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SEPT. 25-OCT. 2, 2019 VOLUME 28 + ISSUE 39 Editor-In-Chief LISA CUNNINGHAM Associate Publisher JUSTIN MATASE Director of Operations KEVIN SHEPHERD Managing Editor ALEX GORDON Senior Writers RYAN DETO, AMANDA WALTZ Staff Writers HANNAH LYNN, JORDAN SNOWDEN Photographer/Videographer JARED WICKERHAM Digital Media Manager JOSH OSWALD Editorial Designer ABBIE ADAMS Graphic Designers JOSIE NORTON, JEFF SCHRECKENGOST Events and Sponsorship Manager BLAKE LEWIS Senior Account Executive JOHN CLIFFORD Sales Representatives KAITLIN OLIVER, NICK PAGANO Office Coordinator MAGGIE WEAVER Events and Marketing Coordinator BRYER BLUMENSCHEIN Circulation Manager JEFF ENGBARTH Featured Contributors REGE BEHE, LISSA BRENNAN, LYNN CULLEN, TERENEH IDIA, CHARLES ROSENBLUM, JESSIE SAGE Interns JOIE KNOUSE, ELISE LAVALLEE Office Administrator RODNEY REGAN National Advertising Representative VMG ADVERTISING 1.888.278.9866 OR 1.212.475.2529 Publisher EAGLE MEDIA CORP.
FIRSTSHOT BY JOIE KNOUSE
Lilja Heller-Matta, 11, and Quincy Sauter, 11, march at the Climate Strike in Downtown Pittsburgh on Fri., Sept 20.
GENERAL POLICIES: Contents copyrighted 2019 by Eagle Media Corp. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher. The opinions expressed in Pittsburgh City Paper are those of the author and not necessarily of Eagle Media Corp. LETTER POLICY: Letters, faxes or e-mails must 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.
COVER ILLUSTRATION: ABBIE ADAMS SEE STORY ON PAGE 6
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER SEPT. 25-OCT. 2, 2019
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Fu n fa ct : Th is is ou r th ir d co lo ri ng is su e!
as T h i s t e x t rwe d b y h a n d l e t t ed a m s Abbie A A feminist icon is born 17
Finding a long lost friend 23 Making messages friendlier for over 35 years 35
The City of Bridges 41 A delicious coupling 47
plus
Don’t eat this 31
Constructing a burger behemoth 49 Riding to the top 55
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First Robotics Center 1979
P
First U.S. P u b li c T V Station 1954
W or ld ’ s Fi rs t C om m er ci a l R a d io S ta ti on 19 2 0
F ir s t M o v ie Theater 1905
ITTSBURGH HAS A LOT to brag about: The polio vaccine was invented
here, our city was the first to have a public television station, and we get to claim the first commercial radio station too. There’s a reason why we’re often called The City of Champions, as our football team is tied for first when it comes to Super Bowl rings; the Penguins have taken home Lord Stanley five times; the Pirates have a really pretty stadium. And we have other nicknames too: the City of Bridges, The Paris of Appalachia, and, because of all of the movies filmed in the city, The Hollywood of the East. (Remember when Pittsburgh transformed into Gotham City for The Dark Knight Rises? That’s the one that really put us on the map, according to VisitPITTSBURGH’s chief marketing officer Tom Loftus.) But despite all of those fun facts, when VisitPITTSBURGH introduces folks from overseas to the city, Loftus says they’re most excited by two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, and cheese (you know the rest) because it’s something they can identify with. “Even people overseas can pick up a Big Mac,” says Loftus. Yes, the famous fast-food burger eaten all over the world was created right here in Southwestern Pennsylvania. There seems to be something for everyone in Pittsburgh’s history, whether you’re interested in food, arts, science, or culture. Just last week, as Loftus was introducing the city to a group of elder law attorneys, he found they were surprised at how bicycle-friendly the city was, especially excited by the Great Allegheny Passage, a 150-mile rail-trail bike tour connecting Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C. Twenty million visitors had overnight stays in Allegheny County last year, according to Loftus, and the number continues to grow every year. These quirky facts about the region are one of the draws. “Even as a native Pittsburgher, there’s so much I didn’t know,” he says. One of his favorites? Pittsburgh claims the most Catholic relics outside of the Vatican in Troy Hill’s St. Anthony’s Chapel. And the newest fun fact on his pitch? The Steel Curtain, Kennywood’s newest attraction, is the world’s tallest looping roller coaster. We’ve dedicated this year’s Coloring Issue to Pittsburgh Fun Facts to introduce our readers to some of these lesser-known tidbits about the city. Grab some colored pencils, look for our coloring pages spread throughout this issue, and let us know if you learn something new.
Firs Wor t Night G a ml d S e r t i m e e 19 ies 71
lio 4 o P 5 iF r s t n e 1 9 ci Vac
F ir s t Drive-in Gas S ta ti o n 1913
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Family portraits Clockwise from top: Shane and Jerry at Wildwood, N.J., a yearly vacation we took Jerry, age 16 Our family at Maddie’s first communion
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PITTSBURGH FACES OF ADDICTION RECOVERY
THE RECOVERY OF A FAMILY BY FRANCES SANSIG RUPP // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
City Grows, LLC
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“
ID YOU GO TO Al-Anon Meetings?” my daughter, Maddie, 26,
texts me out of the blue from her Philly apartment at 7 a.m. “Yes, why?” I ask. “Just wondering if you found it helpful.” “Yes — are you considering going?” “Considering it. But would it be weird, now that he’s dead?” The morning I began writing this story, it’s almost prescient that this is what’s weighing on her. It’s been a year-and-a-half since her father passed and she is still trying to sort things out, during the precious little time she has in the morning as she prepares to commute to her University of Pennsylvania job teaching city kids how to cook nutritious meals. It’s no coincidence that this is her first job after receiving her master’s — her father instilled a love of cooking in her, as trite as it sounds, as soon as she could reach the stove. I have to remind myself now that this is our story. My therapist tells me that. The story of Frances, and her children Maddie, Michael and Shane, and their recovery after loving and losing someone to addiction.
5208 Butler Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15201 412-781-2082
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I
’M HERE TO GIVE a face to the nebulous shadows behind those faces of
those who beat addiction. And those who didn’t. At my very first group meeting at Gateway Rehabilitation Center for folks supporting someone with addiction, a counselor somberly said, “If you want to know if there’s an addict in the home, look at the faces of those who care for the addict. That will tell you all you need to know.” It was the first time anyone had given me consideration. For almost two decades, people tried to dictate my narrative. “It’s your fault he drinks.” “Why can’t you keep your husband in line?” “Why are you so cold? He has a disease. Where is your compassion?” Every now and then, those voices whisper from a distance, but they’re muted, and I know how to shut them out. There was a time when shame was an old, pilled sweater I cloaked myself with every day; guilt was a cold ghost, following me everywhere I went. Those feelings eventually turned into anger and hostility. I had lost myself and become a person who existed only within the context of my relationship with an alcoholic. Every day was a battle. And I lost. CONTINUES ON PG. 10
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER SEPT. 25-OCT. 2, 2019
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THE RECOVERY OF A FAMILY, CONTINUED FROM PG. 9
I had never imagined this for myself when, at almost 25, I met Jerry. He was the man I was looking for. Stable. Good job. He came from a large, warm family who welcomed me. He was funny. No, it was more than that. He was the kind of guy who would leave you with side stitches after spending time with him. No one laughed at his humor out of politeness, his observations on life were genuine, raw, and hilarious. He was an eternal optimist. Our romance was quick and it wasn’t long before we knew we wanted to spend our lives together — and have a family. And so it was in the spring of 1993 that we had our first born, Madison. He insisted she didn’t have a middle name because he wanted her to take “Monahan” for her middle name when she got married, “so she’d be a Monahan for life.” He was thrilled to have a child, so much so that we had another just over a year later. Michael Kelly Monahan would be born in the spring of 1994. Things weren’t perfect, as they never are, but his alcoholism didn’t seem to be a problem then. Sure, he overindulged during a Steeler game. Or when he’d go out with friends after work. But this was normal, right? As our relationship — and his drinking — waxed on, it became more difficult to laugh. “You worry too much,” he’d say. “And you don’t worry enough,” I’d retort. Addiction can be tricky that way. I remember reading a piece by a woman who tried to explain her critics for “not recognizing the problem in front of her” that often, alcoholism starts as a small
From a trip Jerry and I took to Ohiopyle
drip. Every once in a while, you hear it, but it’s not enough to be concerned. You get used to the drip, so you stop hearing it, despite the drip becoming faster, and the water pressure growing. Eventually, you’ve got a waterfall. And three children. That would be me. By the time our third child had come along, I was worried. The drinking after work had become a serious issue, but I told myself, “He provided for our children. I guess I need to put up with this.” Jerry and I had separated several times over the course of our marriage. One of them so soon after our third child Shane was born that he was so tiny that
he slept in a drawer (on the bed) at my mother-in-law’s, where I was staying. Eventually, my anger and growing shame turned me into a person I no longer recognized. I hated life; I hated myself. And I needed to get help, not just for myself, but so that I could be a better mom to my children.
W
“
HY AM I at these Al-Anon
meetings? I don’t have a problem.” “It must be nice to tune out and let me handle absolutely everything.” I’d go to AA meetings with Jerry during their “speaker” meetings, and
quickly tire of the narcissistic storytelling. Addicts can be very charming and they love to hear themselves talk. No, the story about you waking up on the railroad tracks isn’t funny at all. Because I’m thinking about the mom at home worrying about you, the brother upset because you won’t answer phone calls, and the wife at home with your kids going out of her mind with worry. But I’m glad you find it so amusing. The bravado when you get your chip. The attention-seeking behavior when you’re six months sober. You probably think this is a crass way to think about alcoholics, but unless you’ve been in the belly of the beast yourself, you don’t know. You don’t know. These were my feelings, right or wrong, and I was entitled to them. Therapy, a lot of self-reflection, and a heavy dose of books with Buddhist teachings helped me to accept that even if many addicts are narcissists, in the end, I don’t have to live in the tormented world they do. I don’t struggle with a disease that often ends in incarceration or death. Accepting that was part of my recovery process. As you can see, there’s a whole lot of acceptance involved. I started to become a person I liked again. And the time came when I needed to save myself and my children from the waterfall. I’d been building a lifeboat out of internal strength, faith, and acceptance, and she was ready to launch. Nothing I could say or do, nothing my children could say or do, would help Jerry recover. I needed to take care of myself. Not that that didn’t entail feeling selfish. But I had to be. I finally divorced him in 2011. CONTINUES ON PG. 12
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER SEPT. 25-OCT. 2, 2019
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THE RECOVERY OF A FAMILY, CONTINUED FROM PG. 10
Jerry with Maddie, probably the year before his death
J
ERRY HAD had a few close calls
before, but as St. Patrick’s day neared in 2018, he had hit his head on the curb while exiting a vehicle. Coming home from a bar. The doctors said there was little hope, and even if he did live, he would be a vegetable. We all knew he didn’t want to live that way. My daughter, his next of kin, 24 at the time, my eldest son, 23, and my youngest son, 17, talked among themselves about whether or not to remove him from life support. The decision was made, the machines were unplugged, and he was moved to hospice, where he took entirely too long to pass. Watching him die was a tortuous process for all of us. But when he did, it was a relief. Had he not gone this way, it was just a matter of time before the cirrhosis killed him. We no longer had to worry about those phone calls. Or when it would happen. It was over. He was at peace. Now, we just needed to find ours. If I had to count how many people were affected by Jerry’s death, it would take some time. Instead, I think of his existence as a constellation. He was at the center, burning too bright and too fast, while all of the people still here — not just me and my kids — but his three sisters, his mother, step-siblings, countless nieces and nephews, best friends, continue to spin and shine a light on
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what was once there, all the while aching for his love and his humor. With the help of Jerry’s sisters and a little from me, my daughter put on a funeral. There were at least a hundred people there. And the bagpipe honor guard. That was the one thing he made me promise — because he always knew I’d outlive him. “Franny, please make sure I have bagpipes at my funeral.”
T
HE SERVICE WAS HELD in a club
house with sofas at the front of the room, where close family sat. Everyone who wanted to had a chance to speak. My daughter had prepared something, as did his eldest sister and one of his best friends. They all addressed that he had a disease, that, in the end, consumed him. It was cathartic, it was honest, it was an ending and a beginning. I can’t stress enough how being open about addiction is so important in order to be able to heal. Even though I’m remarried, I think about Jerry often. I will always love him and I’m able to accept that I did everything I could. I don’t think “what if?” anymore. I’m not angry anymore. My children have accepted that there was very little they could do. It’s something we will always live with, though. Together, we are finding ourselves again, one day at a time.
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.GUEST COLUMN .
making the food the centerpiece of the experience rather than the alcohol. Have you noticed how agreeable the atmosphere is at Tram’s, Smiling Banana Leaf, People’s, and a dozen other Asian restaurants in Pittsburgh? By downplaying the booze, I think these restaurants become more relaxing for everyone, including those of us who don’t drink.
IN SEARCH OF SOBERFRIENDLY SPACES BY JESSICA WILLIAMS INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
I
VIVIDLY REMEMBER the first time
in my 20s that I had fun sober. I know there were times in my childhood and teens when I enjoyed life without a drink or a drug, but by the time my 20s rolled around, I was firmly convinced that real fun required heavy intoxication and I held onto that notion for years. Then, I was 28 years old and had recently gotten sober. Sobriety was depressing, but I couldn’t see any way around it. I imagined a gray-colored future for myself, full of awkwardness and self-loathing. Friday nights were the worst. Since I certainly had no other plans, I limply accepted an offer to go to Pierogi Night, a now-defunct pop-up in Lawrenceville by the folks who later opened Apteka in Bloomfield. By the time we arrived, the line had stretched around the block, so I settled in to wait. Then, over the course of that 30-minute queue, I bumped into a number of people that I knew, people it was nice to see. We chatted. I’m pretty sure we laughed. By the time the night ended, I had been thoroughly rocked by a revelation: “I can have fun sober.” The idea brought to me tears. Another radical thought followed: “It wasn’t just me.” Pierogi Night didn’t have a liquor
Cavacini Garden Center
CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM
Jessica Williams
license, so the majority of participants were pretty darn sober. And a good number of them appeared to be having fun. Maybe there was something instructive about the environment, I considered. That these pleasant people having a pleasant time showed me how to do something that I didn’t know how to do, didn’t believe I could. It was a powerful experience made possible by a sober-friendly space. I treasure these spaces. They are protective, instructive, and inclusive. I believe that Pittsburgh needs more of them — and not just to accommodate people like me in recovery, but to give everyone a healthy break from our culture’s grim
fixation on alcohol and other drugs. Here are a few other spots in Pittsburgh that I’ve found to be sober-friendly: 1) B52: This restaurant in Upper Lawrenceville serves thoughtful vegan fare, and they don’t sell any booze. But they’ve got fun drinks! There’s always a kombucha or two to choose from, in addition to sodas, teas, and coffee drinks. I like going to B52 because it feels like a treat, and I never feel like I’m missing out on the cocktail element of eating well. 2) ASIAN RESTAURANTS: There are too many to list here, but most Asian and Indian restaurants do a great job of
Jessica Williams, MPH is the Director of Communication and Health Promotion, Institute for Research, Education and Training in Addictions (IRETA)
3) MIXTAPE: I hesitated to include this on the list because it is, after all, a bar; but, I think this Garfield hangout illustrates the ways even a “drinking establishment” can create an environment that feels safe for non-drinkers. Mixtape advertises its offerings as “caffeine and cocktails,” which means there’s a nice selection of coffee shop drinks to choose from in addition to beer, wine, and cocktails. They’ve also got a decent mocktail menu. But to me, Mixtape’s sober-friendly qualities go beyond the drinks. It’s about the atmosphere they’ve consciously created. Even when full, Mixtape is rarely so loud that you have to yell to be heard. There’s a nice selection of board games to play. It’s chill. Not everyone will agree that these spots constitute “sober-friendly spaces,” and that’s OK. People will also find this list hopelessly incomplete — “What about Roboto?” they’ll ask. “Are you kidding me? She forgot Dobra!” — and that’s to be expected. The point is that these sober-friendly spaces have made a real difference in my life, as well as the lives of untold numbers of other Pittsburghers who are working to reduce or abstain from substance use. Do we have enough of them? As we celebrate National Recovery Month this September, these are the questions we should be asking. What can we do to create them? How does the city as a whole benefit from them?
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER SEPT. 25-OCT. 2, 2019
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.JUST JAGGIN’.
EXERCISING DEFIANCE BY JOSH OSWALD // JOSWALD@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
F
ACEBOOK IS AWFUL, and we all
know it, but there’s always an excuse to go there: getting to the end of Twitter, creeping on an acquaintance’s photos, or just plain boredom. Recently, my feed has been pushing countless ads for exercise equipment. While I applaud their accurate determination that I practice a sedentary lifestyle, I can’t tolerate the stupidity of the athletic devices they’re showing me. My current arch-nemesis from Big Exercise is something called MIRROR. The ad for MIRROR follows the current standards and practices of today’s exercise commercials: a fit, young person wearing their finest athleisure in their multi-million dollar midcentury modern house works up a sweat in a room no human would ever workout in, like their kitchen or dining room, and they’re smiling the entire time like some kind of psychopath fueled by pain and boredom. If you’ve seen a Peloton Bike ad, you know what I’m talking about. But while an exercise bike equipped with live classes makes sense to me, MIRROR is just a 40-inch television turned 90 degrees counterclockwise. You hang it on your wall just like your TV. Only its profile is vertical like the
monitor of a cool software engineer. Oh, and when you are not using it, it is a regular mirror. A mirror that shows you the reflection of the dolt who spent $1,495 on a piece of glass. That price does not include the $40 per month you will need to spend to access the same workouts you can get from a Shaun T DVD at your local library. I thought commenting that it was “just a vertical TV” on the Facebook ad would make it go away. Instead, those sick SOBs in Silicon Valley just ratcheted up the frequency. If they were going to be stubborn about it, then I would be too. I continued to submit a slight variation on the same post over and over on the ad each time it appeared. My comments got about 15 likes, which exceeds my expectations for trolling an account that is probably 100 percent automated. And if putting up with insufferable ads and being stupid enough to respond to them garners me critical acclaim in the form of likes from people I don’t know, then it was all worth it. The ads have ceased. I don’t know whether I blocked MIRROR in a rage blackout or if as the leader of the resistance, I broke the spirit of both Facebook and MIRROR. If I were a betting man, I’d choose the latter.
Follow digital media manager Josh Oswald on Twitter @gentlemenRich
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A feminist icon is born // Illustration by Abby Winkler While commonly thought to be a recruitment poster for WWII, the popular image of Rosie the Riveter was actually created in 1942 by Pittsburgh artist J. Howard Miller as a commission from the Westinghouse Company. It wasn’t until the 1980s that it became part of pop-culture iconography. PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER SEPT. 25-OCT. 2, 2019
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.FOR THE WEEK OF SEPT. 26
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY BY ROB BREZSNY // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “I just cut my bangs in a gas station bathroom,” confesses a Libran blogger who calls herself MagicLipstick. “An hour ago I shocked myself by making an impulse buy of a perfect cashmere trench coat from a stranger loitering in a parking lot,” testifies another Libran blogger who refers to himself as MaybeMaybeNot. “Today I had the sudden realization that I needed to become a watercolor painter, then signed up for a watercolor class that starts tomorrow,” writes a Libran blogger named UsuallyPrettyCareful. In normal times, I wouldn’t recommend that you Libras engage in actions that are so heedlessly and delightfully spontaneous. But I do now.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You could call the assignment I have for you as “taking a moral inventory” or you could refer to it as “going to confession.” I think of it as “flushing out your worn-out problems so as to clear a space for better, bigger, more interesting problems.” Ready? Take a pen and piece of paper or open a file on your computer and write about your raw remorse, festering secrets, unspeakable apologies, inconsolable guilt, and desperate mortifications. Deliver the mess to me at Truthrooster@gmail.com. I’ll print out your testimony and conduct a ritual of purgation. As I burn your confessions in my bonfire at the beach, I’ll call on the Goddess to purify your heart and release you from your angst. (P.S. I’ll keep everything confidential.)
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Two hundred years ago, Sagittarian genius Ludwig Beethoven created stirring music that’s often played today. He’s regarded as one of history’s greatest classical composers. And yet he couldn’t multiply or divide numbers. That inability made it hard for him to organize his finances. He once wrote about himself that he was “an incompetent business man who is bad at arithmetic.” Personally, I’m willing to forgive those flaws and focus on praising him for his soul-inspiring music. I encourage you to practice a similar approach with yourself in the next two weeks. Be extra lenient and merciful and magnanimous as you evaluate the current state of your life. In this phase of your cycle, you need to concentrate on what works instead of on what doesn’t work.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “When you hit a wall — of your own imagined limitations — just kick it in,” wrote playwright Sam Shepard. That seems like a faulty metaphor to me. Have you ever tried to literally kick in a wall? I just tried it, and it didn’t work. I put on a steel-toe work boot and launched it at a closet door in my basement, and it didn’t make a dent. Plus now my foot hurts. So what might be a better symbol for breaking through your imagined limitations? How about this: use a metaphorical sledgehammer or medieval battering ram or backhoe. (P.S. Now is a great time to attend to this matter.)
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In 1965, Chinese archaeologists found an untarnished 2400-year-old royal bronze sword that was still sharp and shiny. It was intricately accessorized with turquoise and blue crystals, precision designs, and a silk-wrapped grip. I propose we make the Sword of Goujian one of your symbolic power objects for the coming months. May it inspire you to build your power and authority by calling on the spirits of your ancestors and your best memories. May it remind you that the past has gifts to offer your future. May it mobilize you to invoke beauty and grace as you fight for what’s good and true and just.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “All human beings have three lives: public, private, and secret,” wrote Piscean novelist Gabriel García Márquez. I will add that during different phases of our lives, one or the other of these three lives might take precedence; may need more care than usual. According to my analysis, your life in the coming weeks will offer an abundance of vitality and
blessings in the third area: your secret life. For best results, give devoted attention to your hidden depths. Be a brave explorer of your mysterious riddles.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Comedian John Cleese speaks of two different modes toward which we humans gravitate. The closed style is tight, guarded, rigid, controlling, hierarchical, and tunnel-visioned. The open is more relaxed, receptive, exploratory, democratic, playful, and humorous. I’m pleased to inform you that you’re in a phase when spending luxurious amounts of time in the open mode would be dramatically healing to your mental health. Luckily, you’re more predisposed than usual to operate in that mode. I encourage you to experiment with the possibilities.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Upcoming adventures could test your poise and wit. They may activate your uncertainties and stir you to ask provocative questions. That’s cause for celebration, in my opinion. I think you’ll benefit from having your poise and wit tested. You’ll generate good fortune for yourself by exploring your uncertainties and asking provocative questions. You may even thrive and exult and glow like a miniature sun. Why? Because you need life to kick your ass in just the right gentle way so you will become alert to possibilities you have ignored or been blind to.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Novelist John Irving asked, “Who can distinguish between falling in love and imagining falling in love? Even genuinely falling in love is an act of the imagination.” That will be a helpful idea for you to contemplate in the coming weeks. Why? Because you’re more likely than usual to fall in love or imagine falling in love—or both. And even if you don’t literally develop a crush on an attractive person or deepen your intimacy with a person you already care for, I suspect you will be inflamed with an elevated lust for life that will enhance the attractiveness of everything and everyone you behold.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): You know your body is made of atoms, but you may not realize that every one of your atoms is mostly empty space. Each nucleus contains 99 percent of the atom’s mass, but is as small in comparison to the rest of the atom as a pea is to a cathedral. The tiny electrons, which comprise the rest of the basic unit, fly around in a vast, deserted area. So we can rightfully conclude that you are mostly made of nothing. That’s a good meditation right now. The coming weeks will be a fine time to enjoy the refreshing pleasures of emptiness. The less frenzy you stir up, the healthier you’ll be. The more spacious you allow your mind to be, the smarter you’ll become. “Roomy” and “capacious” will be your words of power.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “We don’t always have a choice about how we get to know one another,” wrote novelist John Irving. “Sometimes, people fall into our lives cleanly—as if out of the sky, or as if there were a direct flight from Heaven to Earth.” This principle could be in full play for you during the coming weeks. For best results, be alert for the arrival of new allies, future colleagues, unlikely matches, and surprise helpers.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In North America, people call the phone number 911 to report an emergency. In much of the EU, the equivalent is 112. As you might imagine, worry-warts sometimes use these numbers even though they’re not experiencing a legitimate crisis. For example, a Florida woman sought urgent aid when her local McDonald’s ran out of Chicken McNuggets. In another case, a man walking outdoors just after dawn spied a blaze of dry vegetation in the distance and notified authorities. But it turned out to be the rising sun. I’m wondering if you and yours might be prone to false alarms like these in the coming days, Virgo. Be aware of that possibility. You’ll have substantial power if you marshal your energy for real dilemmas and worthy riddles, which will probably be subtle.
Go to realastrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes and daily text-message horoscopes. The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700
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A TASTY NIGHT OF FOOD AND FUN.
OCT. 3, 2019 6:30-9 P.M. Celebrate the 150th anniversary of Pittsburgh’s own H.J. Heinz Company with an evening full of pickle and ketchup history, a tasty hot dog bar, and delicious craft cocktails courtesy of Wigle Whiskey. Tickets available at heinzhistorycenter.org/events.
1212 Smallman St. | Pittsburgh, Pa heinzhistorycenter.org
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER SEPT. 25-OCT. 2, 2019
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.RESTAURANT REVIEW.
CHiKN BY MAGGIE WEAVER MWEAVER@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
N
ASHVILLE HOT CHICKEN is the focus of Oakland’s newest fastcasual eatery, CHiKN. The preparation style — one of Nashville’s most popular dishes and growing nationally — is a cruel one. The chicken, traditionally brined in spicy buttermilk, double-fried, and then layered with heat, will make you cry from both joy and spice. It’s crunchy, rich, and doesn’t really taste like any other kind of fried chicken. Most of CHiKN’s food is fried, evident from the long row of fryers that replace a cooktop in its open kitchen. The pint-sized menu lists a Nashvillestyle chicken sandwich, chicken and waffles, tenders, and a salad. A few sides are available to accompany the entrees: coleslaw, mac ‘n’ cheese, fries, and fresh fruit; for breakfast, there are egg sandwiches, avocado toast, home fries, and bacon.
CHiKN 3712 Forbes Ave., Oakland. hotchikn.com
The spice levels for the chicken are listed as Southern (no heat), mild, medium, hot, and damn hot. The top level, “the damn hot,” is not for the casual spice fan. Reviewers have called it “brutally satisfying” and “painfully spicy.” (The graphic for the spice scale involves chickens breathing different levels of fire.) When I put in my order, three tenders at top heat, the cashier asked, “Are you sure about that damn hot?” She was right to double-check, but I went ahead anyway. None of the recognizable characteristics of super spicy food — bright red, a stinging nose — were there. I was easily fooled into false confidence, but thankfully, I still took the tiniest of bites.
CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM
The chicken sandwich at CHiKN
That was enough. It was a slow burn, and soon, I was wolfing down my waffle to stave the heat. A few coworkers, brave enough to test the heat, called the tenders “just hot enough.” You can still taste the chicken through the heat. (Though, this same coworker had to shed his sweatshirt after a few bites.) The chicken and waffles were pleas-
antly sweet, a nice change of pace from the spice. A layer of butter drowned the dish, the dusting of powdered sugar caramelizing in the hot butter. The cakey waffle was the perfect bed for crunchy chicken and when dipped in syrup, gave me every justification to eat fried chicken for breakfast. For the Nashville Hot Chicken sand-
FAVORITE FEATURES: Wall Plants
Cookies
Full bar
The inside of the hip eatery resembles a barn, with pale wood walls and booths. Between the fire-breathing chicken sign are nooks filled with fresh greenery.
Combat spice with sweet from one of CHiKN’s crumbly, melty, freshbaked chocolate chip cookies.
Need a drink with your chicken? Check out the restaurant’s fullystocked bar and draft list.
wich, I opted for spice level medium (“kinda hot,” a chicken only breathing a little fire), and that worked perfectly for me, balancing well with the big, bready bun. The chicken was topped with slaw, pickles, and the restaurant’s Southernstyle comeback sauce. The sauce left enough room for the spice to shine, even over the tang of pickles and coleslaw. Apart from a slightly dry piece of chicken, I was impressed. While I’m generally apathetic when it comes to fried chicken, this place clearly knows what they’re doing, both in balanced dishes and the relentlessly spicy ones. Regardless of where you stand on the spice palate scale, you should be able to find something to like here.
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Follow staff writer Maggie Weaver on Twitter @magweav
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COFFEE LIQUEUR GOES PUMPKIN BY MAGGIE WEAVER // MWEAVER@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
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N THE 16 YEARS since Starbucks debuted the pumpkin spice latte, brands in seemingly every corner of the food industry (and beyond) have been trying to imitate its success with pumpkinspiced inventions of their own.
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MAGGIE’S FARM RUM 3212A Smallman St., Strip District. maggiesfarmrum.com
Local rum distillery Maggie’s Farm Rum is not exempt from the pumpkin fever, with its pumpkin spiced coffee liqueur debuting last year. Distillery founder Tim Russell admits that though pumpkin spice is “its own regular meme,” he doesn’t believe the flavor is overdone or that the demand for pumpkin spice is slowing down just yet. Maggie’s Farm is reaching an area of pumpkin spice that surprisingly, isn’t already saturated with options. Similar to many pumpkin beers, there’s no actual pumpkin in the distillery’s seasonal spirit. Russell notes that raw pumpkin is quite difficult to work with; the subtle flavors don’t transfer well. Instead, the distillery imitates the taste using spices that pair well with pumpkin. To make the “pumpkin” spirit, the distillery adds cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves to its cold brew liquor and perform the same distilling process. The simple addition of a few spices changes the flavor of the cordial while still allowing the coffee to act as
a dominant flavor. Maggie’s Farm pumpkin spiced spirit is best consumed over ice or in a cocktail. One of Russell’s favorites, featured last year at the distillery bar, is a White Haitian. It’s a spin on a White Russian, substituting vodka for spiced rum and the pumpkin spirit. Throw both spirits in a 10-oz. glass, top with half-and-half, and finish with grated cinnamon. Maggie’s Farm pumpkin spice spirit will be available through Thanksgiving and can also be found at most Fine Wine and Good Spirits and Pennsylvania Libations in the Strip District. But if the coffee-pumpkin combo isn’t quite your style, check out one of these other local offerings:
Wigle Whiskey: Pittsburgh Harvest Distilled in collaboration with Rivertowne Brewing, an imperial pumpkin ale makes up the base of Wigle’s fall spirit. The seasonal whiskey has hints of pumpkin and cinnamon.
Southern Tier Brewing Company: Pumking Imperial Ale Southern Tier’s infamous fall ale is “the king of pumpkin beers,” according to the brewery. Drink your way through the entire Pumking family: imperial, nitro, and cold brew coffee.
Arsenal Cider House: Grant’s Flying Pumpkin Cider Forget apples! Arsenal uses pumpkin flavor — from actual pumpkins — in this fall cider. The light cider balances a mild pumpkin flavor with warm spices.
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Finding a long lost friend // Illustration by Jerome Charles The city was called Pittsburgh in 1758, but the United States Board on Geographic Names ordered that all places ending in “Burgh” had to drop the “H” in 1891. For 20 years, the public argued against the change, and places like Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the University of Pittsburgh refused to adopt the decision. In 1911, the “H” was returned. PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER SEPT. 25-OCT. 2, 2019
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.MUSIC.
NEW(ISH) BEGINNINGS
THE LOCAL 913: STRING MACHINE BY LIZ FELIX // LIZ@WYEP.ORG
David Beck describes his band String Machine as “dense indie folk.” The band’s new album Death of the Neon digs in to a dense topic, too: the anxiety of knowing that change is a constant part of life. “We chose the album title, Death of the Neon, because we were like, ‘That could be interpreted so many different ways,’” Beck says. “But it is quite literally in reference to a Dodge Neon I had and how it stopped working. STAY UP-TOSo, with that concept DATE WITH THIS and the album, WEEK’S LOCAL it’s like, my life changed a lot in MUSIC NEWS the last year.” WITH CP MUSIC Change can be WRITER JORDAN uncomfortable, but sometimes it brings SNOWDEN positive results. For AND WYEP Beck, those changes EVENING MIX included a move HOST LIZ FELIX from Saxonburg to Pittsburgh’s North Listen every Side, and moving Wednesday from making music at 7 p.m. on as a solo artist to 91.3FM WYEP the current formation of String Machine, a seven-piece group inspired by big musical collectives like Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene. Beck composes the group’s lyrics and the band works together on the music. Beck says that forming the band was an organic experience. “Collaboration makes it richer,” he says. On the beautiful, melancholic single “Eight Legged Dog,” Beck yearns for change. “It was me searching for something to write about and coming up dry, and then thinking about that in relation to my life in general and feeling exhausted, worn out, and too familiar with my surroundings. This album is really about accepting that things gotta change. Sometimes, you gotta break the mold and get out of what you’re familiar with.” •
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BY JORDAN SNOWDEN // JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
I
F IT WASN’T for Davey Pierce of Yip Deceiver, ex-delicious pastries members Jonathan Chamberlain, Stephen Gallo, and Jesse Ley might have remained ex-delicious pastries members. Now, they make up the band Chariot Fade and will play their first live show on Oct. 2, when they open for Yip Deceiver at Spirit. “[Pierce] reached out a month or two ago [about] a solo tour for his new album,” says Ley. “He was like, ‘Yeah, I’m coming to Pittsburgh, and I’d really like to play with you”… and he said early October, so I was like, ‘Ok let’s make it happen.’ So we kind of like, pushed things ahead of schedule to accommodate. Which is good, sometimes you need that incentive to get things done.” At the time of that conversation Ley, Chamberlain, and Gallo had no completed songs, hadn’t been rehearsing, didn’t even have a full band lineup or name, and had no online presence. “We’d been focused on arrangements and composing new ideas,” says Ley. “[Gallo] and [Chamberlain] have really been agonizing over mixes to make sure things are a higher quality then there were previously. That was the primary focus for so long, so
Chariot Fade CP PHOTO: JOIE KNOUSE
when the show presented itself, we were like, ‘Oh, we actually have to be a band. We need to get out of these bedrooms and studio spaces and present ourselves to other humans.’ We recognized what we were doing only existed in this weird vacuum.” To start the process, they picked a name — Chariot Fade — and began browsing through their collection of ideas to choose how they would debut themselves. They settled on two songs, “Witness to a Lover” and “Spotless Century,” the latter a track that had been in the works since the end of delicious pastries, when the future of the band was unclear. “The reason we chose [“Spotless Century”] was that it kind of acted like a nice transition from what we were doing and the direction that we were going in,” says Ley. “There are elements in it that will seem kind of familiar, like there’s a lot of ‘60s pop influences and then it sort of abruptly changes into something a little bit more electronic, a little bit more dance-y.” On Feb. 1, delicious pastries, made up of Gallo, Ley, Chamberlain, along with Burr Settles, Dan Styslinger, and Vince Poprock, played their last show together at Howlers. The members realized that, after 10 years, their sound was shifting
CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM
CHARIOT FADE WITH YIP DECEIVER, KY VÖSS, AND PAULA LOCKWOOD (OF TASTE) 8 p.m. Wed., Oct. 2. Spirit, 242 51st St., Lawrenceville. $7. chariotfade.bandcamp.com
— from a classic ‘60s pop songwriting to music with heavy basslines, drum loops, and synthesizers — and it was time to put an end to the project. The second song Chariot Fade chose to put out, “Witness to a Lover,” leans
heavily into the new sonic direction of the group, with samples and electronic drum programming. It’s on the other end of the spectrum musically, and the members felt the two songs offered a good representation of the new band.
Follow staff writer Jordan Snowden on Twitter @snowden_jordan
“The reality is that elements of what we’ve always done are still present because the primary creative forces of the other group are still intact and a lot of those songwriting tendencies don’t necessarily disappear just because you’re doing a new thing,” says Ley. “I feel like there’s familiar elements, but there’s also moments that feel like stretching and pushing further in a new direction. So, ‘Spotless’ is a good place to start. Hopefully it will lead [listeners] into what’s to come.” Since Chariot Fade’s lineup is not yet finalized, they recruited friends to fill in the empty spots on bass and drums for their debut show at Spirit. Sports Metaphors guitarist and vocalist Dane Adelman will be on the bass and Rave Ami’s Evan Meindl will play the drums. “It was funny, the amount of attention we were putting into scrutinizing these decisions,” says Ley. “We have the luxury of transitioning out of a project that had a certain level of visibility in and around the city. … [But] you don’t realize how insular the process is when it’s completely new. It’s been such a long time since I experienced being involved with something nobody knows about. … We didn’t have to make a Myspace page though, so that was cool.”
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER SEPT. 25-OCT. 2, 2019
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.FASHION.
CLOTHES MAKE ... BY TERENEH IDIA CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
Name: Amani Lewis artist TELL ME WHAT YOU’RE WEARING TODAY AND WHY. Today I am wearing a beige H&M shirt with shorts that can be pants, you zip the legs on to make it a chino jogger. Since it is hot, I took them off. I found these boots in my closet yesterday, which I have not worn in so many years. They are my art boots, the first Timbs I bought myself. I used to go in the studio and wear these, that’s why they are so worn down, but I like the look with the beige and green. Oh, and some hi-tip socks. ALSO TELL ME ABOUT YOUR JEWELRY. My bling. This bracelet is from my favorite teacher from MICA [Maryland Institute College of Art] who got it in Africa — it’s supposed to protect you. I said to her, “Oh, I like your bracelet.” And she said, “Oh I think you might need it more than I do,” took it off, and gave it me. And this one, Murjoni [Merriweather], my best friend and collaborator, had a birthday party and someone was selling bracelets, and this one really called out to me. It is like a mango, green, beige, and blue beads with this black rock. THE NECKLACE? The necklace is from my Nana who went to Israel and got my name in Hebrew. Murjoni made the earrings. SO WHAT BRINGS YOU TO PITTSBURGH? Kilolo [Luckett, curator] offered me a solo show at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, here in Pittsburgh. The main series I worked on was Negroes in Trees, which I started after an exhibition in New York City in May. ... It is really like a retrospective of my work from the moment I graduated from school, [work made during] the uprisings in Baltimore [after the murder of Freddie Gray], and then started collaborating with folks from Baltimore as well.
CP PHOTO: TERENEH IDIA
Amani Lewis with Negroes in the Trees #7, 2019
WEBSITE: AMANILEWIS.COM INSTAGRAM: @AMANILEWIS_ WHEN WAS THE FIRST SENSE THAT ART AND ARTISTS EXISTS AND THAT YOU SHOULD BE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE? I think for me it was the way I saw the world that let me see that I was an artist, because the type of conversations I would have, I would always have a different or added perspective that people weren’t really thinking about. I always thought because I have a different understanding of how I relate to my environment, to other people I was always conceptualizing those conversations and ideas as well. I always had a visual of some of the things I was speaking about; it was like math — art was like math, so I always had an equation I was working out in my head. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE/STYLES? Goodness, they have changed over time. In high school, I was wearing TJ Maxx clothes. I didn’t get to buy my own clothes, I just put them on and went to
school. In college, I worked at a clothing store called PacSun; I had a chance to curate my work. I was going for a more dom look, earring motor-jeans, joggers, collared shirts with sweaters. I can’t even explain, like prep boy then more skateboard style. Now it is more like chilling, raggedy, ashy, warehouse ... [Ambrose looks over and shakes her head] ... Shut it. [Laughs] I don’t care. I AM WRITING “ASHY.” Oh, you have to keep “ashy” in the piece. It is like the Kanye West look, the line he did with PacSun. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL GIFT TO YOURSELF THAT YOU WEAR OFTEN? I have this black muscle tee that I wear; it fits my body well. ... I wear that with black pants, brown belt, and white or brown shoes. My hair is golden right now, so I like it when my hair and shoes match, like balanced ... black on black, black is my color. All black every day.
Follow featured contributor Tereneh Idia on Twitter @Tereneh152XX
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PHOTO: DAVID HINDLEY/ROADSIDE PICTURES
Renée Zellweger
.FILM.
JUDY
BY HANNAH LYNN // HLYNN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
T
HERE’S AN EERIE irony and occa-
sional guilt in watching a movie about a woman whose life was marred by the fact that she worked in movies. In the biopic Judy, which chronicles Judy Garland’s struggling health and career in the last year of her life, there is no reprieve from the tragedy. At 46 years old, Garland (Renée Zellweger) has no permanent home and no steady income to provide for her children. Her drug use and insomnia have ravaged her personal and professional life; with few other options, she agrees to a multi-week concert run at a theater in London and leaves her young kids with her ex-husband. She lives alone at a hotel, drinking, smoking, and taking pills until it’s time for her to get onstage (if she’s sober enough), and then goes home alone again. She rarely sleeps (only once in the movie) and never eats (a tiny bite of cake, once). Physically, she is thin, pale, and looks much older than her age. But she still has that voice and when she’s on, people eat it up. But when she’s off — late, drunk, stumbling around the stage — the crowd is quick to turn on her, heckling or throwing food. In the middle of the film, she marries her fifth husband, Mickey Deans (Finn Wittrock), who, like her previous husbands, is interested in making money off his wife and ultimately can’t handle the burden of Garland’s struggles. Those aforementioned struggles are put into context with flashbacks of teenage Garland on the set of Wizard of Oz,
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where the studio put her on a strict diet and gave her amphetamines to keep her awake and barbiturates to help her sleep. The latter eventually killed her. In Garland’s adult life in the film, she is still famous enough that people are always asking, “Can I get you anything?” But she’s not rich enough to actually have anything. In her teenage flashbacks, a slimy executive tells her that if she doesn’t work 18 hour days and do the pills and the dieting, she will have nothing.
JUDY Directed by Rupert Goold. Opens Fri., Sept. 27.
The flashbacks, like the rest of the movie, are profoundly sad. In one scene, teen Garland is on a date at a diner with young Mickey Rooney, eating hamburgers and fries. Only it’s not a real diner; it’s a set created so press can get photos of them “dating,” and Garland’s not actually eating because she’s not allowed to. In another, there’s a similar setup with a fake birthday party where she’s not allowed to eat the cake. While the flashbacks are sad, they’re also cartoonish, in tone and appearance, with washed-out hues like a black and white photo that’s been colorized with pastels. Teen Garland feels more like a faded portrait than a real person; her lines are mostly responses to being yelled at.
Zellweger fully disappears into her role, with a dark wig, colored contacts, and prosthetic nose. But she has the mannerisms and posture too, as well as the voice (I mean, not the voice, but good enough). It’s not far into the movie before you forget that it’s Zellweger you’re watching. Most of the other characters and acting in the movie are wasted on forgettable fluff. Judy has the problem biopics of this caliber struggle with, which is that there are no surprises — even if you don’t know much about Garland (like me, who has never seen Wizard of Oz), nothing in the movie will come as a surprise. Her life had the trajectory common for people who get too famous at too young an age, and it’s not made easier by the persistent collective amnesia about childhood stardom. Every generation has child stars who barely make it out alive (or don’t). It’s clear the cast and filmmakers admire Garland, but the film struggles under the weight of its subject. It doesn’t know how to handle her addiction besides showing it over and over again, and it doesn’t know how to respect her talent without being corny. She is always described in the film as a legend and an incomparable talent, but without explaining where that came from. In Judy, she is more mythological figure than a real, three dimensional human. But we’re already familiar with the myth; it would have been nice to get to know the person.
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A doctor in the Children’s Hospital Poison Center created the Mr. Yuk sticker in 1971. // Illustration by Jeff Schreckengost
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER SEPT. 25-OCT. 2, 2019
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THREADSONCARSON.COM
SOUTH SIDE _________ MONROEVILLE MALL
Are you tired of tracking down food trucks? PHOTO: MICHAEL DAX IACOVONE
Don’t miss our Weekly Food Truck Schedule! Available every Tuesday at pghcitypaper.com
Boat Trip
.ART . .
STATION TO STATION BY HANNAH LYNN // HLYNN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
I
F YOU WERE WALKING Downtown
last Friday, you might have seen or heard protesters participating in the Climate Strike. The event was part of a global movement, led by high school students, protesting for immediate and urgent action against the climate crisis. As the direness of climate change becomes increasingly obvious, its effects seep into every part of our culture, from transportation, to dining, to art. Else-
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where Downtown, two exhibits at two T-Stations address climate change in novel, distinct ways. At the BNY Mellon Satellite Gallery in the lobby of the Steel Plaza T-Station, Contemporary Craft has assembled Crafting Conversations, an exhibit of sculptures, clothing, and other works that highlight the sustainability of materials. At Wood Street Galleries above the Wood Street T-Station, Boat
Trip, opening Fri., Sept. 27 at the Downtown Gallery Crawl, is a collection of video and sound work about the Arctic Circle as it continues to thaw at an alarming pace. You hear Boat Trip before you see it. Getting off the elevator of the gallery, visitors are greeted by a loud, ominous gushing sound. In the gallery room, there are speakers set up on opposite sides, playing the sound of water gushing
BOAT TRIP
CRAFTING CONVERSATIONS
5:30-10 p.m. Fri., Sept. 27. Continues through Tue., Dec. 31. Wood Street Galleries, 601 Wood St., Downtown. woodstreetgalleries.org
Continues through Jan. 15, 2020. BNY Mellon Satellite Gallery, 500 Grant St., Downtown. contemporarycraft.org
around ice, and occasionally, two icebergs crashing into each other underwater. A video on one wall, by Esther Kokmeijer, shows small pieces of ice and large chunks of iceberg floating in the dark waters of Antarctica. Another video by Michael Dax Iacovone features the same footage of water rushing past ice, doubled and reversed to create a mirror image of each other. A map on the wall (which was not yet installed when I visited) shows the history of land claims of Antarctic land; it’s not lit up and viewers can examine it with a flashlight from their smartphones, so as not to disturb the light of the videos (and to make it more interactive). In contrast, the second floor of the gallery is completely silent. There are several stations where patrons can pick up headphones to listen to the sound of Arctic videos, like one by Jean-Pierre Aubé of the Arctic Circle during the winter solstice, a day when the sun never fully rises above the horizon. Another video, shot by HC Gilje on the Barents Sea off the coasts of Norway and Russia, a rotating camera captures the sea. It’s mesmerizing and disorienting, as the video slowly shifts understanding
CP PHOTO: HANNAH LYNN
Slow Fashion display in Crafting Conversations
of location and direction. What makes these works especially intriguing is that they’re visually captivating works of art, but they’re also works of science. They document the ephemeral sights and sounds of the Arctic Circle, which are changing daily. Many of the videos in the exhibit were shot several years ago, and the featured landscapes likely no longer look the same.
IN CRAFTING CONVERSATIONS, the work is
more about the materials used and how artists are shifting their work to be more sustainable, or at least to reflect what parts of our lives are not sustainable. One section of the exhibit, Slow Fashion, features several pieces that interrogate materials that are often taken for granted, or quickly disposed of, in the fast fashion industry. “Polished Off,” a piece
by Sarah Simmons, features a dress decorated with discarded nail polish bottles, which are wrapped in plastic used to ship magazines in the mail. Another section of the exhibit focused on community art includes “Rituals, Rites, and Reclamation: Earth Spiral,” a piece by Elizabeth Ashley Kyber made of upcycled glass and stones to create a community of fairy houses and bee hotels. The description of the exhibit explains that it aims to “demonstrate how local artists are attempting to change their environmental footprint while crafting conversations for thousands of transit users.” It might be a big goal for a transit station, where commuters often walk by hastily without noticing what’s around them, but anywhere this kind of art can find a home will have a positive impact. There isn’t one single way the climate crisis can impact art; it can be in the process, the materials, the subject, the display. And it will only continue to evolve as the effects pop up in different ways. Maybe in 10 years, an exhibit on the Arctic Circle will feel like a relic. Maybe disposable nail polish bottles will be obsolete. No matter what, there will be exciting art responding to it.
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Follow staff writer Hannah Lynn on Twitter @hanfranny
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CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM
.ART . .
BACKSTAGE
BY LISSA BRENNAN // CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
NAME: Duane Binion (Naheen), South Side WORK: Co-Executive Director, True T Pgh, alongside John Easter (Dez’manian)
WHAT DOES TRUE T PGH DO? Celebrates queer people of color through creative arts, entertainment, activism, and community resourcing. We focus on underground ballroom, a community created as a safe space for LGBTQIA+ people back in the day. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS? Finding money, grant writing, fundraising. We moved to a space in June. This is a whole new experience for us. Now we come here and have something to do every day, in our office, our space. AND RUNNING THAT SPACE BRINGS ITS OWN WORK. We have community hours, Vogue and Hip Hop Social, film screenings, Netflix and Chill, American Horror Story watching. We create events and
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employ people. Our DJs, caterer, staff are people from the community. We try to bring everybody with us and, in the process, teach them professional things that they need to know: how to write a grant, what a proposal looks like, résumé building. But it’s really empowering to see the strength we already have and make use of it. One of our biggest goals or focuses has been to try to show that the things that you do are art. Vogue is art. You can get paid. You can make a professional career off of doing these things that you do in your house. We give people this platform to do what you already are doing but don’t know it’s something that can be profitable or respected. HOW DID HAVING A SPACE HAPPEN? Dr. Stacy Lane made a donation, which is how we were able to fund this building. Honestly, from her showing faith in us, others did. We get funding from other sources now. There was a lot of trial and error, then we started proving our worth. People started seeing the benefit of what we were doing.
DID YOU GO TO SCHOOL FOR THIS? I participated in the Pittsburgh Public Allies program in 2013-14, a youth leadership development program. They work with you for a year, then place you at a nonprofit that closely aligns with your big picture. I got placed at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater and after graduating, got hired full-time. I was there for five years and actually just resigned. I’ve been in many roles there: senior producer, programming assistant, communications specialist, event staff. I learned pretty much anything through KST and Public Allies. RATHER THAN COLLEGE? I actually didn’t graduate college. I tried! I do have student loans! I went two years and ended up picking work over school because bills were always priority. AS THE ORGANIZATION IS GROWING, YOU HAVE TO GROW AS WELL. HOW ARE YOU LEARNING TO DO EVERYTHING YOU HAVE TO? Google and YouTube. We do everything ourselves here. We’re our own graphic
designers, video [editors], everything. We learned it all on YouTube. IS IT DIFFICULT TO TAKE SOMETHING PROTECTED IN A SAFE SPACE AND OPEN IT UP OUTSIDE THE COMMUNITY? It is, and we struggled with that. When we first began, it was really just us. Then we started needing funding and finding creative ways to do that. You have to have sponsors, the sponsors want to be advertised, other people want to come. And it was great, we like a big crowd. But it made some performers uncomfortable here, for everybody else when it’s supposed to be about them. But over the years, ballroom has grown. It’s not just a little local thing. It’s art, and you’ve got to archive your history. We can keep this hidden thing underground forever and no one ever knows it; or, we can share it with the world but make sure that the story is told and remembered. Where it came from, how it started. I don’t see anything wrong with inviting people into the world, as long as it remains our world.
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Making messages friendlier for over 35 years // Illustration by Xiola Jensen How did people indicate sarcasm before the winky face? The next time you end an email with a smile, thank Pittsburgh’s own Scott Fahlman. In 1982, the Carnegie Mellon University computer science professor created the very first emoticon, a smiley face used to communicate on online bulletin boards. :) PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER SEPT. 25-OCT. 2, 2019
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SERVICES Services are offered to everyone, regardless of identity, income, or insurance status. • Full medical practice • Mental health services • Community health Navigator program
PHOTO: JAY WATSON PHOTOGRAPHY
Jewell Parker Rhodes
.LITERATURE.
• Transportation program
GHOST STORIES
• Food box program • Discounted pharmacy program
CONTACT 1789 S. Braddock Ave, #410 Pittsburgh, PA 15218 M Th F 8 AM - 4:30 PM Tu W 8 AM - 7:30 PM To make an appointment: (412) 247-2310 Proudly serving LGBT patients since 1999.
“Whole People, All People.” metrocommunityhealthcenter.org
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BY REGE BEHE // CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
A
WARD-WINNING writer Jewell
Parker Rhodes grew up in the Manchester area of Pittsburgh. When she was very young, her grandmother took her Downtown for the first time. Living in a predominately African-American neighborhood didn’t prepare her for what she discovered in the city. Until that first trip across the Allegheny River, Rhodes, born in 1954, had never seen a white person. “I was like, ‘Whoa, who are those people?” says Rhodes. That sense of wonder was rekindled when she attended Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) to study dance. During her junior year, Rhodes discovered books written by African-American writers. Until then, she’d never heard of James Baldwin, Phillis Wheatley, or any other writer of color. An avid reader as a child, Rhodes never even encountered a character of color in a book until she was at CMU. Despite having thrived the first two years in the university’s challenging dance/theater curriculum, Rhodes decided to switch her major to writing. “I almost missed my calling,” says Rhodes, who earned bachelor’s and
master’s degrees, and a doctorate, all in writing, from CMU. “It would have been so easy [to miss it]. I’m the luckiest person alive.”
JEWELL PARKER RHODES AT PITTSBURGH ARTS & LECTURES’ WORDS & PICTURES SERIES 2:30 p.m. Sun., Oct. 6. Carnegie Library Lecture Hall, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. Free as part of RADical Days. pittsburghlectures.org
The Piper Endowed Chair and founding artistic director of the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University, Rhodes’ most recent book, Ghost Boys (Little, Brown) is for middle school readers. Twelve year old Jerome, the novel’s main character, is killed by a white police officer while playing with a toy gun. But instead of journeying to the next world, Jerome becomes a ghost, forced to watch the effect his death has on his family and community with two new friends: Sarah, the daughter of the police officer who killed him, and the ghost of Emmett
Till, who was 14 when he was murdered by two white men during a visit to relatives in Mississippi in 1955. “I thought my generation would make things better and make things right,” Rhodes says. “And I tell you — to wake up with this slew of riots and racism and white nationalism and these innocent children being murdered, it has really taken me aback to see that, ‘Oh my God, we have a long way to go.’” She finds hope through telling stories such as Till’s for children who might not know about his story. Rhodes recalls that if not for magazines such as Ebony and Jet, she wouldn’t have learned about Till’s hellish demise. “I still have this one particular image of the lynching and I’ve never been able to forget it,” she says. “I must have been three or five, and that set me on this course. ... If you look at all of my work, I’ve always been trying to break down barriers against racism, against sexism, against class, against religious differences, with gender, with everything. We are a humanity that must come together through the power of words, through the power of empathy, which fiction does.”
Follow featured contributor Rege Behe on Twitter @RegeBehe_exPTR
•
n o o M Blue
r u o Y r Colo Queen!
Blue Moon Bar • 5115 Butler Street • Pittsburgh, PA 15201 PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER SEPT. 25-OCT. 2, 2019
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SEVEN DAYS OF CONCERTS BLACK VIOLIN THU., SEPT. 26 Violinists Wil Baptiste and Kev Marcus began playing together in their South Florida high school orchestra class. After graduation, the pair attended different colleges but soon reunited to combine their love for classical music and hip hop for an innovative and distinct creation. The project, Black Violin, has often been referred to as “classical boom,” and Pittsburgh has a chance to experience the genre-bending sound when the duo’s Impossible Tour lands at the Byham Theater. Black Violin has collaborated with Kanye West, Wu-Tang Clan, Wyclef Jean, Lil Wayne, and Alicia Keys; composed music for FOX’s Pitch; and made appearances on HBO’s Ballers, The Tonight Show, The Wendy Williams Show, and The Ellen Show. 7 p.m. 101 Sixth St., Downtown. $33.50-58.50. trustarts.org PHOTO: PITTSBURGH CULTURAL TRUST
Black Violin
FULL LIST ONLINE pghcitypaper.com
THURSDAY SEPT. 26 JAZZ THE POSSIBLE 4. City of Asylum. 7 p.m. North Side.
REGGAE GIANT PANDA GUERILLA DUB SQUAD, BRAHCTOPUS. Thunderbird Café & Music Hall. 8 p.m. Lawrenceville.
R&B RAHEEM DEVAUGHN. August Wilson African American Cultural Center. 8 p.m. Downtown.
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE FRANKIE COSMOS. Spirit. 7 p.m. Lawrenceville. WHITNEY. Mr. Smalls Theatre. 7 p.m. Millvale. TELEHOPE, SNOWDONIA. Mr. Smalls Theatre. 7 p.m. Millvale.
ELECTRONIC
ROCK
REGGAE
METAL
BLUES
CRUCES, RAVE AMI, SIDE SLEEPER. Babyland. 8 p.m. Oakland.
THE FLOW BAND. Chief’s Cafe. 8 p.m. Oakland.
1476, THE LONG HUNT. Howlers. 9 p.m. Bloomfield.
ROCK
UNIMAGINED, MISERY LOVES COMPANY. Preserving Hardcore. 6 p.m. New Kensington.
KITCHEN DWELLERS. Thunderbird Café & Music Hall. 8 p.m. Lawrenceville.
SUNDAY SEPT. 29
PUNK
JAZZ
DAISY CHAIN, BIRDS. Black Forge Coffee House. 7 p.m. McKees Rocks.
FOLK ALDOUS HARDING. Club Cafe. 7 p.m. South Side. DANIEL KEMISH. Black Forge Coffee House. 5:30 p.m. Allentown.
ACOUSTIC RYAN YINGST. Colony Cafe. 6:30 p.m. Downtown.
FRIDAY SEPT. 27 ACOUSTIC PITTSBURGH SONGWRITERS SHOWCASE. Club Cafe. 6 p.m. South Side
SOUTHERN CULTURE ON THE SKIDS. Thunderbird Café & Music Hall. 8 p.m. Lawrenceville.
BLUES THE CHRIS DUARTE GROUP. Moondog’s. 8:30 p.m. Blawnox.
ELECTRONIC KAISER SOUZAI. Cattivo. 9 p.m. Lawrenceville.
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE FLOR. Stage AE. 6:30 p.m. North Side. FLASHPOINT RUN (ALBUM RELEASE). The Government Center. 8 p.m. North Side.
COUNTRY TOBY KEITH. Highmark Stadium. 6:30 p.m. South Side.
PUNK
JAZZ
CHILDREN OF OCTOBER, FUCK YEAH DINOSAURS. 222 Ormsby. 6:30 p.m. Mt. Oliver.
WINGTIPS, BRING HER. Spirit. 9 p.m. Lawrenceville.
TWO OUT OF FOUR: THE POSSIBLE 4. City of Asylum. 7 p.m. North Side.
THE IMPURITY, CUTTING TIES. The Mr. Roboto Project. 7 p.m. Bloomfield.
BROADSIDE, TELLTALE. Crafthouse Stage & Grill. 7:30 p.m. Whitehall.
ROGER HUMPRHIES. Wolfie’s Pub. 5 p.m. Downtown.
WORLD
PEACE TALKS, KILLER OF SHEEP, LIVING WORLD. The Rock Room. 8 p.m. Polish Hill.
CLASSICAL
COM TRUISE. Rex Theater. 7 p.m. South Side.
PUNK
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POETIC VOICES. First Unitarian Church. 7:30 p.m. Shadyside.
GYPSY STRINGZ. Dorothy 6 Cafe. 6 p.m. Homestead. GAVAS BEAT. Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel. 9 p.m. Downtown.
SATURDAY SEPT. 28
STREETLIGHT MANIFESTO. Roxian Theatre. 8 p.m. McKees Rocks.
DEANNA WITKOWSKI TRIO. East Liberty Presbyterian Church. 3 p.m. East Liberty.
JAZZ
ROCK
RML JAZZ. Greendance Winery. 1 p.m. North Side.
THE RICH ZABINSKI TRIO. Backstage Bar. 5 p.m. Downtown.
THE FULL COUNTS (RECORD RELEASE). Gooski’s. 10 p.m. Polish Hill.
ROGER BARBOUR JAZZ QUARTET. Cioppino Restaurant & Cigar Bar. 7 p.m. Strip District.
REDD UP RHONDA, CREEPING JENNY. Enix Brewing. 8 p.m. Homestead.
ERIN BURKETT AND VIRGIL WALTERS. Andy’s Wine Bar. 8 p.m. Downtown.
GRAVEYARD, BLACK MOUNTAIN. Mr. Smalls Theatre. 7 p.m. Millvale.
OLGA WATKINS BAND. NOLA On the Square. 8 p.m. Downtown.
ELECTRONIC
JESSICA LEE, MARK STRICKLAND. THIS IS RED. 6:30 p.m. Homestead.
STEPHANIE TSONG (OF JELLYFISH). Spirit. 3 p.m. Lawrenceville.
COUNTRY
R&B/SOUL
DOM FLEMONS. Hillman Center for Performing Arts. 7:30 p.m. Fox Chapel.
SIERRA SELLERS. Wolfie’s Pub. 8 p.m. Downtown.
HONKY-TONK JUKEBOX. Allegheny Elks Lodge #339. 7 p.m. North Side.
EVERYONE HATES EVERYTHING, GATOR SHAKES. Mr. Smalls Theatre. 8 p.m. Millvale.
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE
REGGAE
GOLD CONNECTIONS, OLYMPIC VILLAGE. The Funhouse at Mr. Smalls Theatre. 8 p.m. Millvale.
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE SLINGSHOT DAKOTA, DIVIDED HEAVEN. The Government Center. 8 p.m. North Side.
RAZOR-N-TAPE. Hot Mass. 12 a.m. Downtown.
METAL
KEYSTONE VIBE. FUBAR, FIRST HIT. Club Cafe. 7 p.m. South Side.
TONY CAMPBELL. Thelma Lovette YMCA. 5:30 p.m. Hill District.
ROCK YEAR OF OCTOBER, DAISY CHAIN, UGLY BLONDES. Thunderbird Café & Music Hall. 7 p.m. Lawrenceville. GOLD CONNECTIONS, OLYMPIC VILLAGE. Mr. Smalls Theatre. 8 p.m. Millvale. THOM YORKE. Stage AE. 7 p.m. North Side. FELIX PASTORIUS, HIPSTER ASSASSINS. Club Cafe. 8 p.m. South Side.
MULTI GENRE DEUTSCHTOWN GOES TO RIVERVIEW PARK. Riverview Park. 11 a.m. North Side. DEVOTCHKA, THE JOY FORMIDABLE. Mr. Smalls Theatre. 7 p.m. Millvale.
PHOTO: NICOLETTE KALAFATIS
FERALCAT SHOW & JAM SESSION
Feralcat
WED., OCT. 2 Pittsburghers have only heard the live, full-band experience of saxophonist/ songwriter Feralcat once, for the release show of the group’s self-titled debut EP at Mr. Smalls in early June. Since then, the members took a break to work on other projects. But now the band — Feralcat (Roger Rafael Romero on tenor sax), Brandon Lehman (guitar), Drew Bayura (guitar), Caleb Lombardi (keys/synth), Chris Trepagnier (bass), and Allen Bell (drums) — return for their next live performance at The Attic Studios in Bellevue. The night kicks off with a full-band performance from Feralcat, before making way for a multi-genre jam session hosted by the band. The first 15 musicians to sign up for the jam session pay no cover. 7 p.m. 2 N. Sprague Ave., Bellevue. $10-12. facebook.com/f3ralcat
FOLK
POP
ADAM EZRA GROUP. Hard Rock Cafe. 8 p.m. South Side.
JOHN SPLITHOFF. Crafthouse Stage & Grill. 7:30 p.m. Whitehall.
WEDNESDAY OCT. 2
METAL
ROCK
GIRIH, HERON. Black Forge Coffee House. 7 p.m. McKees Rocks.
STEVE HACKETT. Carnegie Library Music Hall. 8 p.m. Homestead.
ROCK
ELECTRONIC
HIP HOP/RAP
DARSOMBRA, CHANTILLION, ANNA AZIZZY. 3577 Studios. 8 p.m. Polish Hill.
JOSH A, JAKE HILL. The Smiling Moose. 6:30 p.m. South Side.
MONDAY SEPT. 30
BLUES
POP
R&B/SOUL
MAGGIE ROGERS. Stage AE. 6:30 p.m. North Side.
THE MIDNIGHT HOUR. Club Cafe. 7 p.m. South Side.
METAL
JAZZ
CEREBRAL ROT, FETID, CELL, ABYSME. Black Forge Coffee House. 7:30 p.m. McKees Rocks.
R&R JAZZ TRIO. The Park House. 8 p.m. North Side.
TUESDAY OCT. 1
JORDAN PERRY, DANNY RECTENWALD. Acoustic Music Works. 8 p.m. Squirrel Hill.
CHARLIE PARR (RECORD RELEASE). Club Cafe. 7 p.m. South Side.
PUNK
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE
ELECTRONIC
THE STANDBY, FRAME AND MANTLE. Howlers. 8 p.m. Bloomfield.
AESTHETIC PERFECTION, EMPATHY TEST. Howlers. 7 p.m. Bloomfield.
SUM 41. Roxian Theatre. 8 p.m. McKees Rocks.
RUBY RED AND THE DIRTY DEVILS. Wolfie’s Pub. 6 p.m. Downtown.
ACOUSTIC
PHIL COLLINS. PPG Paints Arena. 8 p.m. Downtown. DAN BAIRD AND HOMEMADE SIN. Hard Rock Cafe. 8 p.m. South Side.
METAL SENSES FAIL. Rex Theater. 7:30 p.m. South Side.
FOLK ELIZABETH MOEN. The Smiling Moose. 6:30 p.m. South Side. DIANE CLUCK. Glitter Box Theater. 7:30 p.m. Oakland.
These listings are curated by Pittsburgh City Paper’s music writer Jordan Snowden and include events from our free online listings. Submit yours today at www.pghcitypaper.com/submitevent PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER SEPT. 25-OCT. 2, 2019
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PHOTO: LIZ LAUREN/VICTORY GARDENS THEATER
Cambodian Rock Band
.STAGE.
CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND BY ALEX GORDON // ALEXGORDON@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
T
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2019 8PM Center for the performing arts
6 Allegheny Square East Northside
For more information:
www.kentearts.org or call 412.322.0292
HERE’S A MOMENT early on in Lauren Yee’s play Cambodian Rock Band that left me subconsciously squirming. The scene takes place in 1975; the Vietnam War has ended, and a young rock band in Phnom Penh is discussing what life will be like once the American troops withdraw. The bassist, Chum (Greg Watanabe), is paranoid and terrified of what the communist party, Khmer Rouge, will do in the absence of U.S. supervision. But guitarist and lead singer Ted (Christopher Thomas Pow) assures him that the Americans wouldn’t leave millions of vulnerable Cambodian citizens high and dry. But this is exactly what happens. The American military leaves Cambodia and over the next four years, Khmer Rouge carries out a genocide that leaves 2 million people dead. While it feels cruel in the moment to have to watch Ted’s earnest faith in American goodness knowing what his future likely holds, City Theatre’s Cambodian Rock Band is the opposite of cruel. It’s a generous and electrifying experience with far more seat-dancing than squirming. Like the name says, this is the story of a Cambodian rock band in 1975 (including live performances during the play); and the modern-day life of Chum’s Cambodian-American daughter Neary (Aja Wiltshire), who works in Phnom Penh trying to locate Khmer Rouge henchmen who have eluded capture. At the show’s outset, she thinks she’s located one of the most evil and slipperiest of them all. But before she dives too deep into that mystery, Chum, who now lives
in America, shows up unexpectedly to hang with his daughter and marvel at all the fancy cosmopolitan indulgences that have come to Phnom Penh since he fled 30 years prior. There’s a place that sells foot baths where tiny fish eat the dead skin from the bottom of your feet — Chum would really like to try it.
CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND Continues through Sun., Oct. 6. City Theatre Mainstage, 1300 Bingham St., South Side. $29. citytheatrecompany.org
But the excited, dorky-Dad energy Chum exhibits with his feet being nibbled by fish is replaced by anxiety, guilt, and palpable fear during the flashbacks. It’s an eerie trick to pull, alternating between a charming, giddy old man and a deeply distressed young man. Watanabe navigates the transitions with considerable humanity, and it’s great fun to watch the nervous, but loving energy between Chum and Neary. The best scenes, however, are the rock shows. The music includes songs from Dengue Fever, a contemporary rock band that mixes psychedelic rock with Cambodian pop. The titular band consists of Chum, Ted, lead vocalist Sothea (also played by Wiltshire), drummer Rom (Peter Sipla), and synth-player Pou (Eileen Doan). It’s wildly entertaining to witness the band’s drama play out subtly during performances and the music is simply phenomenal. The songs are subversive, fun, funny, and powerful and a good match for all the subversive, fun, funny, powerful parts that happen when the amps go silent.
•
Follow managing editor Alex Gordon on Twitter @shmalexgordon
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The City of Bridges // Illustration by Maggie Negrete Most think of Venice, Italy as the city with the most bridges in the world, but that accolade actually goes to Pittsburgh. Today, the city boasts 446 bridges, including the three Sister Bridges — The Roberto Clemente, Andy Warhol, and Rachel Carson — all painted “Aztec gold,” connecting Downtown Pittsburgh to the North Side. PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER SEPT. 25-OCT. 2, 2019
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.MUSIC.
CENTIPEDE EEST RETURNS BY JORDAN SNOWDEN JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
I
N THE MID-AUGHTS, Centipede Eest was one of the most alluring and exciting bands in Pittsburgh. In early October 2008, Centipede Eest played two back-to-back release shows for its second full-length album, Confluence. The first bundled up outside in recording studio Machine Age’s parking lot and the second close by at Gooski’s. The outdoor show, according to a review from former Pittsburgh City Paper writer Aaron Jentzen, drew “an appreciative crowd that included everyone from local musicians and music-scene regulars to tots.” Then at Gooski’s which, according to former CP writer Margaret Welsh, was “so packed, I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown. It was weird.” But by 2012, the last time the band posted on Facebook, they had gradually grown less active, and the members eventually went their separate ways. However the five-piece group — guitarist Jim Lingo, guitarist and singer Nick Patton, bassist Caulen Kress, utility player Josh Tanze, and drummer Sam Pace — still kept in touch and recently, they got the opportunity to reunite and perform once again. Before Centipede Eest takes the stage for the first time in eight years, CP chatted with Lingo about how they spent the last few years, the show, and what’s next for the band.
CENTIPEDE EEST IS PLAYING ITS FIRST SHOW IN EIGHT YEARS. HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT? I’m booking this show for Cooper [Crain] in Bitchin Bajas. Centipede had made fast friends with his other band, CAVE, back when we were touring; played some great shows with them. I half-jokingly asked [the other Centipede members] if they wanted to play this and everyone responded “yes” without much hesitation. I was kind of surprised ‘cause I figured the four of us would never play together again. I guess the timing is right! WHAT HAS EVERYONE BEEN UP TO SINCE THE LAST SHOW? DID YOU KNOW IT WAS GOING TO BE THE
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PHOTO: 100 LEGS PRODUCTIONS
Centipede Eest
CENTIPEDE EEST OPENING FOR BITCHIN BAJAS Tue., Oct. 1. Brillobox, 4104 Penn Ave., Bloomfield. brilloboxpgh.com
LAST SHOW AT THE TIME? Houses were bought, vows were spat, babies were conceived, crops were harvested, trails were blazed. ... As far as what we’ve been up to musically: Nick [Patton] and Caulen [Kress] played together for a spell in Cocoon II. Sam has been holding it down in Come Holy Spirit. I made about four albums of electronic music with a friend (lingo & mcdoo) as well as currently playing in a free-improv trio, Dog Dynamics, and a father/daughter country-tinged band, Merce Lemon. We kind of knew things were shifting, but didn’t really know the direction. We had two shows where we played as a truncated unit. Was a slow fizzle I suppose. Life happened. HOW DOES IT FEEL, SINCE IT’S BEEN SO LONG? Feels pretty good, haven’t played much rock ‘n’ roll in a while though. Gradually getting our legs back. (Pun intended.) WHY IS JOSH TANZER NOT PLAYING? He’s living the dream in the mountains of Northern Cali. If I had half a brain, I’d be out there as well. HOW ARE YOU PREPARING FOR THE SHOW? Lots of calisthenics. Medicinal mushrooms (reishi, cordyceps, turkey tail, maitake, lion’s mane, etc.). Past-life regression therapy. EMDR and ASMR.
Qigong. And a few old-fashioned basement practices. WHAT CAN FANS EXPECT? ARE THERE ANY NEW TUNES IN THE WORKS? If I’ve learned one thing in my middleage, it’s that expectations lead to disappointment. New tunes? Maybe one new short jammer for the show. We still have about two albums worth of material that never got released. Also talk of recording another album, just off the cuff. Our first one, Cheeks of Neptune, was recorded after we were together for just four months, I think. Just kinda blew it out of our systems. We’d like to use that excitement and energy and funnel it into a recording. Not crossing any fingers though. WILL THERE BE MORE SHOWS IN THE FUTURE? We hope so. We’ll see how this one goes. ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT THE SHOW OR THE BAND THAT YOU WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW? A vote for us is a vote for democracy. Some of us don’t have any tattoos. This show will be a good time, or the owner of the venue will give you a foot massage in one of his many Bigfoot costumes. Customer’s choice. Excited about Alvin Rey playing the show. He’s got a great ‘kitchen sink’ approach. Mary Mack is a great DJ as well.
THE
with Jim Lingo of Centipede Eest The 412 is CP’s music feature where you can get local band/musician updates and fun, random tidbits of information all in one.
O C T. 6 , 2 0 19 10 A.M. TO 3 P. M .
QUESTIONS ABOUT MUSIC IF YOU COULD ONLY LISTEN TO ONE SONG FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY? “4’33” by John Cage. Would always be fresh.
FAVORITE WAY TO CONSUME MUSIC? (I.E. SPEAKERS, LIVE AT SHOWS, HEADPHONES, RECORDS, IN THE CAR ETC.) I work at Jerry’s [Records] so I’m partial to records. LOVE cassettes too, but NOTHING beats live music. I wore headphones in my youth for about nine years straight. Done with that. WHAT WAS THE LAST EARWORM THAT YOU HAD? Probably Aldous Harding’s “The Barrel,” sometimes the pop music that [sticks] doesn’t really suck. ONE MUSIC RECOMMENDATION FOR FANS OF YOUR MUSIC. The underappreciated and aurally sprawling catalog of the THINKING FELLERS UNION LOCAL 282!
QUESTION ABOUT BEER BOTTLE OR CAN? Wine doesn’t come in cans. [Editor’s note: wine does come in cans.]
A n It a li a n A m e ri c a n B a za a r w it h F a m il y A c ti v it ie s in c lu d in g : BO C C E, AR TS & C R AF TS , CO O K IN G D EM O S, G EN EA LO GY, PE R FO R M AN STO RY TE LL IN G, C ES , & MORE FR EE AD M IS SI O N FO R C H IL D R EN (AG ES 17 AN D U N R EG U LA R M U SE U D ER ) M AD M IS SI O N FO R AD U LT S
QUESTIONS ABOUT SPOOKY STUFF DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE SUPERNATURAL, GHOSTS, AND/OR MAGIC? Sure. YOUR FAVORITE HALLOWEEN COSTUME? Can’t mess with the classic ones. Someday I’m gonna finally make a serious mummy costume out of ace bandages or toilet paper. Gonna wrap myself up until I can’t bend my arms & legs, for that authentic stiffness. •
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54.60 H, PA | 412.4 G P , ST N A M 1212 SMALL RG RYCENTER.O HEINZHISTO
PHOTOGRAPHS AND ENVELOPES FROM THE ITALIAN AMERICAN COLLECTION AT HEINZ HISTORY CENTER. PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER SEPT. 25-OCT. 2, 2019
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Three Rivers Leather Club
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Dr. Stacy Lane, D.O. • 412-515-0000
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are welcome
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HAND ME MY LEATHER BY AMANDA WALTZ // AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
F
OR MIKE NATALE, growing up gay
in the 1980s wasn’t easy, especially as part of a conservative Christian family in northern New Jersey. This was compounded, he says, by his interest in the leather scene, a subculture defined by kink, BDSM, and fetish wear. “It took me some time to come to terms with it and come out as a leather man,” says Natale, adding that his journey to coming out as gay paralleled with his exploration into the leather scene. When he was in his mid-20s, Natale visited his first leather bar in New York City and felt at home in the community.
In the early 2000s, after relocating to Pittsburgh, he discovered the Three Rivers Leather Club, a leather social group that has been around since 1991 and now has about 20 members. He met his husband there and is going on his second year as the club’s president. But while the leather scene has been around for decades, Natale says it’s still not universally accepted, even among members of the LGBTQ community with which it’s often associated. Even with the progress of LGBTQ acceptance and with the internet making certain scenes more accessible, he says members of the
PITTSBURGH LEATHER PRIDE WEEKEND Thu., Sept. 26-Sun., Sept. 29. pghlpw.com
leather scene still face certain stigma. Emerson Aniceto, the current titleholder for Mr. Pittsburgh Leather Fetish and Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather, agrees. “Inside the gay community they see us differently,” says Aniceto, a photographer who moved to Pittsburgh from Brazil. “There is always some kind of discrimination. But if you look, everybody has a fetish.” As one of the organizers for Pittsburgh Leather Pride, a weekend pageantlike event taking place from Sept. 26-29, he says he has tried to create a safe, welcoming place for anyone interested in the scene, regardless of gender or identity. This year, to be more inclusive, they added the Mr. Pittsburgh Leather Bear title for gay men with hairier, burlier
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“IT’S MORE THANJUST THE KINK AND FETISH. WE GIVE BACK TO THE COMMUNITY.” body types. There’s also a Ms. Pittsburgh Leather Fetish title. However, Aniceto says outsiders only see the party side of the event, which has been around for about 31 years. “It’s more than just the kink and fetish,” says Aniceto. “We give back to the community. Not so many people see this.” Aniceto says he has used his title as a platform to raise money for causes related to cancer, which has affected him as a three-time survivor of esophageal cancer, and his father and grandmother, who had pancreatic and breast cancer, respectively. He also claims that Mr. Pittsburgh Leather and Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather have raised and donated thousands of dollars to help people with cancer and HIV. Natale cites another misconception about the leather scene as being more susceptible to STDs, as members are seen as engaging in risky, unprotected sex. As a group with many older members who remember the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, he says this could not be further from the truth. “Our older community members who were young and sexually active in the ’80s, they were the ones who watched their friends die on a weekly basis,” says Natale. “We’re more likely to remember that than the younger generations of gay folks, especially now that AIDS is so manageable. The consequences aren’t the same as what they used to be.” He believes this comes from a misunderstanding of the leather scene, which he defines as a “spectrum or continuum.” On one end, there are members who are more into the classic Tom of Finland look, which could include leather jackets, pants, chaps, and har-
nesses, but their sexual tastes tend to be less adventurous. On the other end of the spectrum are members more into the kink aspect of leather, including roleplay, which involves what Natale calls “power exchanges” between a dominant, or daddy, and a submissive. “We have folks in our club and community who are various points along that spectrum,” says Natale. He adds that while an element of danger is often what makes the leather scene so attractive, exchanges are based on trust, as participants consent to acts that could include anything from bondage to flogging. Both Natale and Aniceto see Pittsburgh as having a rich leather culture and have strived to foster environments where anyone interested in the scene can explore it. However, Natale believes that, while the internet and LGBTQ dating apps like Scruff and Grindr have made it easier for the members of the leather community to connect, younger generations often lack the time or money to do so, as quality leather gear could cost hundreds of dollars. Natale sees his group as having the “wisdom and experience” to help anyone curious about or looking for guidance into the leather scene. He and the rest of the Three Rivers Leather Club have also considered collecting and donating their old leather goods and giving them to prospective members with fewer financial resources. “If you’re this youngster with these fantasies, we want it to be known that you can trust a member of the Three Rivers Leather Club to ask the questions to get the knowledge that you need to get the experience that you want,” says Natale.
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Follow senior writer Amanda Waltz on Twitter @AWaltzCP PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER SEPT. 25-OCT. 2, 2019
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WED., OCT. 9TH SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL 6 P.M. CRAFTHOUSE STAGE & GRILL SOUTH HILLS. All-ages event. $15-$27.50. 412-653-2695 or ticketfly.com.
WED., OCT. 9TH ZEDD 6:30 P.M. STAGE AE NORTHSHORE. All-ages event. $49.50.
WED., OCT. 9TH JIMMIE VAUGHN 6 P.M. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE WEXFORD. Under 21 with guardian. $26.50-$39.50. 724-799-8333 or ticketfly.com.
WED., OCT. 9TH ART ALEXAKIS 7:30 P.M. HARD ROCK CAFÉ STATION SQUARE. Under 21 with guardian. $20-$23. 412-481-ROCK or ticketfly.com.
THU., OCT. 10TH GEORGE THOROGOOD & THE DESTROYERS : GOOD TO BE BAD TOUR 6:30 P.M. THE PALACE THEATRE GREENSBURG. All-ages event. $40.75-$65.75.
THU., OCT. 10TH SMELLS LIKE NIRVANA 6 P.M. CRAFTHOUSE STAGE & GRILL SOUTH HILLS. Under 21 with guardian. $13-$25.50. 412-653-2695 or ticketfly.com.
THU., OCT. 10TH LESS THAN JAKE AND BOWLING FOR SOUP 7:30 P.M. MR. SMALLS THEATER MILLVALE. 412-421-4447 or mrsmalls.com.
THU., OCT. 10TH BUMBLEFOOT
THU., OCT. 10TH GEORGE THOROGOOD & THE DESTROYERS : GOOD TO BE BAD TOUR THE PALACE THEATRE GREENSBURG.
FRI., OCT. 11TH BASS NATION PRESENTS: BEAR GRILLZ 8 P.M. ROXIAN THEATRE MCKEES ROCKS. 18+ event. $17. 412-331-1050 or roxianlive.com.
FRI., OCT. 11TH THE MOTH PITTSBURGH GRANDSLAM CHAMPIONSHIP 6:30 P.M. CARNEGIE OF HOMESTEAD MUSIC HALL MUNHALL. All-ages event. $27. 412-462-3444 or ticketfly.com.
FRI., OCT. 11TH LITTLE MISS NASTY ROCK AND ROLL BURLESQUE 7 P.M. SMILING MOOSE SOUTHSIDE. All-ages event. $18-$21. 412-431-4668 or ticketfly.com.
FRI., OCT. 11TH JOE DIFFIE 6 P.M. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE WEXFORD. Under 21 with guardian. $28-$43. 724-799-8333 or ticketfly.com.
COUNTRY FOR A CURE FEATURING DAWN SAVAGE 7:30 P.M. HARD ROCK CAFÉ STATION SQUARE. Under 21 with guardian. $25. 412-481-ROCK or ticketfly.com.
SAT., OCT. 12TH BAZAAR: A MICRO IMMERSIVE CARNIVAL 7 P.M. BAZAAR FAIRGROUNDS SOUTHSIDE. 18+ event. $25-$300. 412-471-0999 or bricolage.com
SAT., OCT. 12TH RADICAL DAY AT THE FRICK 10 A.M. THE FRICK POINT BREEZE. All-ages event. Free. thefrickpittsburgh.org or 412-371-0600
SAT., OCT. 12TH FRANK FOSTER 6 P.M. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE WEXFORD. Under 21 with guardian. $17. 724-799-8333 or ticketfly.com.
SUN., OCT. 13TH TASTE OF LAWRENCEVILLE : HARVEST FESTIVAL
7:30 P.M. HARD ROCK CAFÉ STATION SQUARE. Under 21 with guardian. $27-$42. 412-481-ROCK or ticketfly.com.
SAT., OCT. 12TH CARRIE UNDERWOOD : THE CRY PRETTY TOUR 360
FRI., OCT. 11TH ARIELLE
7 P.M. PPG PAINTS ARENA UPTOWN. All-ages event. $43.75-$91.50. 800-877-7575 or ticketmaster.com.
SUN., OCT. 13TH JINJER
SAT., OCT. 12TH
5:30 P.M. CRAFTHOUSE STAGE & GRILL SOUTH HILLS. Under 21 with guardian. $30.50. 412-653-2695 or ticketfly.com.
7 P.M. HARD ROCK CAFÉ STATION SQUARE. Under 21 with guardian. $20. 412-481-ROCK or ticketfly.com.
12 P.M. BAY 41 LAWRENCEVILLE. All-ages event. Free. eventbrite.com.
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PGHCITYPAPER.COM
A delicious coupling // Illustration by Lizzee Solomon During the Great Depression, a Pittsburgh staple was born in the Strip District. Joe Primanti assembled an orgy of flavors between two pieces of bread — serving the fries as part of the sandwich instead of on the side, so that workers could eat on the go. Today, Primanti Bros.’ mingling of flavors cheers up hangry folks in 35 restaurants, expanding beyond city limits. PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER SEPT. 25-OCT. 2, 2019
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SEVEN DAYS OF ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
ART: PEPE MAR’S DRAGONFRUIT
^ Fri., Sept. 27: Factory Installed 2019
THURSDAY SEPT. 26 STAGE Paragon Studios, a theater school located in the North Hills, presents its production of Working: A Musical. Based on the writings of Studs Terkel, the Off-Broadway show follows the lives of everyday working people, including a stonemason, a model, and a secretary, over the course of a single day. Originally premiering in 1977, the show has since gone through several revisions, including one with two new
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songs by Broadway darling Lin-Manuel Miranda. All shows will take place at Bricolage. 8-10 p.m. Continues through Sat., Sept. 28. 937 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $20. paragonstudios.org
FRIDAY
SEPT. 27 ART Tehran-based artist Sohrab Kashani’s apartment, both an artist residency and an exhibition of contemporary art, is one of the first of
its kind in Iraq. On the other side of the world, Pittsburgh-based artist Jon Robin is creating an exact replica of Kashani’s apartment, including all of its contents as part of Factory Installed 2019. “The Other Apartment” is one of Mattress Factory’s newest installations from nine different artists on display through 2020. Other highlights include Pepe Mar’s “Dragonfruit,” multi-media pieces focusing on queer bondage, and Patte Loper’s immersive installation, inspired by social and environmental justice. Regular museum visitors will also note another big change: The Greer Lankton Archives, on display since 2017, will be replaced
by never-before-seen artwork from the much celebrated queer artist. 6-8 p.m. 500 Sampsonia Way, North Side. Reception is free. mattress.org
COMEDY There’s an old clip on comedian T-Robe’s YouTube page that starts with the familiar enough scenario of being too high to find your car keys (while they’re in your hand). But the Aliquippa-born comedian (aka Tony Roberson) pushes the setup to satisfying extremes, ending with him getting in his car to drive to a friend’s house to see if he left the keys there. (OK, it works better hearing it from
The first Big Mac was created in Southwestern Pennsylvania in 1967. Illustration by Josie Norton
PHOTO: ASHLEY FAYE PHOTOGRAPHY
^ Fri., Sept. 27: T-Robe
him.) T-Robe has performed alongside and gotten co-signs from comedians like John Witherspoon, Katt Williams, Kevin Hart, and Dave Chappelle. Catch one of his five headlining sets at Pittsburgh Improv to see what the fuss is about. 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Continues through Sun., Sept. 29. $18. improv.com/pittsburgh
TALK Iconic local artist Thaddeus Mosley will visit the Andy Warhol Museum for CreativeMornings, a worldwide breakfast lecture series designed to connect the public with inspirational people. A New Castle native and self-taught sculptor, Mosley has become one of the most influential African-American artists in the world since he started exhibiting in the late 1960s. He will give a small talk as part of a series examining the theme of Muse, or, in other words, what people do to get ideas flowing. 8:30-10 a.m. 117 Sandusky St., North Side. Free. Registration required. creativemornings.com
SATURDAY SEPT. 28 EVENT See the North Side’s fall beauty with a few beers along the way: The North Side is bringing back its pedaling Oktoberfest,
OktoberQuest, for a second year. This bike-brewery tour hits all of the neighborhood’s best spots for a pint, including Allegheny City Brewing, Penn Brewery, Bier’s Pub, Spring Hill Brewing, and Threadbare Cider House. Tickets include two samples at each stop, a biketour T-shirt, and souvenir mug. 1 p.m. Penn Brewery, 800 Vinial St., Northside. $30. “OktoberQuest” on Facebook
SCREEN It’s the second and final day of the Ukrainian Film Festival at the University of Pittsburgh. Screening at the Henry Clay Frick Fine Arts building are two critically acclaimed Ukrainian films: The Guide, a story of a young boy surviving the violence of 1930s Soviet Ukraine that mixes folklore with unflinching realism; and Ukrainian Sheriffs, a documentary about a two-officer police force in a small village near the Crimean border. 4 p.m. 650 Schenley Drive, Oakland. $12.
MARKET Experience the many creative, independent small businesses and restaurants of Allentown with the Fall Night Market, an offbeat event with plenty to see and buy. Shop at three artisan markets and an indoor market featuring unusual vendors and artists, including Skull Records, Dr. Tumblety’s Apothecary, and more. There will also be a pumpkin-carving contest, entertainment CONTINUES ON PG. 50
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER SEPT. 25-OCT. 2, 2019
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CALENDAR, CONTINUED FROM PG. 49
PHOTO: ALISHA B. WORMSLEY
^ Wed. Oct. 2: The People Are The Light
by Pittsburgh Circus Arts and the Kabarett Vulgare Sideshow, Halloween songs and sounds by The Weeping Glass, food from Onion Maiden and Black Market, and the curiosities from the Trundle Manor Mobile Office of Villainy. 7-11 p.m. 800 E. Warrington Ave., Allentown. Free. facebook.com/allentownnightmarket
SCREEN The Association of Moving Images Archivists is a collection of people and organizations dedicated to preserving video archives from all over the world, for cultural, historical, and educational purposes. Normally, the archives are only available to members of the organization, but for one night at Regent Square Theater, the AMIA Archival Screening Night Roadshow will be available to the
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public. The collection features 22 “strange, astonishing, and hilarious” videos from the archives. 8 p.m. 1035 S. Braddock Ave., Regent Square. $7-8. cinema.pfpca.org
SUNDAY SEPT. 29 FILM Love watching movies? Love discussing movies even more than watching them? Join the Pittsburgh Movie Club. This club is open to every film fanatic who’s “not a jerk.” At the first meeting, the group will be discussing Skate Kitchen, a coming-of-age story centered on a young teen who befriends a group of skaters. 5 p.m. The Irma Freeman Center for
Imagination, 5006 Penn Ave., Garfield. Suggested donation of $3-5. “Pittsburgh Movie Club” on Facebook
MONDAY SEPT. 30
ART Artist Katherine Mickle takes inspiration from the barren landscapes of South Dakota’s Badlands National Park, full of miles of dry terrains and erosion, for her exhibit Between A Rock & A Hard Place. The Slippery Rock University associate professor of art’s mixed-media pieces incorporate photography, drawing, and video to compare and contrast the
badlands during different times of the year. Opening reception 5-8 p.m.; gallery hours 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Continues through Oct. 24. Martha Gault Art Gallery, Slippery Rock University, 108 Maltby Ave., Slippery Rock. Free. sru.edu
TUESDAY OCT. 1 ART James Gallery’s Pretty Ugly challenges ideas of how “pretty” art should be with mixed-media submissions from Tom Megalis, Ken Draim, Stacy Innerst, Laura Jean McLaughlin, Jay Nesbitt, Tom Sarver, and David Wallace. The stop-motion video from Megalis created to promote the
^ Wed., Oct. 2: We Exist
exhibit explains it pretty well: “Art, like Michelangelo’s?” “Well, sort of, but not really. It’s modern art.” Another character says, “Modern art ain’t art. That’s pretty ugly if you ask me.” 9 p.m. 413 S. Main St., West End. jamesgallery.net
WEDNESDAY OCT. 2
ART Celebrate Silver Eye Center for Photography’s artist in residence, Alisha B. Wormsley, and her new book, The People Are The Light, a documentation of her art installations and workshops around Homewood. The book also features work from other locals artists, including Yona Harvey, Staycee Pearl, Anqwenique Wingfield, and more. The event at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Homewood will feature performances, readings, and food, with proceeds benefiting local community organizations like the YMCA Lighthouse Project. 5:30 p.m. 7101 Hamilton Ave., Homewood. Free. silverye.org
SCREEN Chatham University focuses on people living outside the gender binary with We Exist, a documentary presented by Just Films Pittsburgh. Directed by Andrew Seger, the film follows the story of Lauren, a non-binary athlete who faces many obstacles in the journey to discover their
true self, from abandoning a basketball career to a near-death experience in the rainforest to top surgery. A panel discussion and Q&A session with students and local leaders, including SisTersPGH executive director Ciora Thomas, will follow. The screening will take place at Chatham’s Eddy Theater. 6:30-9 p.m. 1 Woodland Road, Squirrel Hill. Free. Registration required. justfilmspgh.org
POETRY Cheer on local writers during the latest Nasty Slam, a live poetry contest at Spirit where the winner is determined by audience applause. Bring three poems, your friends, and a willingness to fight dirty with your most ill-mannered, aggressive, take-no-prisoners attitude. The triumphant will take home a $200 cash prize and the prestige of being one of Pittsburgh’s nastiest poets. 10 p.m. 242 51st St., Lawrenceville. $10 to enter/ 10 to watch. nastyslam.com
SCREEN There are few concert spectacles like a Roger Waters show — the wildly ambitious, world-building theatrics of The Wall, those pink pig balloons — and those who haven’t had the pleasure of seeing it in person can now experience the next best thing. Carnegie Science Center’s Rangos Theater screens the concert film Us + Them on its massive screen, featuring Pink Floyd favorites from The Wall, Animals, Dark Side of the Moon, and Wish You Were Here. 7 p.m. 1 Allegheny Ave., North Side. $11.95-13.95. carnegiesciencecenter.org • PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER SEPT. 25-OCT. 2, 2019
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LEAD SOFTWARE ENGINEER
DIRECTOR, MOBILE & TABLET PRODUCTS YinzCam Inc. seeks a Director, Mobile & Tablet Products in Pittsburgh, PA, to be responsible for leading a team of android developers in the development of software programming and testing procedures. Apply at www.yinzcam.com
Certes Networks, Inc. seeks a Lead Software Engineer in Pittsburgh, PA, to design & develop state-of-the-art encryption technology. Specific duties incl.: designing & developing software apps for Certes encryption products; & developing software for embedded sys. performing network encryption. Send cvr ltr & resume to gary.brunner@ certesnetworks.com
412-403-6069
STUDY Alcohol & Smoking Research Lab at the University of Pittsburgh is looking for men to participate in a research project. Must be between 21 and 28 years old and be a social drinker. Must be willing to drink alcohol. Earn up to $90 for participating in a two-session study. For more information, call: 412-624-8975, or email: asrl@pitt.edu
NAME CHANGE
LEGAL NOTICE
IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-19-11583. In re petition of Chhali Budathoki for change of name to Priya Budathoki. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 10th day of October, 2019, at 9:45 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for
Notice is hereby given pursuant to the provisions of the Fictitious Names Act of Pennsylvania that an application for registration of a fictitious name was filed with the Department of State of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, for the conduct of a business under the fictitious name of Angel Surplus Agency, with its principal office or place of business at 231 Halcomb Avenue, Clarion, PA 15025. The names and addresses of all persons who are parties to the registration are: Janine Weatherspoon, 231 Halcomb Avenue, Clarion, PA 15025.
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THE BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH Sealed bids will be received in the Bellefield Avenue Lobby, Administration Building, 341
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South Bellefield Avenue until 11:00 A.M. prevailing time October 1, 2019 and will be opened at the same hour for the purchase of the following equipment and supplies:
CALCULATORS General Information regarding bids may be obtained at the Office of the Purchasing Agent, Service Center, 1305 Muriel Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203. The bid documents are available on the School District’s Purchasing web site at: www.pghschools.org Click on Our Community; Bid Opportunities;
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ACROSS
1. Like Atari 2600 and Nintendo Entertainment System game consoles 5. Does voiceover work 9. Windows forerunner 14. Mighty tony 15. Biblical twin 16. “The Evil Dead” director 17. Serious complaint from author Puzo? 19. Chicken man 20. “Some of us are becoming the men we wanted to marry” speaker 22. Card dealer’s box 23. “Stuff it” 26. Took cover 27. Unthinking worker 29. China with scones 31. Classic skateboarding magazine 34. Computer bug, often 35. Up one 36. Actress Amurri Martino 37. Turned on the waterworks 38. Lactose intolerant’s no-no 39. Representative Schiff 40. When the trip’s gonna end, breifly 41. Ahmad Jamal’s instrument 42. Tool houses 43. “I’m not looking
for a response,” on Twitter 45. Party 46. One who walked through Hell? 47. Coffee serving 48. Pull off? 49. Tease 51. Collection of previously published works 54. In a tumultuous state 56. Outdoor areas where one can belch? 60. Way to go 61. Marc of fashion 62. “I’m baby,” e.g. 63. MLB commissioner before Manfred 64. Cut the crop 65. Annual Austin music/film fest
DOWN
(crossword-wise) 13. Function of geometry 18. Alternate choice 21. Eel’s cousin 23. Drunk as a skunk 24. Legalese phrase 25. Two things an angel must have while covering Aretha Franklin? 28. Awful 30. Drunk 31. “To ___ own self be true” 32. Artful dodger? 33. Two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jalen 35. One who might need help getting started 38. “Same”
39. Fancy tuna 41. Rate poorly 42. Clean, as a spill 44. Most populous island of French Polynesia 45. Classic Seattle record label that found Nirvana 47. Happening roughly 49. Marmalade containers 50. Woodwind instrument 52. Zap in the microwave 53. BJ’s rival 55. Chicken serving 57. Spot’s bud 58. maps.google. ca meas. 59. Darn LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS
1. When prime time starts 2. Feathery neckpiece 3. The Knesset’s nat. 4. “So. Much. ___.” 5. Liar’s trade 6. Humanitarian org. created by JFK 7. Stable home? 8. Deadpool, for one 9. 1981 Conway Twitty album (which doesn’t have a song titled “I Pity the Fool”) 10. Approvals 11. Dole out an expression of stupidity? 12. Herman Melville’s most-famous novel
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER SEPT. 25-OCT. 2, 2019
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PEEPSHOW A sex and social justice column BY JESSIE SAGE // PEEPSHOWCAST@GMAIL.COM
E
VERY SEPTEMBER, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration sponsors Recovery Month in order “to increase awareness and celebrate successes of those in recovery.” One of the things that is often left out of conversations during this month, however, is the particular challenges related to sex that often accompany recovery. In order to bring some of these issues to light, I reached out to Jennifer Matesa, licensed social worker, psychotherapist, and author of Sex in Recovery: A Meeting Between the Covers.
TELL ME A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR JOURNEY AND WHAT LEAD YOU TO WRITING THE BOOK. In 2013 Hazelden [addiction advocacy organization] saw my blog and journalism about addiction issues, and they asked me to write a book about physical recovery from addiction. When I went across the country to speak about that book, all the questions were about the chapter on sexuality. So when Hazelden said, “What’s your next book going to be?” I said, “We have to do a book about sex in recovery. Because nobody talks about it. And everyone wants to.” WHY DO YOU THINK IT IS IMPORTANT TO TALK ABOUT SEX DURING RECOVERY? When you use substances, it affects
your sexual response, and when you quit using them, your sexual response changes again, and people don’t know what the hell is going on. People want to know whether they’re “normal,” and I wanted to dispel this idea that there is any “normal” out there. There is your experience, and it’s yours, and you are entitled to have it and explore it. I HAVE HEARD THAT 12-STEP PROGRAMS LIKE AA DISCOURAGE SEX IN EARLY RECOVERY. IS THAT CORRECT? IF SO, IS THIS A BARRIER TO RECOVERY FOR SOME FOLKS? When I interviewed people across the country, I found out that the message is different in different regions. Some regions tell newcomers, “No sex with new people for a year.” Other regions tell
newcomers, “No new relationships for a year.” It’s a huge barrier, especially to young people. They come to a meeting and hear, “You can’t have sex for a year,” they’re like, “Fuck that,” and leave. The time-limit is also super arbitrary. I think recovery is about finding out who you are, and this applies to your sexuality, too. That said, waiting for a while until your body settles and heals is a good idea. And exploring sexuality with yourself can help you find out your desires and responses. HOW DID SEX CHANGE BEFORE AND AFTER BECOMING SOBER FOR THE PEOPLE YOU INTERVIEWED? WHAT ABOUT FOR YOURSELF? In 2008, I quit using opioids, in particular fentanyl, and I still had
estrogen at that time, so my sexuality came roaring back. I didn’t know what was happening to me. Big-time opioids dampen the sexual response and make it impossible to feel desire or have [an] orgasm. When you go into withdrawal syndrome, however, you can have spontaneous orgasms. I interviewed one young man who, in early recovery, had sex with three different women every day and also had spontaneous orgasms with no stimulation. As the body heals, sexual response evens out. On the other hand, I also interviewed folks who had quit stimulants like meth or crack whose dopamine systems had been wrecked, and it takes these folks much longer to recover their sexual response. The same case with the folks who had used alcohol. That’s why I wrote the book — to educate people about what they can expect. WHAT DO YOU THINK IT IS IMPORTANT FOR PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT SEX WHEN THEY ARE JUST GETTING SOBER? That maybe it’s an overwhelming response, or maybe it feels as if your pleasure will never come back, but the body and mind have enormous innate capacity for healing. If I have a “higher power,” it’s that. Be patient. Be mindful.
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JESSIE SAGE IS CO-HOST OF THE PEEPSHOW PODCAST AT PEEPSHOWPODCAST.COM. HER COLUMN PEEPSHOW IS EXCLUSIVE TO PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER. FOLLOW HER ON TWITTER @PEEP_CAST. HAVE A SEX QUESTION YOU’RE TOO AFRAID TO ASK? ASK JESSIE! EMAIL INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM. QUESTIONS MAY BE CONSIDERED FOR AN UPCOMING COLUMN.
Pittsburgh’s lone liberal talkshow host for 30+ years Listen live Monday thru Thursday at 10 a.m. at lynncullen.pghcitypaper.com 54
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JADE
Free testing HIV • stD • hep c confidential
Wellness Center Services are offered to everyone, regardless of identity, income, or insurance status. 1789 S. Braddock Ave, #410 Pittsburgh, PA 15218 To make an appointment: (412) 247-2310
metrocommunityhealthcenter.org
NOW OPEN IN SOUTH SIDE Locations in Monroeville, Wexford and South Side, PA
Dr. Stacy Lane, D.O. • 412-515-0000
Premiere, Family Owned and Operated Outpatient Drug and Alcohol Treatment:
GOT HEPATITiS C ? GET THE CURE.
• SUBOXONE • VIVITROL • Group and Individualized Therapy
• ALL INSURANCES ACCEPTED • WALK INS WELCOME • tRANSPORATION PROGRAM • NO INSURANCE? WE CAN HELP
NORTH SHORE LOCATION NO WAIT LIST Accepts all major insurances and medical assistance
CALL NOW TO SCHEDULE
412-380-0100 www.myjadewellness.com
127 Anderson Street - Suite 101 Timber Court Building, PIttsburgh, PA 15212 Phone: (412) 322-4151
WASHINGTON, PA LOCATION 95 Leonard Avenue - Suite 203 Washington PA 15301 Phone: (724) 249-2517
The steel Ferris Wheel was designed and manufactured in Pittsburgh in 1893. // Illustration by Kevin Shepherd PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER SEPT. 25-OCT. 2, 2019
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