Cover Story
Poetry, politics, and pie
Rochester is the Land of 1,000 Potlucks — a place where a commitment to art and a passion for fostering community are inextricably linked. On a warm evening in early July, a pie-centric potluck transpired in the city. In the hosts’ backyard, a table held several different pies — most of them homemade — brought…
The photonics fight: it’s about leadership, not buildings
SUNY Polytechnic should have known better than to pick a fight over the photonics institute. Companies and researchers in the Rochester region helped carve out the multi-disciplinary, high-tech field, and they’ve remained at the top of it. Local leaders have been fiercely protective of the industry, and they weren’t about to let someone from outside…
SUNY Polytech wants Legacy Tower for photonics HQ
It appears that Legacy Tower will be the downtown home of the recently announced, Department of Defense-backed photonics manufacturing institute. Or maybe not. Last night, SUNY Polytechnic Institute and several local business leaders — few of whom have anything to do with the photonics field — announced that SUNY Polytechnic plans to lease 25,000 square…
Scenes from the Rochester Twilight Criterium
The Rochester Twilight Criterium returned to downtown on Saturday, August 15, following a 6-year hiatus. More than 20,000 spectators came out to watch 339 participants race in a variety of competitions throughout the day, including in the two major contests: the women’s pro race and the men’s pro, which took place as the sun was…
WEEK AHEAD: Events for the week of Monday, August 17
The Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council will meet from 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday at Monroe Community College’s Monroe A and B room. The council hasn’t released an agenda for the session (it rarely does before the day of it its meetings), but discussion will likely center on a few items: The council’s Upstate…
Bronson, Slaughter endorse Frankel
Democratic County Executive candidate Sandy Frankel picked up a couple of high-profile Democratic endorsements today. House Representative Louise Slaughter and State Assembly member Harry Bronson threw their support behind Frankel this morning, during a press conference announcing the opening of a Frankel campaign office on Lyell Avenue. They emphasized Frankel’s experience serving 20 years as Brighton…
Former B+L tower emerges as another possible photonics HQ site
The Sibley Building isn’t the only downtown site in the running for the headquarters of a new advanced photonics institute. This morning, the Rochester Business Alliance sent out a statement from a group of local business leaders, urging SUNY Polytechnic Institute officials and other institute decision-makers to put the headquarters in Legacy Tower — formerly…
Film Review: “People Places Things”
If you’ve ever seen “The Flight of the Conchords,” then you’d be forgiven for assuming that the goofy Jemaine Clement (he’s the one with the glasses) couldn’t possibly pull off believable dramatic acting in a leading-man role. You’d also be wrong, as evidenced by his lovely performance in writer-director Jim Strouse’s “People Places Things,” a…
Bank or bust
Lumetrics is the kind of company that local elected and business officials love to tout. The Henrietta firm was founded in 2002 and employs 25 people. It designs and manufactures extremely precise measurement systems for multi-layer and coated materials, which other companies use in the production of everything from automobile windshields, to contact lenses, to…
ART | Portfolio Showcase 2015
Eight artist’s portfolios were chosen out of a pool of more than 70 competitors to be displayed at the Image City Photography Gallery. The portfolios are selected by photographer and founder of Visual Studies Workshop, Nathan Lyons. The photographers are Paul Zachman, Andy Schecter, Sandy Rothenberg, Steve Malloy Desormeaux, Frank Liberti, John Kosboth, Jeno Horvath,…
Night riders
To put it simply, competing in a criterium is not easy, says cyclist Adam Myerson. “Bicycle racing is very tactically complex,” he says. “The best thing I could compare it to is trying to play speed chess with someone while running on a treadmill, and juggling at the same time.” While it (sadly) doesn’t involve…
FESTIVAL | Clarissa Street Reunion
With a mission to organize, operate, and maintain a program dedicated to recognizing and celebrating the diversity of Clarissa Street, the Clarissa Street Reunion is a way to reflect on a neighborhood that’s seen a lot of change, and to celebrate its ability to come back. The first reunion, in 1996, attracted more than 10,000…
ROCK | He Is Legend
Wilmington, North Carolina-based rock act He Is Legend has a wider palette than most. The band is rooted in metalcore but its music is also difficult to pigeonhole. He Is Legend’s latest album, “Heavy Fruit,” mellows things out a bit with “Something, Something, Something Witchy,” a song that creates a gothic vibe and brings to mind…
FILM | “Be Kind Rewind”
Held in Martin Luther King Jr. Park and set against the background of the city, Movies with a Downtown View ends its second summer with “Be Kind Rewind.” The event will be supplied by food trucks and a beer station, but patrons are also allowed to bring a picnic of their own otherwise. The Michel…
COUNTRY | Ray Wylie Hubbard
Ray Wylie Hubbard … he’s run with the likes of Jerry Jeff Walker and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. Need I say more? Okay, he penned the tune “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother” and he fronted the seminal cowpunk outfit The Cowboy Twinkies. His song “Conversation with the Devil” has Hubbard explaining away getting high, saying…
FILM | “Monty Python and The Holy Grail”
The 1975 cult classic “Monty Python and The Holy Grail” coconut claps its way into The Little Theatre (240 East Avenue) on Wednesday, August 19. In anticipation of Geva Theatre’s debut of “Spamalot,” this iconic film — following the misadventures of King Arthur and his men on the hunt for the Holy Grail — ’tis…
ROCK | Psychostick
Songs about boobs, body functions, and tacos over a precise soundtrack … yup, it’s Psychostick. Hailing from Tempe, Arizona, this band of buffoons come off as more of a fraternity prank than a band — except they can really play. That’s right, despite the low brow high jinx, the band plays an excellent mash-up of…
THEATER | “Candida”
Bernard Shaw described his “Candida” as a “pleasant play,” but Shaw’s pleasantries cover some serious ground: Victorian political and religious institutions, societal assumptions about marital roles, and a sundry tossing-up and turning-around of late 19th-century assumptions. The subjects discussed may be faded now, but the dialogue remains stimulating, surprising, and funny. Candida Morell is a…
Going back to Greece
The “coming home” theme is a common one when it comes to telling the story of where people decide to open restaurants. Mark Chiarenza grew up in Greece and after being involved in opening and running various establishments in Rochester (Murphy’s Law, Nikko, Char at the Strathallan), he decided he wanted to open his next…
CLASSICAL | Publick Musick Plays Bach
Two concert programs can’t come close to conveying the variety of Johann Sebastian Bach’s music, but Publick Musick will give it a good try this week. The local, early-music organization is presenting some top-notch musicians in two “Summer Nights with Bach” concerts: one Wednesday, August 12, and the other on Saturday, August 15. Wednesday’s concert…
ELECTRONIC | The Black Madonna
Though bassheads and club kids vehemently defend their EDM, it’s not a stretch to say the genre can, at times, get a bit convoluted and tired. Enter Marea Stamper, a k a The Black Madonna. Varying from other acts in the Hi-NRG and House scene, The Black Madonna eschews the oh-so-approachable MacBooks and prerecorded loops,…
CLASSICAL | Skaneateles Festival
For four weeks, revered, world-class musicians come to the Finger Lakes area for intimate performances, meals between the performers and the audience, and intimate music lessons. This year’s festival in Skaneateles consists of a diverse group of top classical, jazz, and even folk musicians. The festival, which runs Wednesday, August 12, through Saturday, September 5,…
FOLK | Fiddles & Fibers
Across two days and four stages, and with more than 100 performers, Genesee Country Village’s Old-Time Fiddlers’ Fair offers equal reverence for seasoned professionals and still-learning amateurs. Each of the four stages will have a specific focus, with a New Performers stage, a Main Stage where noted regional fiddlers will kick-off each hour, an Exhibition…
ALBUM REVIEW: “Smoke Signals”
The Ginger Faye Bakers “Smoke Signals” Self-released thegingerfayebakers.bandcamp.com “Smoke Signals,” the new album from The Ginger Faye Bakers, rocks ready and steady like Sabbath on a Mersey beat jag. Guitars that seethe and jangle roar over the drums’ classic rattle and beat. Influence slithers throughout in splinters and shards on cuts like “Evil Twins,” which screams…
ALBUM REVIEW: “Team & Variations”
Isaac Darche “Team & Variations” Challenge Records isaacdarche.com There’s no grand theme and no venturing into wild, unexplored territory on guitarist Isaac Darche’s “Team & Variations,” but it’s sometimes refreshing to hear an album by an artist whose only goal is a straight-ahead blowing session. This is especially apparent when the group tackles two standards…
Feedback 8/12
We welcome your comments. Send them to themail@rochester-citynews.com, or post them on our website, rochestercitynewspaper.com, our Facebook page, or our Twitter feed, @roccitynews. Comments of fewer than 350 words have a greater chance of being published, and we do edit selections for publication in print. We don’t publish comments sent to other media. More personnel…
Disrupting our disruption
You might consider knowledge of the range of species in a rainforest or a coral reef to be privileged, reserved for scientists and others who study such things. But truth be told, most of us are only vaguely conscious of the minute, diverse scope of life that exists all around us, as we buzz through…
Urban Action 8/12
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted. Climate group to meet CitizensClimateLobby.org’s Rochester chapter will meet at 7 p.m. on Monday, August 17. The nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group is promoting policies that address climate change. The event will be held…
Change is a verb
The passage of time can be a horrifying concept, especially when nothing changes. Last weekend marked the one year anniversary of the killing of Michael Brown, which was followed by more of the same, to the collective disgust of some and the collective shrug of too many. America’s unfulfilled responsibility to black America includes acknowledging…
The end of AIDS in NYS
The next time you see your primary care physician, don’t be surprised if you’re asked when you were last tested for HIV infection. HIV testing, particularly for those between the ages of 13 to 64 in New York State, is on its way to being as routine and regular as checking for high blood pressure.…
FESTIVAL | Susan B. Anthony Fest
Celebrating the 95th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment, granting women the right to vote, commonly known as the “Susan B. Anthony Amendment,” this festival will memorialize one of Rochester’s most famous civil rights icons. Appropriately situated at Susan B. Anthony Square Park (between Madison Street and King Street), the festival will feature…
Recap of the FUA BBoy BBQ 2015
Rochester’s oldest graffiti crew moved its annual celebration from North Clinton Avenue to the Abandoned Subway this year, in part because of the discussion about closing off the Court Street entrance with a development project. Krew members invited locals and guests from New York City, Buffalo, Ithaca, Syracuse, and beyond to get down on Saturday…
Film Review: “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”
When filmmaker Guy Ritchie first hit the scene in the late 90’s with his flashy cinematic calling card, “Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels,” he seemed like England’s answer to Quentin Tarantino, though possibly just an amped-up knockoff. (Plus Ritchie presented us with Jason Statham, really a gift that keeps on giving.) But in the…
Film Review: “Shaun the Sheep Movie”
The latest from Aardman Animations — the stop-motion masters behind Wallace and Gromit — follows the misadventures of the titular free-spirited sheep and his fleeced brethren when they attempt to secure themselves a day off from the dull routine of farm life. Through an imaginatively executed series of mishaps, the flock (along with their dog,…
Film Review: “Ricki and the Flash
Rock singer Ricki Rendazzo (Meryl Streep) once dreamed of filling stadiums, but in the years since she first set off on her career, she’s settled for a weekly gig playing for a small but loyal crowd of regulars at a divey bar in Tarzana, California. As “Ricki and the Flash” begins, Ricki receives a call…
Film Review: “The Gift”
Subtlety and restraint aren’t qualities one expects to find in most modern thrillers, but “The Gift,” whose marketing has suggested a sleazy domestic thriller in the vein of “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” or “Single White Female,” finds ways to surprise its audience at every turn. Marking the impressive directing debut of actor Joel…
What I’ve been learning from the great Fox debate
The Republican candidates are angry people. But voters are angry, too – and not just conservative and Republican voters.
Opera Review: Finger Lakes Opera’s “The Elixir of Love”
The only disappointing thing about Finger Lakes Opera’s production of “L’elisir d’amore” (“The Elixir of Love”) is that it’s over after only two performances last weekend. The organization is only in its second year, but with this fresh production of an old favorite, it sets some high standards. This was as pleasurable an opera production…
Beautiful blues
On his 1968 album “Underground,” Thelonious Monk has an exquisite tune called “Ugly Beauty” that celebrates the artist and his penchant for the cooperative dichotomy of fluid space and dissonance. Kansas City blues guitarist Samantha Fish embodies this celebration as this beautiful young lady plays some ugly blues. Now before you come after me with…
