Weekly Rochester Events #361: The Penn of Sylvania Fame

Thursday, December 8, 2005

Ok, I'm back to cheating and just writing about what I've been up to — no philosophical rambling comes to mind, but it might accidentally be sprinkled about. Oh, and for everyone who shows up at O'Bagelo's (165 State Street) I forgot to mention that I'll be out of town on Saturday so that's why I won't be at lunch.

Anyway, last Thursday I went to the Park Avenue Holiday Festival. I parked on Oxford because I planned so far ahead and knew that the boulevard section (between Park and Monroe) does not switch sides so I could stay there through the usual 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. switchover — yes, I know: genius. Anyway, I popped in at Schuber Liquor Store (373 Park Ave.) and had some wine samples and have to get back there for the merlot, whichever it was. I trotted to the other end to see Daniel Ward Salon (717 Park Ave.) and the works of G. Peter Jemison. His watercolor paintings of natural scenes have a certain subtle natural chaos to them — maybe a branch is bent at an odd angle — but it made it surprisingly interesting to me. The rum-punch at the salon couldn't have hurt my mood either.

After that I tried out some bread and a cookie at Baker Street Bakery (745 Park Ave.) which I'll have to get back to — finally a place with good bread (that and the place on Twelve Corners that's not Montana Mills that someone mentioned that I'll have to get to.) I walked up and down the avenue to see if I could find some of the people I only see at that event, but I ended up just getting some exercise.

I got to Johnny's Irish Pub (1382 Culver Rd., still smoke-free) for the comedy show there. I didn't realize but they now have food, including decent and cheap Guinness "banger" dogs ("banger," as everyone knows from that Jerry Seinfeld American Express commercial, is the very wrong way to pronounce the capitol of Maine.) Unfortunately the show got cancelled and then performed in an abbreviated form anyway. Dave Schmitt, Skasko, and Joe Fico all were pretty funny.

Friday I hung out with some friends at Lux Lounge (666 South Ave.) for a long time starting with happy hour and ending when the second-shift hipsters started showing up around 10. We decided to try and find a hotel bar so we went to The Hyatt Regency Hotel (125 East Main St.) We were disappointed by the size of the bar and tried to find the "real bar" which we surmised was in the restaurant with the Ithaca College reunion — despite crashing it without signing in or getting a nametag, we found no bar. In addition, it was some kind of educational music event for teenagers. We ended up checking out a ballroom set up with DJ's and a big dance party — I refused to go in because it was disturbing to be in the presence of such strong teenager smell; all the bad memories of being the outsider in high-school activities put the last nail in the coffin of that idea.

Satuday I went out to The Elton Street Gallery (34 Elton St.) to see the opening of Kristin Miller's In/Habitable. It was an interesting show, but I didn't know if it was supposed to be more about art or craft — the corners of the room are decorated with mixed media interpretations of the things one might find in the edges and corners of bedrooms.

I headed out after an hour or so to get to the Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) to see White Dog. Producer Jon Davison was on hand to introduce the film and to answer questions. Interestingly, since the movie got such bad press before it came out that it was brutally edited and released in only a couple theaters — basically the theme of the titular "white dog" which referred both to its fur color and that it was trained to attack blacks was deemed racist, despite the film's deep anti-racist stance. Thus, this was the American premiere of the original version of the film — 24 years after its original release.

The movie itself was pretty good. It was so blunt that it often crossed into the heavy-handed territory of a Lifetime movie of the week. However, its message was still rather strong — the thinly veiled metaphor of the dog representing society and the attempt to cure it of racism rings true today. It's rather sad that all these years later that we still haven't licked the problem. Plus, there were a number of tips that the movie was made in the 1980's: the best of them was simply Kristy McNichol being cast in the lead role — but there's more: she wears a sweatband across her forehead in one scene and it's not meant satirically.

From there I popped over to The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) to see Duke Galaxy and the Pipeliners do a fun, unpolished show of their surf-rock. The Whiskey Daredevils were very rockabilly, and I really didn't get a chance to see much of The Sadies at all since it was so crowded.

On Sunday I walked from my house to Lux Lounge (666 South Ave.) and on the way stopped at that new place Caverly's Pub (741 South Ave., formerly Genesee Co-op Credit Union) It's a bit sparse now, but it could grow into a really warm and inviting place.

On the way home I got it in my head to try and dumpster-dive for food. I had heard about this on the dumpster diving tribe on Tribe.net and since it was cold outside, I figured that any food that was thrown away would be effectively refrigerated. Well, I ended up scoring a whole cheese pizza and a pepperoni and mushroom one. I'll leave out the names of the places, but it is one of the most unnerving culinary experiences I've ever had — I mean, I assume they were thrown away because it was a spare that wouldn't be fresh enough to be sold tomorrow, but I was worried they might be tainted or stale. So far I'm not sick from eating it, but it's not something I plan to do often.

For now just an experiment in urban survival ... and just so people will still eat my food, I'll let you know if you're eating garbage food. Ain't America grand?

Tuesday night I wrapped up my entertainment forays with a trip to The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) This time to see Tiger Cried Beef and Kiss Me Deadly, both of whose names can be clumsily parsed as sentences. Tiger Cried Beef did a good set of their rock-and-roll perfection; Kill Me Deadly had a similar sound but added in some drum synthesizers at times — I like both bands but just didn't get blown away by them.

Maybe next time ...

T H U R S D A Y

Just to keep you all on your toes, this afternoon from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Thomas C. Hales will discuss Formal Proofs, the Four-Color Theorem, and the Kepler Conjecture for Sphere Packings in the Hoyt Auditorium at The University of Rochester (Elmwood Ave. at Intercampus Dr., details on River Campus Map.) [source: University of Rochester Events Calendar] Tonight from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. is the Monroe Avenue Merchants Holiday Celebration all along Monroe Avenue from Goodman to 490. [source: Genesee Center for the Arts calendar] [all ages] Tonight from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at The Printing and Book Arts Center at The Genesee Center for the Arts (713 Monroe Ave.) is Vessel as Vehicle, a slide lecture by Raphaela McCormack. [source: Genesee Center for the Arts calendar] This evening at 7:30 p.m. in the Welles-Brown Room of The Rush Rhees Library in The University of Rochester (Library Rd. near Intercampus Dr., details on River Campus Map) is a discussion by Wojciech Bienkowski titled Environmental Protection in the New Europe: Poland Joins the EU. [source: University of Rochester website] Tonight at Johnny's Irish Pub (1382 Culver Rd., still smoke-free) is Johnny's Christmas Party probably starting around 8 p.m. or so. [source: Johnny's Irish Pub calendar] Kate Lee, and No Strings Attached will be at Starry Nites Café (696 University Ave., formerly Moonbeans) starting around 8 p.m. [source: Starry Nites calendar] [all ages] Tonight at 8 p.m. in the Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) is Sonorous Shorts featuring Street of Crocodiles, Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies, Straight and Narrow, Bridges-Go-Round, Our Trip to Africa, and NYC in Money. [source: Eastman House calendar] Tonight at The Montage Live (50 Chestnut St., formerly the Montage Grille) at 9 p.m. is Old School Hip-hop Night. [source: Montage calendar] Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. is good somewhat eclectic rock and roll band My Penis, and good caucasian-mannered funky groove band Vernon's Bird. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] Over at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) starting around 10 p.m. is Blue Jimmy, and Burning Daylight [source: Freetime] [21+] Pure Kona Poetry Open Mic Night is at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) tonight starting at 7:30. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages] 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 afternoon from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. is the opening of Close to Home: RIT Children Awaiting Parents Photojournalism Exhibition at Gallery R (775 Park Ave.) which runs through January 7. [source: City Newspaper] Image City Photography Gallery (722 University Ave.) is having the opening reception for their Holiday Show featuring members and guests tonight from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The show runs until December 24. [source: Image City Photography Gallery flyer] Tonight from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the gallery at The Arts and Cultural Council for Greater Rochester (277 N. Goodman St.) is the opening of Weeblax enmasse which runs through December 23. [source: Arts and Cultural Council e-mail] Over at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) starting around 8 p.m. is Matt Cross, and young acoustic soloist Nora Kaminski. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Winter Soldier starting at 8 p.m. featuring interviews from Vietnam War veterans telling tales of wartime atrocities they committed and observed. This will also be shown tomorrow night at 5 p.m. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] David Mott will be at A|V Art Sound Space (#8 in the Public Market, off N. Union St., formerly The All-Purpose Room) starting around 9 p.m. [source: artsound website] Tonight at 8 p.m. at Blackfriars Theatre (28 Lawn St.) is the start of the new play Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol by Tom Mula which runs until December 23. [source: Blackfriars Theatre website] Tonight at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9 or so is Nipplepalooza II with funny superfast synth-pop novelty act Worm Quartet, The Great Luke Ski, pretty funny acoustic soloist Powered by Satan, and Master of Ceremonies Pisspot the Rabbit. [source: WITR calendar] [21+]

S A T U R D A Y

O'Bagelo's, 165 State Street, noon. Tonight at 7 p.m. is the opening reception for the photographic and instrumental installation fag. deconstructed by Lynn Hileman at A|V Art Sound Space (#8 in the Public Market, off N. Union St., formerly The All-Purpose Room) [source: artsound website] German House (315 Gregory St.) will be hosting a benefit show for Door 7 (750 South Ave.) starting around 8 p.m. featuring excellent digitally enhanced mellow acoustic from Autumn In Halifax, okay modern-rock clone band Que Pasa, and Mynah. [source: Freetime] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back starting at 8 p.m. preceded by the short animated film Now Hear This. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Tonight at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) is good generic rock-and-roll from The Ferndocks, and Don Anonymous starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: band e-mail] [21+] Mr. Right, and The Redline will be at Richmond's (21 Richmond St.) starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: Freetime] The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting great, somewhat mellow rock-and-roll from Hinkley, Footage, good acoustic soloist Gregory Paul, and The Old Sweethearts starting around 10:45 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] Tonight's another Betty's Sing-a-Long at Betty Meyer's Bullwinkle Café (622 Lake Ave.) starting around 10.

S U N D A Y

This afternoon at 1 p.m. and at 3 p.m. are Going for Baroque 15-minute mini-concerts, this time featuring Daniel Aune playing the newly installed Italian Baroque organ at The Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Ave., near Goodman St.) [source: Memorial Art Gallery calendar] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Offret (The Sacrafice) starting at 7 p.m. about an isolated family facing news of an impending apocalypse. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Tonight from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is the opening of Frank De Blase's art show titled FOTO-RAMA. [source: City Newspaper] Starry Nites Café (696 University Ave., formerly Moonbeans) is hosting their weekly Open Mike Poetry tonight at 7 p.m. [source: Starry Nites calendar] [all ages]

M O N D A Y

Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) will be hosting The Rochester Poets Reading and Open Mic starting around 7 p.m. [source: Writers and Books calendar] [all ages] Tonight at 7:30 p.m. The Penfield Symphony Orchestra will be playing Holiday Favorites at The Browncroft Community Church (2530 Browncroft Blvd.) [source: RocWiki calendar] Tonight at Kilbourn Hall at Eastman Theatre (60 Gibbs St.) is The Eastman Musica Nova Ensemble featuring Brad Lubman conducting a new composition by Brakel, Stucky's Boston Fancies, and Boulez's Messagesquisse. [source: Eastman School of Music calendar] [all ages] There's also Open Mic Poetry at Java's (16 Gibbs St.) starting around 9 p.m. [source: Java's calendar] [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 evening at the Printing and Book Arts Center at The Genesee Center for the Arts (713 Monroe Ave.) is Uncertain Journey, a slide lecture by Judy Gregory from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. [source: Genesee Center for the Arts calendar] Tonight at 8 p.m. at Christ Church of Rochester (141 East Ave.) is a performance by Ossia New Music featuring György Kurtág's Officium Breve Jacob Bancks' Three Sad Songs Wolfgang Rihm's Canzona and György Ligeti's Zehn Stücke für Bläserquintett. [source: Ossia New Music calendar] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Ta'm e guilass (Taste of Cherry) starting at 8 p.m. about a man committed to suicide and looking for someone to help him. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is Valkyrie, good, slower-and-clearer metal from Orodruin, and good and gimmicky heavy metal from Blüdwülf 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 E D N E S D A Y

The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Dark Passage starting at 8 p.m: a film noir about an innocent man convicted of murder ... [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] [all ages]

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