Meet the middle men
They get their hands dirty so you don’t have to. If the thrill of the hunt doesn’t arouse your passion, or if you have no patience for old clock radios blaring Whitney Houston through the combined funk of several generations, these stores are for you. It may cost a little more, but rest assured: It’ll…
Two-bit cultural literacy
Used bookstores are great. Garage sales have their value. You can even find some good books poking around in people’s trash. But thrift-store bookshelves contain some of the best literary discoveries. Like garage sales, there’s a certain core library that all thrift stores seem to stock: the requisite three copies of The Godfather, a…
Music done cheap
Shopping at thrift stores for tunes — it’s like the day the music keeps dying. You’ll find soundtracks from bygone eras preserved in their dated formats — LPs, cassettes, 8-track tapes. Cool finds, like some early Jim Reeves or Elvis, can be weeded out of a heap of musicians that seemed so, so important at…
The stores we dig (and why)
Will you stumble upon a treasure? That’s a bit of a crap shoot. Some thrift-store aficionados suggest shopping during spring-cleaning season before things wind up in summer garage sales. Calling around usually proves fruitless, especially if you’re into weird stuff. You’re going to have to get your own hands dirty. A lot of these places…
Refuse road show
According to the old adage, one man’s garbage is another man’s gold. But according to the City of Rochester’s municipal code, it’s illegal for one man to take another’s tarnished treasure once it reaches the curb. The code defines “scavenging” as “the uncontrolled removal of materials at any point in waste management,” and decrees:…
Summer camp in scenic Naples
It’s a beautiful drive down to Bristol Valley Theatre, where the light summer fare seems a throwback to earlier theatrical values. In the middle of its 10th anniversary season, BVT is performing one of those silly pieces of claptrap that used to be called “straw hat theater” entertainment. Gerald Moon’s Corpse! is listed as a…
Hunting grounds
Salvation Army, www.salvationarmy-rochasny.org: Wednesdays are senior discount days. Weekly colored tag specials. No layaway. Visa and MasterCard accepted. Proceeds benefit the local Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center. Call 235-2769 for hours and pick-up information. Locations: • 745 West Ave, 235-2769 • 136 S. Main St, Canandaigua, 394-3531 • 430 Exchange St, Geneva,…
Fanfare, firsts, and a fabulous Richard III
On July 13, 1952, Alec Guinness stepped onto the stage of a large tent to play Richard III in the first performance of Canada’s Stratford Festival. Exactly 50 years later, Shakespeare’s Richard III opened at the multi-million dollar Avon Theatre July 13, after the entrance of the Governor General of Canada and after a very…
Bisset shines in sleepy ‘Gal’
“There just aren’t any good roles for women.” Now there’s a complaint you don’t hear too much anymore. It may no longer be an issue when actresses like Sissy Spacek, Nicole Kidman and Renée Zellweger — all of whom did amazing work last year — still go home empty-handed at the Oscars, while Denzel Washington…
The Score 7.24.02
Rhinos play three at home this week
‘K-19’: a fascinating, refreshing blockbuster
Judging by the fact that it’s lasted so long and surfaces so frequently, the submarine movie should be plumbing the dark depths of the megaplexes for many years to come. Even in these times, its necessarily narrow set and limited cast make it a relatively economical project, and its concentration on complicated machinery, underwater photography,…
Into the future on a high note
If you’re a jazz fan, you’ve probably seen him playing his trumpet — on the stage of Hochstein Performance Hall with Jon Faddis, sitting in with Wycliffe Gordon and Marcus Printup at the Pythodd Jazz Lounge, or at an after-hours jam at the Crowne Plaza during the Rochester International Jazz Festival.
Cops, secrecy, and the grand jury
When two city cops shot 14-year-old Craig Heard to death last month, did the Rochester Police Department conduct a thorough, unbiased investigation?
News briefs 7.24.02
Debra Trione found 50 powerful and influential Americans…
Reader feedback 07.24.02
The bicker team; Applause; Praising Popick; Simple quotes; A clarification; Poetic justice
Get my thrift
Thank God the stuff I dig doesn’t cost a lot. Everybody loves a bargain. But, frankly, the things I wear and use to clutter my crib just aren’t made any more. I’ll find myself elbow deep in piles of crap nobody wants in order to score some retro gem. Whether it’s a blue sharkskin…
Irradiation’s food for thought
Remember “cold fusion”? It sounded too good to be true. And sure enough, say most scientists today, there was no heat or light at the end of that tunnel. Now meet “cold pasteurization.” This is one term of art — “electronic pasteurization” is another — for what’s usually called food irradiation. The concept…
David O’Brien
David O’Brien His name may not be familiar to many Rochesterians other than older political activists and reporters. David O’Brien, who died July 13 in Tucson, Arizona, didn’t hold public office himself. He and his wife Nancy moved to Tucson 15 years ago, and he has been known there for his teaching and his research…
