I can honestly say that I’m not a Loverboy fan. I know all of the band’s songs, though, thanks to the mind-numbing rotation it got on the radio back in the 1980’s. By the time the band hit the bigs, I had discovered punk rock by way of new wave, and was too cool for […]
Section Feature
Posted inNews & Opinion
Iffy results for incentive pay
The Rochester school district has paid thousands of dollars in extra income to teachers through programs designed to test incentive pay. The state and federal governments are investing in the programs — one in its third year and another set to launch in the fall — to test a key component of education reform: Does […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Video Games: Nintendo 3DS XL Review
Just more than a year after the release of the 3DS, Nintendo is rolling out a newer version of the handheld, raising more questions than answers. Did we really need a bigger 3DS? Is it enough of an upgrade to buy another 3DS this soon? And, perhaps most importantly, where am I going to find screen protectors this large?
Posted inSpecial Sections
STUDENT SURVIVAL GUIDE ’12: Introduction
I was never a math major, but if my calculations are correct,
18-year-olds starting their freshman year at college this fall were born in or around 1994. Which means you whippersnappers might not fully appreciate the super-cool concept for the cover of this Student Survival Guide, because you weren’t alive for any of the 1980’s. Which means I feel sad for you. So for your first college assignment, I task you with (legally) downloading music by Duran Duran, The Go-Gos, Culture Club, Erasure, and their contemporaries. You will thank me later.
Posted inMusic
PROFILE: Nathen Maxwell and The Original Bunny Gang
It’s unlikely that then-17-year-old Nathen Maxwell knew what the next 15 years of his life would be like as he was sneaking in the back door to the Los Angeles pub Molly Malone’s in 1997. Well, he did know it would involve music.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
VIDEO GAME REVIEW: Heroes of Ruin (3DS)
"Heroes of Ruin" is a gem of a game. In the same dungeon stomping tradition of games such as "Gauntlet" and "Diablo," "Heroes of Ruin" is an original IP hack and slash dungeon crawler adventure. The game's main claim to fame is by large its technical achievements: n-Space set out to make a full fledge […]
Posted inMusic
CD REVIEW: THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM “HANDWRITTEN”
There’s good news and bad news about New Jersey punk rockers The Gaslight Anthem’s major labor debut, “Handwritten.”
Posted inMusic
Passing it down
Rich Thompson will never forget the time when trumpeter Clark Terry’s quintet visited his high school in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. It was his first taste of world-class jazz and he absorbed all he could from the veteran players. “I was blown away,” says Thompson. Two decades later, he was drumming with the Count Basie Orchestra, a […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
A step apart
The third annual Nazareth College Arts Center Dance Festival begins this week and lasts through next weekend, bringing a diverse range of dance forms to both stage and lawn. The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra kicks off the festival Thursday evening with a Dance Festival Overture led by Jeff Tyzik; the evening will include accompanying dance performances. […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Scene & Herd: A Carnival Of Animals
The term “carnival” most commonly brings up associations of bratty kids blowing their parents’ money on terrible food, tricky games, plastic souvenirs, and nausea-inducing rides. If you’re slightly more cultured, you might recognize Carnival as the festival season that takes place before Lent, perhaps best known for the Brazilian celebration of the more, shall we […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Critics attack Cuomo’s frack plan
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration has floated a plan to allow high-volume hydraulic fracturing in the deepest parts of the Marcellus Shale. And critics are speaking out. The New York Times reported on the plan last week, crediting anonymous senior Department of Environmental Conservation officials as sources. The plan would allow high-volume hydraulic fracturing in portions […]
Posted inCulture
Cocktails and food
At this particular time in culinary history, it’s become pretty much standard practice to needlessly complicate something as simple as sustenance with hip buzzwords and lofty concepts. Dan Martello bucked that trend by explaining the focus of his new restaurant Cure to me in exactly four syllables: “Cocktails and food.” But even though he’s already […]
