{"id":9126,"date":"2014-10-17T00:51:03","date_gmt":"2014-10-17T04:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/?p=9126"},"modified":"2014-12-04T19:57:26","modified_gmt":"2014-12-05T00:57:26","slug":"lonely-medley-centre-tells-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/2014\/10\/lonely-medley-centre-tells-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Lonely Medley Centre Tells All… sort of"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RochesterSubway.com<\/a>
\nBy Mike Governale<\/a><\/i><\/small><\/p>\n

If you’re a regular follower of the #ROC Twitter scene, you have undoubtedly come across the musings of Lonely Medley Centre. The parody Twitter account @MedleyCentre \"external<\/a> has racked up over 1,000 followers since February and has catapulted into this year’s Best of Rochester contest alongside @RachelBarnhart.<\/p>\n

No one seems to know who is behind the account which describes itself as “Just an empty mall looking for a few friends.” So I thought, as an empty subway tunnel, maybe we could hang out and get to know each other…<\/p>\n

\"Lonely<\/a>
\nLast week Lonely Medley agreed to sit down with me for an exclusive interview. Even after several drinks, the down-and-out shopping mall never really revealed its true identity, but it did drop one heck of a bombshell: As of October 31, @MedleyCentre will go quiet for good. Here’s the full, almost-unedited interview…<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nHas anyone ever interviewed you?\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nWho would want to interview an empty mall? But, no, never…\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nAn empty mall interviewed by say… an empty hole in the ground. What’d ya say? Would you let Rochester Subway interview you?\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nWe could do it here or via email. Let me know.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nThat’s could be funny.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nI want to publish the medley manifesto before I shut this down in a few weeks and this might be just the vehicle.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nGreat. Let’s get into it right here. Seems fitting, as you’ve become a ROC Twitter all-star recently. Why did you take to Twitter anyway?\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nI guess I felt the “empty edifice” market was under filled. There was you and the Wegmans Twitter account- which I recently found out…<\/p>\n

WASNT a parody account and that was it. Also, the ROC Twitter-verse seemed to be a bit lacking in terms intentionally silly none sense…<\/p>\n

..with no sense of purpose. Unless of course you included what Rachel Barnhart is doing.\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Lonely<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nI should back up and ask the obvious question. Not to get all Barbara Walters on you \u2013 but who are you, really?<\/p>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nOhhhh, I don’t know. Isn’t a little anonymity in social media world where everyone is looking for some sort of weird Internet fame…<\/p>\n

A good thing? I would think it’s refreshing for people to have someone out there who doesn’t want to sell them anything, have them click…<\/p>\n

Their usually ham handed and dopey blog and just want to be an empty mall for a few months.<\/p>\n

Here’s an New Yorker article \"external<\/a> that is pretty good and probably explains better than an empty mall can..\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nCome on, pretty please? Just a little hint?\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nI’m talking to Adam Bello, yes? You have to tell me if I guess it.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nClose!! Armand Schaubroeck. House of Guitars needs more space and Medley Centre is right down the road…\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nI don’t think Armand knows what a computer is though, so no one is going to believe that\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nAH! Blue Nosed Guitar Man! I had a feeling. Cool, now I feel like we’re getting somewhere.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nIt doesn’t matter who we are…what matters is our plan\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nYou have a plan?\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nIn all candor, the plan is TBD. A little “fluid” on the plan…\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nok…I got no plan.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Lonely<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nAlright Medley (mind if I call you Medley? Or Lonely?)… take us back to your youth. What are some of your earliest memories.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nI think to understand the Medley we know today, we need to learn how you got your start.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nAgreed. To get the essence of Medley one must understand the origins of Medley.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nI was born in the golden age of malls. It was the early 90’s. Grunge. Flannel. Cell phone kiosks on every corner. A simpler time<\/p>\n

Rochestr was a different place then as well. The D&C cost a quarter, WCMF ruled the airwaves like a rock god. Malls were the hub…<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nOf interactions with the young folks. Acid washed jeans and un-ironic mullets as far as the eye could seeeeeee\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nYou came to Rochetser in the 90s correct?\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nYes. 1995. I remember it well. Good times.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nExactly! I still got a box of “The Nerve” bumper stickers around here…\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nOh yeah, hey, what ever happened to The Nerve? Y105? That’s probably a whole nother story right there.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nSo the Nerve was owned by a guy who tried to get a classic rock format off the ground for years. He landed on modern rock and it worked..<\/p>\n

Rochester had never had a station like that. But he ended up selling it to the group that owned WCMF, this was at the beginning of the…<\/p>\n

Radio mergers that created, or added to, the crap that’s on celestial radio\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nYour right, it’s a good story, a guy by the name of Orest Hrywnak could tell you all about it. Tell him Medley sent ya\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nWBER is still kind of interesting, I guess. I like that station. That and Muzak which I still get piped I’m here\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Lonely<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nBut back to you…
\nAnd these questions may get a bit personal so I apologize in advance…<\/p>\n

Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever had inside you?\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nHahah. I’m not Kim Kardashian, you know.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nFair enough. I can see why you wouldn’t want to answer that one.<\/p>\n

So what happened to you? I mean 3 or 4 anchor stores, two awesome levels, a great carousel and a fountain!? How’d it go so bad so fast?\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nThe Internet and Eastview didn’t help. Wilmorite say the writing on the wall before anyone else that landscape was changing….<\/p>\n

And people didn’t have to drive into the city. But ultimately it was ineffective leadership at the local level and an owner ill prepared..<\/p>\n

To actually run a business. They got in way over their heads and the iron politicians kept hoping it wouldn’t implode on their watch..<\/p>\n

And make no mistake I will stand as a testament to that lack of leadership for at least 7 more years. The real people that got scammed..<\/p>\n

Are the taxpayers of Irondequoit, this dump is theirs for years as Congel drags this out in the courts. That’s the strategy now.\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nDo I sound bitter?\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nUnderstandably so.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nI like photoshopping Rich Funke’s wig on people better than all this politics stuff.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nCongel owes some money right? So what’s happening right now? Will the County (or Town of Irondequoit) be able to take the property?\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nHey, I’m just a parody mall account, what do I know. But one might look at what happened with Destiny in Syracuse to see the strategy.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nbut that’s just a guess\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Lonely<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nYou’ve been quoted in the media as saying,
\n\u201cHe might want to throttle back the great recession narrative. We get it. Times were tough, six years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you believe Mr. Congel is putting on a charade?<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nI forgot I said that. I’m saying nobody cares about the problems you had 5 years ago. Most people went through that and paid their bills..\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nYou don’t get any sympathy points from that anymore.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nAnd to suggest that taxpayers cut you some slack because your financing fell through is disrespectful and tone deaf<\/p>\n

I think most Rochesterians are fed up and the current regime lacks any credibility. It’s beyond fixing is what I think most people would say.<\/p>\n

Me, I’m just a parody mall account who makes jokes about Louise Slaughter. What do I know..\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nI will give you a scoop for being such a good interviewer though…<\/p>\n

An abandoned mall should have an abandoned Twitter account. It’s the nature of the universe. Ying and Yang stuff<\/p>\n

This account will cease to be updated on Halloween this year.<\/p>\n

That’s right. Medley will be leaving the building!\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nI’m going to fade off into Bolivia like Mike Tyson said\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nUNBELIEVABLE! Was it something I<\/i> said? Or was this always your intent? How will you be spending all your free time if you’re not Tweeting?\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nYes. All your fault. You thought I was Bello. How dare you!!<\/p>\n

No, there is a shelf life on all of these Twitter accounts, especially ones like this, and we would rather be the last season of…<\/p>\n

Breaking Bad than Dexter, if you get me.<\/p>\n

I plan to write my memoirs “A Life of Medley” and spend time prank calling Sears. Maybe grow a beard. Sky’s the limit…\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Lonely<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nIs there anything else you would like to know?\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nDo you think you might return to Twitter in the future if some new Medley Centre developments were to finally get going one day?\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nBoy, I don’t know. Never say never but I’m thinking I’ll probably be busy growing that beard.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nI like your website and what you are doing, btw, keep it up…\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nAw thanks dude! I really appreciate that. Ditto. It’s going to be a little lonelier in the Twitterverse without Lonely Medley.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nIs there anything else you want to say to your fans, or the Rochester public in general?\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nWe have a GREAT city. We are probably are biggest critics and we make mistakes but it’s a town full of very funny, very interesting people..<\/p>\n

I think we are really tough on ourselves. Maybe celebrate the good things more? And don’t settle for garbage on Twitter..<\/p>\n

The most accounts with the most followers are usually the loudest, most obnoxious and most self important and lack any self awareness..\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nThat’s it. I will see you….. out there.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Lonely<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nWait! One last question…\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nHow did I get so handsome?\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nSure. And do you have any predictions for 2015?\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nMedley will still be a dump, there will be a scandal in the Mayors office and the Red Wings will win the governors cup.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nRochesterSubway.com<\/i>
\nThank you Armand— err, I mean Medley.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\nLonely Medley Centre<\/i>
\nYou’re welcome. I enjoyed our chat.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Mike Governale If you’re a regular follower of the #ROC Twitter scene, you have undoubtedly come across the musings of Lonely Medley Centre. The parody Twitter account @MedleyCentre has racked up over 1,000 followers since February and has catapulted into this year’s Best of Rochester contest alongside @RachelBarnhart. No one seems to know who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10703,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1573,174,114],"tags":[2851,2848,2850,141,794,2845,2847,2846,918,2849,2173],"class_list":["post-9126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rochester-art-culture","category-interviews","category-rochester_news","tag-medleycentre","tag-adam-bello","tag-armand-schaubroeck","tag-interview","tag-irondequoit","tag-irondequoit-mall","tag-lonely-medley-centre","tag-medley-centre","tag-rachel-barnhart","tag-scott-congel","tag-twitter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9126"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9594,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9126\/revisions\/9594"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}