Month: June 2014

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As Good As It Gets

Duane in the pool
Duane in the pool

July tomorrow. I can handle it. Jazz Fest was a whirlwind and then this World Cup thing. We didn’t expect Mexico to still be in the game with the Netherlands but they were up 1-0 late in the match as Duane showed up, up from the big city. Netherlands took them down in theatrical fashion and we headed down to the pool. Duane swims regularly at the Y in Brooklyn and in one of those giant outdoor recreation pools in the summer so he was still bobbing around after we had withdrawn.

We headed down to Vic & Irv’s for the usual (cheeseburger, onion rings and a vanilla milkshake in my case) and took our regular stools, stage left with a birds-eye view of the post-teenage chefs. When the food arrived Duane said, “I know this sounds corny but this is as good as it gets.” I was a little slow with any sort of response but I think he was right.

On the way out of the parking lot we passed a pickup truck with a sign on the back window that read, “God Bless Our Troops. F!ck the Politicians.” The “u” in the word fuck was an assault rifle graphic. The take-away being anarchy in the USA or a bible thumping military dictatorship? I should have asked Duane to stop so I could get a picture but again I was a little slow. I could have used the photo on my funky sign site.

Back home, the tiny nation of Costa Rica took out Greece in the penalty kick round. And then Duane left. We’ll have to catch up in New York.

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Radical Pigs

Midtown Rochester at night
Midtown Rochester at night

Getting from the Lutheran Church to Xerox Auditorium was rough with George Thorogood and the Destroyers playing in the middle of the street. We stood behind some guys wearing “Radical Pigs” biker gear for part of “Who Do You Love,” the part where festival promoter, John Nugent, played sax, and then got on with it.

My favorite act of this year’s jazz fest was the Norma Winstone Trio at the Xerox Auditorium. Like Peggy Lee she and her trio were quite exotic and intoxicating. My favorite song from her performance last night was one of hers called “Dance Without Answer.” They record for the ECM label and I tracked down a live version the song here.

Last night’s notes start here.
First day of this year’s Fest starts here.

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Telstar

Bill Frisell's "Guitar In The Space Age" at Kilbourn Hall in Rochester, New York 2014
Bill Frisell’s “Guitar In The Space Age” at Kilbourn Hall in Rochester, New York 2014

I would loved to have been able to see Heather O’Reilly play tonight against the Flash but then I would have missed this.

We queued up for Bill Frisell’s “Guitar In The Space Age” at Kilbourn and ran into our jazz buddy, Hal, who was recovering from a sports injury. We compared notes on the upcoming acts and broke into the dinner we had packed. Hugh from Nod was up from Utica and in line ahead of us. The time went by fast.

Kenny Wollesen was on drums. Tony Scheer, who has played with everyone from The Lounge Lizzards to Willie Nelson, was on electric bass and Buffalo native, Greg Leisz, played pedal steel and additional guitar. Frisell’s idea of guitar in the space age is decidedly American. We probably do have more junk floating around up there than any other country. The band toyed with Western swing with Hawaiian touches, a two-beat Americana thing, the Kinks “Tired of Waiting,” something funky that sounded a bit like “Mustang Sally” or “Walking The Dog,” Leisz sounded fantastic on slide but he switched to guitar for the middle of the set and that somehow managed to dilute what we came to hear. Brian Wilson’s “In My Room” was rich, “Telstar” was perfect and their version of “Surfer Girl” almost made me cry.

“I tell you this every time I play here. They wouldn’t let me in this school,” Frisell said, from the hall in the eastman School of Music. “45 years later I come back playing surf music to a standing ovation.”

Last night’s notes start here.
First day of this year’s Fest starts here.

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Not Ready For Our Close-Up

Annette Lein from the Democrat & Chronicle followed Peggi and me through our jazz fest routine yesterday. She started as we whizzed through the day’s offerings and made snap decisions on what to see/hear and then she met us downtown outside our first venue. She must have shot an hour’s worth of footage and later last night she had edited it down in Final Cut and posted it to the D&C’s site. She is a pro. We are not.

Annette’s edits and transitions are as smooth as silk. What looks like an edit is me jumping in before Peggi had a chance to explain what we look for. My favorite part is the shot of us trudging down the street. Unity Health has been giving away pedometers at the Jazz Fest and Peggi has been logging our miles. We walked over two last night and we never got over to Lucinda Williams in the Park. I was reminded of what my dad said when I sent him a link to a movie of us putting up their awnings. “Do we really walk like that?”

I’m keeping track of the Jazz Fest in a separate space.

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World Cup 1, Jazz Fest 1

Ivy covered building downtown, Rochester, New York
Ivy covered building downtown, Rochester, New York

Kind of strange cheering for the US as they lost but advanced.

The two tone building here is right next to the former Midtown Plaza. There was a building adjacent to the great wall that is long gone, a nightclub called the Rathskeller, I think. Bands played there and you used to have go down some steps to enter. Long gone like most of the city core, but coming back. Jazz Fest provides some interesting urban vistas.

High Tech Rochester’s plan to put twenty million into a Business Accelerator Cooperative downtown is the best news I’ve read about downtown in bit.

I’m keeping note on the jazz fest over here.

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Free Parking

5 dollar parking sign in front of City Blue on Scio Street in Rochester, New York
5 dollar parking sign in front of City Blue on Scio Street in Rochester, New York

Anybody remember where Backstreets was? I think it might have become a gay bar before it went under. They got busted at one point because the owners had illegally tapped into a power line out front and rigged so their utility bills were next to nil. I think I played there with New Math. Maybe it was Personal Effects. You could get near deadly shocks from the PA system by touching the mic and the monitor at the same time or something like that.

It was a hard rockin’ joint on Charlotte Street before the turned it into a gay club and they have pretty much torn down every building on that side of the street. Well, that is where we have parked for the last few nights of Jazz Fest. It might be a brownfield. In fact it is a brown field as in all mud. We refuse to pay to park downtown. That’s the way it has always been. There are spots.

My jazz fest note are over here.

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Orange Bronco

Orange Bronco in Rochester, New York
Orange Bronco in Rochester, New York

I guess they still make Broncos but not like this one. OJ sort of damaged the brand for a while with that Warhol-movie-like, slow speed chase.

We found four golf balls today without even trying. We never left the path to comb the underbrush like I used to do before the engorged tick incident. They were just laying out there in plain sight on the path as we skirted the course.

I’m keeping track of the Jazz Fest over here.

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A Hole In Three

Artist painting the back of Vic & Irvs in Rochester New York
Artist painting the back of Vic & Irvs in Rochester New York

We played 17 holes of miniature golf today with my sister, two nephews and a niece. We skipped the twelfth hole because we were holding up play with such big group. My nephew, who got to play for free because he is only five, got “a hole in three.” Oh, and we took a dip in the pool on our street. And then it was time to get in line for Jazz Fest. I know, it sounds like a retiree’s itinerary.

I’m keeping track of the Jazz Fest over here.

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Draw

Baby racoon in stream near Spring Valley
Baby racoon in stream near Spring Valley

When it came down to it, there was no question. The Copa Mundial came before Jazz Fest so we missed the first part of last night’s musical offerings.

Peggi has stayed in touch with her junior high swim mate and we stop by to see her whenever we get back to Detroit. A few years back her husband was telling us how he had heart attack at a Red Wings hockey game and the doctor told him he shouldn’t watch any more hockey. Serious. I was thinking about that scenario today as we watched the US lose the 2-1 lead they had seconds short of the final whistle. I was exhausted by the end of the match.

I’m keeping track of the Jazz Fest over here.

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We Play The Painting

Man in chicken suit at Christ Church on Culver Road, Rochester, New York
Man in chicken suit at Christ Church on Culver Road, Rochester, New York

A lot of people are afraid to sit in the front row. If it was a Suicide or a Contortions show I would be afraid too. They used to scare me but I loved it. We took seats in the front row of Xerox Auditorium for the Belgium big band, Flat Earth Society,
and tried to guess how many members would be in the band. The stage was full of equipment and music stands. We guessed ten and it turned out to be 14. The drums and bass were front and center flanked by guitar and keyboards and the horn section ran all across the back. FES is a wackier, more rambunctious Willem Breuker Kollektief. Never mind the movie. This is vivid, action-packed, cinematic, soundtrack music. They introduced a song called, “Broadway Boogie Woogie,” saying (with a Belgium accent) “We play the painting.”

Shai Maestro Trio was highly recommended to us by a couple that we only see at Jazz Fest each year. The band was at the Rochester Club at 10 but we couldn’t hang in there so we came home and listened to Shai Maestro on YouTube. We should have gone. Tonight we have a legit excuse for missing out on the early end of Jazz Fest. USA/Portugal. I’m keeping track of the Jazz Fest over here.

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Mexican Groundhog

Marsh near Conifer Lane in Rochester, New York
Marsh near Conifer Lane in Rochester, New York

We started a small army of beets from seed. The packet said the variety was good as greens so if they don’t develop below we’ll have them in a salad. We tore out the spinach that had wintered over and gone to seed and put the beets in that spot. It took us about an hour to transplant the wispy little things. A groundhog got at our cilantro early on but we caught him in a Hav-A-Heart trap and called animal control. I heard that the town lets them go over by the expressway interchange of 590 and 104.

Jazz Fest kicked off with a whimper for us but we found some cool stuff with our Club Pass. My brother, a Xerox (major sponsor) employee, gave us a couple of tickets for Janelle Monae at Kodak Hall so we popped in there for a few songs. The ushers who took our tickets at Kodak Hall asked, “Are you sure you want to go in there?” People were already out of their seats and in the aisles.

I’m keeping track of the Jazz Fest over here.

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We Must Rebel Against Defeat

Security after WNY Flash game in Rochester, New York
Security after WNY Flash game in Rochester, New York

We were going to take a day off from soccer but we got sucked into the England/Uruguay game this afternoon. We cheered for Australia yesterday and and then of course Spain, both to no avail. I even put on my España national team gear. And then we headed downtown for the Flash game. Insatiable, I guess.

You would think the World Cup would have spoiled us but the Flash are playing superbly. They were without their national team members last night but that hardly mattered. They played more like a team without Carly controlling play in the center and Abby Abby hulking near the goal.

Lydia Williams is solid in the goal. I’m not longing for Adrianna Franch with every shot on goal. Taylor and especially Reynolds are tough defenders and fun to watch. Zerboni, Salem and Losada are all hustlers in the midfield and able to turn the play around in surprising fashion. Adrianna is my favorite all around player. She is non-stop, free from her forward position but always moving to the right spot. A real pro. She would certainly be on our national team if she wasn’t from Spain. Samantha Kerr is wild. She had an amazing goal last night, from the far right corner over the goalie into the far left side of the net. And how could you not love the way Jasmyne Spencer plays. She is so tiny and so fast. She is a delight to watch as she maneuvers around opponents.

If I wasn’t afraid I’d miss the play I would join the “Flash Mob,” the rag tag percussion ensemble. They sit in stands behind the far goal and make the matches feel like they’re happening in a foreign country.

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Why I Hate Summer

Leeks in Jared's wheelbarrow
Leeks in Jared’s wheelbarrow

That title is a lie. The summer calendar is just jam-packed. And on top of the social events we have the World Cup and Jazz Fest at the same time. The weather is telling you kick back and get out there at the same time. I can handle it.

Got to get down to the garden and check on these wispy little leeks that we put in before the thunderstorms.

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Mushroom Weather

Mushrooms down back, Rochester, New York
Mushrooms down back, Rochester, New York

From our bedroom window it looked like someone had dumped plastic trash behind a big tree in the woods behind our house but I quickly realized it was a fresh batch of mushrooms. Down the road we spotted a really young fawn, so young it was wobbly, and it was all alone. We tried not to startle it but we did and it got up and ran around us like it wanted to play.

Steve Greive drove by in a brand new pick-up. He bought it on line and drove to Pennsylvania to pick it up. He told us the Town fixed a water break near the wetlands and filled their hole with crushed stone and covered that with top soil making a prefect setting for turtles to lay their eggs. He told us they lay their eggs on the full moon in June which was just a few days ago. Sure enough we saw a big one, maybe a foot diameter, dart in to the tall grass.

Just made it home in time to catch the opening of the Brazil Mexico game.

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Tres Hermanos

Leo Dodd, Paul Dodd and Gus Dodd around 1906
Leo Dodd, Paul Dodd and Gus Dodd around 1906

The guy in the center here is Paul Dodd, my great uncle. I wasn’t named after him. I was named after Saint Paul of the Cross, on whose feast day I was born. The guy on his left is my father’s father, my grandfather, Leo Dodd. My dad was named after him. And the fellow on the right is their brother, Gus Dodd.

Leo owned a restaurant on the corner of West Avenue and Thurston Road. It was a speakeasy before it was a bar. Paul played semipro baseball as a catcher for Gilsons. My Dad, Leo Jr. sent me a 1906 newspaper article recapping a game in which Paul hit a home run at Sheehan’s Field, where the twelve corners in Brighton is today. 300 fans were in attendance and Gilsons won. Gus was by all accounts a fun-filled, free spirit. His granddaughter, Judy Farrell, (sort of a cousin of mine) sold my parents’ house a few months back and she told us a few stories.

My dad also found this POLICE COURT entry on Paul Dodd from Rochester’s Democrat & Chronicle:
Paul Dodd. arrested a week ago on a charge of violating section 3 of the city ordinances by shooting craps on the street claimed in police court yesterday that he was not playing a the time, and Judge Ernst let him off with a caution. When the case was first called, last Friday, the judge wished to have it established that the game was one of chance, but no one could be found who would own up to knowledge of it. Yesterday Detective McKelvey took the stand and demonstrated that fortune plays an important part in throwing dice according to the rules of “seven-come-leven.“

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A Real Team

Paul Dodd, number 60, playing for Webter's RL Thomas,battles Gates Chili goalie in Sectional 5 final at Robert Wesleyan College
Paul Dodd, number 60, playing for Webter’s RL Thomas,battles Gates Chili goalie in Sectional 5 final at Robert Wesleyan College

My parents were here for dinner the other night and we got to talking soccer at the table. Spain had just been roundly beaten by the Netherlands and it was all we could think about. I called up a few replays of the scoring on my iPad and my dad asked, “What ever happened to Ralph Wager?” I played with Ralph in the summer soccer leagues in Webster and Charlotte and was hired as the soccer coach at RL Thomas in my senior year. He coached all my brothers as well and we all thought he was great. He was arrested two years ago on a first-degree child sex offense.

When my dad asked it hit me that I never would have gone to Indiana if it wasn’t for Ralph. And Peggi wouldn’t be sitting next to me. Ralph had played for IU and recommended the school as one of the best in the country for soccer. I was all-county in high school, had a few school records for goals when I left and was the first freshman to start for Indiana. The team was mostly foreigners at that time. I loved it but dropped out the next year. My father has been mining the Fulton History site, a giant database of scanned newspapers from New York State, and sent me this article on the Section Five championship game shown above.

WEBSTER HERALD November 15, 1967

Soccer Team Trips On Champ Route

by Jim Rickey

Championship escaped the Webster varsity soccer team as they were tripped 1-0 by newly crowned Section 5 champion Gates-Chill, Saturday, at Roberts-Wesleyan. Before a crowd exceeding 2500, the Rldgemen valiantly attempted to upset a rugged Gates squad which had defeated division champion Pittsford four days previously to advance to the Sections finals. The scrappy Webster outfit outplayed the cross-city rivals throughout the first half, but could not manage a tally. Superb passing and ball control were displayed by both teams when finally, with three minutes remaining in the fourth and final quarter, Harry Bruestle booted the ball into the Webster nets. The Rldgemen fiercely bombarded the opposition’s goal in the remaining minutes, but could not score to tie the contest. Coach Ralph Wager is proud of his well coached troops. All year he has repeated team work, team play and that is what these boys were — a real team.

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Lovely Loss

Robin Van Persie goal vs. Spain in World Cup
Robin Van Persie goal vs. Spain in World Cup

It was surprisingly easy to watch our favorite team lose their first game in the World Cup. A rematch of the championship game from four years ago, Spain came out like champs and controlled the game early on with effortless passes across the pitch but couldn’t quite penetrate the Netherlands defense. They finished with 57% possession but the Netherlands was clearly the better team.

The video of Robin van Persie’s incredible, acrobatic header, which equalized the score in the 44th minute, is something to watch over and over. It even blows your mind as a series of still photos. Arjen Robben completely outfoxed the Spanish defense twice. A stunning display.

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Buried Specter

Highland Bowl on a Sunday afternoon
Highland Bowl on a Sunday afternoon

When you get political you kinda wreck everything. But then everything is political. Who would have guessed that the environment, marriage, guns, prayer, birth control and evolution would be political issues. A stance on any of these issues puts you in the blue or red camp. Now, the decision to go to war in Iraq again, that’s a political issue.

Meanwhile, the guy who got us into this mess is blissfully painting portraits while Obama gets stuck with the cleanup. I’m happy that President George H.W. Bush had a soft landing on his 90th birthday but I’m not gonna let him off the hook for announcing after the first Gulf War in 1991, “The specter of Vietnam has been buried forever in the desert sands of the Arabian peninsula.”

I, too, avoid politics for the most part. I’m listening to the great “Money Jungle,” an lp produced by Alan Douglas, who just passed away on Saturday.

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America First

Woman singing national anthem at Flash soccer game
Woman singing national anthem at Flash soccer game

I am counting down the hours to the World Cup. Of course the US is my first choice but I’m happy there are thirty-one other teams in the tournament to root for in the later rounds. America’s national team coach, former German star, Jurgen Klinsmann, said the US “would have to play the game of our lives seven times to win the tournament. It is not possible.” Sam Borden in the Times said “such candor seems un-American.” What does come after “America First?”

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Near Boil

Arboretum at Durand Eastman Park in Rochester, New York
Arboretum at Durand Eastman Park in Rochester, New York

It was such a delight to hear Louise Wareham Leonard read at Writers & Books last night. I’m still getting over it. The Performance Space there is dramatic. Stadium style seating, theatrical lighting and Louise at the podium with a short stack of pages. There is a “this better be good” vibe to the setting and Louise delivered in rather surprising fashion, surprising only because hearing her read something of hers I had already read brings it to a near boil.

She read from four of her books, some still in progress, and I particularly liked her comments as introduced a piece from “Fiery World,” the first chapter of which is published in this month’s Rochester POST magazine. The book is set in Durand Eastman’s Arboretum, “a spectacularily beautiful place that none goes to.” “I almost don’t even want to tell you about it.”

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