Here's my selection of events in Rochester this week:
Thursday, January 22

• Starting at 6:30 p.m. tonight at Rochester Community TV (RCTV, 21 Gorham St.) is the kick-off for the 2015 Rochester Movie Makers (RMM) Mind2movie 72 Hour Film Challenge. Completed films are due before Sunday at 7 p.m., and completed films will be screened at the Cinema on February 9 at 7 p.m. [source: Rochester Movie Makers website, 2015-Jan-19]
• Professor Anonymous performs at Sticky Lips BBQ Juke Joint tonight from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
  

  Fascinated with the history of recorded popular music, Don Blair, a k a, Professor Anonymous didn't seriously start playing the piano until age 30, but had been working as a blues and jazz DJ, recording engineer, lyricist, singer, among other odd jobs and creative pursuits throughout his youth. It wasn't until seeing The Neville Brothers live and hearing them sing about Professor Longhair, that he discovered the New Orleans RnB style of piano playing, and masters who came after Longhair: James Booker, Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, just to name several, whom he covers along with some classic rock and jazz artists (Beatles/ Monk). He's better known to venues around Rochester NY, as a guiding voice along with his singing songwriter, vocal powerhouse, and wife, Suzi Willpower, as Anonymous Willpower. She occasionally joins him as a vocalist, guitarist and/or drummer when he plays out without their group as Professor Anonymous.

  [source: Sticky Lips website, 2015-Jan-19]

• From 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Bernunzio Uptown Music is a Mandolin Orchestra jam session with Mark Weeg.
  

  This is a low-pressure fun time, reading sheet music from the 1800's and early 1900's, mostly light classical, vaudeville, and "circus music," but basically mandolin duets. Bring a music stand, a mandolin, and a pick. The music will be set at a comfortable pace and everyone is welcome. Guitar (prefer nylon string, but not too strict), cello, bass, and of course, mandolas and mandolins are all welcome.

  [source: Bernunzio Uptown Music website, 2015-Jan-19]

• Tonight at 6:30 p.m. is the Members' Exhibition Preview Celebration for In Glorious Technicolor and Aura Satz: Eyelids Leaking Light at George Eastman House. [source: Eastman House calendar, 2015-Jan-19]
• At the Memorial Art Gallery at 6:30 p.m. is an Alternative Music Film Series screening of Back to Front (Peter Garbiel, 2014, 100 min.)
  

  Back to Front is a two-year concert tour by Peter Gabriel, a retrospective performance which is based on every song from his 1986 multi-platinum album So played in sequence. The backing band includes musicians that Gabriel toured with in 1986—87 in support of the album's initial release.

  [source: MAG website, 2015-Jan-19]

• Starting around 7 p.m. at Greenhouse Cafe is an Open Mic and Breathing Fire: Teen Poetry Slam hosted by Rachel McKibbens. [source: Writers and Books website, 2015-Jan-19]
• From 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church, Dr. Rachael Phelps, Maureen Polen, and Brie Sleezer will discuss Abortion as a Social Good: A positive case for abortion centering on Katha Pollitt's Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights. [source: City Newspaper events calendar, 2015-Jan-19]
• From 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Spectrum Gallery (100 College Ave.), Bruno Chalifour will speak On Panoramic Photography "as a complement to its current exhibition 'Arabat Spit, Healing Muds' by Sergiy Lebedynskyy". [source: City Newspaper events calendar, 2015-Jan-19]
• From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. tonight, Little Bleu Cheese Shop will host an Open House and 2nd Anniversary Party. [source: Little Bleu Cheese Shop e-mail, 2015-Jan-19]
• The Baobab will screen Play, Jankunú, Play (Oliver N. Greene, Jr., 2006, 45 min.) at 7 p.m.
  

  The Garifuna are a Central American people of West African and Native American descent. One of their most popular rituals is wanaragua, a three-fold system of masked Christmas processionals commonly called Jankunú. This ritual is a unique blend of African, European, and Native American (Arawak and Carib) art traditions in which social and cultural identities are expressed through music, dance, and costume. As dancers adorn themselves in colorful regalia to mimic past foreign oppressors they symbolically affirm their identity. They perform stylized movements to the accompaniment of drums and social commentary songs composed by men. Descriptions of the three processions and dance styles are interspersed with interviews by Garifuna singers, drummers, dancers, cultural advocates, and scholars on the significance of rituals.

  [source: Baobab website, 2015-Jan-19]

• The Dryden will screen World's Greatest Dad (Bobcat Goldthwait, U.S. 2009, 99 min., 35mm) tonight at 8 p.m.
  

  This quirky black comedy tells the story of lonely high school poetry teacher Lance Clayton (Robin Williams), who struggles with his failures as a writer as well as his strained relationship with his teenage son, Kyle (Daryl Sabara). When Kyle falls victim to a humiliating accident, Clayton must decide how to handle the situation. This unconventional film finds humanity in the most unlikely of places and Robin Williams delivers a performance that is, at turns, both brilliantly funny and emotionally poignant.

  [source: Dryden website, 2015-Jan-19]

• Starting around 8:30 p.m. at the Bug Jar is Painted Zeros, effortlessly tight, fast, hard-pop-rock from Routine Involvements, and Northern Spies. [source: Bug Jar calendar, 2015-Jan-19]

Friday, January 23

• From 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. today at Bernunzio Uptown Music is a Meet and Greet with Jerron "Blind Boy" Paxton.
  

  "Paxton seems to effortlessly embody the spirit of early music, including ragtime, '20s jazz and Dust Bowl-era blues, delivering them through a dizzying display of virtuosity on guitar, piano, banjo and lately, fiddle. And his delivery in dress, manner, speech, and humor of the period is so spot-on that it seems impossible that it is all contained within one so young"-Bill Steber, Living Blues Magazine

  [source: Bernunzio Uptown Music website, 2015-Jan-19]

• Tonight at 8 p.m. and on Sunday at 2 p.m., the Dryden will screen Becky Sharp (Rouben Mamoulian, U.S. 1935, 83 min., 35mm), and La Cucaracha (Lloyd Corrigan, U.S. 1934, 20 min., 35mm).
  

  The first feature to utilize the three-strip dye transfer Technicolor process, Mamoulian's historical drama Becky Sharp (adapted from Thackeray's Vanity Fair) stars Miriam Hopkins as the titular socialite, who, after the Napoleonic wars, finds herself quickly ascending the social ladder, only to fall again. It will be preceded by La Cucaracha, one of the first and most impressive Technicolor live action short films, shot with the three-strip process. A famous theater owner attends a dance at a local nightclub in hopes of auditioning a new dancer and finds exactly who he is looking for. La Cucaracha opened the door to Technicolor as the premiere color process favored by directors and studios. Becky Sharp, designed specifically for use with Technicolor, glided through that door and for the next forty years, Technicolor reigned supreme as the number one color process in motion picture production.

  [source: Dryden website, 2015-Jan-19]

Saturday, January 24

• At Hart's Local Grocers' café, Dr. Geoffrey Williams will discuss How to Stay Hart Healthy at 10 a.m. [source: City Newspaper events calendar, 2015-Jan-21]
• Today from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Jenn Libby will teach an Introduction to Wet-Plate Collodion Photography at Genesee Libby Studio (Hungerford Building, 1115 E. Main St., Suite #225). Sign up at the Rochester Brainery.
  

  What is wet-plate collodion photography? Invented in 1851, it is one of the oldest photographic processes, and it is experiencing a revival in the 21st century. In this class you will learn how a wet-plate image is made, why it became the dominant form of photography during much of the Victorian Era, and why it is gaining in popularity today. You will be able to examine samples of modern and antique plates on metal and glass and learn the difference between tintypes, ambrotypes, and daguerreotypes. The instructor will also demonstrate the process using her 1920s-era 8×10 Kodak field camera to make a ruby ambrotype.

  [source: Rochester Brainery calendar, 2015-Jan-19]

• Today at 1 p.m. is the Annual January Tour of Lamberton Conservatory (180 Reservoir Ave.) with Noelle Nagel. [source: Facebook, 2015-Jan-19]
• From 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. today at the Visual Studies Workshop is Playing with Film with Ray Ray Mitrano.
  

  Join Ray Ray Mitrano for an afternoon of exploring 16mm short films, how they are projected and ways we can play with them. Free and all ages. Featuring 16mm films from the Visual Studies Workshop collection explored through interactive performance. Opportunities to participate involve sandwiches, masks, dancing and more!

  [source: Visual Studies Workshop website, 2015-Jan-19]

• Today at 2 p.m. is The Dawn of Technicolor 1915–1935 Authors' Talk and Book Signing in the Dryden Theatre with James Layton, and David Pierce. [source: Eastman House calendar, 2015-Jan-19]
• Charismatic acoustic soloist Scott Regan, and great, witty acoustic soloist Maria Gillard perform at Bernunzio Uptown Music today at 8 p.m. [source: Bernunzio Uptown Music website, 2015-Jan-19]
• At 8 p.m., the Dryden will screen Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus (Madeleine Sackler, U.S. / U.K. / Belarus 2013, 76 min., English and Russian w/ subtitles, DCP) followed by a discussion with John Borek, and Michael Krickmire.
  

  Political dissent has been a staple of the stage since Sophocles—antigone remains a primary case study of the exercise of free will versus the state's suppression of independent action. The actors and director of the Belarus Free Theatre are the embodiment of free expression and their 'dangerous acts'—plays critical of the repressive government of Belarus that they create using the simplest of theatrical stage conventions—have garnered raves from critics in Europe and America. Sackler's exhilarating documentary examines this company's bravery in the face of political suppression.

  [source: Dryden website, 2015-Jan-19]

• Starting around 8:30 p.m. at the Bop Shop is Jen Chapin.
  

  Jen Chapin has been celebrated for writing "brilliant soulfully poetic urban folk music" (NPR) for over a decade, beginning with her debut, Open Wide, in 2002. Nurtured in and around NYC by a large family of artists, writers, and musicians, Jen's "observant, lyrically deft, politically aware and emotionally intuitive" (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) songwriting features both her "extraordinary voice" (De krenten uit de pop, The Netherlands) and "astonishing jazz band" (popmatters), the combination of which has garnered her well-deserved praise, solidified by appearances on Late Nite with Conan O'brien, Npr's Mountain Stage, Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour, Wfuv's Sunday Breakfast with John Platt, Mary Sue Twohy's Folk Village and the Bob Edwards Show on Sirius Satellite.

  [source: Bop Shop website, 2015-Jan-19]

Sunday, January 25

• Starting around 9 p.m. tonight at the Bug Jar is Jayke Orvis, S.S. Web, Glenwood, Hannah Weidner, and Jaynie Crash. [source: Bug Jar calendar, 2015-Jan-19]

Monday, January 26

• From 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at City Hall is a Food Truck Public Forum to "solicit feedback on the food truck/cart program." [source: City of Rochester website, 2015-Jan-21]
• The Little will screen A Path Appears (Maro Chermayeff, U.S. 2015, 80 min.) at 7 p.m. as part of the WXXI Community Cinema series.
  

  A Path Appears, from the creative team that brought you the groundbreaking series Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, follows intrepid reporters Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn and celebrity activists Malin Akerman, Mia Farrow, Ronan Farrow, Jennifer Garner, Regina Hall, Ashley Judd, Blake Lively, Eva Longoria, and Alfre Woodard to Colombia, Haiti, Kenya, and throughout the United States as they uncover the harshest forms of gender-based oppression and human rights violations, as well as the effective solutions being implemented to combat them.

  [source: Little Theatre website, 2015-Jan-19]

• Updated: At Writers and Books tonight at 8 p.m. is the 2 Pages/2 Voices Performance.
  

  Each January, Writers and Books and Geva Theatre Center collaborate to present 2 Pages/2 Voices, an evening of short short plays written by area writers and read by area actors. Each play must be no more than two pages in length and contain no more than two characters. The only other stipulation for this year's submissions is that at some point in the play the word "spin" must be included, in honor of The Age of Miracles.

  [source: Writers and Books website, 2015-Jan-22]

Tuesday, January 27

• Today from 12:12 p.m. to 12:52 p.m. in Kate Gleason Auditorium of the Bausch and Lomb Library Building is a Tuesday Topics with Joni Monroe, and Roger Brown discussing the Inner Loop Reconstruction. "Hear from experts how reconstructing a 2/3 mile eastern segment of the Inner Loop into an at-grade street will encourage sustainable economic growth and create a more livable downtown." [source: Monroe County Library website, 2015-Jan-19]
• Join Conversations on Race at the Maplewood Community Library today from 4:45 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. [source: Monroe County Library website, 2015-Jan-19]
• From 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Scotland Yard Pub (187 Saint Paul St.) is a Pizza/Pasta Dinner with the Rochester Improvement Society, and Reconnect Rochester. [source: Rochester Improvement Society e-mail, 2015-Jan-9]
• From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Writers and Books is a Soul Sharing Pot Luck with Noella Schum.
  

  Instead of a dish to pass, bring an open mind and present inspirational readings, discussion, poetry, contemplation, music and much more in a sacred atmosphere. All spiritual paths and beyond welcome.

  [source: Writers and Books website, 2015-Jan-19]

• Tonight at 8 p.m., the Dryden will screen The Phantom Foe (Bertram Millhauser, U.S. 1920, 100 min., 35mm) with live piano accompaniment by Philip C. Carli.
  

  The film serial was for many years a staple of the cinema package engaging movie patrons with each cliff-hanging ending. We are pleased to bring to you a classic of the serial genre preserved by George Eastman House. Indulge yourself as The Phantom Foe (filmed in Ithaca, NY!) unfolds over the course of the next three weeks. Tonight, Chapters 1 to 5—doom, The Disappearance of Janet Dale, The Trail of the Wolf, The Open Window, and The Tower Room—will get you hooked as the elusive and sinister criminal mastermind enacts his fiendish plots.

  [source: Dryden website, 2015-Jan-19]

• The Sycamore Four, Subjective Perspective, and The Concussed perform at the Bug Jar starting around 9 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar, 2015-Jan-19]

Wednesday, January 28

• Tonight at 6:30 p.m., the Little will screen Hairspray (John Waters, U.S. 1988, 92 min.) with a discussion led by Robert Hammond after the film.
  

  Self-deemed 'pleasantly plump' teenager Tracy Turnblad achieves her dream of becoming a regular on the Corny Collins Dance Show. Now a teen hero, she starts using her fame to speak out for the causes she believes in, most of all integration. In doing so, she earns the wrath of the show's former star, Amber Von Tussle, as well as Amber's manipulative, pro-segregation parents. The rivalry comes to a head as Amber and Tracy vie for the title of Miss Auto Show 1963.

  [source: Little Theatre e-mail, 2015-Jan-21]

• The Eastman Wind Ensemble performs in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre tonight at 8 p.m. [source: Eastman School of Music calendar, 2015-Jan-19]
• At 8 p.m., the Dryden will screen Golden Boy (Rouben Mamoulian, U.S. 1939, 99 min., 35mm).
  

  Virtuoso violinist Joe Bonaparte (William Holden) has dreams beyond music: he wants to be a prizefighter. His pugilistic talents take him to the top, but when he begins to question his position and the shady dealings of the sport, pressure is applied in the form of Lorna (Barbara Stanwyck) who manipulates Joe to try and keep him in the ring, and ends up falling for him. Stanwyck and Holden are flawless in this story of passion and the unexpected turns life can take. Holden always credited Stanwyck for his career—he was on the verge of being fired, but she intervened and worked with him on his performance. The result is pure cinema magic and the two stars formed a bond that lasted for the rest of their lives.

  [source: Dryden website, 2015-Jan-19]