Events in Rochester, NY for Thursday, April 2, 2015 through Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Here's my selection of events in Rochester this week:
< Thursday, April 2

  • This evening at 6 p.m. at the Dryden Theatre is an Artist's Talk with David Levinthal on his exhibit, History, now on display.

    Photographer David Levinthal's most recent series, History, is a culmination of his work over the last three-and-a-half decades. Like his previous bodies of work—the most well-known of which include Hitler Moves East (1975—77), Modern Romance (1984—86), The Wild West (1987—89), and Barbie (1998—99)—history speaks to the way in which popular imagery infiltrates memory, imagination, and identity. The exhibition at George Eastman House will be the first time that History is presented to the public.

    [source: Eastman House calendar, 2015-Mar-30]

  • From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Skylark Lounge is a Happy Hour for Rochester's Broads Regional Arm Wrestling League (BRAWL). [source: Facebook, 2015-Mar-30]
  • In the RIT Golisano Institute for Sustainability at 7 p.m., Jed Burtt will discuss Alexander Wilson: The Scot who Founded American Ornithology. [source: City Newspaper events calendar, 2015-Mar-30]
  • They Dryden will screen Petropolis: Aerial Perspectives on the Alberta Tar Sands (Peter Mettler, Canada 2010, 40 min., digital), and Water and Power (Pat O'neill, U.S. 1989, 54 min., 35mm) starting at 8 p.m.

    The unspoiled boreal forests of northern Canada, compressed for 200 million years, have created the world's second largest oil reserve, roughly the size of England. The tar sands, a mixture of sand and a heavy crude oil called bitumen, are mined in open pits after being forced to the surface by injecting superheated water into the ground. This massive industrialized mining effort has far-reaching impacts on the land, air, water, and climate although amazingly no comprehensive assessment of the megaproject's environmental, economic, or social impact has been done. Director Peter Mettler's film, shot primarily from a helicopter, offers an unparalleled view of this extraordinary spectacle, whose scope can only be understood from far above. In its melding of hypnotic imagery with a pulsing modernist score, Petropolis features a timely look at a dehumanized world where petroleum's power is supreme. […] Followed by Water and Power, an equally hypnotic examination about the exchange of energy between Los Angeles water district and downtown LA. It is also about water, in all of its states, and about cyclical motion: the planets, the tides, the implied rotation of the camera on its axis, and the repetitive actions of the performers. There are also quotations from older movies and their soundtracks: at times their landscapes become continuous with those of the present. Human habitation in this wilderness is tenuous and risky.

    [source: Dryden website, 2015-Mar-30]

  • Starting around 8:30 p.m. at the Bop Shop is Secret Keeper — Mary Halvorson and Stephan Crump. [source: Bop Shop website, 2015-Mar-30]
  • Starting around 8:30 p.m. at the Bug Jar is Boy Harsher, awesome electronic rock from Ahura Mazda, Little Spoon, and Couples Counseling. [source: Bug Jar calendar, 2015-Mar-30]

Friday, April 3

  • From 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Art Museum of Rochester (AMoR, 610 Monroe Ave.) is DeadEndCity ART SHOW III featuring works by Rachel Coyne, Talia Gonzalez, Edward Repard, Grace Peer, David Dow, Laura Fernandes, Airen, and Jason Coyne. [source: Facebook, 2015-Mar-30]
  • Tonight from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Orange Glory Cafe and Catering (240 East Ave.) is the Opening Reception of The Cocktailians, photographs by Gerry Szymanski. [source: Facebook, 2015-Mar-30]
  • At RoCo from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. is the Opening Reception for Ride It: Art and Bicycles. [source: Rochester Contemporary e-mail, 2015-Mar-19]
  • At the First Unitarian Church of Rochester (220 S. Winton Rd.) from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. is a ROCSPOT Town Hall-Open Advisory Council Meeting. [source: Facebook, 2015-Mar-30]
  • Starting at 7 p.m. in the VSW Auditorium is Experimental Video from the VSW Collection.

    VSW has an extensive collection of video works dating back to the 1960s. Join us for an evening of early videos made by artists interested in exploring the perceptual thresholds that this "new" medium could offer. Works will be shown in their original formats!

    [source: Visual Studies Workshop website, 2015-Mar-30]

  • Today at the Little is The Little Underground Film Series featuring a screening of Kumiko the Treasure Hunter (David Zellner, U.S. 2014, 105 min.) at 7 p.m. then at 10 p.m. is a screening of Hausu (House, Nobuhiko Ã"bayashi, Japan 1977, 88 min.) with live musical accompaniment by the Andrew Alden Ensemble. [source: flyer, 2015-Mar-24]
  • Tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., The Shakespeare Players perform The Merry Wives of Windsor, by William Shakespeare, an Adaptation for Young Audiences at the MuCCC. [source: MuCCC website, 2015-Mar-30]
  • Flower City Forum 1: The Resource Description Framework and the United Information Universe takes place in the Gamble Room of Rush Rhees Library on the University of Rochester Campus starting around 8 p.m. [source: Facebook, 2015-Mar-30]
  • At 8 p.m., the Dryden will screen Il gatopardo (The Leopard, Luchino Visconti, Italy 1963, 187 min., 35mm, Italian w/ subtitles).

    A grand scale epic, set in 1860s Sicily during the Risorgimento—the period that marked the end of Sicily's existence as an independent monarchy and the emergence of an Italian state—the Leopard is a lavish, elegiac chronicle of the decline of an aristocratic family under the crushing weight of political change. Burt Lancaster is brilliant as the aging patriarch who can only stand aside and quietly observe his old ways being trampled by a new generation, represented here by the coupling of European superstars Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale. Based on the eponymous classic by the Italian novelist Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, elegantly directed by Luchino Visconti and garnished with Giuseppe Rotunno's limpid Technicolor cinematography, The Leopard has been described by Martin Scorsese as "one of the greatest visual experiences in cinema."

    [source: Dryden website, 2015-Mar-30]

  • From 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Bop Shop is Omar Tamez, and Angie Sanchez in a show titled Jazz meets Mexico and Latin America, "An improvised approach to Mexican and Latin american folk music". [source: Bop Shop website, 2015-Mar-30]
  • Start Making Sense, and HMFO perform at Montage Music Hall starting around 9 p.m. [source: Montage Music Hall website, 2015-Mar-30]
  • Starting around 9 p.m. at the Bug Jar, The Lobby presents Haggard, The Shandeliers, and Roger Kuhn. [source: Bug Jar calendar, 2015-Mar-30]

Saturday, April 4

  • Today from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., stop by Stone Tolan House for their annual April Fool's Tour.

    Those April Fools have been at it again. The oldest site in the county has been littered with things that do not belong. We've got to get it set right before all the 4th grade students arrive for their field studies — we don't want the kids to think that Mrs. Stone did her hearth cooking by the light of a lava lamp!

    [source: Landmark Society website, 2015-Mar-30]

  • From 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Bop Shop is Jazz is Ugly…….Jazz is Beautiful, "a symposium on the music of jazz". [source: Bop Shop website, 2015-Mar-30]
  • Today at the Little is The Little Underground Film Series featuring a screening of Short Circuit Film Shorts Program at 3:30 p.m. then Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow (Sophie Fiennes, France / Netherlands / U.K. 2010, 105 min.) at 7 p.m. [source: flyer, 2015-Mar-24]
  • From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Rochester Baha'i Center (693 East Ave.) is a Community Potluck followed by Days of F.I.R.E. and Birth of a Hip-Hop Nation by Eldred Harris. [source: City Newspaper events calendar, 2015-Mar-30]
  • At 8 p.m., the Dryden will screen Spartacus (Stanley Kubrick, U.S. 1960, 166 min., 35mm).

    Set in the first century BCE, this sweeping and subversive epic about the leader of a Roman slave rebellion has itself become something of an important historical event. The film's success allowed the then-31-year-old Stanley Kubrick to pursue his directorial career relatively free from the demands of Hollywood. Kubrick balances the performances of a stellar cast—kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Tony Curtis, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton, and Peter Ustinov—with stunning Technicolor compositions to create a fascinating mural of masculine erotism, patrician decadence, brutal athleticism, and headstrong fealty.

    [source: Dryden website, 2015-Mar-30]

  • Fantastic, heavy, electric, lounge-folk from Auld Lang Syne performs at Abilene starting around 9:30 p.m. [source: Abilene website, 2015-Mar-30]

Sunday, April 5

  • Today at 2 p.m. and at tomorrow's Senior Matinée at 1:30 p.m., the Dryden will screen The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, U.S. 1939, 103 min., 35mm). At tonight's Dryden Kids screening includes a "maximum $25 family admission".

    If ever a film was meant to be seen on the big screen, this is it. Now a cultural icon, this adaptation of L. Frank Baum's novel was one of the first films to be named to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Judy Garland gives an endearing performance as the young Dorothy Gale, who is swept away by a tornado to the Land of Oz. A triumph of costumes, makeup, and set design, and featuring Harold Arlen's Oscar-winning song "Over the Rainbow," this film captures the fear, imagination, and wonder of childhood in fantastic Technicolor.

    [source: Dryden website, 2015-Mar-30]

Monday, April 6

  • From 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Rochester Brainery is Food Preservation and Drying with Melanie Popick.

    Drying is one of the earliest forms of preserving food. With modern technology, foods can be dried with a food dehydrator or with your oven. The process of drying food eliminates water to avoid food spoilage and reduces the size of the food to minimize storage. Dried foods are ideal for healthy snacks, delicious soups, desserts, dips, preserving your garden bounty and can be used for home decorating crafts.

    [source: Rochester Brainery calendar, 2015-Mar-30]

  • At Barnes and Noble from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. is a meeting of the Moving Beyond Racism Book Group discussing Esmeralda Santiago's When I Was Puerto Rican. [source: City Newspaper events calendar, 2015-Mar-30]

Tuesday, April 7

  • Today from 12:12 p.m. to 12:52 p.m. in Kate Gleason Auditorium of the Bausch and Lomb Library Building is another Books Sandwiched-In with a discussion of On Highway 61: Music, Race and the Evolution of Cultural Freedom by Dennis McNally. [source: Monroe County Library website, 2015-Mar-30]
  • This afternoon from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., Dr. James H. Evans, Jr. will discuss I Come to the Garden Alone; The Earthly Spirituality of Black Folk at the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School (CRCDS, 1100 S. Goodman St.) [source: City Newspaper events calendar, 2015-Mar-30]
  • Starting tonight from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Tuesdays through May 12 at A Quieter Place (472 Harrogate Dr.), Padme Livingstone will facilitate a Book Study of Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We're In Without Going Crazy. [source: City Newspaper events calendar, 2015-Mar-30]
  • The Eastman Saxophone Project performs in Kilbourn Hall tonight at 8 p.m. [source: Eastman School of Music calendar, 2015-Mar-30]
  • At 8 p.m., the Dryden will screen Tell Me Tonight (Anatole Litvak, U.K. 1932, 78 min., 35mm).

    Tell Me Tonight was part of "The Transition from Silence to Sound 1925—1933," the very first series curator James Card programmed for the Dryden in 1951. Card may have scheduled the film as an example of an average early talkie, or perhaps an example of an imaginative, innovative use of sound. Who knows? What we do know is that he must have really liked the film, because he screened it no less than seven times in the first two decades of the Dryden. Tell Me Tonight features Polish tenor Jan Kiepura as Italian tenor Ferraro who seeks a little peace and quiet but gets quite the opposite. New York Times reviewer Mordaunt Hall seemed to agree with Card as he noted the film to be a "most agreeable blending of melody, romance and humor."

    [source: Dryden website, 2015-Mar-30]

  • Starting around 9 p.m. at the Bug Jar is Shana Falana, Buffalo Sex Change, and Cantelope. [source: Bug Jar calendar, 2015-Mar-30]

Wednesday, April 8

  • Starting tonight from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and continuing Wednesdays through May 13 at Writers and Books, Tom Callahan will host a Discussion Group on the French and Indian War.

    Let's talk about the war that George Washington started; the war with many names, the first globally waged war! This informal reading group reaches out to anyone with an interest in America's last colonial war, from beginner to scholar. We can talk about the impact of that war on our local area and its residents: the Seneca; or we can explore the battles, the people and the personalities that endured it among both Europeans and North Americans. The French and Indian War was not the American Revolution's preseason but a unique far-reaching global event and we will have the chance to explore it in depth.

    [source: Writers and Books website, 2015-Mar-30]

  • From 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Ingle Auditorium at RIT, Richard Clarke will discuss Balancing Security, Liberty, and Privacy in a Post 9/11 World.

    Richard Clarke's name is synonymous with Cyber Security and Counter-terrorism. He literally "wrote the book" on both, leading the U.S. Government on both topics from the White House. He was the first Special Advisor on Cyberspace Security to the President of the U.S. and wrote the National Plan for Cyber Security and the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace. Book signing after lecture.

    [source: City Newspaper events calendar, 2015-Mar-30]

  • At 8 p.m., the Dryden will screen The Green Berets (John Wayne and Ray Kellogg, U.S. 1968, 142 min., 35mm).

    History lesson #4. John Wayne directs John Wayne again, this time as an experienced colonel leading a squad of Green Berets to Vietnam, proclaiming that "out here, due process is a bullet," and dead set to prevent the communist domination of the world. "A film so unspeakable, so stupid, so rotten and false in every detail that it passes through being fun, through being funny, through being camp, through everything and becomes an invitation to grieve, not for our soldiers or for Vietnam (the film could not be more false or do a greater disservice to either of them) but for what has happened to the fantasy-making apparatus in this country." — New York Times

    [source: Dryden website, 2015-Mar-30]

  • Saul Conrad, The Doorway Talkers, Elephino, and MD Woods perform at the Bug Jar starting around 9 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar, 2015-Mar-30]

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