Weekly Rochester Events #418: Laconic

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Last Wednesday I got up early to get to WITR 89.7 FM at RIT (One Lomb Memorial Dr., campus map) for The Coalition of the Shrill radio show but realized it was cancelled so I went back to bed. Much later — that night — I headed to The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) to check out the bands. First up was Bent Left who I was most excited to see — they're a politically-left-leaning punk band. I think my expectations were pretty high because they're good — a perfectly acceptable hard punk/punk-rock band — but I was kind of uninspired. Fortunatley, their touring partners Outlaw surprised me as an excellent, high-energy punk band. Both bands were down to their last dime so I did what any self-respecting local down to his last dime (well, dimes) would do and bought them a round of Genny Cream Ale's on el-cheap special. I hung out with them afterward and they were nice enough to share a their CD's with me and someone brought around a round of shots — maybe the same guy who followed me to the stage with a round of shots for them. Anyhow The Flour City Knuckleheads finished off the night with their fun, fast brand of punk-rock.

On Friday I finished up an article in Rolling Stone Magazine titled Paul Nelson (1936-2006) which read more like an epitaph to Rolling Stone itself than as an epitaphic account of Paul Nelson. I've not been a fan of the magazine although I have respect for its roots. It feels as though it is fighting a personal battle: sell out and make tons of money by shilling shitty bands and movies, or stay true and speak the truth. Either that or a personnel battle.

Anyway, that night I headed to Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) for the cool show there. I was pleased that to get a good coffee and a cheap grilled cheese: Ali and I have been lamenting the proliferation of the $7 coffee-shop sandwich — especially now that both of us are getting dirt-poor. [See also, "Make a Donation" button over there on the right.] ... er ... I mean, especially since a lot of them aren't even worth $3.50. Anyway, Urknee and Bjürton started things off with their excellently weird spoken-word poetry over aptly applied experimental music then The Blood and Bone Orchestra finished up with their great, cacophonous jazz experimentation.

Saturday I did my usual tour of grocery shopping and eating at O'Bagelo's (165 State St.) then stopped by the Friends Helping Friends Thrift Store (333 Child St.) which was a perfectly adequate thrift store ... that day they happened to be giving away loaves of bread. Lots of them. I didn't happen to need any, though, but now I somewhat regret not grabbing one. Anyway, I headed to the Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) that night to catch Old Joy. Filmmaker Kelly Reichardt was unfortunately unable to attend so Jim Healy filled-in to introduce her short film, Then A Year. It was a terrific anti-narrative about a passion-crime. He also introduced Old Joy. which I liked a lot. It was somewhat of a meditation on friendship and society. It was about a couple guys who had drifted apart as friends — a common theme where the now-opposite friends rediscover their common ground and realize the flaws in their own lives. But instead, it's revealed that the now-serious guy who's taken the financially-stable typical-American path is actually pretty happy and the ever-loving, hippie-stoner regrets his lack of accomplishments and has a rather rough life.

Afterward I popped in to Solera Wine Bar (647 South Ave) and had exactly two glasses of wine. I did run into an old friend, Jean-Paul who was the only person to ever read JayceLand and (without knowing me already) take the step to go to O'Bagelo's (165 State St.) He moved to California in 2005 but returned to work nearby — a typical Rochester boomerang-effect story: same pay, half the cost-of-living.

On Sunday I went to East Rochester for a "casting call" listed in Rochester craigslist. Now, I had never acted really before ... well, maybe two lines in 4th grade, but I screwed them up a bit. I decided to give it a whirl ... it's a bit of a mockumentary about pineapples — I now get to be in one of the roles in the "Pineapple Anonymous" scene. It should be fun.

On Monday I went to visit my girl Ali. We watched the movie Paper Clips which is a documentary about a school in the tiny town of Whitwell, Tennessee that takes on the task of collecting one paperclip for every Jew killed in the Nazi Holocaust. All six million of them. The town itself, by admission of the school principal, is an un-diversified collection of white Protestants — in an attempt to teach diversity, they ended up selecting the project. It's a remarkable story that concludes with them building a historic site to house the paperclips in an astonishingly rare, 1930's German cattle-car (train car) that was actually used to haul internment victims to the Concentration Camps. The movie is pretty good, but the story is spectacular.

On Tuesday I brought tons of joy to my life by attempting to do my taxes. In working through the forms to calculate things like self-employment tax and Schedule A deductions, I realized that every American should live like this. Ok ... ok, maybe it's the Ayn Rand talking, but I think everyone should voluntarily work and pay for their own health insurance. The socialist side of me would like also to offer assistance to low-income folks to help cover that (which, by the way, costs me around $2,800 each year, paid quarterly.) But wouldn't it be great if instead of having to slug through your daily grind for umpteen-hours-over-40 each week so your precious benefits won't be lost that you can go to work when you feel like it (either by desire or by need) — to work enough hours in your trade until you are satisfied you have earned enough money? To be free of employers who avoid providing benefits by keeping as many workers as possible in the "part-time" status? To break the back of the 24-hour workday? To own your own life?

Alas, the tax forms are too fucking complex for the average person to handle, and maybe that's my side goal: to simplify the friggin' things. I mean, if someone wants to cheat the government out of tax money, they will always be able to. They write rules like:

The total of lines 64, 65, and 67 on your 2006 return is at least 100% of the tax shown on your 2005 return (110% of that amount if you are not a farmer or fisherman and your adjusted gross income shown on that return is more than $150,000, or if married filing separately for 2006, more than $75,000). Your estimated tax payments for 2006 must have been made on time and for the required amount.

For most people, the "tax shown on your 2005 return" is the amount on your 2005 Form 1040, line 63, minus the total of any amounts shown on lines 66a and 68 and Forms 8828, 4137, 4136, 5329 (Parts III through VIII only), and 8885. Also subtract from line 63 any tax on an excess parachute payment and any excise tax on insider stock compensation of an expatriated corporation. When figuring the amount on line 63, include the amount on line 62 only if line 64 is more than zero or you would have owed the estimated tax penalty for 2005 even if you did not include those taxes. But if you entered an amount on your 2005 Schedule H, line 7, include the total of that amount plus the amount on your 2005 Form 1040, line 62.

I mean, come on: how does this help? If someone simply doesn't file and slips under the radar, they can for decades — maybe for the rest of their lives. Why make billions of rules to cover all the possible cases of fraud and just assume that the honest people would be as honest with 10 steps as with 10,000 and the fraudulent ones will be as fraudulent in the same measure?

For Christ sakes: just tell me how much to pay and leave me alone!

T H U R S D A Y

Sally Bittner Bonn will be the featured poet tonight at the open mic poetry night in the Community Room at Barnes & Noble (3349 Monroe Ave.) at 7 p.m. [source: the proverbial grapevine] Over at Water Street Music Hall (204 N. Water St.) starting around 8 p.m. is Marshall Crenshaw. [source: Water Street calendar] [all ages] Tonight at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) is beatbox acoustic soloist Shawnee Boyeee starting around 8 p.m. [source: Boulder Coffee MySpace site] [all ages] Potboiler, Tin Armour, Lemuria, Break the Glass, and The John and Trevor Experience will be at A|V Art Sound Space (N. Union St. at Trinidad St., #8 in the Public Market, formerly the All-Purpose Room) starting around 8 p.m. [source: A|V Space website] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Black Moon starting at 8 p.m. From Eastman House's description, the film "tells of a young girl (Cathryn Harrison, granddaughter of Rex Harrison) who escapes a widespread war between men and women. She finds shelter with a sister and brother (Alexandra Stewart and Warhol and Morrissey regular Joe Dallesandro), an old woman with a radio, and a unicorn." [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Kroom will be at Java's (16 Gibbs St.) starting around 9 p.m. [source: Java's calendar] [all ages] Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. is awesome disco-rock with a hilarious stage presence from Gil Mantera's Party Dream. [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] 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] Drinking Liberally meets at 8 p.m. tonight at Monty's Korner (355 East Ave.) [source: RocWiki calendar]

F R I D A Y

This evening at 7 p.m. at The Rochester Contemporary Art Gallery (137 East Ave.) is the Closing Reception and Awards Ceremony for the 16th Annual Members Exhibition, [object]ivity. [source: Rochester Contemporary calendar] [all ages] Tonight at The Little (240 East Ave.) at 7:10 p.m., following the showing of The Painted Veil, director John Curran will be on hand to discuss the film and answer questions. [source: Little Theatre e-mail] This evening at 7:30 p.m. in the Food Court in The Mall at Greece Ridge Center (271 Greece Ridge Center Dr.) is a 2600 Hacker Meeting for technology tinkerers. [source: RocWiki calendar] Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) will be hosting Sassanak Lassies starting around 8 p.m. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages] The Soups of the Day will be at Starry Nites Café (696 University Ave., formerly Moonbeans) starting around 8 p.m. [source: Starry Nites calendar] [all ages] Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) will be hosting Robin Hood starting around 8 p.m. [source: Boulder Coffee MySpace site] [all ages] Tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m. at Shipping Dock Theatre (31 Prince St., new location at Visual Studies Workshop) is another Shipping Dock Unleashed! [source: Shipping Dock Theatre website] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Fanfan La Tulipe starting at 8 p.m. in which a member of King Louis XV's army prefers the company of a gypsy fortuneteller to the king's daughter ... a "traditional swashbuckler and a send-up of the sword-wielding genre". [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Over at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (99 Court St.) starting around 10 p.m. is great 1960's-styled rock from The Hi-Risers [source: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que calendar] The Kode, and The Kinde Trio will be at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: Monty's Krown MySpace page] [21+]

S A T U R D A Y

This afternoon from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) is a Songwriters Workshop with Lisa Bigwood. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages] Nuts and Bolts Improv Troupe is back once again tonight at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. at Downstairs Cabaret (172 West Main St.) [source: Nuts and Bolts e-mail] In today's switching venues ... Sassanak Lassies will be at Starry Nites Café (696 University Ave., formerly Moonbeans) starting around 8 p.m. [source: Starry Nites calendar] [all ages] Switching venues as well ... at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) starting around 8 p.m. is The Soups of the Day [source: Boulder Coffee MySpace site] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing La Moustache (The Moustache) starting at 8 p.m. and also tomorrow night at 7 p.m. In it, Marc shaves off his signature mustache and finds it incredulous that people not only don't notice, they deny he had one in the first place. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting The David Bowie Birthday / Tribute Show in honor of Bowie's 60th birthday; featuring classic rock-and-roll band The Grinders, Hothead, the high-energy hard rock band Bee Eater, Don Anonymous, members of Blue Spark and Flame, and Dark Charly and the Tombstones starting around 10 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [21+] Over at A|V Art Sound Space (N. Union St. at Trinidad St., #8 in the Public Market, formerly the All-Purpose Room) starting around 10 p.m. is Semen Seagal, Dave Smolen, experimental wind-instruments with electronic effects from Asthmatic, and The Bemus Point. [source: A|V Space website] Tonight at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) is solidly good, very loud, fat/full/fast bar-rock band The Spaces starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: Monty's Krown MySpace page] [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

A|V Art Sound Space (N. Union St. at Trinidad St., #8 in the Public Market, formerly the All-Purpose Room) will be hosting Terminal Youth, Surroundings, Coke Bust, Whom They Destroy, and Our Times starting around 7 p.m. [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]

M O N D A Y

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Martin Luther King, Jr. born 1929 Talented acoustic soloist John Akers will be at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (99 Court St.) starting around 10 p.m. [source: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que calendar] Bored? Why not check out 1980's DJ night at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 11 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar]

W E D N E S D A Y

Tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) is An Evening with John Sinclair featuring "beatnik warrior poet" John Sinclair. [source: Writers and Books calendar] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Captain Blood starting at 8 p.m. A doctor is sentenced to death for tending to an enemy of the state so he becomes the captain of a pirate ship. Also showing is Bugs Bunny and a pirate Yosemite Sam in Captain Hareblower. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Tonight at Java's (16 Gibbs St.) is The Jeremy Siskind Trio starting around 9 p.m. [source: Java's 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 Café Underground Railroad (480 W. Main St.) is a Spoken Word/Poetry night starting around 9 p.m. [source: the proverbial grapevine]

Polls | Other Projects

DreamHost Web Hosting
I use DreamHost to run JayceLand.com. Click the ad to buy hosting and I'll get money to run my site. Hooray!

Store at CafePress
Buy some JayceLand junk at sky high prices!