Cover Story
Winter Guide 2013
After two tepid years winter has returned to Western New York in a major way. We’ve had some major snowfall, bitter temperatures, and all the attendant snow and ice. Instead of hiding or complaining about the season, make the most of it.
Daily Choices: What to do on Wednesday, January 30
Lecture: The William A. Kern Lecture Series kicks off today with a 2 p.m. lecture by Min-Ha Pham titled, “Personal Style Blogs and DIY Race: On Race, Aesthetics, and Capitalism.” The talk takes place in the Carlson Auditorium at Rochester Institute of Technology (Lomb Memorial Drive, Henrietta), and is free to attend. For more information,…
School choice is a slice of the education pie
The 30 or so children assembled in Rochester Prep Elementary School’s gymnasium are not students; they’re scholars in the charter school’s “believe it and you’ll be it” vernacular. At times, they jumped to attention, marched, and even stepped to a cheer in honor of the higher education institution their homeroom is named after, Howard University.…
Fracking waste water questions linger
As New York’s environmental review of high-volume hydraulic fracturing progresses, there are still unanswered questions about what happens to the waste water from drilling. It’s unclear whether state municipal water treatment plants would be able to handle heavily contaminated fracking waste. That’s why a recent article on Mother Jones’ website caught my attention. It points…
Daily Choices: What to do on Tuesday, January 29
Literature: Visit the Welles-Brown Room of the Rush Rhees Library (University of Rochester, River Campus) 1-4 p.m. today for a unique event that will offer visitors the opportunity to connect with many people from different backgrounds. The event is called “The Human Library,” at which visitors can “borrow” a Human Book (a volunteer willing to…
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 5, Episode 1: It’s not personal, it’s drag
Having just finished the 90-minute Season 5 premiere, I’m even less convinced that “Drag Race All Stars” was a good idea. I’m not talking about the infuriating teams format or the oddly unexciting winner of the much-maligned short fall season. I’m talking about the fact that, with that mini-series ending just two months ago, I…
Brooks submits MCC legislation
County Executive Maggie Brooks has submitted legislation that, if approved by the Legislature, would authorize Monroe Community College to acquire new space for a downtown campus. Specifically, the legislation authorizes MCC to buy several buildings on Kodak’s State Street site. The County Legislature’s Recreation and Education Committee will take up the referral during its meeting…
Another crazy mayor’s race in store for Rochester?
Did you enjoy your two-month respite from local election news? I hope so, because that’s over now. On the national level, people started sizing up 2016 almost the second the 2012 elections ended. Hillary Clinton can’t buy a pair of shoes without people reading ulterior motives into the purchase. “Hillary bought flats today — a…
Week Ahead: Chat with the police chief, fighting violence in Rochester, Pittsford project meeting, A Taste of Soul
Rochester Police Chief James Sheppard will hold the last in a series of one-hour Twitter town halls at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, January 29. You can ask the chief questions on any topic and offer comments on policing in Rochester. You must have a Twitter account to participate. Follow #rpdchief. Rochester Mayor Tom Richards and…
Daily Choices: What to do on Monday, January 28
Music: You don’t need to jazz festival to find local jazz in town, and tonight among the many options you can check out are Alphonso Williams at Bistro 135 (135 West Commercial St., East Rochester, bistro135.net), 5:30 p.m., free, and Ben Waara at Lemoncello (137 West Commercial St., East Rochester), 6 p.m., Free.
Concert Review: Grace Kelly at Exodus to Jazz
Singer/saxophonist Grace Kelly took the stage at Hochstein Performance Hall Saturday night surrounded by three Clark Kents: Pete McCann on guitar; Evan Gregor, bass; and Jordan Perlson, drums. All three bespectacled men wore drab, everyday clothing, which served to focus most of the attention on Kelly in her chain-link miniskirt. She looked great, but it…
Daily Choices: What to do on Saturday, January 26 and Sunday, January 27
Special Event: The Irondequoit Pizza Challenge takes place Saturday, January 26, 4-6 p.m., at Summerville Presbyterian Church (4845 St. Paul Blvd.), featuring pizza shops from the Irondequoit area The community will decide who has the best pizza. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $3 for children under 12, and $15 for families (four…
School Choice Week rally in Rochester
City Council President Lovely Warren and advocates of school choice will hold a rally at 8:45 a.m. on Monday, January 28, in recognition of National School Choice Week. Warren will talk about the achievements and importance of Rochester’s charter schools. The rally will be held at True North Rochester Prep Elementary School, 899 Jay Street.
RCSD adopting ‘common core’ curriculum
For much of the last decade, graduation rates for most of New York State’s Big Five school districts have been around 50 percent. But the numbers have gradually improved for the New York City and Yonkers districts, which have graduation rates over 60 percent. Rochester’s graduation rates continue to hover around 50 percent, however, with…
Video Game Trailer: Injustice: Gods Among Us
Excited for the upcoming super hero free for all “Injustice: Gods Among Us?” The fighting title, which pits a cast of DC comic book super heroes against each other, including Batman, Green Arrow, Cyborg, Harley Quinn, Nightwing, Solomon Grundy, Superman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, The Joker, and more, just release a new trailer revealing none…
“American Idol” Episode 4: No alligators were killed in the making of this episode
Ah, Baton Rouge. Idol heads even further south tonight, and I’m crossing my fingers for at least one high powered accordion act. If wishes were horses then beggars would ride though, so we’ll see. If I’m super lucky, we’ll get at least one act that includes an alligator. We only have an hour tonight because…
RPO terminates Remmereit
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra board has fired Music Director Arild Remmereit, effective immediately. The board made the announcement in a statement released just minutes ago. The board had previously voted to end Remmereit’s contract early. He would’ve finished with the orchestra in August. Here’s the statement from the RPO board: “The Board of Directors of…
RPO board chair: organization has ‘tried to take the high ground’
Between the balance sheet, the newspaper headlines, and the crowded hall at the Eastman Theatre last night, it’s painfully obvious that the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra is experiencing a turbulent time. RPO members who attended Wednesday’s annual meeting to either support or challenge the board’s controversial decision to end Music Director Arild Remmereit’s contract early, were…
College Blog: The textbook tango
It’s not a secret that college textbooks are overpriced. Used, new or rented, the total cost of textbooks that any given student needs for a single quarter (or semester) can range anywhere from $100 to over $1,000. “Fall quarter, I spent around $1,000 on textbooks,” second year RIT Biomedical Sciences major Leah Pirela said. “I…
Coping with the homesick blues
Before I left for RIT I remember telling my Mom that I would never get homesick. I thought I would probably come home once during the 10-week quarter, if at all. It wasn’t that I wanted to get away from my parents. I simply was excited to be on my own and make a lot…
College Blog: Where’s my box of chocolates?
My job search is not like a box of chocolates – unlike my boyfriend’s. He’s actually been courted and wooed by his future Fortune 100 employer, so much that they actually sent him a box of chocolates. Godiva Truffles, to be exact.
Hillary takes the Hill
Hillary Clinton may be the country’s strongest Democratic politician, in some ways even stronger than the president. Clinton stepped to the side — some would say she was pushed — to allow Barack Obama to lead the party to a sweeping victory in 2008. Her ability to show earnest respect for Obama over the last…
“American Idol” 2013, Episode 3: Ticket to the gun show
Idol routed to Charlotte, North Carolina tonight, hitting the race way, and bringing with it several cringe worthy racing puns. I’m going to avoid those, mostly because the only thing I know about cars is that they have wheels and take me places.
Disagreement puts I-Square in limbo
If the I-Square project in Irondequoit moves forward, it won’t be in the form initially proposed, says the project’s developer, Mike Nolan. Late yesterday afternoon, the Irondequoit Town Board tabled a resolution to approve a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement for I-Square, a development that would include space for commercial and retail, as well as public areas near…
Daily Choices: What to do on Thursday, January 24
Lectures: A Community Dialogue on Race & Politics will be held tonight at Baobab Cultural Center (728 University Ave.). The free event takes place at 7 p.m. For more information or to register, call 563-2145 or visit thebaobab.org. In addition, the first in the three-part lecture series, “Race: The Power of an Illusion,” will be…
RPO elects board members
This is a corrected version of this story. UPDATE (Jan. 23, 8:20 p.m.): The RPO elected eight members to its board of directors during its annual meeting Wednesday night. All of the members were backed by the RPO board. Write-in votes for alternate candidates were apparently received, but not counted. The meeting was testy at…
Concerns about School 16’s future won’t go away
It’s been more than two months since Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas presented his draft proposal for modernizing city schools. And during that time, School 16 in the 19th Ward has become a symbol of resistance to parts of the plan. A group of neighborhood residents and parents are determined to keep the school open.…
Lawsuit could halt today’s RPO board meeting
Attorney Eileen Buholtz has filed a lawsuit against the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra’s board. And her filings include a request for a temporary restraining order which, if granted, would postpone today’s annual meeting of the board. The case has been assigned to State Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Fisher. Buholtz says she expects to have a phone…
Video Games: Nintendo shows off a bunch of new Wii U games
It looks like Nintendo has listened.
A much more apologetic Satoru Iwata led off today’s Nintendo Direct presentation, and in the first chunk of the presentation gave a lot of good news on small, but important fixes to the overall Wii U experience. The Wii U virtual console is coming (with GamePad, Miiverse support), as…
ALTERNATIVE | The Used, We Came As Romans
The Used is marketed toward the Hot Topic set that isn’t quite all the way into such harsh things as My Chemical Romance. The Used is best taken with a line of pixie stick to mend that broken heart and a heavy ring of guy-liner. And yes, even the band has added some dub to…
Hand-built humble beginnings
This is a year for Rochester’s arts and cultural institutions to celebrate big anniversaries. Both the Memorial Art Gallery and the Rochester Museum and Science Center are continuing their 100th year of operation. In addition, a younger institution, the Genesee Center for the Arts and Education, is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and in doing so,…
JAZZ | Cory Weeds Quartet
Over the last two decades Cory Weeds has brought his bold saxophone sound to groups like People Playing Music, CRASH, The Night Crawlers, and The B3 Kings. In recent years he’s established his credentials as a leader on albums with top New York musicians like guitarist Peter Bernstein, organist Mike LeDonne, and drummer Joe Farnsworth.…
ART | HUNGERFORD ART OF THE STEAL
Spring cleaning is coming early to the Hungerford Studios. Every once in awhile, it’s good to look around and assess the excess that surrounds us, and let go of what is no longer useful to us, offering it to others who will find renewed value in the items. Select studios in the Hungerford Building (1115…
Fringe Festival announces 2013 dates
The First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival announced last night that it will be returning for a second year this fall, and has also expanded how long the festival will run for. The dates this year are September 19-28, expanding from the five day long festival that it was in 2012 into a ten day long…
FILM | “THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW”
Though I’ve seen the film countless times, I’ve never actually been to a “Rocky Horror Picture Show” screening, where the hosting theater encourages people to dress up (or down, actually) like the characters, get raunchy, and to throw things at the screen on cue. Well, dear readers, we have the opportunity this weekend, because the…
Daily Choices: What to do on Wednesday, January 23
Relying on the strength of one single from a self-released album is one path to successfully garnering a major-label record deal, but it certainly isn’t the easiest. Then again, most singles aren’t as arresting as “Anna Sun” from Cincinnati quartet Walk the Moon, nor are most videos quite so eye grabbing as the track’s accompanying…
LECTURE | WILLIAM A. KERN LECTURE SERIES
The William A. Kern Lecture Series will kick off on Wednesday, January 30, with a 2 p.m. lecture by Min-Ha Pham titled, “Personal Style Blogs and DIY Race: On Race, Aesthetics, and Capitalism.” The talk will examine influential personal style blogs, such as those kept by Susanna Lau (aka Susie Bubble) and Bryan Grey Yambao…
SKA | Reel Big Fish
Ska is supposed to be about happy-sunny times, but Reel Big Fish decided to take a different track in its most recent album, “Candy Coated Fury.” It’s supposed to be funny, but even the band admits that it’s some spiteful stuff. It’s still insanely danceable, and I have no doubt “Everyone Else Is an A**hole”…
LITERATURE | HUMAN LIBRARY
Our community holds a wealth of resources, knowledge, experiences, and personality within its members, but access is contingent upon our willingness to connect with one another. Many have trouble getting out of our own specific routines and meeting new people. On Tuesday, January 29, 1-4 p.m., visit the Welles-Brown Room of the Rush Rhees Library…
Feedback 1/23
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. Moving on…
SPECIAL EVENT | IRONDEQUOIT PIZZA CHALLENGE
Pizza is one of those culinary creations that seems simple enough, but is a beast with countless combinations, and everybody has their particular preferences. This weekend, you can weigh in on which local shop makes the best pie. The Irondequoit Pizza Challenge takes place Saturday, January 26, 4-6 p.m. Pizza shops from the Irondequoit area will…
AMERICANA | Bethesda
Bethesda is a six-piece blend of atmosphere and bittersweet Americana heartache. Even the Akron, Ohio, band’s frivolity is no match for its soaring, epic refrain. Though secular in practice, Bethesda curries belief in its listeners and restores faith in the hardest of hearts. The band is classic American roots with a nod to all of…
THEATER | “A LIFE IN THE THEATRE”/”MR. BUNDY”
Darren Aronofsky’s film “Black Swan” showed the dark side and the insecurity surrounding the life of performance and aging out of that career. This week, get a comedic take on the subject with Blackfriars Theatre’s staging of David Mamet’s hilarious play, “A Life in the Theatre” (pictured). The show follows the lives of two actors:…
CD Review: Rob Mazurek Pulsar Quartet “Stellar Pulsations”
If the name Pulsar Quartet sounds futuristic, welcome to the world of Rob Mazurek.
CLASSICAL PREVIEW: Musical marathon
Pianist Elinor Freer is candid about what draws her to Beethoven. “I find him to be one of the most difficult composers to perform,” she says. “I find it a real challenge. That’s one of the things that I’m drawn to — it’s exhausting to practice and perform.” Freer, piano, and Mimi Hwang, cello, will…
CLASSICAL | RPO: Mozart and More
Wolfgang is in the house this weekend, as guest conductor Yoav Talmi comes in to lead the RPO through a Mozart-inspired selection of works. Jennifer Higdon’s “Machine” leads off the program, just before Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 1.” RPO Principal Trombonist Mark Kellogg will be taking the lead on Larsson’s Concertino for Trombone, all leading up…
MOVIE REVIEW: “Broken City”
Whatever its originality in conception and execution, “Broken City” demonstrates, in its own unusual way, the durability of film genre conventions. The movie’s mixture of fictional and historical elements and its location in New York City provide a kind of verifiable background for a story of complicated schemes of manipulation and deceit, but its greatest…
DINING REVIEW: Baked and Carved
There are few things better than a really good sandwich. Haute cuisine and molecular gastronomy are all well and good, and sushi and ceviche surely have their proper place and time. But on a cold day in January, there are few things more satisfying to the soul than a well-composed sandwich and a bowl of…
MOVIE REVIEW: “Rust and Bone”
“Rust and Bone” is exactly the sort of love story you’d expect from Jacques Audiard, director of the brutal, Oscar-nominated French crime drama, “A Prophet” — a filmmaker whose usual propensity is toward stories about thugs, hoodlums, and other angry young men. That is to say, it’s a violent, decidedly unromantic one. A rough-and-tumble portrait…
CD Review: Duke Ellington and his Orchestra “The Complete Columbia Studio Albums Collection 1951-1958”
Everyone who loves jazz knows Duke Ellington, but for more recent generations, that knowledge is probably based on the equivalent of a “greatest hits” album. “Take The A Train,” Mood Indigo,” “It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” and several other classics are a nice start, but to be truly wowed,…
MUSIC INTERVIEW: Taking a right
There are enough things working against a young band just starting out — lack of a unified direction, lack of an audience, lack of the filthy lucre promised at the end of the day, and a general aversion to facing reality. So you’d wonder why a band like Right Turn Racer would throw a suicide…
Video Game Trailer: Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon Multiplayer
First it had it. Then it didn’t have it. Then it had it again. Whatever the mix up was, it turns out that, yes, in fact, the upcoming Nintendo 3DS title “Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon” does have multiplayer, and it looks pretty cool.
Urban Action 1/23
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Holocaust survivor on film The Lifetree Café will host a showing of “On Schindler’s List,” the true story of Leon Leyson, who was 13 years old when he was taken to work in…
Designing downtown
What downtown Rochester lacks, apparently, is sensuality. And toilet paper. The city’s Department of Planning and Zoning held a public meeting last week to get residents’ ideas for the future of downtown. The City of Rochester expects to have a new downtown master plan — essentially a document to guide development — in place by…
JAZZ | Grace Kelly Quintet
With her prodigious skills on alto and soprano saxophone, a then-teenaged Grace Kelly wowed audiences at both the 2010 and 2011 Xerox Rochester International Jazz festivals. When she wasn’t unleashing sax solos, she turned heads with her breezy vocal style. Now 20, Kelly — who has shared the stage with Lee Konitz and Phil Woods…
WINTER GUIDE 2013: Slick moves
The contrast between the blustery weather outside and the comforts of central heating indoors can be enough to make one go into hibernation mode. If you stay inside all winter, however, you’ll be missing out on a whole bunch of seasonal activities. While many winter sports and hobbies revolve around the snow — whatever isn’t…
Taking stock of the changing climate
As the climate continues to change, the Rochester area can expect more frequent downpours, heat waves, and dry periods, according to the newly released draft National Climate Assessment. The document, which was authored by climate researchers from across the country, takes comprehensive national and regional views of climate trends. The assessment includes climate projections based…
ROCK | Nimrod Wildfire
With a name sounding a lot like a “Dick Tracy” character, Nimrod Wildfire is actually the current music outing of ex- Blue Avengers co-founder Bob Miller. With a bit of a British folk/rock feel, Nimrod Wilfire is a guitar-centric, thought-provoking, socially relevant project wrapped in deceptive simplicity. You’ll dig it. Nimrod Wildfire plays Friday, January…
WINTER GUIDE 2013: Looking for some hot stuff
It’s January. It’s cloudy. It’s cold, the wind blows, and it’s colder. Yuck. Determined not to sink into this year’s Rochester winter funk, I’ve put together a list to share of where you can find some items and activities to get you hot. Some of these come from personal experience, some were the result of…
The neighborhood schools tightrope
City school officials are grappling with a long-simmering problem: satisfying many parents’ desire for neighborhood schools, while not locking students into schools that are performing poorly. The Rochester school district currently operates under a school choice model in which schools are divided into three zones: northeast, northwest, and south. Parents select from the schools in…
Daily Choices: What to do on Friday, January 25
Comedy: Lewis Black will bring his unique brand of rant comedy to the Auditorium Theatre (885 E. Main St.) tonight at 8 p.m. Tickets are $35-$55; for more information, call 225-5000, or visit rbtl.org. For more on the comedian, visit lewisblack.com.
WINTER GUIDE 2013: Cold comforts
Contrary to popular opinion — and yes, probably common sense — Rochesterians don’t go into hibernation during the winter months. We’re a hearty bunch; blizzards, ice, snow, slush, and wind aren’t enough to dissuade us from venturing outdoors when there’s a good time to be had. This winter there’s no shortage of fantastic events that…
Presidential words
The University of Rochester has assembled an exhibit on the history of presidential speechwriting. | The exhibit is comprised of more than 50 selections of presidential speeches from public and private collections, including a signed copy of President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inaugural address, famous for the phrase, “Ask not what your country can do…
