Weekly Rochester Events #225: Wilkes-Barre is one Hot Town

Thursday, May 1, 2003

Okay, so I wasn't really pleased with the business side of things. We gambled a bit with the weather and it turned out okay—we were outdoors in the back area of Tapas and it got a bit chilly after dark, but it wasn't too bad. I was a little concerned as I'm writing this because the website says you'll hear back within 48 hours of your meeting, and it's right about 48 hours now and I finally did get a response.

Anyway, I thought the event ran okay. The gender roles were reversed from usual as the women moved around and the men stayed still (since the numbers were so skewed ... ordinarily the men move around and the women stay still.) So I sat there and I got to talk with one woman at a time for about 4 or 5 minutes at a time. Then the women would move on and I'd get to talk to someone else.

I thought I'd do okay at this, but I don't think I was very impressive. It was hectic, and I was frustrated that I didn't get the chance to finish the conversation each of us started so I decided to indicate that I wanted to meet just about everyone I talked with. I also think that all the people who showed up on this particular night were more apt to try something new, a trait that I like.

Although four minutes is enough to get a feeling for another person, it's too short to get to know them very well. The big big plus is that you walk into the room and see all these women, you'll get to meet them all—especially the ones you're interested in. Plus you get to meet the ones who you ordinarily wouldn't give a second chance. If you're open, you might be surprised.

So I guess I might go back. I talked with the guy who runs it and I tried to coerce him into giving me a better deal on the next event. Regardless of any preferential treatment, I might not go back. I still don't want to be dating anyone, I just want to meet new people. It's particularly hard to explain to people ... I was using that as a leading question ("Why are you doing this?") but then didn't have a good answer when I was asked. I also felt pretty bad after having explained some of my goals to people and realizing that I hadn't made any friggin' progress on any of them.

Enough of that for now. I've written a bit already and won't pad things out very much highlighting things from the listings below. I do want to mention that The BuddhaHood will probably not be at The Club at Water Street (204 N. Water St.) tonight despite what Freetime Magazine says.

Let me also add that I really mean to go to see the Wide Open Mike at Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) sometime. In February, I missed it because I went to Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) to see comedy ... it was one of their Friday performance shows, and the line-up was pretty good. In March, I did the same thing ... I was supposed to meet a friend there but it didn't pan out; the show was good, though. In April I was supposed to have a meeting with a group about a new arts magazine, but that was the weekend of the ice storm and it turns out the meeting got cancelled—by the time I figured that out, it was too late. And now this month I'm going to go to the Movies on a Shoestring show.

Speaking of Movies on a Shoestring, Movies on a Shoestring is this weekend. As a gift to you all, I thought I'd pre-write reviews of all the films by examining the descriptions presented by the Movies on a Shoestring website and assuming that each film follows every short film stereotype. You know, gritty camerawork, or comedies where the lead character addresses the camera. If you've been to see a lot of independent short films, you'll recognize a bunch of clichés in them. I tried to capture as much as I could, but some of the movies genuinely seemed original and I did a crappy job making potential-fun of them.

You can get the HTML version here or a pre-poorly-formatted, printer-ready PDF version here.

T H U R S D A Y

May Day Movies on a Shoestring festival starts tonight at Dryden Theater in George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) tonight at 8, then there's two shows tomorrow—one at 8 and one at 11, and finally two more on Saturday at 4 and at 8. The really incredible acoustic performer JoAnn Vaccaro will be way up at Earthtones Coffee House (1217 Bay Rd.) starting around 7:30. Adrenokrome will be at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) tonight starting around 10:30. Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) tonight is three variations on rock-and-roll with June Panic, Annika Bentley, and Sterling starting around 8. Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) is hosting an Acoustic Open Jam from 8 to 10. For this one, there's no microphones and it's designed to be more of a true jam.

F R I D A Y

If you need some modern rock and covers, check out Uncle Plum at Alexander Street Pub (291 Alexander St.) starting around 9:30. If you need a clue, Blue's Clues Live! will be at Auditorium Center (875 Main St E.) with the Blue's Birthday Party starting around 7. Over at Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) is Wide Open Mike with Norm Davis starting around 7:30. Apparently, anything goes. Anything.

S A T U R D A Y

O'Bagelo's, 165 State Street, noon. Damn ... I guess it's the end of The Blackouts. They're playing a super-duper last show for like three hours at Jillian's (Corner of Commercial St. and Mill St.) for free starting around 10. Definitely check these guys out if you want to get your butt moving to some awsome modern ska. Over at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) starting around 10:30 is the decent solid-sounding NYC-style modern rock band The Bamboo Kids with The Beethoven Frieze, and either Static Cling or the high quality Veluxe. I really wish I'd found out more, but Eastman School Cabaret will be at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) tonight starting around 9:30. Up at Richmond's (21 Richmond St.) is the awsome and fun rock-and-roll of The Hirisers starting around 10:45. For some crowd-safe 1970's-through-today covers, United Booty Foundation will be at Water Street Music Hall (204 N. Water St.) starting around 9:30. The industrial sound of The Electronic Infection with DJ QRT (from Lords of Acid) will be at The Club at Water Street (204 N. Water St.) tonight starting around 9:30.

M O N D A Y

Cinco de Mayo The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) has some kind of music with The Chinese Stars, The Remedy Session, and The Flashing Astonishers starting around 10:30.

T U E S D A Y

Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is some good rock-and-roll from Party of Helicopters, The Apes, The Watchers, and the mad antics of Laundryroom Squelchers starting around 10:30.

W E D N E S D A Y

I guess that at Strong Museum (1 Manhattan Square Pk.) tonight around 7:30 is The Mambo Kings as part of the Making American Music Series. 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.