The cost of war 6.8.05
The totals: 1,667 American soldiers, 185 Coalition soldiers, and approximately 22,111 to 25,076 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq from the beginning of the war and occupation to June 6. American soldiers killed from May 25-June 6: Sergeant Alfred B. Siler, 33; Duff, Tennessee | Major Ricardo A. Crocker, 39; Mission Viejo, California |…
Looking for solutions at East and Main
Is downtown Rochester ready to pull out of its 30-year slump? A panel of real-estate and development experts is in town this week, trying to come up with a strategy for revitalizing MidtownPlaza, the Sibley’s Building, and the undeveloped land just north of the Renaissance Square and Sibley sites. They’ll be touring the sites and…
Family valued 6.8.05
Tea for two As a traveler, I have experienced tea ceremonies from many cultures. The Russian Tea Ceremony is not only a cultural tradition, but a strong communicational bond for the society. The structure of the teapots themselves — usually 2 to 3 containing different herbal and black teas — is reminiscent of distinct Russian…
Fiz 6.8.05
The image of scooters usually brings to mind fashionable Europeans perched atop Vespas (Italian for “wasp”) and navigating serpentine streets mapped out by Charlemagne and other guys who didn’t predict the pervasiveness of the SUV. Over here, however, the thoroughfares are meaty, and motorists prefer their transportation roomy. There’s no justification for motorscooters in the…
Screening cultural differences
The View From Here: Contemporary Russian and American Screenprints, an exhibition dedicated to printmaking, is definitely one you can sink your teeth into. The exhibition consists of screenprints by 22 artists — 12 Russian and 10 American — with a total of 70 works between them. The differing artists’ styles are brought together through the…
When it comes to musicals, Geva can do that
Artistic director Mark Cuddy switched Geva’s final show of the season to A Chorus Line before the professional performing rights get tied up for the 2006 Broadway revival. One of four nominees for a national poll on the best American musical ever, A Chorus Line next year might start on Broadway for another 15-year run.…
What next?
Almost since its inception, public broadcasting in the United States has been a target of someone or other in the federal government. Just a few years after Congress created the Public Broadcasting Service, the Nixon administration was trying to keep public affairs off of its airwaves in favor of strictly educational and cultural fare. Since…
Inbox 6.8.05
Remarkable correspondence from the consistently unremarkable world of email
Fighting for life in the Great Depression
Both a richly documented history and a fund of personal anecdote instruct us in the manifold ways in which the American government and the American people coped with that disaster of free market capitalism known as the Great Depression. The programs of Franklin Roosevelt’s administration attempted to provide employment to the millions of men and…
The entertainment value of misogyny
“Okay; so you figure once he kills the mom, the kid, and the girl, there’s no one left to slaughter.” My friend was trying to ease my mind regarding the cascading torrent of blood during an early scene in the French import High Tension. At that point I peeked out from behind the protective forcefield…
Renaissance treasures
“At first the men were accustomed to donning masks, mimicking the ladies who customarily went about masked during the celebration of the first of May. And thus adopting the custom of the ladies and youths, they donned costumes and sang dance songs.” That’s from an account of mid-15th-century Florence, published by A.F. Grazzini. When he…
Expressing his Spanish heart
Over the last five decades, few musicians have had the continuous impact of Chick Corea. While in Miles Davis’ late 1960s band, he was among the first trailblazers to take on the electric keyboard. Later, he helped define the fusion movement, leading groups like Return to Forever and writing compositions, like “Spain,” that transcended the…
Days of war
This Thursday, June 9, will mark 1,365 days since September 11, 2001, the putative beginning of the War on Terror. And virtually no one will take notice. But this number’s been around before: It was 1,365 days between the attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941) and final victory over the Axis powers in World…
The right to fight cancer
“Health is the last front in the civil rights movement,” says Regina Bean. When Bean found a small lump in her breast at age 20, she went to the doctor. She was assured it was a harmless cyst. In the summer of 2002, Bean was diagnosed with breast cancer and her “harmless” tumor was the…
Reader feedback 6.8.05
Catholics and dissent, the Bush visit, designing downtown
