Weekly Rochester Events #321: Hey Vern: How About Some Grog?

Thursday, March 3, 2005

On Thursday night last week I got out to the Thursday Thinkers at The Rochester Public Library (115 South Ave.) to see Dr. Warren Allmon speak about evolution and religion. He was specifically speaking of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species with its two theses: that evolution is a process that happens, and that the process by which this happened is through natural selection. (Thus, the combination of these two ideas is called "Darwinism" to distinguish it from evolution.) Even in 1860, most people (including the church) agreed that evolution happens, but there was argument that teaching the idea that man evolved from lower animals would lead to people denying morality and acting like animals. By 1900, the focus shifted to natural selection as the theories of the destruction of morality failed to materialize.

However, natural selection continued to be a sticking point. The trouble lies in the belief that natural selection leaves no room for a guiding force in the universe; rather, it becomes a cold and meaningless place where all living things are simply a random set of traits which, given a catastrophic event, only some would survive to breed and pass their traits to the next generation. In its extreme form, both hard-line evolutionists and hard-line creationists agree — given that natural selection is true, there can be no creator. However, most other people find a balance in the two — for instance that what we perceive as chaos and randomness is the hand of a guiding force, but our limited capacity prevents us from comprehending it as that.

After that I headed to the Ossia New Music performance at Eastman Theatre (60 Gibbs St.) Nothing like going from talking about evolution versus creation to seeing a twisted manifestation of it where originators of creative works fight the thought that they are simply creating an evolutionary step. [Ok, so it's a weak segue: I'm working chronologically here, people.] The first piece was Matthias Pintscher's Choc which was remarkably unnerving and almost terror-inducing — quite a surprise considering how many orchestral tricks I've heard used in scary-movie soundtracks. David Plylar's The Artist's Studio was good too. The irreverent style spelled out in the program notes was evident even to my relatively untrained ear. I thought the piece succeeded in its goal of suggesting a work-in-progress and the variety of tangents that are followed on the path to a finished work. Finally, I somewhat liked Elliott Carter's Double Concerto, but it was so technical that I felt I didn't understand all the nuances of what was going on to really appreciate it. According to the program notes, the harpsichord ensemble, consisting of "largely metallophones and lingophones" emphasized the "melodic and harmonic intervals" of "minor seconds, minor thirds, perfect fourths, augmented fourths, minor sixths, minor sevenths, and minor ninths" while the piano ensemble, consisting of "largely membranophones" emphasized "major seconds, major thirds, perfect fifths, major sixths, major sevenths, and major ninths." I suspect I might have enjoyed the piece more if I had any idea what that last sentence meant.

Friday I shifted gears and went to see The Blackwater Ensemble at The Black Box Theatre (34 Elton St.) perform their sketch comedy show "Numbers We See." I'm not trying to be mean when I say it's about 25% as good as a $20 show. It was actually funny, so that's good, but it wasn't sidesplitting. I don't know how to do it the right kind of justice ... see, the humor was consistently in that 7-out-of-10 range — only a couple times did it get to a 4, and only a couple times did it get to a 9, but it mostly just hovered around 7. The multilayer complexity also ranks in the "above-average" range and also pretty consistently so between all the sketches. So if you're looking to find comedy that's so bad you leave in disgust to enjoy the next 2 hours complaining with your companions (you know who you are) or if you want an excuse to piss yourself in public, you probably need to check out open-mic comedy somewhere or learn that those are your pants and you can do as you please, respectively — but The Blackwater Ensemble isn't your answer either way.

If you're looking for someplace to go that will make your jaw drop to the floor in surprise, stop in at The Metro 37 Ultra-Lounge (37 Charlotte St., at the corner of Matthews where Spot Coffee is) around 11 on a Friday night and skip to the next paragraph. With that warning out of the way, the place dubs itself an "ultra-lounge." Apparently that means it's a pretty nightclub like Tonic (East Avenue near Alexander) or Karma 355 (East Ave. near Alexander) but with the additional feature of ornamental dancers (no, not Asians, redneck) who are there not as "live entertainment" but literally as a decorative element [I can just see Steve Watson on Monster House saying to some poor saps, "and what would an Ultra-Lounge House be — without ornamental dancers!"] I felt too much like the frog thrown in boiling water (of Snopes fame) and had to get the hell out of there ... I may try again starting very early and let the water heat up around me to see if I can get a feel for the vibe of the place.

Saturday I was back to my usual tricks: The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) I got to see Stinking Lizaveta which I described thusly: "imagine all of rock-and-roll distilled to dirty perfection ... cacophany and precision combined." I really can't add more ... except maybe, "this isn't your father's rock-and-roll" — that this is an incremental step for rock-and-roll into something else. I also hung around for Gil Mantera's Party Dream which I described thusly: it "was as if they grabbed disco, synth-pop, and power-pop by the balls and demanded all their money — and collected the payout." Oh, and it was really funny too.

Monday I made it out to The Little (240 East Ave.) to see the Emerging Filmmaker's films. I was disappointed when I left, but I guess I was in some kind of "anti-" mood because in retrospect everything was really quite good. First up was Handshake by Patrick Smith which was a rather bizarre animation with a man and a woman meeting and shaking hands ... but things go wrong ... I guess maybe the woman is some kind of man-eating monster ... either that or I'm projecting my own issues again. I also liked The Art of Hollering by Vivian Wenli Lin. It's a short documentary about a topic I hadn't really thought about before: that of men — especially young men — yelling at women on the street to woo them.

However, Tesseract by Geoffrey Alan Rhodes and Sarah JM Kolberg was just spectacular. It's all about Eadweard Muybridge (the guy who's known for proving that a horse leaves the ground in a gallop through sequenced photographs) and his obsession with time, in part brought on when he murdered his wife's lover. Stylistically the filmmakers (according to their press pack online) apply comic book styled panels to tell the story, adding the motion element. They really hit home, though, with the film as a meditation on what was, what is, and what will be — or what could have been.

And finally I wrapped things up on Tuesday with Mayor William A. Johnson, Jr.'s State of the City address at The Rochester Academy of Medicine (1441 East Ave.) He started out with an assurance that this was his last term, and offered some advice to his successors. The main thrust of his speech, though, was to point out that the city has tightly constrained revenues: revenues from the commercial tax base are down, there is less federal funding, and the city is missing significant state funding promised by law.

More interesting to me, though, was that two mayoral candidates were present: Police Chief Robert Duffy and City Councilmember Tim Mains. Several local TV stations interviewed them and I realized that even if I were to catch the newscasts, I'd only be able to see the requisite 8-second sound-bites. From what I saw, I liked Duffy's down-to-earth anchoring to the populace, but I didn't like Mains' detachment from it — evident to me by the way he talked about the "poverty problem" as if poverty itself was the problem and not a symptom of other societal ills.

(And special thanks to Todd — el Dude — for the "ornamental dancers? D'you mean Asians?" joke I stole from him.)

T H U R S D A Y

This afternoon's Thursday Thinkers in Gleason Auditorium at The Rochester Public Library (115 South Ave.) is titled Frankenfoods: The Genetic Engineering of our Food Supply as presented by author Nancy Kress. [source: Friends of the Public Library flyer] [all ages] Todd Hochberg will present a lecture titled Bereavement Photography about the photography of children who died tonight at 6 p.m. in the Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] At 7:30 p.m. tonight in the Auditorium at The Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Ave., near Goodman St.) is an Archaeology Lecture titled Roman Aqueducts: Yet Another Wonder of the Ancient World by Peter O. Brown. [source: Memorial Art Gallery calendar] [all ages] Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is Shonen Knife, Visqueen, and really good punk-rock/power-rock band The Scarlets starting around 9:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] Pure Kona Poetry Open Mic Night is at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) tonight starting at 7:30. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages]

F R I D A Y

There will be a Family Fun Night at the ice rink at Manhattan Square Park (130 Chestnut St.) tonight from 6:45 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. featuring a country rock-and-roll theme. [source: City Hall press release] [all ages] Over at Barrister's (36 West Main St.) starting around 5 p.m. is surf-rock-rockin' rockabilly band Krypton 88. [source: Freetime] Tonight from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at The Clarissa Room (293 Clarissa St., formerly Shep's Paradise) is the Maria Gillard Band featuring witty singer Maria Gillard, Alecks Dsljenkovich on guitar, spectacular pianist Charles Jaffe on piano, Mick Sarubbi on bass, and Pete Monacelli on drums. [source: band e-mail] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Notre musique (Our Music) starting at 8 p.m. Jean-Luc Godard's film about war. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages]

S A T U R D A Y

O'Bagelo's, 165 State Street, noon. This afternoon at 1 p.m. at Monroe Branch Library (809 Monroe Ave.) is a Weekends at the Library titled Creative Bookmaking about how to make your own book presented by Margaret Bartlett. [source: Friends of the Public Library flyer] [all ages] Tonight is the last night to see The Evolutionary Girls Club art show at A|V Art Sound Space (#8 in the Public Market, off N. Union St., formerly The All-Purpose Room.) [source: artsound website] [all ages] Tonight at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) is The Swillbrothers, and complex 1960's style bluesy rock-and-roll from The Ferndocks starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: band e-mail] [21+] The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting really good hard rock from Low Ton, tight, technical rock from BML, and Ted Eddison starting around 10:45 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] Great Expectations opens tonight at Blackfriars Theatre (28 Lawn St.) at 8 p.m. and runs through March 26. [source: Blackfriars Theatre website] Mike McNeill Jazz Quartet will be at Starry Nites Café (696 University Ave., formerly Moonbeans) starting around 9 p.m. [source: Starry Nites calendar] [all ages] Upstage 3 at The Auditorium Center (875 Main St E.) will have a Benefit for the Lyndonville Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research Group by The Stages Broadway Musical Review. [source: Rochester Music Coalition calendar] [all ages]

S U N D A Y

Artisan Works (565 Blossom Rd.) will be hosting talented acoustic duo Gillard and Coulter starting around 1 p.m. [source: band e-mail] [all ages] Tonight at German House (315 Gregory St.) is The Commitments starting around 6:30 p.m. [source: WBER calendar] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing It's Always Fair Weather starting at 5 p.m. A CinemaScope musical from 1955 about guys 10 years after World War II. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] This afternoon at 2 p.m. is the last performance of The Trials of Ezra Pound by Timothy Findley at Shipping Dock Theatre (31 Prince St., new location at Visual Studies Workshop.) [source: Shipping Dock Theatre website] This afternoon at 2 p.m. is a lecture by Paper Trail artist Judith Olson Gregory at The Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Ave., near Goodman St.) [source: Memorial Art Gallery calendar] [all ages] 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

This afternoon from 4 to 6 p.m. at The Rochester Visual Studies Workshop (31 Prince St.) is a Presentation and Reception to introduce the new Frederick Douglass School of Journalism. [source: the proverbial grapevine] Apparently there will be Argentine tango dancing at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) tonight with Agustin Ramos from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be having another installment of Surprise Cinema starting at 8 p.m. where they'll show some unique or rare film ... something for the cinephiles out there — plus, it's free to Eastman House members. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages]

T U E S D A Y

Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. is Menomena, Pit er Pat, and really good minimalist acoustic soloist Kelli Hicks. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Blow Out starting at 8 p.m. A sound-effects man finds that there is a conspiracy behind the death of a politician ... [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] 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] [all ages]

W E D N E S D A Y

The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Le mépris (Contempt) starting at 8 p.m. Jean-Luc Godard's first big film about the pressure that studios and producers put on directors to change their works ... pretty much an attack on his own producers and studios. [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] 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] [all ages]