Weekly Rochester Events #280: North by North Union St.

Thursday, May 20, 2004

Recently, they added a several neat features. The first is a personality test and matching system where you take a test and then they match you on people who might be compatible. It actually seems to work fairly well—highly-rated matches tend to have interesting descriptions. Likewise is the physical attraction test which comes in two parts: first, you rate how attractive you think other people are and second, you describe yourself. Then you can find out how attractive someone else is and/or if they might find you attractive. Again, the test is fairy accurate, and I find the good matches to be more attractive. The test is also fun because you can look at faces of other people and you get to assess whether or not you think they're attractive. The last feature which they've had for a while is "winks" where you can "wink" at someone and they'll get your wink.

I'm set up on all the tests and it's occasionally fun and/or depressing to find out who's out there. The funny thing, though, is that you can see your own profile. I found out that physically, not only am I not my type, but I'm not mine either. Personality wise, though, I would be an ideal match with myself.

I sent myself a wink, but I found out that I hadn't winked myself so I couldn't take the advice, "when you've winked at each other, you'll know it's time to strike up a conversation!"

In point of fact, I don't think I'm going to wink me back because I think I'm pretty creepy for winking in the first place.

Anyway, there were lots of goings-on going on that I wanted to mention ... even some that weren't. Last Thursday, the Camara Latina movie at Rochester Contemporary Art Gallery (137 East Ave.) was apparently called off—despite being mentioned on their website, the site was all locked up tight. I also tried to see Some Assembly Required at Johnny's Irish Pub (1382 Culver Rd., still smoke-free) but they apparently canceled when too few people showed up. Am I the only one who sees a problem of circular logic here?

On Friday I visited the new restaurant to Open Face (651 South Ave., right by the corner of Hickory) on South Avenue. (If you didn't notice, their URL can also be parsed as "Open Faces And Wich Eatery".com.) I got a Manhattan Special espresso soda and their "Personal Sandwich Tasting" where you get to try two halves of different sandwiches. I tried the closed-face roast beef with horseradish mustard and havarti cheese and the open-face albacore tuna. Everything was excellent. Maybe I'm just not "hip" enough as the kids say these days, but unless there's gravy involved, I'd rather have my sandwiches closed-face.

I also paid a visit to the The Lilac Festival that day and got my fried dough which indeed tasted very good and as I expected left behind its gut-punched aftermath of wringing my gall bladder dry. Aside from that what can I say?: it was the Lilac Festival. I guess it was impressively pleasant weather and the lilacs were impressively peaking all week.

On Saturday night I got to Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) to see Blue Spark and Flame and For The Mathematics. The former was cut off mid-set by the owner who arrived late and thought they had been playing too long. Any band would be pissed off, but these two get enraged. It was fucking awesome. Someone else who saw it remarked that it was a "punk rock moment." I mean, I haven't ever seen a band get cut off at the Krown before. It's quite an honor.

I felt kinda bad for For The Mathematics since they drove all the way from Ottawa and there were so few people there, what with the Diva Show, the Richmond's show that incorrectly listed The Blastoffs with The Retreads, the Patti Prom, and the rock-and-roll bands at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.)—most of the regular crowd was already accounted for. Regardless, they played a super-fast dynamic rock set ... plus, they're lively dancers/thrashers and, combined, probably ran a mile back-and-forth across that six-foot stage.

Monday night was what I'd call a "bad bicycle night." First, I got about five minutes out when the chain got wedged off the end of the sprocket so I had to go back home and take the wheel off to fix it. It was fine from then on and I went to The Bop Shop (274 N. Goodman St., in Village Gate Square) to see Kevin Norton's Living Language Ensemble who do good technical avant-garde music. I noticed that there's a point between perfect "planned chaos" and perfect "predictable melodies" which is not very engaging to me—these guys hit that "almost perfect planned chaos" point and I just wasn't very moved by the whole thing. To bracket the evening, on the way back home, I broke off the right pedal and had to ride the rest of the way on just one (that is, all the way up Goodman and up Pinetum to Reservoir in Highland Park (Reservoir Dr.))

Coming up this week, the way-coolest thing is That One Guy at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.). I saw him last year and he's the one I raved about playing a custom-built instrument made from drain pipe he calls his "magic pipe" tied to guitar strings and synthesizers. His music is a beat-charged experimental extravaganza. You'll want to see him play if you:

• like to see Dr. Seuss creations brought to life.
• love duct tape.
• want to see how to do the one-man-band thing right.
• have a thing for the user interfaces on Kai's Power Tools and want to see it built in real-life.
• love Rube Goldberg machines.
• like the look of plumbing in a demolished building.
• have always wanted to say, "I saw That 1 Guy and his magic pipe" without lying about it.

I'm taking a gamble on Transcendental Hayride because although they have an initially cool-sounding name, it smacks of stoned hippie groove-rock which I really can't stand. Their website looked good enough ... we'll see. Also, the Uforkestra show at Rochester Visual Studies Workshop (31 Prince St.) is another gamble because I'm not too sure it's really going to happen.

I will definitely be at the Heather Gardner performance of Three Voices for Joan La Barbara for the simple reason that I set up the light show for it. Hopefully I won't have any catastrophic failures. Although the piece is a bit long for my taste, it's interesting to hear what formally trained musicians do with the concept of overdubbing.

Naturally, I'm going to plug the Emerging Filmmakers show at The Little (240 East Ave.) which always has some interesting stuff. Likewise, the Big Drum shows are also an excellent deal because they're free and you can get some great food at Montage Grille (50 Chestnut St.) Finally, I think the Electronic Music Show at The All-Purpose Room (#8 in the Public Market, off N. Union St.) will be excellent as well—these kinds of shows are often more subdued (and quieter) than experimental or noise bands, so it's a good bet if you want to get your feet wet ... plus, it's for donations, so you can check it out on the cheap if you don't like it.

T H U R S D A Y

Lilac Stage (Highland Ave. near South Ave.) will be hosting Jimmie Highsmith, Jr. starting around 5 p.m. [source: Lilac Festival website] Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is the unbelievable one-man custom music band That One Guy, and Doja starting around 8:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] Jack Garner will again be at Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) to host the Screenplay Salon. The film tonight is 2003's Mystic River which is similar pretty much only in title to Mystic Pizza. [source: Writers and Books calendar] Over at The Club at Water Street (204 N. Water St.) starting around 8:30 p.m. is The Briefs, The Real McKenzies, some great local rock-and-roll from Bee Eater, and pop-punk local legends The QUiTTERS. [source: GaragePop e-mail] Tonight at 7 p.m. at The Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Ave., near Goodman St.) is An Evening of Chinese Folk Arts featuring performances of Beijing Opera and traditional Chinese and Taiwanese dance by Rujing Han, Rongsheg Quin and the The Ching-Fen Lee Dancers. [source: Memorial Art Gallery calendar] The Rochester Opera Factory will be performing Making a Scene: Did You Get My Message? at the Hart Theater in The Jewish Community Center (1200 Edgewood Ave.) with a pre-opera talk at 7 p.m. [source: Freetime] Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting Skull, and (if I'm thinking of the right band) basic good rock/punk-rock/groove-rock band, The Spaces starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: Monty's Krown calendar] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Great Expectations starting at 8 p.m. Why bother reading or suffering through the Gwyneth Paltrow version. [source: Eastman House calendar] Pure Kona Poetry Open Mic Night is at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) tonight starting at 7:30. [source: Daily Perks calendar] Keyboardist and singer Roz from Bullwinkles Café (622 Lake Ave.) will be at Starry Nites (696 University Ave., formerly Moonbeans) starting around 8 or so. [source: the proverbial grapevine]

F R I D A Y

Tonight at Lamberton Conservatory Stage (Reservoir Rd.) is easy-going acoustic soloist Silandara Bartlett at 5:15 p.m., and excellent, daring acoustic soloist (again, I guess) JoAnn Vaccaro at 6:30 p.m. Grab some dinner and settle in. [source: Freetime] Dozer, punk rock / hard rock band The UV Rays, good but gimmicky heavy metal band Blüdwülf, and okay metal band 137 will be at The Club at Water Street (204 N. Water St.) starting around 8:30 p.m. [source: Water Street calendar] Updated: Tonight at Jillian's (Corner of Commercial St. and Mill St.) is The Earl Cram Revue starting around 6 p.m. Updated: (I oopsed ... they're playing Friday, not Saturday.) Over at Montage Grille (50 Chestnut St.) starting around 10 p.m. is Transcendental Hayride. I fear they're a boring hippie groove-rock band, but I have suspicions that I'm wrong. [source: Montage calendar] Johnny's Irish Pub (1382 Culver Rd., still smoke-free) will be hosting acoustic cover solo guy John Akers starting around 9:30 p.m. [source: Johnny's Irish Pub calendar] Nuts and Bolts Improv Troupe (see their site at ImprovAmerica too) will be at Downstairs Cabaret (172 West Main St.) tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m. [source: Downstairs Cabaret calendar]

S A T U R D A Y

O'Bagelo's, 165 State Street, noon. Today at The Lilac Festival Lamberton Conservatory Stage (Reservoir Rd.) is countrified acoustic rock from Marty Roberts at noon (listen for that Jim Croce influence) drummer/beatbox DJ (with a vaguely Far Eastern style) Donnie Mancurio (as Donnie M. Drum Machine) at 1:15 p.m., and acoustic solo cover guy John Akers at 4 p.m. [source: Freetime] Over at Lilac Stage (Highland Ave. near South Ave.) starting around 1:15 p.m. is Ciara Lynn [source: Lilac Festival website] The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting entertaining and somewhat funny tight punk band The Dickies, D.O.A., Void Control, Thieves Auction, and The Yellow Swans starting around 8:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] Tonight at 7 p.m., rumor has it that Uforkestra will be playing accompaniment to Sergei Eisenstein's Oktyabr (October, or Ten Days That Shook The World) at Rochester Visual Studies Workshop (31 Prince St.) for part of their aptly named Fall Film Series. I have some doubts about this actually happening, but I hope I'm wrong ... [source: Visual Studies Workshop calendar] Over at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) starting around 8 p.m. is Mike Hoeschele's Squeaky Chair (apparently a jazz band, and maybe also the furniture.) [source: Daily Perks calendar] If you've got some great idea for shaping a chunk of metal to put on ARTWalk (University Ave. from Atlantic to Merriman) then today's your chance because they're having a public information meeting at Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley (179 Atlantic Ave.) at 1:30 p.m. and a second meeting at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) at 6:00 p.m. Oh, and up for grabs is $10,000 for the commissioned work from the selected sculptor. [source: ARTWalk e-mail] Over at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) starting around 10:30 p.m. is Molly Shea Band [source: Monty's Krown calendar] Alexander Street Pub (291 Alexander St.) will be hosting modern rock covers with Better Days starting around 10 p.m. [source: Freetime]

S U N D A Y

Again at The Lilac Festival Lamberton Conservatory Stage (Reservoir Rd.) it's casual acoustic soloist Silandara Bartlett at noon. [source: Freetime] Remember also that today at 9:15 a.m. is the Montana Mills Lilac 10K and 5K races at Highland Park (Reservoir Dr.) [source: Freetime] Lilac Festival ends today. Heather Gardner will be at The All-Purpose Room (#8 in the Public Market, off N. Union St.) starting around 8 p.m. She'll accompany two recordings of herself a cappella in the spoken and nonverbal Three Voices for Joan La Barbara by Morton Feldman. [source: All-Purpose Room calendar] Today is the last day of the exhibit Maternal Metaphors: Artists/Mothers/Artwork at Rochester Contemporary Art Gallery (137 East Ave.) [source: Rochester Contemporary calendar] Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. is Highland Drive, Renouf, FiveStar Riot, and Farewell Injuria [source: Bug Jar calendar] Over at The Little (240 East Ave.) is the honors program of shorts from The RIT School of Film and Animation at 3:30 p.m. [source: Little Theatre e-mail] Dan Liberto (of the The Comedy Company) hosts Open Mic Comedy Night at Duels Café (17 E. Main St.) starting around 7:30 (theoretically.) [source: Duel's Café]

M O N D A Y

Although not the last last Monday in May, tonight's the Emerging Filmmakers Series screening at The Little (240 East Ave.) at 9:30 p.m. featuring works from Anastasia Cerankosky, Erick M. Crespo, John Stanitz, and Todd D. Washburn. [source: Little Theatre e-mail] Over at Montage Grille (50 Chestnut St.) starting around 9 p.m. is Dave Rivello's 12-Piece Jazz Ensemble [source: Montage e-mail] Excellent experimental jazz band TatYana will be playing tonight at Alexandria Mediterranean Cuisine (120 East Ave., formerly Aria) starting at 10. [source: the proverbial grapevine]

T U E S D A Y

Tonight begins the Water Street Music Hall (204 N. Water St.) presentation of the live rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch through June 20. Tuesday through Friday there's an 8 p.m. show, Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m. [source: Water Street calendar] Petracovich, and powerhouse rock-and-roll band The Earl Cram Revue will be at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 10:45 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] Norm Davis is back with another Wide Open Mike at 7:30 p.m. in Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) [source: Writers and Books calendar] Tonight at Water Street Music Hall (204 N. Water St.) is Actionslacks starting around 9:30 p.m. after Hedwig. [source: Water Street calendar] Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) is hosting an Acoustic Open Mic from 8 to 10. For this one, there's no microphones and it's pretty open ended. [source: Daily Perks calendar]

W E D N E S D A Y

Tonight at The All-Purpose Room (#8 in the Public Market, off N. Union St.) is an Electronic Music Show featuring Chad Oliveiri, Will Veeder, Joe+n, Kelli Hicks (who's ordinarily an acoustic soloist ...) Howard Stelzer, and Jazzkammer starting around 8 p.m. [source: All-Purpose Room calendar] Over at Montage Grille (50 Chestnut St.) starting around 6:30 p.m. is Big Drum: Songwriters in the Round with Buford (of the really good blues-charged rock-and-roll/groove-rock Buford and the Smoking Section) Connie Deming, Kate Silverman, and Doug Waterman [source: Freetime] Poor People United meets tonight and every Wednesday at 7 at St. Joseph's House of Hospitality (402 South Ave.) [source: the proverbial grapevine] 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. [source: Daily Perks calendar]