Weekly Rochester Events #405: Mind the Fizzle

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Ok, so last Friday Ali and I went to The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) to see Haskell Wexler's Who Needs Sleep?. In it, Wexler documents the sweatshop-long days of the movie industry. He really didn't go so far as to elicit pity — after all, it's not like these are the only jobs these people can get — more to identify a pervasive problem that actually is a hazard to one's health and safety. He goes on to document the lack of support from the local union (whose representatives recommend getting a policy in the hands of the international union), the international union (whose leader recommends getting a policy started in the local union), and OSHA (whose representatives declare that they are not in the business of managing time and hours, even if their mission is "to assure the safety and health of America's workers".) Seemingly paradoxically, every single person Wexler interviewed agreed that effectively forcing someone to stay awake to the point that they endanger themselves and others is a bad idea, yet none in power would take action.

Wexler essentially documents the point, but in my mind, everyone is actually cowardly and is not reflecting their own opinion but rather just towing the line and assuming someone else will act on the right thing. It's like what I was talking about last week on how society fails when people don't express their true opinions.

On Monday we went to The Little (240 East Ave.) to see La science des rêves (The Science of Sleep). Well, we thought we'd try out the whole "dinner-and-a-movie" special the Little has been promoting. We arrived with plenty of time before the showtime; as it turns out you have to buy a coupon which you cannot use on the same day it is purchased. What the fuck is that? So we thought we'd just get dinner there. As it turns out, they removed all the delicious panini sandwiches from their menu and replaced them with cheap wraps — purportedly for The ImageOut Film Festival [but come on, what's up with that? Supporters of GLBT don't deserve the best?] We finally gave up and went instead to Starry Nites Café (696 University Ave., formerly Moonbeans) for a nice, pleasant, normal meal ... I guess it cost a little more all-told but at least we had a nice time.

So anyway, the movie was spectacular (and thankfully there was no problem with the film presentation — the picture and sound were both fine.) I doubt I'll do any more justice to it than what has been said by the Filthy Critic's review. Nonetheless, the movie follows a man who blurs the line between reality and fantasy; waking-life and dream-life. He gets blind-sided by love and is unable to deal with it — on the one hand, full of wonder and hope and that funny inflating feeling you get when you're with someone you adore, and on the other, documenting his self-sabotage for all the same reasons. For those who've felt that way, it's a remarkably accurate homage to magical times together ... I'm curious to read negative reviews to see if there's anyone who is not bitter about love who also did not like it.

I had a conversation with my friend Sondra over the weekend. A friend of hers is going through some tough times and is lashing out against her. I'll skip the details of the issues — for the sake of argument, assume the antagonistic attitude is really irrational. During the conversation and suggesting things to try, I stumbled on a notion of how we plan.

See, for the most part we can go through life and pretty much know what's going to happen next. We make plans on Monday what we're going to do on the weekend and those initial plans pretty much happen as expected. Even when something changes on Wednesday, it's pretty easy to change direction.

However, when your life gets confusing — when you're in uncharted territory, so-to-speak — then you can't look that far ahead. Most of us cling to that ability, though. We don't realize that our ability to predict is completely compromised and we get disoriented. We tend to look way too far ahead — making decisions on what to have for dinner as if it will actually affect the person we become three years from now. When our sense of planning fails, we think that some inconsequential events are the root of some future butterfly-effect, and we think some extremely pivotal things are completely unimportant.

Did you ever unexpectedly fail a class in college? Get dumped by someone? Have someone die that's close to you? Do you have some time in your life that you look back on and think, "I have no idea what I was thinking"? Did people give you sound advice, starting with, "well, I had a similar thing happen and ..."? Did it feel crushingly horrible to hear the words — as if the utterance itself was a declaration of your inability to avoid that very same course of action — that your life had become fatalistic and completely dependent on your most minute decisions? Did you lash out at your advisor, or their advice?

Well, those are the moments I'm talking about.

See, it's then that the psychologically-reinforced illusion of control and the medium-term predictability of your life falls apart — i.e., when your mother dies, you can't go out to happy hour on Friday "just like always."

To be honest, I'm still working on figuring it all out, but I'll keep you advised.

This Tuesday was the first performance in the opening week for Tuesdays With Morrie at Geva (75 Woodbury Blvd.) which means that on the prior Saturday, they sell a bunch of "pay-what-you-can" tickets for the opening week. Well, I stopped by there on Saturday around noon and found no line out front — no people at all, in fact. Assuming they were out of tickets, I went to the counter anyway and the guy said, "I think we have a few left." I told him I was looking for two for Tuesday's performance. He said that was fortunate because that's the only day they have — then he added, "actually, you're getting the last two." Wow.

Tuesdays With Morrie was a terrific play — very moving and insightful. Mitch, a college graduate loses touch with his college mentor, Morrie until he gets reacquainted some 16-years down the road when Morrie is dying. It's not some weepy deathbed crap, though. It really digs at some of the tough issues every one of us wrestles with. At its core, though, I think the message is to let your voice be part of humanity's conversation — forgive yourself, accept yourself, and love yourself so you can believe in your self.

T H U R S D A Y

This afternoon from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in room ESM 404 at Eastman School of Music (26 Gibbs St.) is a lecture by Dr. Bruce Dalby titled Some Ideas About Rhythm Theory and Pedagogy: Gordon and Beyond. [source: Eastman School of Music calendar] [all ages] Spectacular jazz from Billy Bang will be at Water Street Music Hall (204 N. Water St.) starting around 7 p.m. [source: Water Street calendar] [all ages] Josh Bucci will be at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) starting around 8 p.m. [source: Boulder Coffee MySpace site] [all ages] Tonight at 8 p.m. at Kilbourn Hall at Eastman Theatre (60 Gibbs St.) is the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Eastman Computer Music Center (ECMC). [source: Eastman School of Music calendar] [all ages] Tonight at 8 p.m. at A|V Art Sound Space (N. Union St. at Trinidad St., #8 in the Public Market, formerly the All-Purpose Room) is part of the MB 89 performance by Craig Colorusso — a 4-hour chunk of an otherwise continuous, lifelong musical performance. [source: A|V Space website] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing La residencia (The House that Screamed) starting at 8 p.m. From the Eastman calendar: "A school full of sexually repressed young girls is the setting for this scary, gothic European cult movie." [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Dismember, Grave, Vital Remains, very good metal from Sulaco, and Salt This Earth will be at The Montage Live (50 Chestnut St., formerly the Montage Grille) starting around 8 p.m. [source: Freetime] Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is Awesome Color, The Tall Firs, and energetic, disjoint rock from The Sweet Action starting around 9:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] Pure Kona Poetry Open Mic Night is at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) tonight starting at 7:30. [source: Daily Perks calendar] Drinking Liberally meets at 8 p.m. tonight at Monty's Korner (355 East Ave.) [source: RocWiki calendar]

F R I D A Y

This evening from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Image City Photography Gallery (722 University Ave.) is the opening reception for Out of the Box ... and onto the dance floor by Betsy Phillips. The exhibit runs through November 5. [source: Image City Photography Gallery e-mail] This evening starting at 6 p.m. at Water Street Music Hall (204 N. Water St.) is The Rochester Harmony Festival to benefit Alternatives for Battered Women featuring The Campbell Brothers, accomplished musicians playing good funk from Prime Time Funk, The Legendary Dukes, and more. [source: Water Street calendar] [all ages] This evening at Lux Lounge (666 South Ave.) from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. is the opening for artwork on display by Adrien Tucker. [source: Lux flyer] [21+] Tonight at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) is The Furr Project starting around 8 p.m. [source: Boulder Coffee MySpace site] [all ages] Tonight at German House (315 Gregory St.) is José González, and Death Vessel starting around 8 p.m. [source: the proverbial grapevine] This evening at 10 p.m. at Java Wally's at RIT (One Lomb Memorial Dr., campus map) is Ghost Hunting with Chris Moon. [source: RIT CAB calendar] [all ages] The Montage Live (50 Chestnut St., formerly the Montage Grille) will be hosting Noxious, and Warsquad starting around 10 p.m. [source: GaragePop Records website]

S A T U R D A Y

Columbus Day Today at the Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) are several movies in The ImageOut Film Festival that seem pretty interesting. First, at 11:30 a.m. is Ang pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros (The Blossoming Of Maximo Oliveros) about a boy who takes on the maternal role in a poor family and who falls in love with a policeman. At 4 p.m. is a screening of Le temps qui reste (Time to Leave) about a photographer diagnosed with cancer who then seeks help facing death through several separate relationships. Finally, at 7 p.m. is Reinas (Queens), "a madcap look at just how hectic wedding preparations can be for three gay couples — especially after their demanding mothers arrive in town," as described by the Eastman House calendar. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Today at 5 p.m. is a Hibernatus Interruptus performance of Untitled Darfur Play by Winter Miller at Geva (75 Woodbury Blvd.). [source: Geva Theatre website] Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) will be hosting Bill Downen starting around 8 p.m. [source: Boulder Coffee MySpace site] [all ages] Awesome punk-rock from The Blastoffs (and with a new CD), great punk with an Irish slant from Tom Foolery and the Shannanighans (not Shenanigans; also with a new CD), and good live rock-and-roll from Eddie Nebula and the Plague will be at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] Rocking rockabilly from Krypton 88 will be at Spy Bar (139 State St.) starting around 10 p.m. [source: Rochester Music Coalition calendar] [21+] Tonight's another Betty's Sing-a-Long at Betty Meyer's Bullwinkle Café (622 Lake Ave., a.k.a. "Bullwinkle's") starting around 10.

S U N D A Y

This afternoon at 5:30 p.m. in the Herdle Fountain Court at The Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Ave., near Goodman St.) is a Baroque Organ Showcase featuring an hour-long recital on the Italian Baroque organ by Francesco Cera. [source: Memorial Art Gallery calendar] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Peep Show starting at 7 p.m. which exposes plots in the Chicago mob as well as some negative aspects of J. F. K.'s administration. Film scholar Noel Lawrence will be on hand to introduce and discuss the film along with other works by director J. X. Williams including Psych-burn, Satan Claus, and The Virgin Sacrifice. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Over at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) starting around 8 p.m. is Noelie McDonnell, and Fred the Band. [source: Monty's Krown MySpace page] [21+] Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is Jeffrey Lewis, solid acoustic-rock from Seth Faergolzia, and disorienting, surreal spoken word/music from Gaybot starting around 9 p.m. [source: WITR calendar] Tonight and every Sunday at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) is a Comedy Open Mic with Matt Rohr at 7:30 p.m. [source: the proverbial grapevine] [all ages]

M O N D A Y

Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 8 p.m. is Viva Voce, Silversun Pickups, and The Kingdom. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] The Club at Water Street (204 N. Water St.) will be hosting Emanuel, I Am The Avalanche, They Sleep They Dream, and The Sunstreak starting around 8 p.m. [source: Water Street 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

This morning at 7:30 a.m. in the cafeteria overlooking the arboretum in Bausch and Lomb (140 Stone St.) is the Artists Breakfast Group meeting ... anyone interested in art or creativity is invited. Today from 12:12 p.m. to 12:52 p.m. is another of the Books Sandwiched-In in Gleason Auditorium at The Rochester Public Library (115 South Ave.) featuring a review by Doug Emblidge of Anderson Cooper's Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival. [source: Rochester Public Library calendar] [all ages] Tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) is Course/Discourse hosted by M. J. Iuppa in which area writers can present scholarly papers on the craft of writing. [source: Writers and Books calendar] [all ages] This evening at 8 p.m. in the Welles-Brown Room of the The Rush Rhees Library in The University of Rochester (Library Rd. at Intercampus Dr., details on River Campus Map) is a reading by poet Ralph Black. [source: University of Rochester website] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Tokyo no kôrasu (Tokyo Chorus) starting at 8 p.m. which is basically about a guy trying to make ends meet after being laid off, but interestingly is one of Japan's early cinema ... with live piano accompaniment from Philip C. Carli. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting Xiu Xiu, Cong For Brums, and The Dirty Projectors starting around 9 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [all ages] Tonight at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (99 Court St.) is blues-charged rock-and-roll/groove-rock from Buford and the Smoking Section starting around 10 p.m. [source: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que calendar] Tonight at 7 p.m. at The Flat Iron Café (561 State St.) is the Hot as Fire Spoken Word / Open Mic hosted by Moosie. [source: Flat Iron Cafe webstie] Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) is hosting an Acoustic Open Mic featuring JoAnn Vaccaro from 8 to 10. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages]

W E D N E S D A Y

Today from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. in Room 314 of Morey Hall at The University of Rochester (Elmwood Ave. at Intercampus Dr., details on River Campus Map) is a seminar by Matthew Platt titled Opportunities for Inequality: Context and Racial Disparities in Political Participation [source: University of Rochester website] Tonight at 7 p.m. at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) is Pathways and Doors: Photography and Poetry. [source: Writers and Books calendar] [all ages] Time in Motion featuring Sabir Mateen, Matthew Heyner, and Ben Karetnick will be at The Bop Shop (274 N. Goodman St., in Village Gate Square) starting around 8 p.m. [source: Bop Shop calendar] [all ages] Kilbourn Hall at Eastman Theatre (60 Gibbs St.) will be hosting The Eastman Musica Nova Ensemble starting around 8 p.m. [source: Eastman School of Music calendar] [all ages] Tonight at A|V Art Sound Space (N. Union St. at Trinidad St., #8 in the Public Market, formerly the All-Purpose Room) is Glass & Ashes, The Fucking Wrath, Blessed Relief for Mother, and Black Bridge starting around 8 p.m. [source: A|V Space website] Over at Spot Coffee (200 East Ave.) starting around 8 p.m. is Chris Giardina, Chris Cariola, and Jeff Dearman. [source: Rochester Music Coalition calendar] [all ages] 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] Tonight at Milestones (170 East Ave.) is another The Comedy Block Party starting almost promptly at 8 p.m.

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