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Recently, a woman strolled into the Bop Shop in search of some jumpblues. Owner Tom Kohn and his staff were on the case with the speed and enthusiasm of a NASCAR pit crew. "We were like, 'Jump blues? You need Tiny Bradshaw, Louis Jordan.
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If Rochester, Buffalo, and Syracuse worked together as a region, could we get the growth --- new companies, new jobs, new people --- that's eluding us? Maybe. We'd certainly have a better chance than if we
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It's fitting that Mother's Day occurs in the spring, but not because life is bursting out all over. It's fitting because spring is when daycare centers and kindergartens need to know your plans for next fall. Will you stay at home with your kids (if you're lucky enough to have choices)? Start working or
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Location, location Monroe Community College's Advanced Technology Center is revered by public officials and development types alike as a project with the potential to revitalize downtown. But the project is in limbo after the state Legislature declined to allocate the necessary $33 million to get the project started.
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Freed from tyranny I was appalled by Jack Bradigan Spula's comments in response to the letter from Stephanie Aldersley in the April 16 issue. To characterize the brave service men and women putting their lives at risk in Iraq as "gung ho" and deserving of criticism for carrying out orders marginalizes Jack and City Newspaper
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Genesee County's northern tier, a zone of rich soils well-positioned between the Lake Ontario plains and the hill country to the south, has that touch of bigness. Open fields stretch hundreds or thousands of yards back from the road. A Montana-style "Big Sky" draws the eyes to infinity. "Big" weather rolls in day and night,
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The next exec: The second in an occasional series of articles addressing issues related to the 2003 Monroe County Executive race. Call it political Fear Factor. A year ago, County Executive Jack Doyle convened three public forums to discuss the concept of consolidating local governments
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In 1969, thousands of peace-loving music devotees gathered near a small town in the Catskills for what was to become a landmark in American cultural history. The Woodstock that George Bellows knew and loved, half a century earlier, was an altogether smaller affair. But for many of the artists who came to work there, it
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Once again, the blooming has begun among the 22 acres of lilac bushes in Highland Park. Enter the Lilac Festival, Rochester's oldest and largest festival, held this year from Friday, May 9, through Sunday, May 18, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. A half-million people will descend on the park, and there'll be
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I purposely avoided MacGregor's city location (the one on Gregory Street in the South Wedge) for about a month this spring, suspecting the staff there'd been stricken with SARS: Server Apathetic Response Syndrome. This strain of SARS was first identified in China,
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Always an important and popular character in American literature (and no doubt drawn from observed reality), the confidence man, that occasionally lovable rogue, fleeces his victims by exploiting not only their gullibility, but also their greed. Most con men don't simply steal the money from their marks. Just like the average legitimate Wall Street hustler,
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Last week, we discussed the first film in Abbas Kiarostami's "Earthquake Trilogy," Where Is the Friend'sHome? With the second picture, And Life Goes On... (screens Thursday, May 8, at the Dryden), it becomes clear early on that when Kiarostami conceived Home?, it wasn't with a trilogy in mind.
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When I was about eight or nine, my dad got sick for the first time I could remember --- I think it was the Hong Kong Flu or something. I remember being pretty concerned, seeing him abed all day in a fairly weakened state. But then, a few days into the illness, he perked
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The historic success of This is Spinal Tap, directed by Rob Reiner way back in 1984, demonstrates the curious position of parody in a culture that now seems to have lost any sense of irony. The film so precisely nailed its ostensible subject, a horrible British rock band (though neither discernibly better or worse than
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From the raunchy wail of his slide guitar to his gutsy, truck full-o'-sugary-gravel voice, George Thorogood is a musical icon, a man who embodies the enduring link between the blues and rock 'n' roll. And his new album, Ride 'Til I Die, is standard-issue Thorogood --- simple, straight-ahead, rockin' blues.
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It was with an odd feeling of sorrow that I discovered the Black Dahlia murder had finally been solved. I always found an odd comfort in her death's horrific black-and-white savagery, and in the fact that some things are unsolvable. This doesn't make me a bad person, does it? Maybe she won't haunt me
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Only about a quarter of Rochester's 9th graders graduate four years later --- and only 4 percent of those freshmen get Regents diplomas. In 2001, only 11 percent of Rochester's 8th graders passed the state math exam.
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Our expert couldn't tell the difference Plenty of Rochester's indigenous exports have put the Flower City on the big map. Bursting with Rochester pride, I love to see hometown products hit the market. I've got a few ideas of my own, too. How about Zweigle's White Hot --- the other whitening toothpaste? Or Genesee
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Invest in schools As I began to read Charles Deering's comments on the Rochester school budget (The Mail, April 23), I settled in to enjoy his sarcasm as he imitated ignoramuses who believe that schools are not the most important investment we can make. Imagine my shock when I realized that his ludicrous comments were
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True or false? Gates is a Canal Town. Trick question: T and F are both correct. Not that the bedroom-and-strip-mall township just outside the city limits is a Canal Town in the Realtor's sense. Gates will never be taken for Fairport,
