The Patriots sacked Drew Bledsoe seven times — five on Buffalo’s last two desperation drives — during the Bills’ 31-17 loss on Sunday. New England scored the game-clinching touchdown when it sacked Bledsoe, forced and recovered his fumble, and ran it 68 yards to the end zone. The play epitomized the long season Bills fans […]
Arts & Entertainment
Posted inArts & Entertainment
We’re not quite in Arcadia anymore
Some time in 1988 I learned one of my biggest lessons in aesthetics. I was living in the Los Angeles area and went to a movie theater in Century City to see Terry Gilliam’s film, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. I walked away enthralled, excited, and inspired. The next night, wanting to share my enthusiasm […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The art of sex and beauty
“You are so dangerously close to owning me,” confesses enamored college student Adam to his self-proclaimed “artist” girlfriend Evelyn. Poor clueless Adam, he doesn’t know just how emotionally treacherous his relationship is. Stunning and engaging, The Shape of Things by playwright Neil LaBute invests its audience in the tumultuous romance of the seemingly terminally geeky […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Third Simon a charm
Geva has treated Neil Simon awfully well in its now-complete trilogy of Simon’s autobiographical “BB-plays,” Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and Broadway Bound. The last is the best, because the script and characters, as well as the actors, director and designers, have all matured and grown in the process. Biloxi took Eugene Morris Jerome to […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Boys vs. girls
The Olympic gold medal-winning US women’s soccer team, featuring superstar and Rochester-native Abby Wambach, plays Iceland on Saturday night, September 25, at Frontier Field as part of a 10-city “Fan Celebration Tour.” Iceland is ranked 17th in the FIFA world rankings, and obviously needs a spark, like Björk showing up in a swan suit to […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Oooh, I feel the power
Bills fans should take one positive from Buffalo’s 13-10 opening-day home loss to Jacksonville. It was nothing like last year’s 31-0 Week 1 thrashing of the Patriots, which set up weighty expectations that Buffalo ultimately crumbled under. This time, there shouldn’t be any surprises. I like Mike Mularkey’s temperament. He’s even-keeled, and doesn’t allow emotion […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Of anger and chocolate milk
Some sports fans are disgusted when players fight, but they really ought to appreciate its significance. When Montreal’s Nevio Pizzolitto punched Rochester’s Lenin Steenkamp in the face as they headed to the locker room during the Rhinos’ 2-0 win on August 27, it indicated passion. I don’t care whether Pizzolitto cheap-shotted Steenkamp, or Steenkamp provoked […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Where is the love?
During a training camp session on a sauna-like day, running back Travis Henry spots a photographer shooting pictures of him from about 40 feet away. He smiles, points, then flashes the thumbs-up sign. The 25-year-old is cheerful and relaxed, exhibiting little concern that former University of Miami superstar Willis McGahee is starting for him while […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Dispatches from Canada
I missed parts one and two of Peter Hinton’s The Swanne and just now caught the finale of this ambitious new Canadian trilogy, The Swanne: Queen Victoria (The Seduction of Nemesis). The title may suggest some of its problems. The play is a too-elaborate historical fantasy in which the young Queen Victoria writes a work […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
I’m so happy
The mass media might make you feel as if the planet is doomed. But that’s just egotistical paranoia. Earth has been around billions of years, and I’m certain it has endured seemingly catastrophic times like ours before. Believe me, we’re nothing special. Life is the same as it ever was. Obstacles confront humanity, and people […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Back from the bigs
The Twins called up Red Wings shortstop Jason Bartlett on July 27 for his first big-league stint when utility infielder Nick Punto broke his clavicle. Bartlett, 24, played in two games against Anaheim but he struggled, going 0-for-5 and committing two errors. Minnesota sent him down on August 6. In Rochester, Bartlett hit .339 before […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Rediscovering great comedy and one whatsit
Three more knockout productions at Stratford present a gentle comedy, a laugh riot, and a Shakespeare whatsit. Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens partly seems to be written by someone else, is both tragic and garishly comical, and brilliantly and really badly written. Yet, this is the third Stratford production of Timon that has made it look […]
