Monthly Archives: September 2009

On Wednesday night, Erin Carey ‚Äî a 31-year-old aerialist/trapeze artist who performs with the Zany Umbrella Circus ‚Äî found herself surrounded by law enforcement officers as she attempted to enter the circus‚Äôs studio space located in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Some of the officers were Pittsburgh Police, others she couldn‚Äôt identify. Carey had just parked her car in front…

Turns out the G20 is equal parts media blitz, protesters‚Äô wet dream, show of police force, and weird marketing opportunity. But I suppose all global economic summits are kinda like that. But what‚Äôs fascinating is seeing how an event like this can transform a city. Watching a local newscast last night, I was reminded of how a city‚Äôs visitors bureau…

Pittsburgh residents are on pins and needles that the City of Champions is ground zero for today and tomorrow‚Äôs G20 summit. Perhaps it‚Äôs because Pittsburghers are a practical bunch and fears of being doused with cat urine and/or flying feces have gotten the best of them in the six-month run up to this international spectacle. However, it‚Äôs much more than…

Last month, during California’s desperate attempt to close its $24-billion dollar budget gap, countless programs were thinned out or altogether slashed. Among the mind-numbing list of cuts, however, was a dramatic reduction in state spending for textbooks — a decision that automatically puts kids in California schools at an educational disadvantage.

In a 2007 interview [video here] with Frank Kozik in his San Francisco art studio, Sean Stewart — who runs the highly addictive blog Babylon Falling — talks with the iconic artist about art as commerce, freedom of speech, and perhaps most interestingly, his lucrative entry into the designer toy market.

Even before it was deemed official that the U.S. was in the midst of a recession, experts were predicting when and how it would end. However, since November of last year, when the stock market began its nosedive, those ‚Äòexpert‚Äô opinions have proven to carry little weight ‚Äî especially as unemployment numbers remain high and businesses continue to close…

The Oxford Project began nearly 25 years ago, when photographer Peter Feldstein set out to photograph each of the 676 residents in his hometown of Oxford, Iowa. The collection of photographs that he compiled offered a candid look into life in small town America.