Watched enough basketball recently? You are eager to go out and shot some hoops yourself? This is the event for you. Stop by the Hoops for Hope event on Saturday and join a basketball game to benefit the Children’s Home of Pittsburgh. Last year over 300 people attended the event.
My usual response to growing things is a greedy, “nice garden, what’s edible?,” but I recently visited Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens new exhibit, which recreates a tropical forest environment in Thailand, and loved it.
For one thing, when the weather is maxing out at below freezing outside, it’s wonderful to walk into a tropical environment, where they have to keep the fans on and you get to take your coat off. Even better, because Phipps has focused on environmentally friendly building (oxide fuel cells, energy blankets, thermal massing and root zone heating for those of you in the know) there’s no need to feel guilty about wandering about in mid-70s weather in the middle of winter.
Best of all — the good folks at Phipps invited Buddhist monks to bless this Thai tropical forest so that it could be spirit-friendly, as well as eco-friendly.
Ellen James of Phipps explained, “Anytime there is new construction in Thailand, spirits who lived in the trees and the land have been distrubed and need to be welcomed back to the structure. The blessing was conducted by Buddhist monks but the ceremony has its roots in animism. There are two spirit houses in the tropical forest where the spirits can now live. In Thailand spirit houses are everywhere in front of small huts to large corporate headquarters. People leave offerings like flowers, rain water, cigarettes, and fanta soda.
(Things to do while trying to determine what we did to get put on notice…)
Make your own
Friday, September 29
Exposure: Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m., Club Havana, Shadyside
The local photographers group holds it’s monthly show at Club Havana in Shadyside. It’s probably too cold tonight for the patio, although you’ll be spending a lot of time out there, Smoky Joe, regardless of weather, once the ban goes into effect. C’est La Vie, as the French say, but what do they care, they can smoke wherever they want. Hell, surgeons chain-smoke Gauloises during hernia operations over there. “Vive le Nicotine!” comes the cry from deepest Provence.
What? Oh, right. Tangented again, didn’t I? Dammit.
This show features photographer Sharon West, whose eye for shapes and colors astounds, and who just got back from Burning Man earlier this month with a boat-load of good shots from the high desert. Her work will be on display throughout the next month, so if you can’t make it, but want to check aht the art, stop in. The thing is, these opening gigs are usually a pretty good time, what with the drinking. And you’ll feel like a star who walked into a paparazzi convention, so expect to have your picture taken. Me? I don’t show up on film, so don’t bother. It has to do with my Eastern European ancestry, at least according to my uncle Vlad the Impaler. Drakul!
Filmmakers Vintage Local Films, 7:30 p.m. Melwood Screening Room
Former Executive Director of Pittsburgh Filmmakers Robert Haller returns to Pittsburgh to present a series of shorts about Pittsburgh mostly filmed in Pittsburgh. (And the winner of the 2006 Award for Most Uses of the Word “Pittsburgh” in a Sentence goes to… me. w00t!) The highlight will be “Rhapsody of Steel”, which is, according to the filmmakers site, a “23-minute masterpiece of animation and music, made for the United States Steel Corporation. Produced by John Sutherland, the film features Gary Merrill as the narrator and three-time Academy Award-winner Dimitri Tiomkin conducting the Pittsburgh Symphony in his own composition.”
(Thanks to Natalia for sending this one in.)
The Big Throw Back! Funk and Soul Dance Party, 10:00 p.m., Brillobox, Upper Larryville/Bloomfield
2 bucks! Ahhh…the Name is Bootsy, Baby.
DJs J. Malls and Omar-Abdul drop the mad funk at the Box. I really hope to make it over to this, because my love for old funk is only surpassed by my love of Mom, America, devastatingly intelligent women, a well-crafted drink (with and/or made by a devastatingly intelligent woman), and the companionship of a fine dog. So it’s like, sixth then, which is pretty high, really.
Saturday, September 30
Little Italy days, All Day, Bloomfield
Street festivals are a wonderful part of living around here with all of our neighborhoods, all of our enclaves of ethnicity, each culture contributing their own flavor… Summer’s chock full of street fairs, be they fire halls or churches, someone’s always running a chuck-a-luck wheel (Three! Lovely! Fives!) and a food stand, dogs ‘n kraut, yo, with bingo inside in the gym, 50 cents a card, threefa a dolla, here’s some popcorn to mark your card, yeah, we play four corners, good luck.
But then along comes Bloomfield’s Little Italy Days like a behemoth, trouncing nearly all of them with 10 to 12 thousand people showing up. The festival is jam-packed with events and entertainment, ranging from Frank Sinatra impersonators to the Liberty Avenue Procession of The Madonna del la Civita on Sunday. Strolling accordionists will provide a pleasant background as you make your way from the polenta to the zepoli, and don’t forget there are bars all along Liberty if you need to duck in for a moment, get your bearings, and grab a cold beer, see if they’ve got Nastro Azzurro.
Personally, I’ll be looking for the Sophia Loren impersonator. But that’s just me.
“Duke Of Ribs” Rib Cook Off 11:00 a.m., The Union Project
Lindsay tipped us off about this the other day, but I’m mentioning it again because ribs probably come in slightly lower than funk on my list. I dunno, eighth, maybe ninth. Somewhere in there, depending on how good they are. The sauce must be the Boss. On that matter, there will be no discussion.
The 27th Annual Latin American & Caribbean Festival 1:00 p.m., William Pitt Union, University of Pittsburgh
Another festival, this one featuring music, food, dance, and children’s activities from Latin America and the Caribbean. The whole shebang is sponsored by The Center for Latin American Studies at Pitt and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. This presents quite a vexing problem to me, a true noggin-scratcher, trying to decide not so much which one to go to, ’cause the answer to that is both if you can, but at which one do you eat? You’ve got great Latin American food over here, great Italian food over in Bloomfield… Sheesh… Lemme think about it for a minute…
Ok, my advice to you: don’t eat anything at all Friday. Save it all up for Saturday, grab a lunch at one, a dinner at the other. Probably a good idea if you walk from one to the other too, considering…
Man, I’m all Solomon-like in my tremendous wisdom. What’s next on the docket, bailiff? Oh, right, the child custody case. All right, let’s have at it then.
Sunday, October 1
Open Irish Music Session, 8:00 p.m., Murphy’s Tap Room, Regent Square
Get your fiddle on in the first of a series of Celtic Music nights to be held on the first and third sundays of each month throughout the fall. If you love the combination of Irish music and no cover, this is the event for you.
Etta James, 8:00 p.m., Byham Theater, Dahntahn
Etta James is a grand dame of American Music, a true legend, inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame. Miss Peaches brings her act into town for a one-night only performance supporting her new album”All The Way,” a collection of songs she says is “an album of songs that I’ve always loved, tunes that I heard and thought, ‘wish I could have been the one to do that one first!.'” This is your chance to hear her perform them live, and a rare gem it will be.
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Got an event planned? Would you like a whole flock of yinzers with disposable income to show up? Let Git Aht know by sending the electronic mail to gitaht@gmail.com.
Thursday, September 28th 7-10pm.
Food, Drinks, Art! Open bar for wine and beer, cash bar for liquer.
Meet Scientific Illustrator and Artist, Mark Klingler, the man who captured the monster…on canvas. Meet Dr. Matt Lamanna, Vertebrate Paleontologist and Dinosaur Discoverer. Go on a tour of the Big Bone Room and see the newly renovated Dinosaur Hall….
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.