. “For a couple of years, Kelsey [and I] have talked about the idea of choreographing a piece to Adele,” says Obuzor. “We let the music and her voice be the starting point for us to create.” I N F O@ P G H C I T Y PA P E R. C OM
Men’s Underwear derwear Socks Swimwear & More 5968 Baum Blvd – East Liberty TRIMpittsburgh.com
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 09.28/10.05.2016
[PLAY REVIEW]
TOO LITTLE
Stephanie Ottey (at left), Ryan Kearney and Jamie Pasquinelli in Little by Little, at South Park Theatre {PHOTO COURTESY OF SOUTH PARK THEATRE}
{BY TED HOOVER}
“The most popular opera in the world.”
Campaign by Creme Fraiche Design.
Wispy? Wistful? Just trying to find the right word to describe Little by Little, an intimate three-person musical receiving its local premiere at South Park Theatre. The show did open off-Broadway in 1999, so to explain why it’s taken 17 years to reach Pittsburgh, we might also use such words as wishy-washy and wan. It’s harsh coming down so hard on Little by Little, since it’s been crafted for no other reason than to impart a general feeling of contentment. Brad Ross wrote the music, Ellen Greenfield and Hal Hackady the lyrics, with Greenfield and Annette Jolles supplying the book. It’s about three people, one man and two women — known as “Man,” “Woman 1” and “Woman 2.” They’re childhood friends, but things get tricky when, as adults, Man and Woman 1 fall in love while Woman 2, also in love with Man, has to watch from the sidelines. So it’s a two-act, three-person musical about a love triangle. Greenfield and Jolles might have said something new about unrequited love, or created characters not best described as “generic.” Greenfield and Hackady might have written clever, inventive lyrics not rooted in a “June/ moon/spoon” style. Ross might have written a score with either catchy “show tunes” or Sondheim experimentation. But none of them have done any of that — and with all three coming up emptyhanded, the evening, while not terrible, never raises any interest. Nick Mitchell directs and Kirk Howe is the musical director for the pleasant South Park Theatre production. There’s not much more you can do with a show like this other than keep it moving, which they have. Jamie Pasquinelli, Stephanie Ottey and Ryan Kearney are our three little lovebirds and couldn’t be more likable. They’ve been given little to do by the writers yet manage to play at an amazing level of commitment. The high point of the evening is when they come together for the trio “If You Only Knew.” I’m not sure whether there is an audience for remarkably uninvolving, vanilla musicals, but if there is, it’s a safe bet you’ll find them lapping up Little by Little at South Park.
A compelling tale of love, intrigue, money, and power in 19th century France.
OCTOBER 8, 11, 14, 16 Ǧ Ǧ ȖȜȝ Ǧ ȟȜȝǂȟȠȡǂȡȡȡȡ Ǧ ǀ Ǡ Season Sponsor
Tuesday Night Sponsor: Ambridge Regional Distribution & Manufacturing Center
INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
LITTLE BY LITTLE continues through Oct. 8. South Park Theatre, Corrigan Drive and Brownsville Road, South Park. $15. 412-831-8552 or www.southparktheatre.com NEWS
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UNDERSTAND EVERY WORD! Sung in English with texts projected above the stage.
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FOR THE WEEK OF
09.29-10.06.16 Full events listed online at www.pghcitypaper.com City of Play keeps growing: The nonprofit rec outfit now has two full-time and two part-time employees, including founder and creative director Adam Nelson, and in addition to corporate gigs, still runs free weekly and monthly events all over town. Its annual Come Out & Play festival for new and innovative games has gotten bigger, too. The seventh annual incarnation, Oct. 1, is the first to include family games, and its late-night, adults-only component is the most ambitious yet.
{PHOTO COURTESY OF CITY OF PLAY}
The fest is one of only three of its kind in the country, says Nelson, the others being in New York City and San Francisco. Pittsburgh’s, based in Oakland’s Schenley Plaza, starts at 2 p.m. with field games for adults and teens, including both new games and old faves like circle-rules football, a combination of football, soccer and more that’s played with a yoga ball on a circular field. New games include The Forger, a non-athletic contest involving art, creativity and strategy. Family games include Temporary Adventure Playground, which looses kids (free of parental involvement) to construct playground equipment with cardboard boxes, tape and imagination. After Dark activities for adults include a multi-player Tetris game, projected on a big screen and played via smartphones and a website. All that’s free. Come Out & Play’s lone ticketed component is Fantastic Adventure, a 21-and-over game running 10 p.m.midnight (plus an after-party). Nelson says the game blends a treasure hunt, capture the flag and immersive theater in the context of a narrative inspired by both pulp novels and Persian mythology (ancient treasure, serpent king, etc). It’s all set within walking distance of Schenley Plaza. Nelson also promises that Fantastic Adventure will conclude a festival even better than last year’s, which drew a couple hundred and ended with a water-gun fight.
{PHOTO COURTESY OF DESIGNEGG}
thursday 09.29
BY BILL O’DRISCOLL
2 p.m.-midnight, Sat., Oct. 1. Schenley Plaza, Oakland. Most events are free; Fantastic Adventure is $30-45 (group rates available). www.cityofplay.org
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^ Thu., Oct. 6: Wonderheads
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 09.28/10.05.2016
STAGE Ella is a young actress desperate to make her embittered playwright father proud. After her stage debut (Chekhov), they spend a drug- and booze-filled evening discussing — among many other things — whether to read the reviews. The REP presents the Pittsburgh premiere of Halley Feiffer’s I’m Gonna Pray for You So Hard, a 2015 Off-Broadway critical and box-office hit. Broadway veteran Robert Turano directs Cathryn Dylan and local favorite Martin Giles in this two-hander, which The New York Times called “punishing.” The first performance in the Pittsburgh Playhouse Studio Theatre is tonight. Bill O’Driscoll 8 p.m. Continues through Oct. 16. 222 Craft Ave., Oakland. $10-29. 412-392-8000 or www.pittsburghplayhouse.com
STAGE If charm were a musical, it might well be called The Fantasticks. The storied romantic comedy by Tom Jones (no, not that one) and Harvey Schmidt premiered Off-Broadway, in 1960, and ran for a record 42 years (really!). A 2006 revival remains on stage in New York, but a new production comes to Pittsburgh tonight courtesy of Pittsburgh Public
Theater. Funny, knowingly theatrical, incorporating everything from Shakespeare to vaudeville, the show has a tuneful score that includes, most notably, “Try to Remember.” The Public’s Ted Pappas directs a cast including Mary Elizabeth Drake (pictured) and Jamen Nanthakumar as the young lovers. BO 8 p.m. Continues through Oct. 30. 621 Penn Ave., Downtown. $15.75-66. 412-316-1600 or www.ppt.org
friday 09.30 ART Continuing its Factory Installed series, the Mattress Factory welcomes new works by four artists-inresidence. Tonight’s free opening reception unveils room-sized installations by Australian artist Stephen Bram and Philadelphian Ezra Masch, whose work “combines musical instruments, lights, and mechanical and digital systems.” Pieces by Christopher Meerdo — whose work “explores ideas of paranoia, entropy and memory” — and Palestinian artist Mohammed Mussallam, whose focus is humanity’s relationship with the environment, < Thu., Sept. 29: The Fantasticks {PHOTO COURTESY OF BIKE PITTSBURGH}
Celebration and
Blessing of Animals P E T
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^ Fri., Sept. 30: Paint Jam
Bellefonte Street – Shadyside
also debut. Ian Flanagan 6 p.m. Continues through May 28. 500 Sampsonia Way, North Side. Free. 412-231-3169 or www.mattress.org
FESTIVAL Paint Jam takes all the fun of Redfishbowl-sponsored art crawls like this past June’s, on the South Side, and concentrates it into one venue on one night — a smorgasbord of visual and concert performances at Spirit Lounge. Tonight, 10 local music acts including electronic dance artist Chalk Dinosaur, psych-rockers Decaffeinated Grapefruit and garage punks NOX BOYS fill the seven-hour evening. There is also work by 40 visual artists and live painters, body painters, vendors, dancers from Pittsburgh Aerial Silks and more. IF 7 p.m.-2 a.m. 242 51st St., Lawrenceville. $5. 412-586-4441
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Bring your well-behaved pets to receive Interfaith blessings
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Many pet vendors, face painting, activities and giveaways
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Animal Psychic Readings Presented by:
saturday 10.01 TOUR While Downtown has many doors, probably you’ve entered only a few. Today and tomorrow, slake your architectural curiosity with the inaugural Doors Open {ART BY MOHAMMED MUSSALLAM} ^ Fri., Sept. 30: Factory Installed Pittsburgh. The weekendlong event turns about 40 Downtown theaters, hotels, offices, private clubs and more into open houses, some with guided tours. Founded by Pittsburgh native Bonnie Baxter (inspired by a similar event in Chicago), Doors Open ranges from free spots you’ve maybe missed (Wood Street Galleries, the Fourth Avenue Dollar Bank) to buildings you usually need a ticket for (Heinz Hall, Byham Theater) and spaces that typically require an invitation (Strada Architecture, Allegheny HYP Club, the mayor’s office). Likely highlights: The Engineer’s Society of Western Pennsylvania, with its antique walk-in vault, now a dining room. No reservations needed. BO 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat., Oct. 1, and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun., Oct. 2. Downtown. Free. www.doorsopenpgh.org
www.JourneysOfLife.com J OfLLi Lif
Event Benefits:
6620 Hamilton Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15206
Feast of St. Francis, Patron Saint of Animals
WWW.ANIMALRESCUE.ORG 412-345-7300
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SHORT LIST, CONTINUED FROM PG. 37
UPCOMING at the
FILM SCREENING: FOOD SYSTEMS 4, 9/29
^ Mon., Oct. 03: Timothy Verstynen
ART
KEEPERS DANCE PERFORMANCE, 10/1 FASHION EXTRAVAGANZA, 10/7
Image: Little Shilpa
renewfestival.com #renewfestival
The late Brazilian artist Hélio Oiticica was famous for experimenting with geometric images — both two- and three-dimensional — and for the immersive environments he created in the 1960s and ’70s. Along with The Art Institute of Chicago and The Whitney Museum of American Art, the Carnegie Museum of Art has created To Organize Delirium, the most expansive U.S. exhibition yet for this bold artist. Today’s opening day also features a film screening — a documentary composed of Super 8 footage — at 1:30 p.m. with director César Oiticica Filho, the artist’s nephew. IF 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Exhibit continues through Jan. 2. 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. $11.95-19.95. 412-622-3131 or www.cmoa.org
OUTDOORS
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Startin g EVERY FRIDAY PITTSBURGH ’S TO P P U NK Oc to ber 10:00 -1:30 DJ S 14th Sex Pistols
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1314 CARSON STREET | PITTSBURGH, PA 15203 | 412-431-1314 38
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 09.28/10.05.2016
The South Side’s Step Trek is 16 years old, but this year there’s a new wrinkle. Participants in this South Side Slopes Neighborhood Association event — an annual self-paced hike of the community’s signature city steps — will be treated to performances inspired by those very steps, courtesy of Steppin Stanzas. At the registration area and during water breaks, Steppin Stanzas co-founders Paola Corso and Andrew Edwards will read their original poems, accompanied by acoustic guitarist Aaron LeFebvre (pictured, with Corso) and movement artist Daniel Dongilli. BO 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Josephine and 21st streets, South Side Slopes. $13 (free for kids under 12). www.southsideslopes.org
monday 10.03
{ART BY HÉLIO OITICICA; PHOTO BY CÉSAR OITICICA FILHO, COURTESY OF CÉSAR AND CLAUDIO OITICICA}
^ Sat., Oct. 01: To Organize Delirium S. Brian Willson is a Vietnam veteran who lost both his legs, but not in war. He lost them to a train, in 1987, while protesting a shipment of U.S. weapons to Central America. The author and activist is the subject of Paying the Price for Peace, a new documentary critiquing America’s history of military aggression. Tonight’s free screening in Carnegie Mellon University’s McConomy Auditorium is co-sponsored by CMU’s CreateLab and School of Computer Science. Producer and director Bo Boudart will attend for a Q&A. BO 6 p.m. CMU campus, Oakland. Free; donations accepted. www.payingthepriceforpeace.com
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EVERYONE IS A CRITIC EVENT: Penn Avenue Arts in Motion and Art Car Festival, Garfield CRITIC: Caroline Sefcik, 26, a research assistant from Squirrel Hill WHEN: Sat.,
Sept. 24
There’s definitely a variety of art, but I think it is nicer because it’s more personal than some of the other arts fests around town. I really liked some of the pottery that I saw, and an illustrator was making cool T-shirts, and the art cars are really cool as well. I think that it’s colorful, it kind of draws you in — if I were just to be walking past, I would definitely saunter through. I really like the fact that they have kids’ activities — they have a coloring table, a free art-and-craft booth — it’s very family-friendly, too. It’s quiet and very laid-back — I think it’s actually a little quieter than I thought it would be. I thought the music would be a little more prominent, but it’s sort of in the background. But it’s good that it’s not disturbing the peace or anything. B Y IAN F L ANAGAN
TALK Baseball might be a slow game to some, but the moments of action are lightningfast. Timothy Verstynen, a psychology professor at Carnegie Mellon University, tackles neuroanatomy on the diamond at tonight’s Café Scientifique Pittsburgh. Dedicated to questions and answers between guests and speaker, this casual “scientific hub” is held monthly at Carnegie Science Center. Learn what happens to the brain during one intense split second in Verstynen’s talk In the Blink of an Eye: The Neuroscience of Baseball. IF 7 p.m. 1 Allegheny Ave., North Side. Free. 412-237-3400 or www.carnegiesciencecenter.org
thursday oct. 06 WORDS Californian author Melissa Yancy won the 2016 Drue Heinz Literature Prize, the award for a national University of Pittsburgh Press contest for short-fiction collections. Yancy, chosen from among nearly 300 submissions, won $15,000 and publication of Dog Years, her book of nine short stories. Yancy and famed novelist Richard Russo — the Drue Heinz judge who called her book “smart, intricate, carefully crafted” — will appear at a reading and signing tonight at the University of Pittsburgh’s O’Hara Student Center. IF 7 p.m. 4024 O’Hara St., Oakland. Free. 412-383-2456
STAGE In a special Non-Verbal Edition of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Multiple Choice series, Wonderheads, a theater company from Portland, Ore., stops by the August Wilson Center tonight on its North American tour. The {PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN ALTDORFER} troupe’s wordless ^ Thu., Sept. 29: I’m Gonna Pray for You So Hard show performed in full masks, Grim and Fischer, pits the Reaper against an obstinate grandmother. As if seeing this “living cartoon” weren’t enough, Multiple Choice offers a Silent Disco Party, including food trucks, all in one evening. IF 8 p.m. 980 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $25 (Silent Disco and food truck only: $5). 412-456-6666 or www.trustarts.org
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WE SAMPLED THREE CURRIES: GREEN, PANANG AND MASSAMAN
AMERICAN FARE {BY ALEX GORDON} The latest iteration of Conflict Kitchen marks a departure for the take-out venue, which serves cuisine from countries with which the United States is in conflict. Prior incarnations of the menu included balal from Iran, empanadas from Cuba and kimchi from North Korea. But this month, the Oakland eatery debuts its first North American cuisine with its Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois, menu. The conflict might not be “current” in the same sense as the others, but to Dawn Weleski, Conflict Kitchen’s co-director, it’s an “eternal” conflict rooted deeply in the founding of the country, and worth exploring. “There are 562 indigenous nations throughout the U.S., and they have their own separate language and culture and culinary histories,” says Weleski. “We wanted to be a part of that discussion and provide an outlet for that.” The idea took off after a very successful short-run Hodinöhsö:ni’ menu (another member of the Iroquois) on last year’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day, featuring many similar dishes to this year’s incarnation. The Haudenosaunee menu, which will run through spring with seasonal changes, includes dishes like the already popular neogë’ wade’sgöndak, a “cranberry- and juniper-braised venison served with broiled potatoes”; gahgwahgi:’da:h, or fry bread; and the drop dumpling with fruit desert, o’hösda’ onyögwi’sä’. “A lot about this menu is about tasting the potato, tasting the squash, tasting the corn, which is a huge departure from [previous] Iranian menu which [was] heavily flavored with herbs and spices,” says Weleski. “This is about tasting the elemental nature of the food.”
THE OAKLAND EATERY DEBUTS ITS FIRST NORTH AMERICAN CUISINE
ALEXGORDON@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
Open daily. Schenley Plaza, Oakland. 412-802-8417 or www.conflictkitchen.org
[CORRECTION] The review of Cibo restaurant in the Sept. 21 issue incorrectly stated that the eggplant Parmesan contained pork. It is, in fact, a vegetarian dish. CP regrets the error.
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{CP PHOTO BY JOHN COLOMBO}
THAI CUISINE
Soft-shell crab wrap
AND MORE {BY ANGELIQUE BAMBERG + JASON ROTH}
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and you’ll inevitably return to certain spaces in new guises, layering memories of meals like phyllo dough. This week, we revisited one of our favorite dining settings, a storefront in a little Craftsman commercial building set amongst the gracious homes and apartment houses of Bellevue. Like a solitaire stone in a ring, it is located at a bend in the road just before Lincoln Avenue crosses the Pittsburgh line to become California Avenue. It has a pretty little patio out front and an intimate dining room within that is furnished with substantial pieces, such as wooden benches and upholstered armchairs that communicate comfort and impart a bohemian coffeehouse feel.
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 09.28/10.05.2016
The current occupant, Thai Tamarind, has added a few subtle Southeast Asian touches, such as a painting of a Bodhisattva and a very fetching mermaid, that wouldn’t look out of place in the living room of a well-traveled professor.
THAI TAMARIND 172 Lincoln Ave., Bellevue. 412-766-1899 HOURS: Mon.-Thu. 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.; Fri. 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sat. noon-10 p.m.; Sun. noon-9:30 p.m. PRICES: Soups, salads, and starters $4-9; entrees $9-19 LIQUOR: BYOB
On the menu are all of the usual Thai curries and noodle dishes, plus a list of stir-fry entrees that seem to float between
Thailand and China and a lengthy selection of chef’s creations. This was eclectic and far-ranging, including Japanese dishes and such distinctive items as “hurricane scallops” (grilled, served with vegetables and green curry sauce) and “amazing eggplant” (fried, with peanut sauce and steamed broccoli). We found moments of variety in the rest of the menu as well, like the autumn roll alongside its more familiar spring and summer siblings. Intriguingly filled with avocado and mango, this was — alas — unavailable the night we dined. The server imparted that the mangoes weren’t ripe enough, a report we greatly preferred to being served subpar fruit. Instead, we started with two forms of
dumplings and fried tofu. Pork pot-stickers were available steamed, fried or pan-fried; we chose the latter and were rewarded with classic dumplings that were tender above, crisp below. Jason’s were filled with gingery pork whose looseness was perfect for absorbing sauce, but those that Angelique sampled had a firmer filling that she found greasy and bland. The shumai-like dumplings were filled with a mixture of pork, shrimp and mushroom that neither of us found especially flavorful, though they had a pleasingly plump, juicy texture. A third form of dumpling came in the won ton soup. Like the shumai, which resembled rather than reproduced dim sum dumplings, this too echoed its Chinese antecedent. The soup’s broth was more herbal than the bright, golden original, and bean sprouts and shredded cabbage were surprising components, their crispness lending the soup a welcome texture. “A-Ge tofu,” more familiar to us from Japanese menus, was well executed in this Thai kitchen. Large, puffy wedges of tempura-ed tofu were fluffy inside and delicately crispy outside, topped with saltysweet, brothy tempura sauce and zingy scallions for flavor. The flavor of chicken satay can vary, from well-grilled, almost bitter char to sweet glazes to nearly bare chicken-ona-stick. But, if you’re dipping it in thick, peanutty-sweet sauce anyway, isn’t the texture the most important thing? Thai Tamarind seems to think so, serving up lightly-browned white meat that was as juicy and satisfying as any dark meat could be. The sauce was sweet without cloying, making the whole dish a success. Moving on to the curries, we sampled three: green, Panang and Massaman. The former was mild and creamy, more herbal than spicy, and lacking the lemon-pepper notes that we think of as the hallmark of this dish. Panang curry was sweeter than we like, needing more savor and spice for balance. But only Massaman curry inspired strong feelings at our table: Our son, an aficionado of this particular curry, pronounced it the best he’d ever had, while others in our party found it excessively salty. Thai Tamarind Noodle, a variation on pad Thai made with bean thread, also lacked balance. A great pad Thai relies upon perfect balance of spicy, salty, tangy and sweet, and any time one flavor comes too far forward, the dish falls short; this was the case here, with the flavor profile tending too sweet. Again and again, Thai Tamarind brought us exceptional textures. But rarely were they in service of the balanced yet bold flavors we craved. INFO@ PGHC ITY PAP ER.CO M
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[PERSONAL CHEF]
WESTERN AVENUE BURGER BAR
bar • billiards • burgers
EGG CUPS FOR NIGHT OWLS {BY ANDREA LAURION, LAWRENCEVILLE}
Featuring Our World Class Chef
Every guide to creative success starts with the same thing: Wake up earlier than usual and work on your craft before heading off to your dreaded day job. After countless tries to beat the snooze alarm, I’ve finally accepted that I will never be a morning person, just as I’ll never wake up a supermodel. Some of us are night owls for life, and no advice from early birds can change that. You can set all the alarms you want, and you’re still not going to be Chrissy Teigen in the morning. As someone who is lucky to make it to work on time, the less I have to fuss in the kitchen every morning, the better. Egg cups are super easy and versatile. I bake them once a week and change up the combination of veggies, cheeses and meats to keep things interesting. This particular version is one of my favorites. The spicy sausage is pretty tasty, even if you don’t have time to heat it up. A couple of these, some coffee and a banana, and then I’m out the door.
MONDAY & THURSDAY $2 Yuengling 16oz Draft ____________________ TUESDAY Burger, Beer, & Bourbon $11.95 ____________________ WEDNESDAY Pork & Pounder $10 ____________________ FRIDAY Sangria $3 ____________________ SATURDAY & SUNDAY 10:30am-3pm
Adan Morales John Marcinizyn (Latin Guitar)
Friday Nights 6:30-8:30pm.
Brunch Specials & Bloody Mary Bar
----- HAPPY HOUR ----1/2 OFF SNACKS $2 OFF DRAFTS $5 WINE FEATURE
Mon- Fri 4:30 – 6:30pm
900 Western Ave. North side 412-224-2163
INGREDIENTS • 7 eggs • ¼ cup half-and-half or milk • ¼ tsp. salt • ¼ tsp. pepper • ½ bell pepper, diced • 1 cup spinach, chopped • 4 spicy Italian sausage links, cooked, cooled and chopped • ½ cup shredded sharp cheddar
BenjaminsPgh.com
INSTRUCTIONS Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk the eggs with half-and-half until thoroughly mixed. Add the salt and pepper. Fill the muffin cups about halfway, making sure to pour approximately the same amount of the egg mixture into each cup. Add the chopped sausage and shredded cheese in equal amounts to each cup so it will cook evenly. Bake for 20 minutes, then let cool before eating or storing in the fridge. These egg cups are good warm or cold, even if eaten on the run to the bus stop. Makes 12 servings. Andrea Laurion is a writer and performer living in Lawrenceville. WE WANT YOUR PERSONAL RECIPES AND THE STORIES BEHIND THEM. EMAIL THEM TO CELINE@PGHCITYPAPER.COM.
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www.taipei-fc.com Thank you to our valued customers for your support and loyalty.
THE BEST Chinese Restaurant Fox Chapel has to offer! Owner Steve Weng would like to welcome you to Taipei. At Taipei, you can expect great comfort foods prepared by our kitchen chef to the beautifully crafted sushi dishes from the sushi bar. Pair your meal with good drinks from our full bar and excellent wine list.
HAPPY HOUR: Monday-Friday 4-6pm 1124 Freeport Rd FOX CHAPEL
412-781-4131
½RIONFKFS D POWER 5PM! SOUR 3-/ Insurrection AleWorks lets the yeast work, however slowly
{CP PHOTO BY JOHN COLOMBO}
Insurrection AleWorks beer paired with a cheese and charcuterie board
[ON THE ROCKS]
{BY CELINE ROBERTS}
1000 Sutherland Dr. Pittsburgh, PA 15205 412-787-8888 www.plazaazteca.com
Thank you City Paper readers for voting us one of the Best Chinese Restaurants in Pittsburgh
China Palace Shadyside Featuring cuisine in the style of
Peking, Hunan, Szechuan and Mandarin
100 VEGETARIAN DISHES!
Delivery Hours
11:30 - 2 pm and 5-10pm
5440 Walnut Street, Shadyside 412-687-RICE www.chinapalace-shadyside.com 42
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 09.28/10.05.2016
JUST PAST the tunnel in Heidelberg, there
is an unassuming brewery with a passion for patiently fine-tuning its craft. Insurrection AleWorks, co-owned by Matt Messer and brewer Brad Primozic, will celebrate its first anniversary in November. “Back in January we ran out of beer because we couldn’t make it fast enough. We’re slowly putting everything we make right back into it,” says Primozic, a chemist-turnedbrewer. With a canning line and 15-barrel brewhouse in the works, and the support of the customers, Primozic is dedicated to producing great beers, with a focus on sour beers. “I got really lucky. I was living on the New York-Vermont border for the last 10 years, and the number-one brewery at the time, Hill Farmstead, wasn’t too far away from me. I was drinking a lot of their beers and they were doing sour beers then. I wanted that closer to home,” he says. Insurrection’s sour-beer program involves a 1,000-liter oak foudre, a large cask typically used by winemakers; three 130-gallon stainless-steel fermenting tanks; and six oak wine barrels. Avoiding cross-contamination by yeast between the sour beers and the other beers is important for maintaining control over flavor, so Primozic has a completely separate set of equipment, all marked with red tape, for brewing a sour. The room that houses the tanks is kept at negative air pressure so any yeast that escapes is sucked onto the roof. If he wants to work with the other beers after the sours, he goes home, showers and changes his clothes.
Primozic’s “quick-turnaround” sour beers take from four to six months to be ready. He’s a strong opponent of kettlesouring, a process in which bacteria — usually lactobacillus, which produces lactic acid — is added to the wort before boiling. After sitting until the desired PH is attained, the wort is then pasteurized, preserving the sour flavor but killing the remaining bacteria used to create it. “If you use the kettle-sour method, the beer won’t get any better than the day you bottled it. Everything’s dead,” says Primozic, “If you use my preferred method, you boil the beer off, add the lactobacillus first and then, once it’s at the desired PH, you add brettanomyces — wild yeast — and ferment it.” That bacteria metabolizes sugar slowly, which means the entire process from brew to beer takes longer — up to two years. “We’re very passionate about it. Patience is key,” says Primozic. Insurrection AleWorks sells its beer only in-house (although sometimes a case ends up down at the Carson Street Deli). The food menu is as carefully considered as the beer. Primozic, who spoke wistfully of Vermont, highlights one of that state’s specialties — cheese — in an impressive and rotating cheese and charcuterie menu. The drive to Heidelberg is well worth it to sip Pink Yoga Pants; this gose beer with Himalayan salt, coriander and hibiscus is named affectionately for Primozic’s girlfriend. I N F O@ P G H C I T Y PA P E R. C OM
1635 E. Railroad St., Heidelberg. 412-2762030 or www.insurrectionaleworks.com
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S T H G G I N I L FRRIV
BOOZE BATTLES {BY CELINE ROBERTS}
Each week, we order the same cocktail at two different bars for a friendly head-to-head battle. Go to the bars, taste them both and tell us what you like about each by tagging @pghcitypaper on Twitter or Instagram and use #CPBoozeBattles. If you want to be a part of Booze Battles, send an email to food-and-beverage writer Celine Roberts, at celine@pghcitypaper.com.
THE DRINK: DARK AND STORMY
A AILY D
great lake in our backyard, it’s a wonder you didn’t
BREWCATION
wet your whistle sooner. Come see what’s on tap.
Spork
Dive Bar & Grille
5430 Penn Ave., Friendship
5147 Butler St., Lawrenceville
DRINK: Quiet Stormy INGREDIENTS: Curry-infused Gosling’s rum, house-made ginger beer, citrus OUR TAKE: The two-day infusion process allows the curry to shine through with a lovely throat-warming heat. Ginger beer provides a good textural lift to an otherwise potential heavy drink, while the citrus gives it an acidic kick. This is an invigorating cocktail to have during happy hour after a particularly long work day.
With 22 craft breweries, locally grown hops, and the freshest
VS.
DRINK: Dark n’ Stormy INGREDIENTS: The Kraken spiced dark rum, ginger beer, lime wedge OUR TAKE: The spiced rum added additional kick to the ginger beer. Since this is a simple cocktail with minimal ingredients, it has a booze-forward profile. Using Kraken rum makes a good choice for those who prefer their cocktails on the sweeter side.
This week on Sound Bite, we sit down with David Bernabo to talk about the fourth chapter of his documentary series, Food Systems. www.pghcitypaper.com
BEERINBUFFALO.COM
PAN AMERICAN GRILL & BREWERY
One Bordeaux, One Scotch, One Beer Jägermeister (and tonic) Price $42.99 / bottle “I read about Jägermeister and tonic in Boozehound. On paper, it looks awful, but then I did some research (a.k.a. bar hopping) and it’s amazing. Crisp, refreshing; maybe add a squeeze of lime.” — RECOMMENDED BY JASON RENNER, BARKEEP AT BAR MARCO, STRIP DISTRICT
NANCY J. PARISI
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 09.28/10.05.2016
Jägermeister is available by the bottle at PLCB state stores and at most bars around the city, including Steel Cactus, in Shadyside, the South Side and PNC Park; Perle, in Market Square; Club Café, in the South Side; and Bar Marco, in the Strip District.
IT’S IMPORTANT TO BE REMINDED THAT NOT ALL TRIUMPHS ARE IN SPORTS
NEW KID IN TOWN {BY AL HOFF} In this low-key coming-of-age story, 13-year-old Morris (Markees Christmas) and his recently widowed dad, Curtis (Craig Robinson), have relocated to Heidelberg, Germany, where Curtis coaches soccer. Writer/director Chad Hartigan’s Morris From America quickly establishes that Morris faces formidable social challenges: He’s the new, foreign, awkward kid who can barely speak the language. But Morris attracts the attention of Katrin (Lina Keller), a rebellious 15-year-old , who treats him both kindly and cruelly. Morris is, of course, enthralled.
Morris (Markees Christmas) is from America.
CP APPROVED
While the film presents many standard first-crush “dramas,” there is a second emotional track where the still-grieving Morris and Curtis have to recalibrate their relationship. Curtis, now the sole disciplinarian, still wants to be Morris’ buddy — the two share a love of rapping, though they have utter disdain for each other’s style — and he struggles to find a balance. He’s also keenly aware that his relocating to Germany makes life especially tough on Morris. Seeking to impress Katrin, Morris does some dumb (if wholly believable) things — not out of anger or petulance, but because he’s just a kid. The result of Morris’ ill-advised (but also wonderful) adventure is worth the wait in this lightly plotted film. It’s a win of sorts for Morris, but the real payoff is for us, when the steady work Robinson has done as Curtis pays off in a great father-son moment. In English, and some German, with subtitles. Starts Fri., Sept. 30. Harris AHOFF@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
MASTERMINDS Jared Hess directs this comedy about an armored-van driver who pulls off a huge heist, only to have things go terribly wrong. Owen Wilson, Zach Galifinakis and Kristen Wiig star. Starts Fri., Sept. 30
A successful match: chess coach Robert Katende (David Oyelowo) and his teen prodigy Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga)
MAKING A MOVE {BY AL HOFF}
Q
UEEN OF KATWE, directed by Mira
Nair, is a family-friendly film from Disney that tells the real-life story of Phiona Mutesi, a teenage chess champion from Uganda. The illiterate Phiona (Madina Nalwanga) lives in the Katwe slum of Kampala, whose modern high-rises are visible beyond the shacks. She is introduced to chess by Robert Katende (David Oyelowo), who runs a chess club in a shed, imparting game and life skills to his raggedy young charges; he also convinces Phiona’s struggling single mother, Harriet (Lupita Nyong’o), to let her compete in matches. Nair’s film follows the formula of other inspirational tales, even adapting the “underdog sports” track: Victories are staggered with expected adversities (family, housing and money troubles). The three leads give low-key performances, which helps Queen feel more like an ensemble film, as befits the material; it really does take a village. The nonprofessional child actors toggle between wonderful and self-conscious, but the enthusiasm of these youngsters is infectious. Much of the dialogue is on-the-nose,
but I’m hoping people will bring kids to see this, so one can forgive lines like “In chess, the small one can become the big one” and “You must never surrender.” Honestly, there are so few movies about young women of color who succeed using brainpower that I’m OK with glossing over the film’s imperfect patches. (Also unusual
QUEEN OF KATWE DIRECTED BY: Mira Nair STARRING: Madina Nalwanga, David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong’o STARTS: Fri., Sept. 30
CP APPROVED for the genre: This film has no white savior.) It’s important to be reminded that not all triumphs — and not all supportive teams — are in sports. Celebrating and nurturing intelligence surely is a better longterm takeaway than recounting that one game-winning touchdown. The story fares better when it explores the personal roadblocks Phiona faces — her
insecurity and adolescent impulsiveness — and the psychic challenges of confronting another, more comfortable world beyond Katwe’s poverty. Her mother worries that such exposure will leave Phiona “not here, and not there,” condemned to float between them “like a ghost who cannot rest.” Such fears are warranted, even as the protagonists’ goals are modest by our standards: Can being good at chess get these kids into schools? The film may present chess as another sport to be conquered, but what’s on the line is a life-changing opportunity, not a trophy. I’m not a huge fan of “inspired by” stories; their formulaic nature numbs me. But I do love the scene during these films’ credits when we see the real people, in photos or archival footage, which offers the satisfying zing of things as they actually were, free from Hollywood gloss and spin. True to form, Queen had a charming credits sequence, where the actual young chess players of Katwe pose goofily with the actors who portrayed them. Real people are the best. A HOF F @ P G HC I T Y PA P E R. C OM
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— holds up as a decent goof and even has a few creepy moments. Directed by Joel Schumacher, it all ends in a bloodbath of unholy proportions — as it should. 7:30 p.m. Wed., Sept. 28. AMC Loews Waterfront (AH)
FILM CAPSULES CP
= CITY PAPER APPROVED
NEW
FOOD SYSTEMS PART 4: THE SYSTEM. The conclusion of Pittsburgher David Bernabo’s wide-ranging documentary series on food (from production to cultural aspects) focuses on the problems of hunger and food sourcing as they relate to class, race and political structures like redlining. Through interviews with educators, food-bank employees, community members and researchers, Bernabo strives to show the scope of how food intimately affects our society and our everyday lives. Screens as part of the Re:NEW Festival. 7:30 p.m. Thu., Sept. 29. Harris (Celine Roberts)
DEEPWATER HORIZON. The three-month oil spill that followed the 2010 blow-out at the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico became such a huge news story that folks might have forgotten what horrific industrial accident precipitated it; 11 workers died, and the 100-odd other employees were lucky to survive. Peter Berg’s docudrama recounts that fateful day and night on board the mobile offshore drilling unit from the perspective of the workers. One of the engineers (Mark Wahlberg) is our primary guide. He leaves his family for the trip to the rig, 41 miles out at sea. He and his superior (Kurt Russell) spar with BP guys over project delays and safety checks not done. Berg crafts a story that hits the expected beats: ominous build-up (we get many shots of the ocean floor bubbling), dismissive corporate bean-counters, plucky survivors, onthe-job Coast Guarders, nail-biting escapes and worried wives back on land. But the special-effects crew does a great job, and virtual time spent aboard the postblow-out rig is pretty nerve-wracking: Dangers include high-velocity oily mud, poisonous gases, fire, drowning, flying debris and the sea being on fire. The film suggests but doesn’t go deep into the tangle of subcontractors and accountability that complicated the situation before, during and after the explosion. But internecine politics are pretty moot when your workplace blows up in the middle of the ocean. Starts Fri., Sept. 30 (Al Hoff) THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. This remake of the classic 1960 Western (itself a remake of the 1954 Japanese film The Seven Samurai ) comes with an all-star cast, a wide-ranging arsenal of weapons and some funny lines. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, it’s a story of revenge. When Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard) invades the mining town of Rose Creek, leaving dead bodies in his wake, the town’s citizens pool their money to hire bounty hunter Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington) to take him out. But Chisolm needs help, so he round ups a diverse group of gunslingers (Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio, Byung-hun Lee, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Martin Sensmeier). While it isn’t always clear why these men are risking their lives to help the people of Rose Creek, their journey, and the ultimate throwdown, makes for enjoyable viewing. (Rebecca Addison) MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN. Tim Burton, longtime champion of peculiar children, adapts Ransom Riggs’ novel for the big screen. A contemporary American teenager named Jake (Asa Butterfield) follows clues left by his grandfather and winds up on a Welsh island where there is indeed a home for children with bizarre capabilities (think of them as cozier, stay-at-home X-Men). Oh, and it’s 1943, because there is a critical time-travel element. Jake joins forces with the kids and their caretaker (Eva Green), and is present (and useful) when things start to go wrong. The film has a great cast, including Terence Stamp, Chris O’Dowd and Samuel L. Jackson; marvelous sets and costumes; and even a stop-motion fighting sequence. (If you’re spending the money, it also looks great in 3-D.) But while the film strives mightily for whimsy (nearly there) and intrigue (all the air drains out of the plot by the middle), it ultimately fails to fully engage. Miss
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REVENGE OF THE NERDS. The title pretty much gives away the plot in Jeff Kanew’s 1984 campus comedy, but it’s still satisfying to see the brains take on the jocks — and win. Robert Carradine and Anthony Edwards star as the alpha-nerds. Sept. 30Oct. 3 and Oct. 5-6. Row House Cinema
Deepwater Horizon
WEIRD SCIENCE. More high school hi-jinks from John Hughes in this 1985 comedy starring Anthony Michael Hall, Ilan Mitchell-Smith and Kelly LeBrock. In it, a couple of nerds use their computer to bring a dream woman to life. Sept. 30-Oct. 5. Row House Cinema COMING TO AMERICA. Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall star in John Landis’ 1988 comedy about an African prince who comes to New York City in search of a bride. Sept. 30-Oct. 2 and Oct. 4-6. Row House Cinema THE WEDDING SINGER. In this 1998 rom-com directed by Frank Coraci, a waitress (Drew Barrymore) and a wedding singer (Adam Sandler) in the mid1980s find true love. Sept. 30-Oct. 6 DONNIE DARKO. Writer/director Richard Kelly’s 2001 debut is a hard-to-categorize tale about a doomed teen. Over 28 days, Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) struggles to understand his suburban world, which is tilting toward madness, steered by a giant rabbit named Frank. Kelly excels at capturing Donnie’s dread with verve, yet he and Gyllenhaal ground this anxiety so firmly in the confusion and inarticulateness of ordinary adolescence that there’s no easy fantasy loophole. A hybrid of time-travel treatise, ’80s snapshot, troubled-kid drama and dark comedy. 7:30 p.m. Wed., Oct. 5. AMC Loews Waterfront (AH)
CP
Seed: The Untold Story
Train To Busan
Peregrine is mildly entertaining, though it is one of those works that feels both baggy and overstuffed. In 3-D, in select theaters. Starts Fri., Sept. 30 (AH)
potential victims (from old lady with a limp, and teen baseball team to a pregnant woman and her very protective working-class husband); a confined space; a rapidly developing crisis (from getting bit to rampaging occurs in mere seconds); a meticulous picking off of the aforementioned crazy-quilt of passengers; and the assorted MacGuyvering needed to thwart off the zombies and make it to safety. Train to Busan is a good pick for fans of fare like The Walking Dead, where a reasonable amount of gore is interspersed throughout a story with characters we care about and see change. Train asks its characters to sort through their humanity, and decide whether to act for themselves or for the group; the chief protagonist here is a jerky investment-banker dad who is traveling with his estranged little girl. You get plenty of zombie-crushing, and maybe even experience a sniffle or two. In Korean, with subtitles. Parkway, McKees Rocks (AH)
SEED: THE UNTOLD STORY. Jon Betz and Taggart Siegel’s documentary makes the case that we often ignore — at our peril — the obvious. Consider the lowly seed, which gets a fraction of the attention we lavish on food, and yet without seeds, there is literally no food. And alarmingly, a good deal of earth’s seeds have already disappeared; generally, we cultivate very few, and with an eye toward large-scale commercial crops. Even those that do remain run the risk of being genetically modified and turned into a patented product. The doc, which travels the world from New Mexico to Old Mexico, as well as Hawaii and India, provides a good primer on why seeds matter, and a wake-up call to not take them for granted. In English, and various languages, with subtitles. Fri., Sept. 30 through Tue., Oct. 4. Melwood (AH) TRAIN TO BUSAN. It’s as basic as “zombies on a train,” but Sang-ho Yeon’s new thriller is a wellmade example of the increasingly overdone genre. It trades on everything you’d expect: a selection of
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 09.28/10.05.2016
REPERTORY THE LOST BOYS. This 1987 MTV-style twist on vampires — it’s as if an ’80s hair-metal band turned to blood-sucking and remade Rebel Without a Cause
AFRONAUT(A) 3.0. In conjunction with the Re:NEW festival, Alisha B. Wormsley curates a collection of short films and videos that represents science fiction and alternate realities. 7:30 p.m. Wed., Oct. 5. Harris THEY WILL HAVE TO KILL US FIRST. Johanna Schwartz’s recent informative documentary follows several Malian musicians who have been forced to flee Timbuktu and regions in the north after instability leads to an Islamist takeover. There, under newly imposed Sharia law, all forms of entertainment are banned. The performers — who include both a group of young men with a more modern sound and older women who perform traditional music — bemoan the state of things (“If you take away music, Mali is dead”), while refusing to give up. Some performers travel to the U.K. to raise awareness; others lead songs in refugee camps. An eventual return to Timbuktu is bittersweet: The city has been hard hit, but a hastily arranged street concert underscores how deeply music is felt in this culture. Sembène – The Film & Arts Festival, in partnership with City of Asylum, presents the film; Dr. Jean-Jacques Sène, of Chatham University, will lead the Q&A. In French and other languages, with subtitles. 8 p.m. Thu., Oct. 6. 40 W. North Ave., North Side. Free with RSVP at www.alphabetcity.org (AH)
“THE TINGLING AND NUMBNESS I USED TO FEEL — GONE.”
PUSHING THROUGH {BY CHARLIE DEITCH} When I was a young writer, I remember being sent out to cover high school cross-country. And I remember thinking every time, without fail: “This is literally the shittiest assignment they could give me.” I attacked the story with all the energy of a dead elk. I’d show up just as this group of kids took off running; they’d go a hundred yards or so before disappearing into the woods. They’d emerge from the shire 15 to 20 minutes later; I’d talk to the winner and the coach; and I’d head back to the office. I never stuck around until the last runner crossed. Why would I? The story’s never at the back of the pack.
{CP PHOTO BY CHARLIE DEITCH}
Runners bolt from the starting line.
{CP PHOTO BY LUKE THOR TRAVIS}
Stephanie Tirdel demonstrates her AntiGravity fitness routine.
This past Sept. 24, I got up early to see my 10-year-old nephew compete in his second-ever cross-country meet. I drove all the way up to Sharpsville, Pa., which is apparently a cross-country hotbed because there were six million kids there for this gigantic event. I found the starting line for the elementary race and saw him in a pack of more than 100 grade-school kids. Just like the old days, the horn sounded, they took off, and I strolled to the finish line. This race was only a mile, so between six and seven minutes later, the leaders emerged on the home stretch. My nephew finished in the first group of kids, and I headed to the finish line to see him. We high-fived; I told him he was awesome and that I was really proud of him. As I turned around, I saw my family up near the finish line crying and yelling like they’d come unhinged. When I got to them, they and dozens of other people were yelling for the kids who were still coming in. These runners were struggling and tired, but when they heard the cheers, they kicked as hard as they could to the end. Despite being exhausted, a lot of them were smiling. They weren’t first, but they were proud. It was one of those rare, pure sports moments that you don’t see on TV. It’s the kind of moment you only find when you’re not looking — and when you stay until the end of the race.
ANTIGRAVITY {BY REBECCA ADDISON}
WHEN STEPHANIE TIRDEL retired from dance in 2009, it wasn’t because she’d lost her passion for the art. “I stopped dancing because I couldn’t take the pain anymore,” Tirdel says. “It wasn’t fun.” The long-time dancer and fitness enthusiast suffers from herniated discs and at one point she was weighing spinal surgery. “The doctor wanted to do spine surgery, but I didn’t want to have it done,” says Tirdel. “I was scared.” But then Tirdel found AntiGravity, a form of fitness that focuses on strength, flexibility and agility using the AntiGravity Harrison Hammock, developed by Christopher Harrison, of AntiGravityLab.com, based in New York City. “Just on a whim, my husband and I went, and after the class I realized I had no pain,” Tirdel says of her introduction to AntiGravity during a visit to New York City. “The next month I was there getting certified.” Her studio in East Liberty is
the only licensed AntiGravity studio between Philadelphia and Columbus. Harrison developed the practice after he too was injured. The gymnast, who served as Kevin Bacon’s dance/stunt double in Footloose, initially created the AntiGravity hammock for aerial acts in the performance world, but soon recognized his invention’s health benefits. “He realized this is different because you’re supported,” Tirdel says. “He said [it helps] because of the decompression and the inversion of the spine.” The practice at Tirdel’s studio, Stheil Pilates and Movement Center, involves zero-compression exercises that mirror moves from Pilates, yoga, ballet and strength training along with zero-compression inversions. The moves lengthen ligaments and relax muscles. For those nervous about the prospect of hanging upside-down from a piece of fabric, Tirdel emphasized that the hammocks are weight-tested to hold 1,000 pounds. “Having to support myself, but also
being supported, is huge,” Tirdel says. “The tingling and numbness I used to feel — gone.” According to the World Health Organization, falling is the second leading cause of accidental death. It’s also a major source of personal injury for the elderly that Tirdel says can lead to head injuries, or infections due to associated surgery. Tirdel claims that AntiGravity can sharpen a person’s ability to react quickly to environmental changes — skills she says reduce the risk of injury from sports, exercise and simple daily activities. “As we age, our perception of space in time gets dulled,” says Tirdel. “AntiGravity can sharpen it.” And beyond her personal experience, Tirdel has seen the benefits AntiGravity has on sports injuries firsthand. One of her clients has struggled with injuries from weightlifting. He was ready to get both shoulders replaced before he found AntiGravity. “I know that it works,” says Tirdel.
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[THE CHEAP SEATS]
RECEIVING LINE {BY MIKE WYSOCKI} BEFORE THE 2010 season, the Steelers
traded Super Bowl XLIII MVP Santonio Holmes to the New York Jets. That left the team with a receiving corps of only Hines Ward, Mike Wallace, Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown. An embarrassment of riches, to be sure, but that depth is a tribute to the organization’s eye for talent. That many great receivers is good on the field, but it’s tough to deal with when you’re compiling a list of the Steelers’ top 10 wide receivers of the past 50 years. I know that Elbie Nickel and Buddy Dial used to haul passes before pansies played the game, but I don’t want to hear from you old-timers about passing over players who suited up before JFK was elected.
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Mike Wallace He holds just one Steelers record — a 95-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger. Wallace left the team in 2012 after committing the cardinal sin against Steelers Nation: He held out of training camp for more money. Around here, that’s the fastest way out of town.
Emmanuel Sanders “Easy Money” set an NFL record by being the first player in the league ever fined for faking an injury. Sanders played possum to stop the clock in the waning minutes of a game versus Cincinnati. Tapes showed him outrunning teammates on the very next play after the injury. It was against the Bengals, and the Steelers won, so that’s fine with us. He’s currently tearing it up for the Denver Broncos.
Plaxico Burress
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Plax is the only guy on the list to shoot somebody. It was himself in the thigh, accidentally, in a nightclub after leaving the Steelers, but he still went to prison for nearly two years. Burress had a 353-yard receiving game in a tie with Atlanta. That was the team record for yards in a game until Antonio Brown broke it. Burress never won a Super Bowl with Pittsburgh, but did win one with the Giants over the Patriots, so all is forgiven.
Yancey Thigpen An underrated two-time Pro Bowler, Thigpen caught a touchdown in Super Bowl XXX, one of the few passes thrown by Neil O’Donnell that wasn’t caught by a Dallas Cowboy. No rings for Yancey, but he was on the Tennessee Titans team that missed the trophy by one yard in 1999.
Santonio Holmes “The catch” is all you need to know and why he’s so high on this list. A lot of people are
{CP PHOTO BY LUKE THOR TRAVIS}
Pittsburgh Steeler Antonio Brown
known for one incident in their lives, whether it’s Neil Armstrong or Pee-wee Herman. (Holmes was more Armstrong than Herman.) His game-winning touchdown in Super Bowl XLIII made him a Steelers legend for life.
Louis Lipps He didn’t get to catch passes from Big Ben or Terry Bradshaw. Lipps had to depend on Mark Malone, Bubby Brister, David Woodley and Todd Blackledge to get him the ball. Lipps played eight years with the Steelers and never went to the Super Bowl, but still, he’s one of the best.
Lynn Swann Another Super Bowl MVP, he won the title in Super Bowl X after spending two days in the hospital with a concussion suffered in the AFC Championship game. He was drafted in the first round of the Steelers’ 1974 draft and currently resides in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Antonio Brown Brown is the most exciting player I’ve ever seen. He is second in Steelers history in receptions and he’s only 28. Enjoy his career because there are not many like him.
Hines Ward No. 86 had 86 career touchdowns and 1,000 career receptions. He’s got a Super Bowl MVP, a Dancing With the Stars trophy, and two championship rings on his impressive record. Ward has the best numbers of anyone on the list, but he played in a very receiver-friendly era. That’s why No. 1 on the list is …
John Stallworth In Stallworth’s first few seasons in the league, defenders were allowed to slap receivers in the head and basically tackle you at the line of scrimmage. Stallworth was the leading receiver in every major category until the era of the quarterback who throws 45 passes a game. His most iconic moment is the Sports Illustrated cover of him catching the game-winner in Super Bowl XIV over the Los Angeles Rams.
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RAISE YOUR SPIRITS
{BY BRENDAN EMMETT QUIGLEY / WWW.BRENDANEMMETTQUIGLEY.COM}
ACROSS
1. Woman, for short 4. “You can stop talking now” 10. ___ clerk 13. “The buck stops here” and “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,” e.g.? 16. Ringing endorsement? 17. Polite request to keep things witty? 18. Big mouth 19. Solar wind particles 20. Agcy. whose FAQ page includes “Is there an age limit on claiming my child as a dependent?” 21. Feline : cat :: pithecan : ___ 23. Bigger T-shirts, for short 24. House of Commons legislators: Abbr. 26. Resident along the Yodo river 29. Wax collector 30. Owner of the blog TechCrunch 32. Coke selection 33. Bulbs in the kitchen purchased ahead of time? 37. Explosive NBC show? 38. With 40-Across, Jimmy Dean’s owner 39. Member of the flock 40. See 38-Across
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41. Like a difficult puzzle 43. Cry over spilled milk, perhaps? 44. Tucson-to-L.A. dir. 47. ___ Paulo 48. Hockey ___ 50. Rubaiyat’s rhyme scheme 51. Muggy 53. Gateway to a strange place? 57. Room in a resort 58. Opportunities at karaoke? 59. Peanut butter purchase 60. Like an atrium, typically 61. Inits. for Kate Middleton, someday
DOWN
1. Base near Trenton, N.J. 2. One of the Weasleys’ owls in “Harry Potter” 3. Electrons’ heavier cousins 4. Suffix with adverb 5. Econ. statistic 6. “American Psycho” novelist 7. Piece of cake? 8. ___ much 9. Rob Gronkowski and Greg Olsen of the NFL: Abbr. 10. Oyster shell blast spot 11. Bridge building grp. 12. “Did you just say what I thought you said?”
14. LA Galaxy’s grp. 15. Swell spots 22. Something you might bring to a wine tasting 24. Algeria neighbor 25. Steep 26. Cheers for Real Madrid 27. “Live Without ___” (1986 Van Halen tour video) 28. Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, console 29. Mistakes 30. Recess at the end of a transept 31. Domain name suffix for a nonprofit 33. MetLife Stadium athlete, in headlines 34. Old Ford minivan 35. Rook’s sound
36. Winter dinner 37. Pose 42. Removes from the hydrant 43. L x LIII 44. Armband? 45. Sun or Rocket, briefly (5) 46. Brandon or Brenda on “90210” 48. Expensive wrap 49. Crazy party 50. “Prince Valiant” character 51. Mike Shenk is its puzzle editor 52. Clean diesel grp. 54. “___ for Ernest who choked on a peach” (Gashlycrumb Tinies) 55. The golden ratio symbol 56. Type of biscuit {LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS}
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FOR THE WEEK OF
Free Will Astrology
09.28-10.05
{BY ROB BREZSNY}
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Thank you for all the entertainment you’ve provided in the past 12 months, Libra. Since shortly before your birthday in 2015, you have taken lively and gallant actions to rewrite history. You have banished a pesky demon and repaired a hole in your soul. You’ve educated the most immature part of yourself and nurtured the most neglected part of yourself. To my joyful shock, you have even worked to transform a dysfunctional romantic habit that in previous years had subtly undermined your ability to get the kind of intimacy you seek. What’s next? Here’s my guess: an unprecedented exemption from the demands of the past.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Are you able to expand while you are contracting, and vice versa? Can you shed mediocre comforts and also open your imagination to gifts that await you at the frontier? Is it possible to be skeptical toward ideas that shrink your world and people who waste your time, even as you cultivate optimism and innocence about the interesting challenges ahead of you? Here’s what I think, Scorpio: Yes, you can. At least for right now, you are more flexible and multifaceted than you might imagine.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You Sagittarians are famous for filling your cups so full they’re in danger of spilling over. Sometimes the rest of us find this kind of cute. On other occasions, we don’t enjoy getting wine splashed on our shoes. But I suspect that in the coming weeks, the consequences of your tendency to overflow will be mostly benign — perhaps even downright beneficial. So I suggest you experiment with the pleasures of surging and gushing. Have fun as you escape your niches and
transcend your containers. Give yourself permission to seek adventures that might be too extravagant for polite company. Now here’s a helpful reminder from your fellow Sagittarian, poet Emily Dickinson: “You cannot fold a flood and put it in a drawer.”
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I believe that during the coming weeks you will have an extra amount of freedom from fate. The daily grind won’t be able to grind you down. The influences that typically tend to sap your joie de vivre will leave you in peace. Are you ready to take full advantage of this special dispensation? Please say YES YES A THOUSAND TIMES YES. Be alert for opportunities to rise above the lowest common denominators. Be aggressive about rejecting the trivial questions that trap everyone in low expectations. Here are my predictions: Your willpower will consistently trump your conditioning. You won’t have to play by the old rules, but will instead have extra sovereignty to invent the future.
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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you can expect an unlikely coincidence or two in the coming days. You should also be alert for helpfully prophetic dreams, clear telepathic messages and pokes from tricky informers. In fact, I suspect that useful hints and clues will be swirling in extra abundance, sometimes in the form of direct communications from reliable sources, but on occasion as mysterious signals from strange angels.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You know that inner work you’ve been doing with such diligence? I’m referring to those psycho-spiritual transformations you have been attending to in the dark … the challenging but oddly gratifying negotiations you’ve been carrying on with your secret self … the steady, strong future you’ve been struggling to forge out of the chaos? Well, I foresee you making a big breakthrough in the coming weeks. The progress you’ve been earning, which up until now has been mostly invisible to others, will finally be seen and appreciated. The vows you uttered so long ago will, at last, yield at least some of the tangible results you’ve pined for.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): What’s the difference between a love warrior and a love worrier? Love warriors work diligently to keep enhancing their empathy, compassion, and emotional intelligence. Love worriers fret so much about not getting the love they want that they neglect to develop their intimacy skills. Love warriors are always vigilant for how their own ignorance may be sabotaging togetherness, while love worriers dwell on how their partner’s ignorance is sabotaging togetherness. Love warriors stay focused on their relationship’s highest goals, while love worriers are preoccupied with every little relationship glitch. I bring this to your attention, Aries, because the next seven weeks will be an excellent time to become less of a love worrier and more of a love warrior.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): How will you deal with a provocative opportunity to reinvent and reinvigorate your approach to work? My guess is that if you ignore this challenge, it will devolve into an obstruction. If you embrace it, on the other hand, you will be led to unforeseen improvements in the way you earn money and structure your daily routine. Here’s the paradox: Being open to seemingly impractical considerations will ultimately turn out to be quite practical.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Is it possible that you’re on the verge of reclaiming some of the innocent wisdom you
east liberty squirrel hill north hills
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had as a child? Judging from the current astrological omens, I suspect it is. If all goes well, you will soon be gifted with a long glimpse of your true destiny — a close replica of the vision that bloomed in you at a tender age. And this will, in turn, enable you to actually see magic unicorns and play with mischievous fairies and eat clouds that dip down close to the earth. And not only that: Having a holy vision of your original self will make you even smarter than you already are. For example, you could get insights about how to express previously inexpressible parts of yourself. You might discover secrets about how to attract more of the love you have always felt deprived of.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): I’m not asking you to tell me about the places and situations where you feel safe and fragile and timid. I want to know about where you feel safe and strong and bold. Are there sanctuaries that nurture your audacious wisdom? Are there natural sites that tease out your primal willpower and help you clarify your goals? Go to those power spots. Allow them to exalt you with their transformative blessings. Pray and sing and dance there. And maybe find a new oasis to excite and incite you, as well. Your creative savvy will bloom in November if you nurture yourself now with this magic.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): One of your old reliable formulas may temporarily be useless or even deceptive. An ally could be withholding an important detail from you. Your favorite psychological crutch is in disrepair, and your go-to excuse is no longer viable. And yet I think you’re going to be just fine, Leo. Plan B will probably work better than Plan A. Secondary sources and substitutes should provide you with all the leverage you need. And I bet you will finally capitalize on an advantage that you have previously neglected. For best results, be vigilant for unexpected help.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Attention! Warning! One of your signature fears is losing its chokehold on your imagination. If this trend continues, its power to scare you may diminish more than 70 percent by Nov. 1. And then what will you do? How can you continue to plug away at your goals if you don’t have worry and angst and dread to motivate you? I suppose you could shop around for a replacement fear — a new prod to keep you on the true and righteous path. But you might also want to consider an alternative: the possibility of drawing more of the energy you need by feeding your lust for life. What most needs regeneration in your life? And what are you going to do to regenerate it? FreeWillAstrology.com.
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Savage Love {BY DAN SAVAGE}
I’m a guy, 35, and a cheating piece of shit. I’m engaged to a woman I love, but earlier this year I cheated on her. I have no excuse. She discovered the dating app I used, and we worked through that. But she doesn’t know that shortly after her discovery, I went ahead and cheated. To my meager, meager credit, I did seek out only women who were looking for NSA hookups. But I quickly came to realize how big of a mistake this was, how much I love my fiancée, and that I’m a shitty person. I see a therapist, and he advised that, if I’m certain this was a one-time thing, and if I’m convinced that I’m happy with my fiancée, I should keep quiet. I shouldn’t burden my fiancée with this knowledge. I’m inclined to agree but, dear God, the guilt. What do I do? Should I just accept this as a lesson learned and keep it to myself? Perhaps there’s selfishness at play here, since I’m trying to make myself feel better, but I’m struggling.
nicating this to him. I guess I’m writing to you for some reassurance that I’m doing the right thing by letting this behavior go, and also for some insight into why he’s doing it in the first place. UPSET GIRLFRIEND HATES EROTICIZED RACIAL SECRETS
What your boyfriend is doing sounds relatively harmless — he’s pretending to be someone he’s not while flirting with other people online who are most likely pretending to be someone they’re not. We can’t gloss over the racial/racist cultural forces that shaped your boyfriend’s kinks, of course, but it’s possible to explore those kinds of fantasies online or IRL without being a racist piece of shit. You’re in a better position to judge whether he’s exploring his fantasies without making the world a worse place than it already is for actual black men. If he’s being a racist piece of shit online, UGHERS, call him out on that. If he isn’t, stop policing his fantasies.
CAN’T PERSONALLY OVERLOOK SELFISHNESS
I’m with your therapist, CPOS — and, hey, it’s nice to see “keep your mouth shut about a one-time infidelity” make the jump from our finer advice columns to some of our actual therapists. While honesty and confession get all the positive press, there are times when unburdening yourself is absolutely the wrong thing to do. The person who confesses might wind up feeling better, but the person to whom they’ve confessed can wind up feeling a whole lot worse. Some burdens should be borne, not shifted. If your fiancée is going to inevitably find out, better she find out about it from you. But if the secret can be kept and if living with the guilt motivates you not to cheat again, then you can keep your mouth shut with a semi-clear-ish conscience. This advice is not a license for serial adulterers. A serial adulterer/betrayer/liar is a cheating piece of shit; someone who cheated once, regrets it and makes a good-faith, multi-decade effort not to do it again is a fallible human being.
I am a 36-year-old Italian straight man. I love my girlfriend endlessly. One month ago, she told me she has thoughts about missing out on the things she didn’t get to do in her teens. She is 29 years old now. Also, she says she feels only a mild love for me now and is curious about other men. Yesterday we met and cried and talked and made love and it felt like she still loves me passionately. But she also told me she had sex with a stranger a week ago, and she is going for one-and-a-half months to Los Angeles on her own. Now I feel confused. I should hate her for what she did to me, I should tell her to fuck off, but I can’t do it. I am so in love and I want to be together again after her trip. How do I exit this turmoil?
“THERE ARE TIMES WHEN UNBURDENING YOURSELF IS ABSOLUTELY THE WRONG THING TO DO.”
My boyfriend of five years is a sweet, smart, handsome, loving, supportive, middle-aged, chubby white guy. We have a fulfilling sex life. When we first met, he shared a fantasy he had about watching me get fucked by a black guy. (He knows it’s not something I’m interested in IRL.) I’ve caught him several times posing online as a young, buff, handsome black guy looking for a “snowbunny.” I call him out on it every time, and it causes huge fights. He says he’ll stop, but he never does. Weighed against all his other good qualities, this isn’t that big of a deal. Clearly he’s not going to meet up with the women he’s chatting with. What makes me sad is that I adore him as he is — I love his big white belly, his bald head and his rosy cheeks. I think I do a good job of commu-
PENSIVE AND INSECURE NOW
You exit this turmoil by breaking up with your girlfriend. She wants to get out there and do “things she didn’t get to do in her teens,” i.e., fuck other guys and most likely date other guys. This isn’t what you want, PAIN, you’ve made that clear to her, but she’s gonna fuck other guys anyway. You don’t have to pretend to hate her, PAIN, and you don’t have to tell her to fuck off. But you do have to tell her that it’s over — at least for now. And once she goes, PAIN, don’t lie around tormenting yourself with mental images of all the things/men she’s doing in Los Angeles. You’re going to be single. So get out there, date other women, do some things/women you haven’t done. If she wants to get back together when she returns you can pick things up where you left off. But you should act like it’s over while she’s gone, PAIN, because it most likely is. On the Lovecast, Cheryl Strayed schools Dan on hiking sex: savagelovecast.com.
SEND YOUR QUESTIONS TO MAIL@SAVAGELOVE.NET AND FIND THE SAVAGE LOVECAST (DAN’S WEEKLY PODCAST) AT SAVAGELOVECAST.COM
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Finally a recovery program for every budget! Programs start at $60
Call today 412-434-6700 and get scheduled
Suboxone, Subutex A and R Health Services Pittsburgh, Pa
Serving Western Pennsylvania
www.suboxonehelps.org
1-800-817-4053 www.aandrsolutions.com
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