All that jazz: RIJF in review
With the third annual Rochester International Jazz Festival fresh in our minds, let’s state the obvious: this is not just a jazz festival; this is the best thing to happen in Rochester in decades. It took an outsider, producer John Nugent, to see the potential of a city with rich musical resources and a…
Duke Robillard does what he does…
For whatever reason you find yourself in a nightclub — nursing a beer, drowning a broken heart, looking for love, or to actually hear the band — you’re bound to learn something. See Duke Robillard finesse and strangle notes out of his guitar and you’ve just had a lesson in the blues. Watching him play…
Body count
To honor the war dead and fill an information gap in US mass media, City Newspaper will run weekly lists of American/”Coalition” soldiers killed during the ongoing occupation of Iraq. The totals: 838 American soldiers and 116 “Coalition” soldiers have been killed in Iraq since the beginning of the occupation to June 14. At least…
Daybreak
Americans believe in sunshine. We don’t like bad news. And we want a president who makes us feel good. And so America is in a period of glowing mourning over the death of that happiest of presidents, Ronald Reagan. Reading the tributes, looking at his adoring Nancy, our sadness has been wrapped in warmth.…
Minds changed
Minds changed One of the most common images Westerners have of Buddhists is an Asian monk in flowing robes, sitting full lotus in meditation. Change Your Mind Day, a nationwide event presented by Tricycle Magazine and co-sponsored locally by the Rochester Zen Center and the Amitabha Foundation, set out, at least in part, to disabuse…
Readers feedback 6.16.04
Central Station’s location, panhandlers’ costs
Risky business
Hani Shuaibi, owner of a city corner store, already has security cameras that can replay events up to three days old. And soon, that may not be enough to keep him in business. Shuaibi stood in front of fellow business owners and city officials at a public forum Monday, June 14, to express concern about…
In the eye of the storm
Again this spring, the Rochester school district has been wrestling with a serious budget gap, with expenses increasing faster than revenue. Again this spring, the district — like school districts throughout New YorkState — has had to put together its budget without knowing how much it will get from the state, its largest single revenue…
Family valued 6.16.04
‘Rave Reviews’ for teens Every summer my office receives quite a variety of reading lists for children and adults. Occasionally I get one for teens, but it is usually the required reading list for a local school or one produced by an organization jumping on the bandwagon to tout literature for teens. One unusual…
A call to action
There’s a crisis in our schools — and the budget’s a distraction When City Council votes on the Rochester school budget next week, odds are it will do what Mayor Bill Johnson wants it to do: give the district $7 million less than it has asked for. One reason is that the city has…
Calendar girl
Rubber Duck Race, Ellison Park, Saturday, June 12 You couldn’t ask for better racing conditions. Not a cloud in the sky, a gentle breeze from the northeast. The water current is brisk. The air temperature is 58 degrees and rising. Fans line the banks of Irondequoit Creek, toting binoculars, talking smack. “My money’s on 4…
A smoking side of local history
If sandwiches are trendy and noodles are hot, barbecue is positively smoking. Try getting a table at Dinosaur, and you know this. People can’t get enough of smoked meats and sides. That’s all good. As long as the deal is square and the experience decent, I can eat even mediocre barbecue. The most recent…
Sports are beneath you
Stereotypical City Newspaper readers don’t open the paper to read about sports. They sit in coffeehouses debating the world’s injustices while ignoring the NBA or Stanley Cup Finals, even the NFL training camps that get started next month. They might not even know what sports I’m talking about. But I don’t blame them. I often…
Life in the affluent suburbs
The first feature film based on Ira Levin’s novel, The Stepford Wives, a combination of horror and science fiction with roots reaching all the way back to Frankenstein, appeared in1975 and, though it barely retained the spirit of the original, proved influential in some unforeseen ways. The movie spawned three sequels, all of them inadequate…
City’s choice: shorts
This week we have two back-to-back chances to see locally made short films and animation. Eggwork Productions (headed by Rochester filmmaker and City contributor Matt Ehlers) presents its fourth annual Eggmark night on Sunday, June 20. Not only will Ehlers screen his hysterical, too-short Who’s Your Daddy, a pick at both the Sundance and SXSW…
Desperate love, desperate measures
Three movies playing around town right now tell tales of obsessive love spawning disturbed behavior. A Slipping Down Life, a pleasantly rewarding indie film just now making it into theaters after five years of technical wrangles, has the most natural approach, and seems in danger of being overlooked for its lack of sensationalism. The…
