Weekly Rochester Events #287: For the Hard Math

Thursday, July 8, 2004

Unfortunately for you, loyal readers, this means I didn't get to do much else to amuse you with. The only time I got out was on Thursday to see Upsilon Acrux at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) who do this rapid-fire melodic/harmonic cacophony. I kind-of liked it, but felt that it sounded too much like the middles of songs (i.e. no introduction and no finish.) I guess it's yet another cutting-edge sound that will probably gain popularity for a little while. Of course, the broader category of sound is not brand new: both Gaylord and Dimitri Gurevitch Quintette did it before, just slightly differently.

So I'm stuck making stuff up. Well, there is one thing that's concrete: we'll be back at O'Bagelo's (165 State Street) this Saturday. In light of having zero "free weekends" since sometime in June, I'm going to forgo the trip to my cousin's housewarming party on Saturday and take some time to settle a bit. I have some projects around the house that I want to finish and I want to get a bead on some business ideas I have.

My latest unrealized idea is to be a general contractor in the most general sense. Sweep floors? Ok. Make websites? Ok. Organize art exhibitions? Ok. The only limit would be if I like the people involved, and I want to figure out what that means. I think it's something to do with the willingness to spell things out beforehand or if the people I work for at least understand what they want and what they're asking for. Something like that.

But back to general things. Once again I feel stuck in a rut going out to see bands and do things around town. I don't feel very motivated to really find new things, but doing the "old" things again isn't working either. I sometimes feel like I've completely depleted this town as far as things to do. When it comes to being a passive participant in entertainment, I think I have—and not just for Rochester, but "things" of that sort in general.

At present, I have been avoiding the theater because it's so expensive—typically $20 or so for one show—an investment I'm reluctant to make since I can often see three bands for as little as $2 ... or even for free. Not that I don't understand: theater is expensive and difficult. It's just that I don't want to burn through my remaining cash reserves very quickly. The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra shows are similar in that they're also expensive, except that I have as little interest in them as I do in any of the similarly priced "big name" performers that come through town. I just don't really like seeing someone perform exactly as they're expected to perform, so I like stuff either with fewer expectations or with more chaos.

But the money thing gets back to the employment thing. I guess if I could pick up some well-paying work here-and-there, I wouldn't feel so bad spending money a bit quicker. The other thing is I'm kind-of holding my breath until after The Burning Man Project at the end of August. I've just started to get myself mentally prepared for that one. Mostly, though I'm getting acclimated to the idea of doing some traveling and to be away from home for several weeks. How odd to think of that.

Of course, the other surprising thing for me is that we're already into July. I seem to have misplaced the entire month of June ... has anyone seen it? Heck, by this time my car was supposed to have been repainted and my house should have been well on its way to the same. At least I have the Wolo Challenger truck air horn back in the car and this time with a compressor and tank setup. Now I only have to figure out why it leaks so much.

I'll leave the rationale of tucking a 120 dB, 13-inch air horn behind the front grill of a Honda Civic as an exercise for the reader.

T H U R S D A Y

Fleet Party in the Park will be at High Falls Festival Site (Browns Race and Commercial St.) tonight starting at 5:30 p.m. featuring The Bobbie Blue Band. [source: City Hall press release] Tonight from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. is Garden Vibes at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) with zydeco band Roy Carrier and the Night Rockers. [source: Eastman House mailing] The Volta Sound, and Troy Gregory and the Step Sisters will be at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 8:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] Somewhere at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) is The Bertrand Russell Society tonight at 7 p.m. for a discussion titled International War Crimes Tribunal. [source: Writers and Books calendar] Somewhere else at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) is the Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgendered Open Mike also at 7 p.m. [source: Writers and Books calendar] In the Kate Gleason Auditorium at The Rochester Public Library (115 South Ave.) starting around 7 p.m. is The Dady Brothers. [source: Rochester Public Library calendar] Uncle Plum will be at Pelican's Nest Restaurant (566 River St.) for the Chiller Beach Party starting around 6 p.m. [source: Freetime] Tonight at The Penny Arcade (4785 Lake Ave.) is Mainline Adrenaline, Stella, and rock band FMGreen starting around 10 p.m. [source: Freetime] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Fat City starting at 8 p.m. A couple boxers in a depressed town are lured by fame but bounded by the limitations of their town. [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] Over at Montage Grille (50 Chestnut St.) starting around 9 p.m. is Dave Rivello's 12-Piece Jazz Ensemble [source: Montage e-mail]

F R I D A Y

Tonight at 7 p.m. is Rhythm Nights at High Falls Festival Site (Browns Race and Commercial St.) with The Rock Music Group Record Company Showcase featuring The Rochester Music House Band, Sean Powell, Therese Holt, and KYRO for free. [source: City Hall press release] Tonight at The Club at Water Street (204 N. Water St.) is Navar, Famous Blue Raincoat, Burning Daylight, rock band FMGreen, and Mike Zale starting around 8:30 p.m. [source: Water Street calendar] Petar Kodzas will be performing Between Worlds—Folk Meets Classical in Kilborn Hall at Eastman Theatre (60 Gibbs St.) starting around 7:30 p.m. [source: Eastman School of Music calendar] The Hill Cumorah Pageant (Hill Cumorah, Palmyra, N.Y.) starts tonight and runs through next Saturday, every day except Sunday and Monday at 9pm. Updated: Eclectic rock-and-roll band The Earl Cram Revue will be opening for The Rochester Rocky Horror Picture Show, "A Rather Tasteless Joke" tonight at German House (315 Gregory St.) at 8 p.m. Apparently they'll also be showing the sequel, Shock Treatment.

S A T U R D A Y

O'Bagelo's, 165 State Street, noon. Today and tomorrow is The Corn Hill Arts Festival in the Corn Hill Neighborhood [source: the proverbial grapevine] It's free-admission day at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) for George Eastman's Birthday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. [source: Eastman House calendar] Today is another Bike Ride at High Falls from 10:30 a.m. to noon at The High Falls Gorge (Pont De Rennes Bridge.) The ride is designed to be relatively easy ... 10 miles or less along the Genesee Riverway Trail and on-road into the community. [source: City Hall press release] Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is The Brain Surgeons, very good rock/hard-rock band The UV Rays, rock-and-roll band The Thundergods, and Static Cling starting around 10:45 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] The The Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Ave., near Goodman St.) will be holding their Rochester Biennial party tonight at 8 p.m. featuring art from local artists and music from Brass Taxi and very good bluegrass band The String Theory Bluegrass Band among others. [source: Memorial Art Gallery calendar] Over at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) starting around 10:30 p.m. is good rock/punk-rock/groove-rock band The Spaces. [source: Monty's Krown calendar] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra starting at 8 p.m. Nothing like a satire of Cold War exploitation films. Preceded by Skeleton Frolics. [source: Eastman House calendar]

M O N D A Y

The Club at Water Street (204 N. Water St.) will be hosting great rock-and-roll band The Earl Cram Revue, Anorexic Beauty Queen, and eclectic rock band Kill Myself on Monday starting around 9 p.m. [source: Water Street calendar] The Paul Smoker — Damon Short Quintet will be at the The Bop Shop (274 N. Goodman St., in Village Gate Square) tonight at 8 p.m. [source: Bop Shop calendar] Eastman Theatre (60 Gibbs St.) will be honoring George Eastman's 150th birthday starting at 7:30 p.m. in Kilborn Hall. [source: Eastman School of Music calendar] Updated: The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing King of the Corner starting at 8 p.m. for free. This is an addition to their calendar after the printed version was done, and director/writer Peter Riegert will be on hand to introduce the film and answer questions. [source: Eastman House calendar] 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 at Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) at 7 p.m. is another LITalk featuring Dr. Timothy Madigan discussing Frankenstein Lives! in the context of modern scientific advances. [source: Writers and Books calendar] Tonight at The Little (240 East Ave.) is Hiding and Seeking: Faith and Tolerance After the Holocaust at 6:30 p.m. about a father who brings his devoutly Jewish sons to Poland to find the Catholic couple who rescued their grandfather from the Holocaust. [source: Rochester Jewish Film Festival] Tonight is a Tuesday Nature Nights Guided Bike Ride along Rochester's trail system starting at 6:15 p.m. (helmets required, weather cancellations will be made on site at the start time ... I guess unless it's obvious.) Tonight's ride is along the Genesee Riverway Trail starting at The High Falls Gorge (Pont De Rennes Bridge). [source: City Hall press release] Interesting synth-guitar-drums band We Regazzi, and somehow both dark and "floaty" band The Race will be at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 10:45 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Sands of the Kalahari starting at 8 p.m. Another in the series of films that is not available on video, this is the story of a group of people stranded in a plane crash and the internal and external battles that ensue. [source: Eastman House 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

The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Yidl Mitn Fidl (Yiddle With His Fiddle) starting at 2 p.m. A father dresses his daughter as a boy so they can make money performing music. Presented in Yiddish with English subtitles, this is part of the Jewish Film Festival. [source: Eastman House calendar] The Little (240 East Ave.) will be showing The First Israeli in Space at 6:30 p.m. which explores Ilan Ramon's life and follows him through four-years of training with The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and his tragic death aboard the space shuttle Challenger. [source: Rochester Jewish Film Festival] At Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) tonight is Rochester Poets Reading and Open Mike at 7 p.m. [source: Writers and Books calendar] Jack Rose, Christina Carter (of trance-style harmony band The Charalambides) electric guitar looping soloist Andy Gilmore, and Joe+n will be at The All-Purpose Room (#8 in the Public Market, off N. Union St.) starting around 9 p.m. [source: Carbon Records calendar] The Monroe County Fair begins tonight and runs through July 18. Tonight's highlight is the World's Largest Demolition Derby at the Grandstand at 8 p.m. [source: Rochester Music Coalition calendar] 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]