Fri, 9 November 2007  What's cooler than an independent DVD rental store hosting a television segment dedicated to movie critique and commentary? And which Pittsburgh store is possibly better suited for this role than Dreaming Ant? I mean, c'mon folks, we produce our own video podcast, feature a wide variety of local films and videos for rent, have a knowledgeable (& awesome) staff, and pride ourselves on offering the best selection of DVDs for rent in the city...and well, the fact that just about every other video store in Pittsburgh has gone out of business helps. No matter. We'll take the gig. And with pride! The part of the story that's...well, a little off center is the host. We all know that being "a little off center" can be a good thing, right? So when former television sports anchor John Steigerwald inquired if we'd be interested in hosting his newest project, of course, we leapt at the opportunity. Steigerwald, a local media personality and household name in Pittsburgh since 1978, finished out his contract with KDKA-TV in October and was quickly approached by the top brass at Reelz Channel to write and host a pilot for a video commentary segment. And if all goes well, his segment will be picked up and featured as part of Reelz Channel's signature show Dailies, a daily news and information program focused entirely on movies. Steigerwald and his 2-man crew spent a little over an hour at Dreaming Ant's Oakland location this past Wednesday, shooting the live components necessary for his 2-minute pilot. His target today - Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. It was like watching Steigy's sports commentary, sans the sports. Mustache lovers and fans of Steigy's rascally irreverent shtick will undoubtedly enjoy his politically-bent, albeit conservative, movie commentary, replete with colorful anecdotes, local references and even a comparison to Young Frankenstein. As an old high school classmate of Batman Returns star Michael Keaton, one of Pittsburgh's most famous natives, Steigerwald should have no problem moving from astro-turf to the red carpet. Because Reelz currently has limited penetration in Pittsburgh, I've asked John to get us a copy of the finished segment so we can share it with y'all. Stay tuned. And thanks again John, for thinking of Dreaming Ant when this opportunity presented itself. We hope Reelz picks up your segment and finds you a regular at D'Ant! dB Category: News -- posted at: 5:49 PM Comments[0] |
Wed, 31 October 2007 Look for Dreaming Ant's 1/2 Off Rental Coupon at the upcoming 2007 Three Rivers Film Festival. We provided 5,000 Dreaming Ant how many have you seen? bookmark-coupons for the Festival's attendee 'goodie bags' that will be available at all of the various film festival events. The bookmarks feature a checklist of Dreaming Ant's Top 2007 DVD Rentals, and a coupon for 1/2 off your next DVD rental at Dreaming Ant. The coupons are valid at both Dreaming Ant locations until December 31, 2007, with your 3RFF ticket stub. 2007 Three Rivers Film Festival November 2-15, 2007 2 Special Evenings with 2 Special Peepers Saturday 11/3 @ 9:00PM (Melwood Screening Room) - Jacob Ciocci, current artist-in-residence at Pittsburgh Filmmakers, member of the artist collective Paper Rad, and Dreaming Ant stalwart, will be presenting a 90-minute program combining original animation with found footage collected from old VHS tapes, video games and the Internet. Ciocci rocks it like Atari, so eliminate the centipede and join him on the next level. Monday 11/12 @ 7:00PM (Melwood Screening Room) - Guest curator Adam Abrams, co-founder of the 8-year old monthly experimental film series Jefferson Presents and Dreaming Ant Sooper Special Peeper, will be presenting work that has been influential to him as an artist, instructor and programmer. Visit The Underground with Adam, the original Goblin King, and see just where he gets that A-G bling. Category: News -- posted at: 6:13 PM Comments[0] |
Wed, 31 October 2007 We finally have a Drop Box for after-hours returns in Oakland. It's a 4' tall black box outside the main building entrance (at the top of the stairs, next to the mailboxes). You're welcome to drop off returns for either store here. Category: News -- posted at: 5:39 PM Comments[0] |
Fri, 24 August 2007 Dreaming Ant Oakland will be open daily from 12:00PM - 10:00PM beginning Friday, August 24th, 2007! Category: News -- posted at: 4:21 PM Comments[0] |
Wed, 27 June 2007 May 22, 2007. Jacob Spears alerts Pitt students of Dreaming Ant's Oakland location with an optimistic article, Ants dream of DVDs, in The Pitt News 2007 New Student Guide A & E. Category: News -- posted at: 1:05 PM Comments[0] |
Tue, 8 May 2007  Like to ride? Think you got the licks? Pittsburgh's All Ladies Alleycat is on... THE PUSSYCAT Sunday, May 13 @ 2:00PM - Frick Fine Arts building Choose from 2 Categories: Race or Fun $5 Entry Fee Ladies Only - please show up a little early to pick up your list of checkpoints 1st & 2nd Place Race Winners will receive a prize package...including Free DVD rentals at Dreaming Ant! (a little secret too: Dreaming Ant Oakland is gonna be one of the stops...can't tell you what your "task" involves tho...) !! Barbecue Party afterward (~5PM) in Highland Park (on the north side of the loop around the reservoir). Everyone is welcome. Contact jessie.buckner@gmail.com for more details and/or to help out Category: News -- posted at: 10:54 PM Comments[0] |
Fri, 20 April 2007 
Please
join Dreaming Ant in
supporting the return of Saluja, a
native of Silk
Screen's films will be shown at the theaters of Pittsburgh Filmmakers. A full
listing of the festival's schedule can be viewed at pghfilmmakers.org. Join
Dreaming Ant in helping Saluja realize his vision by attending, volunteering and/or
contributing to the 2007 Silk Screen: Asian American Film Festival! See ya
there... dB Category: News -- posted at: 3:27 PM Comments[0] |
Tue, 17 April 2007 Spidey's uncle may not be returning from the long sleep, but our Ben was just dreaming on Friday the 13th! No terror can compete with Dana's powerful persuasion, so join Oral B. Roid. And join Dreaming Ant! Both at Crazy Mocha Coffee Oakland - twice this week! Wednesday, April 18th from 4:00-5:30PM
Thursday, April 19th from 4:00-5:30PM SIGN UP for Dreaming Ant's FREE DVD Rental Membership... & RECEIVE FREE STUFF! ! Free coffee @ Crazy Mocha Coffee Co. ! Free Tartan Asia Extreme Vol. 1 sampler DVD ! Free Dreaming Ant microfiber DVD cleaning cloth Dreaming Ant's free membership requires a state ID or passport and a valid Visa or MasterCard at time of sign up. If you're already a Dreaming Ant member & you bring a friend to sign up, we'll hook you up with a free Tartan sampler! Crazy Mocha Coffee Co. Oakland [207 Oakland Ave | 412.621.7440] Category: News -- posted at: 3:38 AM Comments[0] |
Fri, 13 April 2007  In addition to our standard snacks - Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Sqwish Candy Fish, Act II Popcorn & Gourmet Caramel Corn - Dreaming Ant Oakland is now offering the following tasty treats, imported from England: Cadbury's Crunchie (1.4oz) - milk chocolate bar with golden honeycomb centre Cadbury's Flake (1.1oz) - an Old Favourite - flaked & rolled milk chocolate bar McVities Classic Rich Tea Biscuits (200g) - most popular biscuits in the UK - only 1.3g fat per biscuit & no artificial flavours or colours! Walker's Sensations Thai Sweet Chili Potato Crisps (40g) - real chili creates a gentle heat, while a dash of soy sauce, onion, tomato and garlic add a delicate sweetness for a sublime taste contrast Walker's Salt & Vinegar Potato Crisps (34.5g) - salt & vinegar flavor crisps made with sunseed oil and now with 70% less saturated fat! Walker's Cheese & Onion Potato Crisps (34.5g) - cheese & onion flavor crisps made with sunseed oil and now with 70% less saturated fat! We're also open to new suggestions, so let us know what kind of snacks you like (imported or not)! Category: News -- posted at: 5:36 PM Comments[0] |
Mon, 9 April 2007 ...well, sort of. dreamingant.com's real-time availability status is functioning again...and now, it enables you to see how many copies are available at each location! When reviewing search results on dreamingant.com, the Status indicator (IN/OUT) will quickly tell you if a movie is currently available at one of Dreaming Ant's two locations. Click 'IN' to determine availability at the individual stores. A pop-up window will display the number of copies currently available at each location as well as the total number each store has. In order to see this, you'll need to make sure your browser is set to permit pop-up windows. Disclaimer: We can not guarantee that the movie you're looking for will still be available when you get to the store, so we strongly recommend you call and request we hold it for you after you've determined it's available online. We will hold it for up to 4 hours. To Reserve a movie for pickup at our: Oakland location, Call 412-683-2200 Oakland is open daily from noon until 8PM Bloomfield location, Call 412-683-7326 Bloomfield is open weekdays 4PM-12AM & weekends 12PM-12AM Wanna rent a movie that we have in Bloomfield, but need to pick it up in Oakland (or vice versa)? No problem. Just let us know and we'll have it delivered to the requested store the next day. Thanks to Will & Erk for making this shizzlefest possible! And thanks to yinz for continuing to support Dreaming Ant! Rent on. dB Category: News -- posted at: 7:40 PM Comments[0] |
Mon, 9 April 2007  WHAT: Dreaming Ant Membership Blood Drive SIGN UP for Dreaming Ant's FREE DVD Rental Membership... & RECEIVE FREE STUFF! ! Free coffee @ Crazy Mocha Coffee Co. ! Free Tartan Asia Extreme Vol. 1 sampler DVD ! Free Dreaming Ant microfiber DVD cleaning cloth Dreaming
Ant's free membership requires a state ID or passport and a valid Visa
or MasterCard at time of sign up. If you're already a Dreaming Ant
member & you bring a friend to sign up, we'll hook you up with a
free Tartan sampler! We're trying to scare up some new members and let people know about our new Oakland store, so please spread the word...plus experience the debut guest performance of: the matrix trio [oral b , d.rae & hille d'killa] WHEN: Friday the 13th @ 4-6pm WHERE: Crazy Mocha Coffee Co. Oakland [207 Oakland Ave | 412.621.7440] Category: News -- posted at: 5:10 PM Comments[0] |
Thu, 5 April 2007 PITTSBURGH magazine wants to know what's hot in 25 online categories, so here's your chance to vote for your favorite people, places and things. Submit their online entry form by May 31, 2007. Please vote for Dreaming Ant by entering the following data in one of the "Other" categories at the bottom of the ballot: Other (List Both Category and Choice): BEST DVD STORE - DREAMING ANT Thanks! Category: News -- posted at: 3:54 AM Comments[0] |
Wed, 28 March 2007  Look for Dreaming Ant's new print ad in The Pitt News - our first real advertising ever! The ad, designed by our very own style-king Bill Bittner, features our regular muse/mascot (Big Vic) flanked by two beautiful young companions (Chantelle & Anna) and his personal bodyguard/son (Chris J). The photo shoot spawning this ad, in addition to our most recent flier & the 20"x30" photo on display at our Oakland store, was only possible thanks to a massive team effort. Born from the minds of the inimitable Jae Ruberto and yours truly, this fantastical dreamscape culminated only after numerous brainstorming sessions, endless hours of planning and the gracious participation of 18 humans, 1 dog-boy and 1 Pit bull. The shoot itself took place on a rather brisk evening (12/20/06) in Bloomfield's Darsie Street parking lot. Domo arigato, Mr. Ruberto. As many of you already know, Jae is one of my favorite collaborators and Dreaming Ant's de facto photo-biographer. Distinct characters, sublime illumination and provocative imagery color his work, and not so coincidentally, mirror Dreaming Ant's spirit. Combined with Bittner's graphic design, Jae's photographs have come to define Dreaming Ant's visual identity. His Victor Mohawk photograph was the inspiration behind Dreaming Ant's Employee-of-the-Month photo series - a collection of portraits I commissioned from him for permanent display at Dreaming Ant Bloomfield. His work is regularly featured in Dreaming Ant's promotional materials & merchandise (including our Bums are People Too t-shirt) and is occasionally published alongside articles about Dreaming Ant in local magazines such as Pittsburgh Magazine & Metropolitan. I guess what I'm getting at is that we're eternally grateful to Jae for his prolific generosity & mind bending artistry. Please do yourselves a favor, and check out more of Jae's work on his flickr.com page....and BUY his art if you like it! The Models (all of whom either work for or patronize D'Ant): David Conrad (Ghost Whisperer's hubbie), Candice Pulkowski (Crazy Mocha Bloomfield barista & makeup/hair/costume), Lindsey Hawkins (CM Shadyside barista), Che Elias (author/publisher), Will Simmons (D'Ant web stud), Merissa Lombardo (assistant art director on upcoming film Smart People), Andrew McKeon aka "Fan Favorite" (Ant Staff & writer-extraordinaire), Ashley Brickman (Ant Staff & legendary video artiste), Chris Johns (BFF), Chantelle Simpson (one of Studio Ant's Beautiful People), Victor E. Navarro, Jr. (D'Great White Ant...the real King of All Media & host of Dreaming Ant afterhours), Anna Ngo (one of Studio Ant's Beautiful People), Ben Rod aka "Oral B" aka "B. Roid" (Ant Staff & resident superhero-cum-artist), Jennifer Bechak (Ant Staff, sculptor & art professor), dB (Antman), Hilary Buttenfield (CM Bloomfield barista & all-around badass), Wynne Lanros (CM Bloomfield barista & coffee shop philosopher), Pat McFalls aka "Slop" (anarcho attorney-cum-financial adviser), Nathan Kukulski (occasional Ant Staff & future designer of the Isolation Chamber 2021), Tom Savini ("The Godfather of Gore" & Deputy Tolo in upcoming Tarantino/Rodriguez joint Grindhouse)...and Eric Buttenfield's pup, Cassius. Thanks, all!! The ad will run on the following dates, so check it out. Friday, March 30th Thursday, April 5th Friday, April 6th Thursday, April 12th Editor's Note: This announcement comes shortly after Dreaming Ant's 4-Year Anniversary, which quietly passed on March 24th! Thanks to all of our staff and members for allowing us to continue providing cool movies to the Pittsburgh area! And I promise, next year, I will not let our anniversary sneak past us again...we will definitely do something special for our 5-Year Anniversary! Category: News -- posted at: 1:35 PM Comments[0] |
Fri, 23 March 2007 March 2007. Bill O'Driscoll offers an overview of Pittsburgh's independent video stores in his recent Pittsburgh City Paper article: Video Futures. Category: News -- posted at: 3:37 PM Comments[0] |
Fri, 23 March 2007  It's true! Pittsburgh City Paper's Bill O'Driscoll summed it up well in his recent article - Video Futures - when he wrote: "In January, Dreaming Ant quietly added a South Craig Street location to its Bloomfield flagship." Quiet we were. But, now it's time to make some noise! We're in the same building as Phantom of the Attic Comics, Brave New World Music & History Bead Trading Company. Our building is sandwiched between Caliban Book Shop & Ali Baba Restaurant. Dreaming Ant Oakland 412-683-2200 406 South Craig Street, 2nd Floor Open Daily 12PM-8PM In addition to an ever-growing selection of movies for rent, Dreaming Ant Oakland also sells a few select snacky cakes, blank media (CD-R / DVD-R), DVD cases, Dreaming Ant micro-fiber cleaning cloths & T-shirts and a limited selection of new and previously-viewed DVD titles such as Loose Change. We're also thinking of adding cold beverages and additional movie titles for sale...and as always, we welcome your suggestions! FAQs Q1. If I signed up in Bloomfield, can I rent at the Oakland store too? A1. Yes. All Dreaming Ant members can rent at both locations. You only need to complete one membership application. If you're a new member, however, it might take up to a week before your account is active at both locations. Q2. If I rented a DVD from one location, can I return it to the other location? A2. Yes. Rentals may be returned to either store. Q3. How will my Frequent Renter Points (FRP) accumulate if I rent from both locations? A3. Your FRPs will accumulate separately at each store and are not transferable between stores. Q4. If I purchase Prepaid Rentals, can I use them at both stores? A4. Prepaid Rentals must be redeemed at the store where they're purchased (at least for the time being). If you're a Prepaid Plan member and anticipate frequenting both stores, email me. We'll work something out to accommodate you. Q5. I want to rent a movie but Dreaming Ant's only copy is at the other location. Is it possible to rent it without going to the other store? A5. Yes. Dreaming Ant members can access our entire inventory from either location. Provide the name of the movie you're interested in renting - either in person or via phone - and assuming it's available, we'll have it transferred by the next day so you can rent it from your regular location. I have numerous people to thank, and a few new Ants - Ashley, Bill & Amy - to introduce, so you'll be hearing from me again soon... Live the Dream! And thanks for your continued support of Dreaming Ant! dB Category: News -- posted at: 1:09 PM Comments[0] |
Sun, 21 January 2007 The real-time component on dreamingant.com is currently not functioning. One of the reasons we decided to postpone the Oakland store's opening, as a matter of fact, is because we're still testing a recent IT implementation that will enable our members to freely rent and return DVDs from either of our two stores. As intuitive as this may seem, you'd be surprised at just how few video stores offer this convenience. We're finding out why...it's a pretty massive undertaking. Our website's upgraded functionality will also allow anyone to view the availability of our entire catalog across both stores online. In other words, you'll be able to determine which of our two stores has a specific title in stock at any given time. Soo...as soon as we feel comfortable that everything is functioning properly in the test arena, we will restore the upgraded real-time functionality as well as some additional lil tweaks. Thanks for bearing with us during this transition as Will and Eric are bustin' their rumps to get this pup working for y'all! Rent on. dB Category: News -- posted at: 2:48 AM Comments[0] |
Fri, 19 January 2007  ATTENTION: Dreaming Ant's Not-So-Grand Opening has been postponed!! Everyone tried their best, but there just wasn't enough time in each day to accomplish everything...despite me pulling two double all-nighters this past week. Plus, it just didn't seem like the stars were aligned: Jae - the mastermind behind the Big Vic photo shoot - is locked up in Novum so our unveiling of his photo wouldn't be as rewarding. Eric - half of our database-web design team - is vacationing in the tropical paradise of Beloit, Wisconsin this week. And Ashley - one of our newest Ants - will be in New York which would force her to miss her 1st day of work! But if you must know the real reason we ain't openin'...it's 'cause we gots no inventory over der! We could serve up some of Amy's tasty cookies & hot chocolate, Ben's famous Sugar Fantasy, Candice's chocolate-covered Ants, or Vic's infamous Curmudgeon Tea...but we felt that, as tempting as these might be, yinz would probably want at least a few movies to browse, eh? Okay. So, excuses out of the way. We DO plan to open this week, but unfortunately I can not offer, or I prefer not to commit to, a specific day. Let's just say it will be a bit of a game of touch 'n go... Thanks for bearing with us! See ya in Oakland...soon!! dB Category: News -- posted at: 3:14 PM Comments[0] |
Fri, 5 January 2007  We're finally doin' it...Dreaming Ant Oakland is gonna open on January 20th whether we have movies on the shelves or not, damn it! So please join us for the Most Modest of Grand Openings to celebrate our new Oakland store. Live the Dream! Saturday, January 20th 12:00PM - 8:00PM Witness the unveiling of Jae Ruberto's masterpiece culled from the infamous Big-Vic photoshoot. Rent movies. Hear tracks from corn-pone - victor navarro jr.'s controversial album banned...well, banned somewhere, I'm sure! Rent movies. Watch episodes from Dreaming Ant's afterhours video podcast featuring interviews with David Conrad (Ghost Whisperer, Men of Honor), Lloyd Kaufman (Troma Entertainment), Cameron Romero (The Screening), Patrick Jordan (The Screening)...and more! Rent movies. Experience the sensation of browsing Dreaming Ant's choice DVD collection for the first time ever in a smoke-free environment! Rent movies. Participate in the Paint-an-Ant-on-the-Banister interactive sports event. Rent movies. Dreaming Ant Oakland 406 South Craig Street, 2nd Floor 412-683-2200 We're in the same building as Phantom of the Attic Comics, Brave New World Music & History Bead Trading Company. Halfway between LuLu's Noodles and Kiva Han Coffee. It has been rumored that there'll be beverages, snacky-cakes, door prizes...and who knows? Perhaps a celebrity or two might even show up. Find out by visiting us on Saturday, January 20th...and Live the Dream! Thanks to all yinz guys for continuing to support Dreaming Ant n@! dB Category: News -- posted at: 9:14 PM Comments[0] |
Thu, 7 December 2006  ...and it clearly isn't due to too much sex! Quite the opposite, sadly. Seriously tho, folks. We're excited to officially announce our second Dreaming Ant location opening veddy soon in Oakland! Our new space will be located on the 2nd (or 3rd, depending who you ask) floor of 406 South Craig Street in the same building as two of the coolest neighbors we could dream of: Phantom of the Attic Comics and Brave New World Music. Our goal is to have the new store operational before the end of the year so we can work out the kinks. But we're gonna host our official Grand Opening in mid-January when students return from break. We will most definitely inform y'all about it as soon as we firm up the details. In the meantime, please start spreadin' the word that there's gonna be a new Ant in town! Thanks for supporting Dreaming Ant!! See ya in Oakland! dB PS - We're gonna be ordering a whole heck of a lot of DVDs in the very near future, so I would invite you to put in your requests now. It's by far your best opportunity to influence our purchasing. Please leave your movie requests in the Comments section below. And if you're a Professor or Teacher's Assistant who teaches film or utilizes film/video in class, Dreaming Ant is very interested in fulfilling your needs, so please email me your syllabus ASAP so I can order and hopefully stock your requests before next semester begins! Category: News -- posted at: 5:00 AM Comments[8] |
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