Weekly Rochester Events #410: What Do You Think, Descartes?

Thursday, November 16, 2006

So Wednesday was the start of The High Falls Film Festival and I picked up my press kit and pass. When I got home I discovered I was given a "Films Only" pass which excluded my attendance at the parties (fine) as well as the 7 p.m. films and awards shows at the Dryden, the panels, and special events. Through one of the volunteers, I found out that this was not simply a mistake: "bloggers" were given these passes instead of real "Press" passes. Curiously, I have yet to find anyone else who received a "Films Only" pass.

I'm not bitter about it or anything — at best disheartened. First because I requested press access to the festival and was told over e-mail that there was no problem with that — why not tell me up front so I can plan ahead and buy tickets for the events I'd want to see? But second was that I felt unwelcome — as if I was given a not-so-subtle message that maybe I should stop asking for press passes and just stay home instead.

Then I was thinking, well, why? It's probably got something to do with money (although in that case you'd think they'd have requested marketing information to ascertain whether my site — or anyone's publication — warranted the investment) but I suspect it's mostly that I don't play by the rules.

See, when you get a Press pass, you're never supposed to say anything bad about the festival. And by "bad," I mean you can say that a particular film was good or bad, but you can't observe the operations and comment on them. You're not supposed to mention that the way the schedule was created, it sometimes made it impossible to attend more than one film in a night. You're not supposed to point out that the quality of the projection and sound was sometimes lacking.

That's the trouble with people not tied to financial goals: they're not beholden to the system that keeps things running. It's dangerous to have someone running around observing what happens and reporting on it. It works like this: if a publication mentions the Festival, it sells issues, and those sales mean advertisers are interested, and those advertisers pay for the people to go to the festival. Breaking that closed system will break the festival so whatever you do: don't step out of line.

The ironic part of it all is that the Festival is really pretty good. For the most part, the only thing that troubled me was that I think it was less fun than in past years. I can't quite figure out why ... it just feels like the people who are running it don't love films and filmmaking. As though their motives are entirely elsewhere and the fact that films are shown is just a side-effect of all their efforts. I'm sure there's no empirical way to measure that, but there were subtle cues. For instance, event descriptions seemed to highlight famous people and accolades from other sources a little too much. Fortunately, the films I saw were all well-attended: at least the filmmakers got their work seen.

Anyway, Wednesday night I headed to my first show of The High Falls Film Festival, the first short film program. I really liked quite a few of the films. The Girls of Elizabeth Street was quite clever: the camera follows a 10-year-old boy struggling to understand his new sexual awareness while an adult narrator dryly reminisces about the events taking place. Karneval Zvirat (Carnival of Animals) was a completely surreally sexual view of animals and humans. If you'd like to see animated animals cheerfully engaged in atypical relations, then this is the film for you. Happy Birthday didn't disappoint as a disturbingly psychotic symbiosis between a child-molesting older man and the mother of a young girl. The 9:13 was a dark and fascinating portrayal of a clever disturbed man and his dimwitted patsy. It's too bad many of the films were marred by sound levels so low that moving in your seat would drown it out (something that should have been corrected when the master was made) and the picture implied to me they were all dubbed to VHS tape.

I was somewhat disappointed in the "Coffee With..." sessions at The Strathallan (550 East Ave.) as well. The first one on Thursday morning was well-attended and typical of what I have come to expect: there were only a couple filmmakers and around 25 people attending it. The second session on Friday I have come to expect to be more thoroughly attended, and for more of the filmmakers to be available. This time, however, there was only Shirley Knight, actor in Open Window — and she had to leave early. Fortunately all was not lost as Gary Meyer, owner of The Balboa Theater (3630 Balboa St., San Francisco, CA 94121) asked some questions about what draws people to the movie theater. From the comments I heard and my own opinion, I think a crucial part of it all is to do things that you cannot do elsewhere. A big screen is an obvious advantage, but to exploit the presence of the audience (for instance to have a discussion afterward) rather than to hide them would be a plus in itself.

But anyway, back to Thursday: I went to see Shut Up & Sing in the Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) I was surprised to find the theater packed — the film was announced as an addition to the festival on Thursday morning. Indeed, quoting my own description, "the film documents what happened behind-the-scenes after a remark by the lead singer of The Dixie Chicks about President George W. Bush shoved the band into the political limelight." However, it was more of a concert film and documents the lack of anything substantial happening behind the scenes, despite efforts of "conservatives" to ruin the band. The strongest impact was that the Dixie Chicks' music began drifting away from the pure country sound they had started with, repelled by the boycott of their music on nearly every country music station.

I had a curious thought the other day — I saw a clip of President George W. Bush when he said, shortly after 9/11, that the terrorists hate us because they hate our freedoms. If I recall correctly, when France stood up and opposed the invasion plans of the United States, some Washington menus (Air Force One, I think) change the name of French fries to "freedom fries." Well, there's a lot of people who were going around those days saying they hate France — but if you can swap "freedom" for "French" when describing fries, then those words are synonymous, and what those people are really saying is they hate freedom. Therefore, people who say they hate France are the same terrorists who are against us. Just something to think about

That afternoon, I headed to see Screenplay Live featuring Maureen Tilyou's script of Beard's Creek, itself a finalist of BlueCat Screenplay Competition. Although it was technically sold out, the final stragglers like myself were permitted in. The screenplay was great — about two boys and a girl growing up with an older sister who's taken on the role of their deceased mother. It's in a poor town and conflict comes from a smooth-talking, immoral con artist, not too unlike the older of the two boys. I really liked it overall and the suspense built tremendously to the climax.

On Friday Ali and I got lunch at Pomodoro Grill and Wine Bar (1290 University Ave.) Now, I've never been there before but it sure is good — no wonder they're still around. That night I went out to see Air Guitar Nation at The Little (240 East Ave.) I was very impressed. The gist is that there has been an "Air Guitar" championship in Finland for several years, and this film documents the first time Americans sent representatives. The documentary was impressive that it was always respectful — judgment was left entirely to the audience. For me, I found it inspirational to see people do creative works from their heart and spend no effort explaining "why". In a way, the oft-repeated comment was true: that this is the last true art form.

Saturday afternoon I went to see American Blackout at The Little (240 East Ave.). It's a documentary that follows Representative Cynthia McKinney and her political progress starting with the 2000 elections. McKinney, a Georgia Congressional Representative, got things rolling in her town since that was the location of a company called Choicepoint. Choicepoint was a data processing company that analyzed information sent by the State of Florida to purge felons from the voter rolls. Fair enough, until you realize that the list of felons was actually a list of Texas felons, and the criteria for flagging a name was "an 80% match on the last name." Ok, still no big deal, right? Until you realize that this list was simply handed to the Florida Supervisor of Elections, Linda Howell as the final list.

The documentary goes on to produce logical arguments that the 2000 federal election, the 2002 election in McKinney's district, and the federal election in 2004 were tampered with. However, it focuses more on McKinney herself. The thing I found so remarkable was that she would simply speak her mind. Unfortunately, the American reaction to this is to attack the character of the inquisitor — for instance, asking to investigate people who profited from unusual stock trades on September 11 is something one should simply not ask, inviting ridicule from the men on Crossfire.

But the thing about her is that she seems to present her strongest comments when they offer a conclusive truth. I'm not sure how to explain it, and I fear I can't if one hasn't experienced it, but sometimes when you're trying to find the cause of something, one reason jumps out as the right one. There's a visceral fullness to your being to present that information. Like I say, I can't explain it, but in those moments when you utter just the right form of the truth, a cathartic, harmonious warmth — holy even — fills your being and makes you feel that character attacks and such petty schoolyard bullshit are really quite irrelevant.

That night, Ali and I went to the Gala Night Party at Artisan Works (565 Blossom Rd.) I was surprised to find that compared to last year's party, the attendance was much lower. It may have been an illusion from having a bit more space, but I really felt there were fewer people. I found that in the whole festival that the films were extremely well-attended but the parties were not. Then again, I only made it to Gala Night.

On Sunday I went back to The Little (240 East Ave.) to see The Cats of Mirikitani. Filmmaker Linda Hattendorf admitted in the question-and-answer that she started using the video camera simply to have a reason to talk with Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani. He was a homeless artist who sold paintings — Hattendorf's eye was first drawn to images of the cats he'd draw. She'd visit him and he'd insist that she kept bringing the camera. Well, a few months later and it was September 11, 2001. Since their neighborhood was inundated by a cloud of toxic dust, she invited Jimmy to stay with her for a while. Slowly the facts of his life came out: he was born in Sacramento, moved to Hiroshima in time to see the city and most of his family destroyed by an American atomic bomb, then he moved back to America, was sent to a Japanese Concentration Camp during World War II, and had was stripped of his citizenship. He worked as a personal chef for a man for a while in New York then, when his employer died, he moved to the streets and was there ever since.

Mirikitani's story is remarkable in itself, but I was fascinated by Hattendorf's underlying motives because the film answers the questions "how" and "why". Often we'll see someone way down the road — someone who has done something remarkable and think they must be some kind of exceptional person. Well, I don't believe in that. I think that anyone can do those remarkable things and it's this kind of film that proves it. When Hattendorf picked up her camera and talked to some homeless artist, the last thing on her mind was that she'd end up living with him, helping to restore his citizenship, and get him into a home of his own. Yet that's what happens. You just have to let it.

I went to The Flat Iron Café (561 State St.) to see the Hot as Fire Spoken Word / Open Mic on Tuesday. It's a really cool place. The open mic was quite good — the performers struggled to put on an air of confidence but their words proved themselves more than anything. I talked with the owner for a bit. He says he's been open for almost 2 years now and is still looking for a way for the venue to make money, but he's got no regrets about it.

And that's what I kept seeing over and over this weekend.

Otherwise ordinary people looked inside themselves and found the voice that said to them, "Yes. This is the right thing to do."

T H U R S D A Y

Tonight at 6 p.m. in the Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) is a "Wish You Were Here" Photography Lecture with Chris Usher discussing is photographs of the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] This evening at 6:30 p.m. is a meeting of The Inventor's Society of Western New York at The Rochester Public Library (115 South Ave.) [source: Rochester Public Library calendar] [all ages] Tonight at The Asbury First United Methodist Church (1050 East Ave.) at 7 p.m. is the meeting of The Rochester Genealogical Society. First is a short discussion with Christopher Bensch about recent changes at The Strong National Museum of Play (1 Manhattan Square Dr.) He will then lead the main program titled Pilgrims, Pumpkin Pie, and Politics: The True Story of Thanksgiving. [source: Rochester Genealogical Society website] [all ages] Tonight at The Flat Iron Café (561 State St.) is Deborah Branch, and Harold Pannell starting around 8 p.m. [source: Flat Iron Cafe webstie] Robin Hood will be at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) starting around 8 p.m. [source: Boulder Coffee website] [all ages] This evening at 8 p.m. at Kilbourn Hall at Eastman Theatre (60 Gibbs St.) is a concert by Eastman Computer Music Center (ECMC). [source: Eastman School of Music calendar] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing The Fortune starting at 8 p.m. in which a couple inept con artists try to heist a fortune. The film will be preceded by the Laurel and Hardy short, The Music Box. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting Coersion, and Vaeda starting around 9:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] Tonight at Milestones (170 East Ave.) is The One Night Band, and The Expos starting around 10 p.m. I only mention it because Twitch of 585 Ska and Upstate Stomp fame mentioned that bands like these were the reason he got started seeking them out. [source: Upstate Stomp MySpace page] Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting The Skull Maracus starting around 10:30 p.m. [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] Drinking Liberally meets at 8 p.m. tonight at Monty's Korner (355 East Ave.) [source: RocWiki calendar] Tonight at 8 p.m. at Bodhi's Cafe & Lounge (274 Goodman St. N., in Village Gate) is an Open Mic.

F R I D A Y

This afternoon at 3:30 p.m. in the Gowen Room in The Wilson Commons at The University of Rochester (Library Road, details on River Campus Map) is Tim Maudlin giving a talk titled Further Thoughts on the Completeness of Quantum Mechanics. [source: University of Rochester Events Calendar] Tonight from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. is a special Night of Lights at various galleries and venues in The Neighborhood of the Arts (NOTA) including Image City Photography Gallery (722 University Ave.), The Baobab Cultural Center (315 Gregory St., in German House), and Bush Mango Drum & Dance (34 Elton St.) [source: Image City Photography Gallery e-mail] Tonight from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Gallery at The Arts and Cultural Council for Greater Rochester (277 N. Goodman St.) is the opening of a new show, Four Corners of Current with works by Angela Amata, Carol Acquilano, Belinda Bryce, and Lyn Parsons. The show runs through December 7. [source: City Newspaper] This evening from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at The Sunken Room Gallery at The Genesee Center for the Arts (713 Monroe Ave.) is the Great Bowls of Fire 3rd Annual Chili Cookoff and although the admission price is rather high, it includes "a handmade chili bowl, all the chili you can eat, all the beverages you can drink and a portion is tax deductible as allowed by law." [source: Genesee Center for the Arts calendar] Today from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at The Mercer Gallery at Monroe Community College (1000 E Henrietta Rd., in Building 5) is Almost Legal at 20 Celebration: A 20th Anniversary Birthday Celebration for the Mercer Gallery. [source: Mercer Gallery calendar] The Flat Iron Café (561 State St.) will be hosting great jazz/rock band Margaret Explosion starting around 8 p.m. for their CD release party. [source: Flat Iron Cafe webstie] Tonight at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) is Aaron Maras starting around 8 p.m. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages] Tonight at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) is Lucas Carpenter starting around 8 p.m. [source: Boulder Coffee website] [all ages] Tonight at 8 p.m. at Shipping Dock Theatre (31 Prince St., new location at Visual Studies Workshop) is the opening of the new play Witness which runs through December 17. Note that Sunday at 2 p.m. is a "Pay What You Can Performance". [source: Shipping Dock Theatre website] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Sílení (Lunacy) starting at 8 p.m. and again tomorrow at 5 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m. The film is about a nightmare-plagued man who's invited to stay at the castle of Marquis de Sade. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Over at Bodhi's Cafe & Lounge (274 Goodman St. N., in Village Gate) starting around 8 p.m. is Infatuating Lena. [source: Freetime] Over at The Montage Live Music Hall (50 Chestnut St., formerly the Montage Grille) starting around 9 p.m. is Downdriven. [source: Montage Live Music Hall MySpace page] Over 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. is The Abner Trio, Man at Arms, and Ju-Jajuba. [source: A|V Space website] Pretty good bar-rock band with a country twang Blue Jimmy will be at Spy Bar (139 State St.) starting around 10 p.m. [source: Freetime] [21+]

S A T U R D A Y

Today at The Southeast Ecumenical Ministries (25 Westminster Rd., at St. Paul's Episcopal Church) from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. is RochesterCares: Food for the Elderly. [source: Rochester Young Professionals calendar] This morning at 10:30 a.m. at Monroe County Offices (111 Westfall Rd.) is the unveiling for the next phase of The Upper Mount Hope Neighborhood Association's Project Hope featuring colorful signs announcing the Mt. Hope area. [source: the proverbial grapevine] [all ages] This afternoon at The Bop Shop (274 N. Goodman St., in Village Gate Square) is LeeRon Zydeco starting at 2 p.m. [source: Bop Shop calendar] [all ages] Today from 2 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Gleason Auditorium in The Rochester Public Library (115 South Ave.) is a performance by The NEO Chamber Orchestra presenting a "multi-media production of classical gypsy music." [source: City Hall press release] Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) will be hosting Smock starting around 8 p.m. [source: Boulder Coffee website] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Das schloß (The Castle) starting at 8 p.m. and again on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. The movie is an adaptation of Franz Kafka's novel of the same name about a man who tries to get work in a mysterious castle. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Over at Café Underground Railroad (480 W. Main St.) starting around 9 p.m. is Kinetik~Flo. [source: band calendar] This evening at 9 p.m. at The Rochester Contemporary Art Gallery (137 East Ave.) is the closing reception for Land-Tracking-Land featuring music by Aaron Miller. [source: Rochester Contemporary e-mail] [all ages] Over at The Flat Iron Café (561 State St.) starting around 9 p.m. is Sean Jefferson. [source: Flat Iron Cafe webstie] A|V Art Sound Space (N. Union St. at Trinidad St., #8 in the Public Market, formerly the All-Purpose Room) will be hosting The Spontaneous Noise Ensemble, funny, devil-costumed acoustic soloist Powered by Satan, Foot and Mouth Disease, and Galactic Harbour starting around 9 p.m. [source: A|V Space website] The Montage Live Music Hall (50 Chestnut St., formerly the Montage Grille) will be hosting Heavy Rocathon 4 featuring metal/punk-rock band Fallguy, punk-groove-rock of My Penis, Massacre the Wake, and Formaldehyde starting around 10 p.m. [source: Freetime] Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is very tight modern rock band Veluxe, The Mercies, and Burning Daylight starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [21+] Tonight at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) is Hünü? (featuring members from Colorblind James Experience) starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: Freetime] [21+] Tonight's another Betty's Sing-a-Long at Betty Meyer's Bullwinkle Café (622 Lake Ave., a.k.a. "Bullwinkle's") starting around 10.

S U N D A Y

Today at 3 p.m. is the reception for the show titled Food! at The Center at High Falls Fine Art Gallery (60 Browns Race). [source: Freetime] Paradigm Shift will provide the music and Casa Larga Vineyards the wine for A Night of Jazz and Wine Tasting at The Flat Iron Café (561 State St.) starting around 5 p.m. [source: Flat Iron Cafe webstie] Excellent power-rock band with a heavy dose of metal riffs thrown in from The Atomic Bitchwax, Skeletonwitch, Cauldron, and good, gimmicky metal band Blüdwülf will be at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] Tonight and every Sunday at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) is a Comedy Open Mic with Matt Rohr at 7:30 p.m. [source: the proverbial grapevine] [all ages]

M O N D A Y

Tonight at A|V Art Sound Space (N. Union St. at Trinidad St., #8 in the Public Market, formerly the All-Purpose Room) is The Flaming Tsunamis, Red Light Run It!, and Matt Wixson starting around 8 p.m. [source: A|V Space website] 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. The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing It's the Old Army Game starting at 8 p.m. in which a drugstore owner creatively endures his customers. Featuring the first starring role of W. C. Fields in this silent film with live piano accompaniment by Philip C. Carli [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (99 Court St.) will be hosting good blues-charged rock-and-roll/groove-rock from Buford and the Smoking Section starting around 10 p.m. [source: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que calendar] Tonight at 7 p.m. at The Flat Iron Café (561 State St.) is the Hot as Fire Spoken Word / Open Mic. [source: Flat Iron Cafe webstie] Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) is hosting an Acoustic Open Mic featuring JoAnn Vaccaro from 8 to 10. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages] Autumn In Halifax will be playing at The Little Theatre Café (240 East Ave.) tonight starting around 8.

W E D N E S D A Y

Updated: Tonight at Downstairs Cabaret (172 West Main St.) is a charity performance by Nuts and Bolts Improv Troupe titled Laughing in the Face of Hunger for Foodlink starting at 7:30 p.m. [source: Nuts and Bolts e-mail] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing The Last Waltz starting at 8 p.m. which is Martin Scorsese's rock concert movie of the farewell performance of The Band — claimed by the description to be "one of, if not the, greatest rock concert movie of all time". [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting awesome punk-rock from The Blastoffs, The NY Vaults, and awesome, tight, complex rock and roll from The VEiNS starting around 9:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] 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] Tonight at Milestones (170 East Ave.) is another The Comedy Block Party starting almost promptly at 8 p.m. Tonight at Café Underground Railroad (480 W. Main St.) is a Spoken Word/Poetry night starting around 9 p.m. [source: the proverbial grapevine]

Polls | Other Projects

This week's award goes to The Roc City Coalition for maintaining an events calendar that terminated in October, 2006 despite professing that their goal is "attracting, retaining, and empowering the young adults of greater Rochester." Congratulations, Roc City Coalition!

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