Man, I love this job. I recently pulled off a cover photo shoot with my ex, convincing her to do it in her underwear. I think I’ll ask her to model for my nude sunbathing article next. While you all got fat watching re-runs, I was driving four hours to see San Diego’s Paladins […]
Frank De Blase
Posted inNews & Opinion
Get my thrift
Thank God the stuff I dig doesn’t cost a lot. Everybody loves a bargain. But, frankly, the things I wear and use to clutter my crib just aren’t made any more. I’ll find myself elbow deep in piles of crap nobody wants in order to score some retro gem. Whether it’s a blue sharkskin […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Meet the middle men
They get their hands dirty so you don’t have to. If the thrill of the hunt doesn’t arouse your passion, or if you have no patience for old clock radios blaring Whitney Houston through the combined funk of several generations, these stores are for you. It may cost a little more, but rest assured: It’ll […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Music done cheap
Shopping at thrift stores for tunes — it’s like the day the music keeps dying. You’ll find soundtracks from bygone eras preserved in their dated formats — LPs, cassettes, 8-track tapes. Cool finds, like some early Jim Reeves or Elvis, can be weeded out of a heap of musicians that seemed so, so important at […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
The stores we dig (and why)
Will you stumble upon a treasure? That’s a bit of a crap shoot. Some thrift-store aficionados suggest shopping during spring-cleaning season before things wind up in summer garage sales. Calling around usually proves fruitless, especially if you’re into weird stuff. You’re going to have to get your own hands dirty. A lot of these places […]
Posted inMusic
The rise and fall and rise of the Veins
On a balmy June night, in a dank East Main Street rehearsal space, amidst the grime, beer bottles, and static, The Veins made it. No Grammy. No applause. No fat cats puffin’ cigars with hollow promises and crossed fingers. No glittery glamazons hanging on their arms, just a few girly pictures lost among a sea […]
Posted inMusic
Flutes are anathema, drummers use sticks
I’ve been serving wine and cheese to the Broadway types seeing Aida at the Auditorium all week. I need some rock ’n’ roll or anything loud, stat. But first, a brief, albeit sanctified, pit stop in Fairport. It was on a hot Saturday afternoon that I saw my niece Angel receive her first communion. […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Eight minute love affair
No smarmy come-ons, no nervous chatter, no suspicious ring-finger tan lines. Just eight minutes to make a love connection.
