Here's what's going on this week:
Thursday, November 29

• Tonight from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. is the annual Park Ave. Holiday Open House. [source: City of Rochester website, 2012-Nov-28]
• This evening at 7:30 p.m. at the Memorial Art Gallery, Dr. Karol Wight will present an Archaeology Lecture on ancient, Islamic and Roman glass in the museum's collections. [source: MAG website, 2012-Nov-26]
• Over at Writers and Books at 7:30 p.m., The Beets (Tricia Asklar, Jan Wenk Cedras, Charlie Coté, Kitty Jospé, Paulette Swartzfager, and Sally Bittner Bonn) will read poetry. [source: Writers and Books website, 2012-Nov-26]
• In Hoyt Auditorium on the University of Rochester campus is a free screening at 8 p.m. of The Flying Scotsman (96 min.): "the true story of Graeme Obree, the Champion cyclist who built his bicycle from old bits of washing machines who won his championship only to have his title stripped from him and his mental health problems which he has suffered since." [source: University of Rochester Cinema Group website, 2012-Nov-26]
• The Dryden will screen When Harry Met Sally (Rob Reiner, Us 1989, 96 min.) tonight at 8 p.m. [source: Dryden website, 2012-Nov-26]

Friday, November 30

• Tonight from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church (220 Winton Road South) is the Metro Justice Alternative Fair, an annual fund-raising event for Metro Justice. [source: Metro Justice Facebook event, 2012-Nov-28]
• Akoma N'toaso African Dance and Drum Ensemble will perform tonight and tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the MuCCC. [source: MuCCC website, 2012-Nov-26]
• At 7 p.m. at Tajze' Wine and R&B Lounge (139 State St.) is Networking for Creatives. [source: Facebook, 2012-Nov-20]
• Tonight at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., the Dryden will screen Princess Mononoke (Mononoke-hime, Hayao Miyazaki, Japan 1997, 134 min.)
  

  Miyazaki's epic story of conflict and balance between humans, God, and nature has been universally acclaimed by critics and broke the box office record on its original release in Japan.

  [source: Dryden website, 2012-Nov-26]

• The Eastman Wind Ensemble performs tonight in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre at 8 p.m. [source: Eastman School of Music calendar, 2012-Nov-26]

Saturday, December 1

• Today from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. is "It's A Wonderful Life in the South Wedge" Holiday Festival with music, art, and specials at area merchants. [source: BASWA Facebook event, 2012-Nov-26]
• This evening from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. is the Lighting of the Liberty Pole and Family Fun Night. [source: City of Rochester website, 2012-Nov-28]
• Tonight at 7 p.m., 9 p.m., and 11 p.m., the UofR Cinema Group will be screening Moonrise Kingdom (94 min.) in Hoyt Auditorium on the University of Rochester campus. [source: University of Rochester Cinema Group website, 2012-Nov-26]
• At 8 p.m., the Dryden is screening Die Hard (John Mctiernan, Us 1988, 131 min.) In lieu of a synopsis, I offer this spoiler-laden punk-rock song by Guyz Nite of all four Die Hard movies. [source: Dryden website, 2012-Nov-26]

Sunday, December 2

• This afternoon at 4 p.m. in Hoyt Auditorium on the University of Rochester campus is a screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, 141 min.) [source: University of Rochester Cinema Group website, 2012-Nov-26]
• The Bug Jar will host Desert Noises, MD Woods, Hideout, and There I Say is Lightning starting around 9 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar, 2012-Nov-26]

Monday, December 3

• The Eastman Philharmonia performs tonight in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre starting at 8 p.m. [source: Eastman School of Music calendar, 2012-Nov-26]

Tuesday, December 4

• This evening from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Tapas 177 is an Art Show with works by Jehenna Nosaelc. [source: Facebook, 2012-Nov-26]
• The Dryden will screen A Girl in Every Port (Howard Hawks, Us 1928, 62 min.) preceded by The Treasurer's Report (Thomas Chalmers, Us 1928, 10 min.) at 8 p.m.
  

  Movie theatres were just being wired for sound in 1928, so it wouldn't have been unusual for a cinema to show a silent starring a tried-and-true draw like Louise Brooks in A Girl in Every Port — where Brooks shows her considerable talent for wearing a tight-fitting bathing suit through most of the film — with one of the newfangled "talkies." Here it's humorist Robert Benchley's film debut The Treasurer's Report, in which he established his soon-to-be world-famous befuddled public speaker routine. A Girl in Every Port was Brooks's last film before going off to Germany to make Pandora's Box, her last American silent starring role, and one of the last silent films Fox made.

  [source: Dryden website, 2012-Nov-26]

Wednesday, December 5

• Over at the Rochester Auditorium Theatre at 7 p.m. is Moscow Ballet's Great Russian Nutcracker 20th Anniversary. [source: RocWiki events, 2012-Nov-26]
• The Eastman Wind Orchestra will perform tonight in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre at 8 p.m. [source: Eastman School of Music calendar, 2012-Nov-26]
• Meanwhile in Eastman East Wing #415 is Ossia New Music's performance also starting at 8 p.m. [source: Ossia New Music website, 2012-Nov-26]
• The Purple Rose of Cairo (Woody Allen, Us 1985, 82 min.) will be screened at the Dryden at 8 p.m.
  

  While sitting in a Jersey movie theater, escaping the Depression through yet another viewing of The Purple Rose of Cairo, something strange happens to unhappy housewife Cecilia (Mia Farrow): male lead Tom Baxter (Jeff Daniels) steps straight off the screen and into her life. Soon, other characters try to make the same exit, and actor Gil Shepherd (Daniels again) is called in from the coast to set things right. One of Woody Allen's most beloved and original films, The Purple Rose of Cairo is both a heartbreaking look at the difference between fantasy and reality and a bittersweet acknowledgment of the movies' ability to give succor.

  [source: Dryden website, 2012-Nov-26]

• Kashka, very good, experimentally-daring acoustic soloist Seth Faergolzia (in a solo loop-based pop project), A Victory for Upfish, and Ben Morey will be a the Bug Jar tonight starting around 9 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar, 2012-Nov-26]
• Really good blues-charged rock from Buford and Smokin' Section will perform at Dinosaur tonight starting around 10 p.m. [source: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que website, 2012-Nov-26]