In a blog post earlier today, I asked what seemed like a fairly simple question: Why are students so worked up about Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's proposed "Get The Hell of My Lawn" tax ... when they merely grumble at tuition hikes that cost much more every year?

The answer to that question, it seems, is also simple. Students perceive a tangible return for the money they invest in their tuition. Even if they don't get to use the shiny new labs, those investments too enhance the prestige of the school -- and thus the value of their degree.

The way Ravenstahl has structured this tax, meanwhile, almost seems calculated to make them resent it. 

Our intrepid reporter Chris Young was at a city council meeting on the tax today. read more...

If you planned to just roll up to the door tomorrow and catch Minus the Bear at Mr. Small's Theatre, be forewarned: According to the venue's Web site, the show is sold out. Also performing are As Tall As Lions and Twin Tigers; the show is presented by WPTS 92.1 FM.

Apart from a new tour-only 7-inch, "Into the Mirror," the band's ostensibly still touring on Planet of Ice, an album that's now over two years old. It's a pretty kickass record though -- I wrote about it and interviewed the band when it first came out:

"On Planet of Ice, Minus the Bear proves itself a rare species indeed: a five-piece rock band that gets into your head and your pants simultaneously. Capable of dizzying complexity and -- especially in the two tapping hands of guitar hero David Knudson -- virtuosic flights of instrumental fancy, the songs retain sing-along musicality and almost physically blissful grooves, instead of veering into dork kingdoms of prog, art rock and nerd-metal." (read more).

According to MtB's Web site, they do have a new album ready to roll out early next year, produced by Joe Chiccarelli (My Morning Jacket, White Stripes), and you'll get to preview some of the material at the live shows.

So, I haven't posted anything about this season's American Idol, because despite its few tweaks -- a supposedly shorter run of try-out episodes; extra Hollywood Week; and the new judge* -- it's been fairly dull.

* Last season I argued for new judges, specifically to bring in smart, sharp-tongued, interesting folks to liven up the three-person panel that might as well be staffed by androids at this point. (Randy-Bot: "Dawg, that rawked'; Paula-Bot: "Your voice, your feeling, what you do when you there there and here with us, really ..."; Simon-Bot: "I have no idea what Paula said. But, if I'm being honest, that was simply dreadful.") But the new judge, Kara, has seemed to be a weird amalgam of the existing three: Randy's occasional industry-speak, mixed with Paula's mooniness (and décolletage), and lightly salted with Simon's truth-telling. For me, a wash.

What has been buzz-worthy this season is AI's head-smackingly dreadful time-management. Each week has been marked with leisurely openings, only to end in frantically rushed comments and Ryan's breathless panting of the voting numbers. read more...

A couple weeks back there arrived in the mail with a thump Arts America, a 540-page tome offering a guide to the arts in 20 American cities. Among them is Pittsburgh.

"Steeltown, U.S.A" (as the book calls us) didn't make the editors' cut of "major" destinations (New York, Chicago, L.A., San Francisco Bay Area and Washington, D.C.). But we do show up among 15 secondary towns, right there with Atlanta and Boston and Philadelphia.

Yeah, NYC gets 94 pages of entries and we get 12. But so do Houston and Baltimore. And Minneapolis/St. Paul only gets 16 ... but who's counting, anyway?

Indeed, books like this one, published by Las Vegas-based Huntington Press, always feel like occasions to see how your town stacks up. read more...