Autumn In Halifax
It was a willingness to venture into the unfamiliar that inspired David Merulla to pick up the guitar. About 10 years ago, he dove in more or less cold and bought an electric and acoustic guitar at the same time. “I wrote all the time,” Merulla says, “and got to this point where I was…
Inbox 10.26.05
The mass email has been both a scourge and a blessing. I have seen some of the oddest words in the English language set forth in them. This one is no exception, although it’s not quite a “mass” email, as it was only sent to about 20 people. To set the stage, here are the…
Europeans do it better
How is it that even when working within the limits of a genre, European filmmakers are able to avoid the clichés that ensnare their American counterparts? On its surface, Belgian filmmaker Erik Van Looy’s clever noir The Memory of a Killer is your basic cop-versus-antihero throwdown, but our criminal with a ventricle of gold can…
Sex, lies, and iron mining
If it does nothing else, North Country indicates that in the midst of the hype, the slick, and the schlock, Hollywood maintains some remnant of its honorable tradition of political awareness and social consciousness. Not coincidentally, the movie, inspired, as its makers state, by real events, also exhibits those liberal tendencies that send the crybaby…
Delta metal
Maybe it’s Eddie. Maybe it’s Alex. Maybe it’s the gyrating schoolteacher in a bikini. Whatever. Van Halen’s “Hot For Teacher” is probably my favorite music video and consequently one of my favorite songs. One-man band Skull threw in a version of this tune last Friday at Spy Bar, a joint that’s starting to make some…
The XX Files 10.26.05
“Can I wear fake gunshot wounds for Halloween?” my 9-year-old said. At a party store, he had seen a kit that contained theatrical glue and a scrap of rubber shaped into a dark bubble of blood — where the bullet went in — surrounded by torn-up rubber skin. I suddenly felt like vomiting. Does he…
Metro Ink 10.26.05
Send me a postcard The image is about 20 years old, but the distribution method is much newer. | About a month ago, Professor Andrew Davidhazy, chair of RIT’s imaging and photographic technology department, decided to make a postcard out of a distorted, nude photograph he took in the ’80s. He had been putting his…
Reader Feedback 10.26.05
So we have another under-18 victim of a senseless crime, the sixth or seventh for the year (who is counting?)
Warren Benson
One wintry night in the 1970s, Warren Benson urged his wife and four children to hurry up and get dressed, or they’d be late for a Christmas Eve service. No one really wanted to go, but they scurried into the car anyway. On the way to Rochester’s First Unitarian Church, his daughter Kirsten Benson Hampton…
Cost of war 10.26.05
The totals: 1990 US soldiers, 199 Coalition soldiers, and approximately 26,690 to 30,051 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq from the beginning of the war and occupation to October 18. American soldiers killed between September October 10 to 18: Sergeant First Class Brandon K. Sneed, 33; Norman, Oklahoma | Staff Sergeant Matthew A. Kimmell,…
What it feels like on the picket line
At the University of Rochester this past weekend, the atmosphere was festive, as the UR inaugurated its new president, Joel Seligman. But some University employees didn’t have their minds on celebration; contract negotiations between management and two unions, SEIU Local 1199 and 200 United, have stalled, and several hundred union members were picketing. The unions…
Looking for a change
Talk with Republican candidate John Parrinello about his campaign for Rochester mayor, and you quickly realize that one issue dominates his focus: public safety. Like the erratic orbit of a comet around the sun, Parrinello’s mind seems tethered to the problem of crime, no matter what he’s talking about. Discussions of schools, administrative appointments, or…
Election 2005
This year’s general election has none of the excitement of the September primary for Rochester mayor, but it is an important election, in MonroeCounty and in the city. In the county, all 29 seats are on the ballot — with more than 40 candidates running. No newspaper can do justice to every candidate in that…
Family Valued 10.26.05
Tunes to parent to In the midst of all the parenting advice thrown at me over the years by well-meaning strangers, fretful family members, and bothersome busybodies, I remember hearing: “Don’t play all that Wiggles crap for your kid. Unless you want to go out of your mind, start ’em off right, listening to the…
Fiz 10.26.05
Halloweb Halloween is traditionally the time for costumed children to indulge in sanctioned blackmail. (“Trick or treat?” Think about it.) But there are plenty of other ways to celebrate All Hallow’s Eve. Modern observances derive from ancient Pagan and Catholic rituals all squished together into lucrative opportunities for retailers and dentists, and as always, the…
