Weekly Rochester Events #310: Arnett for the Library

Thursday, December 16, 2004

I actually got this fortune cookie on Sunday. I've been expecting a whole lot of karmic reciprocity and now it's finally coming around. (Of course, this one doesn't work so well by adding "in bed" to the end. My favorite for that: "The only true love is self love." You win some, you lose some.) Regardless, someday, someone else will get that same fortune, and to them I say, "Let's see what you've got, punk."

On Thursday I went on a hunt for some cheap lunch and decided to check out K. C. Tea & Noodles (360 Park Ave., on the corner with Oxford) because it got mentioned in The City Newspaper. It's really great. Well, the soup was awesome (although I didn't get seafood as recommended by City.) For $5, you get a whopping bowl of soup with your choice of animal or vegetable and kind of noodle. I also tried some of that bubble tea, hot, and I just don't get that stuff. I guess it's, what? — got little balls of tapioca mixed in? and you drink it through a big straw? The chrysanthemum tea (I still can't believe I spell that right each time without the spell checker) itself was great, but the chewy, virtually flavorless balls just didn't do anything for me. I guess I'm just not cut out to be one of those fucking hipsters who jumps on the bandwagon of anything new just so long as everyone else does ... er ... I mean, I guess I'm just not with the hip crowd on this one. At least I tried it.

Oh, and my fortune was, "Nothing gets in the way of your vision of yourself in the future." This time, the "in bed" thing just adds another prepositional phrase to further complicate the already complicated sentence structure. That, or it's really narcissistic.

At night I got out to The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) and saw The Pink Cammies who are this great, fun, young, three-guy synth-pop band. Apparently they drew a crowd, presumably from SUNY Geneseo (Geneseo, NY, campus map) — I noted a lot of hands with marked with an X in the audience, if you know what I mean. Next was Kalpana who did very good groove-metal — they play long, rhythmic songs with a lot of the complexity of metal.

Friday I avoided caffeine all day and ended up being all worn out. I was trying to prepare to get to bed early on Friday night so I could get up early on Saturday to make the trek back to Schenectady for my uncle's Christmas Party. In the evening I went to The Rochester Visual Studies Workshop (31 Prince St.) at night and got to see The Black Spoons who are yet another example of typical New York City indie-rock. They play fine ... pretty much perfect in the technical sense, but they just sound like every other competent band that comes out of there. Next was namelessnumberheadman who do this fairly unique synth-heavy, mostly low-tempo rock. I guess if it were faster and punchier I'd call it power pop, but it's almost got the feel of acoustic rock.

Unfortunately, the lack of caffeine took its toll. This girl Allison found me but I didn't remember her name ... I think she was making fun of me when she tried to get me to guess where she was from (she told me the last time I saw her that she was heading back home for a few weeks.) I might as well have been really drunk ... except that I had my reflexes intact. I ended up cutting out early and being in bed before 11.

Hey, now that fortune makes sense ... I pretty much envisioned myself in bed before 11. How eerie.

Saturday involved a few hours of driving before noon. I have come to appreciate Route 20 by picking it up off Thruway Exit 41 via Route 318. First of all, the Thruway swings north and adds about 10 miles onto the trip; second, it's a toll road; and third, you have to drive faster and use more gas (I can get about 35 MPG on the Thruway but I got about 43 MPG on Route 20 saving about $5 in gas and $12 in tolls, round-trip.) Most of all, though, is that the Thruway is boring as hell. There's nothing to look at, whereas on Route 20, you get all the little towns and stuff along the way. Plus, this time, it was all the inflatable Christmas ornaments plopped on people's lawns — and most of them were actually inflated!

Anyway, my Uncle Joe's annual Christmas Party went well. Things were a little different this year: a few of the cousin's kids have grown up, one of my cousins moved out of state, my brother wasn't there, and several friends of my Uncle's nuclear family weren't there, so things were a little more sparse than usual. Also, I imbibed less than I typically do so I left the party full instead of bloated. Oh, and I tried a raw clam which (like bubble tea) I guess just isn't for me.

A few years ago, a big crew of the cousins would hit a couple bars around town, but things were much more mellow. It worked out to my advantage because the really good medium-tempo progressive rock band Sirsy was playing not too far away at The Cloverleaf Tavern (87 N. Main St., Mechanicville.) I got to pretend like I drove all the way from Rochester just to see them ... har har. The odd thing, though, is that the band finished at 2 a.m., but the bar was still open ... typically until 4 around there. I had enough, though, and got back to my parents' place by 3 a.m. to crash.

I came back Sunday and pretty much stayed in the whole rest of the week. I did get out to Paola's Burrito Place (1921 South Ave., formerly Big Dog's Hots) for dinner at one point, though, and I gotta say they make some good Mexican food. I'd wager it's more authentic than other places, but I have no idea what "authentic" is. I used to think Salena's (274 N. Goodman St., inside Village Gate) was authentic, and that Mex (295 Alexander St.) was authentic, and that Los Amigos Mexican Restaurant (1859 Penfield Rd, Penfield) was authentic. Hell, I don't know if any of them are authentic. Paola's is really good, though.

Well, they don't give out fortune cookies, so they must be authentic, right?

T H U R S D A Y

This evening from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Mayor William A. Johnson, Jr. will hold a Public Forum on Casino Gambling at Riverside Convention Center (123 E. Main St.) Questions from the audience can be submitted in writing to a moderator. The panelists will include Eugene Christiansen, an economist and CEO of Christiansen Capital Advisors, LLC (41 Campus Dr, New Gloucester, ME) Robert C. Batson, an attorney at Albany Law School (80 New Scotland Ave, Albany) with expertise on Indian land claims and New York State gambling regulations, and Mayor Vincenzo Anello of Niagara Falls, NY (city map). [source: City Hall press release] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Billion Dollar Brain starting at 8 p.m. Michael Caine reprises his role as spy Harry Palmer to thwart the use of a supercomputer to take over the world. [source: Eastman House calendar] The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting an early show with the excellent rock band Bee Eater, and The Black Arrows starting around 9 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] After Dark Entertainment presents My Chemical Romance (a day prior to their appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien) Bayside, and Third Estate at Water Street Music Hall (204 N. Water St.) starting around 9:30 p.m. [source: Water Street calendar] [all ages] Tonight at Murph's Irondequoit Pub (705 Titus Ave., formerly Irondequoit Town Lounge, next to the House of Guitars) is an Open Mic hosted by the talented acoustic soloist JoAnn Vacarro starting around 8 p.m. [source: band e-mail]

F R I D A Y

The Grand Opening Weekend for the ice rink at Manhattan Square Park (130 Chestnut St.) will feature free skating today and tomorrow from noon to 8 p.m. [source: City Hall press release] [all ages] Starting around 7:30 p.m. tonight at The Hochstein School of Music and Dance (50 North Plymouth Ave.) is their Winter Dance Gala featuring Hochstein Dance Department students. [source: Hochstein calendar] [all ages] Blues-style singer Deborah Magone will be at Starry Nites Café (696 University Ave., formerly Moonbeans) starting around 8:30 p.m. [source: Starry Nites calendar] [all ages] Tonight at 10:30 p.m. and tomorrow at 11:30 p.m. at Nextstage at Geva (75 Woodbury Blvd.) is Geva Comedy Improv. [source: Geva Theatre website] Paradigm Shift will be at Paradigm Café (3118 E. Henrietta Rd., formerly Blue Sunday) starting around 9 p.m. [source: Paradigm Cafe calendar] [all ages] Tonight at The Clarissa Room (293 Clarissa St., formerly Shep's Paradise) is The Coupe De' Villes starting around 9:30 p.m. [source: Freetime] Updated: Tonight at Spy Bar and Grill (139 State St.) starting around 10 p.m. is "acoustic" (i.e. not very loud) sets from the 1980's-styled rock band Tiger Cried Beef with Owen Brimijoin and possibly Bradley (from Mex and Lori's) on squeezebox. [source: band e-mail]

S A T U R D A Y

O'Bagelo's, 165 State Street, noon. Abundance Cooperative Market (62 Marshall St.) will be hosting Jered Wilson, student trumpet player from The School of the Arts (45 Prince St.), and starting around 2 p.m. [source: Abundance Co-op calendar] [all ages] The Edgerton Model Train Exhibit will have free holiday tours at The Edgerton Community Center (41 Backus St.) from 12 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. [source: City Hall press release] [all ages] Note that the Bang! performance at Water Street Music Hall (204 N. Water St.) has been cancelled (they couldn't get their visas in time.) [source: band calendar] Over at Starry Nites Café (696 University Ave., formerly Moonbeans) starting around 8:30 p.m. is Justin Williams Band. [source: Starry Nites calendar] [all ages] Tonight at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) is another Songwriters in the Round with the witty and accomplished acoustic soloist Brian Coughlin, Lisa Bigwood, and Jed Curran starting around 8:30 p.m. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Chinatown starting at 8 p.m. Go see a classic once in a while. [source: Eastman House calendar] Traditional Scottish band ThistleWerk will be at Paradigm Café (3118 E. Henrietta Rd., formerly Blue Sunday) tonight starting at 8 p.m. [all ages] Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is awesome punk-rock band The Blastoffs, great, fun rock band Eddie Nebula and the Plague, and very good punk-rock/power-rock band The Scarlets starting around 10:45 p.m. Oh, and it's a CD Release Show for the Blastoffs and the Plague. [source: band flyer] Good groove-rock band Oshe will be at Jimmy Mac's (104 Platt St., at the Pont De Rennes Bridge) starting around 9:30 p.m. [21+] Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting Los Fadeaways with really good acoustically-styled rock band Burning Snella starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: Freetime] [21+]

M O N D A Y

It's 1980's DJs at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) [source: Bug Jar calendar] Tonight at The Little (240 East Ave.) is another of their Emerging Filmmakers Series starting at 9:15 p.m. and featuring Hurtling, by Seth Hunter Perkins, Avi & Sylvan by Zoje Stage, Jacks or Better, by Michael Donegan, the moment after by Jonathan Sean Karafin, Solo-Me-O by Tonya Hurley, Monkey, Monkey by Melissa Jordan, Superstore by Sam Zalutsky, and Realvision by Josh Alkoff. [source: Little Theatre e-mail] [all ages]

T U E S D A Y

The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Nära livet (Brink of Life) starting at 8 p.m. Ingmar Bergman directs this faux-documentary about three women in a maternity ward. [source: Eastman House calendar] Updated: Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is good (but very "safe") modern rock band Bird Circuit, the excellent metal-influenced punk rock band Serious, and The Challengers starting around 10:45 p.m. (The QUiTTERS are no longer playing this show.) [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] Over at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (99 Court St.) starting around 9:30 p.m. is really good blues-charged rock-and-roll/groove-rock band Buford and the Smoking Section. [source: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que calendar]