October 23, 2019 - Pittsburgh City Paper

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INSIDE: PITTSBURGH’S TREE OF LIFE SYNAGOGUE, ONE YEAR LATER PITTSBURGH’S ALTERNATIVE FOR NEWS, ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT SINCE 1991

A STORY IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NONPROFIT NEWS ORGANIZATION PUBLICSOURCE

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER OCT. 23-30, 2019

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A sign posted outside of Tree of Life Synagogue, a year after the tragic shooting on Oct. 27, 2018

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OCTOBER 23-30, 2019 VOLUME 28 + ISSUE 43 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 Operations Coordinator MAGGIE WEAVER Events and Marketing Coordinator BRYER BLUMENSCHEIN Circulation Manager JEFF ENGBARTH Featured Contributors REGE BEHE, LISSA BRENNAN, LYNN CULLEN, TERENEH IDIA, CHARLES ROSENBLUM, JESSIE SAGE Interns JOIE KNOUSE, ELISE LAVALLEE Office Administrator RODNEY REGAN National Advertising Representative VMG ADVERTISING 1.888.278.9866 OR 1.212.475.2529 Publisher EAGLE MEDIA CORP.

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COVER PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM DANIEL HATFIELD AND TYLEAH WILLIAMS AT THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY OF PITTSBURGH ON THE NORTH SIDE READ THE STORY ON PAGE 6

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Ulysses Andrews, 8, does his homework with his dad, Steve, at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh on the North Side

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THE BIG STORY

Pittsburgh City Paper has partnered with PublicSource, Pittsburgh’s nonprofit digital-first news organization, in bringing our readers more local news stories to our pages. Read this, and more work by PublicSource, online at publicsource.org

PUBLIC OFFERINGS From wizards to mentoring, Allegheny County’s public libraries are vital, noisy spaces

BY MEG ST-ESPRIT // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

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ARANORMAL TOURS, African drum lessons, and video-game tournaments that have kids leaping from their seats with shouts of victory may not seem like typical library activities. Yet they’re all happening in Pittsburgh-area libraries. Library usage is declining in America according to a 2015 Pew Research Center poll. More than half of Americans have not visited a library in the past year, but many local libraries are thriving community spaces. The main focus is still reading, but these spaces are often far from the stuffy stereotype that discourages talking louder than a whisper. Patrons learn art, play computer games, and get help with homework or applying to jobs. Librarians sometimes dress as wizards and, more often, work as real-world mentors for children in the community. Caitie Morphew, library services manager for Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s Allegheny location, said libraries can empower children to explore new things with hands-on learning. “How many kids get to see lives snakes and touch them? At the library?” Morphew said. “If we have a chance to explore that kind of learning — that gross, scary, freaky, shock-and-awe experience — that’s the things that kids like.” Established in 1994, the Allegheny County

Library Association has 46 member libraries over 70 locations, including 19 branches in Pittsburgh. The organization brought the county’s independent libraries together with the city to help them stay relevant. Today, many of them are vibrant learning spaces for adults and children alike. To highlight the changing and varied roles libraries play for residents, PublicSource explored how four libraries serve their unique communities.

CARNEGIE LIBRARY OF PITTSBURGH, ALLEGHENY BRANCH SITUATED BY A JITNEY STOP, a beer distributor, and

a string of restaurants on Federal Street in the North Side is the Allegheny branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. The branch is one of the first U.S. libraries opened by Andrew Carnegie, and its close proximity to social services such as Light of Life Rescue Mission, multiple bus routes, and two elementary schools make the space a thrumming

hub of community activity. On a Wednesday evening after school, the children’s space is packed. The tables and couches are filled with upward of 50 people, and the floor space is taken up by children in creative play. Some are having after-school snacks while others are getting homework help, participating in the Reading Buddies mentoring program, or taking free art lessons through ProjectArt. Morphew and children’s librarian Jamie Collett keep the chaos to a minimum while touching base with familiar and new visitors. When things got a little too raucous playing the server-based video game Roblox, they calmed the players while also marveling over a new avatar a child created. In the game, kids explore different worlds, go on quests, and meet up with their friends in virtual reality. The librarians chose to move all the computers together because Roblox is a social game. “We see so many kids come out of school who had to sit all day and regulate their behavior, and they get here and we can feel this weight off their shoulders,” Collett said. “We believe that every child releases their energy differently. If that’s on the computer, that’s wonderful.” Parents are mixed in among the crowd, some meeting for resumé help in the adult space or using a computer to apply for jobs. Others clutch coffee cups from the nearby Crazy Mocha as they chat, taking advantage of the play space to find a moment of calm. Many children visit the library on their own. CONTINUES ON PG. 8

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER OCT. 23-30, 2019

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PHOTO: KATHRYN HYSLOP PHOTOGRAPHY

Dressed as a wizard, Andrew Bayne Memorial Library assistant Diane Roos distributes books at Bellevue Elementary School.

“We are that safe place where children can come be themselves, find material or interests that are part of who they are,” Collett said. “We help them navigate social interactions or issues with peers.” Sometimes that role means creating a quiet space for a visit between parents and a child in foster care. Sometimes it means calling an Uber home for an unattended child at closing time or providing a dinner to a child with food insecurity. Morphew has seen the role of librarians shift over the seven years she has been at the Allegheny branch. “We used to say, ‘Here is what your fourth grader should be reading.’ Now we think about how we can help parents or caregivers or teachers. How can we support that fourth grader when they come in and are enthusiastic about something? Sometimes it’s listening to them, sometimes it is a book, sometimes it’s finding a robot for them to program on.” Despite the availability of games like Roblox, books still reign in the space. Shelves display the covers of dozens of books that highlight the diverse community in which the library is located. The faces of Michelle Obama, Malala, and a children’s encyclopedia of Islam are all on display. The list for Reading Buddies is often 10 kids long. No matter the changing needs of the library space, the children seem to know it is a place where they can connect with an adult

who has a genuine interest in their well-being. “For every one of those heartwrenching stories, there are seven to 15 truly phenomenal interactions with kids and tweens,” Morphew said. “We read and interact with and mentor kids.”

JEWISH FAMILY AND COMMUNITY SERVICES/CLP AGEWELL READS THREE YEARS AGO, Ellen Leger was vis-

iting her mother in Montreal when she observed a library program for seniors at home. She saw the joy home visits brought her mother during a season of life when she was not able to get out as much. Leger returned to Pittsburgh with a desire to start a similar program. The result is AgeWell Reads, a collaboration between Jewish Family and Community Services (JFCS) and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. The program’s main goal is to provide seniors with books at home, but Leger has seen it develop into much more. “This really led into us looking into loneliness,” said Leger, the volunteer administrator for AgeWell senior services at JFCS. “It’s so hard to quantify, but so important.” One senior, AnneLouise Feeny, let PublicSource in on her library visit. Leger loves Feeny’s enthusiasm for the program. “She sends us cards about how much she loves the books,” Leger said. “She loves to have her own librarian,

have those conversations, fine tune their likes and dislikes. It builds another set of kind eyes into these seniors’ lives. Another touch point.” Since the program’s inception in 2017, volunteers have completed 140 visits with seniors. The program is available to seniors in Squirrel Hill, Shadyside and Oakland. Chatting on the phone with the librarians helps the seniors home in on their literary interests. One 98-yearold participant likes “spooky” books, but the librarians realized she did not like murders. They work with her to find her mysteries. Leger said seniors with dementia enjoy picture books, photographic books about history, or cookbooks to help their memory. The program connects visually impaired participants to the audio books or large print books from the Carnegie Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. Once book selections are made, a volunteer picks them up and heads to the senior’s home. Carnegie Library has waived overdue fees for seniors and offers free parking to volunteers at its main branch in Oakland. Leger loves to see the program grow and hopes that more volunteers will help the program reach more seniors in the future. “When you are reading, it activates a different part of your brain ... it is so good for everyone.”


PHOTO: KIMBERLY ROWEN/PUBLIC SOURCE

Cheryl Fedder, an AgeWell Reads volunteer (right) meets with AnneLouise Feeny at her Oakland home.

ANDREW BAYNE MEMORIAL LIBRARY IN THE QUIET MORNING hours before

the library opens, a handful of seniors sit with their coffee in front of a bank of computers. Ellen Goodman, director of Andrew Bayne Memorial Library in Bellevue, helps a senior open her email account and then helps her do it again several more times when she accidentally closes the browser window. “Go to your mail. Click here. This is you. There you go,” Goodman explained. Each Monday and Wednesday, Bayne Library gives seniors early access before the small space becomes crowded and the high ceilings begin to echo. This is just one of the ways Goodman and library assistants Diane Roos and Linda Willheid adapt to running a library in a 144-year-old house. Andrew Bayne Memorial Library was gifted to Bellevue Borough by Amanda Bayne, daughter of one of Bellevue’s wealthy founding families, upon her death in 1912. The staff finds creative ways to run multiple programs in the old parlor, dining room and bedrooms of the Victorian mansion. Bayne also gifted the farmland around her home to be used for a community park. Goodman acknowledged the drawbacks of the unusual space but also sees

its potential, especially outside. “It’s a small space,” she said, “but we try to utilize the park as much as possible.” Situated in the center of walkable Bellevue, the grand front porch is a stage for a summer concert series, which follows a bustling farmer’s market each week on the library lawn. A skate park sits just below the library. A brand new playground lends itself well to play dates developing out of the weekly baby lap-sit story times run by Roos, who is in charge of the children’s programming. Pop-up play events in the park during warm months give kids a chance to move around beyond what can be done in the small second-floor bedroom that serves as the children’s library space. Each summer, the library hosts a wizarding festival in Bellevue, WizardVue, which is planned by a local volunteer board. All proceeds benefit the library with a goal of promoting literacy and a lifelong love of reading. Every elementary school student gets a new book in anticipation of the event, which Roos presented with wand in hand, dressed in her wizarding best. This fall, the Friends of Bayne Library hosted a fundraiser to track down the ghost of Amanda Bayne, who is purported to haunt her former home. Almost 40 people toured the library CONTINUES ON PG. 10

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An important asset to Pittsburghers with disabilities will get a major upgrade thanks to a state grant. The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (CLP-LBPH) received $750,000 through the state Department of Education’s Keystone Library Grant program. The grant will go toward a $2.7 million renovation project intended to, among other things, make the library more comfortable and easier to navigate for patrons with visual and physical disabilities. Those improvements include renovating 11,000 square-feet of public and staff spaces on the first floor, reconfiguring for accessibility, and replacing outdated systems. State Rep. Sara Innamorato, (D-Lawrenceville) believes the funding marks an important progression for the library, located at 4724 Baum Blvd. “Libraries are about creating equitable spaces for all our neighbors,” says Innamorato. “By supporting an update to these facilities, we’re supporting the accessible and inclusive work of Carnegie Library staff by helping them create a more accessible and inclusive physical space where everyone can feel at home with a book.” In a press release, Pennsylvania state Sen. Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Jr., who serves as a life trustee on the board of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, also applauded the decision. “Libraries are critical hubs of the community; they provide more than books on loan, they offer a safe space to learn, meet, escape, plan, and dream,” says Costa. CLP-LBPH belongs to a network of libraries attached to the Library of Congress National Library Service (NLS) for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. The network was originally created in 1931 to offset the cost of bringing in books in special formats, such as large-print or Braille, to libraries. This expanded to acquiring and distributing a variety of other materials, including audiobooks and magazines and playback equipment. “Through these services and resources,” says Mary Frances Cooper, president and director of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in a press release, “residents of all abilities, skills, and backgrounds have equal access to materials and learning opportunities.” •

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

Aaliyah Gonzalez, 10, mixes paint while making terrariums as part of the Mattress Factory’s art program at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh on the North Side

and according to an organization board member Meg Watt, paranormal equipment picked up readings throughout the night, including what seemed to be a figure in an empty corner. True ghosts or not, the fundraiser was deemed a success for the small but thriving library.

MT. LEBANON PUBLIC LIBRARY ON A RECENT SEPTEMBER day, the sounds of drums and laughter could be heard from the parking lot of Mt. Lebanon Public Library, dispelling any myths that libraries have to be quiet places. In the courtyard, lines of patrons learn dances led by African drum and dance instructor Yamoussa Camara. Others congregate around buffet tables featuring a potluck of food from around the world. Kids tentatively try foods that are new to them. A mother sways to the music with her napping baby. The international potluck is just one of the ways the library is reinventing its programs. “I feel the community in some ways is what makes us stand out. They are very engaged and concentrated on our development,” Associate Director for Public Services Sharon Bruni said. Bruni said the library’s programs

couldn’t run without a team of about 300 active volunteers. She says they’re as important as the librarians. “It is a completely symbiotic relationship,” she said. “We are so attached and very aware of what the community needs are, and they make sure we are very agile in meeting those needs.” Libraries are a place, first and foremost, to read books for free. But Mt. Lebanon Public Library also hosts a bookstore. The store is run by volunteers, who Bruni said have a good understanding of which books are popular. In January, the volunteer organization Friends of Mt. Lebanon Public Library gave the library nearly $86,000 through bookstore revenue and fundraisers. These funds help the library run its programs, including a partnership with ACHIEVA to run programs for adults with disabilities, field trips to the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and after-school STEM programming. The list of programs is long, but Bruni said the library remains rooted in the tradition that made them sprout up to begin with. “It’s all about sharing our stories and the human record and making sure libraries remain central to that goal,” Bruni said.

Meg St-Esprit is a freelance writer based in Bellevue. She can be reached at megstesprit@gmail.com or on Twitter @MegStEsprit. This story was fact-checked by Juliette Rihl.


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.JUST JAGGIN’.

SCARED STRAIGHT BY JOSH OSWALD // JOSWALD@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

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ALLOWEEN SEASON IS upon us. Children across America will be yet again begging for candy in preparation for the inevitable collapse of the global economy and food supply due to untaxed corporate dollars being spent on space tourism. To prepare for my neighborhood turning into a Hooverville, I only ask a few small favors. Please, walk across my lawn instead of using the walkway. It’s the shortest distance to my door, and that’s how we can most efficiently complete the transaction. To hell with that grass. Take that, dad! Don’t want to say, “trick or treat?” Cool. I’m not that fond of hearing it anyway, especially if you are forcing it. No one likes a phony. Not interested in making eye contact? I feel ya. These kids are going to have to make so much unwanted eye contact through the course of their unfulfilling careers; I’m not going to make them do it. When I was a kid (*grumble, grumble), one piece of candy, a McDees $1 gift certificate, or an apple with a razor blade in it was standard fare. We took it and ate around the razor. But I’m not Strom Thurmond. Times change. Candy comes in such mass quantities that we can move Snickers like Levin’s moves mattresses on Flag Day. As a Halloween progressive, I even let kids reach in and grab what they like. Nobody wants those Tootsie Rolls

that are snuck into every variety pack. Just follow these simple rules, and you won’t force me to complain about you behind closed doors: •Don’t be aggressively grabby. Some kids fire their hands into the bowl like a cobra striking a mongoose. You know who grabs at candy like it’s going to disappear? The Trump children, that’s who. And they’re in their 30s and probably going to jail. There’s enough candy for everyone. I’m not going to pull the bowl away. Though, typing that made it sound fun. I might pull the bowl away. •If you want more than one piece of candy, just ask. You will get as much as you want based on supply and demand. •Let the little kids in there first. They’re small and fragile and usually have the cutest costumes. •If you dressed as “yourself” for Halloween, don’t mention it. I run a strict “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy at my house. If you were too lazy to think up a costume, I’m far too lazy to ask you what your deal is. •Say “thanks.” Most of all, kids, have fun out there. Wear whatever makes you happy. Eat as much candy as your parents permit and maybe sneak a little after you are cut off. You only live once, unless you’re dressed as a zombie or some other undead.

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.FOR THE WEEK OF OCT. 24

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY BY ROB BREZSNY // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “Sometimes the easiest way to get something done is to be a little naive about it,” writes computer engineer Bill Joy. I invite you to consider the value of that perspective, Scorpio — even though you’re the least likely sign in all the zodiac to do so. Being naive just doesn’t come naturally to you; you often know more than everyone else around you. Maybe you’ll be more receptive to my suggestion if I reframe the task. Are you familiar with the Zen Buddhist concept of “beginner’s mind”? You wipe away your assumptions and see everything as if it were the first time you were in its presence.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Is it always a bad thing to be lost? To wander in the unknown without a map? I’d like to propose a good version of being lost. It requires you to be willing to give up your certainties, to relinquish your grip on the comforting dogmas that have structured your world — but to do so gladly, with a spirit of cheerful expectancy and curiosity. It doesn’t require you to be a macho hero who feels no fear or confusion. Rather, you have faith that life will provide blessings that weren’t possible until you got lost.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “Worrying is the most natural and spontaneous of all human functions,” wrote science educator Lewis Thomas. “Let’s acknowledge this, perhaps even learn to do it better.” I agree with him! And I think it’s an ideal time for you to learn how to worry more effectively, more potently, and with greater artistry. What might that look like? First, you wouldn’t feel shame or guilt about worrying. You wouldn’t regard it as a failing. Rather, you would raise your worrying to a higher power. You’d wield it as a savvy tool to discern which situations truly need your concerned energy and which don’t.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “Some wounds go so deep that you don’t even feel them until months, maybe years, later,” wrote Aquarian author Julius Lester. Pay attention to that thought, Aquarius. The bad news is that you are just now beginning to feel a wound that was inflicted some time ago. But that’s also the good news, because it means the wound will no longer be hidden and unknowable. And because you’ll be fully aware of it, you’ll be empowered to launch the healing process. I suggest you follow your early intuitions about how best to proceed with the cure.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): If you’ve been having dreams or fantasies that the roof is sinking or the walls are closing in, you should interpret it as a sign that you should consider moving into a more spacious situation. If you have been trapped within the narrow confines of limited possibilities, it’s time to break free and flee to a wide open frontier. In general, Pisces, I urge you to insist on more expansiveness in everything you do, even if that requires you to demolish cute little mental blocks that have tricked you into thinking small.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Singapore has one of the world’s lowest fertility rates. A few years ago, this state of affairs prompted the government to urge Singaporeans to have sex on an annual holiday known as National Day. A new rap song was released in the hope of pumping up everyone’s libidos and instigating a baby boom. It included the lyrics, “Let’s make fireworks ignite / Let’s make Singapore’s birthrate spike.” I have a different reason for encouraging you to seek abundant high-quality sex, Aries. According to my analysis, tender orgasmic experiences will profoundly enhance your emotional intelligence in the coming weeks — and make you an excellent decision-maker just in time for your big decisions. (P.S. You don’t necessarily need a partner.)

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In the 1530s, explorer Jacques Cartier led expeditions from France to the New World. As Europeans often did back then,

he and his team were rude and brutish to the indigenous folks who lived there, stealing their land, kidnapping some of them, and slaughtering herds of great auks in a bird sanctuary. Yet there was one winter when Cartier’s marauders got crucial help from their victims, who gave them vitamin C-rich pine needle tea that cured their scurvy. I suspect you Tauruses will embark on quests and journeys in the coming months, and I’m hoping your behavior will be different from Cartier’s. When you arrive in unfamiliar places, be humble, curious, and respectful. Be hesitant to impose your concepts of what’s true, and be eager to learn from the locals. If you do, you’re likely to get rich teachings and benefits equivalent to the pine needle tea.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Many software engineers have enjoyed The Pragmatic Programmer, a book that helps them develop and refine their code. One popular technique the book offers is “rubber duck deprogramming.” Programmers place a toy rubber duck in front of them, and describe to it the problems they’re having. As they explain each line of code to their very good listener, they may discover what’s amiss. I recommend a similar approach to you as you embark on metaphorically debugging your own program, Gemini. If a rubber duck isn’t available, call on your favorite statue or stuffed animal, or even a photo of a catalytic teacher or relative or spirit.

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CANCER (June 21-July 22): Read the following passage from Gabriel García Márquez’s novel One Hundred Years of Solitude. “Gaston was not only a fierce lover, with endless wisdom and imagination, but he was also, perhaps, the first man in the history of the species who had made an emergency landing and had come close to killing himself and his sweetheart simply to make love in a field of violets.” I admire the romantic artistry of Gaston’s dramatic gesture. I applaud his imaginative desire to express his love in a carefully chosen sanctuary filled with beauty. I praise his intense devotion to playful extravagance. But I don’t recommend you do anything quite so extreme in behalf of love during the coming weeks. Being 20 percent as extreme might be just right, though.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In his song “Diplomatic Immunity,” rapper Drake disparages tranquility and harmony. “I listen to heavy metal for meditation, no silence,” he brags. “My body isn’t much of a sacred temple, with vodka and wine, and sleep at the opposite times,” he declares. Is there a method in his madness? It’s revealed in these lyrics: “All that peace and that unity: all that weak sh-- will ruin me.” In the coming weeks, Leo, I urge you to practice the exact opposite of Drake’s approach. It’s time to treat yourself to an intense and extended phase of self-care.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): It’s a favorable time to refresh your relationships with your basic sources and to make connections with new basic sources. To spur your creative thought on these matters, I offer the following questions to meditate on. 1. If you weren’t living where you do now, what other place might you like to call home? 2. If you didn’t have the name you actually go by, what other name would you choose? 3. If you had an urge to expand the circle of allies that supports and stimulates you, whom would you seek out? 4. If you wanted to add new foods and herbs that would nurture your physical health and new experiences that would nurture your mental health, what would they be?

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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Mushrooms have spores, not seeds. They’re tiny. If you could stack 2,500 of them, they’d be an inch high. On the other hand, they are numerous. A ripe mushroom may release up to 16 million spores. And each spore is so lightweight, the wind can pick it up and fling it long distances. I’ll encourage you to express your power and influence like a mushroom in the coming days: subtle and airy but abundant; light and fine, but relentless and bountiful.

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as one LARGE walk-thru with add

the concession stand.

on attractions like escape rooms,

FRIGHT FARM

burial

Entering its 30th season, Fright Farm is one of Pennsylvania’s top rated professional haunted attractions. Guests hangout in the The Fest-Evil Midway with games, music and concessions before experiencing 5 distinct attractions: Hayride of No Return, Frightmare Mansion, Slaughter Grounds, The Clinic and The Abyss! State-of-theart special effects, custom digital soundtracks, computerized lighting, and talented actors elevate Fright Farm to an experience like no other!

Hundred Acres Manor is ranked not

HAUNTED HILLS HAYRIDE

rable experience for first time and

Haunted Hills Hayride and the Valley of Darkness Haunted Walking Trail (20th Annual); N. Versailes, PA. Journey through the woods at our two haunted attractions by wagon or foot for a factor of fright and fear. Karaoke/DJ, live bands; Benefits the Autism Society of Pittsburgh. For more info visit: hauntedhillshayride.com 724-382-8296; Facebook: Haunted Hills Hayride.

simulators,

beer

gardens

AND MORE! Come Experience why only as “Pittsburgh’s Best Haunted House” by HauntWorld but also one of the nations scariest attractions by USA Today, LA Times, Forbes.com and more.

LINCOLN CAVERNS Horror...In

the

CAVE…Through

THE Woods & ON THE WAGON! Our 36th Annual Ghosts & Goblins Tours promises to bring new themes & new surprises, creating a memorepeat visitors alike, including our newest addition - The Haunted Hayride! Three Unique Experiences for the Price of One!

REVEL + ROOST Revel + Roost hosts annual Heaven & Hell Halloween Bash, Saturday, October 26th, doors open 8:00 p.m. Two floors of party includes apps and open bar. VIP ($50) and General ($25) tickets: https://revelandroost.com/heaven-hell-halloween-bash/


PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER OCT. 23-30, 2019

15


.RESTAURANT REVIEW .

MADELEINE BISTRO & BAKERY BY MAGGIE WEAVER MWEAVER@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

Y

OU CAN SMELL Madeleine Bistro

& Bakery before you see it. Without the scent of freshly baked baguettes and warm croissants, the bakery might go unnoticed among rows of Regent Square homes. But the unassuming location doesn’t stop the French-inspired bakery from selling out of sandwiches and treats almost every day. A cashier puts it bluntly: “You miss the rush, you miss the food.” Even in the early afternoon, when most bakeries are closing up for the day, a steady stream of passersby float in and out of the bakery.

MADELEINE BISTRO & BAKERY 609 S. Trenton Ave., Wilkinsburg. madeleinepgh.com

Andrew and Abigail Stump opened Madeleine Bistro & Bakery in late 2017. The husband-and-wife team modeled the bakery around tried-and-true, Euroinfluenced pastries and breads, choosing to focus on classics over trends. “That [traditional] technique can keep you busy for a lifetime,” said Andrew. “We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel.” They update their menu occasionally — the most recent addition a pull-apart bread made with croissant dough — but their core pastries stay the same: croissants (as big as your head), scones (sweet and savory), muffins, coffee and quick-bread loaves, bouchon (small chocolate cakes), and cookies. Baguettes and various types of sourdough are year-round staples, along with simple sandwiches.

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

Chai spiced pull-apart bread, madeleines, and a coffee at Madeleine Bakery & Bistro

There’s a comforting, rustic look to the bakery’s interior — curling, metalbacked chairs, an artfully tiled floor, a small patio open when the weather’s good — that matches Madeleine’s hearty menu and small-town vibe. It fits in with the Stumps’ goal to be a “neighborhood gathering spot” and for the community to feel a sense of ownership over the bakery. On one afternoon visit (I did not heed the cashier’s advice and missed

the last sandwiches of the day), I settled in with a box of pastries. The savory scone — garlic, rosemary, and cheese — was buttery and dense, but not so much that the dough turned gluey after one bite. It was light and crumbly, cut into a triangle so the edges crisped. Roasted garlic added a punch but wasn’t as overpowering as garlic can be — instead, it brought out a peppery spice that mellowed with the earthiness of rosemary.

FAVORITE FEATURES: Madeleines

Coffee

Playhouse

Their namesake treat is light, lemony, and fit for royalty.

Take your afternoon treat with a cup of coffee or tea from the bakery’s seasonal offerings.

Out back, there’s a pint-sized playhouse. See if you can spot it!

A morning bun, its flaky dough wrapped up into a tight circle, was next. Even though the bun was loaded with butter and brown sugar, the addition of orange zest made it oddly refreshing. With a stroke of luck and the help of a friend who lives down the street from Madeleine, I scored a croque monsieur on a second visit. The traditional French café snack is nothing complicated, just ham, cheese, bread, and a slathering of butter (in this case, bechamel). The trick of putting cheese on the outer side of the bread allows for it to bubble and melt, adding a rich caramelization. Each element brings a necessary flavor and doesn’t overpower its companions. It’s filling but doesn’t feel heavy. The sandwich’s charm, just like Madeleine Bistro & Bakery, is in its simplicity.

Follow staff writer Maggie Weaver on Twitter @magweav

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PGHCITYPAPER.COM


Eating Happily. Leaving with Smile.

DINING OUT

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

SPONSORED LISTINGS FROM CITY PAPER ’S FINE ADVERTISERS

THIS WEEK’S FEATURED RESTAURANT

THE CAFÉ CARNEGIE 4400 FORBES AVE., OAKLAND 412-622-3225 THECAFECARNEGIE.COM

The True Taste of Thai

An excellent dining experience from James Beard Semi-Finalist, Sonja Finn featuring a locally-focused menu, full service dining, and espresso and wine bar.

BAJA BAR & GRILL 1366 OLD FREEPORT ROAD, FOX CHAPEL 412-963-0640, WWW.BAJABARGRILL.COM The Baja Bar & Grill is the perfect destination any time of the year for dancing to live bands and taking in great entertainment every weekend. In addition, there’s good food along with amazing views of the Allegheny River and the Fox Chapel Marina.

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

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

COLONY CAFE 1125 PENN AVE., STRIP DISTRICT 412-586-4850 / COLONYCAFEPGH.COM Whether stopping in for a weekday lunch, an afternoon latte or after-work drinks with friends, Colony Cafe offers delicious house-made bistro fare in a stylish Downtown space.

EIGHTY ACRES 1910 NEW TEXAS ROAD, MONROEVILLE/PLUM 724-519-7304 / EIGHTYACRESKITCHEN.COM Eighty Acres Kitchen & Bar offers

a refined, modern approach to contemporary American cuisine with a strong emphasis on local, farm-totable products.

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

LEON’S CARIBBEAN 823 E WARRINGTON AVE., ALLENTOWN 412-431-5366 / LEONSCARIBBEAN.COM Family owned and operated since December 2014. Here at Leon’s, we take pride in our recipes and quality of dishes. Simple menu with all the traditional dishes! Leon Sr. has been a chef for 30+ years, mastering the taste everyone has grown to love and can only get at Leon’s.

MERCURIO’S ARTISAN GELATO AND NEAPOLITAN PIZZA 5523 WALNUT ST., SHADYSIDE 412-621-6220 / MERCURIOSGELATOPIZZA.COM Authentic Neapolitan pizza, artisan gelato, and an inviting atmosphere are just a small part of what helps create your experience at Mercurio’s Gelato and Pizza in Pittsburgh. It’s not your standard pizza shop; in fact, this isn’t a “pizza shop” at all.

PAD THAI NOODLE 4770 LIBERTY AVE, BLOOMFIELD 412-904-1640 PADTHAINOODLEPITTSBURGH.COM This new café in Bloomfield features Thai and Burmese specialties.

Standards like Pad Thai and Coconut Curry Noodle are sure to please. But don’t miss out on the Ono Kyowsway featuring egg noodle sautéed with coconut chicken, cilantro and curry sauce.

2018 MURRAY AVE. PGH, PA 15217

412-422-6767

WWW.TOOKTOOK98.COM

SUPERIOR MOTORS 1211 BRADDOCK AVE., BRADDOCK 412-271-1022 / SUPERIORMOTORS15104.COM Thoughtfully prepared food, drawing inspiration from Braddock, its people, its history, and its perseverance. The cuisine best represents the eclectic style which has become a trademark of Chef Kevin Sousa. Fine dining in an old Chevy dealership with an eclectic, farm-to-table menu and a community focus.

TOOK TOOK 98 2018 MURRAY AVE., SQUIRREL HILL 412-422-6767 / TOOKTOOK98.COM Eating Happily. Leaving with Smile. The True Taste of Thai. Our goal is to provide the highest customer satisfaction as well as offering authentic Thai street food with Thai environment. Therefore, we have been working hard to bring exceptional dine-in experience to you. We offer variety of authentic Thai food, drinks, and desserts including smiling full-service with BYOB.

Are you tired of tracking down food trucks? Don’t miss our Weekly Food Truck Schedule! Available every Tuesday at pghcitypaper.com

TOTOPO MEXICAN KITCHEN AND BAR 660 WASHINGTON ROAD, MT. LEBANON 412-668-0773 / TOTOPOMEX.COM Totopo is a vibrant celebration of the culture and cuisine of Mexico, with a focus on the diverse foods served in the country. From Oaxacan tamales enveloped in banana leaves to the savory fish tacos of Baja California, you will experience the authentic flavor and freshness in every bite. They also feature a cocktail menu of tequila-based drinks to pair the perfect margarita with your meal.

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER OCT. 23-30, 2019

17


.ON THE ROCKS.

FRESH HANDMADE FOOD LOCAL CRAFT BEER DAILY SPECIALS

CRAFTYJACKALOPE.COM

STRONG FINISH BY MAGGIE WEAVER // MWEAVER@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

G

RAPPA IS MISUNDERSTOOD. The Italian “firewa-

ter,” brought overseas by Italian immigrants after World War II, historically has a bad reputation among U.S. drinkers who deem it too bitter and abrasive to be enjoyable. But some small-batch distillers, like Blake Ragghianti of Kingfly Spirits, are working to change that. Technically, grappa is a pomace (grape skin) brandy. Similar to root-to-stem cooking, grappa makes use of leftover alcohol from winemaking, distilling already-fermented grape skins into a strong spirit. Ragghianti calls it a “super version” of wine.

KINGFLY SPIRITS 2613 Smallman St., Strip District. kingflyspirits.com

4121 Butler St, Pittsburgh, PA 15201 • Mon-Fri 9am-3pm • Sat-Sun 9am-4pm

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PGHCITYPAPER.COM

“It’s like 1,000 grape skins in one glass,” says Ragghianti. Two tons of grape skins add up to about eight gallons of grappa. Ragghianti sources his grape skins from Engine House 25, a winery two blocks down from Kingfly’s Strip District location. This proximity is important. Bad skins make for bad grappa, and pomace, like wine, will turn vinegary if exposed to oxygen for too long. Fresh grape skins oxidize within hours. To make a good spirit, Ragghianti has to start the distilling process immediately after the wine is pressed (even if it’s 2 a.m.). Grappa is distilled with either water or steam. Kingfly uses water in a still resembling a giant KitchenAid mixer. The giant paddle and water saves the pomace from burning while capturing the alcohol. After two rounds of distillation (the first to separate skins from alcohol, the second to refine), the grappa rests in glass containers for three months to a year to restore flavor. Kingfly’s first batch will be released in about three weeks, according to Ragghianti. “When you distill, it’s a molecular apocalypse. [The spirit] comes out in a total chaotic state. It takes a year to rebuild,” says Ragghianti. Kingfly is in the process of collaborating with, fittingly, the Lawrenceville grappa bar Grapperia for a new batch. A mix of South American, South African, and Californian grapes are currently being distilled, and should be released sometime next year. “The reality of it is that grappa is one of the finest, most complex, and hardest to distill spirits in the world,” says Ragghianti. “If you can do a truly good grappa, then you’ve really honed your skills. I don’t know if we’re there, but I’m thrilled with what we’re producing. ”


NAME: Russ Loyd, South Hills WORK: Director of Technology, Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting (WYEP & WESA)

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

.RADIO.

BACKSTAGE

BY LISSA BRENNAN // CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

WHAT DOES A DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY DO? There are a lot of individual systems utilized in operating a radio station. Here, that includes towers, two main studios, four production rooms, and a full newsroom with news booths. They all come together to create content. I install and maintain every wire from the microphone to the tower. IS THERE A ROUTINE THAT TAKES YOU FROM ONE AREA TO ANOTHER OR IS IT CONSTANTLY CHANGING? It’s whack-a-mole. Remote studios, automation systems, audio-routing console systems — whatever pops up, wherever it pops up. Generally, if you see me, something went wrong and I’m fixing the problem. It’s 2019 and computers still break, so they require full-time care. IS YOUR WORK DONE AT A COMPUTER? There’s a substantial amount of computer work, but also studio-related

stuff with microphones, consoles, transmitters. There’s a long air chain and a lot of pieces of gear in between. WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT “THE TOWER,” ARE YOU ACTUALLY OUT THERE CLIMBING UP IT? They won’t let me do that. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DOING THIS? I’ve been in radio for 20 years; here since 2011. I’ve been in rock and roll since I was 10. WHAT WERE YOU DOING IN ROCK AND ROLL WHEN YOU WERE 10? My uncle owned a company in Macon, Ga., that supplied stagehands for concerts. My grandmother was a seamstress, I was backstage. Working in rock and roll while attending the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., and then living in Charleston, S.C., I met a guy who was an engineer for some radio stations. He was building

a new large facility, so he needed help. He asked me if I wanted to do it and I kinda got [taken] down a path. That’s how I got into radio, by building a studio. HOW DID YOU LEARN TO DO WHAT YOU DO? I always played music but I didn’t have ... let’s just say the drive to practice all the time. I love music and being around rock and roll, and being behind the scenes, and mixing consoles and flying rigs and just how live performance operated. So I kinda niched into the engineering side of it. I was good enough to get by to start with, then developed that craft picking up little things on the job and in different experiences that put the whole audio thing together. It’s a passion to keep learning. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE PART OF YOUR JOB? I’m good at fixing things. That’s my comfort zone; everything breaks and I come fix it. But also I really like when

your colleagues and the people that you support get the accolades that they deserve. Our newsroom does fantastic work and is racking up awards; the content that WYEP produces, I mean I love music, so they’re so much fun, they care so much about what they do. Watching them succeed is satisfying. CAN YOU TURN OFF WHAT YOU DO PROFESSIONALLY WHEN EXPERIENCING MUSIC? Nope. I’m always coming from the technical perspective, I go to the show and acknowledge the riggers and the sound guys and all the stagehands, knowing what it takes to pull it off. I saw TOOL; the whole stage was black and they had a guy come out in a white lab coat with a Swifter, going all around the stage and cleaning up the space and I thought that was hysterical. It was definitely a prop but a statement — all perfect, everything ready to go. I get that statement.

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER OCT. 23-30, 2019

19


PHOTO: RAUH JEWISH HISTORY PROGRAM & ARCHIVES AT THE SENATOR JOHN HEINZ HISTORY CENTER

The archives include thousands of letters written to individuals and organizations in the wake of the shooting.

.TREE OF LIFE.

LONG ARC OF HISTORY BY HANNAH LYNN // HLYNN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

I

F YOU WERE in Pittsburgh on Oct. 27, the day of the shooting at Tree of Life * Or L’Simcha Congregation, you probably felt some combination of anguish, sadness, heartbreak, fear, anger, numbness. How would you explain the feeling to those who weren’t there, or to future generations, of tragedies that always happen in other people’s cities until they happen in your own? You can’t really, at least not well. Immediately after the shooting at Tree of Life * Or L’Simcha Congregation, the Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives (RJHPA) at the Heinz History Center began working on a way to archive everything relating to the shooting, from memorials, to letters, to news articles, so future generations might be able to know what we felt. One year

20

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

later, the project continues to grow. “Our documents give us an opportunity to say something to people who are going to be born long after we’re dead and we can control what we tell them, we just can’t control what they hear,” says Eric Lidji, director of the RJHPA. “If we do the best job we can to be as comprehensive as we can, we’ve given them the best chance possible to understand how we actually feel today.” When Pittsburgh City Paper first spoke with Lidji about the Tree of Life archive project last November, it was a few weeks after the Oct. 27 shooting, and the team was most focused on gathering the most immediate reactionary items, like material from memorial services or commemorative “I voted” stickers with the Steelers/Star of David logo. RJHPA set up an online portal where people could

send photos, audio, and other digital materials. Mostly though, the collection is made up from what people sent to the three congregations present at the shooting, as well as local Jewish organizations like the JCC or the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

I

N THE ARCHIVE WORLD, the amount

of material is measured in linear feet (how many feet the stuff takes up on a shelf). Lidji says a normal busy year for the RJHPA would take in about 100 linear feet; in the past year, they’ve collected 171 linear feet of material relating to the shooting alone. Halfway through the year, they already had twice the amount of donations as a typical year. The majority of physical items are letters sent to the synagogues and

organizations. Lidji says these stand out to him the most, for how intimate and personal they seem despite often being sent from strangers hundreds or thousands of miles away. The digital portal didn’t end up yielding as many submissions as they expected, but the RJHPA created a kind of digital archive they’ve never done before: archiving the internet. They’ve saved nearly every news article written about Tree of Life by local media, as well as archiving the websites of the three congregations and sites for organizations like Squirrel Hill Stands Against Gun Violence, which formed in the wake of the shooting. The ultimate goal is to digitize everything, including physical objects, on a site that can be used simultaneously in different ways by average people, scholars, and families of the victims.


PHOTO: TREE OF LIFE*OR L’SIMCHA CONGREGATION AND THE RAUH JEWISH HISTORY PROGRAM & ARCHIVES AT THE SENATOR JOHN HEINZ HISTORY CENTER

A memorial object sent to Tree of Life * Or L’Simcha Congregation after the shooting

There are thousands of letters, hundreds of memorial objects, and 70 GB worth of internet archives about this one event and its rippling aftermath, with more coming in all the time. It’s an immense amount of material and Lidji is learning to live with the weight of working with it on a daily basis.

HOW WOULD YOU EXPLAIN THE FEELING ... OF TRAGEDIES THAT ALWAYS HAPPEN IN OTHER PEOPLE’S CITIES UNTIL THEY HAPPEN IN YOUR OWN? “I don’t think, before this, I ever cried at work, and then now it’s like every couple days,” he says. “I just remind myself that the sadness is mine, but the pain is somebody else’s. I’m feeling sympathy or empathy, but that’s okay. Sadness is a human emotion.”

There were spikes in donations around other shootings throughout the year, especially the Christchurch mosque shooting in New Zealand and the Poway Synagogue shooting in California. Spikes like this will continue, but Lidji says he expects the collection will keep growing for the rest of his lifetime, and long after. It can be hard to imagine so far in the future without having the mind of an archivist, but that’s part of the work in preserving documented feeling for new generations. The Tree of Life shooting is not the one and only defining event for the Jewish community in Pittsburgh. The arc of history is long; there are archives about the Jewish community in Pittsburgh dating back to long before the shooting and there will be archives long after. “You’ll see all this history before, you’ll see this incredibly large amount of material created from what was essentially one hour of incident, and then this huge collection afterwards,” says Lidji about the archives. “To me, it’s important to integrate the two in a certain way so that this does not take on a greater importance than it deserves.”

Follow staff writer Hannah Lynn on Twitter @hanfranny PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER OCT. 23-30, 2019

21


THE LOCAL 913: THE SUMMERCAMP BY LIZ FELIX // LIZ@WYEP.ORG

If you slept on The Summercamp’s debut EP Incognito Mode, released in January, it’s time to listen back. The “camp counselors” in The Summercamp have been playing together in various iterations for five or six years, but recently hit their stride with the right lineup. Incognito Mode pulls from a wide variety of influences. Guitarist Mitch McDermott, who found himself back in his home city after two years at Berklee College of Music, says, “It’s like a Venn diagram. We listen to a lot of the same music, but I think the strengths come from the outer parts of that Venn diagram. It’s really nice to have those things we don’t all like, but have the nice core that works together.” The Summercamp writes music as a team, creating funky indie-pop STAY UP-TOthat’s sometimes DATE WITH THIS autobiographical and sometimes WEEK’S LOCAL made up just for MUSIC NEWS fun, like on standout WITH CP MUSIC EP opening track “Pachinko.” “None WRITER JORDAN of us are actually SNOWDEN gamblers, but we AND WYEP wanted to make EVENING MIX a song about this HOST LIZ FELIX gamblin’ man losing it all at the Listen every casino. We got Wednesday together and had at 7 p.m. on fun with it – 91.3FM WYEP word banks with gambling terms,” says bassist Connor Lindsay. McDermott knows that coming back home after Berklee was the right move musically: “We absolutely love everything that’s going on in Pittsburgh right now, and that’s part of the reason we’re all staying here. We see a lot of awesome stuff happening in this city right now, and we hope people continue to support it.” •

22

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

CP PHOTOS: JOIE KNOUSE

Emilio Rizzo

.MUSIC.

LETTING GO

BY JORDAN SNOWDEN // JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

T

HERE HAVE BEEN times during

guitarist Emilio Rizzo’s sets when he’s caught tender moments in the crowd. Audience members close their eyes and slowly nod along to his music, similar to a trance-like state of meditation. Rizzo’s music, however, falls under the experimental, doom metal, post-punk category. “Even though my music is dark, something about the heavy riffs is grounding,” says Rizzo, who creates

music under the moniker Fuzznaut. Form is Emptiness, the Pittsburghnative’s debut LP, is a four-track release that features only guitar to “summon sequences that are a complex clamor of timbre and power ambiance.” Through minimalist sound structures, listeners are taking on an ominous, yet relaxing journey. If Rizzo’s original plan worked out though, Form is Emptiness would not exist. Upon graduating college, he gave

FUZZNAUT WITH ON LOVE AND SUBLIMATION, SMOKE WIZZZARD, AND DAISY CHAIN 7 p.m. Sun., Oct. 27. Mr. Smalls Theatre, 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $5. mrsmalls.com

up playing music to pursue a career as a drug and alcohol counselor. He thought being “an adult” meant letting go of hobbies like playing the bass, something he had done in bands throughout college and high school. Rizzo, the youngest of five, with four older sisters, got into punk rock because of his siblings’ interest in the genre. He picked up the bass after one of his sister’s friends left the instrument at his house. “I would be like, ‘Does this sound like a Ramones song? Does this sound like Green Day?’” After realizing that one can, in fact, have a day job and play music, Rizzo began teaching himself guitar and looking for a local band to join. Around that time,


his musical taste was progressing from punk rock to doom metal bands like Sleep, Earth, and Russian Circles. But Rizzo had some difficulty in his venture. “I tried getting into bands as an older adult, and it was hard,” he says. “[I had] switched to guitar, and they are like a dime a dozen.” Now a married father with a day job, Rizzo had lost touch with the local music scene that he had once been part of. So instead of waiting for a band to take him on as a member, he became his own band. He started writing music influenced by Earth, a mostly all-instrumental band. In 2018, founding member of Earth, Dylan Carlson, released Conquistador, an album that was just instrumental guitar. “When he did that, I was like, ‘OK, I can do this, this is my format,’” says Rizzo. “I started writing guitar things without backing. It was weird in the beginning, because I was used to punk rock with heavy beats.” For Form is Emptiness, Rizzo drew inspiration from Buddhist teachings. In addition to using the practice during his drug and alcohol counseling sessions, Rizzo discovered Rob Warner,

FUZZNAUT.BANDCAMP.COM bassist in the hardcore punk band 0DFx and owner of the blog Hardcore Zen. “[Warner] mentioned attachment is what fuels you,” says Rizzo. “The whole

thing is to detach but also be in the moment.” Rizzo believes this is what his music allows people to do. The first two songs on Rizzo’s

album, “Emptiness is Form” and the title track “Form is Emptiness,” reference the Buddhist passage “Heart of Great Perfect Wisdom Sutra.” It begins: Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, when deeply practicing prajña paramita, clearly saw that all five aggregates are empty and thus relieved all suffering. Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness, emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness, emptiness itself form. Rizzo explained that if you combine the two concepts, form is emptiness, emptiness is form, it means the absence of attachment. “I want people to stop and listen,” he says. “‘Will it help you stay in the moment? Will it help you relax?’” But first and foremost, Form is Emptiness serves as an outlet for Rizzo, who “has dark clouds everywhere,” literally, referring to the gloomy Pittsburgh weather, and figuratively, from the heavy stories he hears during his day job. “[The album] is about expressing raw emotions,” says Rizzo. “If you connect to it, that’s cool. But it’s not like ‘this is about this specific thing.’” Like mediation, everyone will get something different out of it.

Follow staff writer Jordan Snowden on Twitter @snowden_jordan

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER OCT. 23-30, 2019

23


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Pgh City Paper x Creatives DrinK Present:

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dD g November 2nd • 8:30 pm - 12 am • This is Red: 605 E 9th Ave, Munhall PA A portion of proceeds will be donated to casa san jose PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER OCT. 23-30, 2019

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SERVICES Services are offered to everyone, regardless of identity, income, or insurance status. • Full medical practice • Mental health services

PHOTO: SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn

.FILM.

• Community health

WHERE’S MY ROY COHN?

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BY HANNAH LYNN // HLYNN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

I

T CAN BE COMFORTING to ascribe as

much of the world’s evils as possible to one man. It allows others to feel less complicit and focus their anger on a single villain. In the wake of the 2016 election, there has been a slew of films in this fashion that attempt to understand how we got here, like Get Me Roger Stone, about the controversial conservative political consultant. The documentary Where’s My Roy Cohn? lays out the various evils infamous lawyer Roy Cohn enacted throughout his career, and the people he influenced, including Donald Trump. But the movie, directed by Matt Tyrnauer, gets lost in the excitement over the monstrosity of its subject. Roy Cohn was born in 1927 into a well-connected Jewish family in New York. His father was a judge and his mother was, as one cousin in the film describes, ugly with a difficult personality. According to several family members, the relationship between Roy’s parents was arranged because no one wanted to marry his mother Dora, and when Cohn was born, his mother was disappointed that he was ugly like her. This apparently influenced much of Cohn’s persona, which involved rebelling against his Jewish background and aggressively concealing his gay identity. Cohn graduated law school at 20 and quickly rose in the ranks, first playing a prominent role in the conviction and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, and then serving as chief counsel to Joseph

McCarthy during his anti-communist crusades, as well as the “lavender scare” campaign against LGBTQ employees of the federal government.

WHERE’S MY ROY COHN? Opens Fri., Oct. 25 at The Manor Theatre. 1729 Murray Ave., Squirrel Hill. manorpgh.com

His career involved a number of despicable acts, including representing several noted mob families, getting John Gotti off a first-degree murder charge, helping Ronald Reagan become president, and taking on Trump’s 1973 fair housing case that alleged discrimination against Black residents. Everyone in the documentary describes Cohn as an aggressive lawyer who cared only about winning, not about the law (he was eventually disbarred for defrauding his clients). Cohn’s career is a trail of malicious behavior, some of which bled into his personal life. Director Tyrnauer seems to relish in presenting the contrast between Cohn’s work and the realities of his life. He aggressively went after LGBTQ populations with McCarthy, but he brought boyfriends to parties. He denied repeated questions by reporters about his sexuality and completely denied having AIDS until his death from it in 1986. Most heinous of all, he

received a rare and experimental AIDS treatment with the help of President Reagan, despite Reagan largely ignoring the AIDS crisis as president. The documentary doesn’t exactly use Cohn’s gayness as a punchline, but the drama of it all is certainly heightened for shock value. He was, evidently, a criminally bad person, but his lifelong shame about his sexuality was emblematic of that of so many others, and it feels cheap to try and derive a twisted pleasure from it as retribution for his actions. Where’s My Roy Cohn? presents all the evils enacted by Cohn, but doesn’t know what to do once the facts are laid out. He was a slimy lawyer who represented terrible people and helped bring to power other slimy, terrible people. But what else? What are viewers supposed to do with this information once they’ve learned it? The documentary doesn’t use these stories to ask interesting questions, or effectively tie it into presentday politics, except for in the film’s title, which comes from a 2018 Trump quote when the president was trying to stop then-attorney general Jeff Sessions from recusing himself. The movie can be riveting in its depictions of Cohn’s schemes. It is indeed shocking that he was involved in so many critical points of American history, but ultimately, American history is filled with equally shocking and conniving people, and the problem is much bigger than any one of them.


.LITERATURE.

NO ORDINARY HISTORIAN BY REGE BEHE CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

D

ORIS KEARNS GOODWIN is one

of the most accomplished historians working today. Her books, including her most recent, Leadership in Turbulent Times (Simon & Schuster), and Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, have established Goodwin as an authoritative and reasoned voice on talk shows and discussion panels. But Kearns, who earned a Pulitzer Prize for history in 1995 for No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front During World War II, is something of an anomaly as one of the few female historians whose work has found mainstream success. “More than trying to understand why there are so few [female historians] now, I just have a feeling it’s going to be a field that more and more young women are going to enter,” Goodwin says. “There are so many places I go and I’m talking and a young woman will say she had a teacher she loved, or that she’s read a book that I or some of my fellow historians have written, and she’s come to love history.” Goodwin spoke at length with Pittsburgh City Paper about a range of topics, including what voters should look for in candidates, and the divided nature of the country. On what voters — and journalists — should consider when thinking about presidential candidates: “So much emphasis is on the debates and who makes a statement that goes viral or who has raised the most money or who is leading the polls. That’s not what you really should be looking for. They’ve all been a leader somewhere before they ran for president. Maybe a long magazine article might describe what kind of things they created when they were a governor or congressman or senator or mayor. Or what kind of temperament they had or what kind of ability they showed when they encountered difficult times. What kind of resilience did they have, did they share credit, all the things that we should know about

PHOTO: ANNIE LEIBOVITZ

Doris Kearns Goodwin

DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN 7:30 p.m. Mon., Oct. 28. Carnegie Music Hall, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. Sold out. pittsburghlectures.org

leaders. ... Temperament means how do you handle people, what is your outlook on the world, the human qualities, many of which we call emotional intelligence, and those are critical to the ability and potential of a leader to create a following, to mobilize people to action, to inspire them, to get them to work together for a common purpose.” On truth and social media: “What really is troubling is that it’s one thing for people to disagree about opinions on certain issues, but there’s a huge disagreement about what the facts even are and what truth is and what untruth is. … Because of the divided media and social media, where you can just follow whatever side you’re on, you’re just reinforcing a point of view. I don’t know what we can do about that. There are times when it seems like social media is a big part of the problem. At other times, you realize the power of social media to organize people. You think about how the gun protests, the Hong Kong protests, or civil rights marches, or women’s marches, and the ability to organize people, which would have been much harder in older days, is made much easier by social media.

We have to figure our way as citizens through social media and what to do about statements that are provably false and how these big platforms of Facebook and YouTube are going to be able to handle these situations.” On how the country can rebound from divisiveness: “This is where I think history can be so helpful to people, to give them perspective. When you think about how difficult it was for Lincoln when he came in and the country was already split in two and 600,000 soldiers were going to be killed, and he said he wasn’t sure he could live through that if he had known what he was going to be facing.” Goodwin also notes the aftereffects of the Industrial Revolution, the divide between the rich and poor during the Depression, and World War II as major crises in the United States. “The answer in each one of those cases is that the citizens took up some of that struggle. … There has to be some movement that talks about how we get our politics into a different way, and it has to do with non-partisan solutions, it has to do with money in politics.”

Follow featured contributor Rege Behe on Twitter @RegeBehe_exPTR PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER OCT. 23-30, 2019

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PORTRAYING POP BY ALEX GORDON ALEXGORDON@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

T

HE FIRST PAINTING you’ll see on Elicia Donze’s website is of Josie Packard, actor Joan Chen’s character from David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. She’s sitting on a couch wearing a pout and hugging a book like it’s the first time she’s ever held a book. Her right hand, resting on top of the binding, is disproportionately large; three dismembered echoes of the hand float above it, each smaller than the last. This clash of surrealism and photographic precision is the guiding principle of this series in which Donze, a Pittsburgh-based pop artist and magical realist, paints celebrities, pop culture characters, and icons in breathtaking detail and subtle, idiosyncratic flourishes. There’s Lucas, Caleb McLaughlin’s character from Stranger Things, sitting crossed legged on a shag rug with a mélange of comic book pages in the background;


IMAGE: ELICIA DONZE

Explore Donze’s work at

John Boyega

ELICIADONZE.COM Serena Williams in a resplendent yellow dress wearing the wings of a giant monarch butterfly; a sullen Giancarlo Esposito as Gus Fring from Breaking Bad, in a black-and-white close-up, with his tinted pink glasses providing the only light. But it’s Josie that serves as the best introduction to Donze’s style, reflecting the washed-out weirdness of a waking dream that Lynch brought to Twin Peaks. The series looks a lot like airbrushed photography, but Donze says it’s closer to traditional painting than it seems. She identifies her subject and what characteristics she’d like to highlight, collects relevant photographs as references, then starts much as you would as a painter on a blank canvas.

Working in Photoshop on a tablet with a stylus, she begins with a rough sketch, adds colors, backgrounds, and fine-tunes details until it feels ready. Donze estimates each portrait takes around 40-50 hours, though it’s hard to pin down since she’s always working on four or five at a time. The works aren’t available to purchase, just for viewing on her site. Her most recent is Angelica Ross on the show Pose. What draws Donze to a particular artist or character is difficult for her to articulate, especially given the breadth of pop culture references in her work (Star Trek, Beyoncé, Supernatural, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), but she says it’s mostly intuitive. She knows it when she sees it.

“I think it’s mostly that there’s a quietness to certain characters or celebrities [that I paint.] In all of my paintings, there’s not a lot of action. There’s a lot of stillness. I really like that quality, even if I don’t immediately see it in some characters, I like to put them in that,” says Donze. “Like a magic space, you can pull this person out of our reality and put them on a screen in front of a camera, in a quiet, but not real place. All of my drawings are in a ‘non place.’” Donze’s work frequently plays on ideas and portrayals of masculinity. One of the most memorable is a portrait of John Boyega’s character Finn from The Force Awakens. He’s in his stormtrooper uniform and holding his helmet, wearing an imperceptible little smile. There’s something kind of noble about his posture, like it’s an official military portrait, though in this case, his uniform is a soft pink and there’s a neon rainbow fixed to his chest. “In movies from 2000s or before, [there was] a real drive for hyper masculinity where they’ll drain the colors out. The Matrix is a good [example], they’ll drain the colors out to have this really dingy, dreary palate,” says Donze. “There’s something really satisfying about taking a character like that and sitting him in this pastel place, giving him flowers and makeup and giving him a break. It’s a way of giving masculinity a little dose of femininity.” That quality is embedded with subtlety in Donze’s portrait of actor/ director Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok), in which he’s standing with his chest slightly out, well-groomed in a white jean jacket with its collar popped. He looks like he’s ready for a closeup, which is fitting because Donze took her inspiration from photos of Waititi on the red carpet, a setting that involves a lot of bright lights, pageantry, and good posture. But in Donze’s painting, all the clamor of a movie premiere falls silent. He, like many of Donze’s subjects, has a smile that seems to be taking place independently of his mouth and lips. It seemed only fitting to give him the same bucolic background as the actual Mona Lisa. “[The subjects are] in some place they can’t really be,” says Donze. “It’s sort of liminal. When you’re in a liminal place, whether a painting or an airport or a hotel, there are these moments where you’re just really still. I’m always drawn to those kinds of characters and presences on screen. It’s just soothing and comforting to draw that.”

Pittsburgh’s lone liberal talkshow host for 30+ years Listen live every Monday thru Thursday at 10 a.m. at lynncullen. pghcitypaper.com

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Follow managing editor Alex Gordon on Twitter @shmalexgordon PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER OCT. 23-30, 2019

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SEVEN DAYS OF CONCERTS BTS WORLD TOUR SUN., OCT. 27 Is BTS retiring? Your guess is as good as mine. One thing that’s for sure, though, is that on Sunday, Pittsburgh BTS fans can experience a “live” concert by the K-pop stars from the comfort of SouthSide Works Cinema. After performing 62 times in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia since May, BTS is closing out its Love Yourself stadium tour with shows in Seoul, Korea on Oct. 26, 27, and 29. The Oct. 27 performance will be filmed and shown a few hours later to audiences in the U.S., Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea, simultaneously. BTS fans around the world will get to experience perhaps one of the final BTS shows as one collective unit. 8 p.m. 425 Cinema Drive, South Side. $20. clevelandcinemas.com PHOTO: BIG HIT ENTERTAINMENT

BTS

FULL LIST ONLINE pghcitypaper.com

THURSDAY OCTOBER 24

BLUES

R&B/SOUL

CURTIS AND THE SHAKERZ. Crafthouse Stage & Grill. 7 p.m. Overbrook.

VELVET NEGRONI. Club Cafe. 7 p.m. South Side.

JAZZ

ROCK

BLACK SABBATH LIVES. Jergel’s Rhythm Grille. 8 p.m. Warrendale.

ERIN BURKETT, VIRGIL WALTERS, ERIC SUSOEFF. Eighty Acres Kitchen & Bar. 5:30 p.m. Monroeville. THE RAINBOW ENDS, THE FUNKY FLY PROJECT. Thunderbird Café & Music Hall. 8 p.m. Lawrenceville.

THE SUMMERCAMP. Pittsburgh Community Broadcast Center. 6:30 p.m. South Side. ONE RAY. Mansions on Fifth. 5:30 p.m. Shadyside.

COUNTRY

YOKO SUZUKI TRIO. Kingfly Spirits. 7 p.m. Strip District.

KIP MOORE. Palace Theatre. 8 p.m. Greensburg.

CALVIN STEMLEY & THE STEMTECS BAND. Wallace’s Whiskey Room. 7 p.m. East Liberty.

KINGSLAND HOLLER. Scratch Food & Beverage. 8 p.m. Troy Hill.

WORLD

DICEY, BANDO, VOID. TFS Bar & Grill. 10 p.m. South Side.

AFRO YAQUI MUSIC COLLECTIVE. City of Asylum. 7 p.m. North Side. TOMMY SANDS. The Roots Cellar. 7:30 p.m. Shadyside.

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TRIBUTE

HIP HOP/RAP LUPE FIASCO. August Wilson African American Cultural Center. 8 p.m. Downtown.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 25 ALTERNATIVE/INDIE SELF-SERIOUSNESS, CLAYCOAST, BLUE SHIFT. The Mr. Roboto Project. 6:30 p.m. Bloomfield.

JUMPIN JACK FLASH. Moondog’s. 8:30 p.m. Blawnox.

REGGAE

COVERS

NIGHTLY STANDARD. The Park House. 9 p.m. North Side.

THE FLOW BAND. Wolfie’s Pub. 5 p.m. Downtown.

STEELTOWN. Crafthouse Stage & Grill. 9 p.m. Overbrook.

BILL TOMS & HARD RAIN. Club Cafe. 7 p.m. South Side.

PUNK

CERTAIN FATE, 13 SAINTS. Cattivo. 9 p.m. Lawrenceville. THE CHEER’LY MEN, SMOKEY BELLOWS, THE NËRD HËRDËRS. Mr. Smalls Theatre. 7:30 p.m. Millvale. GENE THE WEREWOLF, THE CLINTONES. Jergel’s Rhythm Grille. 8 p.m. Warrendale.

POP ANDY GRAMMER. Roxian Theatre. 8 p.m. McKees Rocks.

BLUES

THE JASONS, BOTTLE RAT. Porky’s Bar and Grill. 7 p.m. Etna.

FOLK HOFFMAN ROAD BAND, CREEPING JENNY. Full Pint Wild Side. 8 p.m. Lawrenceville.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 26 PUNK

COCO MONTOYA. Thunderbird Café & Music Hall. 8 p.m. Lawrenceville.

DANSE MACABRE 4. Mr. Smalls Theatre. 8 p.m. Millvale.

VALLEY. The Underground at CMU. 7:30 p.m. Shadyside.

ACOUSTIC

FUNK

ROCK

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

THE COMPADRES. Moondog’s. 8 p.m. Blawnox.

HOODWINK, AKAFUNK, FARKAS. The Goldmark. 10 p.m. Lawrenceville.

OLD FOX, DIFFERENT PLACES IN SPACE, MOLLY ALPHABET. The Government Center. 8 p.m. North Side.

ELECTRONIC

ELECTRONIC J:KENZO, KEEBS. Spirit. 9 p.m. Lawrenceville.

ROCK

NO BAD JUJU. Jam on Walnut. 5:30 p.m. Shadyside. THECAUSE. Squirrel Hill Sports Bar. 9 p.m. Squirrel Hill.

JAZZ OLGA WATKINS BAND. NOLA On the Square. 8 p.m. Downtown.

TRIBUTE PINK TALKING FISH (PINK FLOYD, TALKING HEADS, PHISH). Rex Theater. 8 p.m. South Side.

ELECTRONIC BUDINO. Hot Mass. 12 a.m. Downtown. MYSTERY SKULLS. Smiling Moose. 6:30 p.m. South Side.

R&B/SOUL INEZ. Wolfie’s Pub. 8 p.m. Downtown.

SLEATER-KINNEY. Stage AE. 7 p.m. North Side.

BJ THE CHICAGO KID. Mr. Smalls Theatre. 7 p.m. Millvale.

THE VICS, THE EXITS. Howlers. 8 p.m. Bloomfield.

THE BEST OF DOO WOP VOL. 1. Heinz Hall. 7 p.m. Downtown.


THIS IS THE PLACE PHOTO: MICHELLE IGLESIAS

Sierra Sellers

WYEP’S HELLBENDER BALL SAT., OCT. 26 Nocturnal salamander, the Eastern Hellbender, was named Pennsylvania’s state amphibian in April. At night, the crayfish-eating creatures seek refreshment and companionship. The folks at WYEP thought this sounded a lot like Halloween party-goers, so they named their Halloween bash, taking place at the Thunderbird Café & Music Hall, the Hellbender Ball. Pittsburgh musicians/bands will transform into legends like Madonna (Donora), Beyoncé (Sierra Sellers), Bruce Springsteen (André Costello and the Cool Minors), and more, so you can dance the night away in costume to old and new hits alike. Maybe, like the Hellbender, you’ll even find some new friends. 8 p.m. 4023 Butler St., Lawrenceville. $20-45. wyep.org/hellbender

WORLD GYPSY STRINGZ. Dorothy 6 Cafe. 6 p.m. Homestead.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 27

ALL YOUR SISTERS, ECHO BEDS. Howlers. 7 p.m. Bloomfield. ATREYU. Mr. Smalls Theatre. 6:30 p.m. Millvale.

JAZZ

BOUNDARIES, HEAVENS DIE, ROSEBLOOD. Preserving Hardcore. 6 p.m. New Kensington.

GLENN MILLER. The Palace Theatre. 2 p.m. Greensburg.

HIP HOP/RAP

BOB LANZETTI (OF SNARKY PUPPY). Thunderbird Café & Music Hall. 8 p.m. Lawrenceville.

PUNK BRAT CURSE. Brillobox. 7 p.m. Bloomfield.

FOLK SEAN ROWE. Club Cafe. 7 p.m. South Side.

FUTURISTIC. The Smiling Moose. 6:30 p.m. South Side.

ROCK STARCRAWLER. Club Cafe. 7 p.m. South Side.

TUESDAY OCTOBER 29 JAZZ

ROCK THE SOUND BELOW, TRAPLINE. The Smiling Moose. 7:30 p.m. South Side.

DTC ORGAN TRIO. Backstage Bar. 5 p.m. Downtown. R&R JAZZ TRIO. The Park House. 8 p.m. North Side.

ACOUSTIC BRETT TROTTIER. NOLA On the Square. 7 p.m. Downtown.

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 30 JAZZ OFF MINOR JAZZ: CELEBRATING RAY BROWN. City of Asylum. 7 p.m. North Side. A TUBA TO CUBA. Byham Theater. 7:30 p.m. Downtown.

Events ts

ROCK MT. JOY. Roxian Theatre. 8 p.m. McKees Rocks.

ALTERNATIVE/INDIE KISHI BASHI. Rex Theater. 7 p.m. South Side.

MONDAY OCTOBER 28

ROCK UFO. Jergel’s Rhythm Grille. 8 p.m. Warrendale.

MOLLY DRAG, PAST LIFE. Spirit. 10 p.m. Lawrenceville.

METAL

BLUES

PUNK

WOLF EYES, SKELETONIZED. Black Forge Coffee House. 6 p.m. McKees Rocks.

MISS FREDDYE. Wolfie’s Pub. 6 p.m. Downtown.

KNOCKED LOOSE. Mr. Smalls Theatre. 6 p.m. Millvale.

CORPORATE & PRIVATE EVENTS

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 OCT. 23-30, 2019

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PHOTO: FRANK WALSH

“The Suits” by Beth Corning

.DANCE.

OF A CERTAIN AGE BY AMANDA WALTZ // AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

T

HE DANCE-FOCUSED Glue Factory Projects may come off as tongue-

in-cheek, as the name draws a parallel between seasoned, mature dancers in a youth-obsessed field and the unfortunate fate of retired racehorses. But after a few minutes of talking with Beth Corning, the creator of Glue Factory and the modern dance theater company CorningWorks, the name makes more sense, as her dark, candid sense of humor shines through. That quality, she says, will be evident in the next Glue Factory show The World As We Know It, running from Oct. 23-27 at the New Hazlett Theater. In celebration of CorningWorks’ 10th anniversary season in Pittsburgh, The World As We Know It will feature six new contemporary solo dance performances by female dancers over 45 years old.

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Still, Corning denies any deliberate attempts to elicit laughter. “For me, my work is not entertainment,” says Corning, who once served as the artistic/executive director of the local modern dance company Dance Alloy Theater. “It’s got humor and has been talked about as being sardonic and imagistic and cinemagraphic, but I don’t think I’ve ever gone into a work thinking, ‘I’m going to make a funny work.’” This is clear in CorningWorks’ description of the show as an “original and bold take on #MeToo and the proverbial glass ceiling.” It also fulfills Corning’s mission to highlight contemporaries she has always respected, and who have made names for themselves on a national or international level. This goes back to Glue Factory’s debut in 2000, when ballerina Bonnie Mathis and classic jazz dancer Danny Buraczeski took the stage at the Theatre de la Jeune Lune in Minneapolis, Minn. The show was consistently soldout through 2003. “I thought, ‘Oh, well all I need is a bunch of old people and I will sell out,’” says Corning. “Who knew?” Glue Factory was re-launched in 2010 in Pittsburgh, where, over time, it has featured over 35 performers and collaborators, many new to the city. Adding to that list are the women of The World As We Know It: Li Chiao-Ping, Heidi Latsky, Simone Ferro, Charlotte Adams, Endalyn Taylor, and Corning. “I was very honored when they invited me to be one of the soloists,” says Corning, who refers to her fellow dancers as “extraordinary women with extraordinary backgrounds.” Collectively, she says, they have over 200 years of experience. Unlike Glue Factory, she says, shows for younger dancers are more concerned with physical spectacles like huge grand jetés. At one point, Corning felt as though she was using “big, fast, fabulous dance vocabulary” to please younger dancers as opposed to “furthering along a thought” that she had. “That was a huge problem for me,” she says. Projects like Glue Factory allow for the more subtle or, as she puts it, “silent” moments that she believes only

dancers of a certain age can achieve. “I think what has always attracted me to using people who are over 45, and what has continued to attract me to only using this age group primarily, is the nuances available, the layers of life that just exude from their pores,” says Corning, adding that most of the performers have spent more time on stage than anywhere else in the world. Even so, the solos, most of which are choreographed by the performer, come off as bold and exciting – parts of the program contains nudity. A synopsis promises “travelers” clad in clown-like business suits, traversing an “almost [Sisyphean] landscape,” all the while “baring bits of their lives, shedding skins, and scars of collective memory.”

THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT AT NEW HAZLETT THEATER Wed. Oct. 23-Sun., Oct. 27. 6 Allegheny Square East, North Side. $25-30. newhazletttheater.org

She adds that the show will also continue her tradition of creating works that, whether she means to or not, wade into political territory. In March 2020, Corning says she will put on her “biggest and most overtly civic work ever created” with the currently-titled Refuge, a show about the refugee crisis made in collaboration with the nonprofit Doctors Without Borders. She calls Refuge a “catalyst” to explore her “deep concerns about humanity and the world,” including how climate change will worsen the crisis and create more political upheaval as countries reject migrants. Despite the heavy themes and claims that she doesn’t do “entertainment,” she sees The World As We Know It as an accessible work that will resonate with any audience. “It’s entertaining in the sense that women and men and everybody in between will find bits of themselves in it while also looking at the world from someone else’s perspective and seeing how it reflects on your own.”

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PHOTO: TOM ALTANY/UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Patrick Gallagher speaking with Holocaust survivors at Lest We Forget

.TREE OF LIFE.

LEST WE FORGET BY AMANDA WALTZ // AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

O

N OCT. 18, the Holocaust Center

of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh unveiled Lest We Forget, an outdoor art installation by German-Italian artist Luigi Toscano. On view outside the Cathedral of Learning on Pitt’s campus, the public installation is presented as part of Toscano’s traveling art exhibit featuring more than 200 large, high-resolution portraits of Holocaust survivors from around the world. The installation lines the pathway from the Cathedral of Learning to Heinz Memorial Chapel with 60 portraits of Holocaust survivors, including 16 never-before-

seen portraits of Pittsburgh-area survivors photographed by Toscano earlier this year. In a press release, Toscano says the project seeks to “confront passers-by as a reminder of history, and to raise awareness of the hatred and bigotry present in society today.” Lest We Forget has appeared in various high-profile locations, including the United Nations headquarters in New York and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., but its presence in Pittsburgh serves as a way to commemorate the passing of one year since the Oct. 27, 2018 shooting

LEST WE FORGET Through Nov. 15. Cathedral of Learning, 4200 Fifth Ave., Oakland

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at Tree of Life synagogue. The attack killed 11 people and wounded seven. It’s considered the largest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history. “When I met with [Toscano] and officials at Pitt, we all felt that it was crucial to get this exhibit into Pittsburgh at this moment,” says Dr. Lauren Bairnsfather, director of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, in a press release. “We need to address the hate-charged climate that surrounds us right now, and we look forward to incorporating materials into the exhibit that address current concerns in our society.” Since the shooting, the Holocaust Center has expanded its community programming to address modern-day anti-Semitism and honor the memory of the victims, the efforts of which

include Lest We Forget. Kathy Humphrey, Pitt senior vice chancellor for engagement and secretary of the Board of Trustees, says Lest We Forget provides an “important opportunity” to further Pitt’s “ongoing community-wide dialogue promoting acceptance and inclusion.” “We are grateful to partner with the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh to bring this incredible experience to our campus,” says Humphrey. “The faces of Holocaust survivors can remind us all of the need for constant vigilance against hatred and bigotry of all kinds. Our students, faculty and staff — along with visitors from around the city and the world — will benefit from the presence of this powerful statement.”


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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER OCT. 23-30, 2019

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.ARCHITECTURE.

MUDDLED VISION BY CHARLES ROSENBLUM // CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

I

N THE LATE 1970S, architectural historian Jamie Van Trump went up to the outdoor terrace of Oakland’s University Club to write a series of essays. For at least one of them, he unapologetically downed a couple of martinis so he could bang out an overdue commentary. He wrote about the building where he sat and his view of the adjacent Soldiers and Sailors Memorial. Five and seven decades after their respective completions, the University Club was subtle but excellent, and the bombastic, outdated Soldiers and Sailors was still especially wonderful. With the renovation of the former

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Washington Vocational School into the Tryp Hotel, complete with its rooftop restaurant Over Eden, I was excited to echo Van Trump’s rooftop exercise in architectural criticism. It was not entirely the same — instead of Van Trump’s work martinis, I opted for coffee. From the overlook, a remarkable Lawrenceville panorama unfolds, with the dense residential fabric, the Arsenal Middle School, the 40th Street Bridge, and the distant Downtown all visible. There are so many lessons to learn from here. Arsenal Middle School is really terrific. It understands the monumentality of classical architecture even

as it reflects the streamlined velocity of the machine age, with nods to the functional necessities of education. It presents details from both fine arts tradition and the industrial workshop, thoughtfully designed at every scale. And yet residential Lawrenceville teaches great lessons from completely different parts of the urban architecture handbook. Unpretentious, modestly sized houses are utterly charming on their own terms. The narrow alleys and sidewalks comprise comforting, humanscaled urbanism that the SUV-era can’t even comprehend. Their presence over time, interwoven with community

spirit and generously brushed with the patina of history (with apologies for some notable vinyl siding and shrunken windows), elude contemporary tastes and code requirements. So it’s especially horrifying that the dominant feature of the Lawrenceville panorama seen from Tryp is the 201 Arsenal Condominiums by Milhaus, designed by Dwell Design Studio of Atlanta. They are a dreadful and sprawling blot on what should be a postcard city view. When the Phase I designs were first unveiled, I thought that maybe they wouldn’t be so ruinous. The Butler Street facade does reflect an effort to


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Left: View of the 201 Arsenal Condominiums from the TRYP Hotel on 40th Street Above: Front of the 201 Arsenal Condominiums located on Foster Street

make the gargantuan complex look like a composition of smaller, more traditional elements. But who are we kidding? For starters, you cannot build today’s cash-cow building types as if they were from a century or more ago. The rendering might vaguely evoke the visual rhythms of the traditional neighborhood streetscape, but the square footage requirements for current retail and residential markets, the tight margins of construction budgets, and the cheap quality of materials profoundly alter the overall experience. On the street, it’s a placeless suburban shopping center, and some of the off-street townhouse facades are creepy, not charming. Whether you put Gramma’s outfit on a wolf or on a mixed-use urban residential, office, and retail complex, the disguise is fooling no one. That is, of course, if there is a disguise at all. Those longitudinal facades perpendicular to Butler Street, the sprawling crapscape most visible from Tryp? They don’t look designed at all.

It’s as if someone took marketing-driven apartment plans and covered them with whatever windows and enclosure fit the available dimensions. This is not simply some pearlclutching lament of taste. It’s that art is a lens through which to appreciate the spirit of the place. What the contrasting approaches of vernacular Lawrenceville and high architecture buildings like Arsenal Middle School have in common is an inherent sense of human dignity driving the aesthetic experience. The 201 Milhaus condos have grabbed a huge swath of land and dressed it in the architecture of thoughtless and cynical profiteering. It’s alarming that these buildings are so bad, that they so completely despoil what would otherwise be a great panorama, that there are so many buildings of similarly greedy, point-missing superficiality going up everywhere when the lessons of good architecture, in so many varieties, are within plain sight. It’s enough to drive an architecture critic to drink.

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Follow contributing writer Charles Rosenblum on Twitter @CharlzR PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER OCT. 23-30, 2019

37


THE

The 412 is CP ’s music feature where you can get local band/musician updates and fun, random tidbits of information all in one. This 412 has been edited for space, see DeMichiei’s full answers at pghcitypaper.com.

QUESTIONS ABOUT WORK-LIFE PHOTO: HEATHER MULL

Lauren DeMichiei

.MUSIC.

UNSUNG HERO BY JORDAN SNOWDEN // JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

M

OTOWN LEGEND Berry Gordy

shaped the careers of acts like Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and Gladys Knight. Sam Phillips played a fundamental role in Elvis Presley becoming the King of Rock and Roll. Linda Perry is the woman behind Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful” and Pink’s “Get the Party Started.” Producers are the unsung heroes of music, but recently, bands and musicians have started to move away from using them in the studio. Musician-turned-producer Lauren DeMichiei hopes her project, Cite Your Sources, will show local acts the benefits of collaborating with a producer.

SHAYMUSIC.COM “When people hear producer, they think of [a] beat maker,” says DeMichiei. “Like someone who’s working with [Logic Pro] or Reason, different [audio] programs, synthesizers, but really if you look at a rock and roll producer from the ’70s, ’80s, or even ’90s, they don’t do that. They are in the studio with artists getting the best possible performances, working with the engineers to get the best possible sound.” DeMichiei began working on Cite Your Sources, a collection of mini EPs, about two years ago when she decided

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to stop performing as an artist. Working with 26 collaborators from Pittsburgh, New York, and L.A., DeMichiei stripped down, cut up, and produced songs she’s performed over the years. The goal was to have a solid example of what she can do for artists across different genres as a producer. “It’s really hard to get artists to trust you and work on their stuff,” says DeMichiei. “They don’t see the benefit of having a producer on their tracks. A lot of times, bands go into the studio and just want to get something out so they can get gigs. They’re not really thinking about the songcraft.” Unlike an engineer, producers typically manage the project and take on tasks like catering the space to the artist and making creative decisions about instrumentation. They even manage budgets. “You set aside $5,000 for your recording. If you have a producer, they [are] going to make sure that $5,000 gets you what you’re looking for,” says DeMichiei. “Engineers can wear many hats, but the work often suffers if they are wearing too many.” The final track for DeMichiei’s Cite Your Sources project is set to drop this year after she makes a music video for the song with a local puppeteer. After that, her goal is to write and produce tracks not released under her name, becoming an unsung hero in the Pittsburgh music scene.

ARE YOU A MESSY OR CLEAN DESK TYPE OF PERSON? Totally [a] clean-desk person here. If I didn’t stay super organized, I wouldn’t be able to do all that I do.

WHAT MAKES YOUR WORKSPACE FEEL THE MOST COMFORTING? Artwork. I have pieces from Danielle Robinson, Lex Covato, Gabe Felice, Teenie Harris, and Karl Mullen.

WOULD YOU RATHER WORK IN A CUBICLE OR AN OPEN-PLAN OFFICE? I’d rather not be restricted to work in any one place. Technology and planning allow us to be productive almost anywhere.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHTIME MEAL? I am digging on the cauliflower crust pizza and power greens for lunch.

QUESTION ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS WHAT’S THE WORST DATE YOU’VE EVER BEEN ON? I suppose the worst date I was ever on was the date I didn’t know I was on.

QUESTIONS ABOUT MUSIC IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE TO BE ALONE AND WORK ON MUSIC, WHERE WOULD IT BE? I would love to work on music solo deep in the desert of maybe Arizona or New Mexico.

BEST MOVIE OR TELEVISION SOUNDTRACK? Currently, I am vibing on Hildur Guðnadóttir’s work. •


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WED., NOV. 6TH AARON LEWIS: THE STATE I’M IN TOUR 6:30 P.M. THE PALACE THEATER, GREENSBURG. All-ages. $39.75-$69.75. 724-836-8000 or thepalacetheatre.org

THU., NOV. 7TH A$AP FERGFLOOR SEATS TOUR 7 P.M. STAGE AE, NORTH SHORE. All-ages. $33-$129. 412-229-5483 or ticketmaster.com.

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THU., NOV. 7TH LIVE DEAD ‘69 “GRATEFUL DEAD AT WOODSTOCK” 50TH ANNIVERSARY 7:30 P.M. CRAFTHOUSE STAGE & GRILL, SOUTH HILLS. Under 21 w Guardian. $22-$34.50. 412-653-2695 or ticketfly.com.

THU., NOV. 7TH BEACH SLANG 8 P.M. SMILING MOOSE, SOUTHSIDE. All-ages. $20. 412-431-4668 or ticketfly.com.

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8 P.M. SMILING MOOSE, SOUTHSIDE. Allages. $17 . 412-431-4668 or ticketfly.com.

FALL SESSION: $175 for county residents, $219 for non-residents FALL & WINTER $275 for county residents, SESSIONS: $344 for non-residents

FRI., NOV. 8TH PUDDLES PITY PARTY CARNEGIE OF HOMESTEAD MUSIC HALL, MUNHALL.

THU., NOV. 7TH L.A. GUNS 6 P.M. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE, WEXFORD. under 21 w Guardian $20-$35. 724-799-8333 or ticketfly.com.

THU., NOV. 7TH DAX 7:30 P.M. FOXTAIL, SOUTHSIDE. All-ages. $18-$63. 412-651-4713 or ticketfly.com.

FRI., NOV. 8TH JIM AVETT W/ SPECIAL GUEST DAN ZLOTNICK 7 P.M. CLUB CAFÉ, SOUTHSIDE. 21+ event. $13. 412-431-4950 or ticketweb.com/opusone.

FRI., NOV. 8TH PUDDLES PITY PARTY 7 P.M. CARNEGIE OF HOMESTEAD MUSIC HALL, MUNHALL. All-ages. $30-$120. 412-462-3444 or ticketfly.com.

FRI., NOV. 8TH THE NEIGHBORHOOD

6 P.M. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE, WEXFORD. Under 21 w Guardian. $32-$42. 724-799-8333 or ticketfly.com.

SAT., NOV. 9TH AHI 7 P.M. CATTIVO, LAWRENCEVILLE. 21+ event. $12-$15. 412-687-2157 or ticketfly.com.

SUN., NOV. 10TH RINGS OF SATURNTHE GIDIM RELEASE TOUR 7 P.M. REX THEATER, SOUTHSIDE. All-ages. $18 412-381-1681 or greyareaprod.com.

SUN., NOV. 10TH I AM 5 P.M. SMILING MOOSE, SOUTHSIDE. All-ages. $12. 412-431-4668 or ticketfly.com.

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7 P.M. STAGE AE, NORTH SHORE. All-ages. $32-$75. 412-229-5483 or ticketmaster.com.

MON., NOV. 11TH NILE

FRI., NOV. 8TH JASON HAWK HARRIS

5:30 P.M. CRAFTHOUSE STAGE & GRILL, SOUTH HILLS. Under 21 w Guardian. $23-$35.50. 412-653-2695 or ticketfly.com.

8:30 P.M. HARD ROCK CAFÉ, STATION SQUARE. Under 21 w Guardian. $10-$12. 412-481-ROCK or ticketfly.com.

TUES., NOV. 12TH SMALL TOWN TITANS

SAT., NOV. 9TH DAVID ALLAN COE

7:30 P.M. HARD ROCK CAFÉ, STATION SQUARE. Under 21 w Guardian. $10-$12. 412-481-ROCK or ticketfly.com.

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39


SEVEN DAYS OF ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT

^ Sat., Oct. 26: HELL(O) (T)HERE

THURSDAY OCT. 24 FLOWERS Chrysanthemums are king at Phipps Conservatory’s Fall Flower Show: Japanese Inspirations. The three-week-long exhibit is built around Japan’s festival culture, featuring hand-painted calligraphy panels from the moon-viewing festival and a wishing tree in honor of the Japanese star festival, a celebration of hope. Chrysanthemums are woven in origami

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cranes, a dry garden, and floating lanterns. Wander by the 117-foot long ryu (dragon) and flying carp-shaped wind socks, or take your little ones to the hands-on rock garden. Continues through Sun., Nov. 10. Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden. 1 Schenley Park, Oakland. $11.95-17.95. phipps.conservatory.org

STAGE 707 Gallery presents Get Well Soon, a solo exhibition featuring work by Derek Peel, a Pittsburgh-based sculpture and installation artist. Like the name implies, the exhibit explores the idea

of illness and consolation. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust website describes the included pieces as reflecting “various stages of trauma” and examining “how trauma is perceived when victims are objectified.” Continues through Tue., Dec. 31. 707 Penn Ave., Downtown. Free. trustarts.org

FRIDAY OCT. 25 ART A new art exhibit in the University

Commons building at Carlow University features images that depict aspects of the school’s history, including that of the Sisters of Mercy, an organization focused on education and health care that founded the university in 1929. The works, created by art and art therapy students, depict detailed images of scenes featuring nature and people, die-cut onto sheets of aluminum installed into the balcony rail where glass used to be. Join Carlow for the opening reception featuring a lecture and tour of the work. 6 p.m. 3333 Fifth Ave., Oakland. carlow.edu


^ Fri., Oct. 25: Die-cut aluminum art at Carlow University

BALLET

EVENT

The Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre brings a supernatural dance classic to life when it presents Giselle at the Benedum Center. The Romantic-era ballet tells the tragic tale of a nobleman whose deceit leads to the death of a beautiful peasant girl he was trying to seduce. As a result, he’s haunted by the Wilis, the vengeful spirits of spurned maidens who dance men to their doom. It’s a dark one, but pretty accessible if you’re new to ballet. 8 p.m. Continues through Sun., Oct. 27. 237 Seventh St., Downtown. $28-112. pbt.org

Are you a glittering goblin king who wants to get dressed up for a ball? If so, there’s no better time to shine than at Panza Gallery’s As the World Falls Down Masquerade Ball, in conjunction with the gallery’s exhibit, which is inspired by the ball scene in Labyrinth. Costumes are required and inspiration from the movie is encouraged, though not necessary. Enjoy the artwork, refreshments, and prizes for the best costumes. 6 p.m. 115 Sedgwick St., Millvale. $20 for singles, $30 for couples. panzagallery.com

SATURDAY OCT. 26 FILM In his fantastical and otherworldly animated film Fire Underground, filmmaker Nick Crockett explores stories about coal, labor history, and myths of Appalachia. The project was made using video game software, giving it a unique, but familiar style. The film will screen at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, followed by a panel featuring Crockett and Steve Tonsor, director of science and research at the museum. 2 p.m. 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. carnegiemnh.org ^ Fri., Oct. 25: Giselle PHOTO: DUANE RIEDER

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EVENT Darkness is Spreading takes Halloween to a whole new level with HELL(O) (T)HERE, a Tim Burton-themed party at Bricolage. Hit the open bar and dance all night to music spun by an all-Black female DJ lineup featuring Darkness is Spreading creative director HUNY, Based Grace, and DJ Aesthetics. Enjoy pop-up drag performances, go-go dancers, and sweets like candy and cake. And because it’s all about Burton, costumes inspired by movies like the 1989 Batman, Beetlejuice, and other titles from the director’s filmography are highly encouraged. 9 p.m.-1 a.m. 937 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $25-30. facebook.com/darknessxspreading

COMEDY Poke fun at mortality with The Death Show at Arcade Comedy Theater. CONTINUES ON PG. 42

classifieds.pghcitypaper.com PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER OCT. 23-30, 2019

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CALENDAR, CONTINUED FROM PG. 41

^ Tue., Oct. 29: Sasha Velour

Presented with the tag line “Comedy about your real life and fake death,” the show features a team of the city’s best improvisational performers sending someone off into the great unknown. One lucky audience member will become the subject of a funeral complete with eulogies, scenes, and a few final words. There will also be 25 tickets sold for $2.50 as part of the 25th anniversary of the Allegheny Regional Asset District (RAD). 10 p.m. 943 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $12. arcadecomedytheater.com

SUNDAY OCT. 27 ZINE The Pittsburgh Zine Fair returns with hundreds of independently published zines, books, and more at the Ace Hotel.

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Since its debut at Artist Image Resource in 2011, the event has served as a showcase for local artists, writers, and activists focused on the zine, described on the Facebook event page as an “icon of DIY ethos and radical info sharing” that “decentralizes media and vaults individual expression while remaining inexpensive.” 12-6 p.m. 120 S. Whitfield St., East Liberty. Free. pghzinefair.com

MONDAY OCT. 28 MEETING American cities are in a perpetual state of building, demolishing, and rebuilding. But what do we do with the waste that those projects create? Pittsburgh hosts a conference to tackle that very issue with the Deconstruction and Reuse Conference

with dozens of speakers, ranging from the worlds of community development, architecture, advocacy, reuse operations, and deconstruction. The conference is hosted by Construction Junction, a local nonprofit that helps people reuse construction material. The event will be hosted at the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Oakland. Various times. Continues through Wed., Oct. 30. 1 Schenley Drive, Oakland. $200-450. buildreuse.org

TUESDAY OCT. 29 LIT Pittsburgh as a region has one of the lowest percentages of Latinx residents compared to other large U.S. metro areas. But that isn’t stopping Latinx voices

from speaking up about the issues they encounter here and nationwide. Alphabet City in the North Side is hosting a literary event to amplify those voices even further. At Latinx and Proud! Series, four Latinx writers will speak about their work and how it relates to identity, race, gender, politics, etc. The speakers are New Yorkbased poet Denice Frohman, Western Pa. professor M. Soledad Caballero, Pittsburgh writer Tanya Shirazi, and Miami poet and performer Zeca Gonzalez. This is the inaugural program of the Latinx and Proud! Series. 7-8:30 p.m. 40 W. North Ave., North Side. free. alphabetcity.org

STAGE See RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Sasha Velour when she stops at the Byham Theater during the North American tour of her live show Smoke & Mirrors. The one-queen show combines drag, visual art, and magic for 13 lip-synch performances,


PHOTO: DI-AY BATTAD

^ Sun., Oct. 27: Pittsburgh Zine Fair

all directed and choreographed by Sasha Velour. A description of the show promises to “unmask deeper truths, sparking fresh analysis of gender, fame, family, and the importance of dreaming big and living life over-the-top.” 7:30 p.m. 101 Sixth St., Downtown. $41.25-156.25. trustarts.org

STAGE PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh presents Mean Girls, the Tony Award-winning musical based on the very popular 2004 movie by Tina Fey (who also penned the book). It is almost certainly not necessary to explain, but it’s a story about popularity, revenge, and friendship in high school as told by a newly arrived student named Cady. There are many popular catchphrases and memes spawned by the film, none of which you have read here. If you’re unfamiliar and feel out of the loop, go see this musical at Benedum Center and you’ll finally get all the references. 7:30 p.m. Continues through Sun., Nov. 3. 237 Seventh St., Downtown. $40-160. trustarts.org

WEDNESDAY OCT. 30 MUSIC Experimental Guitar Night in Pittsburgh ^ Wed., Oct. 30: 2.5 Minute Ride PHOTO: GRIFFIN SENDAK

debuted in February 2018 as a gathering place for fans of unconventional structures, looping, non-traditional guitars, and no shortage of pedals. Performers at No. 10 at Hambone’s include Old Dream, Seven Dee, Chris Cannon, Jim Storch, and Jeffrey Schreckengost (who is also a graphic designer at City Paper). Come out and learn just how much you can do with a single guitar. 8 p.m. Hambone’s, 4207 Butler St., Lawrenceville. $5. “Experimental Guitar Night #10” on Facebook

STAGE From Lisa Kron, the playwright behind the Tony Award-winning Fun Home, comes the ambitious and personal work 2.5 Minute Ride. Staged at Duquesne University’s Genesius Theater, the play parallels two significant journeys in the Kron family history: a trip the playwright took with her father, a Holocaust survivor, to Auschwitz, where her grandparents were killed; and a family excursion to the amusement park Cedar Point in Ohio. Woven into these disparate threads is the story of Lisa’s brother and his marriage to a woman he met on the internet. “Humor and horror are juxtaposed, and you might not know for a second whether you are at Auschwitz or at the amusement park,” Kron says of the play. “The show does not tell you when to laugh and when to be solemn. The response is up to you.” 8 p.m. Continues through Sat., Nov. 2. 1225 Seitz St., Downtown. $20. duqredmasquers.com • PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER OCT. 23-30, 2019

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THE BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH Sealed proposals shall be deposited at the Administration Building, Bellefield Entrance Lobby, 341 South Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15213, on November 5, 2019, until 2:00 P.M., local prevailing time for:

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t #PJMFS 3FQMBDFNFOU t .FDIBOJDBM &MFDUSJDBM BOE "TCFTUPT "CBUFNFOU 1SJNFT Project Manual and Drawings will be available for purchase on October 7, 2019 at Modern Reproductions (412-488-7700), 127 McKean Street, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15219 between 9:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. The cost of the Project Manual Documents is non-refundable. Project details and dates are described in each project manual. We are an equal rights and opportunity school district.

OFFICIAL ADVERTISEMENT

THE BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH Sealed proposals shall be deposited at the

DB

AN

OFFICIAL ADVERTISEMENT

IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-19-13026. In re petition of Haley Lillian LaQuatra for change of name to Todd Lillian LaQuatra. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 13th day of November, 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

Administration Building, Bellefield Entrance Lobby, 341 South Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15213, on November 5, 2019, until 2:00 P.M., local prevailing time for:

PGH. OBAMA 6-12 Gym A/C and Lighting Upgrades Mechanical, Electrical, and Asbestos Abatement Primes Project Manual and Drawings will be available for purchase on October 7, 2019 at Modern Reproductions (412-488-7700), 127 McKean Street, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15219 between 9:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. The cost of the Project Manual Documents is non-refundable. Project details and dates are described in each project manual. We are an equal rights and opportunity school district.


GOING THROUGH HOOPS BY BRENDAN EMMETT QUIGLEY // WWW.BRENDANEMMETTQUIGLEY.COM

ACROSS 1. Thai lager 6. One time at the gym 9. Play-testers find them 13. What I hear 14. Live-wire Baldwin 16. Aptly named fruit 17. Castle’s location 18. Tony Awardwinning actress Leavel 19. Cross off 20. Inn near the Sea of Tranquility? 23. Some laptops 25. Innocent-sounding faux reply 26. Highly proper 27. Oyl awaiting trial? 30. Org. that makes you unpack (seemingly) at the airport 33. Only player to win three World Cups 34. Story with a headshot 35. Southerner’s dead giveaway 37. Make a new road 38. Put someone in their place 41. Retailer that sells a lot of Allen wrenches 42. In the open 44. Swerve off course 45. Streams on Netflix, e.g. 46. Unit-cost word 47. Vehicles that Lil B would never drive? 51. Old-school

hip-hop fan 52. Perfect mark 53. “Here’s something that might interest you,” initially 54. Miserable arcade game? 59. Instrument with a flared bell 60. ___ Hari 61. Apply, as a healer’s hands 64. Sonic’s parent company 65. Tiny thing in science 66. Acid-tongued 67. Question and answer session? 68. Gardener’s tool 69. “A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore” speaker

Lamont Hawkins 11. Drinking sound 12. Squarespace space 15. French darling 21. Inexperienced peeps 22. Tuneful tune 23. Nana’s husband 24. Split with an ax 28. Swerve 29. “In. Your. FACE!” 30. Gamble on something 31. Scornful 32. Last American male to win the French Open 36. Green Bay’s st. 39. Biden, Warren, or Sanders, e.g.

40. Asocial nerd 43. Toothpaste container 48. McCorvey who was “Jane Roe” in Roe v. Wade 49. Private route 50. Swab testing spot 51. Second-stringers 54. Onkyo rival 55. Horned beast 56. Wrap in a frat 57. “Am ___ stupid to understand?” 58. Curtain material 62. Graham Patrick Martin’s role in the miniseries “Catch-22” 63. League added to this puzzle’s theme answers LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

DOWN 1. Lyft alternative 2. Coloration 3. Commissioner of the 63-Down 4. Singer on the first Velvet Underground album 5. “Get outta here, you’re drunk!” 6. Like Jewish studies 7. Zeno’s birthplace 8. Where Rex gets pampered 9. Full-bosomed 10. Wu-Tang Clan member born

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER OCT. 23-30, 2019

45


PEEPSHOW A sex and social justice column BY JESSIE SAGE // PEEPSHOWCAST@GMAIL.COM

A

FEW YEARS AGO, after a well-

attended academic talk on the porn industry at the Adult Video Network Convention in Las Vegas, I was chit-chatting with several porn scholars. One said, with a great deal of confidence, “The phone sex industry died because of free porn.” This was shocking on two levels. First, because I am a phone sex operator and can assure you that phone sex is not dead. And two, because anyone who has ever made porn, myself included, knows that porn is not free; pornography is expensive to produce, labor-intensive, and often comes at great personal cost. In fairness, what this scholar meant was not that porn was free to produce, but rather that from a consumer perspective, free porn is readily accessible, so much so that it discourages paid interactive services such as phone sex. Accessing free porn is so easy that many customers have come to believe they should have free access to all porn. Today, for example, a potential customer asked me to point him to my work, and then asked me to send him “samples” of what he would get if he bought anything. I told him to get lost. How we got to the point where porn consumers have so thoroughly normalized theft that they have forgotten that what they are stealing is a story for another column. This week, I would rather spend time encouraging

creators upload their short films. These videos are typically 5-15 minutes, and you can buy them individually or in bulk packages. You can search for performers and fetish interests. Some of the most popular sites are ManyVids, iWantClips, Clips4Sale, and AP Clips.

SUBSCRIPTION SITES: Subscriptions

you to pay for the porn you consume. As a performer, I have obvious reasons for believing that it is important that you pay for your porn. These days, most performers are producing their own content, which means that unless they make sales, they are not getting paid for their work. Moreover, getting paid for adult content is tricky. Payment processors place a premium on these transactions, and therefore hosting platforms take anywhere between a 2070 percent cut to absorb these costs. In order for content creators to survive, then, they need to make a lot of sales, and for that to happen, customers have to pay. Additionally, there are consumercentered reasons why it is important to pay for porn. When performers aren’t

making sales, they can no longer continue to do the work that customers enjoy. This doesn’t mean the end of the porn industry, but it does mean that those who can survive are the performers with the backing of the mainstream industry, which does not support the diversity of race, size, age, ability, gender identities, sexual orientations, etc. that is present in the current indie scene. The social cost of “free” porn is actually quite high; it is a flattening of diverse representation. These are a few of the many ways you can support performers if you enjoy their content:

CLIP STORES:

Clip stores are platforms where independent content

sites follow a social media model. Rather than searching for particular fantasies or fetishes, you follow the performers you’re interested in and pay a monthly premium. Models upkeep a feed that typically includes their clips, photosets, personal anecdotes, etc. OnlyFans and AVN Stars are the most popular subscription sites currently, though several of the cam and clip sites also have this option.

TUBE SITES: Tube sites like Pornhub are complicated because they built their businesses on pirated content. However, many models have migrated their content to these sites in order to increase their traffic. If you do choose to consume porn in this way, make sure that the videos you are watching are “verified.” Verified videos have a blue checkmark by the performer’s name. These performers get paid-perview with a model similar to YouTube. This is not an exhaustive list, but it is a start.

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.

46

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