Weekly Rochester Events #459: Last of the Eighth

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Ok, I'm running late and kind of don't feel like writing anything. But I do want to start off mentioning that last Thursday was 18 months with Ali. Hooray!

On Friday, Ali and I went to Jeremiah's Tavern (1104 Monroe Ave.) for dinner. I vaguely recall something of the sort, but apparently they change their menu to not only include the fish fry but also to present some more "upscale" dishes — all reasonably priced, though. I was in it for chicken wings and glad that they had a 5-piece appetizer. Ali got the fish fry which was excellent. I tried a little and it was one of the best I've had ... I'll need to do a more recent comparison with Captain Jim's Fish Market (2329 Main St. E.)

Saturday was the 1st anniversary party for Solera Wine Bar (647 South Ave) so I stopped by to say hi. One of [owner] John's friends brought a bottle of 2000 Bordeaux — possibly the best wine I've ever tasted ... very complex and rich. Afterward I stopped by Brighton Town Park (777 Westfall Rd.) to check out Wandering: The Land Next to the Sea by Sara Segerlin. It was fantastic work: like what I have seen at Burning Man or in the Synaesthesia from a few years back. It was dark, foreboding, calm, and serene. She had set up video projectors in the woods to project onto stretched translucent fabric with images of the ocean. There was also an audio soundtrack to compliment it and LED lights clipped to leaves and branches to light the path. Late that night Ali and I met up at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) and liked the bands from the Shalonda Simpson Memorial Show but I wanted to particularly highlight Handsome Jack who did wildly animated punk/power rock — like they were Buffalo's wilder, blue-collarer version of The Grinders.

And of final note was that we tried out Red Robin Gourmet Burgers (740 Jefferson Rd.) The food was good and all — reasonably priced and about par for a well-reviewed chain — but Ali and I had a debate as to whether the servers are coached more than average. She said that most chains want you to introduce yourself a certain way, to mention the specials, and to try and "upsell". But I said our server seemed more ... polished. They have unlimited steak fries, for instance, and we asked how many she had seen anyone eat (survey says: number one question! — right out of the "corporate playbook", as far as I'm concerned). She said five (or six ... I don't remember) and that the guy went on to finish his meal. It just seemed too prepared ... moreso than her just being asked that question a lot. And then when we saw that our burgers came with 6 fries or so, and that an additional basket is about 10 more, "five or six" suddenly didn't seem so incredulous to me. However, she had built some personal rapport with us through that. The second thing was that she said, "the kitchen really hooked you up", referring to the extra lettuce in my burger. Lettuce people. That's not "hooked up". Twice as much avocado would be "hooked up", or getting a burger that looks like the picture would be "hooked up". A house salad's worth of lettuce is not "hooked up".

But that's when it hit me: they probably get trained to "be sure to make a positive comment when you bring customers their food". Although they probably have a special name for "customer" like "guest" or "royalty" or "knowst" — after all, "you shouldn't be guessing anything!" [Man, I could write this shit!] It all reminded me of working at Radio Shack some decades ago when we were trained to approach customers and act casual. That's why whenever I was in back comparing op-amps that some guy in a polyester dress shirt working [essentially] minimum wage would come up to me and say, "how are you doing today?" rather than "can I help you?" — and, "are you sure you don't need any boom-boxes with those batteries?", desperately trying to increase his lines-per-ticket rate.

Ali thought she was just a good server — a kid being nice. I think they feed them drugs to make them compliant — obviously.

T H U R S D A Y

Tonight in the Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) at 6 p.m. is a Wish You Were Here Travel Photography Lecture titled Vanishing Point: 50 Years in Photography by David Plowden. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] This evening at 7 p.m. at The Baobab Cultural Center (728 University Ave., formerly on Gregory St.) is a screening of When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. [source: Baobab website] At 7:30 p.m. in the Auditorium at The Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Ave., near Goodman St.) is an Archaeology Lecture with Renato Perucchio discussing the "engineering marvels of the Roman Empire". [source: Memorial Art Gallery calendar] [all ages] Over at Starry Nites Café (696 University Ave., formerly Moonbeans) starting around 8 p.m. is Jeff Sherner. [source: Starry Nites calendar] [all ages] Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) will be hosting NeoCollage 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 They Live starting at 8 p.m. Actor (not in this particular film) Pat Healy (and yes, brother of Jim Healy) will be on hand to discuss The Art of Shade-Tippin', an apt discussion given that the movie is about a guy who discovers special sunglasses that let him see that yuppies are really monsters from space. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] 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

Apparently The Critical Mass Bike Ride is tonight starting at 5:30 p.m. at the clock tower near The Wilson Commons at The University of Rochester (Library Road, #39 on River Campus Map.) to The Liberty Pole (1 Liberty Pole Way) at 6 p.m. and heading through the city from there. [source: the proverbial grapevine] Tonight in the LAB Space at The Rochester Contemporary Art Gallery (137 East Ave.) is the first day of Ironed Out by Tony Hess which is on display until November 25. [source: Rochester Contemporary calendar] [all ages] Poet Timothy Green will be reading from his new work at Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) tonight at 7 p.m. [source: Writers and Books calendar] [all ages] Over at The Bop Shop (274 N. Goodman St., in Village Gate Square) starting around 8 p.m. is The Tarbox Ramblers. [source: Bop Shop calendar] [all ages] Tonight at The House of Hamez (389 Gregory St., formerly Daily Perks) is great experimental acoustic soloist Gregory Paul, Fewn, and great motley-folk from Baby Shivers Boutique starting around 8 p.m. [source: House of Hamez website] [all ages] Over at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) starting around 8 p.m. is Devall Music, John Sacheli, and Jack Harlan. [source: Boulder Coffee MySpace site] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Great World of Sound starting at 8 p.m. and again on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. Co-writer and director Craig Zobel and actor (in this film) Pat Healy will be on hand for tonight's screening to introduce and discuss the film. They've been screening trailers at the Dryden and it looks like an entertaining tale of a couple guys who sell phony record deals to musicians. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] The Matt Valerio Band will be at Java's (16 Gibbs St.) starting around 9 p.m. [source: Java's calendar] [all ages] Over at Water Street Music Hall (204 N. Water St.) starting around 10 p.m. is Max Creek. [source: Water Street calendar] [16+] Great rocking rockabilly from Krypton 88 will be at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (99 Court St.) starting around 10 p.m. [source: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que calendar] Tonight at Nextstage at Geva (75 Woodbury Blvd.) is Geva Comedy Improv in Camp Fire Improv starting at 10:30. [source: RocWiki calendar] Tonight at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) is The Split, and Dawn of War starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: Freetime] [21+] Tonight probably starting around 7 p.m. at The Storefront Anti-War Crisis Center (658 Monroe Ave.) is the Subversive Comedy Fest. [source: the proverbial grapevine]

S A T U R D A Y

Navy Day The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing The Wizard of Oz starting this afternoon at 5 p.m. in celebration of UNESCO World Day for Audiovisual Heritage and "in celebration of this legendary film's listing on the 2007 UNESCO Memory of the World Register". [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Young, emotive acoustic soloist Teagan L. Wardwill be at Bodhi's Cafe & Lounge (274 Goodman St. N., in Village Gate) starting around 7 p.m. followed at 9:30 p.m. with Mike Fyler and The Macro Meltdown for Bodhi's Birthday Party. [source: Bodhi's Cafe MySpace page] The House of Hamez (389 Gregory St., formerly Daily Perks) will be hosting John Sacheli, The Spirit Of Ontario, Devall Music, and Jack Harlan starting around 8 p.m. [source: House of Hamez website] [all ages] Great chaotic rock/jazz/funk band Gaylord will be at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) starting around 8 p.m. for Bouldergeist. [source: Boulder Coffee MySpace site] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing a double feature of campy horror classics Evil Dead II and The Return of the Living Dead starting at 8 p.m. and again on Sunday at 7 p.m. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] The Bittersweet Thing, and Blame Johnny will be at The Black Pearl Cafe (791 Meigs St., formerly Dicky's) starting around 8 p.m. [source: WBER calendar] The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting The Saints, good punk rock/hard rock from The UV Rays, The Ettes, and loud, fast rock El Destructo starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [21+] Tonight at 10:30 p.m. at Nextstage at Geva (75 Woodbury Blvd.) is Geva Comedy Improv in The Improv Slasher Movie where they warn "the first three rows of the theatre are a designated SPLASH ZONE". [source: RocWiki calendar] Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting The Astrozombies, and The Brian Scrambling Device starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: Freetime] [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.

M O N D A Y

Tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) is Wide Open Mic with Norm Davis ... of course, it's also Pure Kona night, so I don't know whether this or that or neither were changed ... [source: Writers and Books calendar] [all ages] In theory, there is another Emerging Filmmakers Program tonight at The Little (240 East Ave.) at 9:15 p.m., but I haven't heard anything about it so your guess is as good as mine. As soon as I get the details I'll post the films. 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 Gleason Auditorium at The Rochester Public Library (115 South Ave.) is another Books Sandwiched-In this time featuring Dr. William Barker discussing The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Berlin Johnson. [source: Rochester Public Library calendar] [all ages] This afternoon from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Gallery at the Art and Music Library of The Rush Rhees Library in The University of Rochester (Library Rd. at Intercampus Dr., details on River Campus Map) is the opening reception for Sights, Sites, and Cities featuring photographs by David Bleich. The show runs through November 24. [source: University of Rochester website] Tonight at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) is good jazz band Bending and Breaking 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 The Phantom of the Opera starting at 8 p.m. An early horror film and with live piano accompaniment by{philip carli}. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages]

W E D N E S D A Y

Halloween This evening at 7 p.m. at Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) is A Gothic Open Mic hosted by Gregory Gerard, and Sonja Livingston. [source: Writers and Books calendar] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (Nosferatu the Vampyre) [sic] starting at 8 p.m. Werner Herzog remakes a horror classic so it'll probably be quite good. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Java's (16 Gibbs St.) will be hosting The Jeremy Siskind Trio starting around 9 p.m. [source: Java's calendar] [all ages] Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is good gimmicky heavy metal from Blüdwülf, and long hard rock from J. G. Blizaro 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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