Cover Story
The A/V club: Rochester musician-artists
It’s short-sighted to think of an artist confined to a single medium. Yes, in most cases, a creator shines in one area. But it is interesting to view — or hear — an artist apply the traits of one medium to another. The term “artist” is typically reserved for those who work in the visual…
Dems float detention center funding plan
Democrats in the Monroe County Legislature say they have a plan to pass financing for a new children’s detention center — the center is already in the works. But Legislature Republicans have already rejected the idea once. This latest proposal is just another aspect of a boiling — and increasingly sprawling — feud in the…
Film Review: “American Hustle”
Based on a true story, “American Hustle” opens in a semi-documentary manner, with a line of on-screen prose providing the location — the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan — and the date — November, 1978. Some intermittent voice-over narration from the two major characters throughout the movie continues the documentary tone. After that, however, both action…
Concert Review: Hard Rain at Nola’s
On the rock ‘n’ roll road to ruin, you’ll pass by plenty of bands that came close. Bands that tasted the sorbet but never made it to the big kids’ table. Bands whose legacy is prefixed with an “almost” or suffixed with a “so close.” Rochester hard-rock outfit Hard Rain is a prime example of…
Comptroller’s report details state authorities’ payrolls
This post has been corrected. State-created public authorities have about 104,000 employees that they pay just under $7 billion — $762 million of which is overtime pay, says a new report from the state Comptroller’s Office. The report is hardly a rebuke of the spending; it’s mostly a straightforward account of staff salaries, overtime pay,…
Film Review: “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues”
“Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” took audiences by surprise when it opened nearly a decade ago, in the summer of 2004. The 70’s-era tale of Will Ferrell’s dimwitted, sexist newsman was a minor hit at the box office and has only grown in popularity in the years since. Many of its more memorable lines…
Film Review: “Nebraska”
Veteran character actor Bruce Dern plays Woody Grant, an aging, unemployed alcoholic convinced he’s won a million dollars in a mail-order sweepstakes in “Nebraska,” Alexander Payne’s darkly comic fable of dreams unfulfilled. After several attempts to set out on foot from his home in Montana, his exasperated son David (Will Forte, in an understated performance)…
On LDC’s, county says it’s conducting a review, not an investigation
One of the central issues in an ongoing County Legislature skirmish is the county administration’s internal review related to local development corporations. The administration has hired former state Attorney General Dennis Vacco to lead that review. Legislature Democrats say that the Legislature should be in charge of the internal probe, not the administration. Between this…
Dems again block borrowing; GOP says Costco at risk
An ongoing County Legislature feud is only going to get more complicated, now that a proposed Costco store and the county’s Children’s Detention Center are getting dragged into it. The conflict has its roots in two issues: a Democratic proposal to form a committee to conduct an internal review related to county-linked local development corporations;…
Silver says hold off on sharing student data
This can’t be an easy time for New York State Education Commissioner John King. The commissioner, who came into office not long ago with a bold reform agenda, is increasingly seeing those plans come under fire. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is the latest to question King. He sent a letter to the state Education Department…
![[UPDATED] City Council meets to settle leadership roles](https://i0.wp.com/www.roccitymag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/scottloretta2_sidebar.webp?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1)
[UPDATED] City Council meets to settle leadership roles
Members of City Council selected Loretta Scott to serve as president, starting in 2014. Dana Miller will continue serving as vice president.
Legislature to meet at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow
County Legislature President Jeff Adair has scheduled a special meeting of the Legislature for tomorrow at 6:30 a.m. — that’s not a typo — so representatives can again vote on borrowing for the county’s yearly capital plan. Democrats blocked the measure last week. It’s hard to see Adair’s action as anything other than a tactical…
Gay pride meets Putin
There are reasons why the LGBT community responds so strongly to athletes who come out publicly; it remains an extremely difficult decision to make and can lead to serious consequences, from career damage to physical and emotional harm. The LGBT community’s connection to the world of professional sports and athletics has a strange and sometimes…
What will Lovely Warren do about the city schools?
Before Mayor-Elect Lovely Warren does anything in office, she apparently wants residents to give their input on several issues impacting the city. Last weekend she held a brief event built around focus groups. A couple of people who attended the event said it was an impressive guest list consisting of neighborhood leaders, school officials, business…
Evans won’t seek seventh term as Rochester school board president
Malik Evans said today that he will not seek another term as president of the Rochester school board. Evans served six terms at the board’s helm and presided over several tumultuous periods, including the messy departure of former Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard. The board will elect its leaders in January and with Evans’s announcement, the way…
Decision on Wiesner charges pending
Several media outlets are reporting that a judge has postponed his decision whether to dismiss charges against Robert Wiesner, who is one of four defendants in a bid-rigging case involving two county-linked local development corporations. Wiesner’s attorney, James Nobles, has filed a motion to have the charges dismissed. His client was never given an opportunity…
Legislature committee backs MCC contracts
Without any debate, a County Legislature committee passed legislation last night awarding design and construction management contracts for Monroe Community College’s new downtown campus. The project is one of many caught in a standoff between Democratic and Republican legislators. Democrats are holding up a large borrowing measure, which includes $44 million for the MCC project.…
SPECIAL EVENT | Yuletide in the Country
Fact: I have an unhealthy obsession with “Little House on the Prairie.” While I obviously can’t build a time machine to travel back to Walnut Grove (damn you, science!), Genesee Country Village & Museum (1410 Flint Hill Road, Mumford) makes for a great substitute. This weekend is the last opportunity to experience GCVM’s Yuletide in…
RECREATION | Reindeer Run
Come out and enjoy a bit of holiday-themed exercise this Saturday, December 21, by taking part in Fleet Feet’s annual Reindeer Run. The Reindeer Run is a unique family-friendly 5K race open to people of all ages. The race starts at the intersection of Pitkin and Broad streets and finishes at National Museum of Play,…
SPECIAL EVENT | Skate with Santa
Santa is really a strange character. Just think about it: he drops down through chimneys to leave people gifts for no apparent reason, asking for nothing in return, except maybe a plate of cookies. Why does he do it? I don’t have the answers for you, but you can question the bearded guy in the…
THEATER | “A Christmas Carol”
Get in the benevolent spirit this weekend by catching a performance of Charles Dickens’ holiday classic “A Christmas Carol” at the Geva Theatre Center (75 Woodbury Blvd). “A Christmas Carol” tells the story of the spiritual transformation of a wealthy miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, who hates Christmas and generally makes life miserable for everyone around him…
“Philomena”
In the holiday season a weird combination of cinema circumstances usually prevails. On the one hand, the studios release a number of pictures aimed at children, Christmas movies full of good cheer, complete with cute animals and elves, just the thing for bored kids and desperate parents, along with blockbusters for the older crowd. Believing,…
Acoustic/Folk | JD Wilkes w/Jessica Wilkes
JD Wilkes is one of the last of the truly great carnival sideshow performers. Part madman, part contortionist, Wilkes is a sight to behold. As a member of Nashville’s Legendary Shackshakers, Wilkes’ on-stage antics were a full-on roots rock demolition derby, often resulting in the spilling of his own blood. His more recent endeavor, The…
Pop/Rock | The Seabreezers
Surf’s up, Santa. It’s The Seabreezers, baby, another excellent surf-instrumental group to add to our land-locked town’s long line of surf-rockers. The Seabreezers add a pop element to the accelerated splash and fun. The group isn’t afraid to dive into the deep and sing a bit either, as it does on tracks like “Mr. Peppermint…
Pop/Rock | Rochester Metal Fest
Tis the season to be heavy with more metal than you’ll know what to do with. For two nights you can bang your head to over a dozen hard and heavies, starting Friday with Malformed, Blurring, Desekrator, Order of the Dead, Cthulu, Controlled by Fear, and Cosmic Sea. The bloodbath continues Saturday with Ageil, Nokturnal…
Classical | Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Gala Holiday Pops
The RPO calls its Holiday Pops concert “Rochester’s favorite holiday musical tradition,” and it may well be right about that. Certainly this annual orchestral assortment of carols and other holiday music, presided over by the genial Jeff Tyzik, has packed Kodak Hall for quite a few years now. Besides the virtuosi of the RPO, you’ll…
Holiday | The Abominable Snowband
You can’t throw a snowball this week without it hitting a holiday concert. If you’re in a jolly mood, The Abominable Snowband is back for its third winter of rocking around the Christmas tree. I’m a sucker for holiday–oriented music, ugly sweaters, and antlers, so I imagine this would be my kind of group. The Abominable…
World Music | Irondequoit Chorale
There is Christmas music, and then there is the Caribbean Christmas Mass, sung by the Irondequoit Chorale with the Panloco Steel Drum Band. Performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and more, the “Caribbean Mass” was composed by Eastman School of Music instructor Glenn McClure. His work is described as a mixture of classical and ethnic.…
Holiday | The Music of Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas
Looking to celebrate the holiday with something a little more lively than “O Holy Night?” Come stomp and jive to the music of “Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas.” This one-night-only homage to Jim Henson’s timeless classic features an all-star cast of Rochester musicians. Following the show, stay for an after-party set to the jams of the…
CHOW HOUND: That famiglia feeling
Paul Vroman is the co-owner and chef of East Main Street’s new Italian restaurant Aunt Rosie’s, located in the recent former home of Max Sushi & Noodles, and right before that Duck Soupe. Truly, there are few people with whom I enjoy dishing about food and the Rochester dining scene more than the informed Vroman,…
Rochester pride on your hide
If your love of Rochester is so strong that it cannot be sated by the consumption of garbage plates or the sniffing of lilacs, if your passion simply must be given physical life, consider: ink. For some time apparently, it’s been a “thing” for people to get the City of Rochester’s logo tattooed on their…
COMEDY | Joke Factory Improv Foodlink Benefit
Everyone likes free stuff. A free improv and stand-up comedy show? Yeah, I think it’s safe to say people like that, too. And there just happens to be one happening Wednesday, December 18, at 8 p.m. at the Joke Factory inside the Rochester Airport Holiday Inn (911 Brooks Ave.). Improv nights at the Joke Factory…
Urban Action 12/18
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Green gathering Rochester’s environmentalist community will hold “Green Drinks” at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, December 18, at Tap and Mallet, 381 Gregory Street. Green Drinks is a networking event for people in the…
KIDS | School Break Week
Keep your kids active during the holidays by taking them to the National Museum of Play for the Let’s Move! School Break Week, taking place December 21-31. The week is dedicated to fostering active lifestyles in children and is part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s initiative to fight childhood obesity. During this week the museum…
Divided nation
Last week, the bickering and deadlock in Washington seemed to be easing a bit. The House passed a bipartisan budget bill, and House Speaker John Boehner put on quite a show, lashing out at conservative groups for opposing it. But while the bill may squeak through in the Senate, apparently most Republicans there will vote…
