Rochester NY News & Lilac Festival Schedule 2009

Lilac Festival Information 2009 - The festival is Rochester's largest and brings in almost a half a million people each year, including tourists who travel to the area. The park has "over 500 varieties of lilacs and more than 1200 lilac bushes in the parks' 155 acres". It will take place on May 8 to 17 at Highland Park. "Musical acts will include Rickie Lee Jones, Joan Osborne, Dr. John & the Lower 911, Southside Johnny & the AsburyJukes and Big Bad Voo Doo Daddy. The festival and concerts are free." Mark Quinn, superintendent of horticulture for Monroe County says that the Lilacs are "in excellent condition."

I had a wonderful time last year (click here), and even pigged out on wine & food samplings! I particularly liked the free chicken and veggies at "Cooks Pan." and will look for them again. I hope to get a camera and take photos this year. Rochester has hard winters, but makes up for it with a ton of fun festivals! Rochester's nickname is the Flower City. Find out more http://www.lilacfestival.com/ Here is a list of more Rochester festivals, concerts, etc. and here at myrochester.com

Gay Marriage in New York State? - Cross your fingers folks! Today Gov. David Patterson introduced a bill to legalize same sex marriage in New York state. The bill was defeated when the Republicans had control, but now with the Democrats there is a fighting change. I know that my pal Pat Martinez and her partner Lisa Golden have been working hard for this. Read more here.

Time Warner, tisk, tisk! - Time Warner Cable Inc. of Rochester NY is acting greedy. It wants to use metered billing for Internet usage, (similar to gas and electric), where those who use more bandwidth pay more. In this economy? BAD IDEA! There has been a public uproar. Many home businesses work from the Web. Rochester also has a large deaf community who uses video phone as a main avenue of communication. Politicians Rep. Eric Massa and Sen. Chuck Schumer demanded that Time Warner abandon its plan. Time Warner seemed to have backed down, but not really. It is more like a postponement in hope that the community will get use to the idea and accept it. Hm, I think that I'll stick to my slow dial-up for now. It's much less expensive.

Bad News For Buffalo NY, Rochester, and more. - I was shocked when I read it! According to the local news Rochester is doing better then most other cities, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Forbes has a list of "U.S. Cities Where It's Hardest To Get By" They listed 20 on-line and, Buffalo was #5, Rochester was #15. They also have a list of "America's Most Livable Cities".It includes several cities in Mass. and Pa. among others. Hm, should I pack my bags?

Star Trek Movie - I'm a bit of a Trekkie so I had to sneak this in. The movie named "Star Trek" opens May 8. It's "a chronicle of the early days of James T. Kirk and his fellow USS Enterprise crew members". Here's the movie trailer. Oops, it opens the same day as the Lilac Festival, but I can work that out. I hope this leads to a new series! About time! YAHOO! By the way, Leonard Nimoy who plays Mr. Spock (and is also in the movie) is said to live in my area. He is my favorite Star Trek character of all time. In case he's reading this...I'm no skinny Minnie! ; )

photo credit