March Monster Madness: Will Godzilla be the beast that beats them all?

If basketball isn’t your thing, there are some other interesting ways to join in on the March Madness craze this year. Pittsburgh artists and author, Matthew Buchholz, has been sharing monsters through his creative cards and prints which you may have spotted around town. Buchholz is bringing the big monsters to the bracket with March Monster Madness, a daily match-up of  famous monsters and zombies face off each day to see who will move to the next round.   Each weekday you can vote for the winner of each battle on the Alternate Histories website. Share your thoughts on your pick for the day and you could win a prize. Follow the March Monster Madness via Alternate Histories on Facebook and Twitter @AltHistories for updates on each battle.

Here are the current standings in Monster March Madness:

  • Round 1: Godzilla vs The Giant Octopus: GODZILLA
  • Round 2: Nosferatu vs The Deadites: NOSFERATU
  • Round 3: Flying Saucers vs The Blob: FLYING SAUCERS
  • Round 4: Ro-Man vs Lobo: RO-MAN
  • Round 5: Gamera vs Graboids: GAMERA

Interested in more monster history? Before Kellyanne Conaway introduced us to the concept of “alternative facts,” Buchholtz published a fictional history book Alternate Histories.  You can order a signed copy of Buchholz’s book from the Alternate Histories website. The book is also available at Wildcard in Lawrenceville and Amazon.

More ways to celebrate March Madness in Pittsburgh:

 

And now, a word from our sponsors…

  • If you are a fan of Uber or looking for a way to skip the parking headache when you head to the Pens games, check out Lyft. Use code PGHEVENTS to save $10 off your first ride. (Lyft is also hiring drivers in Pittsburgh,  Youngstown & Morgantown – apply online here and get a new driver bonus. )
  • Looking for a way to try some of Pittsburgh’s many yoga studios? Download Zenrez and save big on last minute fitness class signups. Every night at 9pm, Zenrez posts classes for the following day at spinning, yoga and fitness studios around down at a discount. Click here to get $10 in free Zenrez credit.

Pittsburgh Fish Fry Season is Here!

Today is the day! The first Friday of lent kicks of 40 days of fish fry Fridays.  The Friday fish fry is an annual church fundraiser. During the 40 days of Lent, many Catholics give up meat on Friday and so churches offer a fish dinner (sometimes a fish lunch).  Even if you aren’t Catholic or if church isn’t your thing, all are welcome to dine at the fish fries.   I think it is fair to say that the fish fry has developed a cult following of Pittsburghers searching for the best fried fish, fried side and pierogi that a church basement can offer. Over the past few years we’ve seen some non-church related fish fry events pop-up around town.

Important Resources for Finding Fish Fry Events in Pittsburgh

 

The Pittsburgh Fish Fry Bracket

It’s a very Pittsburgh approach to March Madness. The Incline is running a Pittsburgh Fish Fry bracket for folks to vote for their favorite fish fry establishments.  Submit your voters for Round 1 by 10 am on Monday, March 6, 2017.

UPDATE: The Final Four in the Ultimate Fish Fry Bracket

The Incline’s Ultimate Fish Fry Bracket has been narrowed down to the final four locations. Check out one (or more) of these four and cast your vote for who will move to the final round.

  • Corpus Christi Parish, 803 Market St. (McKeesport)
  • Holy Angels Parish, 408 Baldwin Road (Hays)
  • St. Alphonsus, 201 Church Road (Wexford)
  • St. Joan of Arc Church, 6470 Library Road (South Park)

Click here to cast your vote for the best fish fry in Pittsburgh.

More Fish Fry Events

Friday, March 24 – Cod for Pittsburgh @ St. Maximilian Kolbe Church Hall

Join the Code for Pittsburgh team (the brains behind the amazing Pittsburgh Fish Fry Map) for a meetup at the St. Maximilian Kolbe Church Hall. Here is a little bit of history about the church from the Code for Pittsburgh MeetUp page:

St. Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish friar who was martyred in Auschwitz after harboring Jews in his monastery, as well as a harboring a seditious printing press. He was canonized in 1982.

This parish, in West Homestead was formed as the St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in 1992, merging six previous parishes. St. Maximilian Kolbe Church became so in 2009, prior to which it was St. Anne.

The fish fry is famed as one of the region’s classics. It’s potato haluski is a well-known treat.

St. Max Kolbe is open from 10AM to 7PM on the 24th. We’ll aim to meet up at 4.

Saturday, April 15 – Keep Pittsburgh Fishy @ Spirit

  • Keep Pittsburgh Fishy is an annual secular fish fry benefiting local progressive organizations.  This year proceeds will benefit New Voices Pittsburgh, a local organization dedicated to the health and well-being of Black women and girls through leadership development, Human Rights and Reproductive Justice.
  • $10 Menu includes:
    • Classic spiced cornmeal-crusted FISH SANDWICH on a hearty bun with a tasty Sriracha mayo “tartar” sauce – OR – a vegan sun dried tomato hummus/pickled carrots/arugula sandwich prepared by 52nd Street Market.
    • Coleslaw (vegan!), prepared by Apteka.
    • Macaroni & cheese (vegetarian!), prepared by The Vandal
  • Additional item which can be pruchased: Plus, for a few bucks more…
    • Desserts provided by Ben Houck
    • Drinks both alcoholic and non from Spirit’s fully-stocked bar (don’t forget your ID!)

#PGHFishFry

Share your fishy fry fan photos with the #PGHFishFry hashtag.

https://twitter.com/i/moments/845010565118513152

Help Build the List of #100WaysToLovePGH

Since the election in November  there has been a tremendous amount of community engagement and a stunning amount of fundraising for specific issues and causes. I know many people who have quit Facebook cold turkey because the posts have become too much. Like many people I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. But I must have a magic algorithm on my Facebook feed, most days when I browse over to Facebook, my feed is filled with people in Pittsburgh and all over the country working on community projects.

There are a lot of folks who have been doing things to make Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh well before the election and they will likely keep working on those things through the next election.  One of the things that I like most about writing about Pittsburgh is the opportunity to connect more Pittsburghers to to Pittsburgh places and organizations. There are so many people and organizations that are quietly working to make this city, well, more Pittsburgh.

The goal: Feature 100 People and Organizations working to make Pittsburgh a better place for everyone.

Help us feature 100 different ways to love Pittsburgh. Events, volunteer opportunities, articles, and anything else that helps to connect the neighbors in this city to the people and organizations that are working to make this city a better place.

The inspiration..

The idea to build a list of 100 things that people are doing to make Pittsburgh better was inspired by a few things.

  1. Valentine’s Day – I started thinking about this back in January, but last week’s celebration of love brought this idea back into focus.
  2. 100 Days of US – After the election, The Sprout Fund launched a program called 100 Days of Us @100daysofus, which invited Pittsburghers to submit ideas for projects for people to act locally. Over 150 ideas where submitted and the community came together to vote on the ideas. Using the community votes the Sprout Fund gave away $120,000 to 27 of these community projects.  There were many ideas submitted and there are many other organizations that in Pittsburgh that have stories to share.
  3. Connecting people to community – Over the past few weeks, and again this morning, I had a conversation with someone who wanted to see a change in their neighborhood but didn’t know where to find help. As soon as they shared the idea, I was surprised they didn’t know about another organization that was already working on something similar.

Help build the list! #100WaystoLovePGH

I have a spreadsheet with a list of organizations and events, but I would love to hear more ideas from all across the city and beyond. What is happening in your neighborhood that others should know about? Please leave a comment below or share a post with the #100waystolovepgh hashtag.

“This is the most sensual description of eating pierogie I have ever encountered , and I love it!”

Every so often, I post something on the IheartPGH Facebook page that seems to strike a Pittsburgh nerve. The last hyper-popular post that I can remember was about the chipped ham pink nail polish.  I know that there are many of you who aren’t Facebook users so I am reposting this little nugget of Pittsburgh love here for all to enjoy.

Photo credit: Breaking Burgh

Each Friday, there is a post in the Pittsburgh Bloggers Facebook group where folks share links to what they have written over the past week. Last Friday, in honor of Valentine’s Day, Breaking Burgh shared a link to a previous Valentine’s Day post – Pittsburgh Woman Claims The Pierogi Is The True Food Of Love.  One of my personal duties as a Pittsburgher and blogger of Pittsburgh culture is to read every post about pierogi. So I clicked the link, Breaking Burgh has acurately captured Pittsburgh’s love of potato and cheese dumplings. But I thought the following comment was worth sharing.

This is the most sensual description of eating pierogie I have ever encountered , and I love it! It makes me want to beg for more, for more of the luscious butter flowing from my lips as I savor each morsel of delectable hot brown butter! Until my next experience with the ever loving pierogie, I remain ever faithful to its plump mouthful of goodness.

Turns out everyone else agrees and the Facebook post from Friday has continued to receive many likes, loves and shares.

But wait, it gets better! I was just about to publish this post but I thought I better check on the chipped ham pink nail polish availability. Given how popular this post was I’m sure others will be interested. Sadly, this color of chipped ham is out of stock. But to my surprise, the folks at Gridlock Lacquer now sell a church pierogi shade of pink, I need to use an Oprah voice here – A CHURCH PIEROGI SHADE OF PIIINNNNKKKKK, which thankfully is still in stock and can be yours for just $9.00 + shipping.

And now, a word from our sponsors…

  • If you are a fan of Uber or looking for a way to skip the parking headache when you head to the Pens games, check out Lyft. Use code PGHEVENTS to save $10 off your first ride. (Lyft is also hiring drivers in Pittsburgh,  Youngstown & Morgantown – apply online here and get upto $150 new driver bonus. )
  • Looking for a way to sweat of some of those pierogi pounds? Download Zenrez and save big on last minute fitness class signups. Everynight at 9pm, Zenrez posts classes for the following day at spinning, yoga and fitness studios around down at a discount. Click here to get $10 in free Zenrez credit.

 

There is still time to impress your Valentine! Pittsburgh Valentine’s Day Events for friends, families, lovers (and those who love to hate Valentine’s Day)

So according to our trusty blog stats, the popular posts this week are the Valentine’s events posts we have published in years past (here, here and here). Since there are more than a few Pittsburghers who are still trying to figure out how to impress their sweethearts. So we’ve put together this is of Valentine’s Day events, classes and workshops happening around town. From new wineries to places to wear your finery, from running around in your underwear to classes to make things to wear, there is something that should impress even the coldest of hearts.

Know of an event we missed? Share a link in the comments or share your love on Twitter with #ValentinesDayPGH.

Pittsburgh Valentine’s Day Events

  1. Friday, February 10 – SHOP // A Midwinter’s Valentine’s Crawl in Carnegie // FREE. Merchants in downtown Carnegie are staying open late for an evening of shopping local, champagne and chocolates.
  2. Saturday, February 11 – Family Friendly Valentine’s Day Crafting Party @ The Shop in Homewood // Free. This event is pure love, join your Pittsburgh neighbors to make Valentine’s Day cards to welcome refugees to Pittsburgh. Read more about the inspiration for the event here.
  3. Saturday, February 10 – SHOP // I Made It Market @ McCandles Crossing // FREE. Shop 60 local artists who will have sweets for your sweetie just in time for Valentine’s Day! The market is located inside two retail spaces near Panera Bread and Chipotle.
  4. Saturday, February 10 – RUN // Cupids Undie Run // $35. Celebrate Valentine’s Day and raise money for neurofibromatosis by running around the North Shore in your underwear.
  5. Sunday, February 12 – DATE // Breakfast in Bed @ The Mattress Factory // $30.  Bring your Valentine to the Mattress Factory for mimosas, bloody marys, brunch, museum admission and they have upped the cute factor by having Animal Friends bring some adoptable pets to cuddle with. Read more about this event here. Follow: @MattressFactory.
  6. Sunday, February 12 – MAKE // Bow Tie Class @ Spool // $35. Spend an afternoon and make a custom bow-tie for your special someone at Spool Fabric Shop in Allentown. Follow: @SpoolPGH
  7. Sunday, February 11 – Vintage inspired Valentine Making Workshop hosted by The Warhol Museum // FREE.  Warhol Museum is hosting a Valentine making workshop at the Ace Hotel on Sunday. Of course there will be a bar available for all of your Sunday brunch drinking needs. 
  8. Monday, February 13 – Galentine’s Day with Pop Craft @ Allegheny Wine Mixer // $40. The creative forces of Pop Craft have a special ladies craft night planned, head to the Allegheny Wine Mixer with your best gal pals for an evening of crafting stuffect succulents, clay ring dishes and block prints. Pop Craft runs differnt crafty classes at drinking establishments all over town. Check out their calendar for upcoming events.  Follow: @PopCraftArt @AlghnyWineMixer
  9. Monday, February 13 – DRINK // Big Heart Trivia @ Wigle Whiskey // Free. Celebrate Valentine’s Day with an evening of trivia about some of Pittsburgh’s historic buildings and other love-ly facts about the city. A percentage of the evenings sales will be donated to Friends of Albright. Follow @AlbrightPGH.
  10. Monday, February 13 – MAKE // Chocolate, Wine & Cello with Yogis Chocolate @ B52 Cafe // $40. Spend an evening learning to make organic, coconut oil based chocolate with Yogis Chocolate. There will be live chello by David Bennet and you can BYOB your own wine. 
  11. Tuesday, February 14 – MAKE – Beaded Heart Rings @ Hatch Studio // $30. Join jewelry artist Lauren Fraley to make a beaded heart ring from start to finish. Follow: @Hatch_PGH
  12. Tuesday, February 14 – DRINK// The Incline’s Anti-Valentine’s Day Party @ Knob Hall Winery // FREE. Join Pittsburgh’s newest news outlet at Pittsburgh’s newest wine tasting room for a Valentine’s Day party for friends, lovers and future exes. 
  13. Tuesday, February 14 – DANCE // Love of Friends @ Spirit // $25. Proceeds from this Valentine’s dance party will benefit PPWP–Planned Parenthood of Western PA.  A $25 ticket includes two drink tickets, pizza, and dancing. Jams will be provided by DJ QUEEN YAAASSS QUEEN and DJ Diana Boss!
  14. Tuesday, February 14 – DATE // Dinner & Movie Date Night @ Row House Cinema // $100/couple. Enjoy a 3 course dinner at Tender and then head across the street for a screening of one of these classic romantic comedies: When Harry Met Sally or Sabrina. Not up for a 3 course meal, not a problem. Tickets for the movies can be purchased and there is an optional beer and chocolate pairing happening next door at Beirport for $20/person.
  15. Tuesday, February 14 – DATE // Black Tie Formal @ Brew Gentlemen // $80. This is the perfect date night for the beer lover in your life. The Brew Gentlemen are known for their beer skills, but they know how to put together quite the party as well. They are brining together Kevin Sousa and DJ Nate the Barber for a fancy Valentine’s Day soiree. 

Valentine’s Day Cards, Flower & Gifts – Best places to pick up a last minute gift in Pittsburgh

  • White Whale Bookstore – Independent bookstore in Bloomfield is ready for those last minute gift shoppers, they aready have some favorite books wrapped for the occasion.
  • Farmers Market Coop of East Liberty – still one of the best kept secrets in town. Open every Saturday morning, this is one of the best places to pick up local food, baked goods, etc. Need a gift – coffee, fancy cheese or some of the items from Straight Up Mixer.
  • Pack Up N’Go – Take your Valentine on a surprise get away. This Pittsburgh startup does all of the work for you.