Weekly Rochester Events #413: Glenwood Springs by Train

Thursday, December 7, 2006

It seems Wednesdays are becoming something of an early morning for me. Last week I was blearily stumbling to turn off a 4:30 a.m. alarm so I could get Sondra and her kids to the airport by 5 a.m. At least traffic was light.

Thursday Ali came by and we went out to the Park Avenue Holiday Fest on Park Ave. (map) starting at Baker Street Bakery (745 Park Ave.) — always a treat at that end to get a cookie and some bread. From there we went to Wine Sense (749 Park Ave.) and quickly ran out of steam. It was a slightly-above-freezing rainy night and we were trying to stay dry and warm. Also, I kept having this cat-under-foot issue where it seemed wherever I went to step, someone would walk right in front of me — sometimes they'd be on the street talking with someone, and other times they'd be examining something on a shelf and walk back into my path. It was rather frustrating and got old fast. On the way out of Wine Sense, there was even a woman holding the door and about 8 people walked past her. I said, "I bet you're just waiting to go inside" and relieved her of her duties. It was as if everyone else walking by thought she was their personal servant. Yeesh.

We decided to try sitting down out of the way to get a drink somewhere. We stopped at the relatively new Jack Lavere's (682 Park Ave., formerly Big Apple Cafe). Their only table at the time was right next to the guy playing guitar — at least he wasn't obtrusive, not too loud, and quite talented [although we joked that I should have turned around and simply put my hand on his guitar and shook my head slightly when he started playing "Stairway to Heaven"]. Anyway, the place was pretty nice — a huge remodel from the Big Apple Cafe. We just had wine which was quite good ... the menu seemed a bit pricey for dishes as simple as they were described. Regardless, it's a place to check out.

Ali had to take off so I joined Drinking Liberally at Monty's Korner (355 East Ave.) There was a discussion about starting a progressive radio show at WITR 89.7 FM so I was like, "sure: I'm in" — heck: it's not like I'm all that busy right now ... er ... I mean, <sarcasm> it's not like I'm all that busy right now </sarcasm>. We headed from there to Lux Lounge (666 South Ave.) to finish off the night.

Friday I got into another new old project. If you're old enough to remember using a "hay-box cooker", you probably use "new-fangled" to describe transistors. [You probably still hyphenate newfangled, too.] For the rest of you, it's a way of cooking food (primarily stews) by heating it once to boiling then putting the cooking vessel (primarily a cast iron pot or a WWII army helmet, depending on where and when you are) into a box filled with hay to retain the heat and allow it to continue to cook for hours afterward. Well, I heard about these and thought it was a neat idea and maybe I'd make one someday. Recently, though, one of the green-energy mailing lists I was on had a link to an article titled A Hay Box Cooker An Old Invention — Out of New Materials. I kicked myself for not thinking of it first: use the cooking method of a hay-box cooker with modern materials. The Australian author of the article uses an Esky but I considered using a regular cooler [rimshot]. A cup of hot water only cooled from 120°F to 80°F in 2 hours when it was just set inside an old styrofoam cooler I had lying around. I imagine that with better insulation (note that polystyrene melts at over 400°F, so I can just cut some additional pieces) and more food that I could easily keep food over 150°F for hours on end ... maybe I'll try cooking chili in it — no more beans burned on the bottom, and no gas burner running for 8 hours.

Friday night I went to The Rochester Contemporary Art Gallery (137 East Ave.) to check out the opening of [object]ivity, the 16th Annual Members Exhibition. I didn't stay too long but I always like the wide variety of art presented at a one-piece-per-person kind of show. I had to leave early to make it to the Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) for Der Siebente Kontinent (The Seventh Continent). It's a sticky movie — one that seems rather simple on the outside but it stays with you in a weird way. Basically a family goes through its daily routines over and over and over. And over. It's all rather menial and boring, so the family decides to end it. As Michael Haneke films go, this one is viscerally pretty tame, but like I say, it tends to stick with you — every one of those repetitive tasks we do is a little part of our lives that goes unfulfilled.

Saturday was a quiet afternoon with Ali and then we headed out to see The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes at the Dryden. The movie was very strange — obviously metaphoric and abstract, but so much so that nobody could really make sense of it. I commented that it's the kind of movie that you'll get dreams about and figure the whole thing out only to have forgotten what you learned by morning.

We went to A|V Art Sound Space (N. Union St. at Trinidad St., #8 in the Public Market, formerly the All-Purpose Room) after that and checked out the bands. Nothing too big to report ... I talked with Shoebox from Worm Quartet a bit before he played. Unfortunately some combination of the sound system and the room garbled his rapid-fire lyrics. I even had my fill of Gaybot and eventually took their half-sarcastic insistence that everyone leave now — they're a hell of an anti-band, and I suspect the goal was to have the audience "finish" and go away rather than the band doing so. They'd never admit such a lofty goal, though.

Neither of us had much to eat so we went to Mykono's Cafe (3423 Winton Pl.) Unlike its former incarnation as an upscale Greek restaurant in Village Gate Square (274 N. Goodman St.), this similarly-named, presumably similarly-owned place is more of a diner — conveniently open 24-hours on Friday and Saturday. The food was fine — the biftekia pita I had was quite good and large ... pretty similar in quality to Mykono's Express (1330 Mount Hope Ave.)

On Sunday we went to see The Great Muppet Caper at the Dryden. I thought it was just okay compared to the first Muppet movie ... fewer cameos and fewer really good jokes. We had fun, though. Afterward we went to Jeremiah's Tavern (1104 Monroe Ave.) for dinner — I was glad for the 5-piece chicken wing appetizer. I haven't had their wings in a while but they were pretty good, if totally basic: (presumably) Frank's Red Hot and butter — but the blue cheese dressing made up for it.

Monday I decided I'd take on another new project. Maybe that Michael Haneke film got to me more than I thought. I called The Black Rock Arts Foundation a.k.a. Burning Man Headquarters (1900 3rd St., San Francisco, CA) on a conference call to discuss being part of the Green Working Group who will be responsible for the various aspects of making Burning Man into a green event. It's evident that anything we do in the desert will never cancel out the mere act of shlepping all that stuff hundreds of miles to the middle of nowhere, but the point is as a demonstration and experiment. I don't know what I can do at this distance, but I figure I'll try to get involved with "education and outreach" and try to figure out a way to get people thinking about it.

Finally, this most recent Wednesday, I once again got up early — this time only at 6 a.m. I got out the door and headed to RIT (One Lomb Memorial Dr., campus map) to join a couple people for a progressive/liberal radio show on WITR 89.7 FM As it was not scripted, I think it went very well. In fact, it was actually a lot of fun and I'll most likely be on the air again next week from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m.

T H U R S D A Y

National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (half-staff until sunset) This afternoon from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. is a discussion of random motion titled Random Walks from Einstein to the Present by Thomas Spencer in Hoyt Auditorium at The University of Rochester (Elmwood Ave. at Intercampus Dr., details on River Campus Map). [source: University of Rochester Events Calendar] At The Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Ave., near Goodman St.) this afternoon at 5:30 p.m. is a What's Up discussion of the museum's recent acquisition of Jewish Ceremonial Art presented by Susan Dodge-Peters Daiss. [source: University of Rochester Events Calendar] Tonight from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. in The St. Paul Quarter (St. Paul St. and Andrews St.) is the 5th year of The City Walk starting at Pane Vino Ristorante (175 N. Water St.) [source: Rochester Young Professionals calendar] Deborah Branch, and Harold Pannell will be at The Flat Iron Café (561 State St.) starting around 8 p.m. [source: Flat Iron Cafe webstie] Over at Kilbourn Hall at Eastman Theatre (60 Gibbs St.) starting around 8 p.m. is The Eastman Marimba Ensemble. [source: Eastman School of Music calendar] [all ages] Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. is clean, crisp rock-and-roll from Tiger Cried Beef, Newspaper Joe, Electric Organic, and Leilani Swafford. [source: Bug Jar calendar] Pure Kona Poetry Open Mic Night is at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) tonight starting at 7:30. [source: Daily Perks calendar] Drinking Liberally meets at 8 p.m. tonight at Monty's Korner (355 East Ave.) [source: RocWiki calendar] Tonight at 8 p.m. at Bodhi's Cafe & Lounge (274 Goodman St. N., in Village Gate) is an Open Mic. [source: the proverbial grapevine]

F R I D A Y

Today at Image City Photography Gallery (722 University Ave.) from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. is the opening reception of the 2nd Annual Holiday Show which runs through December 24. [source: Image City Photography Gallery e-mail] The Rochester Visual Studies Workshop (31 Prince St.) is having a Silent Auction from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. featuring works from dozens of artists. [source: Visual Studies Workshop calendar] [all ages] Today at 7 p.m. is the first performance of The Gospel According to Scrooge by The HOPE Initiatives Theater at The Bethel Christian Fellowship (321 East Ave.). Shows are Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m. through December 17. [source: Craigslist Rochester events] Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) will be hosting Meg Gehman starting around 8 p.m. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages] Over at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) starting around 8 p.m. is Ian Egling, and Ian Downey is Famous. [source: band e-mail] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Benny's Video starting at 8 p.m. about a boy who is inspired to make a video in the violent style he's been watching. Another of Michael Haneke's films. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Tonight at The Flat Iron Café (561 State St.) is Tony Cruz starting around 9 p.m. [source: Flat Iron Cafe webstie] The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting Black August starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] Tonight at 10:30 p.m. at Nextstage at Geva (75 Woodbury Blvd.) is Geva Comedy Improv with Theatre Sports and then tomorrow at 10:30 p.m. they'll be doing Gorilla Theatre which is sadly not guerilla theater. [source: Geva Comedy Improv e-mail]

S A T U R D A Y

This afternoon at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is The Lazers, Noxious, and Warsquad starting around 3 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [all ages] Tonight at 6 p.m. is the opening reception for Hungerford Works at The Rochester Regional Community Design Center (RRCDC) (1115 E. Main St., in the Hungerford Complex). The show runs through January 5. [source: City Newspaper] Tonight from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at A|V Art Sound Space (N. Union St. at Trinidad St., #8 in the Public Market, formerly the All-Purpose Room) is the opening of Neither Painting Nor Sculpture by Joe+n. The show runs through December 30. [source: A|V Space website] Tonight at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. is Nuts and Bolts Improv Troupe at Downstairs Cabaret (172 West Main St.) [source: Nuts and Bolts e-mail] Dubblestuff will be at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) starting around 8 p.m. [source: Boulder Coffee website] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing starting at 8 p.m. presented by Alexander Payne. The film is a reenactment of the 1906 "sensational or scandalous story" of the affair between a married model and an architect. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is The Purrs, The Demon Seeds, The Old Stone Heap, and loud, fast rock/psychobilly from El Destructo, and The Cheetah Whores starting around 10 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] Over at Spy Bar (139 State St.) starting around 10 p.m. is the first-and-only (no promises) performance of The Torpedoes featuring Will from Hinkley and Dennis from Kill Myself on Monday, along with the really great, tight, current punk-rock band 5 Watt Bulb. [source: band e-mail] [21+] Tonight at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) is The Bitch in the Well starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: Freetime] [21+] Tonight's another Betty's Sing-a-Long at Betty Meyer's Bullwinkle Café (622 Lake Ave., a.k.a. "Bullwinkle's") starting around 10.

S U N D A Y

The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing The Muppets Take Manhattan starting this afternoon at 2 p.m. and also this evening at 7 p.m. This time those muppets, well, take Manhattan. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] This afternoon at 2 p.m. at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) is their Midwinter Holiday Reading featuring "a selection of seasonal favorites, including The Gift of the Magi, A Child's Christmas in Wales, along with Hannukkah and Kwanzaa stories." [source: Craigslist Rochester events] [all ages] Today at 3 p.m. at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) is another Holiday Musicale featuring Margaret-Anne Milne on the Aeolian Pipe organ. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] This evening at 6 p.m. is the closing performance of Torn Between Two Lovers by Janet Baxter at Café Underground Railroad (480 W. Main St.) [source: the proverbial grapevine] [21+] The Eastman School of Music (26 Gibbs St.) will be hosting The Eastman Musica Nova Ensemble starting around 8 p.m. in The Main Building, Room 120. [source: Eastman School of Music calendar] [all ages] Dr . Hamburger presents Dmonstrations, The Bird Cage Theater, and Ghostharm at A|V Art Sound Space (N. Union St. at Trinidad St., #8 in the Public Market, formerly the All-Purpose Room) starting around 9 p.m. tonight. [source: A|V Space website] Tonight and every Sunday at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) is a Comedy Open Mic with Matt Rohr at 7:30 p.m. [source: the proverbial grapevine] [all ages]

T U E S D A Y

This morning at 7:30 a.m. in the cafeteria overlooking the arboretum in Bausch and Lomb (140 Stone St.) is the Artists Breakfast Group meeting ... anyone interested in art or creativity is invited. This evening from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. is The RYP Coffee Crawl by The Rochester Young Professionals (RYP) starting at The Little Theatre Café (240 East Ave.) [source: Rochester Young Professionals calendar] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing The Mortal Storm starting at 8 p.m., a drama about "the rise of Nazism in Germany before America's involvement in World War II, it is also a tragic love story ..." [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] The Capitals, and The U.S. Kings will be at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] The Montage Live Music Hall (50 Chestnut St., formerly the Montage Grille) will be hosting Inherence, tight, technical hard rock from BML, Sixpin, Deadmen Dreaming, Bensin, and Daniel Who? starting around 10 p.m. [source: Freetime] This evening around 9 p.m. at Café Underground Railroad (480 W. Main St.) is an Open Mic with Art Delgudico and friends. [source: the proverbial grapevine] Tonight at 7 p.m. at The Flat Iron Café (561 State St.) is the Hot as Fire Spoken Word / Open Mic. [source: Flat Iron Cafe webstie] Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) is hosting an Acoustic Open Mic featuring JoAnn Vaccaro from 8 to 10. [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 temps du loup (The Time of the Wolf) preceded its making-of documentary 24 Realities Per Second starting at 7 p.m. (note the early start time.) Michael Haneke returns to tell the story of a widowed mother and her children fighting to survive in a dawning post-apocalyptic world. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Over at Water Street Music Hall (204 N. Water St.) starting around 9 p.m. is The New Deal, and Benzos. [source: Water Street 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] There's an Open Mic for Acoustic Music at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) tonight around 8. [source: the proverbial grapevine] Tonight at Milestones (170 East Ave.) is another The Comedy Block Party starting almost promptly at 8 p.m. Tonight at Café Underground Railroad (480 W. Main St.) is a Spoken Word/Poetry night starting around 9 p.m. [source: the proverbial grapevine]

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