About JayceLand's New Look

Well times change and so do I. In the last few years, I've transitioned further from going out to live music all the time to seeing mostly movies and only a handful of shows a month. So I decided to further pare down the number of events I list on the site.

My standing rule is that this site should be as easy for me as possible. I had toyed with a user-generated site and all kinds of fancy databases (which may still come) but that is most certainly not easy. And then there's the whole fragile way I generate the site each week — pretty much unchanged since 2001 — using FileMaker Pro 5 databases on a Macintosh Classic, exporting the data, and using some Unix scripts to make a HTML file. The workflow is quick (i.e. easy) although it's fairly convoluted.

So I decided the new site would be a weekly blog post with highlights of things-to-do — things I will very likely do (rather than "have a passing interest in doing" as it stands now). If you're only interested in the events lists, you can link straight to the events category and skip all my regular blog posts. The JayceLand home page will now redirect to the normal blog. To keep my sanity, I'm going to stop numbering them — the last numbered update was #705 on July 12, 2012. (And even then: 705 weeks of posting events … enough is enough!)

In addition, I'm dropping most of the internal links. You can Google a band just as well as I can. And I don't think I need to remind everyone the address of the Bug Jar (along with a link to Google Maps.) So it'll all look a lot more vanilla. And be much easier for me which, well, is the whole point.

Events for Thursday, July 19, 2012 through Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Thursday, July 19

  • I don't get out too often to the lunchtime shows, but I do enjoy the very good bluegrass from the String Theory Bluegrass Band, performing today at 12:15 p.m. at Granite Mills Park (at High Falls). [source: RocWiki Events Board, 2012-Jul-16]
  • Tonight at Highland Park Bowl is the Free Movies in the Parks series with The Artist at "dusk". [source: Freetime website, 2012-Jul-16]
  • More likely you'll find me at the Dryden to see Miracle Mile (Steve De Jarnatt, US 1988, 87 min.) at 8 p.m. The Eastman House calendar sells it thusly:

    Greatly admired by the few people who saw it upon its initial release, this unsettling boy-meets-girl romantic comedy unfolds over the course of a single night — the last, it may turn out, of life on earth. Tangerine Dream provides the dark, dreamy soundtrack.

    [source: Dryden calendar, 2012-Jul-16]

  • I'm not going to get out there, but I do appreciate the humor of comic Jim Gaffigan who'll be at CMAC tonight at 8 p.m. [source: WBER website, 2012-Jul-16]
  • I forgot about it, but the Hill Cumorah Pageant concludes this weekend, daily at 9 p.m. through the Saturday. [source: Freetime website, 2012-Jul-16]
  • After I get out of the movie, I'll likely get a chance to catch rockin' rockabilly from Krypton-88 at Star Alley, probably starting sometime around 9 p.m. [source: flyer, 2012-Jun-19]

Friday, July 20

  • Update: Over at the new 1975 Gallery (89 Charlotte St. where the Little Bakery was) is the WALL\THERAPY Kickoff from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. See the events later this weekend for a litte more info. [source: The Yards e-mail, 2012-Jul-19]
  • I'm probably not going to see Boss Tweed at Abilene for Happy Hour around 6 p.m. but I may get over there late for Bear Bones, and my friends in Anonymous Willpower. Although, you know, see also Sunday at Boulderfest … [source: Abilene e-mail, 2012-Jul-16]
  • The Dryden is showing Jaws tonight at 8 p.m. and again on Sunday at 2 p.m. [source: Dryden calendar, 2012-Jul-16]

Saturday, July 21

  • At 8 p.m., the Dryden will be screening Stilyagi (Hipsters) (Valery Todorovsky, Russia 2008, 115 min., Russian w/ subtitles). Curator Paolo Cherchi Usai will introduce the film described by the Eastman House calendar:

    It's a comedy! It's a musical! It's Russian! The unlikely match of these words finds a buoyant realization in this rip-roaring mix of Grease and Moulin Rouge, with a gentle touch of political undertones. A sure-shot crowd pleaser, artfully blending virtuoso camerawork, rock 'n' roll, and a dispassionate view of Soviet society before the glasnost.

    [source: Dryden calendar, 2012-Jul-16]

  • Over at the Bug Jar is the reunion of long-time favorite rock band The Priests with The Bloody Hollies, and St. Phillip's Escalator all starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar, 2012-Jul-16]

Sunday, July 22

  • Update: The Yards is hosting a WALL\THERAPY Street Art Block Party today from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Pennsylvania Ave. north of the Public Market. [source: The Yards e-mail, 2012-Jul-19]
  • Although going on all weekend, I'm just highlighting some of my favorites playing today at BoulderFest: good country-based rock from The Josh Netsky Band at 5 p.m., nice sounding acoustic duo Dave & Marissa at 6 p.m., Anonymous Willpower at 7 p.m., new-to-me Epilogue at 8 p.m., and finishing with wicked fun, saxophone-driven, percussive groove-rock band The Buddhahood at 9 p.m. [source: Boulder Coffee calendar, 2012-Jul-16]

Monday, July 23

  • Auke de Boer and Adolph Rots (Groningen Duo) of the Netherlands [despite that I stumble to pronounce their names] will be leading a performance of the University of Rochester Carillon in Eastman Quadrangle tonight starting around 7 p.m. [source: University of Rochester Events Calendar, 2012-Jul-10]
  • Since the Dryden's closed, I often head to the Little on Mondays since the films are five bucks. I hear Your Sister's Sister is pretty good and I was kind of intrigued by the trailer, so I might stop by. It's playing at 7 p.m. and 9:20 p.m. tonight. [source: Little Theatre e-mail, 2012-Jul-18]
  • Just because I like the name, I'll consider checking out Vince Dynamic with This Life, and Kneptune at the Bug Jar starting around 8:30 p.m. (doors at 7:30 p.m.) [source: Bug Jar calendar, 2012-Jul-16]

Tuesday, July 24

  • The Dryden will be screening Straw Dogs (Sam Peckinpah, US/UK 1971, 118 min.) at 8 p.m. tonight in which:

    Pacifist American mathematician David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman) gets a lesson in local customs when neighborhood thugs assault his wife Amy (Susan George) in their Cornish farmhouse. A politically explosive demonstration of the dangers of standing on the sidelines in a violent age, Straw Dogs remains controversial for the havoc it wreaks upon conventional notions of feminism, pacifism, and art.

    [source: Dryden calendar, 2012-Jul-16]

  • Tonight at the Bug Jar is Tony Nelson, friend, and all-around excellent musician Ian Downey is Famous, great multi-faceted "gypsy folk" band The Pickpockets, and A.K. starting around 9 p.m. (doors at 8 p.m.) [source: Bug Jar calendar, 2012-Jul-16]

Wednesday, July 25

  • Update: WALL\THERAPY continues at School of the Arts with a Community Dialogue with the Artists tonight starting at 6 p.m. [source: The Yards e-mail, 2012-Jul-19]
  • I haven't seen Julie Donofrio perform comedy in a while, but she'll be hosting the Young Comedians' Open Mic (featuring 11 to 18-year-olds) tonight starting around 6:30 p.m. at Writers and Books [source: Writers and Books website, 2012-Jul-16]
  • Tonight at 7 p.m. at the Little is another screening of short films in the NY Filmmakers' Quarterly. It's also playing on Saturday at 2 p.m. [source: Little Theatre e-mail, 2012-Jul-18]
  • Meanwhile, the Dryden will screen Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston, US 1948, 126 min.) at 8 p.m. From the calendar:

    A band of desperate gold prospectors — including the director's father, Walter Huston, in what is arguably his greatest role — head for the remote Sierra Madre where they come face to face with bandits, federales, and their own basest instincts.

    [source: Dryden calendar, 2012-Jul-16]

Good Luck to Tieson

Back in January I got a dog named Tieson. Even back then I knew he'd be a handful. But, over the last 5 months or so, I worked on his quirks. I took him to an obedience class at Dogs At Play (75 Howell St.) which helped a lot. I figured out how to keep him from peeing in the house: I just kept him confined — at first to his travel crate (which he didn't seem to like too much) and then to the foyer which gave him a little more room to move around (which he seemed fine with.)

But there was always his Jack Russell Terrier tendencies. His high energy level was not a problem for me, nor was his desire for play and attention. But he needed someone who was always dominant. And that was the problem.

Any chance he had to take his "rightful spot" as alpha dog, he took. For instance, if I was sitting on the couch to watch a movie and I invited him up, after a while he'd snarl a bit if I tried to pet him. If I persisted he'd eventually bite me. He was, however, a good and obedient dog, so I could just say, "get off" and he'd get off the couch (with a begrudging growl sometimes) and then I could call him over and (as long as he was on the ground and I was on the couch) I could pet him without any problem.

But I want a dog that is a companion, not a servant. And after he tried to attack a neighbor who came to trim the hedge row on my side, and after he attacked Ali and Lucy (the dog she and I have joint-custody of) I decided enough was enough.

I looked on the Internet and found Russell Rescue, Inc. who specialize in rescuing and adopting Jack Russell Terriers. There are only three contacts in the northeast and one happens to be in Irondequoit. I sent an e-mail and called but I got no response, so tonight I took Tieson to The Humane Society at Lollypop Farm (99 Victor Rd., Fairport).

Because of his history of biting, he's got an uphill battle. I think he'll get to a behavioral evaluation, but then it's up to him to not growl or bite. He's a pretty smart dog, but I hope he figures out that it's do-or-die.

Literally.

The house is now much more quiet with just me and my cat Pumpkin. But I am overall relieved. As I described to a friend, it was like living with a roommate you barely tolerate. Even though the good times were nice, there was a lot of tension and stress. And now I'll be able to sleep in when I want to because I'll actually be able to set the alarm clock rather than this:

6:30 a.m. wake-up call from my dog

The Tieson Alarm Clock

Good luck, buddy.