Weekly Rochester Events #427: A Minuit Number of Beads

Thursday, March 15, 2007

I can't believe it's taken me this long. For nearly 2 years I've misspelled the fun ska band Mrs. Skannotto as "Scannotto". I kept wondering what was wrong with the database that it would never find "Mrs. Ska" correctly as a search string. It's so embarrassing ... I decided to go back and fix all the typos that I had in the past. So now the record is clean: the past has been changed. Well, at least as far as anybody knows now and assuming they don't read this paragraph.

Anyway, last Wednesday I made it out to The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) I finally had a chance to see Le ballon rouge (The Red Balloon) which, being somebody who sees a lot of films, I should have seen already ... at least by those arbitrary standards to which I'm measured. Ali saw it years ago and didn't like it. I tend to like films where nothing happens and rather enjoyed it. It really is a parable of the magic in life, loss, and hope. The second film, Zéro de conduite: Jeunes diables au collège, on the other hand, was less enjoyable. I guess it was impressive given it was made in 1933 but it was more like those kids movies today where they revolt or save a park or something and do it in a way that would be completely ineffective. You know the kind: they dump paint on the evil lawyers and save the summer camp — when in reality they would be charged with first degree assault and the camp would get bulldozed.

One last thing on The Red Balloon: the star of the film is Pascal Lamorisse, son of filmmaker Albert Lamorisse. Pascal was born in 1950 and was around 6 years old when the film was made. I did a cursory search of the Internet but found only the birthdate-biography on The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) and The Red Balloon entry at Wikipedia. As far as I can tell, Pascal is likely still alive ... I was curious if he had any thoughts on the film himself, particularly since it's been 50 years.

So on Thursday Ali and I headed to Benucci's (3349 Monroe Ave., in the Pittsford Plaza) for dinner. They still make an awesome garlic butter — probably a whole garlic clove per cup of whipped butter. Mmmmm. The rest of the meal was good but not great. The pasta is fresh and well prepared but the sauces were a bit lackluster. It's been at least 5 years since I was there last and I remember liking it better then.

Friday night I went to the Dryden again to see My Country, My Country. It's about Dr. Riyadh, a medical doctor working in a clinic in Iraq. With the impending elections of January, 2005, he decided to run for office. He spent his days working at the clinic treating a mix of common illnesses and wartime injuries. By the time of the elections, he's skeptical of their validity — a sentiment echoed by other Iraqis. In one segment, an English-speaking Iraqi in training for security-duty questions his military American teacher (a stereotypically arrogant and condescending kind of guy) on his reference to the elections as a "show", asking (arms-folded): "is it a show or is it real?"

In essence, this is the kind of film that confirms my belief of what Iraq is like today. It's a place where people are trying to live their day-to-day lives, go to work, watch television, endure frequent power outages, revel in the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, cautiously approach the elections, and lament that there is no end in sight. I see that although bombs don't explode daily in every neighborhood, even one bomb every 6 months is enough to put people on edge (and what's the American standard?: a bomb every century perhaps?) The city life depicted in the film is most akin to a rough inner-city neighborhood in America — the weekly crackle of gunfire, an occasional kidnapping-for-money, and the desire for the majority of people to just be left alone. It's most different in the power outages and the occasional explosion.

Saturday was another movie night at the Dryden: this time to see Roozi ke zan shodam (The Day I Became A Woman). It's a fictional tale of women in Iraqi life and is told in three parts. The first part was bittersweet as a young girl is declared a woman because she turned 9 and is no longer allowed to play with her friend; the second was traumatic as a woman flees from her husband by bicycle and she's eventually caught and brought back; and the last is a bit humorous as an old woman buys all the things she always wanted, only to forget one last thing (leaving only one string tied to her finger.) It feels rather bizarre altogether ... I rather liked it, though.

Later I met up with Ali and her friend Stacie at Lux Lounge (666 South Ave.) for a few drinks. We also made a pilgrimage to Vertex (169 N. Chestnut St.), got back really late, and visited Dogtown Hots (691 Monroe Ave.) for some late-night food. By then it was already 4:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Yeesh. Thankfully on Sunday we had a much more relaxing day around Canandaigua. We got out for brunch after noon at The Villager Restaurant (245 S. Main St., Canandaigua) for a good diner-quality meal. Aside from that it was just lounging around.

T H U R S D A Y

Today at 12 p.m. in the Rundel Auditorium on the third floor of the Rundel Building of The Rochester Public Library (115 South Ave.), author Chris Bohjalian will speak about his book The Buffalo Soldier which was selected for this year's "If All of Rochester Read the Same Book". [source: Friends of the Public Library e-mail] [all ages] This evening at 6 p.m. in the Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) is a lecture by photographer David Friend on his new book, Watching the World Change: The Stories Behind the Images of 9/11. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] This evening from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Rundel Auditorium in the Rundel Building at The Rochester Public Library (115 South Ave.) is another meeting of The Inventor's Society of Western New York. [source: Rochester Public Library calendar] [all ages] This evening at 7 p.m. at The Asbury First United Methodist Church (1050 East Ave.) is the monthly meeting of The Rochester Genealogical Society Tonight's program features Roscoe Hastings disussing It Was in the Newspaper so it Must Be True and Anita Hartwig discussing Retrieval and Special Services at the Rochester Public Library. [source: Rochester Genealogical Society website] [all ages] Over at The Little Theatre Café (240 East Ave.) starting around 7:30 p.m. is Bazaha-Lala. [source: Rochester Cajun Zydeco calendar] Tonight at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) is Zeb Gould starting around 8 p.m. [source: Boulder Coffee MySpace site] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Sommaren med Monika (Summer with Monika) starting at 8 p.m. A woman has an affair with an errand boy and eventually leaves their child in his care. [source: Eastman House 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 Cock E.S.P. which (based on a show in 2003) is a combination of effects-based noise band girl dressed as a prom queen guy in a suit with a chicken head guy in a suit with a donkey head wrestling 4 minutes performing with Mr. Natural, R. Nuuja, and Tumul starting around 9 p.m. Note that Costes will not be performing. [source: A|V Space e-mail] The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting Newspaper Joe 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] Tonight at 8 p.m. at Bodhi's Cafe & Lounge (274 Goodman St. N., in Village Gate) is an Open Mic. [source: the proverbial grapevine] Drinking Liberally meets at 8 p.m. tonight at Monty's Korner (355 East Ave.) [source: RocWiki calendar]

F R I D A Y

Starting yesterday (for members of Friends of the Rochester Public Library) is the Giant Used Book Sale in the Kate Gleason Auditorium at The Rochester Public Library (115 South Ave.) which runs today and tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and then on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. [source: City Hall press release] [all ages] This evening at 6 p.m. at Condé Photography (650 South Ave.) is an opening reception for The Night Gallery with Contemporary Paintings by Dan Kornguth, and Meta-Monument by Bleu Cease. [source: City Newspaper] This evening starting around 8 p.m. at The Flat Iron Café (561 State St.) is a new Art Exhibit by Rachel Dow with music by Auto Animal and Peggacide. [source: Flat Iron Cafe webstie] Over at The Bop Shop (274 N. Goodman St., in Village Gate Square) starting around 8 p.m. is The Adam Niewood Quartet [source: Bop Shop calendar] [all ages] Tonight at 8 p.m. is the opening performance of Epic Proportions at Blackfriars Theatre (28 Lawn St.) The play runs through March 31. [source: Blackfriars Theatre website] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Jonestown: The Life and Death of People's Temple starting at 8 p.m. and then again on Sunday at 5 p.m. It's a documentary about Jim Jones whose followers committed mass-suicide in 1978. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Over at The Montage Live Music Hall (50 Chestnut St., formerly the Montage Grille) starting around 10 p.m. is Hip Toss, fun ska from Mrs. Skannotto, and Addictive Tragedy. [source: Freetime] Tonight starting around 10:30 p.m. at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) is the 4th Annual St Patrick's Day Throwdown with fun Irish-slanted punk band Tom Foolery and the Shannanighans (not Shenanigans). [source: Freetime] [21+] Tonight at 11 p.m. at TiLT Nightclub and Ultralounge (444 Central Ave.) is another Saints and Sinners Burlesque Show featuring a theme of The Women of Horror. [source: the proverbial grapevine] [18+]

S A T U R D A Y

Saint Patrick's Day Today at 1:30 p.m. at The Lincoln Branch Library (851 Joseph Ave.) is a discussion titled Hammers and Nails about Habitat for Humanity. [source: Friends of the Public Library e-mail] [all ages] Today from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. is a free City Living Bus Tour of homes in the South area of the city starting at The Landmark Society of Western New York (133 S. Fitzhugh St.) [source: Landmark Society calendar] L'il Anne and Hot Cayenne will be at The Bop Shop (274 N. Goodman St., in Village Gate Square) starting around 2 p.m. [source: Bop Shop calendar] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing La règle du jeu (The Rules of the Game) starting at 8 p.m. Eastman House's calendar has this to say: "continually heralded as one of the ten greatest films in the history of the cinema, Renoir's bittersweet comedy about class distinction was originally banned for being too critical of French society. The multi-character story revolves around the guests gathered for a weekend of partying and hunting at a country chateau." [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] The Fuul Music Hall (37 Niagara St., Canandaigua) will be hosting the St Patty's Day Rock-n-Roll Extravaganza featuring awesome, tight, complex rock-and-roll from The VEiNS, more rock from The Grinders, The Hounds of Hell, and Swab starting around 8:30 p.m. [source: Freetime] Over at Java's (16 Gibbs St.) starting around 9 p.m. is The Binghamtonics. [source: Java's calendar] [all ages] Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is The Clear, Anna May, and Matthew James starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar 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

Today at Third Presbyterian Church (4 Meigs St., at the corner of East Ave.) is a discussion of Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality: Explode the Myths, Heal the Church from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. [source: Gay Alliance website] This afternoon from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at The Wilson Foundation Academy (200 Genesee St., formerly The James Madison School of Excellence) is the last of three City Living Sundays about home buying in the south neighborhoods of Rochester. [source: Landmark Society calendar] Today from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. is a Libraries Tea Talk in the Welles-Brown Room of The Rush Rhees Library in The University of Rochester (Library Rd. at Intercampus Dr., details on River Campus Map) featuring Peter Wisbey discussing Beyond the Folly: Reappraising William Henry Seward. [source: University of Rochester Events Calendar] This afternoon from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. is the opening of A Photographer's Path at The Center at High Falls Fine Art Gallery (60 Browns Race) The exhibition runs through April 29. [source: Genesee Center for the Arts calendar] [all ages] Full, powerful, technical, elaborate rock from Knife Crazy, and Shuttlecock will be at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] 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

The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Jeanne Dielman 23, Quai Du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles starting early at 7 p.m. In it, a widow supports herself and her son by "taking in a 'gentleman caller' each afternoon" as the Eastman House calendar puts it. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Tonight at 8 p.m. at Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) is a special show by Geva Comedy Improv. [source: Geva Comedy Improv e-mail] [all ages] WHHW, Stone Baby, and The Subduction Zone will be at A|V Art Sound Space (N. Union St. at Trinidad St., #8 in the Public Market, formerly the All-Purpose Room) starting around 9 p.m. [source: A|V Space website] 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

Great American Meatout 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. in the Gleason Auditorium [give yourself a few extra minutes in case it's elsewhere] at The Rochester Public Library (115 South Ave.) is the season's first Books Sandwiched-In featuring Judge Roy W. King reviewing John Grisham's The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town. [source: Friends of the Public Library e-mail] [all ages] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Les quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows) starting at 8 p.m. about filmmaker François Truffat's own troubled childhood. Also showing is the short sequel, Antoine et Colette. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Over at A|V Art Sound Space (N. Union St. at Trinidad St., #8 in the Public Market, formerly the All-Purpose Room) starting around 9 p.m. is Peeesseye, NPV, and Crush the Junta. [source: A|V Space website] Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. is A Televised Reality. [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 at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) is Nate Hanks starting around 6 p.m. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages] This evening at 7 p.m., The Baobab Cultural Center (728 University Ave., formerly on Gregory St.) will be showing the good documentary American Blackout about the trials of Representative Cynthia McKinney as she tries to bring honesty and truth to America. I reviewed the film in the November 16, 2006 JayceLand update. [source: Baobab website] Tonight at 7 p.m. in the Gowen Room at The Wilson Commons at The University of Rochester (Library Road, details on River Campus Map) is a discussion titled Nature and Pursuit of Happiness featuring Richard Kraut. [source: University of Rochester Events Calendar] The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting fun percussive groove-rock from The BuddhaHood starting around 8 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] This evening 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 a showing of 40 Bands 80 Minutes! documenting 40 Los Angeles bands. [source: A|V Space website] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Susan Slept Here starting at 8 p.m., a satire of Hollywood in the 1950's along with short films Speaking of the Weather, and Now That Summer Is Gone. [source: Eastman House 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 Café Underground Railroad (480 W. Main St.) is a Spoken Word/Poetry night starting around 9 p.m. [source: the proverbial grapevine]

Polls | Other Projects

DreamHost Web Hosting
I use DreamHost to run JayceLand.com. Click the ad to buy hosting and I'll get money to run my site. Hooray!

Store at CafePress
Buy some JayceLand junk at sky high prices!