Weekly Rochester Events #380: New Netherland's Capital

Thursday, April 20, 2006

First off, beware that every damn stoner you see is going to talk non-stop about it being "4-20 and you know what that means" even though legends that "420" is related to marijuana are largely false. As a BMX jump, however, the "420" is considered by some to be impossible to successfully execute.

Last Thursday I started things off by going to The Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Ave., near Goodman St.) for the lecture by Pepsy Kettavong on his sculpture, Let's Have Tea of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass in the park near Susan B. Anthony House (17 Madison St.) He showed a very good documentary about the making of the sculpture and seemed to be a genuinely nice guy. He also designed the meditation park on the corner of South and Alexander.

From there I went to join the group of Drinking Liberally people at Monty's Korner (355 East Ave.) Oddly I don't talk too much about politics while I'm there because I'm not that well versed in who's who and what's what, but I do sometimes get disheartened that I'm far more socially tolerant than almost anybody. I don't get there every week, but at least this time I got to meet one of the regional representatives.

On Friday I headed to the Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) to see Il vangelo secondo Matteo (The Gospel According To Saint Matthew). Now I'm no Christian by any means, but it was a fascinating movie — the dialog was essentially taken straight from the Gospel of Matthew which made for a lot of scenes of people just looking at one another silently to establish their relationships (since no dialog was annoted in the Book.) The film made me even more confused about Christianity because the messages seemed very clear — help the poor, don't hoard, trust your heart, etc. which directly opposes all the hatred and wealth I see in today's churches.

I got to thinking about property values and race. I've heard that certain races and ethnicities will affect the nearby property values — for instance, I've heard that property values drop if a black family moves in. I wondered if there were particular ethnicities who would raise property values, and would it be possible to subsidize those ethnicities with the increased value of neighboring properties.

I'm just being facetious, though: I was calling attention to how stupid it is to adjust property values in that way. I mean, it ultimately comes down to how well the owners maintain the property and whether they are involved with crime: the preemptive correlation between ethnicity and property values is simply prejudice. I thought about how gut-wrenchingly horrific it would be to know that something you can't change about yourself (like the color of your skin) could make people resent you for negatively impacting their life.

Deeper still, though, is the idea that dollars are the ultimate unit of measurement. In theory, a Chemlawn-green yard and weed-free flower gardens will net a higher selling price yet (for instance) the ecological impact (i.e. groundwater contamination with pesticides) is certainly negative overall. The same goes for things like allowing kids to play upon and damage your lawn, or the presence of clotheslines — either of these would negatively impact the selling price of a property yet they can also both be considered good (conservation, and community-building, irrespectively).

Just something to think about.

Completely unrelatedly but also on Friday, a friend of mine had given me the number of some woman and said I should call her. Considering my dismal dating record, I resolved to not call, and I'm pretty sure that led to my karmic misadventure on Saturday night.

I was going to bike out on my tall bike and go to Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) and get some late dinner but the front tire was flat so I decided to drag out my old summer bar bike. I rode about 20 minutes and almost got there when I realized I didn't grab a spare bike lock. I rode back and by then the kitchen had closed at the Krown so I drove to Lux Lounge (666 South Ave.) figuring I'd just get a wrap instead. One of the bartenders discouraged me from the Buffalo chicken wrap because they were apparently all soggy so I got roast beef instead. However, Open Face (651 South Ave., right by the corner of Hickory) has someone new making them and they were smaller than normal — probably weighing only half as much as before. I decided to take it anyway — it was fine, just small.

In an attempt to patch up my relationship with the universe, I decided to give the girl a call on Sunday and left a message because someday I'd really like to get normal-sized wrap.

For Easter I spent a quiet afternoon with a couple friends and had some delicious honey-glazed ham. That night I went to The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) for a really good show. Tiger Cried Beef started things off and proved themselves once again to be a perfection of clean, crisp rock-and-roll. Brian Glaze played with members of The Gris Gris for some quite good pop-edged western rock-and-roll [I was dying to say "pop-glazed" to recall the ham, but just couldn't leave the unintentional connection to the guy's name]. The Gris Gris finished off the night — I liked their experimental near-synth-pop sound but not the excessive repetition in a lot of their songs. Unfortunately my favorites, The Mathematicians, had arrived much later than expected and the show had already been retooled to run late and they couldn't play. Rumor has it they'll be back in May to play at the roving gallery Door 7, wherever it may be at the time.

Monday I dropped off some Beta video stuff at Clutter to Cash (1925 South Ave.) and it went up on eBay: a Sanyo Betacord 4650, and a Sony Betamax SL-2000 Portable VCR and Sony TT-2000 Tuner/Timer. Unfortunately they couldn't accept the tapes because they're labeled with commercial movies and home movies, and they weren't interested in the 1980's pre-CCD camera (even though it has good color and fancy features like autofocus.)

That evening I got to talk with my friend's friend for a bit and we arranged to go see My Dinner With André at the Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) on Tuesday. I though the film was quite brilliant — the fact that it's captivating while only watching the discussion of two men having dinner is a testament in itself. I found it interesting to note that it touched on a lot of topics that have been gaining ground in my own life — generally resurrecting an old idea that we should all be really living from our hearts rather than acting in the manner we think others expect us to. More personally, I particularly enjoyed a moment when I was aware that I was both watching a movie and experiencing it at the same time — concurrently suspending disbelief and disbelieving. In a particularly intense monologue by André I observed the face on the screen as a projection — the best analogy, ironically enough, is that it was like what a movie projected in a theater looks like on film. The screen itself was simply a plane of reflective material being observed by dozens of actual human beings.

As for how the date went, well, you're just going to have to wait for the Louis Malle movie adaptation. [rimshot]

T H U R S D A Y

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 performance by humorist and storyteller Kevin Kling. [source: University of Rochester website] Tonight at Water Street Music Hall (204 N. Water St.) is reggae-dub band Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, great percussive groove-rock The BuddhaHood, and Bare Bones starting around 6 p.m. [source: Water Street calendar] [all ages] In Gleason Auditorium at The Rochester Public Library (115 South Ave.) is a meeting of The Inventor's Society of Western New York from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. [source: Rochester Public Library calendar] [all ages] Joshua Levi Gillikin will be at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) starting around 7 p.m. [source: Boulder Coffee MySpace site] [all ages] A|V Art Sound Space (N. Union St. at Trinidad St., #8 in the Public Market, formerly the All-Purpose Room) will be hosting Robert Rich starting around 7 p.m. [source: A|V Space website] Tonight in the Auditorium at The Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Ave., near Goodman St.) is another Archaeology Lecture titled Eagles and Wolves by Dr. Simon James of The University of Leicester (University Rd., Leicester, LE1, UK) discussing the truth about the Roman Army. [source: Memorial Art Gallery calendar] [all ages] Tonight at Java's (16 Gibbs St.) is The Matt Valerio Band starting around 9 p.m. [source: Java's calendar] [all ages] Starry Nites Café (696 University Ave., formerly Moonbeans) will be hosting great harmonizers Red Branch starting around 9 p.m. [source: Starry Nites calendar] [all ages] 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

Tonight at Door 7 (299 Gregory St.) is the reception for the RIT Senior Glass Show which runs through April 28. Featured artists include Catherine Ayers, Rebecca Macomber, Jenny Madia, John Winternitz, Brian Howard, Jamie Marsden, Jason Anderson, and Dave Deibler. [source: Door 7 website] This evening at 8 p.m. at The Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) is a show titled Tampering with the Image featuring short films that modify found footage, frequently from popular Hollywood films. Filmmaker Natalie Frigo will be on hand to introduce the event and to discuss her works in the program. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 7 p.m. is Pants Yell, modern rock from Que Pasa, and Epylogue [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] At Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) starting around 7 p.m. is Adrienne Nightingale, and Malcolm Rollick. [source: Boulder Coffee MySpace site] [all ages] Tonight at Water Street Music Hall (204 N. Water St.) probably starting around 8 p.m. is an event sponsored by The City Newspaper featuring Teressa Wilcox and Katy Wright. [source: Water Street calendar] [all ages] Tonight at The Eastman Lounge (109 East Ave., at the East Avenue Commons apartments) is Hünü? (featuring members from Colorblind James Experience) starting around 9 p.m. [source: WITR calendar] Over at German House (315 Gregory St.) starting around 10 p.m. is wicked fun percussive groove-rock from The BuddhaHood. [source: German House calendar] Over at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) starting around 10:30 p.m. is The Science Fiction Idols, and Hothead. [source: Monty's Krown MySpace page] [21+] Over at TiLT Nightclub and Ultralounge (444 Central Ave.) tonight is this month's burlesque show, The Spectacle of Saints and Sinners starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: RocWiki calendar]

S A T U R D A Y

Earth Day O'Bagelo's, 165 State Street, noon. Today from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. is The Upper Mount Hope Neighborhood Association Canal Cleanup starting near Ronald McDonald House (333 Westmoreland Dr.) [source: Upper Mount Hope Neighborhood Association flyer] [all ages] Over at Abundance Cooperative Market (62 Marshall St.) starting around 1 p.m. is Eric Jones. [source: Abundance Co-op calendar] [all ages] Today from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Gowan Room at The Wilson Commons at The University of Rochester (Library Road, details on River Campus Map) is a conference on Noise on Earth featuring Jim Feuerstein, Les Blomberg of The Noise Pollution Clearinghouse, Police Chief David T. Moore, and Neighborhood Enforcement Team (NET) director Molly Clifford. [source: the proverbial grapevine] Tonight at 7 p.m. at The Club at Water Street (204 N. Water St.) is The Sander Hicks for US Senate Campaign Tour Concert with Holley Anderson. [source: Water Street calendar] [all ages] Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) will be hosting Jim Bowers starting around 7 p.m. [source: Boulder Coffee MySpace site] [all ages] Dr. Hilda Chacón will be at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) starting around 8 p.m. for An Evening of Bossa Nova in the Portuguese. I thought it was fascinating last year even though I don't speak Portuguese. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious starting at 8 p.m. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] This evening at The Rochester Visual Studies Workshop (31 Prince St.) at 8 p.m. is a performance by Image Movement Sound. [source: Freetime] Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is Joe Buck, Bob Wayne and the Outlaw Carnies, The Brokedown, and The White Devils 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

Today starting around 12 p.m. at Mex (295 Alexander St.) is another day of shooting for Matt Ehlers's new film, Smoking Laws in which they'll need extras in "business dress" — contact them if you're interested. [source: Eggwork e-mail] Today from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. is an Anti-War Vigil sponsored by MoveOn.org at Twelve Corners Gazebo Park (Monroe Ave. at Elmwood Ave.) [source: Rochester Against War website] The Club at Water Street (204 N. Water St.) will be hosting Extra Blue Kind, and modern rock from Que Pasa starting around 6 p.m. [source: Water Street calendar] [all ages]

M O N D A Y

Tonight at Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) at 7:30 p.m. is another Wide Open Mike for poetry hosted by Norm Davis. [source: Writers and Books calendar] [all ages] Geva Comedy Improv will be hosting FIASCO! Season 2: The Hospital, an improvised soap opera performed at The Drama House at The University of Rochester (Fraternity Rd. at Alumni Rd., east corner of the Fraternity Quad, details on River Campus Map) tonight at 8 p.m. [source: Geva Comedy Improv e-mail] Updated: Ok, so another installment of the Emerging Filmmakers Series will be at The Little (240 East Ave.) tonight at 9:15 p.m. Tonight's films include Equilibrium by Adrean Mangiardi, Dave Holland by Ulli Gruber, Meeting Existence in the Sea of Confusion by Sara Segerlin, Outlier by Jack Pettibone Riccobono, Dr. Zond Controls the Weather by Johnny Robinson, Dein Feld (Your Field) by Ulli Gruber, and Interview Fundamentals for the New Global Economy by Rochester LoFilm. [source: AIVF Salon Rochester Yahoo! Group] 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 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. As part of the 50th Anniversary of Books Sandwiched-In today from 12:12 p.m. to 12:52 p.m., Ed Doherty will discuss Elizabeth Royte's Garbage Land : On the Secret Trail of Trash. [source: Friends of the Public Library e-mail] [all ages] Tonight at City Hall (30 Church St.) is another Mayor's Night In with Mayor Robert J. Duffy from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. [source: City Hall press release] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Vanya On 42nd Street starting at 8 p.m. in which Louis Malle explores the interaction of actors as they rehearse Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya." [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Excellent mellow, effects-enhanced acoustic from Autumn In Halifax, subtle, convserational, and thoughtful acoustic soloist Owen Brimijoin, and down-tempo, percussion-heavy rock from A Wonderful 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: A|V Space website] Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (99 Court St.) will be hosting great blues-charged rock-and-roll/groove-rock from Buford and the Smoking Section starting around 10 p.m. [source: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que calendar] The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting reall good one-man synth-gospel rockabilly band Voodoo Organist, Neptune, and Grime Time starting around 10:45 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] [all ages]

W E D N E S D A Y

Tonight at 7 p.m. in Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) is another 25 & Under show featuring readers who are 25-years-old and younger to celebrate 25 years of Writers and Books. [source: Writers and Books calendar] [all ages] German House (315 Gregory St.) will be hosting The Bell Orchestre, Reed Parry and Sarah Neufeld from the incredible wall-of-sound power-pop band The Arcade Fire, and ideal ambient/acoustic duo Snailhouse starting around 8 p.m. [source: Snore and Guzzle website] Over at Spot Coffee (200 East Ave.) starting around 8 p.m. is quite good acoustic singer Nora Kaminski. [source: Rochester Music Coalition 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]

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!