We've been open now for 8 months and it's been quite an adventure so far. YIV Coffeehouse is slowly becoming renowned around the 'burgh as an entirely unique eatery & performance venue. Just last week the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published a great photo of the Lounge and named us as one of the 10 Alternative Hotspots for the College-Age Crowd. And I'm sure you all have been seeing the great line-up of upcoming performances as well as the new Fall Menu.

We thank you for all your past support as we enter the Fall season, and ask for your continued help as we strive to grow and improve. Opening a new business is never an easy thing to do and the first year is always a struggle. Our only goal is to make sure that our guests have the best possible experience that we can offer them, and your feedback and word-of-mouth publicity is crucial in keeping YIV alive and kicking.

That's why we're asking your help to get us into City Paper's Best of Pittsburgh list.

FOLLOW THIS LINK TO VOTE FOR YIV: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2bOkx7_2bUDZJuINc_2fUUPfj_2fw_3d_3d

We humbly suggest voting for Your Inner Vagabond Coffeehouse & World Lounge in these categories:

• Best coffeehouse
• Best late night menu
• Best WiFi hotspot
• Best place to take an out-of-towner
• Write in: Best Living Room in Pittsburgh

It would also be a great help to us if you forward this on to your friends and ask them to vote for us, too! And if they haven't been here yet, bring them! Please help support Your Inner Vagabond so we can continue to serve L'ville and all of Pittsburgh for years to come.

I had one of those surreal moments today, when AJ opened our Pittsburgh Post Gazette. I was drinking my morning - well…ok, my afternoon cup of coffee. AJ glanced at the front page and noticed that the weekend section was featuring 10 Alternative Hot Spots for the College-Age Crowd and she began to fume.

"Why can't we get in these things?" she was muttering to herself as she tore open the sections looking for usual Thursday centerpiece - Weekend Magazine.

And by God, we were! I knew this immediately as her strident complaints were cut short, and she started to shriek (yes, she does, on occasion, shriek) "Oh, my God! We're in here! We're in here! There's a photo!" She began to bounce up and down, waving the paper at me, and as I took it from her hand, I remembered the Post Gazette photographer who was in here last week snapping some shots in the front. So one of those shots is prominently featured.

While Pittsburgh's night life may not have an answer to Studio 54 in Las Vegas, it is anything but boring. On any given night, there is something for everyone. Whether it is a quiet night out or a wild dance party, Pittsburgh has many bars and coffeehouses where young adults — and the older ones, too — can fulfill their sense of adventure…

Stepping into Your Inner Vagabond is like visiting a small coffeehouse off a side street in New Delhi. Although it may not be purely inspired by Indian design, the Oriental carpets and matching silk and velvet pillows give patrons a sense of Eastern culture.

The menu, drink list and events schedule have Turkish, Lebanese, Indian, Greek and Moroccan influences. Considered more of a world lounge than merely a coffeehouse, Your Inner Vagabond inspires global consciousness and good coffee. Read More Here.

I also noticed that the majority of the these places are in the Bloomfield/Lawrenceville neighborhoods. It's finally beginning to feel like we're moving on up after the summer malaise, and that L'ville is coming back into it's own. But right now your help and support are critical to help us build a strong foundation to grow.

Please support Your Inner Vagabond: read the article here, come in for a drink, tell your friends to stop by and visit, and vote for YIV as Best Coffeehouse (or even write in a category for us) in the City Paper!

This Friday August 22 at 8pm!

Returning to YIV for another electrifying performance, EJYG hails from NYC and plays groove driven music on self-invented instruments including the Rubarp and Big Barp (electric rubber band harps), the Sitello (an electric cello/sitar combo), the Terraphone (copper pipe horn), the Clayrimba (a three octave tuned clay pot "marimba") and an arsenal of percussion instruments fashioned from old farm equipment, turntable platters, saw blades, and truck springs.

The result is a super original sound with haunting melodies, funky bass lines and layers of dance-able interlocking rhythms that ride over clashes of metal on metal and colorful harmonic washes. Originally inspired by traditional Gamelan music from Bali, the group's music is influenced today by a diverse range of sounds from Indian classical to funk, klezmer to rock and is shaped by the unique and humor laced voice of composer Terry Dame.

“Terry Dame is one of those eccentric musicians for whom composing isn’t enough, she has to create new instruments as well. A downtown fixture." - Time Out New York 

Have a Listen!

$7 cover in the Back Lounge. All ages & BYOB!

I'm very excited to (re)introduce you to this amazing band, Consider the Source , who will be coming back to Pittsburgh this Sunday, and playing at the one and only Your Inner Vagabond. These guys come with my personal stamp of approval, something which I give only to the most extrordinary bands I have seen. If you want to read a review of the last time they were in town, visit anymusewilldo.blogspot.com . If you want to watch some videos, here they are. And the videos really don't do them as much justice as their in-the-flesh shows.\

If you see one concert for the rest of the summer, make it this one. THIS SUNDAY, Doors at 7pm, Your Inner Vagabond. All ages, all the time, and BYO if you're of age. Appearing with InFiNiEN from New York City, and also featuring fire and bellydance.

I repeat: do not miss this show.

**JUST ADDED: COMPLEX COMPLEX TRIO FROM WISCONSIN!**  

peace,

emay 

Celebrating the 39^th Anniversary of the festival that was “three days of peace & music,” we’re screening the classic concert documentary beginning at 8pm this Wednesday, August 13.

From IMDB: It’s an intimate look at the Woodstock Music & Art Festival held in Bethel, NY in 1969, from preparation through cleanup, with historic access to insiders, blistering concert footage, and portraits of the concertgoers; negative and positive aspects are shown, from drug use by performers to naked fans sliding in the mud, from the collapse of the fences by the unexpected hordes to the surreal arrival of National Guard helicopters with food and medical assistance for the impromptu city of 500,000.

Featuring the legendary performances of: Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Sly and the Family Stone, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Joan Baez, The Grateful Dead and many many more!

Watch Joe Cocker's legendary performance of "A Little Help from My Friends" (doesn't  he look like he's going to fall over?)

Check out this great video of The Improv Project playing here a few weeks ago:

They'll be grooving back here soon!

Have a Listen!

Come on out to the Lounge this Saturday July 26 from 4-7pm for a fun afternoon banging away on the old drum with a Drum Circle for the LGBT community and its friends & allies.There will be loaner drums available.

Hosted by Persad Center's Queer Youth Connection & Closing the Gap Programs which aim to eliminate significant health disparities that exist between LGBT and heterosexual youth.

Free!

This Friday July 25 we screen three critically acclaimed documentaries that exposes inconsistencies in the food, retail & entertainment industries.

8pm

King Corn

(2006) Two friends with one year to spare and a deep curiosity about the American food distribution system set out to grow and acre of corn and see what becomes of their crop in director Aaron Woolf's agricultural-themed documentary. Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis are best friends from college who have decided to move from the east coast to the Midwest in hopes of getting a better idea where the food they consume on a daily basis actually comes from. Corn is America's most productive and subsidized grain. Upon relocating to Iowa, the pair and seeks out the assistance of friends and neighbors in procuring the land, seeds, fertilizers, and herbicides needed to grow a one-acre bumper crop of this highly-versatile commodity. As their maize is harvested and the sometimes-troubling realities of modern faming begin to emerge, the pair sets off on a mission to track the progress of their product and find out just how it is used to create a variety of different food products. What emerges is an informative and at times disturbing account of both the food Americans so readily consume without so much as a second though and the alarming state of the contemporary agricultural industry.

Watch the Trailer.

9:30pm

Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price

(2005) This documentary takes the viewer on a deeply personal journey into the everyday lives of families struggling to fight Goliath. From a family business owner in the Midwest to a preacher in California, from workers in Florida to a poet in Mexico, dozens of film crews on three continents bring the intensely personal stories of an assault on families and American values.

Watch the Trailer.

11pm

This Film is Not Yet Rated

(2006) In a rare and refreshing reversal of roles, filmmakers put the powerful Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA for short) under the microscope for inspection in Academy Award-nominated director Kirby Dick's incisive look at stateside cinema's most notorious non-censoring censors. Compelled by the staggering amount of power that the MPAA ratings board wields, the filmmaker seeks out the true identities of the anonymous elite who control what films make it to the multiplex. He even goes so far as to hire a private investigator to stake out MPAA headquarters and expose Hollywood's best-kept secret. Along the way, Dick speaks with numerous filmmakers whose careers have been affected by the seemingly random and obsessed judgments of the MPAA, including John Waters, Mary Harron, Darren Aranofsky, Wayne Kramer, Kevin Smith, Matt Stone, and Atom Egoyan. Warning: not appropriate for children under 18.

Watch the Trailer.

Free! All ages (except for final film) & BYOB.

This Wednesday July 23 we celebrate all things "Bogie" with three of Humphrey Bogart’s most classic films:

7pm

Casablanca

(1942) - Rick Blaine (Bogart), who owns a nightclub in Casablanca, discovers his old flame Ilsa is in town with her husband, Victor Laszlo. Laszlo is a résistance leader, and with Germans on his tail, Ilsa knows Rick can help them get out of the country - but will he ? Also starring Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre & Dooley Wilson as “Sam.”

Watch the Trailer.

8:30pm

The African Queen

(1951) - At the start of World War 1, Charlie Allnut (Bogart) is using his old steamer, The African Queen, to ferry supplies to villages in East Africa. When the Rev. Samuel Sayer dies, Charlie agrees to take Sayers' sister, Rose (Katherine Hepburn), back to civilization, taking on the Germans at the same time. Directed by John Huston.

Watch the Trailer.

10pm

The Maltese Falcon

(1941) – Based on the classic noir novel by Dashiell Hammett. While Sam Spade (Bogart) is investigating the murder of his partner, he finds himself surrounded by a host of strange characters all after one thing - a statue of a falcon reputed to contain priceless jewels. With Peter Lorre. Directed by John Huston.

Watch the Trailer.

Free!  All ages & BYOB.

:::THIS TUESDAY JULY 22 @ 8pm:::

Ladies, sequester yourself in the Harem for a fun evening with Denise Trobee of Pure Romance. Denise will be showcasing a variety of  "bedroom accessories" guaranteed to spice up your love life! 

FOR WOMEN ONLY!

Free!  BYOB.

My friend Emay holds many titles: bellydancer, musician, promoter, artist, social butterfly and on…

Now she's added blogger into the mix. That Renaissance Woman and front woman of the kick-ass band Between Liberties, has been discussing the booming Pittsburgh music scene, art, culture and other things that strike her fancy on:

Any Muse Will Do

KAL:

 Kal, a young Romani (Gypsy) band whose self-titled album topped the European world music charts in April 2006, will be making its second tour of the United States in September/October 2008 sponsored by Voice of Roma's "Romani Routes" program. Playing music from Bosnia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Macedonia and their home base in Serbia, the 7-piece band features a “dynamic blend of traditional instruments, rock'n'roll in attitude, fuelled on dance beats and rooted in the Balkan blues. In their wit, imagination, ability to throw disparate sounds together and refusal to play by "folkloric" rules, Kal mark themselves as both part of Balkan Gypsy tradition and 21st Century Roma cultural activists.” (Garth Cartwright, author of Princes Among Men: Journeys with Gypsy Musicians)

Also, September 12th will showcase the entrancing Kabile, which takes it name from the village Kabile where the members of this extraordinary group of musicians played one of their early gigs together; a small village located just north of the city of Yambol in Thrace.  This particular group of musicians played together for about 10 years from the mid 1980's to the early 1990's and were so popular that they hardly ever had a free weekend.  Weddings, Subors (village or county fairs), National Holidays, Religious Holidays, Christenings, Festivals, etc ….. all were the domain of this much in demand group of superbly talented musicians. 

Sound Sample available at: 

http://fluffygravy.com/Kaval.mp3 

This Wednesday, July 16th, we screen three great animated films from France

7pm

The Triplets of Belleville

(2003) - When her grandson is kidnapped during the Tour de France, Madame Souza and her beloved pooch Bruno team up with the Belleville Sisters–an aged song-and-dance team from the days of Fred Astaire–to rescue him.

Watch the Trailer.

8:30pm

The Fantastic Planet

(1973) - This film takes place on a faraway planet where giants rule, and tiny humanoids must fight for their lives and their equality. A metaphor of class struggles.

Watch the Trailer.

10pm

Persepolis

(2007) - In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Statrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah's defeat in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. However as Marji grows up, she witnesses first hand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a repressive tyranny on its own.

Watch the Trailer.

FREE! All ages & BYOB.