There will be a rally on Tuesday, beginning at 4 p.m. at the County Courthouse (Grant and Forbes, downtown).  The evening will continue with the 5 p.m. county council meeting.  Everyone is welcome to attend.

There should be an e-mail list going up over at the Transit Union’s website, but right now, it’s a bit of a mess, I’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime, and additionally, everyone is encouraged to contact their elected official:

State Rep. Frank Dermody (724) 274-4770

State Rep. Joe Markosek (412) 856-8284

State Senator Jay Costa (412) 241-6690

State Senator James Brewster (412) 380-2242

County Council Member Rich Fitzgerald (412) 350-6575

Governor Corbett (717) 787-2500

Please remember these cuts will affect all of us: roadways will be much more congested (drivers on the Parkway East and Route 28, good luck), parking will be harder to find downtown and jobs will be lost with the closing of the Harmar Garage, which Port Authority has mentioned once and kept silent about.

Michael Andres

This is Michael Andres, missing since Thursday night from his home in Beaver.

I worked with his brother, Alex, who Michael lives with.  Police have not had any luck finding him in Beaver or any of the surrounding areas.

Come on Pittsburgh, don’t fail me now.

Description: White male, 5 feet 8 inches tall, 215 pounds, dark hair. Last seen wearing a green military parka, blue shorts and athletic shoes.

If seen: Contact Beaver police on (724) 775-1550.

I wrote a few weeks ago about the awesome Pittsburgh app creator that made iBurgh, which has helped make my commute safer.  Today, I’d like to highlight an app creator that has added a cool fun way for businesses to interact with customers.

Levlr is based in East Liberty and crated the Levlr platform, which allows brands to interact with their customers and fans.  Their highlight application is Beerby (rhymes with Near by), and allows users to track and find beer.

Bars and restaurants are able to put their beers lists in the system (or patrons can add drinks and tag their locations as they drink), and players log their drinks and earn achievements, known as Badgers.

I’ve linked up with a couple friends, and it’s an easy way to discover new craft and micro brews by seeing what they’ve recently drank. I”m not going to lie, it’s always a fun rush to see your name at the top of the list of a beer.  I don’t have an xBox, so these are the only Achievements I can really work on!

The folks at Levlr are also really awesome, always adding special new Badgers, setting up meet ups around Pittsburgh and being amazing advocates for breweries large and small.

Beerby is available for both iPhone and Android, and the Levlr platform is in testing, but if you’d like your company to get involved with it, make sure to check it out!

Dancers from Attack Theater discuss the show as they sit on the winding stage

Quantum Theatre recently invited me out to a special preview of their latest show, “Maria de Buenos Aires,” and all I can say is this: go see this show.

Sometimes I forget how much of a sucker I am for good strings (and good cymbals), and the live orchestra during just the little bit that I saw kept me transfixed, even to the point of occasionally ignoring the singers.  Not to say the singers were not amazing, because they were, but the live orchestration kept me enthralled.

“Maria” is about the history of tango, and the theme that form must die to be reborn.  The entirety of the show: the dialogue, dance, music, set design, even location, all explore that theme.  Karla Boos, Quantum Theatre’s artistic director said that ”Maria” really is a big experiment, and she’s anxious to hear from the patrons what they liked and what they didn’t.  I certainly appreciate the dialogue, and am happy for that.

East Liberty YMCA. It doesn't look like it, but for now, it's a theater.

During our preview, we became part of the blocking, as two of the dancers from Attack Theater made sure they could move one of their props through the audience without hitting anyone in the head (spoiler alert: no injuries, plenty of room).  The preview that I saw, was also the first time the orchestra and actors were together in the performance space, so it was like every other musical rehearsal I’ve ever been at or seen, which was comforting.  Also, every single musical makes the same face when a note is played out of tune: it’s nice to see universals like that.

I only have one bit of criticism, and it’s not even about the show itself.  Later in April Quantum will be doing a “Women Only” evening.  Now granted, I’m not a woman, and I don’t think this is their intent, but I refuse to believe that women can be so weak or scared that they need a night all to themselves.  Yes, it can be nice to meet in a setting and already have something in common, but I come from the Joss Whedon school of thought, so I view my feminism through a lens of actual equality and strength.  But hey, if it fills the house, more power to Quantum, I can’t argue with economics.

“Maria de Buenos Aires” opens tomorrow and runs through April 17.  Find out more, including local dining partners and directions (it’s just a short walk from the East Busway!) at Quantum’s website.  Check out all my photos here (just be warned, I am not a good photographer!)

So apparantly there’s some basketball tournament going on…or something.

May I instead call your attention to an annual tradition of 96.1, the Freak Show Bracket.

Once again, it is broken out, not by conference, but by counties.  And I have to say, down in the Fayette County Division, I don’t see the City of Uniontown doing all that well.  This year also features contendors such as Charlie Sheen (you knew it was coming), Angry Brids, Ambassador Rooney, Geno’s Parents, Samoas, Julie Bologna and Brett Johnson’s Left Hook.

View the whole thing and vote in the first round here.

A friend of mine put together this video (hopefully it will embed correctly) about the film tax credit.  It comes down to the fact that if the tax credit is not in the budget, Pennsylvania, and Pittsburgh specifically, is going to lose out on a lot of jobs and revenue.  Christopher Nolan has already been spotted downtown scouting out locations for the third Batman movie, but he’s gone on record saying that he won’t be able to film in Pittsburgh without the tax credit.

Please call the Governor and let him know that you support the tax credit.  Pittsburgh needs a hero.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcXZa41UysE[/youtube]

With the Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations kicking off this weekend (I have to pull out my big hat), a few items that I’ve recently learned about Pittsburgh drinkers.

First, when you go to a bar and practically empty your pockets/purse onto the bar, that’s a Pittsburgh thing.  And I”m very guilty of this, I almost always have my wallet and cell phone on the bar in front of me, and typically leave them there (even if I go to the bathroom).

Also another dead giveaway that you’re from Pittsburgh: leaving a $20 bill (or some other denomination) on the bar and expecting the bartender to make change from it (and you’ll presumably pull out tips as well) as you order more rounds.

Both of the above items have tipped off bartenders in other cities that the people telling me these stories (bartenders themselves) were from Pittsburgh.  Thankfully, some people are kind enough that if they see you drop dow na $20 bill for a bottle of [insert your favorite beer here], they’ll make some comment about you being a Yinzer and then make change accordingly.  Asshats will take the entire $20 as payment and tip.

Be safe out there this weekend, enjoy the drinking!

I don’t know how long this will be up, hopefully I can pop in with some more info later, but anyone looking for a blogger, I feel as though I’m going to be free very soon and looking for a new home online…

OMGPittsburgh is a possibility, or maybe I’ll start something myself, but how would people find me.  Sigh.  I love blogging here, who knows, maybe we’ll get another miracle!

Contact me here!

Wednesday brings a big decision for me (well, not really, I already RSVP’d to the one event, but I’m pretty bummed anyway).  While I am heading to the North Shore to a special reception for Squonk Opera, one of my favorite columnists of all time will be at Pitt’s campus: Dan Savage.  Basically, if you have ever thought about sex, you should go.  Hell, even if you’ve never thought about sex, you really need to go.

Dan Savage is the internationally-syndicated sex-advice columnist from Seattle, you can read “Savage Love” every week in City Paper.  He also has a weekly podcast and, along with his husband, founded the It Gets Better Project.  I’m a huge fan of his work and activism (google Santorum, or don’t, if you have a weak stomach or are at work), and I usually quote him to my friends, endlessly.  However, if you read nothing else by him, please read “The Commitment,” a book where he examines marriage, and every iteration of relationships by looking at his family.  It’s such a good book that I pulled  quote from it and wrote a toast for a wedding around it.

Anyway, enough of me gushing.  Savage will be at Pitt on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.  The event is free and open to the public, but preference is given to Pitt students (fair is fair).  Hopefully, we’ll see some of the question and answer session go up to Savage’s youtube channel, if so, I’ll post a few in the future.

Have fun, I’ll be jealous from across town!  Click here for the Facebook event and more information.

The next phase of Make Room for Kids, the charity arm of That’s Church is in full swing, and you can help while getting a good laugh.

Check out this Amazon Wish List for the games that are left that need purchased.  And make sure you read the descriptions that Ginny has added.  They are golden.  Take for instance, the description of the Force Unleashed for the DS:

“I can make objects travel across the room to my hand via The Force. Also, I call my husband “The Force.””

Games are going quick, so take a look (you can ship directly to the Mario Lemieux Foundation, it’s the address provided with the Wish List, even though it won’t be listed publicly) and pitch in what you can.