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LADYBEAST

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MUSIC SECTION

PUBLIC SOURCE MEDIA deb levine of ladybeast tells us about her background in pittsburgh’s metal culture

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INTERVIEW WITH DEB LEVINE OF

LADY BEAST By: Edward Banchs

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

D

eb Levine loves heavy metal. Vocalist of the heavy metal band, Lady Beast, she does not hold back about her love of the genre, one that her band has performed for over ten years in the Steel City. The band’s sound harkens the genre’s British roots, with twin guitar attacks, soaring, catchy, melodies and ferocious rhythms. Rounded out by drummer, Adam Ramage, guitarists, Andy Ramage and Christopher “Twiz” Tritschler, and bassist, Greg Colaizzi, Lady Beast has become one of the hallmarks of Pittsburgh’s incredible heavy metal scene.

A vivacious personality served as her guide throughout our interview. Deb often leaned in during our conversation, eyes wide and smiling broadly, while discussing the city and the music she loves. The effervescent vocalist opened up to Steel This during an incredibly hot June Sunday in Bloomfield—along with her two dogs (Lemmy and Dio)—about her band, Planned Parenthood, musicals, and what success means to her.

Tell me about Lady Beast.

“Sometime in 2008 me and Greg were in a heavy metal-inspired band called Long To Hell, and that was where we wrote the song, “Lady Beast.” The band kind of fell apart. I felt really sad, and we were like, ‘Let’s just start a new band.’ The song, “Lady Beast” was so rad we wanted to keep it, and we just decided to name the band that.”

[The first guitarist and drummer didn’t stay long. Deb met Tommy (former guitarist) in a coffee shop -- “Turns out he was a great guitar player,” Levine said, -- and then Adam joined, bringing on Twiz.]

We had enough songs to record an album when Twiz joined. And [we] immediately recorded the album. I always wanted to be in a heavy metal band, so that was the main goal. We kept choosing people to join the band that kind of had that same goal in mind... trying to play traditional heavy metal music that sounds unique to us.

When you fell in love with music, was it heavy metal?

No, it was actually musicals. I loved musicals as a child. I grew up listening to everything from ZZ Top to Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Cher, Carole King. I loved singing every type of song there was. I probably have a database of literally 100,000 songs in my mind that I know all the lyrics to! But I loved theater and musicals, and I always thought, “Maybe I’ll be on Broadway because it tells a story.” There’s a lot of emotion. You have to be [a] great fall 2018

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singer. The songs are very emotional. When I started making adult friends, around the ages of 19-20, I started delving more into heavy metal. I knew who Judas Priest was, but I didn’t really know about Iron Maiden in high school. There were no older cousins or siblings to teach me about the cool stuff.

I didn’t find out about Iron Maiden until I was about 19. And then after that I said, “This is what I want to be singing.”

What made metal special to you?

I love the way people sing heavy metal.

Only over the last couple of years have I started getting into power metal because I just love singing along to it. I love singing to Falconer, HammerFall, and Dream Evil.

I even started getting into Sabaton. The way the guitar sounds, the way the music sounds, the energy it creates; it could be a full body experience. The way people sing vocal harmonies, the way the music makes you feel, I’m very easily swayed by emotional music. And some people might be like, “I don’t feel anything when I hear this,” but when I hear the guitar harmony, oh my God... (whispering quietly). A person who is not into metal might respond, “Wow, they are talented,” but it almost moves you to tears. Everything just sounds so good.

Did you have proper vocal training?

I used to take chorus at school. I was the seven-year-old belting out Jesus Christ Super Star in front of my computer, in the basement, or in the shower. Not singing the typical [music] that you think a kid would be listening to. I loved Les Miserable before the age of ten. I knew every word. I didn’t get very proper training. It was all just trying to sound like the people on the CD or on the radio. When I sing a Stevie Wonder song I try to sing like Stevie. I do exactly what he does, when he does it. I love that. When I sing Cher, I’m trying to sound like Cher.

Is it a challenge trying to pull in a younger audience based on what you do?

I don’t. We’re not a band that seems like we stand on a pedestal. Like we are this untouchable force. It’s super personal. It’s very real. And I feel like a connection can be made in that time we’re performing. It’s not this spectacle. It’s a very real experience where maybe they’re hearing some of [the] things I’m saying. You can totally relate.

I’m trying to make it an empowering, positive experience. I think that kids can have a cool time with that. We try to be out

after the show talking to people, so I also think that brings kids in. I don’t think we just play music for old people. But, we are the age of parents now. So, someone saying their dad listens to us, we’re probably friends with your dad. It’s funny now being in our 30s, 40s.

of hatred. If you are into that, definitely do not come to any of our shows. I don’t write music for you.

You always have to start somewhere, drilling your hole into the metal coconut.

At the middle of that coconut is Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Dio, Motörhead.

All these people that are just waiting for you to find them.

You once posted a photo of you as a volunteer at a Planned Parenthood.

Totally. I’m all about that. If you will stop listening to a band for that reason, I definitely don’t want to associate with you.

People have the wrong idea about a lot of stuff that’s going on right now. People like to get hyped with misinformation.

Who do you connect with musically?

If I try to relate to anyone vocally it would be Dio. He had a great sense of melody.

He was very clean, didn’t go overboard. I feel that every metal singer that can do the falsetto does it everywhere. If I could do that I would use it very sparingly.

What are your lyrical inspirations?

I feel like being able to have a pedestal where you are able to talk to people, hundreds of people live at a show, thousands of people listening to your album, you have an obligation. Well, I feel I have an obligation to deliver certain messages to the listeners of positivity. We live in a world where we are constantly bogged down by so much bad news. Social media has begun to make us compare our lives to other people’s lives.

You almost don’t know what’s real, what’s fake, who’s with you, who’s against you.

It’s important to me to bring people back in for a second and remember to always be you. That anything is possible. Tell them things that they don’t have someone telling them, which makes me very sad.

Times get confusing. Growing up is weird.

If you manifest your desires, you might find your way.

Lady Beast doesn’t get into the political side of lyrics, do they?

Not this time. “Metal Immortal” would probably be our most politically driven song.

I like writing songs in more metaphorical ways. It might not be as straight forward as it all sounds. You know, you can take what you want from it. I’m telling you what to do, but I’m just telling you how I feel. You want to feel me, that’s cool, and if not, that’s also OK. But we definitely do not stand for any type of racism, homophobia—any type

Are you worried that this will polarize people?

I don’t care.

It’s terrifying.

Yeah. I definitely don’t care about losing fans because they support things that I’m totally against. That’s totally fine with me, because that’s one of the reasons why I’m writing music. One of the reasons we’ve always loved being DIY and doing things ourselves is because we get to control what our music is being used for, where it’s going and who’s listening to it. It’s not meant to be shared in a hateful format. It’s only there to empower, motivate, and uplift.

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I thought it was ambitious that you posted that.

Maybe they’ll think differently, too. Maybe investigate a little more and realize that Planned Parenthood isn’t just an abortion factory.

Maybe it could be a point of entry of conversation for other people?

Yeah. Exactly.

Do you think heavy metal is unfairly marginalized?

Only the religious think of metal in that way now. Lawyers have sleeves. The Kardashians dye their hair blue. The world is a completely different place right now. I don’t think that’s an issue. Now it is about genres of metal that is keeping people so separated. Now people that listen to Slipknot wouldn’t be at our show, or vice versa.

I definitely don’t think the mainstream of the world is looking at heavy metal like it did. I think it is more than gun control.

There are bigger fish to fry than heavy metal.

How is Pittsburgh’s metal scene?

There are a lot more bands. A lot of black fall 2018

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metal bands, [a] pinch of thrash. There are a ton of bands in Pittsburgh, a ton of punk bands, a lot of rock bands.

Is Pittsburgh metal in a good place?

Yes. It is way easier to book metal shows.

There are way more bands available to have for touring bands that come through. There are metal shows happening weekly. There’s not a lot of all ages venues, but there are plenty of venues now.

What do you love about Pittsburgh?

The thing I love about Pittsburgh is the accessibility to the things that you need.

You need to get away, there’s Frick Park. You can get lost in the park for hours. Or get lost in the cemetery for hours. Tons of culture, good food, (and) awesome people. People are still from the working class so there’s a sense of camaraderie. But you have a bigger middle class who used to work, not afraid of working, not afraid of putting in the work.

But we can all relate on that level. I love the people that play music here. The rivers.

What are some of your favorite places?

I love going to the Allegheny Cemetery, the peace and quiet. It is so chill. I love Brillo Box. Howler’s. Cattivo is awesome to have shows at. Onion Maiden. I guess after 33 years, everything feels so natural. I love going to Kickback in Lawrenceville.

Lady Beast was featured on the late Anthony Bourdain’s episode of, “Parts Unknown”, filmed in the city. I asked Deb about the episode’s response from locals.

Everyone was bitching about it. They wanted…that social media façade of making sure everything at home looks picture perfect. And it’s not.

It’s gone forever (The Hill). The Instagram side, displacement, gentrification. Stuff you are ignoring because you’ve never been there. My dad has owned a clothing store on Penn Ave. in East Liberty for 14 years.

Back then, it was this bustling, community driven area. People were selling stuff on the sidewalks. It was super cool. Happy and driven on its own neighborhood/ community way. And then things started changing, apartments go up, new stores come in. You start telling the people that have been selling stuff on the street corners that you need a license, you need this, that—get out of here. It is shitty.

What are people missing about Pittsburgh?

Pittsburgh has changed a lot in the last ten years. It’s become this place on the map where people realized you can live here for really cheap. A lot of people from California, Oregon started buying houses here. It’s just becoming the next thing on the map. One of those cities that’s cheap. It’s kind of something that, in my adult life, I’m just noticing more.

As our interview wound down, we turned to the current status of the music: It depends what your definition of success is. One definition is creating music, being able to be sustainable as a band, and being able to be constantly making the music.

If you love it, that’s success: being selfsustainable. Not actually putting [up] your own money to produce and make music and go on tour. Now, other people’s idea of success is making money off that music. I feel like you need to be realistic. In this age with thousands of bands, literally thousands of bands, you need to be realistic with your goals. No one is going to be Iron Maiden again. Out of the hundreds of heavy metal bands there are today, only a couple of them are going to make enough money where they could live off of the music.

But wait, there were only a handful of bands that were mega then, and only a handful that are mega now.

I’m saying it’s even less of a reality. But that’s why I’m saying don’t let it stop you.

Just adjust your goals. Don’t make music about money, ever. If you end up making money—bonus! But don’t make it about money. You know what I mean? You do it in the end because you love it. And if not, you need to question your motives.

What’s next for Lady Beast?

We are going to continue writing awesome music. Continue growing as musicians and hopefully acquire more fans over the next couple of years. Hopefully going to Europe, Latin America and back to Canada. It is hard for us to travel and keep band morale up. We can’t afford any duds, so I would rather wait for it to be perfect than risk total destruction.

The band just means that much to us.

It’s creating the music that is the greatest fulfillment of being in the band. I just need to wait until those opportunities present themselves. I know it’s coming; I can feel it.

It’s almost there. fall 2018

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RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW: Steel This asked Deb for her take on the four Lady Beast releases. Here is what she had to say.

Lady Beast: Our intro into the world! Oh my gosh, we were just babies! We’re going to try and bring back a lot of songs off that album. We heard it recently; we have to bring back, “Armor.”

Favorite song: “Lady Beast.”

II: II was awesome. That was the first time we saw growth in the band. This album is so much better than the first one. I started getting better at writing lyrics, feeling more comfortable about singing.

Twiz started writing songs for that album, too.

Favorite song: “Heavy Metal Destiny.”

Metal Immortal (EP): At that point (we said), “We are getting so good.” This is definitely our best record to date. Andy joined the band at that point and he wrote a couple of songs on that album. It’s just Lady Beast matured, older, serious about metal, writing kick ass songs.

Getting good!

Vicious Breed: This is the best recording any of us have done; from start to finish just completely cohesive.

Beginning, middle, end—awesome songs! The two singles off the album, which are, “Vicious Breed”, and, “Every Giant Shall Fall,” are just two really great tracks to kind of embody what we like to do with heavy metal—the epic story telling, and the thrashy rager.

Favorite song: “Seal The Hex.”

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MISS LORETTA’S CORNER

AN ORAL HISTORY OF MID-CENTURY LAWRENCEVILLE THROUGH THE EYES OF LORETTA MILLENDER By: John Dubosky

Back in the day, I’m talking the late 40’s, early 50’s, in Lawrenceville, most black children didn’t even have bathrooms. We went to outhouses behind our buildings where we lived. In my part of town, they were mostly three-floor apartments. In our building, the first floor was a barber shop with two or three rooms in the back. Down in the basement was an apartment with a dirt floor. A family lived there. They had carpeting on the bare walls and on the dirt floor. The carpeting would protect them from the cold in the winter; they had a coal stove down there, too.

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When you came upstairs, there was chicken coops and an outhouse. You’d come out of the basement, go through the barber shop up to the second floor, and then the third floor was our home. We called the shop owner, “Mr. Barber”. He was the todo barber for black people. He’d charge 25-30 cents for a haircut.

People who couldn’t afford it would go down the street to Mr. Wade. He’d charge only five cents, and everyone got their hair cut with a bowl on their head, that’s how he did it. The young boys, my brother and them, they’d be so upset. “I gotta go to Mr. Wade for a haircut, Ma only gave me a nickel! They’re gonna put that same bowl on my head and I’m gonna look just like the other kids!” But that’s how they did.

Our way of life was to adapt to our financial problems and have fun any way we could. We had to be creative because a lot of people couldn’t afford bikes for children or skates for children. We had a special place we called the Pipes. They were great big industry pipes that you could climb in on rainy days and imagine you were in Paris somewhere. But you were still in Lawrenceville at 29th Street. You could take and read your schoolwork in there all the time it was light outside. You were in the middle of the pipe, out of the rain or bad weather. You even sat in there with your coat on in the winter. But you could imagine. “One day I’m not gonna be here. One day I’m going to be in London or Paris.” It was inspiring to us. We would read books from the library, read comics while in the pipes playing around. Sometimes I’d let the other kids in mine, sometimes I wouldn’t want company. I’d lay in this pipe and imagine I had the prettiest dress on or the nicest pair of shoes on. Or imagine that when I went home my mother was going to have all this good food cooked and I’m going to be able to eat as much as I want. But a lot of days I got home and there was beans and wieners, and we enjoyed it, but I’d imagine fried chicken and fried pork chops. In my mind it wouldn’t be a Jumbo sandwich, or I’m not gonna have to eat cereal. It’s not gonna be a can of soup and a sandwich, it’s gonna be steak with mushrooms. My mother was a good cook, but the dreams busted as soon as you jumped out of the Pipes. There wasn’t going to be any ice cream tonight because she couldn’t afford to put ice in that refrigerator. It cost 15 cents for that guy to carry that ice to the third floor on that burlap sack, water dripping all the way up to that ice box. You weren’t gonna have ice cream and popsicles in there. Thank God we had milk to drink. But those were the good times when you look back on them. To you at the time as a young child, it was bad. I would tell children today what the porters told me: look to the future and know that there’s something better for you out there. Do not despair, because God is always going to make it better. It may not be when you want it, but He’s always on time. fall 2018

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“I would tell children today what the porters told me: look to the future and know that there’s something better for you out there. Do not despair, because God is always going to make it better. It may not be when you want it, but He’s always on time.

It’s good for kids to have an escape like that.

It especially helps when there’s hardship or tragedy. You need to know how to accept this tragedy, try to do something positive with it, and move on. I saw tragedy for the first time in my life when I was only 13. A great big house in the community caught fire. It was so strange to me when I went past this house. One minute I was on my way to school and the house was fine, when I came home it was in shambles: burned out windows, the smell of smoke, rotten wood, bricks, water coming out on Penn Avenue. When I got home, a half a block away, my mother came out and told me what had happened. “You know the family you’re friends with down the block? Their house got burned today, and your friend was burned, too.” When I got there, I didn’t see her. They had her at the hospital. She was so seriously burned it was three or four months she was in the hospital. My first thoughts were what do you do with this family? Where is this family going? It turns out they were still living in the shell of the home for some time.

I had to do something, so I went down to Al Klotz’s store on 29th St. My mother was the only woman of color with a tab at the store. At the time it was still hard for many of us to get credit. I went down to Mr. Al. Now, he knew anytime I went down that

my mother had sent me. I wasn’t supposed to go to the store on my mom’s credit unless she told me. But I was afraid she wouldn’t let me, so I went without her knowledge. I told Mr. Al I needed one pound of Jumbo, a long loaf of bread, one pint of milk, and some other things. He said, “Your mother just was down here and got a bunch of stuff already this week. “ I said, “This is extra,” never saying what I intended to do with it.

I took the groceries I mentioned along with some apples and oranges back to the destroyed home. When I got there, I opened the door and went up the steps. I was scared because it was very dark in the house. At the top of the steps I met the family and I gave the food to them. They thought it was my mother who had sent it. They had a fire going in the fireplace and everyone was sitting on the floor that was still wet from the hoses. I was saying, “Where are they going to sleep?” This is the first time in my life I saw someone who really needed help.

I left and went back home to my mother, to the third floor, told my mother what I had seen and what I had done. She fussed at me. She said I had no right going down there and putting stuff on that bill without asking her. I said, “Yes, ma’am.”

She didn’t hit me or anything like that. She understood what I was trying to do. I said, “But Ma, what are we gonna do with them?

What happens to them now?” She said, “What do you want to do?” I said, “Let’s give them blankets, give them pillows, give them sheets…” I was just naming stuff.

She said, “No, we need to organize. Let me contact the other mothers on this block and see what we can come up with.” She went from place to place telling people our story. Before we knew it, we had blankets and sheets and whatever we could gather.

To this day I am still friends with that family. We still meet up to laugh and joke.

But that day, God opened up something inside of me that would last for the rest of my life. I’m still collecting to this day for the poor, the underprivileged, cooking for them and fundraising. But that day, the seed was planted. The bible states that you’re your brother’s keeper. I don’t care what color you are, in some way I’m going to go out of my way to do the very best I can for you.

The tragedy in Lawrenceville was a learning experience. That family turned out to have a lot of potential. After they got the help they needed, they got nice jobs, fall 2018

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good homes, some of them are ministers now. They’re out doing good for others and we have stayed friends for more than 60 years. We’re there to aid each other, even my grandson entwined with their family and now we have a child together. Who would have ever thought something like that would have happened?

That’s the importance of a strong community. That’s what we did for each other in Lawrenceville. We had each other’s backs. When something happens to someone in Lawrenceville, you’re right to their aid, that’s how our neighborhood did it from 16th Street up to 50th, be you black or white. I knew you because you went to Arsenal School, we grew up together. You see each other in the papers, go to each other’s family’s funerals. I was at a meeting just this past Saturday at Lawrenceville United. They ask me now what it was like.

Years ago we were close, but we were kept separated geographically in Lawrenceville on a racial basis. Now, today, our young ones are coming in, there’s a mixed group of people. What we need today is for the old to meet the young and the young have got to meet the old, so they don’t have to be scared of each other and they help each other out. There’s so much each person can teach others, old or young, as long as you keep your mind open. A five-year-old can teach a 75-year-old something, but you have to keep your mind open. If you shut your mind to the point where you’re saying, “Can’t nobody teach me nothin’,” you’re going to get old real fast because you’re not letting young people teach you anything new. I’ve been cooking my whole life, but I still watch cooking shows and try new stuff. I’m still trying; I’m learning every day of my life. When my feet hit the floor every morning, it’s a challenge to me.

What can I do today? What can I learn?

You’re only as old as you feel. I don’t feel old. I know my age and everything, and other people know it, too. But I can get out there and dance with a 30-year-old, I can dance with a 70-year-old. If I get tired I’ll just say, “I gotta sit down.” But, usually, that 30-year-old will say, long before me, “Miss Loretta, I’m tired; I gotta sit down.” Ha ha!

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Our third edition from our partnership with Word Association Publishers brings us an excerpt from the new book, Coyotes In The Pasture, Wolves at the Door, by John Jamison. WAP brings us new and exciting writing from the Pittsburgh Region each issue, and this installment is no different. As Fall brings us to the close of another farming season, we thought it’d be a great time to take a trip away from Downtown and get our boots muddy. We hope you savor this read as much as we have.

“Now what? They’re all coming to the farm tomorrow.”

My ashen-faced wife shakily put down the phone. She had less than twenty-four hours to prepare food for the only twostar Michelin chef in the country.

After taking the lambs down to JeanLouis Palladin, we had established a weekly sales pattern with him. It was the spring of 1989, so some of the people in charge of that year’s Children’s Hospital event had asked Jean-Louis to come to Pittsburgh to do some PR work with the local news media.

We asked that the whole entourage come to the farm not really expecting them to accept. But Jean-Louis had apparently been persistent in telling them they should visit the farm. So we got the call.

Jean-Louis was coming to the farm with an entourage of Children’s Hospital press people. Sukey was terrified. She politely suggested and they unexpectedly accepted to have an early lunch–late breakfast.

So she was going to cook for a James Beard award–winning, Michelin-starred chef after he had been wined and dined by the press for two days. The only help she had was my daughter Eliza and me.

My daughter Rachel was interested in Little League, Jay was interested in girls, and both were in school.

Sukey cooked lamb shanks in red wine with tomatoes. Eliza made bread with some but not total direction from Sukey.

I made coffee and worried whether I should offer wine while I fussed about giving a tour of the farm.

Up the narrow farm lane bounced a huge, blue Lincoln stretch limo. I waved it in like a signal officer guiding a bomber to an aircraft carrier deck. Smiling press fall 2018

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people popped out of the doors saying, “What a beautiful farm!” Blah blah blah.

Jean-Louis unfolded his long, lanky frame out of the back door. He looked as if he had been properly wined and dined for two days. He had been sleeping in the back of the car. The press people wanted a tour of the house. Jean-Louis wanted to see the farm probably for recuperative as well as educational reasons. He and I walked down to the barn where we had new lambs with their mothers.

Young ewes birthing for the first or second time often get confused about what had just happened. They don’t always know who is who. Consequently, a ewe may balk at accepting her lamb who wants to nurse on her big milky udder. She will walk away, kick at the lamb, or push it away with her nose. We construct hurdles—two small gates about four feet long by three feet high.

The two panels are hinged together so that when opened up a bit, they can stand by themselves. When a ewe is being contrary with her lamb, we put two sets of those hurdles together to form a small pen. That gets the mother and her offspring up close and personal, so they get to smell, nurse, and know each other. After a day or so of this confinement, the ewe and her lamb are usually bonded, so they go on their merry way out to pasture.

Jean-Louis wanted to see that. I warned him about the flooring material, but he gallantly walked forward subjecting his blue Italian suede loafers to the secrets of a sheep barn.

There I was in my boots and coveralls while he was beaming in his European city attire set off with a silk Hermes scarf. He picked up a two-day-old lamb and commented on how plump it was. I was almost in tears. The FFC (fancy French chef) knew exactly what was happening. The mothers were doing so

well on our beautiful grass that even the new lambs were showing great condition.

He said, “These will be beautiful.”

When the ewes and lambs are on our pasture in the spring, it’s an amazing sight.

The ewes are happy and continually eat in the cooler parts of the day. The lambs will form a group of ten or twenty and run around in circles and jump off the top of a mound or just jump straight up. The eyes of the ewes and lambs are extraordinarily bright; the ewes’ fleeces are shiny. Their bodies and their disposition reek of what my sainted extension agent Bill Kelly called spring tonic. Ruminants on dry feed just do not have this. They may be fed and healthy, but they do not look happy. These were happy.

As we left the barn, Jean-Louis and I were facing the hillside where most of our flock was grazing. As I was looking at this always bucolic picture, Jean-Louis turned to me and asked, “’Ow many sheeps are on that heel?”

I answered, “With everybody, over six hundred.” “’Ow many mommies?”

“Between three and four hundred.”

With a concerned look, the chef asked, “’Ow many daddies?”

Counting up how many of the rams we had moved, I answered, “Four.”

His face showed the astonishment and respect only a Frenchman would understand. His eyes twinkled as he dreamily but boldly pronounced, “Oo la la.”

Jamison Farm

171 Jamison Lane, Latrobe, PA 15650

(724) 834-7424 www.jamisonfarm.com

Coyotes In The Pasture, Wolves at the Door Available this October on Amazon.com

Photographs Copyright © 2017 by Christopher Hirsheimer

Dough To Go LAMB SHANK STEW WITH TOMATO If it’s good enough for a two-star Michelin Chef … Sukey was terrified cooking this recipe for our famous guest, but simple foods often work best. As Sukey and I nervously looked on, Jean-Louis ate the lamb shank stew undisturbed for what seemed like five minutes. I don’t think he took a breath. After finishing, he sat back and, referring to his hotel’s food, pronounced with an understated flair, “This is better than the Westin!”

2 6 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 ½ 2

tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil lamb shanks teaspoons salt teaspoon coarsely ground pepper onion, chopped cloves garlic, chopped tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary 28-ounce can diced tomatoes quarts lamb or chicken stock cup sliced peeled carrots cup chopped celery pound red potatoes, chopped cup chopped parsley cups shredded cabbage, optional

Preheat oven to 400°F. Add the olive oil to a large ovenproof skillet. Add the lamb shanks and roast in the oven until browned, about 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and season the shanks with salt and pepper. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F. Add the onions, garlic, rosemary, tomatoes, and stock. Cover the skillet and return to oven for 1 hour.

Remove lid, add the carrots, celery, and potatoes. Cook in the oven until the shanks are ten-der, 1–2 hours. Add parsley and cabbage (if using) and continue cooking for 15 minutes.

Shanks can be served on or off the bone, covered with tender vegetables.

On a chilly evening in March I was driving home after work to make dinner with the kids. It was my turn to cook that evening but at 6:30 I had no time to shop. So, I pulled over to to grab a pie at a place my friends have been raving about, Crust Cafe and Pizzeria in Upper St. Clair.

I walked in during a dinner rush and surveyed the dining room. Delicious sandwiches, Sicilian and Hand-Tossed Pizza, bottles of wine (This place is BYOB!) the place was buzzing! The smells were enough to make my mouth water. I stepped to the counter to order a pizza to go.

“Take and bake?” asked the counter girl.

“Take and... what?” I responded, a bit perplexed.

“Yeah, we make fresh dough every day, toss it, cover it with our signature pizza sauce and fresh cheese. We use market fresh toppings of your choice, shrink wrap it and you can bake it at home like it came fresh from our oven.”

“How long do I have to cook the pie?”

“As long as you bake it within 24 hours, you’re fine. Just pop it in your oven and you’ll have a perfect pizza in 15 minutes. Plus, all Take and Bake pizzas are discounted.”

Sold.

I jumped in my car, called my wife and had the oven pre-heated by the time I got home. I let my kids open up the package. They peeled back the lid to reveal our gourmet treasure inside. We slid it into the oven and within minutes the house flled with the wonderful aroma of a fresh home cooked meal.

The crust slowly turned golden brown, the pepperoni sizzled and my son counted down the minutes as the cheese slowly melted. We sat at the table and devoured the pie in minutes fat. Crispy, hot and fresh from my oven.

My advice?

Do yourself a favor and stop in for a slice. You won’t be disappointed!

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Come, relax, and experience.

M F S S

Banco Business Park • 1061 Main Street • North Huntingdon, PA 15642 • 724-515-5983 Mon. - Thurs: 11:30 am - 9 pm • Fri. & Sat: 11:30 am - 10 pm Sunday Brunch: 11:00 am - 2 pm • Sunday Dinner: 4:00 pm - 8 pm

NOW OPEN

neapolitan pizza & small plates

[

STEEL THESE RECIPES Food & Booze for a Party of Eight for Less than $100 By: Randy Garcia

[

THE INGREDIENTS:

Bacon

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Caramelized Red Onion

Goat Cheese

Fresh Bucatini Pasta from Fede Pasta

When we asked Steve and Jennifer Salvi, owners of famed Southwestern PA restaurants Cenacolo and Dal Forno, how they would feed a party of eight for a casual dinner party, they invited us into their kitchen to show us. It started this Spring with a very elegant Pasta Primavera, and it’s continuing this Fall with two more seasonal dishes. Today we’re going to learn how to make their mouthwatering Butternut Squash Risotto, and a hearty, buttery, Bucatini with Brussels Sprouts and Goat Cheese. Hey, when the Salvi’s chefs offer to spend time in the kitchen with you, you say yes and you bring your best photographer with you.

Whether you’re having friends over in your postage-stamp backyard, or you’re trying out your cooking skills on the kitchen you just remodeled, these recipes will impress. They are easily modified for vegetarian or vegan diners, they take little preparation effort, and they focus on tastes of the season. We’ve thrown in some pictures so you don’t mess it up, and we’ve made sure to keep it simple.

After spending an afternoon in the kitchen with Executive Chefs Eric Delliquadri and Josh Toney of Dal Forno and Cenacolo, respectively, we feel well prepared to pass on some culinary acumen. Here’s what we learned:

B UC AT I N I INSTRUCTIONS: This is a nicely dressed-up dish that won’t break the bank or your back while you’re cooking. This dish is also superbly easy to make if you take some time to prep a little the day beforehand. If you caramelize some Red Onions, roast your Brussels Sprouts with some Salt and Oil at 400 degrees for about a half hour, and cook your Bacon the day before your dinner party, then you basically just have to cook some Pasta and heat up a few ingredients and, boom! You’re serving and epic dish in about ten minutes of cook time.

First off, if you haven’t had Fede Pasta products, you’re really missing out. They’re a premiere purveyor of handmade noodles just down the road in Irwin. You’ve probably had it if you’ve eaten Italian food anywhere in the city, they supply noodles to a ton of restaurants in Southwestern PA. Take that Pasta and chuck it in salty water at a rolling boil.

By the time that’s cooked al dente your sauce is going to be finished.

This sauce starts out the way Italy intended, with a generous dab of Butter and freshly sliced Garlic into a hot pan. Add the Onions, Bacon, and Brussels Sprouts and simmer for a minute or two, stirring frequently to get everything nice and hot. Take it off the heat and add the Goat Cheese and two more Tbs. of Butter. Toss the Noodles so they’re lightly coated and you’re off to the races. fall 2018

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2 Tbs. Butter

Risotto

Parmesan Cheese

Smoked Beef Brisket Mac ‘N’ Cheese

Roasted Butternut Squash

Chipotle Burger

Parsley, Lemon Zest, & Pistachios (Garnish)

THE INGREDIENTS: BU T T ERN U T S Q U AS H R I S O T T O INSTRUCTIONS: Get a Butternut Squash from your local farmer’s market or grocery store, cut it in half, drizzle with Olive Oil, sprinkle with Salt, and bake for 40 minutes in an oven at 400 degrees. When that’s finished, scoop out the roasted squash and set aside.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

While you’re waiting for the squash to roast, start on your risotto. You’ll need some chicken stock to keep things moist. In a hot pan, toss in your dry risotto in some garlic and butter and toast the grains a bit. Add in some finely chopped onion for some extra flavor. Then, deglaze your pan with a bit of white wine. Next, start stirring in a half-cup of stock every few minutes. Wait for the liquid to absorb, stirring the whole time, then add more stock. Repeat this process for about 20 minutes until risotto softens and becomes tender. “This is a labor of love,” said Chef Delliquadri. He’s right. Take your time with this step.

And Bob’s your uncle. You’re already done! Simply stir in the squash to the finished risotto, let it blend together, and then plate it. Garnish with the Parsley, Lemon Zest, and Pistachios, serve with white wine.

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dal forno. FROM EARTH TO TABLE. banco business park, 2000 Commerce Loop, North Huntingdon, PA 15642 • 724-515-7012 • www.dalfornorestaurant.com fall 2018

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Ron and Marci didn’t know they were about to change Pittsburgh food culture when they started their concession business. At the time, they were each working day jobs to put their five children through school, and hustling donuts and popcorn at festivals on the weekends.

Fate stepped in one morning while Ron was setting up his new donut machine. He broke it, and instead of traditional donuts, his device cranked out little, fluffy, bite-sized donuts. People lined up to get them all weekend, and the rest, is history.

Pittsburgh is the birthplace of Peace, Love, & Little Donuts with franchises across this great country of ours.Very groovy!

Ron and Marci want you to try one of their confections. If you can read this, you’re not far from one of their donut shops. Stop in and feed your inner hippie.

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CATERING - CARRY OUT- DELIVERY

A Tech Cooperative Rises in New Pittsburgh: A conversation with Work Hard PGH By: Amy Edwards

Follow Shani Banerjee’s hashtag on instagram for coding puns and adventures: #fieldnotesfro mabbdev

“The whole thing goes: The future’s not set.

There’s no fate but what we make for ourselves.”

-John Connor, Terminator 2 Having moved to Pittsburgh in 2003, I was enchanted by the (now cliché) apocalyptic setting of the underpopulated, embittered rust-belt city. Trees grew out of 60 foot concrete retaining walls and within abandoned food-processing plants where they reached for the light below collapsed roofs. Red-tailed hawks circled overhead with snakes in their talons. River shorelines’ pebbled banks were instead comprised of rusted nails. We rode our bikes to all-night dance parties under abandoned train bridges and slept outside on the concrete juttings, ghosts of industry, that lined the jungle of the abandoned riverfront. We were free and so, so young. We worked 20 hours a week at low stress gigs, and still managed to save. Many of us bought houses and fixed them up with pieces from other abandoned houses. It was always selfish and indulgent to be in love with these times, but that realization has never stopped my romantic reminiscences.

Then the change happened fast, or maybe it didn’t.

New Pittsburgh, 2018: Uber has taken over the portion of the riverfront that we used to frequent - trespassing and transgressions met with 24-hour security, holding the land - for development, for tech development, for profit. The abandoned factories, the brick shells containing indoor forests, are now $2,500/month lofts, accepting the seeds of nationwide transplants blown into our city from Silicon Valley by way of Duolingo billboards, from fall 2018

Brooklyn seeking cheap rent, and from Portland with the promise that Pittsburgh is a time door to PDX 10 years past, and from many other places, as well. Rent has skyrocketed, jobs are competitive, and vinyl-sided row homes are going for half a mil.

This is all sounding very cynical, which was not my intent.

(Don’t get me wrong, I like being able to get something to eat other than a hoagie or O fries). There were problems before and there are new problems now; how we deal with their compounding synergism is what will determine our future. It’s hard to say how we can co-evolve with the tech infiltration.

“For the past year, I worked with a local Pittsburgh nonprofit, New Sun Rising.

Through this work, I explored and tested the scope of what is possible for local civic innovation and “inclusive” socioeconomic development. From adding capacity to neighborhood-based socialentrepreneurial business incubation cohorts to writing grants for grassroots projects, I had hoped to challenge the evolving landscape of New Pittsburgh gentrification and development by helping to facilitate empowerment through entrepreneurship and equitable neighborhood-scale development. Equitable community growth during this dynamic and innovative period of Pittsburgh’s development is necessary—for everyone -- because it is happening with or without us.

One of the projects that I have been in weekly contact with is, Work Hard Pittsburgh, a tech cooperative located in Allentown. By democratizing and co-opting tech work from their hub, they are able to subsidize coding boot camps, donate pro bono web design

24 STEELTHISMAG.COM

and video production, and make tech training available to many previously underserved Pittsburghers.

Their founder, Josh Lucas and I sat down to discuss tech, cooperatives, New Pittsburgh, and the impending rise of the machines: In the next 50 years we are going to redefine what it means to be a human. We’re going to merge with machines and merge with each other in weird ways. Crazier still, we’re going to redefine reality, what’s true, and what’s distinguishable as an actual event that is occurring.

Wealth will consolidate, privilege will predict status even more completely, and absent real action, all this futurist speculation will come to pass with an exceptional amount of human (and animal) suffering.

Our best chance to avoid dystopia of one sort or another is in pervasive democratic systems that disperse economic and cultural power. These systems need to live at the corporate and governance levels of society.

-Josh Lucas, Work Hard Pittsburgh

Thanks for talking, Josh. I am totally with you on that perspective. Can you give us a brief intro to Work Hard PGH? Work Hard Pittsburgh is a democratically owned and controlled business incubator that seeks to create opportunity for more and different kinds of people by creating systems that lower the barrier to participation. Our focus is often in high-growth tech, but we work hard to provide access to capital, talent, and resources for all kinds of entrepreneurs pursuing all sorts of businesses. We practice the next version of capitalism that seeks not just profit but to impact and benefit our local communities.

Founded by startup entrepreneurs frustrated by West Coast style investing, our co-op is focused on entrepreneur-first programming rather than one-sided deal flows typically offered. The co-op believes that a well-functioning business incubator should be sustainable on its entrepreneurial activity, run lean like a startup, and not exist to subsidize the risk of affluent investors.

In the coming year, we hope to secure 22,000 sq. ft. of new physical space to expand our services and roster of mission-aligned entrepreneurs.

Congrats on the building and expansions! Why practice cooperative ownership specifically?

Cooperatives aren’t a new idea. They have existed in meaningful ways since the turn of the last century. By giving ownership of our business incubator to the people that it serves we ensure active participation, incentivize actions that are mutually beneficial to our growth, and help to create a more just and equitable society.

Totally. Why is this type of organization important for the tech sector, in general, and in Pittsburgh right now given the recent developments?

If you believe that wealth created in the next 30 years will come primarily from the innovation economy, then we need to find ways to include more and different kinds of people. A historic shift in our economy is coming. Automation in transportation alone is going to displace tens of millions of workers globally. Machine learning is going to start chipping away at white collar jobs, too. So, if you think your radiology or entry-level web developer job is safe, then you’re probably in for some economic peril at some point in the next 30 years. Either we’re going to create new systems that empower the worker and displaced worker and disperse wealth, or we’re going to create social contract-breaking civil unrest. Pittsburgh won’t be immune. The clock is ticking.

So, you’re talking tech literacy/proficiency plus cooperation leaning entrepreneurship? How does this type of workplace empowerment/innovation mesh with current worker paradigms? Do you feel the (traditional) hierarchical office environment is becoming outmoded?

All this cooperative idealism is expressed in practice in our physical spaces and their design. We also spend energy maturing internal systems that allow for maximum participation in decision making. We value our member/owner and want them to know it. Acting as one mission-driven community we impact our region in positive ways that other organizations cannot. For example, to date we’ve done about $900k of pro bono fall 2018

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service to small businesses, startups, and nonprofits in Pittsburgh neighborhoods.

Co-op members do 50 hours of community service annually to earn their share. In part, much of that talent gets directed to helping small businesses, startups, and nonprofits tackle their technical challenges.

We have no issues with testing new ideas and shedding off old mode thinking about workplaces. That’s not novel in tech. I’ve seen more than a few hammocks around town. Once you’ve worked in an environment that you own and are responsible for, most people have serious reservations about going back to the cubical.

Can you speak about current programs/projects of the co-op that are empowering Pittsburghers, specifically Academy PGH? As a cooperative, we’ve had about a half dozen products launched or in process.

One standout is Academy PGH. Academy PGH is our web developer boot camp. It provides condensed technical education to people interested in entering tech. Half of all its slots are reserved for groups of people traditionally underrepresented in tech. To date, we’ve put about 60 graduates into jobs with average starting salaries [of] around $58,000.

That’s awesome! What is in store for Work Hard + Academy PGH? What do you need and who do you hope to reach?

We need regional influencers and leaders to think critically about what a modern inclusive economy looks like. Cooperatives and labor unions are key pieces of a healthy economic system that has upward mobility and that is fundamentally fair. Without a healthy respect for that reality, we’re destined [for] more economic and cultural stratification.

Historically, you see it over and over again.

A small group of people seize the wealth and then there is cultural, social, and economic turmoil to take it back. This time, there will be few mechanisms available to the people to reclaim the consolidated wealth. The gap between the “haves” and “have nots” will be guarded by complexity, inaccessibility, digital blacklists that exclude you from devices, and most worrisome, AI controlled armed drones.

So, we should support democratically owned economic systems, eh?

“Come with me if you want to live,” –T-800 Model 101, Terminator 2 fall 2018

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What current Academy PGH student Shayontani Banerjee had to say: Opportunity in a changing PGH

I am born and raised Pittsburgh and have lived abroad in equally workingclass towns. [I] kind of accidentally came up with some of the Pittsburgh tech spaces by being in the right place at the right time; yet still failing, flailing, flunkin’ and punkin’. But it still wasn’t so right that I was able to make the amount of money I need to own property [with] student loans from previous educational mishaps, if that makes sense. This experience gives me the opportunity to tie together teaching skills, customer facing skills, logic, and not have to be customer facing ever again if I don’t want to (I don’t want to.)

The techspace is overwhelmingly white, male, and classist; so Academy gives me the technical skills to be the dog in my own fight and create space for others to continue diversifying and creating access for others as well. Take space and make space.

Equitable Access

Co-operative models are definitely apparent in the microcosm of Academy’s [a coding bootcamp, program of Work Hard PGH] educational blocking, John & Jean Lange truly take their own personal time to help teach and Josh Lucas has been grinding in business development with a really straightforward, no BS attitude - they are all amazing people.

In my own life I have seen cooperatives work (and not work) within DIY and anarcho-oriented spaces.

Sometimes ideology can outweigh progress and that’s the fulcrum to keep in mind, even when paired with programming. However, I do think that co-op structures will help to create opportunity and access to funding, relationship building, networking, and physical spaces that were previously inaccessible to many Pittsburghers.

If you’re a Yinzer, that neighborhood driven mentality is our duality - how can we overcome that to bring together more parts of the city and unify to catch educational gaps and navigate economic mobility; but still keep our scrappy attitude? Keep investing in our city and making it a welcoming and diverse place.

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fall 2018

I

n what must be the most serious commitment I have been willing to make in the last ten years, I bought Pittsburgh Riverhounds Soccer Club season tickets in the spring. I spent a couple of weeks mulling over whether to purchase the plan, unsure if I wanted to spend half of my summer Saturday evenings in Highmark Stadium watching soccer.

I had been to a few Riverhounds’ games before this season, but the experience this year has been different. I’ve become hooked. The atmosphere of the stadium, the quality of the team, and the fact that I can afford to drink at the venue makes me wish they had two home games every week from late March to mid-October.

Prior to this season, I always bought the now defunct standing room tickets. My ticket package is for the Supporters’ Section.

Sitting in this section, called the Steel Army, keeps you engaged in a game which, to be honest, may not have constant action. It’s like a drum circle with no chill, sitting on bleachers, watching soccer and enjoying reasonably priced adult beverages. A friend I hounded (pun intended) into going to a game described sitting in the Supporters’ Section as, “Kind of annoying for the first fifteen minutes, but f***ing awesome once I got it.”

It can be difficult to stay engaged with a club that is in the second tier of soccer in the States. The Hounds aren’t blanketed with coverage. I recently picked up a paper to check if there was any sort of write-up the day after a 2-1 win against Bethlehem Steel FC…nothing. But with the lack of media coverage comes a more in-person accessibility. Smaller stadiums mean sitting closer to the field. After every game, there’s an on-field autograph session. The signing session and the affordability of games (this season tickets start at $13) make Hounds’ games great for parents that want to do something with their children. This is likely the first and last time I will build something up based on family friendliness.

I had never seen this team win before 2018. I had been to a couple draws, and a few losses. Winning makes everything better.

Pittsburgh went the first months of the 2018 campaign without

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DAVIS DEMOLITION & dismantlement

taking a loss. As I write, they have only lost twice and sit in second place in the United Soccer League’s Eastern Conference. As the Riverhounds continue this success and look to stay near the top of the East, I can fantasize about more home games to be played well into autumn. PRSC has never won a championship. Winning a USL title could do wonders for this small team in this small city where winning is paramount.

After the United States Men’s National Team failed to qualify for the World Cup last year, I needed something. The Pittsburgh Riverhounds have provided me with excitement for an entire summer when I was most wanting. I will always find soccer to be the purest sport to play or watch because it is just a couple goals and a ball, and players don’t touch the ball with their hands. Go Hounds!

Bob Stallsmith is a sports writer, comic book enthusiast, and a semi-professional pinball player with Polish Hill ‘Full Tilt’ Pinball.

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All loans subject to credit approval. Rates and fees subject to change. ©2018 PrimeLending, a PlainsCapital Company. (NMLS: 13649) Equal Housing Lender. PrimeLending is a wholly owned subsidiary of a state-chartered bank and is an exempt lender in PA. v010918

Anxiety h

GOOD vs.

BAD wxyz AND HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE By: Sara Makin, M.S.Ed, LPC, NCC

Anticipation, apprehension, concern, uneasiness, fear, worry - these are all terms that can be used to describe feelings of anxiousness. The anxious anticipation before a potential job offer, or the feelings of concern from hearing disappointing news after a visit to the doctor, can weigh on one’s mind, keeping you awake as you lay in bed at night.

The way our minds perceive a situation is closely connected to our body’s reaction. Think for a moment about how you felt the last time you were anxious. What were your thoughts? How did your body feel? Perhaps your palms were sweaty, your heart was racing, and you could feel your muscles tensing as you contemplated potential outcomes. This is the body’s natural way of putting us on high alert, otherwise known as the fight or flight response.

When our minds perceive a potential threat, our bodies respond in connection to our natural defense mechanisms. As you’re driving down the road and someone suddenly stops ahead, your mind and body work together so you can react quickly to slam on the breaks, as you take a deep breath with a sigh of relief, thankful you didn’t have an accident. We can thank our adrenal glands for sending this rush of adrenaline in times of true danger. Anxiety can serve as a warning system with our adrenal glands acting as first responders.

Aside from real danger, what benefits can anxiety have in our everyday lives? Studies have shown anxiety to enhance athletic performance and to boost students’ performance on tests. It has also been proven that public speakers benefit from anxious feelings that help improve and give life to their presentations. Rather than the speaker sounding boring or dull, a little nervousness, or butterflies in the stomach gives a person incentive to put forth more effort and make a good impression. It can motivate us to reach a deadline, make good decisions, and accomplish tasks efficiently. This kind of stress is referred to as eustress, or good stress. Eustress can encourage personal growth, inspiring us to be our best selves.

fall 2018

MORE THAN BUTTERFLIES IN THE STOMACH While feelings of stress and anxiety can serve a purpose, having a positive influence on our personal development and decision making skills, an overabundance of stress and anxiety has been shown to have detrimental effects if left unchecked. In stressful circumstances, the body produces the stress hormone, cortisol. If stress is excessive and prolonged, the body can produce unhealthy amounts of cortisol, causing negative physical and mental effects.

As cortisol is elevated and builds up in our bodies, our brains become rewired to respond in this heightened state. Research has found excessive amounts of cortisol to create a domino effect that hardwires pathways between the hippocampus and amygdala, causing an increase in anxiety. If responding to trivial events in a heightened state of anxiety becomes a daily habit, it can wreak havoc on the mind and body. Prolonged anxiety has been shown to cause memory problems, increased blood pressure, lower immune response, and mental health concerns. Interpersonal relationships, work, and home life are likely to be negatively impacted as well.

At times, anxiety may stem from the fear of being evaluated or judged poorly by our peers as opposed to physically dangerous real world scenarios. In this case, reaction becomes the problem. Being in a state of fear causes a person to react instead of respond. Reacting to situations rashly interferes with effective decision making skills and one’s ability to be focused in the present. In contrast, learning to respond instead of react allows a person to be more in control and better manage situations, producing more desirable results.

Recognizing the warning signs and symptoms is helpful in prevention and management of excessive anxiety. Consider the signals our mind and body may give us when experiencing too much stress.

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TYPES OF ANXIETY There are different types of anxiety to be aware of to help individuals and professionals know which route to take in moving forward with diagnosis and treatment options.

Generalized anxiety disorder involves excessive, ongoing worry that begins to interfere with daily activities. A person may feel anxious for no apparent reason.

Other long-term anxiety disorders may begin in childhood, lasting into adulthood if left untreated. These include agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social phobia, and other phobias.

If you feel you are having symptoms of anxiety that are interfering with your ability to focus and enjoy daily life, it is best to seek help from a mental health professional. Talking with your doctor can help rule out any other health concerns that may contribute to anxiety. Finding the necessary support and resources will give you the tools you need to manage and cope with your anxiety. Consider the following tips for coping with anxiety and improving overall wellness.

SIGNS & SYMPTOMS OF ANXIETY: • Feelings of nervousness or restlessness • Sensing impending danger, panic, or doom • Increased heart rate • Rapid breathing (hyperventilation) • Sweating • Trembling • Trouble concentrating due to persistent worry • Feeling tired or weak • Trouble sleeping • Gastrointestinal problems

TIPS FOR IMMEDIATELY REDUCING STRESS IN THE MOMENT: • Avoid laying in bed. It can be a very comforting thing to go to your room and try to recuperate, but anxiety can build if we’re alone and too, “in our head.”

• Diaphragmatic breathing - many times when we are anxious. our breathing patterns shift and we breathe more from our chest rather than our diaphragms. This causes reduced oxygen flow and can make us even more anxious. Breathe from your belly and make sure your stomach expands and contracts while you are breathing.

Breathe in from the nose, hold for three seconds, then blow out through your lips. Repeat this a few times and rate your anxiety on a scale of One to Ten. Repeat the process a few times and you should notice your anxiety rate dropping.

• Having a room with some essential oils like lavender can help calm you down.

Listening to a guided meditation or practicing some yoga or stretching can help lower your rate of anxiousness. You can also try listening to some of your favorite music while you do this.

• Kava Kava tea & chamomile tea can help to soothe your mood.

• Working out and regular exercise is not only good for your physical health, but your mental health, as well. There are multiple research studies that support it being as effective as medication for alleviating anxiety. So, get outside, go for a walk or a jog.

• Avoid drinking anything with caffeine.

• Avoid drinking alcohol; although it is a depressant and will calm your nerves while it’s in your system, your anxiety will probably return with a vengeance.

• Bananas are natural beta- adrenergic blockers, which is what anti -anxiety medication does. Beta blockers prevent adrenaline from binding to the beta receptors . Eat one to two bananas and the relaxation effects will kick in within 30 minutes.

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33 STEELTHISMAG.COM

The 3 Biggest Mistakes

People Make

When Considering Cosmetic Surgery (And the easiest ways to avoid them) If you’ve struggled with weight gain, and exercise and diet just haven’t given you the dramatic transformation you’d like, now the game has changed in your favor.

The Old Way If you’re like most people in this situation, you may have considered traditional cosmetic surgery but dismissed it out of concerns about: • It’s invasiveness.

• The comfort and length of your recovery.

• It’s inability to deliver your desired results.

The New and Improved Way There’s now a better way to refine your figure and eliminate fat that: • Is minimally invasive.

• Easily removes large amounts of stored fat while protecting other tissues from damage.

• Produces eye-catching results in just one procedure.

It also helps you: • Smooth skin even in delicate areas like the arms and neck • Refine and accentuate the appearance of muscles

Dennis Hurwitz, M.D.

Fellow of the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

Clinical Professor of Plastic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh.

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What To Avoid

LONG TERM COPING MECHANISMS AND WAYS TO IMPROVE OVERALL WELLNESS:

1. Not taking advantage of game changing technologies.

2. Choosing the wrong surgeon: one that lacks the technologies and/or techniques required to deliver your desired results.

3. Lack of a personalized plan: It’s critical that you pursue a path built around your specific needs and desires.

• Practice Mindfulness - Mindfulness has shown to reduce stress by remaining in the present moment, without judgment.

Mindfulness meditation, or guided meditation, is helpful in bringing about feelings of calmness and inner peace. Guided meditation walks you through unique themed meditations, making it easy to do.

Staying focused in the present allows one to manage situations without worrying too much about the future.

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• Eat Nutritious Foods - Eating nutrientdense foods has shown to positively impact the brain, improving physical and mental health. Studies have linked a clear connection between the brain and gut, and the impact of food on our mood. Whole foods, with mostly fresh fruits and vegetables, will help your mind and body to function at their best.

Limit alcohol and caffeine to help minimize symptoms of anxiety.

rebuild and repair. Getting 6-8 hours of sleep will give you more energy and focus. Under stress the body requires more rest. Turn off electronics before bed and try reading a good book or magazine. Sipping chamomile tea or using lavender essential oil can help quiet the mind, promoting restful sleep.

Following these tips is a start to coping with anxiety. Consulting with a physician and therapist is vital in pinpointing any underlying causes or symptoms that may require medical attention. If you would like additional support in managing symptoms of anxiety, please contact us at Makin Wellness to get in touch with Pittsburgh’s best therapists!

• Exercise - Whether you prefer a group setting or exercising alone, making time each day to do a short exercise will help to improve your state of mind. Even a little stretching in the morning and a 20-minute walk can help reset the mind, resulting ina more positive outlook. Recruiting an exercise buddy, like a friend or colleague, gives more likelihood of sticking to a routine. A health coach can assess your current health condition, and develop individual goals and a plan to improve overall wellness.

• Spend Quality Time - Taking time to talk with friends and loved ones who can offer support improves feelings of belonging and self-worth. In our technological world, it’s easy to become disconnected from others.

Instead of turning on tv or going straight to social media, try phoning a friend after a long day. Exchanging encouragement and words of reassurance helps to ease the mind.

• Get Enough Rest - “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

Sleep is the body’s way of resetting. Adequate rest is essential for optimum functioning of the mind and body. Sleep is when cell regeneration happens, helping our bodies to

fall 2018

35 STEELTHISMAG.COM

About Makin Wellness: Founded in 2017, Makin Wellness are Pittsburgh’s premier therapy and coaching centers located in Downtown Pittsburgh and New Kensington, PA. The company’s mission is to help people heal and become happy again.

Makin Wellness specializes in depression, anxiety, addiction and relationship counseling.

FIND SOMEONE BUSIER THAN YOU. If they can date, have a relationship, or get married, you can, too.

I am constantly motivated by people who thrive in their careers and personal life. Don’t get side-railed by a person who just doesn’t want the same things as you. If you want to date, focus on someone who has what you want, in the way that you want it. Perhaps you can chat with them about how they manage their time. I do not believe life will always be perfect but keeping the, “I can have it all” mentality will encourage you to incorporate a dating life into your busy schedule.

on the

By: Varsha Mathur, Dating and Relationship Coach

TOO BUSY TO DATE, BUT STILL WANT TO?

The feeling that you are putting in all the effort with nothing in return in a relationship is exhausting. This is true whether you’re in a new relationship or a seasoned one. The ups and downs of dating, and even online dating, can be frustrating, and this often leads to just wanting to give up on the whole thing. This is especially true if you are busy working on your career or taking care of a family. When I started the online dating adventure, I was running a business, moving to a new city and trying to find a social life all over again. Most people I dated were also super busy. Whether you have a solid 9 to 5 schedule or are passionate about a business 24/7, in my experience, dating and finding the right person is possible.

These ten simple ideas will make life easier and dating seem less like a chore and more like a fun adventure!

USE YOUR BUSY SCHEDULE TO YOUR ADVANTAGE. Having a daily set time to get back to potential dates will create a balance for you and set expectations for others. Think about how you would judge a person who was available in an instant.

It directly reflects on how they value what they do with their time. It is, however, incredibly rude not to respond to someone at all. Regarding dating and with friends, given the culture of smartphones today, responding to a text within 12 hours is necessary. There are very few exceptions to this. fall 2018

TECHNOLOGY IS OUR FRIEND: CALENDARS & EMAIL. GET ORGANIZED! Use a great calendar and create a separate email account for dating.

I structure my week in my calendar and then map out the hours in the day, 2 to 3 days in advance so I can confirm appointments and know what the plans are hour by hour. It helps so much when I can see where there are open pockets of time. I usually give a ten minute buffer for meetings, so that usually leaves me with free time to check messages or get back to people. Use a separate email account and/or email folders to filter your inbox, or label things as, “later” or, “urgent” to help you remember who to respond to first and who you’ve been talking to for a while. The worst feeling is sending the same intro email to someone twice.

That has actually happened to me.

CUT & PASTE STORIES. Have set statements about yourself and answers to common questions saved in a google doc or note in your computer. This way you can cut & paste responses to people and just change a few things if you need to be more specific. It is such a waste of time to have to write a response to, “Where are you from? What are your hobbies?” etc. over and over again.

THERE IS TIME FOR SPONTANEITY. If you find yourself free, turn on that dating app and see who is up for a coffee or drink. Put in the effort to put on clean clothes or do your make-up and meet someone last minute. Last minute dates are fine if they are casual. Usually I tell clients not to accept last minute dates if they could have or should have been scheduled in advance by someone you have already met or have been chatting with for a long period of time. But, finding a spark on a whim is exhilarating!

BE DIRECT. If you aren’t clicking with someone, be nice, and let them know after the first date that it isn’t working. Having someone message you later, when you are already not interested, is a waste of time

38 STEELTHISMAG.COM

for you and for them. A statement like, “I’ve enjoyed talking with (or meeting) you, but I am not interested in pursuing this further,” will do the trick. Avoiding drama and setting a standard for how you expect people to communicate with you will save you time.

Overkill with texts or emails before you can even get back to them is a sign that they do not value your time, or their own.

MAKE A ROUTINE OF THINGS IN YOUR CONTROL. Lots of crazy things happen, especially in business or management jobs, that are outside of your control. So, find things that you do have control over and make time for dating and communicating with people during those times. For example, if your morning routine has room, get back to messages on a dating app during that time, or even get up just ten minutes earlier. Finding time in places where you already have a schedule will make life easier. Similarly, respond to people or browse profiles while having an after gym shake. This guarantees you have a set time built into your day.

MAKE DECISIONS. Just like you do all day, every day, in other aspects of your life, make decisions about dating. If you know you will only date a certain type of person, don’t waste your time going out or chatting with anyone else. Having your “Must Haves” list will help you with this. But keep that list down to no more than 3 to 5 items. Otherwise you may get confused. Personally, I had to narrow my list down significantly and often work with clients to do the same.

CREATE GOALS. For me, thinking about finding someone was so daunting. Everyone good was taken and the first few dates I went on were terrible. So, I decided to set some goals to keep me on track. I made a plan to contact a certain number of people weekly and accept messages or dates from a certain number of people. It was not romantic at all to have to set goals for something that should be romantic and sporadic. But, this type of effort on my end led to plenty of romance. Not every date ended up being terrible. After all, I met my amazing husband on an online site!

REFLECT. Other than your schedule, your to-do list, or your nagging boss, there may be things keeping you from finding time to date. If this is something you truly want, consider reflecting deeper into yourself to find what is holding you back. My favorite way to do this is with mindfulness basics. The reason reflection has worked for my clients is it uncovers fear, trauma or resentment towards prior experiences. Getting past that and seeing dating and relationships for their positivity, automatically helps you find time to dedicate toward meeting people.

Varsha is a dating & relationship coach at her company, KnowingLuxe™. With her background in law, business, and nonprofit leadership, shes uses her Luxe in Love™ coaching program to help people through transitions; specifically, dating, relationships and divorce. She shares her personal story of divorce, love and re-marriage to help remove the taboo of these topics that still exist in some communities. To learn more, visit: www.knowingluxe.com or email info@knowingluxe.com.

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The DARKNET is transforming the drug trade Pittsburgh is an epicenter of the FBI’s work to crack down.

By: Brittany Hailer Photos By: Maranie Rae Stabb for PublicSource

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ure fentanyl is making its way into neighborhoods throughout the United States through the postal service.

“If I have mailboxes in my neighborhood, I have drug dealing,” said Eric Yingling, an FBI special agent based in Pittsburgh.

Federal law enforcement agents say that residents can get packages of fentanyl and other illicit drugs delivered right to their doorsteps, much like a product you would order from Amazon. This kind of drug delivery has been happening since the early 2000s. But now, amid a worsening national opioid crisis, federal crime-fighting units are trying new ways to crack down.

Pittsburgh is an epicenter for this work because of the city’s rich cybersecurity expertise and that in December 2015 it became home to one of two FBI opioid task forces in the country. The other is in Sacramento, Calif. Pittsburgh’s opioid task force tackles the epidemic from multiple fronts: medical fraud and doctorprescribed opioid medication, street dealers and drug trafficking on shadowy corners of the internet — frequently referred to as the darknet.

The darknet links drug dealers and users across countries and continents, and it has also brought together agents Yingling and Shawn Brokos.

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Yingling, who specializes in darknet investigations, and Brokos, head of Pittsburgh’s opioid task force, are partnering to take down drug dealers who sell fentanyl and other opioids via the darknet.

Fentanyl surpassed heroin as the most common drug type detected in fatal overdose victims in Allegheny County between 2015 and 2017. Yingling said he believes fentanyl overdoses in our city and region are a direct result of the darknet — either from dealers acquiring their product online then selling it on the street or area residents simply ordering drugs from the comfort of their homes.

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What is the darknet?

The darknet (sometimes called the dark web) has been around since the 1970s. It has always allowed some level of anonymous sharing between computer users with taboo or criminal interests. Child exploitation and pornography were main drivers to the darknet for some time. In the 1990s, these crimes against children made up about 85 percent of the darknet, Yingling said.

It wasn’t until the early 2000s when software for illicit dealing emerged.

Within the darknet are sites called markets that look very much like Amazon or Ebay. They are easy to sign up for and easy to navigate. Once someone creates a username and passcode, they may search these marketplaces for guns, drugs, hitmen, child pornography, etc. Users and vendors make sales and purchases with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. According to Yingling, the markets on the darknet look a lot like the “clearnet” pages most people are used to. But instead of clothing departments by gender in the dropdown menu, for example, there are drug classifications. Under psychedelics, a menu could provide choices, like mushrooms, LSD or DMT, a hallucinogenic. These marketplaces have administrators and staff. There are moderators, tech people and PR departments. Market employees live all over the world and likely never meet in real life.

“If I have mailboxes in my neighborhood, I have drug dealing.”

‘Safe’ drug trade Teenagers, suburbanites, anyone with access to a computer can easily access the darknet. According to Yingling, the darknet is especially appealing to new drug users: they don’t have to meet new or dangerous people this way or carry a weapon and drive to a different part of town to purchase the drugs. It seems safer.

It can create a false sense of security. The drugs are just as lethal, if not more so.

“Overdose deaths don’t perform like the predicted model. They happen outside the supply chain,” Yingling said.

According to Brokos, a kilo of pure fentanyl costs about $3,500 on the darknet. It can be pressed into about a million pills that a dealer can sell for $10 each. That amounts to a $10 million return on investment, less the purchase fee.

“If I have mailboxes in my neighborhood, I have drug dealing.”

Theoretically, a darknet user could buy directly from a cartel or from someone in the South Side. On the darknet, vendors with higher ratings pop up first. Vendors compete, boasting better product, price and faster shipping.

This sort of purchasing and shipping doesn’t only harm the potential drug user.

Postal workers and people living with drug purchasers could be put in harm’s way.

Yingling pointed out that postal workers have been in danger since the dawn of anthrax.

Together, the United States Postal Service, Homeland Security, the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Agency [DEA] screen packages for return addresses that are known to be drug sources.

Brokos said four grains of pure fentanyl can cause a fatal overdose if ingested and coming into contact with it can cause an overdose in a non-user, but it likely would not be fatal.

There has been some dispute over the potency of pure fentanyl in recent months, however. Toxicology experts contend that one cannot overdose from simply touching the substance and this reported risk may cause unnecessary stress on first responders and law enforcement.

Substance abuse experts also worry that misinformation regarding the potency of fentanyl further stigmatizes people who use opioids.

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‘A new brand’ Not only does the darknet offer a sense of safety for purchasers, it offers an education.

The new information is yielding “a new brand of dealer,” Yingling said.

The darknet is “teaching” users how to deal. He used a hypothetical example of a 15-year-old in a basement who after making X number of purchases decides to buy large quantities and either sell them locally or become a vendor himself.

“It’s a breeding ground to create more drug dealers,” Yingling said.

Brian Dempsey, a DEA special agent in Pittsburgh, agreed that the darknet could empower a teenager to deal drugs from his basement. He said parents should get involved if their kids start getting packages they don’t know about, especially if they are coming from China, Hong Kong or Canada.

And, Yingling added, parents could also keep an eye out for software called “The Onion Router,” or “Tor” for short, which allows for anonymous access to the internet by hiding a person’s IP address. Bitcoin software on a computer is also an indicator that teenagers may be making illicit purchases.

“We have a younger, different generation that is more comfortable using the internet and purchasing online,” Yingling said.

“This makes things very daunting,” Brokos went on. “It’s unwieldy.”

The internet and smartphones have also revolutionized drug dealing, Dempsey

said. Users can call and text their dealers at any time. He said text messages and Facebook Messenger are two primary modes of communication. Users generally think Facebook is a safer communication tool with dealers, but it isn’t. The messages aren’t any more secure, and agents can still gain access.

At Norwin Middle School on Feb. 2, Dempsey gave a presentation that included the dangers of fentanyl as a part of the DEA’s drug education program Operation Prevention. He told the dozens of middle schoolers that fentanyl is addictive and potent. He said he gets calls two or three times a week from parents who have lost a child to opioid overdose.

One of the first things he does when talking with parents who have lost a child in this way is to check their child’s phone.

“A lot of times those parents want justice so bad for their children, they’ll go to the morgue, they’ll go to the funeral home, they’ll take their dead child’s thumb and place it on his phone and open it up,” he said to the students.

Dempsey told the students that he will gather as much evidence as he can from text messages and Facebook to convict a drug dealer and bring a family justice.

Dempsey asked the middle schoolers, “How many people have known someone who overdosed?” About half the room raised their hands.

In an interview, Dempsey called the Northeast region of the country a “hot spot” for fentanyl. The darknet is playing a role in this, he said.

“People are also using the internet to order prescription pills as well as fentanyl products,” Dempsey said. “I mean, I’m seeing Percocets, Oxycodone tablets, hydrocodone products. Whether or not they are fake, I can’t answer that.”

Like with any illicit drug, there is no control on if it is fake or corrupted in some other way. Dempsey cited a June 2017 case in Georgia, where dozens of people overdosed from counterfeit Percocet tablets. He said the pills were purchased off the Dream Market on the darknet. Later, when the DEA examined the Percocet tablets, they found they were laced with Carfentanil.

‘This notion of darkness’ What makes it even harder for agents is that not all transactions happen in the darknet marketplace: users direct message each other and take down the original product listing. That is because these “markets” take a cut of their sales.

Nicolas Christin is an associate research professor in the School of Computer Science and in Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University.

Christin is a longtime darknet watcher and expert. He tracks transactions on the darknet and has published analyses of his findings.

He had predicted a spike in opioid sales: fentanyl, carfentanil, “all of those synthetic opioids.” But his prediction didn’t prove out.

“To my surprise, we didn’t see that much of a spike compared to marijuana and coke, which remained the main products,” Christin said.

Christin disagrees with the federal agents who say the darknet has contributed to the growing number of overdoses involving fentanyl.

“This notion of darkness is actually very interesting because it’s anything but. We can see everything.”

Setting up a Bitcoin account and using the darknet is complicated. Christin doesn’t think this is the preferred method for opioid users. Why go through all that trouble when you can find postings on Craigslist or Facebook and just message a drug dealer in your backyard? Christin said he isn’t a darknet apologist, but drugs will be purchased and consumed, so at least information can be collected from darknet transactions.

Christin put it like this: If someone were to try and find out how many drug transactions happened in Pittsburgh today, they would have to arrest street dealers and make up projections based on evidence found after those arrests. It would be a lot of guesswork.

If Christin wanted to find out how many drug transactions happened on a darknet marketplace, all he would have to do is “count the feedback and multiply by the prices and you know exactly what’s happening.”

“So it’s actually fairly transparent in that respect,” he said.

Sure, it doesn’t tell you everything; dealing often happens behind the scenes after the connection is made on the marketplace. But the alternative, he said, is much murkier.

Three-quarters of the drug trade on the darknet is marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy and that hasn’t changed, he said.

It is possible, Christin continued, that some synthetic opioids were classified as prescription drugs on the market, and there has been a moderate increase in prescription drug sales. The majority of those sales are the stimulants Ritalin or Adderall, though.

fall 2018

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“This notion of darkness is actually very interesting because it’s anything but. We can see everything.”

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DEA Agent Dempsey educated staff at Freedom Treatment Center.

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As the demand in Southwestern PA grows for drug treatment facilities, one Pittsburghbased center is working with the DEA to educate their staff. Steel This Magazine sat down with the staff at Freedom Healthcare Services, an outpatient medication assisted treatment facility, for a lecture by DEA Agent, Brian Dempsey.

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“We cannot arrest our way out of this problem. That’s why we have a three-pillar strategy for dealing with the opioid epidemic. Law enforcement, public education, and cracking down on doctors are our strategies,” Dempsey said.

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During the talk, Dempsey shared statistics about climbing lethal overdose rates, trends in drug dealing, and new ways drug users are getting high. “Last year in Beaver County, two students overdosed at high school using vape pens with an opioid vape juice,” Dempsey said.

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Knowledge of street-level transactions and trends can help facilities like Freedom Healthcare Services tailor programs to individual patients. “It definitely helps if we’re knowledgeable about what goes on in the streets.

Fentanyl wasn’t nearly as big of a problem a few years ago. We need to know what is in the bags people are getting, what new tricks are dealers using,” said Michelle Heins, Clinical Director at Freedom Healthcare Services.

Dempsey urged that the staff approach the epidemic from a humanist perspective. “Many in law enforcement didn’t want to carry Naloxone or Narcan until I started telling them, ‘What if your partner goes down? What if they ingest some and need revived?’ I have heard people complain about us going into a house for the fourth time to save someone and ask, ‘Why do you keep going back there?’ We’re not God. If you go down, we’re going to save you. Maybe that’s the time they get up and seek treatment.”

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Drag everybodY is for

By: Gabi Keane

Owl Hollow sits on a hill surrounded by trees in Hazelwood. With rubble from demolished row houses scattered around it, the house feels far from the glimmering skyline, but it’s only a short bus ride away.

The yard looks a little like the apocalypse happened here years ago, and now the owners are gone. In a fire pit burn the remains of cereal boxes, coloring books, and fruit crates, waiting to consume damp, winter-swollen logs. Hula hoops, rusted typewriters, and worn, faux-leather couches litter the yard. People perch on anything they can find, enjoying the late afternoon sun and mugs of tea. From inside the house, the blare of guitars leaks through the poorly-insulated siding. From the street below, rap music bumps gently.

The wind gusts sharply, though it’s already April, and I tuck my notebook into my bag and head into the house.

Josie Ashkar with her prized possession, a Shaq Taco Bell Pog

I walk through the kitchen, where a few people have gathered around a curry-scented pot of stew, and into the living room, red and gold with afternoon sun. On the burgundy walls hang instruments, paintings of faceless people, dreamcatchers, and shelves upon shelves of books. On the floor, Josie Ashkar sets up her merchandise. I sit down opposite her, introducing myself by my online handle, the only way we’ve communicated until now (hers is @princessjafar). We give each other our chosen names, but not our last.

She doesn’t know mine, and at this point, I don’t know hers. First names only; they’re all that matter.

I look down at the table, on which she’s arranged her collection of memorabilia and nostalgic items, mostly from the 90s. I ask what she’s vending; she replies, “I usually say I’m selling back your memories.”

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She’s a vintage curator, the kind you usually find on Instagram or Etsy, but today she’s vending at a local house/DIY venue, which is hosting a “Psychedelic Garden Party.” She’s dressed for the occasion, with pink trousers, a blue, white, and pink striped shirt, and a vintage, royal purple McDonald’s cap over her long, dark hair. Outside, near the fire, a clown in turquoise silk and white lace sells terrariums and potted plants. A local band tunes a guitar behind me; someone taps keys on the piano. In front of me, however, is the Princess Jafar Bazaar: an arrangement of old newspapers, Happy Meal toys, trading cards, and clothing.

Princess Jafar is Josie’s stage name, which she uses for any professional, performative, or protective situation, which can range from a business meeting to a confrontation with a homophobe. Inspired by the animated Disney movie Aladdin, Princess

Jafar is a villain crafted to mirror the, “largescale, graphic”, approach Disney takes to its branding. Not only is this drag queen persona designed to grab the attention of millennials missing their youth, she’s also meant to challenge the current narrative about what drag can be. Josie sports a full beard while performing as Princess Jafar, and often forgoes any makeup or body padding. “Drag,” she tells me, “is not confined to a bar. It’s a tool of expression that anyone should feel free to explore.”

She’s much more interested in creating something big, like Elvira, “who not only played the role of entertainer, but also created the content to support”, her role.

Josie also cites Pee-wee Herman and Hulk Hogan as examples of entertainers on whom she models herself. She wants people to believe in her persona, “a local villain and media mogul.”

How does she get them to believe? High production value, of course. She’s in the process of making, Princess Jafar and the Great Space Chase, which will feature local, underground filmmakers and creators. Josie compares the film to ensemble classics like, The Wizard of Oz, or, The Muppets Movie, as it’s about, “trying to find something that’s been inside you the whole time.”

Josie’s work as Princess Jafar also includes a 2018 Pittsburgh Arts Council grant, which awarded her $14,000 to produce four live performances of, The Princess Jafar Show, a live variety show inspired by the same 90s nostalgia she’s selling today. The show struggles with contemporary issues, such as workers’ rights and social justice, from the

perspective of a trans Disney Princess of color. So far, she’s produced a few episodes of, The Princess Jafar Show, at the KellyStrayhorn and Glitterbox Theatres.

The scope of her art ranges from live productions to hip-hop music, portrait photography to video production.

Throughout her career, Josie’s documentary work has been exhibited around the world, including at, The National Queer Arts Festival, in San Francisco. More recently, she focuses on video direction for local Pittsburgh artists, as she tries to bring others’ creative vision to the forefront. In March 2018, she hosted the first, “Princess Jafar Workshop,” a two-day conference featuring 14 local artists. By platforming queer women of color artists, Josie provided them a unique opportunity.

Participants paid $200 for the workshop, modeled on TEDx events, but more intimate. The 15-20 person class size allowed up-and-coming artists to develop personal connections with the bigger names in Pittsburgh’s arts scene. janera solomon (who styles her name like, bell hooks), the executive director of the Kelly-Strayhorn Theatre in East Liberty, has connections with the August Wilson Center, says Josie, so she was a perfect fit. She also emphasized that Anne Mulgrave, from the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, was a big draw for those seeking grants.

I pause for a moment to take down notes, asking her to repeat herself for a quote. She thinks for a minute, and my partner appears with cookies for us to try, fresh out of the oven. “It’s rose-flavored,” he says, and we

Ashkar’s inventory at the Psychedelic Garden Party in Hazelwood fall 2018

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try not to burn our mouths on the sticky filling. I had almost forgotten we’re at a garden party; Josie and I had been talking for nearly an hour, the little world of Owl Hollow happening around us. Josie is careful about words, and seems grateful for a moment to gather her thoughts. When I finish my cookie, she rephrases or revises a few times on the particularly pithy quotes. I am happy to oblige — after all, she’s creating something cohesive. Disney press releases go through revisions, so why shouldn’t she edit herself? She understood how she wanted me to see her, and she put that forward. As she told me before, she’s great with an audience.

But what about audiences who aren’t already in the palm of her hand? That’s harder. In tiny DIY venues populated by queer people and punk rockers, she has no problems. But at a performance marketed to the public (read: straight, cisgender people), the vibe can be somewhat different.

I bring up performances at Ace Hotel or the Carnegie Museum of Art, where the audience is drawn through advertising, rather than word-of-mouth. Josie brings up the Valentine’s Day Third Thursday evening at the museum, because her monologue hadn’t gone as she planned. She didn’t bomb, but some of the audience seemed like they didn’t quite get it. She got a few laughs, but nothing compared to what she’d seen the prior weekend.

“It wasn’t the material,” she tells me, as she’d done the same jokes at an experimental gallery’s Valentine’s Day erotica event.

Evidently raunchy jokes about gay dating apps can only go so far.

I first met Josie at the Valentine’s Day party she’s talking about. I arrived late, and I rushed to find a seat in the Hall of Sculpture, where a small stage waited, replete with folding chairs, block speakers, and pink paper hearts. On the right side of the stage sat a diverse crowd of six — the

evening’s lovely contestants, and on the left dallied a staff member. This event’s big draw was a game called, “Match 412,” hosted by a queer, Black entertainment group called, True T PGH. Through their annual Galaxy Ball, True T PGH raised and reinvested over $20,000 into local queer communities of color over the last four years. They specialize in community outreach and protecting and promoting ball culture (think voguing, a la Paris is Burning) in Pittsburgh, but Third Thursday drew a pretty different audience than a house ball might.

CMOA’s evening events draw all sorts of people — parents on date night, college kids, and up-and-coming yuppies — likely because of their diverse, experience-based offerings. Tonight’s explicitly queer event made no difference in who attended, but the rain kept many away.

Like all good theatre, this drag show started late. Princess Jafar, a statuesque queen in a baby blue sailor suit, stood off to one side of the stage. Her blonde wig contrasted against her dark beard and brown eyes, and she didn’t bother with makeup.

She chatted idly with an acquaintance, absentmindedly adjusting her pink beanie while another True T host set up the sound system. I hadn’t met her yet, but even then she struck me as an unconventional queen — long, lean, elegant, but dressed rather plainly. No sequins, no glitter, but a magnetic persona nonetheless. She seemed at ease with the small crowd. The audience members buzzed, and their voices echoed through the cavernous hall. Above, finely muscled sculptures observed the little crowd of 30 spread out on the white, marble floors, the same type of marble used in the Pantheon. High art surrounded the room on all sides — ancient architecture, radical photo galleries, and contemporary installations. But on the ground, a crowd waited to see a different kind of art.

A staff member nodded to Princess Jafar, and she flipped her blonde hair, took a swig of her drink, and sauntered to the stage, hips swaying to the loud pop music. She welcomed the audience, and the cold stone around them sharpened their applause. She started her set with a positive outlook — “I’m cold, I’m depressed, and I’m lonely,” she said, citing after a pause, “snow banks and stilettos don’t mix.” Her monologue shifted to Valentine’s Day, and she asked, “Who needs sunlight when you can get your vitamin D online?” As she related her online misadventures, she recalled fall 2018

52 STEELTHISMAG.COM

seeing Mayor Bill Peduto on a dating app, “looking for some shady side piece to get plowed by instead of plowing the streets.”

The audience let out a burst of surprised laughter, mixed with a few gasps. Jafar beamed over her microphone, knowing she’d timed the joke just right. She finished out her set with a heartfelt, “Valentine’s Day is within all of you! The anal bead! The dildo! The Fleshlight! Go home, and go f#@! yourselves!” and again laughter filled the hall. A few red faces appeared around us. Stage hands appeared to reconfigure the mic, and the crowd hummed once again.

Mica and Lee, the evening’s “Match 412” contestants, sat on the left of the stage with Princess Jafar, while their potential matches sat on the right. Princess Jafar read a statement like, “We all know about Becky with the good hair, but what about Becky with the good ______?” Mica, Lee, and their suitors filled in the blank on their whiteboards, and then a contestant picked three possible matches, hoping they’d written the same phrase. If they did, it was a match; if they didn’t, Jafar asked a new question and the other contestant chose their suitors.

In the audience, people milled about, fetching drinks and chatting while Princess Jafar called out answers. On the board, Mica wrote, “Becky with the good ass,” while the suitors guessed Becky had, “good taste in music,” “Spotify playlists,” or “head.” Those paying attention laughed at, “Becky with the good head,” but most seemed uninterested.

At the end of the game, no one matched, and many audience members had already wandered off to find entertainment elsewhere.

Fewer than 10 people remained in their seats, and Princess Jafar and the other True T PGH members mingled with those left, chatting with friends or new acquaintances.

The atmosphere transformed from one of forced performance to one of open, authentic celebration. Those uninterested in the performers disappeared, and the stage area became a small party, one whose rowdiness and lewdness typically made itself at home in dark bars and clubs rather than in the pristine hall of a public museum.

Or perhaps their glamour and ingenuity were too much for the clean, old marble columns and statues. Either way, the music played, and our group thought little of the setting, perfectly at home with one another.

Two femmes danced close, hands entwined, while others looked on cheerily. My partner smiled at them, and together we

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mingled our way out of the crowd, off to see the evening’s other attractions.

More and more, drag queens are popping up in public spaces. From Drag Queen Brunch to Drag Queen Story Hour to the recent spike in popularity of RuPaul’s Drag Race, mainstream culture seems to have embraced drag as a form of entertainment.

Drag Queen Brunch invites diners to enjoy waffles, coffee, and mimosas while watching a performer sing and do comedy. Drag Queen Story Hours pop up at libraries and bookstores, as progressive parents try to encourage their children to embrace their own gender expressions. The Carnegie Library in Oakland hosts story hours to, “celebrate diversity, promote self-acceptance and gender expression and honor each child as an individual.” But can cis, heterosexual Americans view it as art, or is this just a trend that makes them feel progressive?

Regardless of adults’ opinions, the kids are certainly enjoying the exposure. When I meet 12-year-old Max Busch, and his dad, Jesse, for a cup of tea in Mt. Lebanon, they tell me the story of how Max came up with his drag name. Max and his mother, Erin Morey, sat on the couch, brainstorming names. They found all the good ones had been taken by other queens, until Erin tried, “to say honeysuckle while chewing,” Max tells me, and Hunny Chuckles was born.

Today, Max wears a t-shirt with a cartoon of Alaska, a drag queen from Erie, PA. He tells me how Alaska used to date Sharon Needles, a queen from Pittsburgh, and that the details of their breakup were revealed on All-Stars, a spinoff of the original Drag Race show starring former contestants.

He has a near encyclopedic knowledge of the show — and Jesse often jumps in to add small details Max misses. They began watching RuPaul’s Drag Race with Erin, and soon after, at age 9, Max began dressing up in his mom’s clothes. It seemed a natural progression for him after a school Makeup Club and a make-your-own nail polish kit.

Erin encouraged Max by giving him her old clothes, and soon Hunny Chuckles debuted.

Max surprises me when he says he goes to a lot of drag events. Many, especially Drag Race contestant tours, take place at the Carnegie Music Hall, where kids are welcome to attend. Max also participates in Twinkle, an annual LGBTQ+ talent show for young people. Although Max is one of the younger drag queens or kings in the scene, he certainly is not alone. He’s working to start a Gender and Sexualities Alliance

(GSA, formerly, “Gay Straight Alliance”) at his middle school. He attends game nights at the Pittsburgh Equality Center downtown, but probably most importantly, he’s an activist. Jesse tells me that there aren’t many performance opportunities for 12-year-old drag performers, and that Max isn’t much of a performer anyhow. In the last year, however, he’s made appearances to defend a municipal anti-discrimination law and to protest a city zoning law that limited drag to urban industrial zones.

The zoning law, which defined cabaret performance as including, “male or female impersonators,” was completely unenforced.

However, the inclusion of such language opened the city up to discrimination lawsuits, as they were technically not enforcing the rule equally. A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article on the council hearing features a picture of Max as Hunny Chuckles, sitting across from mom, Erin. The article quotes Max, as well, and he states, “I just have to say that drag is for everyone. Drag is art. Art is what you choose to show about yourself and reveal truth.” The provision was amended without opposition.

The municipal anti-discrimination law passed by, “an anonymous vote,” Max says, and Jesse corrects, “unanimous.” Max looks furious for a second, and then looks back to me. “Was there any opposition?” I ask.

It’s my neighborhood, too, after all. “Some Catholics,” Jesse says, and we all shrug, a non-verbal, what can we do? One of Max’s quotes from that evening, when he stood in front of the council and his community in full drag, resonates now as we sit in Uptown Coffee, a popular meeting spot in the neighborhood’s business district: “We are your friends, we are your neighbors, and we are your family.” At a table across from us, a mother sits with her three children, who jabber and squawk sweetly through cookie crumbs and lemonade. Another table over, a tutor teaches a young boy French. The sense of community is as strong as the smell of espresso here. The unanimous vote isn’t a surprise, but neither is the opposition.

Public displays of queer identity are at once normalized and repulsed, even among kids.

Max tells me that kids at school are mostly nice, although one of his friends was recently called a “faggot” by some older kids.

Another of his friends is excited to become a drag king, and yet another wants to be in GSA, though Max doubts he’s really gay.

“You’re not the gatekeeper,” Jesse reminds him, but Max’s statement reminds me of my fall 2018

54 STEELTHISMAG.COM

conversation with Josie.

“Do you think being gay is trendy?” I ask, and Max replies, “Yes”. He is, in every single way, a normal kid. His friends come over to play video games every afternoon. He hates wearing jeans. He wields a Nerf gun with deadly accuracy. And, coincidentally, he’s found something he loves by being exposed to drag — just like he loves Samurai movies and Spaghetti Westerns.

Max is right about the trend. Since moving from Logo, an LGBTQ+ network, to VH1, Drag Race has had record-breaking ratings. Whether new viewers see drag as art or trend seems like an irrelevant question when I think about Max and his friends. As drag becomes normalized, suddenly youth have access to a new form of self-expression.

But for people like Josie, who makes part of her living from drag performance, the question is more complex.

“How do we profit off the commercialization of our queerness without selling out?” she asks rhetorically.

It’s a serious question for many artists who finally see respect from progressive institutions and their liberal audiences, just as the larger institutional outlook on LGBTQ+ people reverts. There’s an effort to bring queer performance into traditionally straight space, but is there an effort to protect existing queer spaces?

“We don’t want our positive cultural markers to trend because all trends end,” Josie tells me. We still sit across from one another, a table of cultural artifacts spread before us, ready for purchase. Trends end.

Sometimes, someone like Josie becomes a collector: she gathers the scraps from vintage stores, garage sales and attics, and she sells you back your memories. I wonder if, 20 years from now, there will be a table like this spread with artifacts of today’s queer youth, like Max’s Alaska T-shirt, for anyone nostalgic for the days of RuPaul’s Drag Race and Queer Eye. At the end of the interview, Josie hands me a signed Princess Jafar print and a pack of Backstreet Boys trading cards. “Backstreet Boys are back, you know,” she says, and I smile.

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WHEN PEOPLE ARE PUNCHLINES:

EXPLORING BOUNDARIES IN COMEDY By: Sheena Carroll

Critic and satirist, Dorothy Parker, once said that, “Ridicule may be a shield, but it is not a weapon.” This quote speaks directly to the concept of punching down, a term in comedy that refers to jokes that comics, who are often in a position of cultural privilege, make about marginalized groups. These jokes often reinforce stereotypes about these groups who are reduced to punchlines, but comedians’ opinions of what’s offensive or off-limits in their material vary wildly.

Comedy can be medicinal. Historically, people have turned to comedy to cope with violence, trauma, and pain. Comedy, especially satire, has long been used to protest the establishment and mock the powerful (this form of comedy is considered punching up.) But what about when the powerful make jokes about the oppressed? Or when the “satire” may just be hate speech? What crosses the line—and whether there is a line—is a long-running debate among comedians.

Currently at the center of this debate are comics in the conservative and alt-right movements, whose jokes are often at the expense of people of color, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Musical comedian, Owen Benjamin, and his alt-right fanbase made waves in Pittsburgh this spring when Benjamin’s comedy show was cancelled by the New Hazlett Theater because of his racist, sexist, and homophobic tweets, online comments, and jokes. But soon after the cancellation, Benjamin rented out the Carnegie Library Main Branch’s lecture hall and hosted his show as a private event. A public backlash ensued, starting a new conversation over offensive comedy, and whether Pittsburgh venues have an obligation to police the kind of comedians they allow in their spaces.

Many in the comedy world, whose stars have historically been cisgendered white people, balk at such statements as reductive to comedy’s overall ethos. In an interview with VICE News, comedian Judy Gold said, “You can make jokes about anything if the jokes are funny. This idea that words are more harmful than actions—Lenny Bruce is rolling over in his grave. You don’t tell a comic what topics they can discuss on stage, it’s ridiculous. When people tell me not to do something it makes me want to do it.”

The punching down debate has more than two sides. The shades of gray in between are what makes it both interesting and frustrating to cover. We reached out to five local comedians to find out where Pittsburgh stand-up comics draw the line. Their responses go to the heart of free speech, offensive speech, the difference between the two, and if it is ever ok to punch down.

All the comedians we spoke with expressed the value of free-thought and the ability to express oneself artistically, but a multitude of opinions exist about what is or is not mentionable in a performance. “I don’t consider any topic to be off-limits. I think anything can be joked about depending on the perspective and intent of the joke. The line is about the same to me both onstage and off. If someone in a dominant group notices some kind of interesting or different pattern or trait often found in people from a less advantaged group that could be funny even to members of that less advantaged group, I don’t think it’s punching down to joke about it. Though, if someone from a privileged group jokes about a less privileged group in a way that displays a lack of respect or understanding for them, it can reinforce people’s negative feelings towards that group. I don’t care for overtly stereotypical humor that comes from the point of view of someone who believes the group they belong to be superior to others,” Stacey Fleurime, a Pittsburgh comic, said.

Comedian Suzanne Lawrence shares a similar opinion with Fleurime, believing that stereotypical jokes aimed at the less privileged are weak. “Jokes that punch down often rely on shock to get that laugh, which is lazy, in my opinion. Sometimes you can say something horrible, and people will laugh because it’s so wildly uncomfortable.

That doesn’t make it a good joke. Be dirty, mean, gross, all of that is great—you just need to be aware of who the butt of your joke is. It sucks to feel like the world has moved on without you, but if you can’t be funny without being offensive then you’re probably not very funny,” Lawrence said.

Beaver Valley-based comedian, Tim Ross, agrees with Lawrence, emphasizing both the cheapness of punch down humor and potential dangers of being offensive for the sake of it. “I know that comedy is an artform and some comics put the form on a pedestal where harmful things should be free from

criticism, but it doesn’t make any sense. If you’re making racist cross-stitches you don’t get to claim some sort of purity of the form to validate your harmful behavior,” Ross said.

To some, the stage extends a different set of rules to a performer, allowing comments and jokes to slide that wouldn’t fly in a day-to-day discussion. Joey Purse, another local comic, sees a difference between real-world conversation and what’s said on stage in a comedy club. “It’s comedy, we’re there to laugh, it’s all jokes. It all depends on the intent of the joke. If the joke is meant to be offensive and you can feel the hostile energy, it doesn’t sit right with me. I feel as though when we are on stage doing stand-up comedy, we should be trying to give everyone a good time and not be the elephant in the room. Now, if the joke a comic of privilege says has a punchline that is something based off of a stereotype and it’s obviously a joke, I don’t really care, and I don’t think anyone else really cares, either, as long as it’s funny. I do believe that some things that are said on stage shouldn’t be said in the real world, in my opinion,” Purse said.

Ross agrees. “[If] someone can tactfully approach a topic and be funny about something without making the joke at the expense of a marginalized group or person, then that’s a real talent,” Ross said.

There’s a lot of literature that points to the potential violence and mental distress that can come from the normalization of hateful speech against vulnerable communities.

Some activists also caution that joking about things like violence and rape can re-victimize sexual assault survivors and others with previous traumatic life experiences. Purse cautions that comedians should be authentic with their material. “I do joke about things that have personally affected me. I think the argument that your story can re-traumatize someone in the audience is a very valid argument. I would say, if you haven’t personally experienced the traumatizing event in the story you are telling, then you shouldn’t speak on it for that reason. A lot of audience members can tell when a story is genuine and when it’s not,” Purse said.

Others find meaning and good material by working through their negative experiences in front of an audience. “I work out things fall 2018

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in my life on stage because I’m selling a human experience/perspective. Others may also have experienced it, and they may not be ready to explore it. Others may not feel comfortable because they [have] never experienced it. It sucks, but that’s my right to express it. It’s my experience. The audience isn’t forced to listen, the doors aren’t barred, nor is a gun pointed at them.

They may leave, or not laugh. Silence to me means two things: 1.) I’m explaining a heavy story that requires silence to understand my experience. I haven’t made a joke yet, so the silence is welcome. 2.) I made a joke and it didn’t work, therefore I have to either throw out that bit or reconstruct the bit as [I would for] all my other jokes,” Ian McIntosh, another Pittsburgh-based comic, said.

For him, successfully joking about a topic is about honesty and connection with the subject matter. “If you were properly exploring the topic of a joke, you’d discover empathy within it. I don’t believe you have to keep emphasizing that you don’t mean any harm if you truly don’t mean harm.

You’d naturally avoid causing harm. In the event of a mistake, and someone expresses that they feel harmed, I think it’s important that you re-evaluate what you as a comedian are intending, and how it’s being expressed,” McIntosh said.

That sense of relatability is also important to Fleurime. “I think empathy has a lot of value in comedy. It’s empathy that makes it so some people can joke about certain things, even if that thing is thought to be a taboo subject, without causing offense, while others cannot. Your empathy, or lack thereof, is what influences your perspective on the subjects you joke about, and determines in which direction you take those jokes,” Fleurime said.

Comedians don’t follow a set of rules. The temperament and mores of an audience change with every show. And for McIntosh, prudence and honesty can carry a comedian a long way. “I believe that it’s not a comedian’s job to police other comedians.

It’s society’s job to not give them business if they don’t agree with their act. I believe that we all have our privileges, along with our disadvantages. Of course, there’s systematic oppression and norms that need to be changed. However, again, I feel that it is fine if the message is truthful, tactful, and not hateful,” McIntosh said.

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CreatorCon

Unites Local Youtube Producers By: Manny Theiner

A

re you the sort of couch potato who lounges at home on weekdays, bingeing Netflix shows, with their annoyingly high production values and solid storylines? Then you probably regard Youtube as some sort of primitive conglomeration of cat video cuteness, millennial narcissism, political extremism, and various other irrelevant detritus.

Sure, it’s all those things, but it’s also the largest depository of do-ityourself creative video production activity on Earth. You can find a tutorial about how to build or make almost anything, one billion hours of content are watched each day, and it’s the second most popular site on the Internet. So, if you don’t at least take some time every now and then to sift through the thousands of possible channels, you’re missing out on some cultural milestones and a meticulous worldview which often pays attention to the smallest details that one might otherwise miss in daily life.

Even though Youtube has been around for 13 years and has a long history of well-attended conventions such as VidCon and PAX, nobody has ever tried to gauge the level of Youtube content creation in the Pittsburgh area or gather everyone together who produces their own channels. The Pittsburgh City Paper, for example, just recently began acknowledging the existence of Youtube creators in Pittsburgh, adding a category to their, “Best Of ”, which yielded several popular personalities: Lily Whispers (an ASMR channel), the well-known comedian, Pittsburgh Dad, and Weird Paul Petroskey, indie musician and Original Vlogger. Babyteeth4 is a local channel fall 2018

featuring Braddock sisters, Jillian and Addie, (produced by their father) who act in skits and review their toys, boasting over 1.6 million subscribers and 330 million views, and Matt Magnone (aka Matt3756) has almost as many subscribers following his advice on how to play arcade games.

Figuring that a regional Youtube meetup was long overdue, channel creator, Ashley Zoe Fox, took it upon herself to organize the inaugural CreatorCon - a meetup which encouraged Youtubers to emerge from their home studios and meet other like-minded individuals.

As a beta-test for a hopefully annual event, Ashley organized the Con in a semi-private fashion: the attendees (which included Matt3756 and Weird Paul) convened initially in a hotel room for a meet-andgreet. A raffle offered some relevant items for giveaways, such as a shotgun mic and a tablet, and some drinks and snacks were available for the Youtubers.

Then the event really went “IRL”, as about two dozen Youtube creators spilled out into a public park in Greentree, clustering around the picnic benches and the gazebo. Since the event, as a test case, had very limited publicity, there were only a handful of “fans” there, but the assembled still managed to have a fair amount of semi-anarchic fun.

Joe Minkel (aka JJGeneral1) let his drone loose and showed everyone how close it could fly to their heads. Youtuber Spats the Bear arrived

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in his full furry costume accompanied by his husband, Harley Badger, (who was not in his fursona), and Kero the Wolf, who has over 100,000 subscribers, carried along his signature wolf mask, signifying that some portion of Pittsburgh’s Youtubers do have an affinity to the furry community (not surprising with Anthrocon’s yearly appearance at the Convention Center). The pink-haired toy collector, Heather Sparkles, took selfies in the park with her husband and co-producer, Adam, and Weird Paul set up his merchandise table, while several other Youtubers, such as ZayContinues and Mekali, ran a hotly contested Cards Against Humanity contest with their friends.

It was all in fun, but the aim was serious Youtubers, most of whom had never met each other before, were able to compare and contrast their efforts and talk about what worked for them and what didn’t, all in a friendly environment which gave no preference to how many subscribers anyone had. Everyone could simply learn from each other and revel in the democratizing experience of being free (except for Youtube’s rules, of course) to express their own creativity.

Take Devon Ramseur, who produces a channel called Among The Unknown, with two compatriots. It’s an urban exploration program with three seasons of episodes so far, where the intrepid trio films inside abandoned houses and other buildings. If you wanted to know what the inside of the chained-shut Holy Family Church in Lawrenceville looks like, they’ll show you, and the viewer gets

an eerie, “Blair Witch” feeling of movement through the spooky edifice.

“It all started with our partner, PJ, in what we thought was a prank,” recalls Ramseur.

“He asked us if we wanted to check out this abandoned house, so we said sure. Days after we explored it, we decided we wanted to do it again. So, we’ve explored schools, nursing homes, apartments, hotels.”

And people are starting to recognize them.

“We had just gotten done exploring the school [next to Holy Family] when we saw this guy taking aerial pictures with a drone.

And he said to us, ‘Hey, I just watched your video with my girlfriend.’ We didn’t use his drone footage, but we wound up doing a whole collaborative episode with him in the school, unexpectedly. And then we made a weird discovery - on the principal’s desk, there were still pictures there with people’s IDs and driver’s licenses.”

Other creators have slightly more conventional pursuits, like claw machines and other arcade games. Both Matt3756 and Joe JJGeneral1’s channels deal with that subject matter, although Matt’s has been around considerably longer. [Claw machines] have always fascinated me. It’s like an instant gratification trophy, and I think that’s why it’s still popular today,” explains Matt.

“Ring toss is one of the most popular videos, people really love that,” adds Joe. “There’s also the goblet pitch. That’s where you try to toss that wiffle ball into one of those colored

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Spats Bear and Weird Paul

cups...I’ve been playing these arcade games since I was five years old. It’s not about the thrill of winning the prizes or the candy. It’s just about the thrill of winning the game.”

Both see the value in meeting other Youtubers from the area. “Getting together with people to network, that do the same thing that you do, is refreshing,” says Matt, who has been running his current channel for six years and seems to know every arcade game sound by heart. “It inspires you.”

“Getting different perspectives is great,” adds Joe. “I didn’t even know there were so many creators around here. I only knew some of the bigger names, like Alpha Omega Sin and Babyteeth4, and Matt. There are lot of genres of what people do, and it’s really interesting to find that out.”

Spats Bear’s specialties on Youtube combine two things nobody would expect: vintage appliances and furry costumes. Sometimes you’ll see him out of his fursona in a video, but mostly when he’s at work on a repair project, he’ll be in full bear mask with blue hat and a blue suit with smart, white buttons.

One of his most beloved projects is restoring the very first mass-produced color TV, built in 1954. “It’s an RCA CT-100. It has 36 tubes and is highly rare and sought after. Mine is going to be functional because the picture tube is still under vacuum. So, I think I’m going to be Number 32 on a list worldwide of people who have an operational model.”

Three more popular genres on Youtube are the hobbies of toy collecting, anime pop culture, and fashion. Heather Sparkles fills those niches with her self-titled channel

about vintage 80s toys, kawaii products, and fairy kei (a Japanese style emphasizing pastels and fluorescent colors and 80s-retro brands, like My Little Pony and Rainbow Brite). “With my channel, I’m able to connect people to something that brings back happy memories for them,” she explains. “A lot of the feedback I get is that whenever they go looking for vintage toys, they’re uncovering pieces of their childhood. It’s the kind of channel that’s needed because everything is so dark these days. I have people tell me when they watch my channel that they have less anxiety and that they’re calm and happy.”

Heather feels that she can get as much encouragement from her fellow Youtubers as her subscribers receive from her. “It’s great to talk with people about the ins and outs of running a Youtube channel - if you’re confused about something, you have someone to ask about it. That’s what I was hoping to get out of this meetup, to learn new stuff so that I can become a better creator.”

Ashley Fox agreed on her Twitter feed after the event that the impact of the initial Con was positive. “[It] was a huge success. We all met other creators that we didn’t know were in the area and will collab with in the near future..Next year’s CreatorCon is gonna be lit!”

Matt3756 and JJGeneral1

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