Weekly Rochester Events #458: Not Much to Factor

Thursday, October 18, 2007

I stopped by Solera Wine Bar (647 South Ave) last Wednesday night and had a bit too much to drink and was present when the autumn No Pants Day was spontaneously formed. Regardless of having fun with no pants, I thought I'd call it quits on drinking for a good while.

On Thursday I went to The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) to see BMX Bandits. It was pretty funny unintentionally. Well, intentionally, too ... the slapstick from the "evil" goons was expertly done. Anyway, the gist was that some kids looking to get some nice BMX bikes find some radios that happen to be a drop for a group of criminals. They sell the radios and buy great bikes then get chased by the criminals, ultimately turning in the criminals to the police, getting a reward, and building a BMX track. Nicole Kidman is in it and it's pretty funny to see her — especially that a couple kids got to act with her before she got famous and they now have some great stories.

On Friday I stopped by The Image City Photography Gallery (722 University Ave.) and ended up spending most of the time there chatting with an old friend about photography. The photos by Jim Dusen were often quite interesting: he uses a bit of digital effects to modify the content. I also stopped by The Storefront Anti-War Crisis Center (658 Monroe Ave.) and saw photos by Richard Hart titled Photos of Vietnam in Wartime. I thought they seemed a bit "touristy", but they did also seem tense considering it was during war.

Later I headed back to the Dryden to see the films there. First up was Indonesia Calling which documents an uprising of Australian union workers to quell Dutch efforts to retake the then-just-independent Indonesia. Next was From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks which is primarily a one-man play with Ian Ruskin about Harry Bridges. Bridges was a union creator and leader starting in the early 1900's on the docks of California and the movie outlines his life and charming disposition. Ruskin was available to answer questions and seemed like a nice guy himself. He said he was surprised at how anti-union the United States was, especially given his own upbringing in England where nationalized industry and unions are everywhere.

I stopped by Ali's house and we went to Dogtown Hots (691 Monroe Ave.) for some dinner. Saturday was her housewarming party and it went well. We got things set up starting around 2, the party started around 4, and the last of the guests left around 1. We rushed around to clean up and get the lights off before the post-bar crowd tried banging on the doors as we were exhausted.

Sunday we stopped by The South Wedge Diner (880 S. Clinton Ave.) for a late brunch. The food was excellent and the service was quite acceptable — especially considering we were competing against a group of 15 or so high-school students.

On Monday I had a great lunch at Open Face (651 South Ave., right by the corner of Hickory) including the last of the excellent mushroom brie bisque — as good as its title and exactly as promised. That night Ali and I got together to head to The Rochester Visual Studies Workshop (31 Prince St.) to see the films by Roger Beebe. We arrived a little late but got to see most of the films. We enjoyed Composition in Red & Yellow which was a humorous take on McDonald's being everywhere across America. Likewise, Famous Irish Americans was also fun, pointing out that people who are black are often more strongly part of another race and vice versa — an apt commentary on race in general. One Nation Under Tommy was an interesting twist on the "telephone game" where, starting from a Tommy Hilfiger commercial, the action is described by a filmmaker and that description is passed to another filmmaker who makes their interpretation of the instructions. It goes on from there in 5 iterations, each getting more distant from the first, and unintentionally creeping in cultural bias. S A V E was a film meditation on a gas station called "SAVE" that was in disrepair, abandoned by the economy. And finally, TB TX DANCE was a film created by feeding blank film through a laser printer and creating images and soundtrack. It was rather mesmerizing and effective.

I headed out later to The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) and got to see Fences who did good, interesting, random folk. Next was The Gunshy who are an awesome folk-fronted, power-synth-rock backed band. I thought the lead singer sounded like Tom Waits covering Leonard Cohen (although comparisons to Dylan are more popular in the press).

Anyway, I was thinking about the mayor's suggestions for the crime problem that I touched on last week. I dislike the immediate blaming/attack on the 4th and 5th Amendments in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution. What if, instead, the mayor came out and said that he wouldn't have the police deal with any petty crimes, effectively legalizing marijuana use and relaxing parking penalties? Why are people so reluctant to institute a solution like that but will roll right over to bring overzealous police power right to their doorstep?

I had this other thought that to combat the problems in the poorest areas of the city, that I might take up a garbage collection scheme. Something like going out on Sunday morning to some neighborhood with a trash bag and just start cleaning things up. Not like the peer-pressure robo-call-nightmare of Clean Sweep, but just me and maybe a couple people coming out to try something. No donuts, no free T-shirts, just a few people trying to help out a little; and possibly getting the neighbors to engage in a dialog and start to gain confidence to fix things up.

T H U R S D A Y

This evening at the gallery at The Arts and Cultural Council for Greater Rochester (277 N. Goodman St.) from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. is a Gallery Opening Reception for photography by Manuel Rivera-Ortiz. [source: Arts and Cultural Council website] This evening at 6 p.m. in the Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) is a Wish You Were Here Travel Photography Lecture by Genoa Caldwell titled The Travelogues of Burton Holmes. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Tonight from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at The Center at High Falls Fine Art Gallery (60 Browns Race) is An Armchair Tour of Southeast Rochester featuring slides and a book signing by local author Rose O'Keefe. [source: RochesterInk website] [all ages] The Inventor's Society of Western New York will be having their monthly meeting in Rundel Auditorium at The Rochester Public Library (115 South Ave.) starting at 6:30 p.m. [source: Rochester Public Library calendar] This evening at 7 p.m. at The Baobab Cultural Center (728 University Ave., formerly on Gregory St.) is a screening of the film Rize. [source: Baobab website] Tonight at The Image City Photography Gallery (722 University Ave.), photographer Jim Dusen will be on hand to discuss his works in the current show titled A Wandering Eye. Unfortunate the image imbedded in the e-mail didn't include the time, but I think it's at 7 p.m. [source: Image City Photography Gallery e-mail] In the Auditorium at The Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Ave., near Goodman St.) is a lecture by artist Alfredo Jaar starting at 7 p.m. [source: Memorial Art Gallery calendar] [all ages] The Bop Shop (274 N. Goodman St., in Village Gate Square) will be hosting The Burton Greene Trio starting around 8 p.m. [source: Bop Shop calendar] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Stop Making Sense starting at 8 p.m. It's my personal choice for the best concert movie — in this case of David Byrne and his band The Talking Heads — because it observes musicians like the way I observe them. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting The Black Angels, and good 1960's-style rock with a glam-rock vibe from St. Phillip's Escalator starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] Tonight and every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the Learning Center at Brighton Memorial Library (2300 Elmwood Ave.) is a meeting of The Rochester Movie Makers Club [source: AIVF Salon Rochester Yahoo! Group] Drinking Liberally meets at 8 p.m. tonight at Monty's Korner (355 East Ave.) [source: RocWiki calendar]

F R I D A Y

Tonight and tomorrow evening from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Third Presbyterian Church (4 Meigs St., at the corner of East Ave.) is Ghost Walk featuring stories reenacted in local homes with tours leaving every 10 minutes. [source: Landmark Society calendar] Tonight from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Brighton Town Park (777 Westfall Rd.) is the opening reception for Wandering: The Land Next to the Sea, a video-sound exhibition by Sara Segerlin. [source: RocWiki calendar] [all ages] This evening at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. is the Members' Preview Party for the new exhibit titled Lucha Libre y Más. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Jim Drew and Humble Soul will be at The House of Hamez (389 Gregory St., formerly Daily Perks) starting around 8 p.m. [source: House of Hamez website] [all ages] Starry Nites Café (696 University Ave., formerly Moonbeans) will be hosting Kimo and Kaiulani starting around 8 p.m. [source: Starry Nites calendar] [all ages] Over at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) starting around 8 p.m. is The Setting Sun, Quitzow, and A_Relative_Term. [source: Boulder Coffee MySpace site] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Malon 9 Kochavim (9 Star Hotel) starting at 8 p.m. and again on Sunday at 5 p.m. From the Eastman House calendar: "Thousands of Palestinians have illegally crossed borders into neighboring Israel, seeking work as day laborers in construction. Director Haar follows his subjects closely as a group of nomadic young men flee from police, risk their lives, and sleep in hovels in order to build luxury housing by day." [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Over at Java's (16 Gibbs St.) starting around 9 p.m. is The Varnish Cooks. [source: Java's calendar] [all ages] Over at Bodhi's Cafe & Lounge (274 Goodman St. N., in Village Gate) starting around 9:30 p.m. is This Other Life. [source: Bodhi's Cafe MySpace page] Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is The 1990's, great punk-rock from The QUiTTERS, and expertly performed 1980's-styled rock-and-roll from Tiger Cried Beef starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+]

S A T U R D A Y

Today starting at 10 a.m. way out at The South Seneca Elementary School (8326 Main St., Interlaken) is a Public Auction of Vehicles, Tools, Computers, and Surplus Assets by The Reynolds Auction Company. [source: Reynold's Auction website] Today and tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Brighton Sports Zone (3195 Brighton-Henrietta Town-Line Rd., Brighton) is the Annual CFA Cat Show. [source: Craigslist Rochester events] Today at 10:15 a.m. at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) is another Upstairs/Downstairs Tour for members of Eastman House. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] This afternoon from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Motor (113 State St.) is a Gay Male Porn Swap. [source: Craigslist Rochester events] This evening at The Baobab Cultural Center (728 University Ave., formerly on Gregory St.) is a Book Discussion and Social Mixer: Hip Hop Generation featuring author Bakari Kitwana. [source: Baobab website] This evening at Solera Wine Bar (647 South Ave) is their 1-Year Anniversary Celebration, starting when they open but really getting rolling around 7 p.m. or later. [source: Solera Wine Bar website] Over at The Rochester Christian Reformed Church (2750 Atlantic Ave., Penfield) starting around 7:30 p.m. is great, fun folk soloist Christine Lavin. [source: Golden Link website] Tonight at The House of Hamez (389 Gregory St., formerly Daily Perks) is Songwriters In The Round featuring witty and accomplished acoustic soloist Brian Coughlin, Jed Curran, and clever, charismatic, and skilled soloist Connie Deming starting around 8 p.m. [source: House of Hamez website] [all ages] Proud Simon will be at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) 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 Flandres (Flanders) starting at 8 p.m. and again on Sunday at 7 p.m. Again, deferring to the Eastman House calendar: "[Flanders] tells the story of a simple young farmer in Northern France who goes off to fight a nameless desert war, leaving behind his young and promiscuous girlfriend. Dumont's patented style alternates serenely beautiful images of nature with shockingly graphic depictions of sex and violence. Urgently provocative and stylistically bold, it's an anti-war film like no other ever made." [source: Eastman House calendar] [18+] Debbie Kendrick and The Mo' Mo' Betta Bluez Band, will be at The Flat Iron Café (561 State St.) for Teacher Appreciation Night starting around 9 p.m. followed by The Quinn Lawrence Trio for The After Hours Jam Session starting at 1 a.m. [source: Flat Iron Cafe webstie] The Shalonda Simpson Memorial Show featuring Shalonda's friends and bandmates from the punch-rock band The Cheetah Whores, excellent satirical gospel from The Lobster Quadrille, Nyet, in-your-face just-a-guy great minimalist mid-fi synth-rock from Roger Houston, and Roger Kuhn will be at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [21+] Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting Woody Dodge starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: RocWiki calendar] [21+] Betty's Sing-a-Long is regularly scheduled at Betty Meyer's Bullwinkle Café (622 Lake Ave., a.k.a. "Bullwinkle's") starting around 10 but since September, 2007 people have reported they were closed.

S U N D A Y

Tonight at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) is Azure Sky starting around 8 p.m. [source: Boulder Coffee MySpace site] [all ages] Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. is Blood Bath and Beyond, and The Bitch in the Well. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+]

M O N D A Y

Tonight at 8 p.m. at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) is Pure Kona Poetry. [source: Boulder Coffee MySpace site] [all ages] 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]

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. Today from 12:12 p.m. to 12:52 p.m. in the Kate Gleason Auditorium at The Rochester Public Library (115 South Ave.) is another Books Sandwiched-In featuring Rochester City Council President Lois J. Giess reviewing Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. [source: Rochester Public Library calendar] [all ages] This afternoon at 5 p.m. in the Hawkins-Carlson Room of The Rush Rhees Library in The University of Rochester (Library Rd. at Intercampus Dr., details on River Campus Map) is a discussion by Anthea Butler titled Missionary Envy: Oprah Winfrey and the Exported Makeover. [source: University of Rochester Events Calendar] Tonight at 7 p.m. at Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.), Sally Bittner Bonn will host 25 and Under featuring works by young writers. [source: Writers and Books calendar] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing The Shakedown starting at 8 p.m. in which a boxer is inspired by an orphan. Live piano accompaniment by Philip C. Carli. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting The Anti War Benefit1984 a.k.a. The 9/11 Truth Concert featuring LouLou and the Sharp Sword, Robin Hood, and Roger Kuhn starting around 9:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+]

W E D N E S D A Y

Tonight at The Flat Iron Café (561 State St.) is The Joe Kozlowski Quartet starting around 7 p.m. [source: Flat Iron Cafe webstie] The Eastman Wind Orchestra will be at Eastman Theatre (60 Gibbs St.) starting around 8 p.m. [source: Eastman School of Music calendar] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Cobra Verde starting at 8 p.m. in which a bandit returns to West Africa to try and rekindle the slave trade. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is Cassavettes, Electric Organic, and Girls, Guns and Glory starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] 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]

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