Weekly Rochester Events #356: Formerly the Collegiate School in Connecticut

Thursday, November 3, 2005

I accidentally spent too much time hacking around with the schedule for The High Falls Film Festival so I didn't have much time to pontificate in an essay. Nonetheless, here's the blog everybody seems to love so much ...

On Friday I stopped at the Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) to see Les Revenants (They Came Back) which was a fascinating French film about people coming back from the dead and going back to work. Thematically it implied how our memories of people would appear if made real.

See, for everyone I know reasonably well, there's really two people: the one who's real and the pretend one who lives in my head. The doppelganger is an impersonation of what the real person is like — based on my discussions with them, the way they move, and what they say. In fantasy, I can "talk" with that ficticious person and they reflect as much of their real counterpart as they do of myself: the representation is inherently flawed.

In Les Revenants, the invading dead act like these reflections — they're unable to completely be their former individual selves; acting more like the way they're remembered. I can ramble about this rationale ad infinitum but I think the movie does a pretty good job explaining the same thing.

Afterward I popped in to Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) briefly for some coffee and saw a couple guitarists playing ... The City Newspaper listed Steve West and Peter Collin. Anyway, the duo was okay — talented, but I fault them for not feeling the songs they played ... Paul Simon's "Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard" came out a bit mechanical and up-tempo.

From there I stopped by Lux Lounge (666 South Ave.) and heard for a second time in one week the amusing tale of Jon Popick, former The City Newspaper movie reviewer (the one who got hate mail every week for what he didn't like about the movies) versus Saby Reyes-Kulkarni, current writer for The City Newspaper. Basically they had a disagreement over e-mail about local bands on WBER (2596 Baird Rd.) and Popick opted to post it on his site. The amusement comes from both being competent writers contrasted with the absolute pettiness of the whole thing.

On Saturday evening I made it out to A|V Art Sound Space (#8 in the Public Market, off N. Union St., formerly The All-Purpose Room) to see the new installation there titled When Pulse Becomes Pitch by Andrew Johnson and David Tinapple. It's a pretty clever device. You know the game when you were 6 years old [or drunk] and you repeat what the other person says? Well this is pretty similar except it echoes back similar-sounding foreign-language gibberish. There's a fair amount of amusement to be had with it, and I'm especially curious to see what happens when bands play. Especially the metal show on Thursday.

Sunday I awoke to find myself in standard time again (har har.) That evening I got out to see Alien (The Director's Cut) at the Dryden. In this case, the cut is different from a typical "Director's Cut" in that Ridley Scott feels the original is the definitive version. This one has some extra scenes that were removed originally but restored by Mr. Scott and the entire film re-edited. I thought it was still a pretty creepy movie but the pacing seems much slower than I remember. It continues to amuse me to see what the future of corporations was perceived to be in the past ... I'm not sure if it's what they got right or what they got wrong — maybe just the metaphor between that is so amusing.

Now, you'd think that after sitting around doing nothing the last couple weeks but watching movies that I'd be sick of it, but no ... on Monday I went out once again — this time to The Little (240 East Ave.) to see the 23rd installment of the Emerging Filmmakers Series. The big highlight of the evening was the rather long film (at least for a short film at almost 40 minutes) The Empty Building by Giovanni Sanseviero. It was an amazing piece, speaking of the horrors of our modern lives. The central story involves a man wrestling with his own sexual abuse as a child, played out between himself and himself as a child. Its dreamlike pace and sets kept my attention as the internal "dialog" of the central character was revealed.

On Tuesday I dug in a bit to get started on my next thing: to find creators, originators, and artists around here. I went to the Artist Breakfast Group meeting which I gather is every Tuesday starting around 7:30 or 8 a.m. at the Bausch and Lomb (140 Stone St.) cafeteria, overlooking the arboretum. Antoni Ooto is the faciliator for now and the meeting was very positive and open. It's not the be-all, end-all to what I'm looking for, but I'm glad it's there.

So that was my week. In case you never look to the right column, I wanted to mention that I added a new "Other Projects" page where I'll put links to my other projects. It seems there's a few people looking for those "other" things I do ... no sense keeping them in the dark.

I also want to mention that next Tuesday is election day (despite what other states have done — don't they respect the Sunday holy day of their agrarian, religious citizens who are several days transit from their voting sites?) and that Wednesday is the first day of The High Falls Film Festival. The extra special bonus is that I took the festival calendar and converted it to a tab-separated format which can be imported into most calendar software (and spreadsheets and databases if necessary) and exported it in Apple Macintosh, UNIX/Linux, and DOS/Windows, formats. Enjoy!

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 lecture by Elliott Erwitt titled Personal Exposures concerning his witty photographs taken worldwide for over 60 years. [source: Eastman House calendar] Tonight at The Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Ave., near Goodman St.) at 7 p.m. is a lecture by Lynne Feldman about her recent tapestry collage celebrating the Jewish holidays. [source: Memorial Art Gallery calendar] [all ages] Tonight at Starry Nites Café (696 University Ave., formerly Moonbeans) is Mike Strobel starting around 8 p.m. [source: Starry Nites calendar] [all ages] Over at A|V Art Sound Space (#8 in the Public Market, off N. Union St., formerly The All-Purpose Room) starting around 8 p.m. is very good metal band Sulaco, Ed Gein, The Lords, and Achilles. [source: artsound website] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing India Song starting at 8 p.m. about the wife of a diplomat who contrcts "colonial sickness," combining hallucinations and guilt. The movie was constructed by recording the sound first and then adding the visuals later. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. is The Genders, and excellent feminine-sex-powered power-rock/punk-rock from Yer Mom (formerly Your Mom.) [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] Tonight at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) is Big Bear, Deadly Pillowfight Accident, and Inventia starting around 9:30 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] [all ages]

F R I D A Y

Today from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Gallery R (775 Park Ave.) is the opening of an exhibition titled Site Specifics at r which runs through December 3. [source: Freetime] Decent acoustic soloist Nora Kaminski, and Teagan Ward will be at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) starting around 7 p.m. [source: band e-mail] [all ages] Over at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) starting around 8 p.m. is Andrea Dodge, and George Hochbrueckner. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages] Over at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. is the awesome mellow acoustic/digitally affected band Autumn In Halifax for their CD release show, decent rock from Nod, Will Veeder, and fast-paced chaos rock from Hilkka. [source: band flyer] [21+] Opening this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. at The Sunken Room Gallery at The Genesee Center for the Arts (713 Monroe Ave.) and continuing through November 20 is a show by Joseph Blackburn titled Behind the Scenes: A retrospective on what goes into moving and installing a 300 year old work of musical art! documenting the installation of the 1700's Italian baroque organ in The Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Ave., near Goodman St.) [source: Genesee Center for the Arts calendar]

S A T U R D A Y

O'Bagelo's, 165 State Street, noon. Today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The Baobob Cultural Center (315 Gregory St., in German House) is the opening of new gallery works by Kofi Kayiga, Michael Beckford, and Lynda Howland which runs through January 31. [source: the proverbial grapevine] Today at 11:00 a.m. in the Curtis Theatre at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) is a lecture titled The Daguerreian Years in Rochester, New York: 1840-1860 by Joseph R. Struble. [source: Eastman House calendar] Bobby Maville will be at Abundance Cooperative Market (62 Marshall St.) starting around 1 p.m. [source: Abundance Co-op calendar] [all ages] This afternoon at The Genesee Center for the Arts (713 Monroe Ave.) from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. is a slide show and lecture titled The Pixel Bound by James Bailey. [source: Genesee Center for the Arts calendar] This evening starting at 5 p.m. is a Potluck Dinner at The Ant Hill Cooperative (960 South Plymouth Ave.) [source: the proverbial grapevine] The Orange Barrels will be at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) starting around 8 p.m. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages] Emperor X, excellent mellow/digital acoustic band Autumn In Halifax, and Little Yellow Bird will be at A|V Art Sound Space (#8 in the Public Market, off N. Union St., formerly The All-Purpose Room) starting around 8 p.m. [source: artsound website] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Reel Paradise starting at 8 p.m. A documentary about a guy who goes to Fiji, reopens the long-closed movie theater, and shows contemporary American films, obviously affecting the local population. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] The California Brew Haus (402 West Ridge Rd.) will be hosting Burning Snella, and Second Nature starting around 9:30 p.m. [source: Freetime] Very good groove-rock band Somebody's Closet will be at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: JamBase calendar for Rochester] [21+] The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting Grant Hart, Little Brazil, and The Statistics starting around 10:45 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [21+] Tonight's another Betty's Sing-a-Long at Betty Meyer's Bullwinkle Café (622 Lake Ave.) starting around 10.

S U N D A Y

Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is Razbari Sumthing, Mrs. Skannotto, The Levar Burtones, The Hoboz, The Expired, and Aiyana Catori starting around 4 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [all ages] Today from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at The Baobob Cultural Center (315 Gregory St., in German House) is a showing of Sankofa. [source: the proverbial grapevine] Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 8 p.m. is the Hip Hop Haven open mic. [source: band e-mail] Starry Nites Café (696 University Ave., formerly Moonbeans) is hosting their weekly Open Mike Poetry tonight at 7 p.m. [source: Starry Nites calendar] [all ages]

M O N D A Y

Tonight at The Bop Shop (274 N. Goodman St., in Village Gate Square) is The Instinctual Eye featuring Kevin Norton, Frode Gjerstad, and Nick Stephens starting around 8 p.m. [source: Bop Shop calendar] [all ages] Kilbourn Hall at Eastman Theatre (60 Gibbs St.) will be hosting The Jazz Lab Band starting around 8 p.m. [source: Eastman School of Music calendar] [all ages] 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

Election Day The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Metropolis starting at 8 p.m. The classic of all classic science fiction movies ... with live piano by Philip C. Carli. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Odiorne will be at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) is hosting an Acoustic Open Mic from 8 to 10. [source: Daily Perks calendar]

W E D N E S D A Y

Tonight from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. is an Artist Networking Event at The Arts and Cultural Council for Greater Rochester (277 N. Goodman St.) featuring Sally Cohen. [source: Arts and Cultural Council e-mail] Tonight in Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) at 7 p.m. is another Just Poets Reading and Open Mike. [source: Writers and Books calendar] [all ages] Tonight at 7 p.m. in Lander Auditorium, Hutchison Hall at The University of Rochester (Elmwood Ave. at Intercampus Dr., details on River Campus Map) is a lecture by Kay B. Warren titled Victim and Victimizer in Anti-Trafficking Campaigns. [source: University of Rochester Events Calendar] The High Falls Film Festival will be showing Ceský sen (Czech Dream) tonight at 7:05 p.m. in the #1 front theater at The Little (240 East Ave.) It's a documentary about the creation of a fictitious product effectively marketed, and the fallout that ensues. Later, at 9:30 p.m. is the opening party at The Inn On Broadway (26 Broadway St., across East from Scio) Over at Kilbourn Hall at Eastman Theatre (60 Gibbs St.) starting around 8 p.m. is The Eastman Musica Nova Ensemble, conducted by Brad Lubman. [source: Eastman School of Music calendar] [all ages] Tonight at A|V Art Sound Space (#8 in the Public Market, off N. Union St., formerly The All-Purpose Room) is Isobella, A Wonderful, and LowVid starting around 9 p.m. [source: artsound website] 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] [all ages]

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