Weekly Rochester Events #340: The Last of Fermat

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Last Thursday Jan headed off for New Hampshire so now both he and Shannon are there ... such a weird thing that is — knowing someone on a near-daily basis for 15 years and then not. Hmm ... just strange.

Anyway, that evening I went to Patrik's Culinary Kreations (847 S. Goodman St.) for dinner. I got their meatloaf which was probably about as good as meatloaf can get: it was good, but I wasn't thrilled. Later on I headed to The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) for the show there.

First up was The Teenage Bottle Rockets who do this tight, fast punk-rock with 2 guitars, bass, and drums. Next was The Teenage Harlets and I made a note that said, "geez ... awesome rock-and-roll band with rockabilly flavoring and the ghost of synth-pop and power-pop; plus the band is all over the place in the audience." Chixdiggit was this great, interactive rock/punk-rock band ... they have this subtly insulting Canada-versus-America thing going on too, and they tried making us compete against their audience in Buffalo as to who was a better crowd. The Groovie Ghoulies finished things off with their catchy punk-styled, "ghoulie-themed" music. I had a great time at the show — and as always, happy that I chose it as a "pick-of-the-week" and the show indeed was. I picked up their CD, Monster Club and headed home.

I was riding my tall bike as I have been for most of the summer, but this time I finally wiped out — so now I have an answer for, "what if you fall?": I get hurt and can't ride at all for a few days. And it was a doozy of a crash, too. I was cruising along (that is, not as fast as I've ever gone, but pretty typical ... proably 15 miles per hour) and cut across a parking lot I always do. I coasted up the driveway-cutout in the curb then jumped on the pedals to pick up speed but the chain had apparently slipped off.

What happens next I estimate only took about 1-2 seconds — based on prior knowledge with things that happen fast (i.e. car accidents and such) I seem to have memories of events that happen about every half-second. Anyway, I lost my footing, so I remember dropping down on the frame. Since I was too far off the ground, I had to do something, so I remember leaning up high on the handlebars and lifting myself up. Then, although I don't really remember exactly, I'm guessing the front wheel turned hard to the side and I went over. I remember tumbling around a bit, then getting to the ground and (at the time remembering that I had my helmet on ... as always) letting my head slam into the ground with a loud crack from the helmet.

I found myself partially pinned under the bike. I took a brief second to estimate injuries but mostly followed my instincts and got out from under the bike and stood up. I noted that I didn't feel woozy like a head injury, and that I had some good scrapes and road-rash along with a bruised right leg.

There was some guy walking on the street who asked, "hey, are you okay?" I said, "yeah, I think so ..." as I walked around the bike. He responded with, "Do you know if the A-Plus is still open on the corner?" Even then it was a surreal question and, although I went past it later, I didn't even bother to note whether it was open or not for him. How selfish of me, eh?

Anyway, I managed to crack the foam in the helmet, I got scratches on my left knee and a really good one on my right elbow, and my right leg feels like someone gave me a "charley horse" punch — only with a baseball bat. The CD was in that pocket and I shattered the corner of the case. Oh, and there is grind marks on the top of the handlebars, so I apparently went end-over-end or something. It took until Monday before I was again able to ride ... I need to check out the tall bike to make sure it's safe ... er ... "safe" ... so in the interim I've been riding the old bar bike.

On Friday my best friend Sondra came to town and we went out to Lux Lounge (666 South Ave.) for Ouzo, Edibles (704 University Ave.) for some appetizers, wine, and port wine, and then to Richmond's (21 Richmond St.) briefly to see the show there, and finally back home ... pretty much exhausted.

On Saturday we went to her brother's graduation party in Hamlin, and then that night, we got out the red paint again and hit the town. This time, we met up with a couple new friends (of a friend of a Sondra's) and went to Lux Lounge (666 South Ave.) and then Betty Meyer's Bullwinkle Café (622 Lake Ave.) for the Sing-a-Long. We made a stop at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) which had lost most of it's charm since the last time Sondra was here, and finally got some food at Mark's Texas Hots (487 Monroe Ave.)

That place is always a trip ... there was the bouncer — I mean, what an odd-job: bouncer at an all-night diner — a table being kicked out, and some other table with a woman demanding to see the manager because the coffee was hot or cold or something ... oh, and the woman who was denied entrance only to hang out by our window.

Sunday was a day of lounging around a bit. We played with tarot cards in the morning and discussed intuitive versus analytical — the feminine versus the masculine. I think there's a balance somewhere. The tangible, scientific world has been able to explain a lot of mysteries in the world, yet it seems there is a subset of them who believe they can explain it all. On the other hand, the intuitive world of "unexplained causality" has many examples — knowing someone will call, or when a parent dies — yet there is a subset that wants to lay claim to events that have already been well-explained scientifically.

In essence, we're missing balance in the world. I think there are things that do not have a causal path that can be explained scientifically — the tarot cards, for instance. We did readings on one another, and both our readings were not only significantly different, each was far more applicable to the original receiver than it would be, say, if we had swapped readings. After laying out the 10 cards for the Celtic cross spread and getting partially through Sondra's reading, she quipped something about how she expected death to come up. On a complete whim, I turned over the next card in the deck: sure enough ... death.

In our world dominated by the analytical, it doesn't work because it cannot be proved scientifically — it's just a trick of the mind. I suspect the correct response is along the lines that it is simply outside the realm of science and irrelevant to the analytical.

I mean, consider that you can be daydreaming and remember yourself as a child visiting your grandparents house. In the analytical world, this can be explained that you probably had a physiological trigger — a smell, or a particular posture, for instance — that triggered the memory to be recalled ... but who gives a shit? I mean, it's enough to experience the magic of the situation — intuitively. Why can't it be a mental postcard that your grandparents are sending from somewhere else? — a note just for you to receive and experience that nobody else can know.

If we just enforce a separation of science and intuition, we can avoid a lot of the bullshit that goes on in the world. I remember stumbling on a discussion group for "essential oils" (which are typically cold-pressed from certain plants like lemon and rose) a few months back. One of the things that made me bristle was when they started saying that the oils had a "frequency" and the most potent oils had a "frequency" of over 300 megahertz. What? "Frequency" is a well-established term — what, exactly, is oscillating at that frequency? I bit my tongue because it's just an impressive-sounding term for people who don't know better. Oddly, being mostly analytical, I found myself more content to believe that these oils, with their unusually pure and strong scents allowed me to experience some primitive instinct. I was sniffing deeply, like a dog that refuses to exhale when it has detected a scent. I mean, why turn to the pseudoscientific if the intuitive explanation is even better?

Ok, ok ... so anyway, on Saturday night we went out to A|V Art Sound Space (#8 in the Public Market, off N. Union St., formerly The All-Purpose Room) to see the bands there. I got to hear Autumn In Halifax once again ... great stuff ... very interesting acoustic stuff with loops and effects, but also expertly poetic. I had asked if Dave wanted to make music to play on The Bike With 2 Brains and he gave me the CD of his selections and new works for it that night ... so exciting (it's great, by the way.)

Sondra went back Monday. In the evening I went to George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) to see what they had for Surprise Cinema. Well, Michael Neault had selected from his own personally-defined genre of films made under oppressive governments with strict content-censorship laws — in this case, the sub-genre of those films that are banned. The film was Skrivánci na niti (Larks on a String) by Jirí Menzel from Czechoslovakia. He made a film that was too anti-Socialist so he was forced to make Larks on a String. It was supposed to be pro-socialist, but it's clearly far too anti-socialist for any censor to have passed it. The story largely follows lazy imperialist workers who refuse to work and instead happily frolic about in the steel recycling center that they are confined to — whereas the much better groomed socialist managers vie for approval from their superiors. The sarcastic tone being, "just look how much better the socialist workers are by supporting the state."

T H U R S D A Y

Tonight's Party in the Park at The High Falls Festival Site (Browns Race and Commercial St.) starting around 5:30 p.m. features Pure Prairie League with Eddie from Ohio and local cover band Dang. [source: City Hall press release] [all ages] Over at Milestones (170 East Ave.) starting around 8 p.m. is The Comedy Block Party featuring Lamar Williams, Mark Wiedmann, Kevin Berry, and Jim Miesner. [source: the proverbial grapevine] Remember that the last days of The Hill Cumorah Pageant (Hill Cumorah, Palmyra, N.Y.) are today, tomorrow, and Saturday starting at 9 p.m. [source: Hill Cumorah website] Slough Feg, Bible of the Devil, and Crucifist will be at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) 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] Tonight, Friday night, and Saturday night at 9:30 p.m. is the River of Light laser show at The High Falls Gorge (Pont De Rennes Bridge.) [source: City Hall press release] [all ages]

F R I D A Y

Acoustic soloist Nora Kaminski, Teagan Ward, Margaret Storms, and Shannon St. John will be at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) for a Songwriters in the Round show starting around 8 p.m. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Van Gogh starting at 8 p.m. An intense look at the last two months of Van Gogh's life. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Tonight at 10:30 p.m. and tomorrow at 11:30 p.m. at Nextstage at Geva (75 Woodbury Blvd.) is Geva Comedy Improv. [source: Geva Theatre website] Tonight at Spy Bar and Grill (139 State St.) is Aimee Lane, Sara Strusz, and Christina Ginger starting around 10 p.m. [source: the proverbial grapevine] A|V Art Sound Space (#8 in the Public Market, off N. Union St., formerly The All-Purpose Room) will be hosting simple, circular songs with great harmonies from Picastro, mellow rock-and-roll from both ambient and power-pop from Hinkley, and A Wonderful starting around 10 p.m. [source: artsound website] [all ages] Over at The California Brew Haus (402 West Ridge Rd.) starting around 10 p.m. is tight, fun modern-rock band The Meddling Kids, and M. D. G. Band [source: Freetime]

S A T U R D A Y

O'Bagelo's (165 State Street), noon. Tonight at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) is Lauren Faggiano starting around 8 p.m. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages] Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 10:45 p.m. is Holly Golightly, The Woggles, and surf-rock influenced punk-rock from The Priests [source: Bug Jar calendar] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Smile starting at 8 p.m. Satire of the beauty pageant ... how can one resist? [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Tonight's another Betty's Sing-a-Long at Betty Meyer's Bullwinkle Café (622 Lake Ave.) starting around 10.

S U N D A Y

The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice, The Castanets, and I Heart Lung starting around 9 p.m. [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] Today from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. is another Community Garage Sale at The Rochester Public Market (280 Union St. N.) [source: City Hall press release]

T U E S D A Y

Tonight is another Tuesday Nature Nights — "Trees in our Neighborhoods" Walks from 6:15 p.m. to 8 p.m. exploring the East Ave. Neighborhood starting outside Third Presbyterian Church (Meigs St. and East Ave.) [source: City Hall press release] [all ages] The Club at Water Street (204 N. Water St.) will be hosting Kasabian, and definitive rock band Longwave starting around 7:30 p.m. [source: Water Street calendar] [all ages] Over at A|V Art Sound Space (#8 in the Public Market, off N. Union St., formerly The All-Purpose Room) starting around 8 p.m. is How We Are, Tropiezo, No Slogan, Bad Taste, and Funeral for America. [source: artsound website] [all ages] Rochester Poets Reading and Open Mike will be at Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) starting around 7 p.m. [source: Writers and Books calendar] [all ages] Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is The Spits, good punk-rock from The Emersons, and The Apology starting around 10:45 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] Over at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (99 Court St.) starting around 10 p.m. is blues-charged rock-and-roll from Buford and the Smoking Section. [source: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que calendar] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Jeanne Eagels starting at 8 p.m. Kim Novak retells the life of the titular Broadway actress. [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

Today from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. at Aqueduct Park (Main Street by the river) is another of the Noontime Concerts featuring quite good hip-hop/pop-rock band Me and the Boyz. [source: City Hall press release] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing À nous amours (To Our Loves) starting at 8 p.m. A girl attempts to fill the void of love at home with meaningless sex. [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] Tonight at The Club at Water Street (204 N. Water St.) is another Open Mic Wenzdaze with Acoustic Café from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and then Rock-n-Roll Circus starting at 9 p.m. [source: Water Street calendar]