Music lived here
It would probably amaze (or disgust) folks outside the life what musicians will do to support their habit. When a band forms the possibilities are endless. Its members are drawn to the frills — fame, immortality, sex, beer — as if by siren song. But then reality slowly sets in. Wallets get thin. Girlfriends split.…
Can diversity save hockey?
On April 8, Binghamton Senators goon extraordinaire Brian McGrattan bragged before the B-Sens’ impending game with the Rochester Americans that he would break the American Hockey League’s single-season record for penalty minutes by immediately picking a fight with Amerks tough guy Sean McMorrow. McGrattan wasn’t bullshitting. About two minutes into the first period, McGrattan roped…
Feeling a draft?
It’s April 16, 2000. The second day of another NFL draft is underway. The quarterback prospects plucked so far include Chris Redman and Giovanni Carmazzi in the third round, Tee Martin in the fifth, and Spergon Wynn in the early sixth. Who? Precisely. But I’ll bet you’ve heard the name of the quarterback who every…
Real estate can be a nightmare
All those pious pundits who regularly lament the decline of faith should examine the history of the horror flick over the last few decades. Ever since the glory days of The Exorcist and The Omen, which inspired numerous sequels, remakes, and imitations, religion constitutes an important element in the form, suggesting the continuing attractions of…
What are a few bodies among friends?
Films, like any form of art, are created in order to evoke a cavalcade of emotions, but there are generally just three ways in which movies can affect me: entertain, annoy, devastate. And this week, I experienced all three reactions. Intensely. Filmmaker Stephen Chow is quite possibly the result of a drunken threesome involving Jackie…
The bursting open of a flower
“Bali has the most vibrant culture I have ever seen or experienced,” says Ellen Koskoff, professor of musicology at Eastman School of Music. You’ll have an opportunity to see if this statement holds any water when she and the gamelan ensemble Lila Muni perform their annual concert at Kilbourn Hall as part of the ongoing…
Skating on thin ice
The word “conservative” comes from a Latin word meaning “to preserve.” The Bush administration bills itself as conservative, but it’s anything but. It’s unprecedented for a country, under conservative leadership or otherwise, to propel itself from financial health to possible collapse as fast as the US has over the past five years. When George…
The XX Files
In fifth grade, in line for gym, Patty Joyce urged me to try it, just try it. She held her thumb and forefinger right in front of my face. Thin strands of what looked like cotton candy connected them. “It’s cotton candy,” she said. “Try it.” I knew there was no way she could possibly…
Reader feedback 4.20.05
THE PROBLEM IS IGNORANCE I love it when college types write letters claiming to know why urban schools fail (“The Schools’ problem? Concentrated Poverty,” March 30). It is particularly laughable when the observations come from folks who have jobs as trainers, staff-development experts, professional writers, consultants, or others who talk like farmers claiming to know…
Body count 4.20.05
The totals: 1,555 American soldiers, 177 Coalition soldiers, and approximately 17,384 to 19,770 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq from the beginning of the war and occupation to April 17. American soldiers killed from April 13-17: Specialist Casey M. LaWare, 19; Redding, California | Specialist Manuel Lopez III, 20; Cape Coral, Florida | Specialist…
In Monroe County, every waste has its place
The term “hazardous waste” calls up images of industrial plants spewing ugly green effluent into the nearest waterway or nuclear energy plants on the verge of meltdown. But you need look no further than your own basement, garage, and storage closets to discover stuff — much of it seemingly benign — that is dangerous to…
‘To seek Middle East peace, seek equality’
Halfway between the cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem lies the tiny village of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam. Just 50 families call it home. But despite its size, the village has attracted international attention, including Nobel Prize nominations. The Hebrew and Arabic phrases Neve Shalom and Wahat al-Salam translate into English as “oasis of peace.”…
A culture of life?
Well, not one of death, at least. In this state and for the rest of this year, that is. A proposed revision of New York’s death-penalty legislation died in a state Assembly committee last week. The Court of Appeals, New YorkState’s highest, declared provisions in the statute unconstitutional last year. And while the Republican-controlled…
Family valued 4.20.05
Engage your sprockets “The sprocket,” explains Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for Children director Jane Schoettle, “is the piece of projection machinery that engages the holes in a film.” The metaphor here is that in the same way, the 10-day festival will be a point of interaction between the world of children’s films and the…
Cost of war – 4.26.06
The totals: 2380 US soldiers, 210 Coalition soldiers, and approximately 34,511 to 38,660 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq from the beginning of the war and occupation to April 24. 3221 Iraqi police and guardsmen have been killed since January 2005, according to an estimate compiled from news reports. American soldiers killed between April…
