Weekly Rochester Events #371: Roaming Buffalo

Thursday, February 16, 2006

On Thursday I did another improv class. This coming week, I have to miss going to the The Rochester Outdoor Museum of Art (ROMA) meeting at the library to make it to the class. At least I saw Kenichiro Sato's presentation last Sunday to help him hone what he's going to say and I think it'll stir quite a bit of excitement. Afterward, I'll head to A|V Art Sound Space (N. Union St. at Trinidad St., #8 in the Public Market, formerly the All-Purpose Room) for the release of the Snore & Guzzle Press book, The Best Cure For A Broken Heart in which one of my short stories is published.

On Friday I met with some local artists at Anderson Alley Artists (250 Goodman St. N.) to discuss things. I feel a bit out of place as I'm not presently an active physical artist—not counting the short story and improv class, I guess ... still a man-without-a-medium, and I probably never will have one. Afterward we hit up Feta Chinni (274 Goodman St. N., in Village Gate, formerly Mykonos) for lunch again and their chicken alfredo was quite good.

That night I went to the Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) to see Mutual Appreciation. It's quite a strange film, in a way—it's very mellow-tempered and kind-of about a love triangle between some 20-somethings, but more of a document of daily post-college living. It's very a subtle story and funny, although in a very natural, human way.

Amusingly (at least to me) the lead character, Alan played by Justin Rice is looking for a guy to play drums in his band and when he's auditioning someone, he brings a boombox and plays a couple tracks. I immediately recognized one of them and got in my head that it was Bishop Allen. I figured I must be nuts because the character's name is Alan. I was right the first time as it turned out: the song was "Empire City" off their album, "Charm School." As I was watching, I realized I had met Justin at the show at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) back in 2004 (and actually correctly remembered that I had them sign the CD: Justin wrote, "Always do right, Jason. Always.") After the movie I mentioned this to writer/director/star Andrew Bujalski and he said they've been friends for years—the name of the band comes from the street they lived on while the character's name is Justin's middle name.

Saturday I ran into this guy as I was coming out of Abundance Cooperative Market (62 Marshall St.) and he politely started a conversation that was obviously leading to him asking me to give him money. This time I wasn't in a hurry and he was pretty patient, so I had enough time to question my motives—my assumption having been that he would just use the money to buy drugs, or that it won't be enough to make any difference, so there wouldn't be any point in me giving him any.

However, I changed my mind: I decided that if someone asks me for help without expectation, that I should help them. The key part (and the part that isn't overly clear to me yet) is how to identify the lack of expectation. I guess it's more a demonstration that the desire is stronger than the outcome—that it's not wanting the outcome as much it is the need to ask. I ended up giving him some money and then a ride to Main St.

Anyway, while I was at O'Bagelo's (165 State Street) a couple friends of mine pointed out schedules for the fast ferry. Well, I picked a couple up and decided to put it on eBay with a write-up that mentions they "retain their original high-gloss sheen despite having weathered tremendous amounts bitterness and community resentment" and that the ship "even beat door-to-door time [to Toronto] by several minutes if the time to drive on board and disembark is included.

That night I went to see the short plays in the Bare Bones Festival by Burning Barn Theatre Everything was quite good—I especially liked the sketch "John Cage Buys a Loaf of Bread" which was hilarious and perfect; whereas another about the Japanese internment camps was very touching. I gather that this coming weekend the Saturday show is the one not to miss.

Sunday evening I finished things up with Andrew Bujalski's other (and first) film Funny Ha Ha at the Dryden Theater. In this, a post-college woman Marnie played by Kate Dollenmayer is trying to figure out what to do with her life. It blurs the line from a fictional narrative to documentary filmmaking—at one point (and probably observed only by me) the clock on a kitchen stove reads 1:15 as a house party trundles toward its end; I deduced that this wasn't so much careful planning but instead that the filmmaking was probably actually done at 1:15 a.m. and the actors were very close to the state/mood they conveyed. I think Bujalski is really onto a new standard in filmmaking here ... the characters on screen act so naturally, it causes an absurdly exaggerated sense of suspension of disbelief.

Peculiarly, after having recognized Justin in Mutual Attraction, I failed to recognize his fellow bandmember Christian Rudder in this—I only thought to even check on after seeing his face on the album cover. (Weird, huh?) But that's not all: both his and Kate's name contain 15 letters. (See, told you.)

T H U R S D A Y

This afternoon at 3 p.m. at RIT (One Lomb Memorial Dr., campus map) in Clark Room A of the Student Alumni Union is a discussion titled Identity Theft—The crime that keeps on taking. [source: RIT Events Calendar site] This afternoon from 5:15 p.m. to 6:15 is another lecture in the Thursday Thinkers series in Gleason Auditorium at The Rochester Public Library (115 South Ave.). In tonight's discussion, Kenichiro Sato will discuss The Rochester Outdoor Museum of Art (ROMA) project he is developing with City Councilmember Bill Pritchard, and Downtown Community Forum Director Kera Neylan. [source: Rochester Public Library calendar] [all ages] Tonight from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. is The Inventor's Society of Western New York meeting at The Rochester Public Library (115 South Ave.) [source: Rochester Public Library calendar] [all ages] Tonight at The University of Rochester (Elmwood Ave. at Intercampus Dr., details on River Campus Map) in Strong Auditorium at 8 p.m. is a discussion by producer/director Spike Lee. [source: University of Rochester website] Tonight is the start of the second of two weeks of the Bare Bones Festival, a series of short one-act plays, monologues, and short performance pieces by Burning Barn Theatre at New Life Presbyterian Church (243 Rosedale St.) Performances are tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday at 8 p.m. and then Sunday at 2 p.m. Especially if you got tickets for both week's unique shows, don't forget to go this week too! Each performance is slightly different ... the Saturday evening show is apparently the one not to miss. [source: Burning Barn Theatre website] Tonight at 8 p.m. at A|V Art Sound Space (N. Union St. at Trinidad St., #8 in the Public Market, formerly the All-Purpose Room) is the book release party for The Best Cure For A Broken Heart from Snore & Guzzle Press (which includes a short story by one Jason Olshefsky) along with music by Micah Blue Smaldone, soup from Nathan's Old Fashioned Soups (691 Park Ave.), and 16mm Film Screenings with titles like I Am Sad and My Turtle Died Today. [source: artsound website] Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 10 p.m. is good but oddly heavy-metal/groove-rock band The Torsos from Space, and funny, rapid-fire, synth-pop novelty song performer Worm Quartet. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting Deadly Pillowfight Accident, and great organic, experimental jazz-based music from The Blood and Bone Orchestra starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: band calendar] [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

Tonight from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Image City Photography Gallery (722 University Ave.) is the opening of the new show Metamorphosis? with works from Anna Druzcz and Christine Heusner and additional gallery members and guest photographers. [source: Image City Photography Gallery flyer] Tonight at Lux Lounge (666 South Ave.) is an Art Opening featuring works by Liz Dodds, Gethin Jones, Rachael Carney, Jennifer Fletcher, and Matt Ross-McGuire from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. [source: Lux flyer] [21+] Tonight at 6 p.m. is the Season Three Opening of Door 7 (750 South Ave.) featuring art and music. [source: RocWiki calendar] Tonight at The Bop Shop (274 N. Goodman St., in Village Gate Square) at 8 p.m. is a performance by cellist and electronic musician Lauren Radnofsky. [source: Bop Shop calendar] [all ages] Tonight at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) is good acoustic soloist Mary Simon, and excellent singer/songwriter/guitarist Dee Adams starting around 8 p.m. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing one of Woody Allen's thorougly positively reviewed films, Annie Hall starting at 8. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages]

S A T U R D A Y

O'Bagelo's, 165 State Street, noon. Today at Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. is a presentation of Celebrate Our Voices, 2006 featuring stories and poems from local writers. [source: City Hall press release] Tonight at Door 7 (750 South Ave.) t 6 p.m. is Show n Shop featuring local and visiting vendors selling handmade crafts in collaboration with My Brown Eyes and then A Wonderful, The Kitchen Sinks, Ghost Tales, and Achilles starting at 8 p.m. [source: band calendar] Tonight at 6 p.m. at A|V Art Sound Space (N. Union St. at Trinidad St., #8 in the Public Market, formerly the All-Purpose Room) is The Ghost Mice, Tomorrow the Gallows, What are Friends For, and Spys Like Us. [source: artsound website] Tonight in Hoyt Hall at The University of Rochester (Elmwood Ave. at Intercampus Dr., details on River Campus Map), The University of Rochester Cinema Group will be showing The Squid and the Whale at 7 p.m., 9 p.m., and 11 p.m. See my review from December 22, 2005. [source: RocWiki] Meg Gehman will be at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) starting around 8 p.m. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Professione: reporter (The Passenger) starting at 8 p.m. and tomorrow at 4 p.m. A documentary filmmaker gets wrapped up in the identity of a dead man who had been plotting a revolution. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Tonight at The Montage Live (50 Chestnut St., formerly the Montage Grille) is chaotic attention-deficit rock from Gaylord, awesome punk-rock from The QUiTTERS, and Taduya starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: band flyer] [all ages] Over at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) starting around 10:30 p.m. is Blue Jimmy, Burning Daylight, and great acoustic soloist Dee Adams [source: Freetime] [21+] 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

The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Au revoir, les enfants (Goodbye, Children) starting at 7 p.m. In German-occupied France during World War II, a Jewish boy befriends the director of a Catholic boarding school. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Tonight at Downstairs Cabaret (172 West Main St.) is another Improv Challenge featuring Nuts and Bolts Improv Troupe (see their site at ImprovAmerica too) starting at 7 p.m. [source: Nuts and Bolts website] A|V Art Sound Space (N. Union St. at Trinidad St., #8 in the Public Market, formerly the All-Purpose Room) will be hosting Crush Kill Destroy, Knife Crazy, and Ian Downey is Famous starting around 9 p.m. [source: artsound website] 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

President's Day At The Community Darkroom at The Genesee Center for the Arts (713 Monroe Ave.) tonight from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. is a discussion by Patricia Russotti about her photography. [source: Genesee Center for the Arts calendar] Tonight at Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) at 7 p.m. is another Wide Open Mike with Norm Davis. [source: Writers and Books calendar] [all ages] This evening at 8 p.m. at Kilbourn Hall at Eastman Theatre (60 Gibbs St.) is another performance by The Eastman Musica Nova Ensemble featuring conductor Brad Lubman and Andriessen's Workers' Union, Lang's Cheating, Lying, Stealing, Wolfe's Lick, and Gordon's Weather 1. [source: Eastman School of Music calendar] [all ages] Casey Dienel, Fancie, and Ju-Jajuba 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: artsound website] 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. In today's Tuesday Topics discussion from 12:12 p.m. to 12:52 p.m. in Gleason Auditorium at The Rochester Public Library (115 South Ave.) Judith Olson Gregory reviews The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece by Jonathan Harr. [source: Rochester Public Library calendar] [all ages] Tonight at 8 p.m. at The Montage Live (50 Chestnut St., formerly the Montage Grille) is another Words of Wisdom Talent Showcase — essentially a hip-hop/spoken-word open mic night. [source: Montage calendar] Tonight at 8 p.m. is the preview opening of Inherit the Wind at Geva (75 Woodbury Blvd.) about the Scopes Monkey Trial. [source: Geva Theatre website] Tonight at Kilbourn Hall at Eastman Theatre (60 Gibbs St.) at 8 p.m. is a performance by The Eastman Contemporary Percussion Ensemble featuring director John Beck with Ricardo Flores. [source: Eastman School of Music calendar] [all ages] Tonight at A|V Art Sound Space (N. Union St. at Trinidad St., #8 in the Public Market, formerly the All-Purpose Room) is quite good drone-noise band Sick Llama, The Cotton Museum, and (usually) semi-melodic fast-paced noise from Pengo starting around 9 p.m. [source: artsound website] Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is The Cleavagents, great blended rock/punk/ska band The Expired, solidly good punk band The Sweatshop Boys, and Public Aggravation starting around 10 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

George Washington born 1732 Today from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. in Morey Hall, Room 314 at The University of Rochester (Elmwood Ave. at Intercampus Dr., details on River Campus Map) is Niambi Carter discussing The Numbers Don't Lie: Rethinking Statistics as an Objective Form of Knowledge. [source: University of Rochester Events Calendar] Tonight at Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) at 7 p.m. is another installment of 25 & Under featuring works from writers 25-and-under. [source: Writers and Books calendar] [all ages] Tonight from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) is improv comedy with The Apothecary. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Historias mínimas (Intimate Stories) starting at 8 p.m. about three people's journeys in their trials of life. [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]

Polls | Other Projects

This week's award goes to The Rochester Visual Studies Workshop (31 Prince St.) for having current exhibitions actually be from late 2005. Congratulations, Visual Studies Workshop!

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