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Cheap Eats 2013
Would you like to get all gussied up and treat yourself to an expensive gastronomic feast, complete with wine pairings and decadent, show-stopping desserts? If so, you can take your top hat and monocle elsewhere. This rundown of Rochester’s cheap eats is for hungry people who don’t carry their money around in sacks with dollar…
Two brownfield projects get state money
Two state grants will allow Rochester and neighborhood officials to move forward on two brownfield and community redevelopment projects. Late last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office announced that the South Genesee Implementation Strategy — a project that includes the Vacuum Oil site in southwest Rochester — will receive $868,500, and the Bull’s Head Revitalization Plan…
Notes on the Walker-Clifford affair
My God. Have we completely forgotten how to do subterfuge in this country? What happened to brush passes and secret codes? Or trench coats and full-figured dames with dark pasts? Has the whole word gone crazy? The Molly Clifford-Gary Walker plot to keep Tom Richards in the mayor’s office is unacceptably prosaic. They apparently carried…
Preliminary teacher evaluations released
State Education officials have released preliminary statewide ratings for teachers and principals under the new Annual Professional Performance Review. The composite results show that 91.5 percent of teachers earned ratings of “highly effective” or “effective,” while 4.4 percent are “developing,” and 1 percent are “ineffective.” The data also show that 89.9 percent of principals are…
University Ave. apartment plan tabled
After a long night of testimony on both sides, the City of Rochester’s Planning Commission opted last night to table Morgan Management’s application to build a 99-unit apartment complex on University Avenue, in the East Avenue Preservation District. The application should resurface later this month. Leading the opposition to the project was Bruce Barnes, director…
King and the people
It’s not surprising that State Education Commissioner John King rescheduled his public forums regarding the curriculum referred to as Common Core. According to some reports, at least three state legislators contacted him urging a resumption of the forums. King said the newly scheduled forums will start in a high school in Albany on Thursday, October…
Concert Review: Sweet Tea Project, Audio Influx, Blanco Diablo
Ed Roland’s Sweet Tea Project rolled into town Tuesday, October 15, not to steep, not to brew, not to percolate, but to rock the joint like a diesel-powered Dixie-fied deep fryer. The man’s music is instantly recognizable, thanks to seven No. 1 hits and more than 10 million albums sold worldwide with his band, Collective…
WEEK AHEAD: Forum on police-community relations; University Ave. apts. meeting; school board meeting
A forum on police-community relations will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 24, at the Faith Temple Apostolic Church, 141 Arnett Boulevard. The forum is sponsored by the United Christian Leadership Ministry of Western New York, the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, and the NAACP. Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley has been asked to…
![[UPDATED] Independence Party standing behind Richards](https://i0.wp.com/www.roccitymag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/richardstom06_square-e1755021777655.webp?resize=150%2C166&ssl=1)
[UPDATED] Independence Party standing behind Richards
The Independence Party of Monroe County is urging voters to cast their ballots for Mayor Tom Richards, even though Richards is no longer campaigning for reelection.
Will Duffy return to Rochester?
The rumor that Bob Duffy will depart the Cuomo administration to head the Rochester Business Alliance when current RBA leader Sandra Parker retires at the end of the year is sprouting legs. Neither Duffy nor Cuomo have done anything to quash the speculation. Instead, Duffy’s refusal to discuss it has stoked the buzz into a…
Obamacare moving forward in the Rochester/Finger Lakes area
In 2008, multiple polls were telling us that most Americans ranked the rising cost of health care and the possible loss of health coverage as two of their biggest concerns. And they wanted Washington lawmakers to do something. After two elections and a US Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act, you really have…
CONCERT REVIEW: Brahms, Bartók, and Higdon at the RPO under Gueller
Here’s the thing about classical music: whether or not it features your favorite composer, a live performance of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra is always worth the ticket price. Hidgon — who is that? Bartók — inaccessible? Brahms — a bit melancholy? And, who is guest conductor Bernhard Gueller? My response is simple: get yourself to…
Paltry minimum wage hurts everybody
When a company pays its full-time workers only minimum wage, it’s bad for the employees, and it’s bad for taxpayers, too. That’s the thrust behind a recent report from the UC Berkeley Labor Center, which focuses on wages in the fast-food industry; local social justice groups are trying to draw attention to the report’s findings.…
Brizard returns, kind of
He’s back, sort of. It’s been a few years since former city schools superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard left Rochester rather abruptly to become Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel’s schools chief — though he didn’t last long there, either. It’s no secret that some Rochester board members, teachers, and union leaders were happy to see Brizard go. Others, even…
Gargoyles and spirit girls
Corn Hill’s new Historic Trail identifies 10 historic or cultural landmarks within the neighborhood, including a granite obelisk commemorating the old Plymouth Spiritualist Church and its famous parishioners, “spirit rappers” Kate and Margaret Fox. “It’s a wonderful piece of art that is important in our neighborhood,” says Rob Goodling, president of the Corn Hill Neighbors…
“Captain Phillips”
Based on an account by the title character and more important, on recent events, “Captain Phillips” confronts some compelling contemporary issues in both subject and method. To begin with, the picture belongs to that increasingly popular genre, the docudrama, which shows actual events in a somewhat fictionalized form, like the Iranian hostage crisis in “Argo”…
Mapping Rwanda
Two RIT professors have equipped students in a couple of Rwanda high schools with smart phones and tablets to map their communities. Professors Brian Tomaszewski and Anthony Vodacek are leading a two-year pilot study funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development. The students will use the equipment to collect and synthesize data from…
“Escape From Tomorrow”
When it premiered at Sundance last January, “Escape From Tomorrow” quickly gained notoriety based in large part on the unusual way in which it was filmed. To capture his unique vision of the corporate culture’s dark underbelly, director Randy Moore shot his movie without permission in the Walt Disney World and Disneyland theme parks. In…
Dems hopeful for an upset in Greece
For a community with a population of fewer than 100,000, Greece’s scandals rival those of much larger places. Over the last decade, the town has been mired in the kinds of controversies, investigations, wrongdoings, and high-profile court cases that are usually reserved for nighttime television drama. The Greece Police Department became an algae bloom of…
“Zero Charisma”
Also released on On Demand last week, “Zero Charisma” is a dark, satirical send-up of nerd culture that deftly sidesteps stereotypes or passing judgment on its characters. From first-time directors Katie Graham and Andrew Matthews (who also wrote the screenplay), the film focuses on how geeky interests have become mainstream, and what it truly means…
Medley looms over Irondequoit races
To make sense of Irondequoit’s politics, it helps to think of the town as Monroe County’s swing state. Party affiliation doesn’t seem to mean much to Irondequoit voters. And they aren’t reluctant to bounce sitting officials out of office. As a result, town elections are often tough, hard-fought contests, and the 2013 races are no…
ART REVIEW: “Memory Theatre”
The Memorial Art Gallery’s new exhibit, “Memory Theatre,” opened on one of the recent bright and brisk autumn evenings, when the daylong sunshine was punctuated by evening temperature drops and the fragrant decay of leaves, dipping us into that wistful ache of another year’s departure. The show is a collection of works that speak of…
Monroe’s low-stakes Lej races
County Legislature races are on the ballot for voters in parts of Greece and Irondequoit this year. In Greece’s 19th district, Democrat Mike Bertolone and Republican Kathleen Taylor are running for an open seat. In Irondequoit’s 17th district, Democratic incumbent Joe Morelle Jr. faces a challenge from Republican Ed McClenathan. It’s a relatively low-stakes election…
Heatseeker
Let’s clear up a bit of confusion. In the hallowed halls of all things rock ‘n’ roll, big often gets confused with loud. Any band can be loud; just turn the sucker up. Plug in and peel out. The reality is that the bands we love aren’t just loud, they’re big. Rochester’s Heatseeker is big.…
Apts. hearing
Morgan Management’s proposal to build a 99-unit apartment building at 933 University Avenue will be heard by the city’s Planning Commission on Monday, October 21. The site is in the East Avenue Preservation District. | The controversial project has been through several design revisions. Originally, Morgan planned to demolish the 1920’s house on the northeast…
Jam | Phish
The last time I saw Phish, the band’s management granted me permission to photograph the band for the first three songs. Twenty minutes later I was still in the pit and Phish was still on its first song. These cats are the kings of the extrapolated jam. Phish emerged out of the fertile Vermont hippy…
Urban Action 10/16
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Obamacare discussion The League of Women Voters’ health care committee will present “The Affordable Care Act: Challenges in Local Implementation,” a panel discussion at 4 p.m. on Thursday, October 17. The panel members…
Pop/Rock | Tim Reynolds
Tim Reynolds is probably more well known for his work as lead guitar slinger for Dave Matthews (in the band and as an acoustic duo), but his brilliance as an exploratory guitarist and multi-instrumentalist shines in his group, TR3. A globetrotting Army brat, Reynolds formed the band in Charlottesville, Virginia, in the early 1980’s. In…
The new, ‘more,’ D&C
We’ve had just over a week of the new print version of the Democrat and Chronicle, with, as promised, more content than the old D&C. And I’m not loving it. Change is good. Communities change, readers’ interests change, style and taste change. If we had to read the newspapers that were published 100 years ago,…
Folk | Iron & Wine
Sam Beam, better known by the stage name Iron & Wine, is a folk artist whose music has been a constant in the indie folk scene for over a decade. Beam’s music is known for the simple, hushed quality that is present in every aspect of his sound — from the tender vocals, the sparse…
Alternative | The Peculiar Pretzelmen
The Peculiar Pretzelmen is the sort of band that you could imagine drinking absinthe or traveling along the bowels of the carny circuit with. The LA-based duo draws its musical influences from Depression-era barn-burning blues, throwing in an edgy punk ethos. The Peculiar Pretzelmen churns out the devil’s blues as competently as Elmore Leonard cranked…
“The Last Five Years”
In his program notes for “The Last Five Years,” JCC Centerstage Artistic Director Ralph Meranto refers to the musical as “one of ‘those’ shows,” the type that people in the theater community get excited about working on, and one that becomes truly special to those who fall under its spell. It’s not the first time…
Classical | Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
Jonathan Biss handily disproves the notion that a pianist needs to be old and grizzled before tackling the core Germanic repertoire of Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms. At 33, Biss is a highly regarded interpreter of all three in performance and in words. For his appearances with the Rochester Philharmonic, Biss will play Brahms’s “Piano Concerto…
COMEDY | Jerry Seinfeld
Whether you know him from his classic eponymous sitcom or for all the “What’s the deal with…” jokes he does, chances are you’re familiar with Jerry Seinfeld in one way or another. You’ll have a chance to get more familiar with him this Friday, October 18, as he performs stand-up at the Auditorium Theatre (885…
Classical | “The Resurrection” in Memory of ESM Dean Douglas Lowry
On October 2, Douglas Lowry, Dean Emeritus of the Eastman School of Music, passed away. He had only recently stepped down as Dean, a position he assumed in 2007. Lowry, also a composer and conductor, was only 62. Jamal Rossi succeeds Lowry as Dean. In memory of Lowry, a concert is being dedicated on Friday,…
LIT | “Game of Thrones” Discussion Series
Rally your bannermen: the “Game of Thrones” discussion series is here. Even if you missed the first session on Monday, October 7, there is still plenty of time to share your thoughts on the George R. R. Martin’s “Song of Ice and Fire” book series and its wildly popular television adaptation on HBO. The five-part…
LECTURE | National Archaeology Day
While my idea of a vacation includes some beach bumming with a good novel, I always want to geek out over what the local museums offer in terms of remnants of historic culture. On Saturday, October 19, the Rochester Museum and Science Center (657 East Ave.) and the Archaeological Institute of America Society of Rochester…
pop/rock | Frightened Rabbit
Within the music of indie rockers Frightened Rabbit, singer Scott Hutchison’s Scottish brogue is likely the most immediate element that draws listeners in. His accented wails regarding love, drinking, and just about everything else in between certainly represent a strong balance of the band’s appeal, but so too do the other more complimentary instrumental elements…
RECREATION | Full Moon Vista Cyclocross
If you are in search of a fitness challenge, here’s one of monumental proportions: Cyclocross at Ellison Park (395 Rich’s Dugway Road). For those who don’t know, cyclocross is basically cycling with obstacles that require the cycler to dismount their bike, run on foot while carrying the bike, get back on the bike, rinse and…
folk | Mandolin Orange
Chapel Hill has an extremely rich musical tradition. Jazz, gospel, the Piedmont blues, rock, metal, punk, and hip-hop; it’s all been cradled there. What many people might not realize is how much country music owes to artists that hail from the area, and Mandolin Orange has a healthy respect for the old-time twang that its…
SPECIAL EVENT | RMSC After Dark
The past few times I’ve been to The Rochester Museum & Science Center (657 East Ave.), I’ve been in the manic company of nieces and nephews, pulled from what has caught my focus to engage with the little ones and what has captured their attention. The 21-and-over crowd will reclaim the museum on Friday, October…
electronic | Infinity Shred
This NYC-based experimental outfit mixes the ethereality and ambience of the most meditative post-rock with a taste for super glitchy hip-hop beats. These shredders of futuristic space synth just released its first full-length album in September on Paracadute Records. “Sanctuary” is just that: a safe asylum for the reluctantly reverent. Each track is a long…
THEATER | “The 39 Steps”
When I think “Hitchcock,” I don’t think “hilarity.” I think suspense, intrigue, and sharp wit, but I don’t expect my sides to be in stitches. Starting next week, Geva Theatre Center will present “The 39 Steps,” a fast-paced, comedic whodunit adapted by Patrick Barlow, from the John Buchan novel and the 1935 film by Alfred…
