Balanced, Realistic View of Life In Braddock: Mayor of Rust

I stopped talking about or linking to the stream of Braddock stories a while ago, as they became more and more shallow, dreamy and unrealistic.

A new, long in depth story in the latest NY Times Magazine gives a better idea of the issues and personal/political dynamics that might be going on.

Still reading and rereading with hopes of doing a longer post.Don't hold your breath.

Tony Buba / Film Kitchen last Tuesday

Kudos to Matt Day for assembling a fantastic Film Kitchen last Tuesday night at Pittsburgh Filmmakers. Getting the blatantly obvious out of the way, he wangled the best food ever out of Chipotle grill - whole burritos. Bill O'Driscoll passed the Film Kitchen torch last year, after five years of curating and hosting the event he founded. I'm glad to see its still burning.



I snuck a photo of the 1968 film Jazz from a Very Special Hotel, produced by Laurence Taylor's 11th-grade lit class at Braddock High. Perhaps this offering is what brought out all the 'oldsters' Tony Buba gently teased throughout the night. In Hotel, Taylor's dry narrative voice-over tells the story of a new teen love forged in typing class and walks down quiet railroad tracks. Its a black & white, poetic glimpse into bustling Braddock of 1968.



Buba's Shut Down (1973) was itself shut down by a break in the film stock itself. I didn't care, I got a minute or two of his editing style and actually got to meet the man himself!

With a q&a at the end of the night featuring all the filmmakers, and a treat of an opening short film (Chia-Pi Choa's Where Do Fish Go In Winter, a treat of a slipstream fairy tale) Film Kitchen remains an intimate, regular, local film event well worth a visit.

The monthly film event is hosted by Pittsburgh Filmmakers and sponsored by City Paper. Film Kitchen online.

The author confesses to having screened work at this event in the past.

Flux Braddock

FLUX 14: Braddock
Saturday, April 14, 2007
8PM to 1AM
entrance located at the corner of Braddock Ave. and Library St.

A project of the Three Rivers Arts Festival in partnership with the Braddock Borough Council and the Mayor’s Office of Braddock

Artistic Direction by: Omar Abdul, DJ Brewer, Edgar Um Bucholtz, Michele de la Reza, Lea Donatelli, Curt Gettman/Unicorn Mountain, Chris Ivey, Patrick Jordan, Osman Kahn, Thad Kellstadt, Peter Kope, Merissa Lombardo, Lauri Mancuso, and Matthew Wellins

Featuring artwork and installations by: Beano, Jennifer Birch, Tony Buba, destroy/destroyer, Brian Dougherty, the Hospital Food project (featuring artists from the Ohringer Building), Chris Ivey, I.R.E., Tim Kaulen, Jennifer Lee, Mule Kicked Visions, New Guild Studios, Obsolete, Owl Kahol, Rivercubes ATM, Tom Sarver, James Simon, Joshua Space, and Andreas Tapias-Urzua

Performances by: Attack Theater, barebones Productions, Centipede E’ est, Charon Don & DJ Huggy, DBL D, Dutchmasters, Daryl Fleming & the Public Domain, Flotilla Way, Joy Ike, Jmalls, Lucid Music, Pandemic! Deejays, Nate the Phat Barber, Aesir St. James, Steel City Poetry Slam Team, and the Weakness

Sponsored by: The Richard King Mellon Foundation, The Heinz Endowments, Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development, the Henry John Simonds Foundation, Wall to Wall Studios, Penn Brewery, WYEP, Vincent Lighting, East End Food Co Op, B.P.O.E. Braddock Lodge #883, the A.J. Silberman Company and the Braddock Carnegie Library

Tickets $10 at the door cash only, $8 for students (with valid ID), Kids under 10 free
All door proceeds benefit participating artists.

Must be 21+ with valid id to purchase alcohol. Limited handicap accessibility.