Category Archives: Food & Drink

Git Aht: Things To Do This Weekend

(Things to do while… Oh who am I kidding? You’re all going to St. Vincent’s this weekend anyway.)

HEY ALL! Git Aht got one o’ them electronic mail accounts, so if you have an event you’d like to let us know about send it on down the line to gitaht@gmail.com. All submissions should be in by, oh, let’s say Thursday at high noon. No promise is made that it’ll make the list, but at least we’ll know about it, and knowing is half the battle. Yo Joe!

Friday, July 28
Exposure: Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m., Z Lounge, South Side
MarkFlickr is one of those big time Web 2.0 sites, got all kinds of cool web technology, and all the kids love it. One of the cooler aspects is the ability to create groups, where people can post up shots of whatver it is that they’re interested in. One of these groups, a quite popular one, is dedicated to Pittsburgh. Well, the last Friday of every month, they get together for a show opening, featuring a photographer that is usually from Pittsburgh. This month, Mark Knobil gets the call. Mark is a world traveler, just returned from shooting in China, a cinematographer as well, having worked with NOVA and National Geographic, and shooting just about everywhere you can think of. Git Aht likes the event because in addition to the great work presented by a fellow Pittsburgher, people drink at these things, cause, y’know, it’s at a bar. So, if your idea of a good time is to see the creative class whooping it up, this is a good place to start. Bonus Points: Mark has worked with Scott Baio. Ferreals.

Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, 8:00 p.m. City Theater, South Side
When both the critics and the composers who work with them give praise, they must be doing something right. PNME has a great pricing structure too: 20 bucks to get in, unless you’re a senior, then it’s 10, unless you’re a student, then it’s pay-what-you-can, unless you’re a first time visitor, then it’s free, unless you bring a first time visitor, then it’s 10 bucks for you and still free for your first-timer friend. If that’s the case, I’d make my friend put up 5 bucks, it’s only fair. This weekend they perform “Soldier Songs” by composer David T. Little.

Omar Abdul’s BIG FUN, 10:00 p.m., Shadow Lounge
4 DJs, 3 Bands, 2 Filmmakers, and 2 Artists. No partridge in a pear tree. Also, they promise “3 Rooms of ignorant fun”, so how could you go wrong? The event is co-sponsored by the League Of Young Voters, which is way better than the League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Get there at 9 for Flamenco. Arriba!

Saturday, July 29
Dollar Bank Jamboree, 3:00 p.m., Point State Park
What’s a Saturday in Pittsburgh without fireworks? I’ll tell ya what it is, it’s a waste of bloody time, is what it is. This thing actually kicks off at 7 in the blessed AM with a fishing tournament, but the bands don’t start until 3ish. Trisha Yearwood is the headliner, which means she plays right before the fireworks start, but local country rockers and Big Ben favorites the Povertyneck Hillbillies take the stage at 5:30.

Jam On Walnut, 7:00 p.m., Walnut Street, Shadyside
Come, children, and listen to the Spin Doctors play music on a portable stage set up next to Doc’s. Relax, drink beer, walk along the street looking at baubles displayed in store windows as you sip beer from a plastic cup. Tasty? You bet. We’re big fans of drinking, of course, but we’re even bigger fans of drinking for a cause. To have said beer, you must pay 2 dollars to get into the drinking area. (Drinking area? The whole world’s a drinking area if you’re motivated enough.) This 2 dollars goes toward the Cystc Fibrosis Foundation.

Sunday, July 30
Rusted Root, 5:30 p.m., Chevrolet Amphitheatre, Station Square
“Jam band Suvivors” and local legends return as part of their Summer tour. They do a great live show, and a homecoming should be even better, cause, y’know, their parents’ll probably be there, and you always try harder if mom’s watching.

Festival In The Park, 3:00 p.m., Flagstaff Hill
A fund-raiser for Child Relief & You which supports projects for underprivileged children in India and the United States. DJ Adam MacGregor starts spinning the Bollywood and Bhangra at 3, local band Chai Baba comes on at 6:30. If you like Inidan food, this is probably a pretty good place to get it, and economical too as meals will be available for under 10 bucks. The whole thing wraps up with…

Flick: Gandhi, 9ish, Flagstaff Hill
He fought for freedom, you watch his life story for free. This is a great movie about a great man, but this flick is long, over three hours long, so don’t, y’know, drink too much during your tailgate party beforehand. Do I have to spell this out for you?

Garden Groove — This Thursday

Garden Groove returns for the second party this summer season. From 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, July 27, mix it up in Phipps Outdoor Garden. Tickets are $20 which includes three drinks, free admission to the Conservatory, a sampling of food from area restaurants, and music by DJ Justin Hopper.

These parties are rain or shine and tickets can be purchased in advance by calling (412) 622-6915, ext. 6803 or on the day of the event.

Click here for more information.

Git Aht: Things To Do This Weekend

(Things to do while figuring out if it’s the heat or the humidity or the fact that you still won’t take off your “Drink Like A Champion Today” sweatshirt…)

Friday, July 21
Wine & Dine In The Park, 5:00 p.m., Robin ill Park, Moon
Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you go out and do the same thing all over again, but probably not with as much quiet dignity and grace that a wine-tasting usually provides. PA wineries put out their best, local restaurants provide the food, and the singing chef Olga Watkins performs with her quartet. This is hoity, possibly toity, but definitely full of good wine. Plus, it’s out by the airport, so it won’t take long for a cab to show up to take you home when you’ve started telling people that you think it’s a “yappy little vintage that sits on the tongue asking you for your approval like a sad puppy, with a hint of clove in the after-taste and if any of you disagree we’re gonna have a tussle” about a chradonnay, and security asks you to leave.

Juggling In Afghanistan, 8:30 p.m. The Ice House, Lawrencevlle
Neon PullOk, I’m not sure that’s what it’s called, but this is a showcase for Pittsburgh Photographer Renee Rosensteel, showcasing pictures from her trip to Afghanistan. The juggling bit comes from the fact that Zany Umbrella Circus juggler Ben Sota was along for the ride, teaching juggling at a circus school. She also visited bazaars, and the Hindu Kush mountains, shooting all the way. She does restaurant-quality work, especially in the photo-journalistic style, so go show some support for the local photographers. Plus, it’s billed as a party, so there’s that. After, roll on up to Ray’s for the benefit since you’re in the nieghborhood.

Too Tall Jones, 10:00 p.m., Club Cafe
No, not Ed, Fred. Local Rock / Hardcore / Alternative at Club Cafe. They cite Queen, AC/DC and the Cult as influences, so you can’t really go wrong here, unless you really don’t like Queen, AC/DC and the Cult. Which is just silly.

Saturday, July 22
The Fourth Annual North Side Celebration in the Park, 11:00 a.m., Allegheny Commons Park
Puppets! Run! They’ll kill you as soon as look at you!

Wait, hang on a sec… That’s clowns, right? Yeah… clowns. Puppets are ok. There’s a lot going on here, fun for the whole family and such-like, so let’s hit it up bullet-style:

  • – Band Performances
  • – Children Interactive Activities
  • – Trackless Train Rides (Which is better than Trainless Track rides, I’m thinking)
  • – Face Painting
  • – Puppetmaking
  • – 3-on-3 Basketball Tournaments
  • – Senior Wellness Programming sponsored by AGH
  • – Allegheny Center Alliance Church Flea Market
  • – Speciality Item Vendors
  • – Kid’s Karaoke
    – The inevitable “much more”

The Pittsburgh Ring Cycle, 3:00 and 8:00 p.m., The Byham
No, not the Japanese horror flick, and no, this has no Hobbits. This is Der Ring des Nibelungen, which, tranlsated roughly means “takes like, 4 days to watch”. You’ll recognize “Ride of the Valkyries” at the three o’clock show as the music that Duvall blasts from the helicopters in Apocalypse Now, but refrain from shouting “Charlie Don’t Surf!” if you can. The eight o’clocker is Siegfried, with no Roy in sight.

Dixie Chicks, 7:30 p.m., Mellon Arena
Natalie, darlin’… Call me. I’ll pick you up in the truck, we’ll go down to the Stew Ball, have a couple longnecks, shoot some pool, play a tune or two by Slim Chance and the Can’t Hardly Playboys on the juke box. At some point, I’ll say Yee-ha. Trust me on that, sweetheart. Hoo-ee, I love me some good geetar playin’ and fiddlin’, and this show should have it.

Sunday, July 23
Bach, Beethoven & Brunch, 10:30 a.m., Mellon Park
This week, they’re featuring the Renaissance City Winds, and of course, brunch. But the important thing here is they’ve got prizes. That’s all you really need to know about this one. It’s got prizes. At a brunch. With classical music. Prizes.

Pittsburgh Blues Festival, Noon., Hartwood Acres
This benefits the greater Pittburgh Community Food Bank, and the lineup is good all weekend, but it seems especially so today, with Lee Rocker, The Yardbirds, and John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Plus, there’ll be whole raft of local artists too. Go, listen, order four fried chickens and a coke. Or some dry white toast. Whichever.

Flick: Ice Age 2, 9ish, Flagstaff Hill
Because there were so many unanswered questions from the first one, that’s why. Oh yeah, this is really important here: FREE! FREE! FREE!

Eat, Drink, and Dance!

Eat, drink and DANCE to benefit the local anti-slavery organization Project to End Human Trafficking!

Ray’s Marlin Beach Bar & Grill
5121 Butler Street-Lawrenceville

Friday July 21st, 9:00 PM

$5 (PLUS a portion of your drink prices benefit PEHT!)Shake your booty to several local DJ’s and enjoy FREE food courtesy Ray’s Bar. Come for the cause, stay for the fun!

For more info email contact@endhumantrafficking.org

www.endhumantrafficking.org

Git Aht: Things To Do This Weekend

(Things to do while deciding if head-butting the guy in the next cubicle is worth the inevitable red card you’d get from HR…)

Friday, July 14
South Side Works “Exposed”, 5:00 p.m. (and all weekend), South Side Works, 26th-ish down Carson
Neon PullBilling itself as “exposing Pittsburgh to all cultures” (although presumably this doesn’t involve a trenchcoat and looks of surprise on stunned passers-by), this little get-together will feature belly dancers, African drummers, a hookah bar and a wine tent. Hopefully that means a tent that will serve wine and not a tent where people just complain about stuff. While you’re there, climb the rock wall at REI and then, because you’ll be feeling so good about yourself, all healthy and everything, go eat cheesecake.

Station Square Street Jam, 5 p.m., Station Square
The trick is to find the West End Circle Peanut Butter to go along with it. Gin Blossoms’ll be there, I’m guessing they’ll play “Hey Jealousy” at some point. Hey man, it’s free, and free is good. It’s my favorite price in the whole wide world and fills me with a sense of goodness and well-being for my fellow man. Then I watch the news and that all goes straight to hell. The Street Jam is a great time, though, and a great way to start the weekend, just pace yourself. Seriously, the experienced Git Ahter knows that you do no more than one beer an hour before the sun goes down on Friday or you screw up your drinking mojo for the whole weekend. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Saturday, July 15
Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, All Day Saturday and Sunday, Schenley Park
Chris dropped the dime on this the other day, so go read that because it’s chock full o’ information about what a great thing this is and how it works as a fund-raiser for an excellent cause. I will throw in that I used to go to this when I was a kid and my dad was a fanatic for weird old cars. Now he’s a fanatic for living in Florida on a canal and looking at the manatees. I think this is just something that happens as you age and I kinda look forward to it in a way.

Urban Hike, 9:30 a.m., in front of Schenley High School on Centre
More self-referential goodness… Go here and read about it. I’d go, but I have this thing Saturday morning where I sleep off Friday night*. I will say that I know one of the people who organizes the hikes, and she has some of the strongest calves this side of, well me, ’cause my calves are almost Adonis-like. People come from two counties over to pay two-bits a gander is what I’m sayin’.
(*NOTE: Strictly a fanciful jest! KIDS! DON’T DRINK! I’m actually cutting the North Forty out here on the homestead in preparation for a Saturday night grill-out/bocce/booze fest, and that grass ain’t gonna cut itself.)

Smalls Summer Xtravaganza, All Day, Mr. Smalls, Millvale
Live music, skateboarding, BMX, inline… It’s so extreme you’ll cut yourself on it’s extreme-itude. Contests, demos, skinned body parts – it should be awesome. You’ll come for the half-pipe drop-ins, you’ll stay for the pecan pie. If they have pecan pie, which they probably won’t. Actually, that wouldn’t surprise me, the folks up at Smalls are pretty cool, and if you asked for pie, they might give you pie. Vallely’s band Revolution Mother will be playing too.

Sunday, July 16
Kids Day At Schenley Plaza, 1:00 p.m., Schenley Plaza
Story-telling, puppets, balloons. This is so wholesome and good, I’m not sure why I’m reporting on it. Trying to get out of a few days of purgatory, I think. The new Plaza is an awesome thing, a reclaiming of a parking lot into a great little urban green space complete with a carousel. It’s so Americana I expect Robert Preston to start singing to Shirley Jones at some point about how great life is here in River City. Man, Shirley looked good in that movie. Hoo-fah. That’s probably where I got my thing for really smart women. The problem is, that means they’re smart enough to not date me. Dammit. I gotta figure that whole thing out at some point here…

Kenny Blake Trio, 7:00 p.m., Rhythm House Cafe, Bridgeville
WDUQ’s Tony Mowod hosts the Kenny Blake Trio out at the Rhythm House. The special is the Fish Parmesan. Sponsored by the Pittburgh Jazz Society. Kenny Blake, I mean, not the fish parmesan. That’s probably sponsored by the Pittsburgh Fish Parmesan Society, which really doesn’t get enough props. I mean, they’re out there promoting the flourishing Pittsburgh Fish Parmesan scene, and what thanks do they get? Blake’s pretty good though, a local legend, as they say, so this would definitely be worth the trip down to Bridgeville.

Flick: Zathura, 9ish, Flagstaff Hill
FREE! FREE! FREE! This movie is the one that… It’s the … The plot is… Nah, I haven’t heard of this one at all. I think it’s a kids movie, lemme look…

OK, so, IMDB says: “Two young brothers are drawn into an intergalactic adventure when their house is magically hurtled through space because of the board game they are playing.” Dude, same thing happened to me when I was playing “Three-Man” in college. Crazy. Oh, I see… Jon Favreau directed this… Might be worth a look then. He’s good.