Fiz – 5.3.06
Comic relief Thirty-five years ago at this very moment, you would find me on a bicycle peddling madly up Lancaster Drive to WedgewoodPlaza. The bike was metallic green, which was cool, but not as cool as the banana-seat bikes that were appearing in the neighborhood. Entering the outdoor plaza by the hidden bike-safe entrance, I…
The hots, for you
The planet is warming up. What does that mean for Rochester? The short answer is that nobody really knows. A climate is a complex thing. Change one little part of it and you may change the whole thing — and in unpredictable ways. Still, that doesn’t mean scientists can’t make some sound educated guesses about…
Kneadful things
There is something about photography that allows the viewer to associate it with what it represents. There is a kind of transparency that allows the belief that somehow the photographic image is unmediated. It’s as if when we look at a photograph, we are in the presence of the thing itself. Of course, we all…
Roses are red
Today you can find any book or magazine you could ever want at your local mega-bookstore — if you didn’t already buy it online. There’s little question that small, independent publishing houses didn’t exactly hit the jackpot with the rise of the Waldens and Barnes & Nobles of the world. But Thom Ward, fiction editor…
Splitting the difference
Albert Einstein said, “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” Religion verses science. Fact verses faith. Is there common ground between these seemingly opposing forces? Geva hosts the world premiere of Splitting Infinity, a dramatic love story exploring these themes. Sitting within the prime focus cage of an astronomical telescope, 24-year-old astrophysicist…
Loss, gain, and the yogic life
Most restaurants have some vegetarian offerings, and some even cater to strict vegans, but those that specialize in serving that population are uncommon here. Ithaca has one on every corner, but Rochester seems to support, basically, one at a time. Twenty years ago it was Jazzberry’s, with it’s creative and inconsistent food. A dozen years…
A league of their own
As a kid, Eugenio Cotto Jr. would come home after school and immediately grab his baseball glove and pair of spikes. He simply couldn’t wait. “Baseball was already on my mind,” he says. “I was already at the baseball park.” Unfortunately, Cotto admits, he wasn’t all that great at playing the game. But that didn’t…
A curfew? What kind?
Could a curfew reduce Rochester’s homicide rate, especially among youth? It depends on how it’s implemented, says Rochester Institute of Technology criminal justice professor John Klofas. It probably won’t work, he says, if violators are cuffed and jailed. But, he says, if the city can create a comprehensive social-service-oriented program, a curfew can become a…
Cost of war – 5.3.06
The totals: 2395 US soldiers, 214 Coalition soldiers, and approximately 34,593 to 38,743 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq from the beginning of the war and occupation to May 1. 3285 Iraqi police and guardsmen have been killed since January 2005, according to an estimate compiled from news reports. American soldiers killed between April…
Reader feedback – 5.3.06
Murder-rate solutions, tax equity
Metro ink – 5.3.06
A FOCUS ON HEALING When the RochesterZenCenter opened its doors in 1966, it was one of only four places in the US devoted to the daily practice of Zen meditation. On Saturday, May 6, a symposium, “Healing & Buddhism” will mark the Center’s 40th anniversary. “Between the war in Iraq, the violent crime in Rochester,…
The human tragedy of 9/11
The shocking attacks of September 11, 2001 generated a variety of responses beyond the predictable search for answers and explanations, including such amazingly un-American activities as preemptive invasion of another country, suspension of civil liberties, illegal surveillance of citizens, secret prisons, and officially sanctioned torture. But until now, oddly, it has inspired little in the…
Sometimes size doesn’t matter
Whether the work hails from Paris, Los Angeles, or below the streets of Rochester, the assortment of short films that make up the 48th Rochester International Film Festival (some call it Movies on a Shoestring) seems unusually strong. This year saw 110 entries from 10 countries, with 32 films making the final cut. And since…
Thinking man’s metal
The guys in BML aren’t trying to be obtuse. They’re as perplexed as you are when it comes to trying to pigeonhole their sound — music that’s powerful and angular with shifty progressions that beg for Ritalin. Music that’s progressive, that’s heavy, funky, and complex. Call it thinking man’s metal. “I call it ‘fried-chicken core,'”…
40 is the new 20
It’s easy to get your rocks off when someone — anyone — is watching. The true test of a musician is when one can pour it all out with little or no feedback. Baby, it’s a breeze and we’re all rock stars when they’re all drunk and flailing in front of the stage. But when…
120 Crossman Terrace
“A Unique Opportunity in Upper Monroe” Enjoy the Upper Monroe neighborhood of Rochester on a deeper level as you walk along historic Crosman Terrace, a street filled with houses as beautiful as the old growth trees that surround them. The allure of this area comes from its diverse and influential past, when the street was…
Family valued – 5.3.06
Get hopping to a pre-school co-op If you’re considering nursery school for your pre-schooler, now’s the time to shop around if you want a range of options. Two years ago, we found ourselves behind the proverbial eight ball. It’s a common first-child mistake: who would have thought you have to plan for nursery school so…
