Here's my selection of events in Rochester this week:
Thursday, December 18

• Today from 12:10 p.m. to 12:50 p.m. in Kate Gleason Auditorium of the Bausch and Lomb Library Building is a Got Health? talk titled Headaches: When to Get Help. [source: Monroe County Library website, 2014-Dec-15]
• This afternoon from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. at City Hall, Rm. 223-B is the Rochester Land Bank Board Meeting. [source: City of Rochester website, 2014-Dec-17]
• From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Skylark is a Rochester's Broads Regional Arm Wrestling League (BRAWL) Happy Hour. [source: Facebook, 2014-Dec-15]
• At Legends Bar and Grill (inside the Clarion Hotel) from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. is the Rochester Black Young Professionals (BYP)'s Third Annual Holiday Party.
  

  Spread some holiday cheer, and have a blast in the process. This year, BYP will be hosting their annual holiday party at Legends Bar and Grill – located inside of the Clarion Hotel in downtown Rochester. Parking will be validated and we have BOGO drink specials. Want more? You got it. Members can bring two guests for Free! You heard that right. Two Free Guests. We ask that attendees bring an unwrapped toy to be donated to a local charity. Can't wait to see you there!

  [source: Rochester Black Young Professionals website, 2014-Dec-15]

• From 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Castletown Room of the "wealth oasis" Staybridge Hotel (1000 Genesee St.) is a Rochester Police Department Reorganization Meeting with Captain Tony McMullen, "who will command the Genesee Section when the Rochester Police Department converts to a five section patrol model in March, 2015." [source: City of Rochester website, 2014-Dec-17]
• At 7 p.m. at the Memorial Art Gallery, the Alternative Music Film Society will screen 20,000 Days On Earth (Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard, U.K. 2014, 97 min.)
  

  20,000 Days On Earth is an inventive, lyrical ode to creativity and an intimate examination of the artistic process of musician and cultural icon Nick Cave. In their debut feature, directors Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard fuse drama and documentary, weaving a staged day in Cave's life with never-before-seen verité observation of his creative cycle. It features those who have affected his life, including wry tales from the road shared with his regular collaborator, the multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis; actor and friend Ray Winstone; and Kylie Minogue, who shared a duet with Cave in the breakout hit "Where the Wild Roses Grow." These voices from the past revisit Cave in daydream-like scenes as he sits behind the wheel, driving through his adopted hometown of Brighton, England. Neither a music documentary nor a concert film, 20,000 Days On Earth still contains electrifying performances. Audiences see a song grow from the tiniest of ideas to an epic performance at Sydney Opera House. Cave also opens up to a psychoanalyst as he discusses how his early years continue to inform his work, and journeys through his memories via mementos from his personal archive. This category-defying film pushes the form into new territory, exploring universal themes about artistry and celebrating the trans-formative power of the creative spirit.

  [source: Facebook, 2014-Dec-15]

• Tonight through Saturday at 7:30 p.m., on Saturday at 2 p.m., and on New Year's Eve at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m., the MuCCC will host performances of Mistakes Were Made, a comedy by Craig Wright.
  

  Felix Artifex, a B-list Broadway producer, gets in way over his fast-talking head when he takes on a gargantuan epic which he thinks is going to be his ticket to professional redemption. While trying to land a big star for the lead role, he uses all his powers of persuasion, seduction and intimidation to strong-arm the writer into massively rewriting his play. At the same time, he attempts to reconnect with his estranged wife and untangle himself from an investment mess involving sheep in a distant war-torn country. Mistakes Were Made is an hilarious character study of a man seeking redemption, but inescapably creating chaos and destruction.

  [source: MuCCC website, 2014-Dec-15]

• The Dryden will screen Humoresque (Jean Negulesco, U.S. 1946, 125 min., 35mm) tonight at 8 p.m.
  

  Joan Crawford and John Garfield are the two lovers at the center of a story that examines two kinds of passion—one destructive, the other unyielding and pure. Skirting censors, director Negulesco and Crawford contrive to evoke the inner grip of desire with one of the most startling close-ups ever taken. Beautifully acted, designed, and directed, Humoresque may be Crawford's crowning achievement.

  [source: Dryden website, 2014-Dec-15]

• Starting around 8:30 p.m. at the Bug Jar is Lemuria, Prince, and punk hard-rock band Green Dreams. [source: Bug Jar calendar, 2014-Dec-15]

Friday, December 19

• Through Tuesday night at the Cinema at 7 p.m. is the mild and charming film St. Vincent (Theodore Melfi, U.S. 2014, 102 min.) "A young boy whose parents have just divorced finds an unlikely friend and mentor in the misanthropic, bawdy, hedonistic war veteran who lives next door." The 8:45 p.m. film is the beautiful and brutal film The Homesman (Tommy Lee Jones, U.S. 2014, 122 min.) "Three women who have been driven mad by pioneer life are to be transported across the country by covered wagon by the pious, independent-minded Mary Bee Cuddy, who in turn employs low-life drifter George Briggs to assist her." [source: Cinema coming soon page, 2014-Dec-17]
• At 8 p.m. tonight, the Dryden will screen Tong nien wang shi (A Time to Live, A Time to Die, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan 1985, 136 min., Mandarin and Hakka w/ subtitles, 35mm).
  

  When Ah-ha's family flees China in 1947, they move to Taiwan and hope for a better life. Distanced from their cultural heritage, the family struggles with the growing generational gap and divisions among them. Poignant, understated, and shot with what would become his trademark candor, the highly autobiographical A Time to Live, A Time to Die marked the arrival of Hou Hsiao-hsien into the international film world and snagged the Golden Bear at the 1986 Berlin Film Festival.

  [source: Dryden website, 2014-Dec-15]

• Starting around 8:30 p.m. at the Lovin' Cup is 5Head, The Younger Gang, and Primate Fiasco. [source: Lovin' Cup website, 2014-Dec-15]

Saturday, December 20

• From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Tap and Mallet is a Massive Glassware Sale.
  

  We have recently switched our glassware to Tap and Mallet brand glasses. In our storage we have thousands of really cool brewery glasses that we need to get rid of. We need the space back. The sale will be held in the dining room yard sale style. Bring cash. We have an ATM if needed. The bar will be open for drinks.

  [source: Tap and Mallet website, 2014-Dec-15]

• Today from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Smugtown Mushrooms is a Winter Solstice Gathering. [source: Facebook, 2014-Dec-15]
• From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Yards is the 4th Annual Holiday Art Bazaar.
  

  Join us at the Yards and Chase The Art for the 4th year in a row to take care of last minute holiday shopping while supporting your local makers! The Yards Collaborative Art Space, Chase The Art, and Steve Smock's studio will be open, featuring handmade wares and fine art from over 20 local artists. There will also be delicious vegan eats available from Wholebytes Catering and wine for sale and sample from Coyote Moon Vineyard!

  [source: Facebook, 2014-Dec-15]

• At the Flying Squirrel from 5 p.m. to 10 pm. is a youth dance party called Stop the Violence Bash. [source: Flying Squirrel website, 2014-Dec-15]
• Starting at 8 p.m., the Dryden will screen Mister Roberts (John Ford and Joshua Logan, U.S. 1955, 123 min., 35mm).
  

  This adaptation of a play features Henry Fonda repeating his role as the title character, an officer on a backwater Navy cargo ship in the waning days of World War II. It's a much better and entertaining comedy-drama than might be expected from the volatile production. James Cagney and Fonda both had strong disagreements with John Ford, who had clearly aged into a bad temper and drinking. Ford eventually had to leave, with Mervyn Leroy doing mop-up duty.

  [source: Dryden website, 2014-Dec-15]

• At Skylark starting around 10 p.m. is the 4th Annual Holiday Extravaganza with The Seabreezers. [source: Facebook, 2014-Dec-15]

Sunday, December 21

• The Dryden will screen White Christmas (Michael Curtiz, U.S. 1954, 120 min., 35mm) today at 2 p.m.
  

  Irving Berlin's classic Christmas song is woven into a big screen musical that will put you in the holiday mood and have you singing along with Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, and Danny Kaye. Crosby and Kaye team up with Clooney and Vera-Ellen to give the greatest gift possible to their former army commander—they save his failing Vermont inn, just in time for Christmas.

  [source: Dryden website, 2014-Dec-15]

• Tonight at the Bug Jar starting around 9 p.m. is an Exploring Audio release show with chiptunes and guitar from Danimal Cannon, Wicker Kittens, and Quarries with visuals by SBTHREE. [source: Bug Jar calendar, 2014-Dec-15]

Monday, December 22

• Starting at 10 p.m. at the Little is a 35mm film screening of Silent Night, Deadly Night (Charles E. Sellier Jr., U.S. 1984, 79 min.) as part of the Mondo Movie Series.
  

  A young boy watches his parents killed by a thief in a Santa suit. He spends his youth in an orphanage, staying quietly to his self, but his mind is further bent by an ironhanded Mother Superior. He finally gets a job at a local store, where he finally snaps when he is required to wear a Santa suit, and goes on a killing spree that leads him slowly back to the orphanage.

  [source: Little Theatre website, 2014-Dec-15]

Tuesday, December 23

• Today from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Pathstone Corporation (400 East Ave.) is a Free Home Energy Workshop.
  

  Pathstone is a local nonprofit that helps landlords and homeowners make their homes more comfortable and energy efficient. In this free workshop we will go over how you can get a free or reduced cost energy audit, income based grants and rebates, and low interest loans through New York's Green Jobs Green NY Program. Please let us know you plan to attend so we can have all the necessary applications you might need to get started on the road to a safer and warmer home!

  [source: City Newspaper events calendar, 2014-Dec-15]

• Tonight at 8 p.m. is a Norman McLaren 100th Anniversary at the Dryden Theatre featuring screenings of his animated films McLaren (1961), Stars And Stripes (1939), Hen Hop (1942), Begone Dull Care (1949), A Chairy Tale (1957), Lines Horizontal (1962), Blinkity Blank (1955), Le Merle (1958), Neighbours (1952), Synchromy (1971), and Pas De Deux (1968), all made in Canada and screened on 35mm film (total run-time 77 min.)
  

  This year is the hundredth anniversary of the birth of acclaimed animator and director Norman McLaren. Born in Scotland, McLaren did his most innovative and imaginative work under the auspices of the National Film Board of Canada. To honor this most original filmmaker, we present a program culled from dozens of his exuberant and witty films.

  [source: Dryden website, 2014-Dec-15]

Wednesday, December 24

• If you're looking for something to do, swing by the Memorial Art Gallery from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to check out the exhibits Golden Legacy: 65 Years of Golden Books, Infinity Boxes by Matt Elson, and Robert Kirschbaum's The 42-Letter Name. [source: MAG website, 2014-Dec-15]
• Today at 12 p.m. and at 4:30 p.m., Geva hosts performances of A Christmas Carol. [source: Geva Theatre ticket website, 2014-Dec-15]
• If that's not your speed (or price range), stop by the MuCCC for a ShakeCo Radio Theater performance of A Christmas Carol at 2 p.m.
  

  Hearkening back to the days before television, ShakeCo Radio Theater will endeavor to recreate the mood and styles that once dominated the airwaves. ShakeCo's fourth Annual production of "A Christmas Carol" is presented as a dramatic reading of the classic tale.

  [source: MuCCC website, 2014-Dec-15]