JayceLand.com

Weekly Rochester Events #319: Much Smaller Than a Mountain of Corn

Thursday, February 17, 2005

In case any of you remember, I created a T-shirt that had the icon of a guy falling on a triangular road sign with the words under it that said "Caution: Gravity." Well, a few months ago I was notified by CafePress (where I have my storefront that sells this stuff) that I was in violation of a trademark. Apparently, there's this company that — get this — has a trademark on the word "caution" ... at least when printed on clothing. I asked them what they wanted and they said they were worried that people searching for things like "caution shirts" or "caution clothing" would find the shirt I was selling in my CafePress store and think it was actually their brand. I offered to change the description immediately — after all, I'm not selling anything associated with them, but apparently that wasn't good enough. They insisted that I remove the "Caution: Gravity" shirt altogether, and even suggested that I could come up with some other design.

Well fine. After I made the Valentine's Day "Heartbroken Bear" stuff, I figured I should add more items for sale. I revisited the "Caution: Gravity" shirt and changed it to "Beware of Gravity" as shown to the right. What an unnecessary pain in the ass.

Worst of all, though, is that the name of the company utilizes their trademark so I can't tell you what it is without getting permission from them which I don't want to bother to do.

On a related note, some friends [of friends, etc.] of mine had one of their essays published on a website they never permitted. The discussion of what to do began with the American-standard rant of "let's get this guy," but I suggested that they just insist that the website owner simply cite the article properly — as it was, a citation for the correct authors was present, it just wasn't complete.

I mean, what's the deal with ownership of ideas anyway? Wasn't it the point of copyright law in the first place to give the original author a temporary monopoly over their work so they could profit from its novelty? It wasn't to permit ownership of ideas for all of perpetuity to assure the profitability of a corporation (I'm looking at you, Disney). Unfortunately, this isn't the case any more and it seems that the benefits of these laws aren't going to the most creative, only the most litigious.

Think about it this way: everything you've ever know has been told to you. Thus, one way or another, every idea you will ever have is derivative, not novel. By locking up all the source ideas in corporate vaults ... er ... [let me do a little bias correction] ... by making every idea that anyone has thought before you off-limits, all we're doing is choking off the world of progress.

Beware of Gravity shirt design
New shirt design

I'm intentionally blurring several thoughts here. To me, the sharing of ideas is what is at issue. Sometimes it is mired in copyrights, but more often than not, patents and trademarks are nothing but landmines on the march of progress.

I mean, consider the "caution" issue I described above. I stepped down because I didn't care all that much to fight, and I couldn't afford to do so even if I wanted to. The thing that burns me up, though is twofold.

First, this kind of thing only fucks the little guy. I can't fight back, so a trademark holder can put the smack-down on my works even if it has nothing to do with them. However, I could go out and start a "Jeb Bush" line of clothing, but do you think I'd have any capacity to sue the Republican party for printing it on a T-shirt?

Second, there's a difference between a signature logo and a novelty T-shirt. Do the makers of Ralph Lauren Polo clothing run around all the time preventing every time someone uses Polo in the name of one of their designs? My point is that the novelty T-shirt has become a tool of free-expression much like the website or the picket sign. While there will be some gray areas — wherein the courts would need to make a call — the use of common language words (English or otherwise) on a T-shirt should not constitute trademark infringement just as they don't in other communication.

Now you'll also see that my "Beware of Gravity" shirt is copyrighted. If someone created a shirt with exactly the same design, I'd tell them to cut it out, but if they thought up the same thing — maybe with a different icon — then I don't really care. And after 10 years or so, they can use the exact same design because its well will have run dry (as if it already hasn't.)

So now let me jump to litigation and responsibility. It seems to be all the rage, what with our beloved president announcing an end to "frivolous asbestos lawsuits." I guess my definition of "frivolous" is different from his, though — rather than being about whether deep-pocketed asbestos corporations might be hurt, my definition has more to do with whether a danger is obvious or knowable.

By that I mean there are some dangers that are obvious. A sharp knife, designed to cut things, can cut fingers just as well — duh. My recurring example is stairs. Stairs are about as least-obvious as you can get as far as danger, but they are really quite dangerous if you think about it. So far (thankfully) I haven't seen a push to put warnings on every staircase enumerating the potential dangers of using one. I guess obvious things are those things that most people will identify if prompted — "did you know you could cut yourself with a knife?" versus "did you know that a live electrical wire on the ground can hurt you just by going near it?"

The other side is "knowable." I put it that way because either it's known, or it can be known. For instance, mesothelioma, the cancer caused by asbestos, has been known since the 1940's, yet asbestos was still used in all varieties of materials — most of the time without any warnings. On the other hand, prior to the 1940's, no such disease had ever been discovered, so as far as a company that did reasonable safety research, it wasn't knowable at the time.

So for the rest of us, this puts worrisome things into two categories.

On the one hand, we take risks on things that aren't known yet. There used to be mercury in shampoo before people realized it makes you go batty — nobody had any idea there'd be a problem and that's just the kind of unknowable risk we all take.

On the other, there's responsibility for our own stupidity. If we cut off our hand with a chainsaw, we can't really blame the manufacturer for making a saw that didn't know the difference between wood and arm — of course, the circumstances may be peculiar, like if the handle was too weak and when it broke, it stuck the throttle open and then wasn't controllable, but that's the reason we have these kinds of laws and courts in the first place.

So beware of those mercury-powered asbestos-lined chainsaw-staircases.


M
O
V
I
E
S

T
H
U
R
S
D
A
Y
This evening at The Rochester Public Library (115 South Ave.) in Gleason Auditorium is another Thursday Thinkers from 5:15 p.m. to 6 p.m. Howard Ford will talk about Signs of New York: History Markers and Their Stories about the historical markers scattered around the state. [source: Friends of the Public Library flyer] [all ages]

Jack Garner will again be at Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) for Screenplay Salon at 6 p.m., tonight featuring Da hong deng long gao gao gua (Raise the Red Lantern) [source: Writers and Books calendar] [all ages]

Tonight at The Club at Water Street (204 N. Water St.) is Planes Mistaken for StarsMySpace link, KylesaMySpace link, good heavy metal with a gimmicky performance from Blüdwülf, and How Are We starting around 7:30 p.m. [source: Water Street calendar]

Tonight at Starry Nites Café (696 University Ave., formerly Moonbeans) is Jeff Sherner starting around 8 p.m. [source: Starry Nites calendar] [all ages]

Downstairs Cabaret (540 East Main St.) will be hosting The Bill Tiberio Group for their CD release show starting at 7 p.m. and again at 9 p.m. [source: Downstairs Cabaret calendar]

Another Paper Trail artist, Kumi Korf will be at The Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Ave., near Goodman St.) to discuss her work at 7 p.m. [source: Memorial Art Gallery calendar] [all ages]

Eddie Israel will be at The Clarissa Room (293 Clarissa St., formerly Shep's Paradise) starting around 7:30 p.m. [source: Freetime]

JayceLand Pick The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Songs in the Key of Z: A Celebration of Outsider Music starting at 8 p.m. featuring rare footage of unusual musicians such as Tiny Tim, BJ Snowden, Shooby Taylor, Daniel Johnston, Wesley Willis, Klaus Beyer, and Richard Peterson among others. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages]

JayceLand Pick Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. is Greg WeeksMySpace link, Viking MosesMySpace link, and Greg Davis. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+]

In Between the Lines (Community Learning Center (CLC), Wilson Blvd., University of Rochester Campus, #27 on River Campus Map) will be performing tonight at 10 p.m. [source: In Between the Lines calendar]

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
Tonight from 6:45 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. is a free Community Skate Night at the ice rink at Manhattan Square Park (130 Chestnut St.) with music from Beal's Rock and Roll Revue. [source: City Hall press release] [all ages]

From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Genesee Pottery at The Genesee Center for the Arts (713 Monroe Ave.) is the opening of Joseph Sorrentino's Imagenes desde México (Images from Mexico) which runs until March 20. [source: the proverbial grapevine] [all ages]

JayceLand Pick Top Pick Excellent experimental jazz from JerseybandGarageBand linkIUMA link will be at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 7 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar]

JayceLand Pick Tonight at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) is varied-style (blues, rock, etc.) band Powered by Satan, and FigureMySpace link starting around 8 p.m. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages]

Tonight at Dazzle Theater (112 Webster Ave.) is Imani Theatre Ensemble performing The Flava of Jazz starting around 8 p.m. both tonight and tomorrow with a reception at 7 p.m. both days. [source: Freetime]

Starry Nites Café (696 University Ave., formerly Moonbeans) will be hosting Jay Tribe starting around 9 p.m. [source: Starry Nites calendar] [all ages]


S
A
T
U
R
D
A
Y
JayceLand Pick O'Bagelo's, 165 State Street, noon.

Mellow jazz guitarist Paul Blackburn will be at Abundance Cooperative Market (62 Marshall St.) starting around 2 p.m. [source: Abundance Co-op calendar] [all ages]

This afternoon at 1 p.m. at Susan B. Anthony House (19 Madison St.) is a Book Discussion Group about Rosie the Riveter Revisited: Women, the War, and Social Change. [source: Freetime] [all ages]

JayceLand Pick The witty Brian Coughlin, more of the same from Maria Gillard, and the charismatic and talented Scott Regan will be at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) starting around 8 p.m. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages]

JayceLand Pick Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is power rock-and-roll from Bee EaterGarageBand linkMySpace
link, fast power rock from The Juliet DaggerMySpace link, and punk-rock/power-rock band The ScarletsMySpace link starting around 10:45 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar]

Over at Starry Nites Café (696 University Ave., formerly Moonbeans) starting around 9 p.m. is the blues-styled The Deborah Magone Band. [source: Starry Nites calendar] [all ages]


S
U
N
D
A
Y
The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing West Side Story starting at 5 p.m. A well-regarded version of the musical, but as an added bonus, this is a new 35mm print. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages]

At 2 p.m. today in Gleason Auditorium of The Rochester Public Library (115 South Ave.) is author Nancy Rubin Stuart discussing her book The Reluctant Spiritualist : The Life of Maggie Fox. [source: Rochester Public Library calendar] [all ages]

The Hochstein School of Music and Dance (50 North Plymouth Ave.) will be hosting a Benefit for Joe Dady after his recent heart troubles with performances by The Wild Geese, hünü?, Cuttin' the Grass, Jed Curran, Jeff Riales, the really talented Kinloch Nelson, John Dady, and Mitzi Collins starting around 3 p.m. [source: WITR calendar]

From 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. to day at Border's Books and Music (1000 Hylan Dr.) is a talk by Buddhist monk Gen Kelsang Sangkyong titled Seeing Beyond Our Problems. [source: Freetime] [all ages]

Wormhole by Emile Devereaux closes today at The Rochester Contemporary Art Gallery (137 East Ave.) [source: Rochester Contemporary calendar] [all ages]

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
Fly the flag today.President's Day

Tonight at 7 p.m. at The Community Darkroom at The Genesee Center for the Arts (713 Monroe Ave.) is an opportunity to Meet the Photographer John Retallack. [source: Freetime]


T
U
E
S
D
A
Y
George Washington born 1732

Today's Tuesday Talks from 12:12 p.m. to 12:52 p.m. in Gleason Auditorium at The Rochester Public Library (115 South Ave.) is titled Tsunamis and Earthquakes and features geologist Tom Wells. [source: Friends of the Public Library flyer] [all ages]

Tonight at 7 p.m. is another Rochester Poets Reading & Open Mike at Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) [source: Writers and Books calendar] [all ages]

JayceLand Pick The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Ha-Olimpiada Harishonah Shel Imma (Mom's First Olympics) starting at 8 p.m. about a woman who loses her vision and takes up lawn bowling to enter the Para-Olympics. This will be followed by Liebe Perla about the sole survivor of a family of dwarfs experimented on by Josef Mengele as she and a disability advocate as they search for a missing film Mengele made of her family. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages]

JayceLand Pick The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting The Soul Trap, GhostrunnerGarageBand link, and The Blackcaps starting around 10:45 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar]

Not ready for mainstream Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) is hosting an Acoustic Open Mic from 8 to 10. For this one, there's no microphones and it's pretty open ended. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages]


W
E
D
N
E
S
D
A
Y
Today at 1 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall (30 Church St.) is Free Story Telling by The Black Storytellers League. [source: City Hall press release] [all ages]

The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Mulholland Dr. starting at 8 p.m. So is Hollywood really all style and no substance? [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]

Not ready for mainstream Tonight from 8 to 10 is an Open-Mic Comedy Night at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) While once it was a workshop type of environment, it's now more-or-less a regular open mic ... by default it's still a place to try out new stuff. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages]

 
Vanity Page | Archives | About |
| Last Week

Search this site or the web
powered by FreeFind

Site Web


Respond
| Read Guestbook
| Sign Guestbook
|



Weekly Reminder E-Mail
E-mail:
More information




Internet Movie Database
On this day ... February 17



Link of the Week:
Here are some links to organizations that are aiding the relief effort for the victims of the Indian Ocean tsumai on December 26. Please give to their general funds so they can distribute money in a way that makes the most sense.

The American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization led by volunteers that provides relief to victims of disasters and helps people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. They are supporting the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) appeal for basic materials for survival and personnel.

Unicef focuses on child protection and immunizations, as well as helping countries in crisis with emergency assistance.

Oxfam International is a confederation of 12 organizations working together to find lasting solutions to poverty, suffering and injustice. They are providing emergency aid equipment to help in disaster relief.

American Red Cross Disaster Relief page is an Amazon.com donation page and it's among the easiest ways to donate from if you're an Amazon.com customer.

JayceLand #312 is the updated I did on December 30 with the chain letter these links.



Advertising:



DreamHost web hosting
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!


JayceLand
Store at CafePress

Buy some JayceLand junk at sky high prices!


Amazon Honor System Click Here to Pay Learn More




Related Sites:

Freetime Magazine
The City
Rochester Music Coalition
Rochester Goes Out (D&C)
RochesterDowntown.com
Rochester Punk Rock
WGMC Jazz Calendar
Delusions of Adequacy
Mystery and Misery
My Rochester
InfoRochester
@ Rochester
RochesterDrinks
Kids Out and About
Weather Underground


Movie links courtesy The Internet Movie Database. Map links courtesy MapsOnUs. Some movie synopses courtesy UpcomingMovies.com

About the title ... Corn Hill Market is located at 319 Exchange Blvd.

This page is Jason Olshefsky's list of things to do in Rochester, NY and the surrounding region (including Monroe County and occasionally the Western New York region.) It is updated every week with daily listings for entertainment, activities, performances, movies, music, bands, comedy, improv, poetry, storytelling, theater, plays, and generally fun things to do. The musical styles listed can include punk, emo, ska, swing, rock, rock-and-roll, alternative, metal, jazz, blues, noise band, experimental music, folk, acoustic, and "world-beat." Events listed take place during the day, in the evenings, or as part of the city's nightlife as listed. Oh, and it's spelled JayceLand with no space and a capital L, not Jayce Land, Jace Land, Jase Land, Jayce World, Jaceland, Jaseland, Jayceworld, Jaceworld, nor Jaseworld. (Now if you misspell it in some search engine, you at least get a shot at finding it.) While I'm on the topic of keywords for search engines, this update includes information for Thursday, February 17, 2005 (Thu, Feb 17, 2005, 2/17/2005, or 2/17/05) Friday, February 18, 2005 (Fri, Feb 18, 2005, 2/18/2005, or 2/18/05) Saturday, February 19, 2005 (Sat, Feb 19, 2005, 2/19/2005, or 2/19/05) Sunday, February 20, 2005 (Sun, Feb 20, 2005, 2/20/2005, or 2/20/05) Monday, February 21, 2005 (Mon, Feb 21, 2005, 2/21/2005, or 2/21/05) Tuesday, February 22, 2005 (Tue, Feb 22, 2005, 2/22/2005, or 2/22/05) and Wednesday, February 23, 2005 (Wed, Feb 23, 2005, 2/23/2005, or 2/23/05).


JayceLand Pick indicates an event that's a preferred pick of the day ... probably something worth checking out.

Top Pick indicates a "guaranteed" best bet for the particular genre of the indicated event.

IUMA link links to a band's page on IUMA.com which offers reviews and information about bands.

GarageBand link links to a band's page on GarageBand.com which offers reviews and information about bands.

MySpace link links to a band's page on MySpace.com which is a friend-networking site that is popular with bands.

Not ready for mainstream. is an event that is "non-entertainment" for the masses such as practice sessions, open jams, etc.

Fly the flag today. is a day when you should fly the flag according to the Veterans of Foreign Wars calendar.

[Current Week] [Weekly Archives] [About This Site] [Jayce's Old Vanity Page]

Copyright © 2005 Jason Olshefsky. All rights reserved.