Red and Blue in Rochester
When President Bush visited GreeceAthenaHigh School May 24, the audience was invitation-only, the citizen-panelists were screened, and the presidential speech was scripted. But outside in the rain, the mood and the demonstrations — pro-Bush and con — were more spontaneous. (Anti-Bush activists, like Bush supporters, did plenty of organizing, however, encouraging demonstrators to show…
Family valued 5.25.05
Bringing poetry to the people I sat in the filled-to-capacity Dryden Theatre on May 16 with friends — moms, dads, teenagers, and 520 strangers — eagerly awaiting Billy Collins, former Poet Laureate of the United States. Katherine, one of my young friends, looking at a brochure of current Dryden events, pointed to a picture of…
Fiz 5.25.05
Forgive their trespasses Plans to fill in the abandoned Rochester subway tunnels is not only causing a stir in the community of homeless folks who find shelter there — it’s also sending ripples through the urban exploration community. The Rochester subway is a favored spot among urban explorers probably because it’s relatively easy to get…
Mucho boogie and soul
When I first saw Link Wray in Chicago in ’98, I was pretty sure it was gonna be the last. He was scarecrow thin and shuffled when he walked. His wife was this loud, overbearing Danish battleaxe (the kind that drive men to drink or to sit in their idling cars with the garage door…
Joint decisions
“Unfortunately, we have a mix of science and political science that makes it difficult to figure out what’s going on.” That’s how Gary Morrow, a clinical psychologist with Strong Health, describes the discussion going on now in Albany over whether or not to approve the use of marijuana for medical purposes. If anything, Morrow’s quote…
Inbox 5.25.05
Remarkable correspondence from the consistently unremarkable world of email
Under pressure
Arnold Palmer made an impassioned plea at last week’s Press-Radio Club Day of Champions dinner. The legendary golfer urged parents not to push their kids into pro sports careers too early. It’s seems ridiculous that such advice even needs to be given. Most kids have practically no shot at becoming pro athletes. But parental hubris…
Race and coincidence: what brings people together
The new movie Crash opens and closes with the incident of the title, a relatively minor collision of the sort that occurs anywhere in the country on any day of the week, in this case on an unseasonably cold evening in Los Angeles in December. As the long flashback that constitutes the body of the…
But did Symbionia ever get liberated?
A portion of the First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees “the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances,” but it really wasn’t until the war in Vietnam that the American people took full advantage of that clause. The rabid opposition to Western involvement in Southeast…
Ray Charles on his mind
Saxophonist David Newman’s nickname may be “Fathead” but the name Ray Charles used to call him — “Brains” — is a far better fit. Newman, who pays tribute to his former bandleader on his new CD, I Remember Brother Ray, is among the most soulful sax players of all time. He may not fill a…
Spin cycle
Pale. And, to be honest, kind of pasty. That’s how John Schoen looked as the midnight hour approached on Saturday, May 21. But most of us would probably look a lot worse in his place.
Reader feedback 5.25.05
Grading the D&C, reforming the county budget, defending Bush
Body count 5.25.05
The totals: 1,629 American soldiers, 180 Coalition soldiers, andapproximately 21,795 to 24,735 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq from the beginning of the war and occupation to May 20. American soldiers killed from May 14-20: Sergeant Charles C. Gillican, III, 35; Brunswick, Georgia | Sergeant Jacob M. Simpson, 24; Ashland, Oregon | Private First…
Taking downtown’s pulse
Too young to remember anything about the old downtown, most of Rochester’s 20-somethings grew up listening to their parents whimper about Sibley’s and Midtown Plaza. Now they’re more than ready to see Rochester resemble some of the country’s other wireless, espresso-sipping urban centers. Rochester’s young professionals — that cherished demographic local economists, business people, and…
