Weekly Rochester Events #224: Tell Us About Santa, Clement

Thursday, April 24, 2003

First things first. This weekend is the last weekend of the month, so, despite no presence at O'Bagelo's (165 State Street) last week, we'll be out this week too. This time it's around the corner at L. J.'s II Jamaican Restaurant (38 St. Paul St.) I went there on Monday and boy was it good. I've never had Jamaican food so I thought I'd go in head first and try some stuff I thought was a bit unusual. I got a combination plate of oxtails and chicken jerk over rice-and-beans with a dumpling on the side. Oxtails are literally ox tails. It comes in short sections about an inch or two long and the meat is fatty like pork ribs (only made of beef instead) and covered in a mildy spicy brown gravy. The chicken jerk is roasted (maybe smoked) and is very spicy. The server (and possibly manager, owner, and chef for all I know) warned me many times that it was very spicy, and it was ... spicy like between medium and hot chicken wings. All in all, it was really good and I look forward to trying one of the fish entrées on Saturday, or at least something milder. Oh, they make chicken jerk chicken wings too, but the guy said they were even hotter. Yikes. Oh yeah, it should be pretty clear if you click on the map, but on-street parking shouldn't be a problem. St. Paul is one-way going south, so I'd recommend coming down Main Street and going through the entrance at the Sheraton Four Points (120 East Main St.) passing under the hotel onto Bragdon Place and taking a left (it's a little U-shaped street of St. Paul. If you can't find a parking spot by the Rochester Chamber of Commerce (55 St. Paul St.) take a right on St. Paul and if nothing is obvious there, try the little bit of Bragdon you hadn't driven along yet. Loop back through and go down St Paul (or take a left on Mortimer and see if there's anything there.) There is about 6 spots in front of L. J.'s, but if you still can't find any, do the bigger loop around Main to State to Andrews and back down St. Paul. There should be something around there.

The Chrysler 300M is featured prominently in front of the Musée D'art Contemporain de Montréal

I spent the weekend up in Montréal. I decided to go up through the Odgensburg, NY crossing to Prescott, Ontario because I really didn't want to sit in line waiting to get across, so I went up on Friday morning. Well, on the way up they just asked me a couple questions and ran my license through the computer and let me through. Heck, I was nearly alone on the road crossing the border as well. It was exactly the same on the way back. I thought the Odgensburg crossing was pretty funny too because just before you cross, there's a sign that presents you with a choice: "Bridge to Canada" or "Psychiatric Center."

Anyway, I stayed up there until Sunday around noon. I'll write up the full report later, but let's just say I had some excellent sushi at Club Monte Cristo (1466a Rue Crescent, Montréal, Québec) and saw some great art at Musée D'art Contemporain de Montréal (185 Rue Saint Catherine Ouest, Montréal, Québec) ... I thought Gillian Wearing's "Mass Observation" was particularly interesting. I thought I'd throw a picture of Musée D'art Contemporain de Montréal (185 Rue Saint Catherine Ouest, Montréal, Québec) to the right just for kicks.

As for back here in town, it looks like ... umm ... Sunday is the big day this weekend ... friggin' everything is going on. Harumph.

As for last week, I did get out on Thursday and saw That One Guy and Joanna McNaney although I guess I either missed Serious or they weren't there. Anyway, I think I might have seen Joanna McNaney once before, but I thought she was really something. She's an acoustic soloist who's got a great stage presence and is pretty funny too. Oh, and pretty too ... I'm so totally in love. *sigh*

Er ... uhh ... I mean I also got to see That One Guy who plays what he has termed his Magic Pipe. Now, before you get the wrong idea, it's a home-made musical instrument consisting of a steel, threaded drainage pipe mounted on a board. The first length of pipe is about 7 feet long, then there's a couple elbows that brings it over the guy's head and down about 4 feet. On the long part there's a bass string connected to a pickup, and on the short run, a higher pitched string with a pickup. He's got buttons mounted at various locations on it and all of it's wired through some midi sequencers and effects pedals.

Most important, though, is that he creates a unique sound that's got elements of hip-hop, rap, scat, techno, house, rock, experimental, and noise. It was really cool to see experimental music directly make its way into something that could be mainstream. Although I'd like to see what happens if this style of music becomes a genre ... will people be making their own instruments? Cool!

T H U R S D A Y

Over at Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) tonight, Jack Garner will host a showing of Il Postino starting at 6 for $12. It's about an Italian postman who learns to appreciate poetry from a famous poet and meets a woman and gets the help of the poet to woo her. The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Who's That Knocking at My Door? starting at 8. One of Martin Scorsese's early films, Harvey Keitel is an Italian-American young man who has to confront is misconceptions about the opposite sex when he starts dating. Over at Monty's Korner (363 East Ave.) is another of those Canadian-American Songwriting Circles (which really is an interesting round-robin approach) this time featuring Mary Simon, Kirsten Jones, Gregory Paul, and JoAnn Vaccaro starting around 8:30 or so. Patrick O'Donnell and The Motion will be at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) tonight starting around 9, before the DJ's. Over at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) it's Your Mom -- a nice blend of acoustic, power rock, and punk-rock, The Purrs, and Stealin' Big Wheels starting around 10:30. The BuddhaHood continues their run at The Club at Water Street (204 N. Water St.) this week starting around 9:30, possibly with another band.

F R I D A Y

Tonight at Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) is a program called Stretching the Limits of Poetry starting around 7:30. As their write-up says: Join nationally renowned poet John Norton and "hazardous" poet Norm Davis for an evening of poetry that challenges the mind. John Norton's work has appeared in many literary journals and denies easy categorization. His book of prose poems and sketches, The Light at the End of the Bog, won an American Book Award. Norm Davis, editor of HazMat Review, is also a widely published poet and prose writer. The awsome acoustic rocker (and former Rochester resident, now in Boulder) Brendan MacNaughton of Acoustic Semi will be at the hellhole Milestones (170 East Ave.) starting around 9:30 or so. Over at Montage Grille (50 Chestnut St.) tonight starting around 10 is the groove-rock band Jacoda and the relatively new Stealing Andy (although their website properly makes them look really good.) For your modern rock and cover-band pleasure, check out Perfect World up at Slammer's Bar and Grill (4650 Dewey Ave.) starting around 10.

S U N D A Y

Over at Montage Grille (50 Chestnut St.) tonight starting at 6 is the third annual Eggmark Film Festival sponsored by Eggwork Productions and featuring films such as a new Derf the Viking cartoon from Fred Armstrong, Fits & Starts, Anna Is Being Stalked, Earthquake, and Autobank. Tonight at Water Street Music Hall (204 N. Water St.) and The Club at Water Street (204 N. Water St.) is Merge sponsored by Fuck The Mainstream and House of Hellfira featuring harsh industrial of Flesh Field, Canada's industrial band A Kingdom of Dreams, Rochester's Cure tribute band Disintegration, industrial-dance from Buffalo with Process of Elimination, dark trance and techno from Buffalo with Digital Geist, Rochester trance from Dred, Buffalo electro-industrial from Scary Monsters, something described as "acid-perverted-house" from Rochester with bR0kEn L|nk, progressive trance of Rochester's The 8Fold Way, DJ Dangler, DJ Jet, and DJ Hellraver. Whew ... all for $11. Punk-rockers The Butchies and local rock-and-roll rockers Whatever Mary will be at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 8. Good lord, it just doesn't end tonight ... The Two Bozos with The Eating Animals will be at Le Club Shock at Analog Shock (674 South Ave.) starting around 7:30.

T U E S D A Y

The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Jeanne and the Perfect Guy starting at 8. A girl meets the perfect guy, only to find that he's HIV positive. Hooray! Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is an Unsane reunion show featuring JJ Paradise Players Club and one of my favorite local rock bands, Eddie Nebula and the Plague around 10:30.

W E D N E S D A Y

The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Buddy Buddy starting at 8. What better pairing can there be than a suicidal guy and a hitman, especially if they're Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Tonight from 8 to 10 is an Open-Mic Comedy Night at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) While once it was a workshop type of environment, it's now more-or-less a regular open mic ... by default it's still a place to try out new stuff.