Weekly Rochester Events #363: That Place Around the Royal Hill

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Next, when I visited O'Bagelo's (165 State Street) last week, John had posted a note on his door warning patrons of acts of civil disobedience. He had placed copies of the Bill of Rights on the floor noting that if City Hall wants to walk all over the Bill of Rights, my customers might as well too. Likewise, Sticky Lips Pit BBQ (625 Culver Rd.) had posted the message, "Rochesters [sic] NET Office uses laws and tactics similar to Nazi Germany[.] They have to be stopped" on their marquee (as photographed at RocWiki's Stick Lips page) for apparently similar reasons.

It all has to do with new licensing requirements (which, of course, are impossible to find online because it's best to run a government in secret ... but that's another story.) The new requirements are for small businesses — for instance, stores that sell food with less than 20,000 square feet of floor space (exempting whom, I wonder) — which, among other more typical requirements, gives investigators from NET offices the right to arbitrarily shut down a business for violations, circumventing the right to a fair trial and due process.

Finally in the news, our beloved President George W. Bush has decided that because we're "at war" (you know, as declared by Congress) he can authorize warrantless searches of citizens of the United States. I'm not sure why we're at war and I can't seem to get a straight answer — something about liberating another country to make it just like us — but I don't see how that means you can throw the Constitution out the window.

In any case, there's little hope for America at the end of 2005. It makes it tough to really care about anything anymore ... for those playing at home, I'm just regurgitating things I wrote before.

Anyway ... last Thursday I dropped by Monty's Korner (355 East Ave.) to visit with the Drinking Liberally group. Right away I got in an argument over why I don't shop at Wegmans with a guy who defended Wegmans to such an extent that he didn't even want to hear what I had to say. Once I got him to calm down enough to realize I wasn't out to kill his baby, I actually got him to understand what I was talking about. Maybe I need a group, "Drinking Anarchically" so I can finally be the one to utter the phrase, "but you have to consider the impact to the economy."

Friday I went to The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) to see Raging Bull. I still haven't fully digested it, but it seemed so visually stunning that its subtleties were almost lost. I mean, it's about this guy who's a great boxer but whose life goes to hell because he's unable to trust people, but what you remember is the best boxing scenes ever committed to film.

From there I went to Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) to see the bands there. The Blood and Bone Orchestra pushed the boundaries of being experimental with, what I can only describe now, as "vaguely jazz-influenced." They don't even fit on the "good-bad" spectrum anymore, just new. Very very new. Likewise, Pengo took their sound in a somewhat different direction to more of a drone area ... still loud and rock-based, but more long notes and the like. I stayed for a little of Hall of Justice but I didn't really care for the whole down-tempo rock angle.

Stopping at Lux Lounge (666 South Ave.) I caught wind of the end-of-year party at Universal Buzz (169 St. Paul St.) so I went there with a friend of mine and hung out way way too late. I got to meet Tommy Brunett who works there and hosted the party. It's always good to know your host and then drop his name on the website you told him about.

Saturday I went to the holiday party at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) and got to see Steve West and Peter Collin play some Christmas songs. Although I was worn out on hearing Christmas (or Holiday if you must) anything, they sounded much more refined than the last time I saw them. Also, they "bribed" everyone with gifts, so now I have a VHS copy of Comic Relief '87.

I tried hanging out at Small World Books (425 North St.) for the show there but I really didn't feel up to it. I had the unhappy nostalgia and pangs of guilt and pathos of running into the poor girl I followed around all night last New Year's Eve. Plus I was just not into hanging out to see bands that night so I went back home and let that whole 4-hours-of-sleep-last-night thing take me to my happy place.

On Sunday I had a chance to finally check out Le Lemon Grass (942 Monroe Ave.) I've been meaning to go there for some time. A dinnertime hunt for an open restaurant found Table 7 (187 St. Paul St., formerly Toasted Head) closed along with Tapas One Seventy Seven (177 Saint Paul St.) and the kitchen at Lola Bistro and Bar (630 Monroe Ave.) wasn't running because of the staff holiday party. Luckily, Le Lemon Grass is a great place ... we had a fine meal — not cheap, but not absurd — and generally a great time.

Monday I went to The Little (240 East Ave.) to see a couple movies. However, since the showtimes were spread so far apart, I decided to just see Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic. It was pretty good ... Sarah Silverman is funny ... I was just a little disappointed that I wasn't squirming in my seat more. Reviews have identified how she plays this cute-girl look to get away with saying really ribald things, but I think most comics could "get away" with that stuff without getting hit with any more scrutiny than she's endured. Like I say, though, it's funny ... it's nice to see stuff that's new-to-me where I can't figure out the punchline at all. I'll leave it at that because I think it'll lose some of its sheen the second time around.

Finally, on Wednesday I got back out to The Little (240 East Ave.) to see The Squid and the Whale. Several people thought I might like it and they were right. It taps into that unnerving honesty that is so rewarding to find, telling the tale of a divorcing couple with two sons. I guess that plot has been done so many times before that it garners instant groans of recognition, but rather than being full of yelling and throwing things, it shows the moments between the yelling and throwing, making it a rather subtle movie. Thankfully the actors carry the whole thing flawlessly — I had empathy for all the characters, blemishes dangling out in plain view every frame.

T H U R S D A Y

The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Close Encounters of the Third Kind starting at 8 p.m. Classic film about aliens visiting Earth. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Good medium tempo, high distortion rock band The Black Arrows, Grime Time, and Hothead will be at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting Sally Bee, Lobby Bar, and The Hounds of Hell starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: Freetime] [21+] Pure Kona Poetry Open Mic Night is at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) tonight starting at 7:30. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages] Drinking Liberally meets at 8 p.m. tonight at Monty's Korner (355 East Ave.) [source: RocWiki calendar]

F R I D A Y

This evening at 8:30 p.m. (registration at 7:30 p.m.) starting at Mex (295 Alexander St.) is the 6th Annual George Bailey 5K to benefit St. Joseph's House of Hospitality (402 South Ave.) and Camp DayDreams (205 Grosvenor Rd.) [source: Eggwork e-mail] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing A Matter of Life and Death starting at 8 p.m. wherein a pilot meets the girl of his dreams before being killed in action and must argue his case for life in a heavenly court. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Starry Nites Café (696 University Ave., formerly Moonbeans) will be hosting Aaron Stadler starting around 9 p.m. [source: Starry Nites calendar] [all ages] Over at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) starting around 10:30 p.m. is good Irish-slanted punk band Tom Foolery and the Shannanighans (not Shenanigans.) [source: Freetime] [21+] Tonight at The Montage Live (50 Chestnut St., formerly the Montage Grille) is Santa's Slay Fest featuring very good metal from Sulaco, really good fast, hard rock from Low Ton, and tight, technical metal from BML starting around 10:45 p.m. [source: Montage e-mail] [21+]

S U N D A Y

Christmas Day Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. is the good and fun surf-rock band The Isotopes, and awesome punk-rock band The Blastoffs. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] Starry Nites Café (696 University Ave., formerly Moonbeans) is hosting their weekly Open Mike Poetry tonight at 7 p.m. [source: Starry Nites calendar] [all ages]

M O N D A Y

Kwanza Begins Tonight at The Little (240 East Ave.) is another Emerging Filmmakers Program starting at 9:15 p.m. featuring The Art of Ambivalence by Philip Armand, These Unsettling Days of Wonder by John Alberts, Spring by Laura Belsey, and Alone by Gregory Orr. [source: the proverbial grapevine] The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting good folk-rock band The Minstrels, and The Middle Wages starting around 10 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] There's also Open Mic Poetry at Java's (16 Gibbs St.) starting around 9 p.m. [source: Java's calendar] [all ages]

T U E S D A Y

Today through Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. the The Edgerton Model Train Exhibit at the The Edgerton Community Center (41 Backus St.) will be giving tours. [source: City Hall press release] Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is okay instrumental surf-rock from The Mofos, rock-and-roll from The Grinders, and fun punk-rock from The Flour City Knuckleheads starting around 10 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) is hosting an Acoustic Open Mic from 8 to 10. [source: Daily Perks calendar]

W E D N E S D A Y

The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Gojira: Fainaru uôzu (Godzilla: Final Wars) starting at 8 p.m. It's the 50th anniversary Godzilla world tour! [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Poor People United meets tonight and every Wednesday at 7 at St. Joseph's House of Hospitality (402 South Ave.) [source: the proverbial grapevine] There's an Open Mic for Acoustic Music at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) tonight around 8. [source: the proverbial grapevine] [all ages]

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