Holiday Guide 2005

Sure the holidays mean spending time with the family. But you can still have fun, too. With these low-cost events, you’ll even be able to pay your fuel bills. Metro Justice’s Alternative Fair happens at the First Unitarian Church of Rochester, 220 South Winton Road, on Friday, December 2, 5 to 10 p.m. and Saturday, […]

I felt it long before I ever saw it. Every day the house shook with a deep rumbling that made my ribs thud in my chest as workers tore off the back wall and roof for a kitchen bump-out. What was that monstrous tool they were using? The groaning of wood and unearthly crunching of […]

If you’re like me, you hear anything with sleigh bells prior to Christmas Eve and cringe. And jumping the gun before the pumpkins are done rotting isn’t my only peeve. It’s the same goddamn music over and over and over. Not so long ago I used to dig Nat King Cole’s “Christmas Song,” Bobby Helms’ […]

Only the heartiest among us can weather the holiday shopping season well. The barrage of catalogs, canned musical cheer, sale announcements, and store displays comes on so early and so hard that by the time you actually need presents, you’re probably ready to saw off your own feet with a rusty cookie cutter rather than […]

On stage The Capitol Steps Sat, Dec 31. comedy, Nazareth College Arts Center, 4245 East Ave, 6:30 and 10 p.m. $45. 389-2170, www.naz.edu A Christmas Carol Fri-Sun, Nov 25-27, Dec 2-4, Dec 9-11; Sat, Dec 17. musical, A Magical Journey Thru Stages, UpStage3, Auditorium Center, 875 E Main St. $22, $20 seniors, $18 students. 935-7173, […]

It’s easy to get rundown desperately seeking that warm and fuzzy holiday feeling It’s easy to get rundown desperately seeking that warm and fuzzy holiday feeling. There’s a lot of celebrating between now and the New Year; a lot of family and friends to see; a lot of meals to share and glasses to lift; […]

By the time audiences see the annual Thanksgiving-time performances of The Nutcracker, with dancers provided by the Rochester City Ballet and music performed by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the work is polished. The poise of the dancers, the memorable swells and leaps in Tchaikovsky’s score, the dancing sweets and swirling snowflakes — it all makes […]

You know it’s December when the fight or flight instinct kicks in. If picking a fight with your sister-in-law has lost its appeal and escaping to Puerto Vallarta isn’t in your budget, channel your energy in a new direction. Take the family to a free or low-cost seasonal event. The annual It’s a Wonderful Life […]

While there are inevitably a couple of movies every year set against Christmas — but hardly a cavalcade of films about Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, incidentally — it’s probably misleading to call this a holiday movie preview. If Jesus were blowing out candles in June, these flicks would still be squeezing in under the Academy deadline. […]