Category Archives: Neighborhoods

Your $.02 could be worth a lot


Oh baby, if you want to see a better Pittsburgh then this is the event for you! I was lucky enough to attend an earlier version of this 2 summers ago and it was a very interesting and fun Saturday. I am still talking about the cab situation in Pittsburgh.
Anyhow – I am sure this event will be interesting and if you have an idea for something, anything (well as long as it involves Pittsburgh) then this is step one to getting the gears in motion. The good folks at the Sprout Fund have $100,000 to put into grants to fund some of these projects.
So big money aside, this will be a fun day with some fun people – I am planning on attending, and I think I am pretty fun.
Where can I get more info: Check out this webpage http://www.sproutfund.org/Default.aspx?page=engage.home
When: Sat. Sept. 9, 9am-4pm
Where: CAPA High School, Downtown Pittsburgh
How Much: Only $10 and that includes lunch!

From the Sprout Fund Website:

The Idea Round Up is the launch event for The Sprout Fund’s Engage Pittsburgh 2006 initiative.

Engage Pittsburgh 2006 will produce a community blueprint and involve citizens in developing ideas and implementing projects that will achieve positive regional change and broad-based community goals.

By combining dialogue with dedicated funding projects, Engage Pittsburgh 2006 promises to be like no other civic initiative to date.

Lead support for Engage Pittsburgh 2006 is provided by the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation and the Richard King Mellon Foundation.

Where are all the gay ladies?

When I moved to Pittsburgh last year from a big city, I have to admit that I was a little concerned about the lesbian scene here, or lack thereof–but I was very pleasantly surprised. Despite what I saw on Queer as Folk, it is NOT all about Liberty Avenue, especially not for women. We do have a regular hangout we can head to if we want to shoot pool, grab a cold one after softball, or get sweaty on the dance floor. OK, it’s not fancy or anything, but everyone knows that they can always head dahn Donny’s when they want to socialize with other dykes. But a lot more is happening outside the local bars…

Regent Square is probably the best place in town to spot lesbians in their natural habitat. Everytime I go there to meet someone, go for a jog or walk the dogs at Frick Park, I can’t go two steps without running into another dyke. I would definitely recommend this part of town to newcomers! While you’re there, step into The Square Cafe for the tasty food and lesbian eye candy, or D’s Six Pax and Dawgs, for a cheap, loaded hotdog washed down with a cold brew from their amazing selection of beer.

And I’ve discovered that some of the best stuff for gay ladies in the Steel City are things that women have organized themselves. Like the monthly Queers! They’re What’s for Dinner gatherings hosted by Ehrrin Keenan at the Gypsy Cafe on the Southside. If you’re new to town or maybe just want to get out there and meet some fresh faces, you should email Ehrrin–she can put you on her Evite list for the dinners, and on her queers mailing list, which will update you about other happenings of lesbian interest around the ‘burgh. You’ll find out about book clubs, game nights, karaoke, singles dinners, political actions, and all kinds of local performances.

Because another thing I love about Pittsburgh are all the talented performers! Soulful local veteran Joey Murphy hosts regular queer singer/songwriter nights featuring well-known acts stopping by on national tours, as well as up-and-coming ‘burghers. Joey also hosts an open-mic night for acoustic singer/songerwiters as part of MySpace Mondays over at Moondog’s. This coming Monday night you can check out the Emmy-winning Carol Lee Espy, get up onstage yourself (there are prizes for participants), or just enjoy a cold drink and soak in the sounds. And it’s not just for the gay ladies–anyone is welcome!

I heart Pittsburgh because of all the gorgeous and talented women who make it such a great place to live. If you want to know more about the local dyke scene, email Ehrrin to get on the mailing list, check out the Pittsburgh Dykes profile on MySpace, and read the Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondants’ newsy and political blog.

Free Spaghettii

I have never heard of this event. But I do like Spaghetti!
Apparently the people for KDKA have a free Spaghetti Breakfast in Market Square each year.
I would love to know some of the history of this event – if you know some information or have attended in the past – leave a comment or send an email!
Here are the details for this years event:
Friday, September 8th, 5am-9am, Market Square, Downtown.
Free Spaghetti Breakfast

Congratulations on 100 batches of Beer

From our favorite Pittsburgh brewer’s newsletter – East End Brewing is on their 100th batch of beer…

ANOTHER MILESTONE REACHED: EAST END BREWING BREWS UP BATCH #100!!!
Ah yes, I remember it was just about a year and a half ago when I was
pouring the results of batch #2 from East End Brewing for so many of
you to taste that snowy night at Kelly’s. (Batch #1 was a
mind-numbingly bitter but otherwise tasty batch of Big Hop…not quite
ready for prime time though). Well, 99 batches later I’m still here,
still making beer, and it’s even gotten a bit easier with each batch
now that I know a bit more about what I’m doing. Hopefully the
beer’s gotten a bit better in the last year and a half too! So, what
to do for the big event – batch 100? Well, let’s just say that I
couldn’t let it go by without doing something unusual….

I was reading an article in one of the regional beer publications a
while back, about some American Brewers traveling to Belgium and their
participation in a beer that was a cross between a Belgian Tripel (or
“Triple” depending on your preference) and the much newer Imperial
IPA/Double IPA style. Immediately fascinated by the notion of a beer
that blends the light body and Belgian character of the tripel, with
the completely American over the top hoppiness of these huge IPAs, I
decided to seek one out and taste it for myself. As it turned out, the
idea was more interesting than the beer that I eventually got my hands
on, so I decided to give it a go here to see if I could MAKE the beer I
was imagining in my head – and what better time to do it than for #100!

Advance Warning – Urban Hike coming soon to Oakmont


Urban Hike

Originally uploaded by egp.

We’ve heard that some people would like to know earlier when our next hike will be. So here’s what we know: it’ll be the morning of Saturday, August 12th, in Oakmont. More details in a few days.

In the meantime, you can check out some new photos on our website, urbanhike.org.

Oh, and do you know of any cool things to see in Aliquippa? We could use your help. E-mail info@urbanhike.org.

This picture is from the last urban hike – and yes this scene is from the city!