LUPEC

Pittsburgh with an H, Burlesk with a K

2006-04-03T17:29:15Z

Today the Post Gazette published a nice article about LUPEC's Skinny Building project. It contains photos of burlesque performers from the 1940's-60's, but should be safe for work. It's safe enough for public display downtown.

http://lupec.org/
http://lupec.org/skinny.htm

(BTW, they have the "...if I embarass you, tell your friends." quote attributed to Rusty Warren. Belle Barthe actually said that.)

TONIGHT!

2006-03-25T20:46:14Z

SATURDAY, MARCH 25
LUPEC Celebrates Women Underground

at Kelly's Bar & Lounge
6012 Penn Cir S, Pittsburgh
412-363-6012
7:30 pm

LUPEC on WDUQ 90.5 Rhythm Sweet & Hot

2006-03-11T19:43:46Z

SATURDAY, MARCH 11
8pm-12am (Eastern Time)
RS&H is one of the best, most packed with joie de vivre radio shows in the nation. LUPEC will join them this evening when we'll proudly serve up thematic cocktails to honor women jazz pioneers. Tune in for some of the best music ever with the added ambiance of actual cocktail shakers shaking in the background!

Listen on line through the RS&H link above.
(x-posted, of course!)

lupec @ 2005-06-26T18:46:00

2005-06-26T22:55:57Z

Despite the heat, our Hipster Yard Sale went well this weekend.

A woman I know socially was at the sale on Saturday. She doesn't go on line, but wanted a copy of our Canon Fodder!: Lady Name Project list. She gave me her name and address to send her a printed copy, and I washed the note with that info on it in my jeans that I washed last night.

She lives in Munhall, but other than that I just know her by sight. Gah!

-- Sapphi

SATURDAY, MAY 7

2005-05-05T14:11:38Z

Junction Dance Theatre
House Party: 7 performances, 7 rooms

JDT Headquarters, 7634 Westmoreland Ave. Pittsburgh, 15218
10AM (breakfast), 1PM (lunch) , 8PM (dinner)

Seven rooms of ground-breaking interactive site-specific dance, theater, music and poetry performances exposing naked truths with doors wide open. Audiences, a.k.a. house guests, are invited to JDT Headquarters, a Victorian home in Swissvale, for breakfast, lunch, dinner or the whole House Party day. House Party guests will also be treated to edibles provided by local vendors, homemade baked goods by the artistic director’s mother, and cocktails from LUPEC (at the dinner show).

breakfast @ 10am: $20 (includes breakfast)
lunch @ 1pm: $30 (includes lunch)
dinner @ 8pm: $40 (dinner & cocktails, 21+)
house guest pass: $100 (stay all day)

8PM
Live Baking: Maureen Miller (Melanie’s Mom)
Live Dance: JDT
Live Drag: Vera Fierce
Live Cocktails: LUPEC
Live Music : Karl Mullen
Live Poetry: Barbara Edelman, Sharon McDermott, Terrance Hayes

SEATING IS LIMITED to 35 people per show!
Get your tickets now!
Tickets & Info: ProArts Tickets 412-394-3353 or http://www.proartstickets.org
Click here for more information

Friday morning at 8:40

2005-03-23T16:46:21Z

Friday morning at 8:40 am Eastern Standard Time, Sapphi will be representing LUPEC on the radio in Hamilton, Ontario. They have a live stream on the website which is http://www.900chml.com.

Be sure to listen!

Reminder to listen to us tomorrow, Saturday March 19

2005-03-18T20:21:12Z

LUPEC on Rhythm Sweet and Hot
http://www.wduq.org/rsh/
WDUQ, 90.5 FM
Saturday, March 19, 9pm-12am
RS&H is one of the best, most packed with joie de vivre radio shows in the nation and LUPEC will proudly be serving up thematic cocktails to honor such early jazz pioneers as Mildred Bailey, Helen Forrest, and bandleader Ina Ray Hutton. Tune in for some of the best music ever with the added ambiance of actual cocktail shakers shaking in the background!

lupec @ 2005-03-09T16:30:00

2005-03-09T21:30:53Z

Tonight's event is already booked solid. In fact, it's over booked!

More stories to come...

Reminder for tonight!

2005-03-09T18:44:30Z

Corsets, Cocktails and Camaraderie
Frick Art and Historical Center
Wednesday, March 9, 7- 9:30pm
412-371-0600
$5 members; $8 non-members and guests
LUPEC again joins forces with The Frick Art and Historical Center to explore a century of women. The evening will feature guided tours of the Bakewell Glass Exhibit (starting in the 1820s), a special tour of Clayton (covering the 1890s), and discussion of the 1920s, including an appropriately flapperesque cocktail. As with all Frick events, this one promises to be fun, educational, singular, and heavy on the hors d’ouvres.

Tonight!

2005-03-01T15:03:45Z

Here's a reminder about tonight's reception:

Canon Fodder!: Lady Name Project Opening Reception
Pittsburgh Cigar Bar, 430 Market Street
Tuesday, March 1, 5-7pm
Ever notice the 108 names of famous men that are carved on the outside of the Carnegie Library in Oakland? LUPEC has partnered with the Skinny Building to bring you 108 Ladies who were doing basically the same things at the same times as the gentlemen in question. Join LUPEC at the Pittsburgh Cigar Bar in Market Square for the official Opening of the Lady Name Project. The featured cocktail will be “The Gentleman’s Club”—appropriate, non?

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05057/463010.stm

lupec @ 2005-02-27T15:36:00

2005-02-27T20:40:49Z

After our article came out in the Post-Gazette yesterday, someone at work told me that this names project has been attempted before! The young women at the Ellis School did this for a class project a year or so ago. I'm curious to know which women made their list, and how similar or different our lists are.

But for now, to these young women we raise a glass!

xo, Sapphi

Our Names Project is in the Post-Gazette

2005-02-26T15:48:56Z

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05057/463010.stm

Newness!

2005-02-21T20:30:58Z

LUPEC updates: New Poll and Women's History Month Events listed on our index page.

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH EVENTS

Canon Fodder!: Lady Name Project Opening Reception
Pittsburgh Cigar Bar, 430 Market Street
Tuesday, March 1, 5-7pm
Ever notice the 108 names of famous men that are carved on the outside of the Carnegie Library in Oakland? LUPEC has partnered with the Skinny Building to bring you 108 Ladies who were doing basically the same things at the same times as the gentlemen in question. Join LUPEC at the Pittsburgh Cigar Bar in Market Square for the official Opening of the Lady Name Project. The featured cocktail will be “The Gentleman’s Club”—appropriate, non?

Corsets, Cocktails and Camaraderie
Frick Art and Historical Center
Wednesday, March 9, 7- 9:30pm
$5 members; $8 non-members and guests
LUPEC again joins forces with The Frick Art and Historical Center to explore a century of women. The evening will feature guided tours of the Bakewell Glass Exhibit (starting in the 1820s), a special tour of Clayton (covering the 1890s), and discussion of the 1920s, including an appropriately flapperesque cocktail. As with all Frick events, this one promises to be fun, educational, singular, and heavy on the hors d’ouvres.

Gender Bender!; Celebrating F to M, M to F, and Other Gender Trailblazers
Muse, 228 South Highland Avenue, Shadyside
Friday, March 11, 7-10pm
The official, government sanctioned motto for Women’s History Month 2005 is “Women Changing America.” LUPEC takes the idea further to celebrate men who have become women, women who have become men, and all the brave people who have actively pushed the boundaries of gender. Thematic cocktails, quizzes and prizes will be provided

LUPEC on Rhythm Sweet and Hot
WDUQ, 90.3 FM
Saturday, March 19, 9pm-12am
RS&H is one of the best, most packed with joie de vivre radio shows in the nation and LUPEC will proudly be serving up thematic cocktails to honor such early jazz pioneers as Mildred Bailey, Helen Forrest, and bandleader Ina Mae Hutton. Tune in for some of the best music ever with the added ambiance of actual cocktail shakers shaking in the background!

Girls Night Out at Joseph Beth Bookstore
2705 East Carson Street
Friday, March 25, 7-9pm
The lovely new Joseph Beth Bookstore in the Brigadoon-like South Side Works complex has invited LUPEC to help them celebrate Women’s History Month! Details are being ironed out, but cocktails, hors d’ouvres, and good book suggestions are all assured. Check the LUPEC website for updates!

Under the Icing: The Secret Lives of The Good Girls
Kelly’s Bar, 6012 Penn Circle South
Saturday, March 26, 7-10pm
Last year, LUPEC and Kelly’s had a grand old time feteing the Bad Girls. This year the Good Girls get their due as LUPEC salutes just how bad a good girl can be. Kelly’s is one of the best places in Pittsburgh to get quality cocktails and this event will feature good cocktails that are also very, very “bad.” In a good way. Also: we don’t know yet if we are selling them or giving them away, but expect cupcakes!

LUPEC website update:

2005-01-16T19:39:52Z

December 2004 (Holiday Salute to Jane Ferguson Wood at the Lava Lounge)
[ photos | party notes | mortician facts ]

xo,
Sapphi

we're still here!

2004-12-13T22:40:46Z

Wow, it's been a very long time since we've said anything here...but our silence doesn't mean we're gone forever. Far from it! In fact, last night, we had a new members meeting where we inducted Hot Toddy, "Mitzy" Green River, Salty Dog, and one more new member yet to be named! Welcome ladies...just in time, too!

We are hard at work gearing up for Women's History Onslaught 2005 in March but we will be taking time to celebrate our successes(and also to lament our personal tragedies, of which there seemed to be too many this year!) at the THIRD ANNUAL LUPEC HOLIDAY PARTY.

We'll be holding court at the Lava Lounge on the Southside from 7pm-10pm on Friday, December 17th. As usual, we have comissioned Del to create a new cocktail in honor of an unsung heroine of Pittsburgh history. This year's honoree is Mrs Jane (Jennie) Ferguson Wood, embalmer of ladies and children. Mrs Wood was the first woman to get a mortician's licence in Allegheny County, in the 1890's, and she operated the funeral home in Oakland for several decades after her husband's death.

We hope you'll join us to see what delights Del creates in honor of the lady undertaker, as well as sample some of our most popular cocktails from parties and events we've held this year: The HopToad, The Cointreau-a-go-go, and (appropriately) The Call The Undertaker. We'll have party favors, cookies and treats, the traditional LUPEC propaganda, and sparkling and witty company. What more could you ask for?

Hope to see you there.
xoxoxo Brandy"You're A Fine Girl" Alexander

Upcoming Delights!

2004-09-16T13:14:22Z

We have a LUPEC only business meeting planned for this weekend. We're gonna get right down to the real nitty-gritty. More information to follow!
xo,
Sapphi

Wow, recognition!

2004-07-02T16:17:29Z

Just this week, my company (of 50) acquired/merged with another company (of 6). Yesterday they were shown around our office and when the got to me, one of the women said, "Hey, aren't you in LUPEC?"

Ahhhhh, celebrity!

lupec @ 2004-06-20T09:47:00

2004-06-20T14:04:04Z

It's that time of year once again.

THE FOURTH ANNUAL LUPEC HIPSTER YARD SALE!

Saturday, June 26th & Sunday, June 27th
10:00am - 2:00pm

1044 Herron Avenue in beautiful Polish Hill

Support another year of Suversive Women's History Programs and score some deals at the same time!

- Hip & chic ladies clothing in all sizes!
- CDS, records, videos, & books!
- Well intentioned gift items!
- Free magazines!
- Strangely compelling art!
- Kitchenware!
- And so much more!

If that didn't convince yinz to stop on by, just take a gander at a few of the images from last year's sale: Third Annual Hipster Yard Sale

Hope to see you there!

lupec @ 2004-06-16T15:38:00

2004-06-16T19:40:17Z

Celebrate Father's Day with LUPEC as we salute Famous Daddy's Girls!

From Lizzie Borden to Aretha Franklin, many a woman's heart belongs to Daddy. Join LUPEC at Muse Bar (228 South Highland Avenue, Shadyside) for commemorative cocktails, feminist daddy's girl history propaganda, and $1 Vintage Neckties.

Proceeds from necktie sales go to support one of LUPEC's favorite daddies, Patrick Califia.

It's been a long time, Pittsburgh!

2004-05-24T17:33:02Z

Hey everybody!
It's been far too long since someone updated our journal...hopefully we can get back in the swing now that Women's History Month is two months gone and we are back to a more reasonable LUPEC schedule(not that we don't all have really busy lives outside of LUPEC....)
Anyway, in April we journeyed to DC for the March for Women's Lives---pictures from our trip(courtesy of alumnae Dark and Stormy) can be viewed here.
We also served the Cointreau a Go Go at Retro on 8th in Homestead on the same night! LUPEC is happy to be two places at once in support of women's history and women's rights!
In May we had our first official publicity photo taken in front of the Mesta mausoleum(we brought our own "MRS" sign to hold in front of George's name, in honor of Pearl, the Hostess with the Mostess) by John Columbo. The picture turned out beautifully and we were really happy that all of our current Pittsburgh-resident members(including Bijou!) were able to make it. Now we're ready to start sending out press kits...should the need arise.
We also started planning for our possible journey into print(still top secret-y and tentative, but exciting!) and presented some history of women from Allegheny at the Mexican War Streets Association Meeting. Then we served the Gypsy Cocktail and LUPEC Sangria at the grand opening party of Gypsy Cafe, and this Friday we'll be hostessing at the opening party for an exhibit by our own Sapphitini at Casbah in Shadyside. Yee haw!
Then comes June! So far, we are scheduled to serve the all mighty MOJITO at the Mattress Factory Urban Garden Party on June 11th, and a family-friendly "fauxjito" at the family day on the 12th. After that we'll be cleaning out the closets for the LUPEC HIPSTER RUMMAGE SALE, scheduled for June 26th and 27th in Polish Hill. Check back for more details!

3 down, 3 to go!

2004-03-13T19:00:48Z

Here we are half way through Women's History Month, or at least half way through our schedule of events. It's been great so far, and we are gratified that we have been able to expose some little known women's history to the people of Pittsburgh(and 35 other cities, with the radio show!)
Last night's party(at EON Grill and Hotel in Homestead) was really amazing, in a lot of unexpected and unpredictable ways. The featured cocktails, The Silk Stockings and The Diesel, were both incredibly yummy(and deceptively potent!)Lots of people came dressed to the nines, in fine femmery and brash butch-ery. The candy cigarettes and lipsticks were a hit. And then the DJ started, and suddenly it was a gender-bending dance party right in the middle of the bar, with femme lassies cutting the rug with fine butches, sweet gay boys, transfolks, and some old school lesbians thrown into the mix. There were even 100% heterosexual people dancing! It was fantastic. Thanks to everyone who came out to Homestead in the cold cold night to celebrate the history of the Island Room with us. And thanks to the gorgeous LUPEC ladies who did most of the work putting this one together--Lady Finger, Whiskey Daisy, and Frivolous Filly.
Tomorrow LUPEC hostesses a celebration of influential women chefs at the Quiet Storm Herbs and Spices Brunch. We will be handing out bios and recipe cards on some of our favorite lady chefs, and sampling some of their recipes, both simple and outrageous(imagine a salad of pressed cabbage, red onion, ginger, mint, and pink peppercorns! You can't? Well, Sheila Lukins did!)
Next Saturday(3/20) we celebrate the return to town of our dear Pink Squirrel(and Mr Squirrel) and Firefly, as well as the honorary LUPEC status of Foxy Moxy, with a Bad Girls Bash at Kelly's Lounge in East Liberty. This one will feature thematic cocktails, lots of bad girls, bad girl music, and a pretty tough bad girls of history matching quiz. There will be prizes.
Come and join us if you can.
Over and Out--
xoxox Brandy "You're a Fine Girl" Alexander

Tonight!

2004-03-12T22:03:27Z

Friday, March 12, 8-10pm
Back Room Gals; A Butch/Femme History Celebration
Eon Hotel, 8th Avenue, Homestead [map]
Join LUPEC at the newly restored historic Eon Hotel, former home to The Island Room, an all "ladies'" bar that, in the 1940s and 1950s, co-existed with the "regular" bar out front. LUPEC takes over the front bar for thematic cocktails and optional butch/femme attire. All sorts of guys and gals welcome.

http://www.lupec.org

We're on the radio tonight!

2004-03-06T20:49:15Z

Saturday, March 6, 9pm-12am

Rhythm Sweet and Hot: Special Women's History Show, 90.5 FM WDUQ

LUPEC joins forces with jazz-preservationists / bon-vivants Ken Crawford and Mike Plaskett on their internationally syndicated radio show, Rhythm Sweet and Hot. Enjoy music by and information about ladies who sang in front and/or played in early jazz bands! The show will also feature an interview with a former member of one of the "girl bands" of the 1930s.

Tune in here: http://www.wduq.org/rsh/

then click "Listen Now" at the bottom of the page.

xoxo,
Sapphi

Post Gazette & USA Today

2004-03-02T16:47:01Z

The Post-Gazette published an article about us today.

And the USA Today web site gave us a nod back in February.

We have many exciting events planned for this Women's History Month. Please do celebrate with us.

xo,
Sapphi

New Year's Eve (day)

2004-01-05T16:42:23Z

My sweet, dear screwdriver took me to the eye specialist first thing Wednesday morning. Good but bad news. The good part is that I'm not going blind - my vision had been deteriorating and I was worried. The bad news comes in three parts. First, my left eye has a blocked oil gland, causing my eye to dry out too quickly - when sent home I was instructed to use a warm compress (sock filled with rice in a microwave for 40 seconds, of course I tied a plaid bow around it). Second, the Dr. saw some "activity" in my right eye. Possibly the shingles coming back. This resulted in both an oral anti-viral medication and steroid eye drops. Third, my eye Dr. decided that it is now time to try to break the scar in my eye that is causing the distorted vision. (Due to my previous bout with shingles about a 1.5 years ago, part of my iris has scarred against the lens.) This requires another eye drop, and will result in a dilated eye/blurred vision for 10 days. Don't worry, the only pain I have is a headache from keeping my eyes open too long.

Again, my screwdriver to the rescue! He drove everywhere on New Year's Eve.

Our first stop was only a few blocks away and Jeff & Cindy's place. They had a special countdown for the small children at 9:00. It was a GREAT idea and the kids really loved it - wearing hats and feathers, blowing noisemakers and toasting with grape juice. Unfortunately, we got there quite late and could only stay a short while.

Then it was off to Black Monday's New Years Eve party. Despite the developments of earlier in the day, I had such a fantastic time. There were even two surprise guests from NYC - Claire and Heather! I couldn't have had a better time. Very tasty snacks (oh, the onion dip, oh how I was hoping for it) great company, and of course the champagne toast! Lots of thanks to Monday and her screwdriver for a terrific New Year's Eve.

W.Daisy

P.S. The only bad thing was that I missed our Pink Squirrel and Firefly so very much. Sniff, sniff.