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Weekly Rochester Events #435: For Three Hundred Million

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Last Wednesday was Ali's first softball game with her team from work — well, actually there's a few defectors from a competing company, but we don't talk about them. The team did pretty well but got behind by the end of the game. Afterward, we stopped by The Thirsty Turtle Sports Bar (7422 State Route 96, Victor) to see if we could find some friends of hers and stayed for a few drinks. When we got back to Rochester, we were both pretty hungry so we headed to The Distillery (1142 Mount Hope Ave.) I hadn't been there in a while, but the appetizers we got were really good — well, the boneless Buffalo-style chicken wings weren't all that great, but the quesadillas were quite good. And things were cheap, too, so it was even better.

Thursday I tried biking to The Rochester Public Market (280 Union St. N.) in the late morning with the bike trailer. Unfortunately, when I got to Monroe and Goodman — about 3 miles into a 5-mile journey — the freewheel on the bike broke (that's the part that lets you pedal the bike forward but not backward). It failed in a weird way: the pedals, chain, and rear cassette all moved fine but it didn't make the wheel go. I talked with some guy about the bike trailer and during the conversation, I figured out that some loose chunk of pawl in the freewheel would jam and allow me to pedal the bike forward. If I backpedaled, though, whatever part lodged in there would slip out of position and stop it from working again.

So I rode all the way back home — over Highland Park — without taking pressure off the pedals. Although I was able to shift gears, don't forget that I was also towing a 40-pound trailer. I was exhausted when I got home, but I took the car to the market to get there before it closed. I arrived at the same time as my friend Peri on her recumbent bike.

It turned out I also got to see her on Friday at a picnic at her house — and then again at the Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) for one of the screenings of The Rochester International Film Festival. I was thankful that all the films were very good. There weren't even any technical issues!

That night I met someone at Lux LoungeMySpace link (666 South Ave.) who I thought was on a positive spiritual journey — someone who had been burned by a narcissistic predator. Both earlier and later in the week I talked with my friend Sondra Carr about our usual mix of people, life, and art when we got on the topic of "predators" — people who seek others to use for their own benefit.

We've noticed that there is a lot in common with cults. Both predators and cult leaders feed insecurity and distort open-mindedness with lies, half-truths, and otherwise conflicting information. The predators are insecure and closed-minded — they also need their insecurity fed, but they get their fix of false self-confidence by manipulating others; their closed-mindedness prevents them from respecting their prey. However, this is also their downfall because their foil is self-assured and open-minded — someone who is confident in their basis for reality and who is constantly asking questions.

So a predator may start out by being belligerent with their prey and excuse it by saying, "well, I'm just an asshole." Their prey accepts this as truth, and empathizes with the low self-esteem. They think, "here's someone like me and that feels good." Now that a relationship is formed, the predator argues for an absolute "relative morality" — "there is always a way to see any act in both a positive and negative light, so it's impossible to set any moral standards". They appeal to open-mindedness and keep their prey off-balance by using flawed logic and half-truths to prove that "nobody really knows anything anyway." A specific example is a predator who asked their prey to copy some DVD movies — when their prey's home burned down, they asked, "hey, did you happen to get those DVD's done?" And why not? It's not like losing a home is necessarily bad, right? You're not saying that I'm wrong, are you?

Sondra said there are two absolutes in life (and I'm paraphrasing): that there are actions you take can benefit you, there are actions that benefit "everyone" (or "many people" and/or including yourself), and taking the path that benefits "everyone" is better. I made the analogy this way: you have a bucket with stuff that's "good for you" and a bucket that's "good for everyone." Anything you do changes what's in those buckets, so if you have several options in your actions, the best course of action is that which adds the most in total to the "good for you" and "good for everyone" buckets.

We speculated that predators believe in relative value — that it's not the total amount of good that you do, but the difference between what's "good for you" and what's "good for everyone". That is, a predator will take a course of action that maximizes the benefit to them while minimizing the benefit to everyone. They believe they are getting ahead if they are pushing someone back — relative thinking — as if it's a race to be won rather than a journey to be shared.

Anyhow, on Saturday I got a chance to get raisins (the only groceries I needed) from The South Wedge Green Grocer and Garden Center (683-685 South Ave.) I'm glad to see the have a larger selection than when I visited shortly after they opened. I envy the South Wedge — all we have in the Upper Mount Hope Neighborhood is gas stations and a drugstore to meet our grocery needs.

Later that day, Ali and I got together to go to a wedding for a couple friends of ours. Everything was really nice — there were a lot of familiar faces from around town. It was a funny bit of serendipity that I ran into an old coworker of mine and discovered that her husband dated Ali way back in high school. The reception was at German House (315 Gregory St.) which I have to recommend highly for the beautiful ballroom space they have.

Sunday we decided to go for a walk after breakfast. We walked a mile or so to The Vietnam Veterans' Memorial of Greater Rochester (1440 South Ave.) which is very nice — if you haven't checked it out, please do. From there we headed through Highland Park (Reservoir Dr.) to see the lilacs which were just starting to bloom and to Mt. Hope Cemetery (791 Mt. Hope Ave., the North Gate.) We happened to arrive right at 2 and went on a wonderful free tour which highlighted a dozen or so people in Rochester's past and how they affected our city and the world. By the time we got home we had been walking for 5 hours so, exhausted, we ordered some delicious white-pizza from Mr. Shoes Pizza (1921 South Ave.) and lounged on the porch for a while.

In other news, I've been excited about starting to run barefoot. I heard some rumors that it was really invigorating and effective. Ali suggested that I do some research first to see if there are any dangers from infections, fungus, or physiological risks. Most of the expert (i.e. doctor-cited) information on the Internet agreed that it was no worse than wearing shoes to run barefoot but to watch out for glass and the like. One proponent has a website called RunningBarefoot.org that documents personal experiences and includes a "how to start".

I'm glad I looked because I thought my rolling heel-to-toe step was just fine, but in fact that's a side effect of wearing padded shoes and can really screw you up by increasing impact. The way to run barefoot is to step on the ball of your foot and your heel will gently kiss the ground during mid-step. The arch in your foot along with your slightly bent knees provides excellent impact resistance that does not travel all the way up your spine like when you land on your heel. I tried walking in that way and found I wanted to break into a run — it was quite exciting. My own mental training technique is to imagine I had a catsup packet on my heel that I didn't want to break. After 30 minutes my calves were thoroughly exercised and stretched. The brief sprints I tried felt very good and natural.

On the opposite end of the transportation structure, I took my 1994 Civic in for some brake work. I use Firestone (369 Jefferson Rd.) because I've been going there for years and I find the crew there is straightforward about troubleshooting, diagnosing, and helping select options. Unfortunately, not only did the rear caliper need to be replaced, but I also needed new rear brake drums and bearings — apparently those two trips to Burning Man and back with 1,000 pounds over the rear axle did a number on them. So, instead of a nice neat number like $300 — a manageable and acceptable amount for an old rustbucket like mine — and instead of a disastrously high number like $3,000 — an amount that would lead me to sell the car for parts and go buy an electric scooter (to complement the 1992 Buick RoadMaster Estate Wagon for long trips) — the amount had to be $1,160. Crap ... it's about what the car is worth. Plus it would pay for a lot of gas in the Buick.

I went ahead anyway — I'll probably get a couple more years out of it as a rainy-day commuter.

But the worst of it was they didn't check the front brakes, and it turned out the Civic had a seized caliper. Fortunately, I bought "lifetime" front brakes in 1997 and the front brake job didn't cost me a dime.

At least not a dime more than the $1,160 already.


M
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  • Zwartboek (Black Book, at The Little) - A Dutch Jewish girl narrowly escapes Holland in World War II then joins the resistance to find those who betrayed her family.
  • Mafioso (at The Little) - A man returns to his hometown only to be unwittingly selected as a hitman.
  • Coeurs (Private Fears in Public Places, at The Little) - Love is not so easy to find in Paris.

T
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Today and tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Rochester Museum & Science Center (RMSC) (657 East Ave.) is the 5th Annual Film and Lecture Series by The Asian/Pacific Islander/American History Project of Greater Rochester (APA-HiP) [source: RocWiki calendar]

JayceLand Pick This evening at 7 p.m. at The Baobab Cultural Center (728 University Ave., formerly on Gregory St.) is a screening of Every Mother's Son. [source: Baobab website]

Boulder Coffee Co.MySpace link (100 Alexander St.) will be hosting Derek Knott starting around 8 p.m. [source: Boulder Coffee MySpace site] [all ages]

The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Aelita (The Queen of Mars) starting at 8 p.m. in which a Soviet engineer is contacted by a Martian princess. With live piano accompaniment by Philip C. Carli. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages]

Raccoo-oo-oon, Evan Miller, Them NativesMySpace link, and Nod 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 9 p.m. [source: Carbon Records calendar]

JayceLand Pick The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting The DollyrotsMySpace link, and great superfast synth-pop novelty songs from Worm QuartetMySpace link 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]

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
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Lilac Festival

JayceLand Pick Tonight's big WBER concert at The Lilac Festival starts at 4:40 p.m. with Mike ZaleMySpace link,then it's Chris TrapperMySpace link at 6 p.m. and Mike DoughtyMySpace link at 7:15 p.m. [source: WBER calendar] [all ages]

Photographs by Todd Carlson will be on display starting today at 5 p.m. at The Storefront Anti-War Crisis Center (658 Monroe Ave.) [source: City Newspaper]

This evening from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Genesee Pottery at The Genesee Center for the Arts (713 Monroe Ave.) is the opening reception for Zoology by Carolyn Dilcher Stutz. The show runs through May 25. [source: Genesee Center for the Arts calendar]

The Penfield High School Monday/Wednesday Jazz Ensemble will be at The Bop Shop (274 N. Goodman St., in Village Gate Square) starting around 7:30 p.m. [source: Bop Shop calendar] [all ages]

Over at Boulder Coffee Co.MySpace link (100 Alexander St.) starting around 8 p.m. is Devall MusicMySpace link. [source: Boulder Coffee MySpace site] [all ages]

Today at 8 p.m. at Blackfriars Theatre (28 Lawn St.) is the opening of the musical Ragtime which runs through June 3. [source: Blackfriars Theatre website]

JayceLand Pick Tonight at The Keg (315 Gregory St., behind German House where Rohrbach's used to be) is daring acoustic soloist JoAnn VaccaroMySpace link, and Kevin MacConkey starting around 9 p.m. [source: band e-mail]

JayceLand Pick Tonight at 9 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 a screening of Glarg and Fritz with live music accompaniment. [source: A|V Space e-mail]


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JayceLand Pick Today at RIT (One Lomb Memorial Dr., campus map) starting at 10 a.m. is BarCampRochester2 where creative people get together to present ideas to one another — to participate you need to present something. It really sounds good and I wish I could make it. [source: RocWiki calendar]

JayceLand Pick Today at 12:30 p.m. at The Lilac Festival is the excellent groove-rock of The BuddhaHoodMySpace link and then at 3:30 p.m. it's great bluegrass from The String Theory Bluegrass Band. [source: Lilac Festival website] [all ages]

Updated: Today from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at The South East Area Coalition (SEAC) (1045 South Clinton Ave.) is a Tox-Out Day with information on environmental toxins, the SEAC Tool Lending Library, a free exchange of old gas cans for new EPA-approved spill-proof ones, and music by oldies cover-band Ruby Shooz. [source: Upper Mount Hope Neighborhood Association e-mail]

Today at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. is another comedy improv show from Nuts and Bolts Improv TroupeMySpace link — this time at their new location at Upstage at The Auditorium Center (875 Main St E.) [source: Nuts and Bolts e-mail]

Tonight at German House (315 Gregory St.) is They Might be GiantsMySpace link starting around 8 p.m. [source: German House calendar]

Over at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) starting around 8 p.m. is Five2MySpace link. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages]

JayceLand Pick The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Maria Full of Grace starting at 8 p.m. Filmmaker Joshua Marston will be on hand to introduce and answer questions about his film about a woman struggling to support her family as a drug mule. Preceded by his short films Trifecta and Voice Of An Angel. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages]

Later, The BuddhaHoodMySpace link play again — this time at The Dub Land UndergroundMySpace link (315 Alexander St., formerly Whiskey) starting around 10 p.m. [source: band e-mail]

JayceLand Pick Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is great, mellow rock-and-roll from HinkleyMySpace link, Food Will Win the WarGarageBand linkMySpace link, and Teressa WilcoxMySpace link starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [21+]

The Dead CatholicsMySpace link will be at Monty's KrownMySpace link (875 Monroe Ave.) 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.


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Fly the flag today.Mother's Day

All day today at The Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Ave., near Goodman St.) is their Mother's Day Special where all mothers get free Gallery admission, and with a special Mothers in Art Tour at 2 p.m. [source: Memorial Art Gallery calendar] [all ages]

The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Rouben Mamoulian: The Golden Age of Broadway and Hollywood and Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde starting at 7 p.m. Filmmaker Patrick Cazals will be on hand to introduce both his documentary and one of his subject's films — an excellent adaptation of the Jekyll-and-Hyde tale. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages]

JayceLand Pick 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 9 p.m. is Traum, and impressive, organic experimental jazz from The Blood and Bone OrchestraMySpace link. [source: Carbon Records calendar]

Tonight and every Sunday at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) is a Comedy Open Mic with Matt RohrMySpace link at 7:30 p.m. [source: the proverbial grapevine] [all ages]


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This evening at 7 p.m. at Starry Nites Café (696 University Ave., formerly Moonbeans) is a Holistic Discussion with Inga Songbird that asks What do you want and why don't you have it? to which I reply, "I don't know, and that's why." [source: Starry Nites calendar] [all ages]

Tonight at Boulder Coffee Co.MySpace link (100 Alexander St.) is a special Monday show featuring AchillesMySpace link, Young WidowsMySpace link, and PrideswallowerMySpace link starting around 8 p.m. [source: Boulder Coffee MySpace site] [all ages]

The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Hyam Plutzik: American Poet starting at 8 p.m. presented by Ku-Ling Siegel and Edward Moran. Note that the printed Eastman House calendar incorrectly lists this event at 7 p.m. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages]

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 9 p.m. is W7 Shitter MothMySpace link. [source: A|V Space e-mail]

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]


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Fly the flag today.Peace Officers Memorial Day (half-staff)

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 at 8 p.m. at Geva (75 Woodbury Blvd.) is the opening night of Urinetown which runs through June 10. [source: Geva Theatre website]

JayceLand Pick Boulder Coffee Co.MySpace link (100 Alexander St.) will be hosting Trio SchemaMySpace link starting around 8 p.m. [source: Boulder Coffee MySpace site] [all ages]

The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Ramrod and Western Union starting at 8 p.m. Just a couple classic Westerns. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages]

JayceLand Pick Olive Drab and The EtceterasGarageBand linkMySpace link, and Effoel will be at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+]

Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) is hosting an Acoustic Open Mic from 8 to 10. [source: Daily Perks calendar]


W
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The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Adam's Rib starting at 8 p.m., a screwball-comedy where a district attorney is pitted against his wife, a lawyer. [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]

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]

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About the title ... The current permanent count of members in the United States House of Representatives is 435. They profess to represent the 300 million-or-so people in the United States.

This page is Jason Olshefsky's list of things to do in Rochester, NY and the surrounding region (including nearby towns Irondequoit, Webster, Penfield, Pittsford, Victor, Henrietta, Gates, Chili, Greece, and Charlotte, and occasionally other places in Monroe County and the Western New York region.) It is updated every week with daily listings for entertainment, activities, performances, movies, music, bands, comedy, improv, poetry, storytelling, lectures, discussions, debates, theater, plays, and generally fun things to do. Music events are usually original bands with occasional cover bands and DJ's with musical styles including punk, emo, ska, swing, rock, rock-and-roll, alternative, metal, jazz, blues, noise band, experimental music, folk, acoustic, and "world-beat." Events listed take place during the day, in the evenings, or as part of the city's nightlife as listed. Although I'm reluctant to admit it, it is a Rochester blog and I'm essentially blogging about Rochester events. I also tend to express opinions, review past events, make reviews, speak of philosophy or of a philosophical nature, discuss humanity and creativity. Oh, and it's spelled JayceLand with no space and a capital L, not Jayce Land, Jaycee Land, Jace Land, Jase Land, Joyce Land, Jayce World, Jayceeland, Jaceland, Jaseland, Joyceland, Jayceworld, Jayceeworld, Jaceworld, Jaseworld, nor Joyceworld. (Now if you misspell it in some search engine, you at least get a shot at finding it.) It's also not to be confused with Jake's World or JakesWorld which is a site of a Rochester animator. While I'm on the topic of keywords for search engines, this update includes information for Thursday, May 10, 2007 (Thu, May 10, 2007, 5/10/2007, or 5/10/07) Friday, May 11, 2007 (Fri, May 11, 2007, 5/11/2007, or 5/11/07) Saturday, May 12, 2007 (Sat, May 12, 2007, 5/12/2007, or 5/12/07) Sunday, May 13, 2007 (Sun, May 13, 2007, 5/13/2007, or 5/13/07) Monday, May 14, 2007 (Mon, May 14, 2007, 5/14/2007, or 5/14/07) Tuesday, May 15, 2007 (Tue, May 15, 2007, 5/15/2007, or 5/15/07) and Wednesday, May 16, 2007 (Wed, May 16, 2007, 5/16/2007, or 5/16/07).


JayceLand Pick indicates an event that's a preferred pick of the day ... probably something worth checking out.

Top Pick indicates a "guaranteed" best bet for the particular genre of the indicated event.

GarageBand link links to a band's page on GarageBand.com which offers reviews and information about bands.

MySpace link links to a band's page on MySpace.com which is a friend-networking site that is popular with bands.

Fly the flag today. is a day when you should fly the flag according to the Veterans of Foreign Wars calendar.

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