Here's my selection of events in Rochester this week:
Thursday, February 12

• Today from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Auditorium in in Helen Wood Hall at the University of Rochester Medical Center (Room 1-304), Nsedu Obot Witherspoon will discuss Partnerships for Change: Pursuing a Renewed Vision for Protecting Children's Environmental Health.
  

  Ms. Witherspoon's talk will describe [the Children's Environmental Health Network's (CEHN)] efforts to implement its vision for protecting children's environmental health through research, education, and policy change. Some methods include changes in local, state, and federal policies and the contributions of scientists, public health and health care professionals, community leaders, and policy makers.

  [source: Color Brighton Green website, 2015-Feb-9]

• In front of ABC Headquarters (550 East Main St.), join workers starting around 5 p.m. Stand Up for ABC-Headstart Students and Workers starting at 5 p.m.
  

  For the past nine months, workers at ABC-Headstart have been fighting for a fair contract that would provide improvements for themselves and their students. These are workers who provide critical services for some of our city's most financially insecure families – teaching, feeding, and caring for children in poverty all across Rochester. Yet, in spite of Action for a Better Community's stated purpose of "providing opportunities for low-income families to become self-sufficient" as part of their "War on Poverty", many of those that they employ are themselves in poverty.

  [source: Rochester Red and Black e-mail, 2015-Feb-4]

• Tonight at 7 p.m. at the MuCCC is a Short Form Improv Showcase featuring One Mic Stand, Geva Comedy Improv, and Nuts and Bolts Comedy Improv as part of the Laughingstock: Comedy Festival. [source: MuCCC website, 2015-Feb-1]
• From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Thread is a Love You Too event with works by local artists. [source: Facebook, 2015-Feb-9]
• At Writers and Books starting at 7 p.m. is The Bertrand Russell Forum and The Rochester Claude Bragdon Theosophical Society. Tonight, Paul Mitachek will discuss George Herbert Mead and the Rise of Reflective Consciousness. [source: Writers and Books website, 2015-Feb-9]
• Thursdays at 7 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m. through March 14 at the Downstairs Cabaret at Winton Place (3450 Winton Pl.) are performances of Girls Only: The Secret Comedy of Women, "an original comedy that celebrates the honor, truth, humor and silliness of being female." [source: City Newspaper events calendar, 2015-Feb-11]
• At 7:30 p.m. in Ingle Auditorium at RIT is a screening of Happy (Roko Belic, U.S. 2011, 76 min.)
  

  Happy takes us on a journey from the swamps of Louisiana to the slums of Kolkata in search of what really makes people happy. Combining real life stories of people from around the world and powerful interviews with the leading scientists in happiness research, Happy explores the secrets behind our most valued emotion.

  [source: University of Rochester Cinema Group website, 2015-Feb-9]

• Zeno Tigh performs at Starry Nites starting around 8 p.m. [source: Facebook, 2015-Feb-9]
• The Dryden will screen My Brother's Wedding (Charles Burnett, U.S. 1983, 78 min., Blu-ray) tonight at 8 p.m.
  

  The first release of My Brother's Wedding was so rushed that director Charles Burnett was not permitted to finish editing the film. The result received decidedly mixed reviews from a festival screening, which scared off the distributors, and My Brother's Wedding was never given a general release. Twenty-five years later and after a restoration by Pacific Film Archive, Burnett agreed to release his labor of love with Milestone Film and Video only if he could complete it as he originally intended. We are pleased to be able to screen Burnett's final cut, one that successfully blends comedy and drama as it follows Pierce Mundy (Everett Silas), a young man in South Central Los Angeles drifting through life with no particular purpose—until confronted with a crucial decision that he would rather avoid.

  [source: Dryden website, 2015-Feb-9]

• Starting at 9 p.m. at the Casa Hispana at Nazareth is a Panel on U.S. Relations with Cuba under the Obama administration. [source: City Newspaper events calendar, 2015-Feb-9]

Friday, February 13

• Tonight at 7 p.m. at the MuCCC is the Sketch Showcase Etch-A-Sketch Comedy Team, Estrofest Comedy Troupe!, and Thank You Kiss, then at 9 p.m. is the Feature Show with Canary In A Coal Mine, and a Stand Up Showcase hosted by Charlie Wildey at 11 p.m. as part of the Laughingstock: Comedy Festival. [source: MuCCC website, 2015-Feb-1]
• This week's 7 p.m. movie at the Cinema (except Monday) is Selma (Ava Duvernay, U.K. / U.S. 2014, 128 min.) "A chronicle of Martin Luther King's campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965." The 9:10 p.m. movie is Foxcatcher (Bennett Miller, U.S. 2014, 129 min.) "The greatest Olympic Wrestling Champion brother team joins Team Foxcatcher led by multimillionaire sponsor John E. du Pont as they train for the 1988 games in Seoul – a union that leads to unlikely circumstances." [source: Cinema coming soon page, 2015-Feb-11]
• Tonight at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., the Dryden will screen Blue Ruin (Jeremy Saulnier, U.S. 2013, 90 min., DCP).
  

  One man's determination to avenge the murder of his parents, by in turn taking the life of their killer, is jinxed from the outset. Already emotionally damaged and living in his car, Dwight (Macon Blair) somehow manages to find the strength and resources to carry through with his plan, which is simple on the surface but bedeviled by underlying currents over which he ultimately has no control. Saulnier's film is subtly subversive (and bleakly funny) with its acts of violence erupting with shocking and sobering force. Blair carries the film with a sweet desperation, his self-neglect and depression giving way to a surprising resourcefulness despite the fact that nothing goes according to plan.

  [source: Dryden website, 2015-Feb-9]

• Starting around 8:30 p.m. at the Meddlesome Lab is a show with very good, experimentally-daring acoustic soloist Seth Faergolzia, nice, solid acoustic rock from Archimedes, Wildlife Freeway, fascinating, engaging orchestral folk band Paxtor, and Bl00ps. [source: Facebook, 2015-Feb-9]
• At 9 p.m. tonight, and at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. tomorrow, Raymond the Amish Comic performs at the Joke Factory Comedy Club (911 Brooks Ave.)
  

  Mention the Pennsylvania Dutch and many things come to the minds of folks in the Lehigh Valley — scrapple, horse and buggies, hex signs, and Raymond the Amish comic. And not necessarily in that order. But for Raymond — and his audiences — the idea of being Amish goes beyond being a member of the "Plain People." It is about trying to live an uncomplicated and decent life in the face of technology information overload, and changing customs and morals.

  [source: City Newspaper events calendar, 2015-Feb-11]

• Starting around 9 p.m. at the Bug Jar is excellent, deceptively mellow, complex rock-and-roll from Hinkley, No Glitter, complex, multi-faceted, musician's rock-band Ian Downey is Famous, and Nod. [source: Bug Jar calendar, 2015-Feb-9]
• 5Head performs at the Dinosaur tonight starting around 10 p.m. [source: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que website, 2015-Feb-9]
• The Little will screen Dark City (Alex Proyas, Australia / U.S. 1998, 100 min.) at 10 p.m. as part of the Mondo Movie Series [apparently a phrase they don't understand …]
  

  John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) awakens alone in a strange hotel to find that he is wanted for a series of brutal murders. The problem is that he can't remember whether he committed the murders or not. For one brief moment, he is convinced that he has gone completely mad. Murdoch seeks to unravel the twisted riddle of his identity. As he edges closer to solving the mystery, he stumbles upon a fiendish underworld controlled by a group of ominous beings collectively known as the Strangers.

  [source: Little Theatre website, 2015-Feb-9]

Saturday, February 14

• Today from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. is a Brainery Bazaar at the Rochester Brainery and Village Gate. [source: Facebook, 2015-Feb-9]
• Tonight at 5 p.m. at the MuCCC is a Long Form Improv Showcase with Left for Dead Improv, Unleashed! Improv, and Two Fat Ladies Sketch followed at 7 p.m. by a Feature Show with Polite Ink. Sketch and Improv titled Love Potion #9.1, and at 9 p.m. is a Music Comedy Showcase with humorous novelty rap band Garden Fresh, Passive Aggressives Anonymous, and Hardwood all as part of the Laughingstock: Comedy Festival. [source: MuCCC website, 2015-Feb-1]
• Today, tomorrow, and Monday at 7 p.m. at RIT is the Banff Mtn. Film Fest. World Tour.
  

  The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour returns to RIT February 14, 15, and 16, 2015. Ignite your passion for adventure, action, and travel! Journey to exotic locations, paddle the wildest waters, and climb the highest peaks. The 2014/2015 Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour brings films from the 39th annual Banff Mountain Film Festival to about 400 communities around the world. From an exploration of remote landscapes and mountain cultures to adrenaline-fueled action sports, films in this year's world tour are sure to captivate and amaze the explorer within you.

  [source: Facebook, 2015-Feb-9]

• Starting at 8 p.m., the Dryden will screen I'll Never Forget You (Roy Baker, U.K. 1951, 90 min., 35mm).
  

  Is it truly possible to go back in time and live in an era that holds more appeal for us than the present? Before Woody Allen's warm and humorous take on this premise in Midnight in Paris, director Roy Baker explored the possibility in a much more pragmatic and slightly darker fashion. A love story that bridges the centuries, I'll Never Forget You stars Tyrone Power and Ann Blyth as two people whose lives intersect, diverge, and then quite possibly, come together again.

  [source: Dryden website, 2015-Feb-9]

• Starting around 10 p.m. at the Bug Jar is The Post-Holiday Shitty Weather Punk Extravaganza with Sexy Teenagers, New City Slang, Ivy's Panic Room, and A Vintage Year. [source: Bug Jar calendar, 2015-Feb-9]

Sunday, February 15

• Today from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. in Rundel Auditorium on the 3rd Floor of the Rundel Library Building is a Rochester's Rich History discussion titled Tea With Mrs. Jeffrey.
  

  Born in Norfolk, Virginia, activist Hester C. Jeffrey moved to Rochester from Boston with her husband in 1891. Meshing instantly with Rochester's reputation for social reform, she quickly distinguished herself as a leader in the African American community. Mrs. Jeffrey was heavily involved in efforts to erect a bronze statue of Frederick Douglass in Rochester and was tireless in her efforts to organize African American women, founding the Susan B. Anthony Club for Colored Women in 1902 and serving as its first president. She would go on to form the Hester C. Jeffrey Club, which raised money for young black women to take courses at the Mechanics Institute, and The Climbers, a club for girls that aided the elderly and needy. Mrs. Jeffrey was also a member of several influential organizations, including the Afro-American Council, the Political Equity Club, the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and the National Association of Colored Women. A close friend and associate of Susan B. Anthony, Mrs. Jeffrey was chosen to deliver a eulogy at her funeral.

  [source: Monroe County Library website, 2015-Feb-9]

• The Laughingstock: Comedy Festival at the MuCCC concludes today at 2 p.m. with John Borek's Jokes of the Unconscious. [source: MuCCC website, 2015-Feb-1]
• Updated: At 4 p.m. at the Flying Squirrel is an Anarchist Sunday School on What is capitalism?
  

  Too often, discussions of economics are discussed in inaccessible language and framed in ways removed from it's effect on our daily lives as working people. Abolish Restaurants is a guide to the daily misery, stress, boredom, and alienation of restaurant work, as well as the ways in which restaurant workers fight against it. Drawing on a range of anti-capitalist ideas as well as a heaping plate of personal experience, it is part analysis and part call-to-arms. It's important that participants read the text before the meeting! You can read our text for this month online at https://www.prole.info/ar.html

  [source: Rochester Red and Black e-mail 2015-Feb-4, updated 2015-Feb-13]

• Starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Little is a Black History Month Film Series screening of Forgotten Four: The Integration of Pro Football (Johnson McKelvy, U.S. 2014, 60 min.)
  

  Sports historians and family members recall the real-life struggles and broad cultural impact of four African American athletes – Kenny Washington, Woody Strode, Marion Motley and Bill Willis – credited with breaking through professional football's color barrier in 1946.

  [source: Little Theatre e-mail, 2015-Jan-28]

• Starting at 7 p.m. tonight at the Lovin' Cup is Marissa Mulder performing "Tom…In His Words": The Songs of Tom Waits . [source: Lovin' Cup website, 2015-Feb-9]

Monday, February 16

• Today from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Kate Gleason Auditorium of the Bausch and Lomb Library Building, The Genesee Country Museum presents The Quilt Story.
  

  Sneak in some learning about American history as well as mathematical patterns, while being entertained. The Genesee Country Museum is coming to present The Quilt Story, a touching tale, illustrated by Tomi Depaola, of a young girl in the 1800s and her quilt. Real quilts are used to bring this heart and toe warming story to life. After the program, come to the Children's Center to create your own pattern for a cool quilt. Sneak in some learning about American history as well as mathematical patterns, while being entertained.

  [source: Monroe County Library website, 2015-Feb-9]

Tuesday, February 17

• 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 discussion of Frederick Douglass with Dr. David A. Anderson/Sankofa, Lori Birrell, Lea Kemp, and Michelle Daniels.
  

  From historical interpretations and student oratory contests to exhibits and document digitization, see what community institutions are doing to preserve the legacy of this famous abolitionist, writer and former slave who spent his most crucial years of activism in Rochester.

  [source: Monroe County Library website, 2015-Feb-9]

• At 4:45 p.m. in the University Gallery in James R. Booth Hall at RIT, David Pullman will host a Design Conversation. "Designing with Time, Motion, and Sound The former Design VP of WGBH Boston discusses how the conventions of typography and the dynamics between text and image change with the additions of time, motion and sound." [source: City Newspaper events calendar, 2015-Feb-9]
• Tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the MuCCC is a reading of My People Perish by Jahaka Mindstorm. [source: MuCCC website, 2015-Feb-9]
• At 8 p.m., the Eastman Jazz Lab Band performs in Kilbourn Hall. [source: Eastman School of Music calendar, 2015-Feb-9]
• The Dryden will screen Within Our Gates (Oscar Micheaux, U.S. 1920, 81 min., 35mm) tonight at 8 p.m. with live piano accompaniment by Philip C. Carli.
  

  In this classic silent film, maverick African American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux tackles the upheaval of Reconstruction after the American Civil War. Jasper Landry (William Stark), a black sharecropper, is framed for the murder of a wealthy white planter and finds himself on the run from a lynch mob. Micheaux mirrors this story with a modern tale of a black woman, who—while struggling to save a school for impoverished children—discovers her father is white.

  [source: Dryden Theatre website, 2015-Feb-9]

Wednesday, February 18

• Tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Brighton Memorial Library is a screening of Garbage Warrior (Oliver Hodge, U.K. 2007, 86 min.) "The epic story of radical Earthship eco architect Michael Reynolds, and his fight to build off-the-grid self-sufficient communities." [source: ColorBrightonGreen.org, 2014-Nov-24]
• From 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Helen McGraw Branch Library (2180 E. Ridge Rd., Irondequoit) is a discussion of Everything You Want to Know About Chocolate. [source: Monroe County Library website, 2015-Feb-9]
• At 7:30 p.m. at the MuCCC is a performance of To Mothers of Suns, and Lessons Yet to Learn, "2 Choreopoems written and directed by Reenah Golden featuring Spoken Word, Dance, Music, Multimedia Art and interactive audience discussions". [source: MuCCC website, 2015-Feb-9]
• Ossia New Music performs in Kilbourn Hall tonight at 8 p.m. [source: Ossia New Music website, 2015-Feb-9]
• The Dryden will screen Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, U.S. 1944, 106 min., 35mm) tonight at 8 p.m.
  

  With a tagline that boasts, "It was love and murder at first sight!," Billy Wilder's notorious noir powerhouse masterfully keeps us on the edge of our seat, even while knowing how it all ends. Fred MacMurray is insurance salesman Walter Neff, a company man who wanders into the wrong place at the wrong time: the Dietrichson household. Barbara Stanwyck is Phyllis Dietrichson, the most fatal of femme fatales, who draws him into her deadly insurance scam and the rest is history. Based on James M. Cain's novella of the same name, which was itself pulled from the headlines, Double Indemnity is one of the most studied and revered films noir. Possibly Stanwyck's most widely praised role, with her at her best as the manipulative, possibly sociopathic, Mrs. Dietrichson.

  [source: Dryden website, 2015-Feb-9]