The “Moe,” the merrier
In 1996 Geva scored a hit with its staging of Five Guys Named Moe, a high-stepping show celebrating the music of African-American blues pioneer Louis Jordan and his contemporaries. Ten years later the theater brings the production back with the same director (Pamela Hunt) and a new choreographer (Mercedes Ellington), but most likely the same…
Fixing the break
They’re coming. Those two terrible words that will destroy a summer vacation faster than Chevy Chase. You can already hear them in your nightmares, a whisper growing to a whine-infused scream: “I’m booooooored!” Don’t panic; you have options. You can always sit the kids in front of the electronic pacifier. Or you can actually try…
It’s not just ‘politics’
Washington’s little firestorm around same-sex marriage has died down. But it shouldn’t recede from the public’s consciousness before we acknowledge its most dangerous aspect. Critics have said that the proposal by the president and Congressional Republicans for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage was a blatant political move, designed to placate the Religious Right. No…
Hot tunes for hot temps
Air conditioning? Re-runs? C’mon, summer’s barely a blink. It arrives, sizzles, and splits way too quick. But this is the way nightlife likes to operate, anyhow; in brief, hot spurts of opportunity — musical moments in time, if you will. So summertime is perfect for diggin’ what you dig live. There are just 83 days…
The other Rhinos
It’s a drizzly day at PAETECPark, just two days before the brand-new stadium celebrates its June 3 grand opening with a Rochester Rhinos soccer game. But tonight the men are nowhere to be found. Tonight, the women rule the turf. The members of the W-League Rochester Rhinos women’s team go through their daily paces under…
The licked and the fed
I judge a city by its ice cream.
La mano cornuda
There’s a book written in the 1920s that’s been circling the literary hipster subterrain for years called You Can’t Win. It was authored by a cat named Jack Black, who during the late 19th century rode the rails in the still wide open West, living in the vast hobo communities along the way. He was…
Sun screens
This summer, stop feeling guilty about forgoing lovely weather in favor of an inky movie theater. Should your conscience continue to nag you to go outside and play, consider the following pro-movie rationalizations: • Movies leave us brimming with optimism and entitlement, both desirable sensations until we realize there is really no valid justification for…
It’s not enough
We initially met Edward Norton about 10 years ago via his wily portrayal of Primal Fear’s murderous altar boy, a performance which earned him his first Oscar nomination. Since then he’s played everything from a lawyer to a priest to a neo-Nazi, but his most recent film work (besides a masked appearance in last year’s…
School of rock
Need an antidote to the hustle and bustle of Rochester’s summer festivals? A serene place where your chances of running into a guy with an iguana perched on his shoulder are practically nil? Catch a free two-hour public walking tour of Mt.HopeCemetery, offered every weekend by The Friends of Mt. Hope Cemetery. Dedicated in 1838,…
Armageddon all over again.
A couple of years ago, the Reverend Jerry Falwell, the ubiquitous face of the religious right, founder of Liberty University, and spokesman for the neo-Neanderthal wing of the Republican party, announced that the world would soon confront the Last Days — so what else is new? — and that one element of that event, the…
What’s in the water?
Gas prices are sky high, global warming is only making things hotter, and your pesky doctor wants you to exercise. Welcome to summer in the modern world. But you can still hit the water. No one’s taken the fun out of that yet. Canoes, kayaks, sailboats, sailboards — they’re all powered by you (or the…
Cost of war – 6.14.06
The totals: 2486 US soldiers, 226 Coalition soldiers, and approximately 38,254 to 42,646 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq from the beginning of the war and occupation to June 9. 3469 Iraqi police and guardsmen have been killed since January 2005, according to an estimate compiled from news reports. American soldiers killed between June…
Summer Festivals
Festival: Spencerport Fireman’s Carnival Date: June 12-18 Place: Spencerport Description: kiddie parade, grand parade, amusement rides Info: 352-4771, vil.spencerport.ny.us Festival: Juneteenth Celebration Date: June 17 Place: Susan B. Anthony Square between King and Madison streets Description: performers, vendors, food Info: 529-5026, 454-2680 Festival: Mayville Bluegrass Festival Date: June 17-18 Place: Lakeside Park, Mayville Description: country-rock…
Firefighter shortfall: diversity versus civil service
There are 515 firefighters in Rochester. Thirty are black, 31 are Latino, and 7 are women. That means 447 of Rochester’s firefighters— about 90 percent — are white men. And that, says Ernest Flagler, needs to change. “Most of the time when we come off that truck, we see people that look like us,” says…
Summer Guide choices
City’s choice: Ithaca theater Need more drama in your life? Upstate summers are always chock full of theatrical opportunities for the cultural explorer, especially along LakeCayuga, where Ithaca’s several theaters are staging diverse seasons. At the Hangar Theatre, the main stage will showcase Andrew Shaffer’s Tony Award-winning play Sleuth June 21-July 1. Then July 5-22…
Arms and the classroom
To its supporters, JROTC — the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps — is a valuable elective, teaching students discipline and responsibility. To its critics, it is a marketing opportunity for the Pentagon, designed to entice urban, principally minority high-school students into signing up for the military. And, they say, it teaches violence as a problem…
Dog days (and nights)
Fairs and celebrations Adventures at Treasure Island Fri, July 14. Thompson Health annual fundraising gala. Steamboat Landing, Canandaigua. $125. 899-3267. Antique and Classic Boat Show Fri-Sun, July 28-30. CliftPark, along Skaneateles Lake, Skaneateles. Free. 315-685-0552, www.skaneateles.com. Antiques Show Sat-Sun, June 17-18.HerkimerCounty Fairgrounds, Cemetery Rd and Rte 5S, Frankfort. Sat 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun 10 a.m.-4…
Mapping the murders
When Heather Layton read that Rochester had become the murder capital of the state, her first reaction was grief, she says. Then she felt guilt and embarrassment. “I was a little uncomfortable that I had only heard of about six of them on the news, but I had no idea that we had this many,”…
Family valued – 6.14.06
“No, Mr. Stink, I expect you to die.” We here at the Family Valued paperless office, open-air garden shed, and maladapted pressroom have randomly selected a 10-year-old from among the one immediately available. So what do you think of when I say “anthropomorphic espionage”? I think of some word that I don’t really know what…
Metro ink – 6.14.06
BUGS AND BLOOMS Mary and Stuart McCarty haven’t used pesticides in their flower and vegetable gardens for years. Nonetheless, the gardens are lush and colorful: with rhododendron, dogwoods, iris, rhubarb, tomatoes, and beans. “We don’t use any chemicals, because they harm the birds,” says Stuart McCarty. “We love watching the wildlife and we want to…
Fiz – 6.14.06
Wrestle mania “Whether out of fear or self-protection, we rarely present our true face to the world. Mexicans are secretive by nature. Our formality is a shield against scrutiny. We use masks all the time,” says Father Sergio Gutierrez. Perhaps this explains the wildly popular sport of LuchaLibre, or free-style fight in Spanish. Throughout human…
Reader feedback – 6.14.06
BAD BAD BAD Mary Anna Towler’s column “In the Name of Security” (May 17) is a clear display of what is wrong with the Democratic Party, not the Republican. When will the Democrats finally realize that simply bashing Bush will not win them any elections? Has the Bush administration done a good job? Probably not,…
330 Aberdeen
Colonial Revival Charm Situated on a curved corner opposite Aberdeen Square Park, 330 Aberdeen exudes charm from the curb. The landscaped lawn and well-maintained exterior of this 1925 center entrance Colonial Revival draw the eye. This property certainly is worth a second look. The front door opens into an entryway tiled in original octagonal tiles.…
The Lobster Quadrille doesn’t need an amen
The Lobster Quadrille is a seven-piece band steeped in faded-lace Southern gothic pathos, ethos, superstition, and doom. Sepia-toned songs of cotillions, consumption, damnation, elation, and salvation pour out like the sweat on frontman Solomon Blaylock’s brow. The band’s ragtag hobo instrumentality —- clarinet, organ, tambourine, bucket, washboard, slide whistle, kazoo, pots ‘n’ pans, and odds…
Summer Guide 2006
The heat is on, but that’s hardly an excuse to stay inside. Because even as those temps become more and more oppressive, Rochester becomes more and more alive.
James Brown nearly took off my head
Since the 5th Annual Rochester International Jazz Festival started on June 9, City Newspaper’s music writers have been keeping tabs on the action at our Jazz Blog at www.rochester-citynews.com. The blog is updated daily with our critics’ takes on what they saw the night before, and what they’re looking forward to next. Below find a…
The old and the beautiful
Judy Adnepos leaned over one of the vendor tables at the Rochester Public Market’s Garage Sale looking through jewelry, dishes, old blankets, and cut glass. “I’m not looking for anything in particular, but I was hoping to find one of those old children’s rocking horses,” she says. “You know, the ones that sort of bounce.…
A powerful “Protocol”
The sound of hollow wind rolls against the walls. Muted urban noise rings eerily: muffled voices, brakes screeching, sirens wailing. It is Music Concrete, real, found sounds incorporated with musical notes. This disturbing composition sets the mood for an emotionally disruptive play.
Roughing it, not-so-roughly
Camping is one of summer’s sweetest indulgences. Finally you can flee your hectic daily life and escape to the great outdoors, into Mother Nature’s welcoming bosom. Thing is, that “welcoming bosom” also brings with it unwelcome things, like rain, ants, mold, mosquitoes, dirt, rocks, poison ivy, cold nights, hot afternoons, and nary a place to…
