Weekly Rochester Events #357: Where the Hicks Are

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Whew ... a rather busy week and another one ahead, what with The High Falls Film Festival upon us. Friday night I stopped by Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) to see Autumn In Halifax play with a big group of people: Andy Gilmore, Will Veeder, Kelli Shay Hicks, Chad Oliveiri, Joe Tunis, and Chris Reeg. It was fantastic. Everyone brought their own flavor to the performance of Dave's songs. It was often so complex to listen to that I had to close my eyes to keep from being distracted by the stimulus of my sight. I'm just sad that I was in such a lousy mood that night and had to get home afterward.

Saturday I was in much better spirits and when I went to the potluck dinner at The Ant Hill Cooperative (960 South Plymouth Ave.) There was plenty of food and I was glad to see people developing communities — many of the people from the neighborhood stopped by as well as the members of the cooperative and several more people from the city-at-large (such as myself.)

However, I got a sense some of the difficulties of maintaining the cooperative system. In general, it's keeping people contributing to the common good when it is to their advantage — their individual advantage — to do as little work as possible. Ant Hill's solution seems to be to use bureaucracy (that is, "rule by drawers") to artificially create incentive. In digging around their website and meeting notes, I find they've devised a system of assigning credits to particular chores — everyone is debited the same amount each week and tries to stay as close to zero as possible by completing enough work.

Since it's a system, though, it's prone to failure cases: for instance, if one person did lots of work in one week then did nothing for a month. They would stay within the functional parameters of the system, but their lazy periods would likely annoy the other working members of the cooperative.

Therein lies the crux of the problem: the bureaucracy is designed to formalize the process of making a community, but in creating formality, there are always loopholes. Instead, I think the sense of community needs to be continunally refreshed — maintaining a sense of pride in being part of a whole in addition to pride as an individual. I don't have some easy answer, but so far people haven't made self-sustaining bureaucracies of this type (see also, The Soviet Union). I'm curious if the initial excitement of setting up a system that keep people going for a while can be maintained ... the pitfall being that human beings are prone to becoming accustomed to whatever level of excitement they are presented.

Anyway, later that night I went to the Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) to see Reel Paradise. It's a pretty interesting film about a guy who opens a movie theater on Fiji and shows commercial American films for free. The native Fijians were shown to be a lot like society anywhere: some good, some bad, some honest, and some deceptive. The American outsiders also reflected facets of stereotypical Americans: brash, kind, clueless, trusting, and naive. One of the things that John Pierson said of the church is that he's concerned that it is taking this indigenous culture based on community and teaching individual greed. Ironically, one of the conflicts was that someone was stealing from the Pierson's — so is it the church that's teaching this individual greed or the Piersons demonstrating it?

Anyway, on Tuesday I went out to vote. In the end, it was Robert Duffy who won (not surprisingly) with over 72% of the vote (Parinello got 16%, Mains got 10%, and Maj got a little over 1%.) All the candidates (except Chris Maj) echoed the same lines: jobs and crime are related to money. I claim, though, that both problems stem from a deeper cause: the lack of community.

It is popular in our present American culture to prioritize our lives on independence, income, and individuality (ha ... "the three I's"). With that as our primary focus, we miss out on the important value of community and society. It all comes down to money for most people — that money is the measure of the man. However, I feel we should be thinking in terms of "overall benefit."

There was an article in Salon.com titled Throwing Google at the book concerning Google scanning paper books to make them electronically searchable. In concept this is beneficial — higher accessibility, a more efficient system of finding pertinent data, and, overall, a means to really help humanity learn faster. There is the chance, though, that the now easily-copyable versions of books can be illegally sold and distributed.

Opponents often cite that Google is a for-profit company and therefore cannot be entrusted with this information. However, it's not money or profit that is the cause of unscrupulous behavior: it's the retribution-free nature of corporations. Nobody is responsible for the damage caused by a corporation — the problem isn't that a corporation is interested in profits, it is that by design it has no conscience.

In general, though, our real challenge is to work on building community. Bolster the human spirit. Hold everyone's desire to benefit themselves and everyone else as a goal worth striving for. Encourage people to create. Let them present. Teach debate and critique. Foster creativity in our schools; our homes; our city.

Back to activities for a moment: on Tuesday I made it to another Artists Breakfast Group meetings at Bausch and Lomb (140 Stone St.) It was great to once again hear people talking about community building. Well, I'm talking about community building while there, we are building community. It's nice to know about people doing art — doing art because they have to; what their heart demands.

So go out there this week and see some movies that people made because they had to — not because the gross sales will be more than the cost of production. Go see bands play because they have to — not because they were selected by a record label to be logically the next popular thing and are now playing their original album again and again to make a living. Go make something.

T H U R S D A Y

This morning at 9:30 a.m. is the presentation of the results from Steppin' Up To Solutions Lock-in & Rally on Anti-Violence, an all-night lock-in caucus with 13-year-old to 18-year-old youths held the night prior at The Edgerton Community Center (41 Backus St.) The presentation will be given at The Liberty Pole (1 Liberty Pole Way.) [source: City Hall press release] Today at 11:00 a.m. is a discussion and "Coffee With ..." filmmakers from the The High Falls Film Festival. at The Crowne Plaza Hotel (70 State St.) [source: High Falls Film Festival website] Over at Record Archive (1880 East Ave.) starting around 4 p.m. is an in-store appearance by Dar Williams, prior to her show at Water Street Music Hall tonight. [source: WBER calendar] [all ages] This evening from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. is a panel discussion with Kay B. Warren titled Improving the World: Promises and Perils of Transnationalism in the Robbins Room of The Rush Rhees Library in The University of Rochester (Library Rd. near Intercampus Dr., details on River Campus Map) The panel consists of Beth Buggenhagen from the The University of Rochester Department of Anthropology, William Fisher from the Department of International Development, Community & Environment of Clark University (950 Main St., Worcester, MA) and Shannon Speed from the Department of Anthropology at University of Texas at Austin (2613 Wichita St., Austin, TX) moderated by Robert Foster from the The University of Rochester Department of Anthropology. [source: University of Rochester Events Calendar] This evening's pick for The High Falls Film Festival at 7:15 p.m. is Temporada de patos (Duck Season) in back at The Little (240 East Ave.) Starting from just a couple kids playing video games, the power goes out, then several more people stop by to cook and pontificate — the description of the film claims a wide range of humor with a tender edge. [source: High Falls Film Festival website] Tonight at City Hall (30 Church St.) at 7:30 p.m. is a meeting with Mayor William A. Johnson, Jr. reviewing The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. [source: City Hall press release] The late pick for The High Falls Film Festival tonight is a tough call: either the Shorts Program #1 at 9:00 p.m. in back at The Little (240 East Ave.) or Transamerica at 9:15 p.m. at the Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) The latter is about a transgendered person whose request to get surgery to become a woman is delayed when a son fathered by her during her life as a man is looking for her. Her therapist insists that she confront her past, so she goes to New York to bring her son to L.A. to help him find his father. There's also a question-and-answer with producer Linda Moran so it wins out over the also interesting looking film La niña santa (The Holy Girl). [source: High Falls Film Festival website] [all ages] Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. is The Fleshtones, and The Lost Marbles. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] Navar, and Burning Daylight will be at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: Freetime] [21+] 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

Veteran's Day Today at 11:00 a.m. is a discussion and "Coffee With ..." filmmakers from the The High Falls Film Festival. at The Crowne Plaza Hotel (70 State St.) [source: High Falls Film Festival website] Old-timey-sounding accordian and musical saw duo Dreamland Faces will be at Lux Lounge (666 South Ave.) tonight from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. [source: band poster] [21+] Tonight at 7 p.m. is Sketches of Frank Gehry at the Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) as part of The High Falls Film Festival and featuring question-and-answer with Suzanne Weil. The film starts with a conversation between director Sydney Pollack and architect Frank O. Gehry where the two compare notes on the terrors of starting a project in what are very commercially-driven fields. The strugglingness of artists just doesn't ever stop. [source: High Falls Film Festival website] Tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Geva (75 Woodbury Blvd.) is part of their Hibernatus Interruptus series featuring a reading of the new play Splitting Infinity by Jamie Pachino about an astrophysicist who tries to prove God's existence. [source: Geva Theatre website] Over at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) starting around 8 p.m. is Lauren Bohrer, and Aaron Lemon. [source: Daily Perks calendar] [all ages] Tonight at The Rochester Contemporary Art Gallery (137 East Ave.) from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. is the opening of an exhibit titled Silent Star. Ron Hawkins will perform at 8:30 p.m. [source: Rochester Contemporary calendar] Tonight at 8 p.m. at Blackfriars Theatre (28 Lawn St.) is the opening of Enchanted April by Matthew Barber. The play runs until December 4. [source: Blackfriars Theatre website] After Hours A Cappella Group will be performing in the Strong Auditorium at The University of Rochester (Elmwood Ave. at Intercampus Dr., details on River Campus Map) starting around 8 p.m. [source: University of Rochester Events Calendar] At 9:15 p.m. at the front #1 screen at The Little (240 East Ave.) is The War Within, part of The High Falls Film Festival featuring question-and-answer with Joana Vicente A thriller about what can make a man into a suicide bomber. [source: High Falls Film Festival website] The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting the excellent simple, dark, poetic low-fi from Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Dear Nora, very low-key acoustic from Carbonic, and a disorienting blend of spoken word, electronic effects, and repetition from Gaybot starting around 9:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] 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]

S A T U R D A Y

O'Bagelo's, 165 State Street, noon. One of the really cool things they do at The High Falls Film Festival is Screenplay Live! where they get actors to read a new script and invite audience comment. This time it's at 10:30 a.m. at Geva (75 Woodbury Blvd.) and they'll be reading The Break-In by Ryan David Jahn as directed by Anastasia Cerankosky. The story is about a man who kills a burglar in self-defense and leaves the dead man's body in his house until he finds the identity of the victim. [source: High Falls Film Festival website] This afternoon at Abundance Cooperative Market (62 Marshall St.) is Steven Piper, and Maggie Herman starting around 1 p.m. [source: Abundance Co-op calendar] [all ages] In the early afternoon of The High Falls Film Festival you'll have to choose between seeing The Grace Lee Project from 1:10 p.m. to 2:20 p.m. with Q-and-A afterward with director/producer Grace Lee in back at The Little (240 East Ave.) or attend the discussion titled The Screen-Writer's Hollywood from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Curtis Theatre at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) In the former, Grace Lee was once confident in her uniqueness as a woman of Asian lineage in her small Missouri hometown but when she moved to California, everyone she met knew a similar "Grace Lee." So, she decided to track some of these women down to reassure her uniqueness. In the latter, discuss screenwriting with the panel consisting of Cari Beauchamp, Gordy Hoffman, Naomi Foner-Gyllenhaal, and Amy Taubin. [source: High Falls Film Festival website] This afternoon at The Hochstein School of Music and Dance (50 North Plymouth Ave.) is excellent cello-and-drums rock band Break of Reality, and The Cello Divas starting around 3:30 p.m. — for free. [source: Rochester Music Coalition calendar] [all ages] Today from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. is an interesting class in The High Falls Film Festival titled Master Class with Jean-Louis Rodrigue will be in the Curtis Theatre. of relaxation through movement. in the Curtis Theatre at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) Rodrigue is a choreographer and movement specialist who teaches the Alexander Technique. [source: High Falls Film Festival website] The High Falls Film Festival will be showing Women Of SoFA: Short Films By RIT Students this afternoon from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in back at The Little (240 East Ave.) Although there's also Shorts Program #2 playing, I feel the "Women of SoFA" program is more in line with the theme of the festival, plus it's filmmakers from here in The RIT School of Film and Animation. [source: High Falls Film Festival website] There's two films in The High Falls Film Festival I want to see early this evening. Caché (Hidden) will be shown at 7:15 p.m. in the Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) It's about a French man who ruins the life of an Algerian man while they were children and the Algerian returns in vengeance many years later — a view of relations between races largely foreign to Americans. After the film, Angela Bassett will be presented with the festival's "Failure is Impossible" Award. The other film is Somersault playing in the front #1 theater of The Little (240 East Ave.) at 7:30 p.m. It's about a young woman who fools around with her mother's boyfriend and then runs away from home. She's left with her attractiveness and her wits to kick-start life on her own, and in the process, faces the spectrum of behavior from men from kindness to misogyny. [source: High Falls Film Festival website] Over at A|V Art Sound Space (#8 in the Public Market, off N. Union St., formerly The All-Purpose Room) starting around 9 p.m. is The Buffalo Suicide Prevention Unit, Todd Whitman, Bill Sack, and the excellent, organic experimental jazz band The Blood and Bone Orchestra [source: artsound website] Although I'll likely be at the Gala Night Party of The High Falls Film Festival at Artisan Works (565 Blossom Rd.) tonight at 9:30 p.m., I'm tempted to go see Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic in the front #1 theater of The Little (240 East Ave.) at 10 p.m. Comic Sarah Silverman performs some of her risqué brand of comedy. [source: High Falls Film Festival website] Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting catchy, nearly Klezmer-inspired rockabillyness (in the form of a satirical Gospel band) from The Lobster Quadrille, great minimalist acoustic soloist Kelli Shay Hicks, and Daryl Fleming starting around 10:30 p.m. [source: band flyer] [21+] Updated: Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is great, attention-deficit rock/funk/jazz from Gaylord, and superb heavy rock from Bee Eater starting around 10:45 p.m. Note that Banyan has cancelled. [source: Bug Jar calendar] Tonight's another Betty's Sing-a-Long at Betty Meyer's Bullwinkle Café (622 Lake Ave.) starting around 10.

S U N D A Y

Today's midday selections from The High Falls Film Festival are your choice of one or two discussions. At 11:00 a.m. you can go to the Curtis Theatre at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) to see a panel discussion of Documentary Filmmaking and then come back to the same location for the Gallery Talk at 1 p.m. with Amy Taubin and Mania Akbari discussing Akbari's video works on display in the downstairs of Little Theatre #1. Overlapping both with a start time of 12:00 p.m. is Wallace, Gromit, Chickens, Raisins and Me: Teresa Drilling, Stop-Motion Animator in back at The Little (240 East Ave.) for a bit of whimsy and a bit of interesting discussion about whimsy with animator Teresa Drilling. [source: High Falls Film Festival website] Today at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Matthew Brown will be giving a 15 minute presentation and mini-recital on the Italian Baroque organ in the Fountain Court at The Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Ave., near Goodman St.) [source: Memorial Art Gallery calendar] Geva (75 Woodbury Blvd.) will be hosting another of their Hibernatus Interruptus today at 3 p.m. featuring a reading of the new play Lost and Foundling by Eric R. Pfeffinger. [source: Geva Theatre website] And for mid-afternoon I'm tempted by all The High Falls Film Festival offerings. At 3 p.m. in back at The Little (240 East Ave.) is Sir! No Sir! which documents the Vietnam anti-war movement started within the ranks of the military and will be followed by a Q-and-A with producer Evangeline Griego. At 3:15 p.m., also in back of the Little is Shorts Program #3 which looks to be a good program of interesting shorts. Also at 3:15 p.m. in the Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) is The Education Of Shelby Knox which is a documentary about Shelby Knox, a high-school student in Lubbock, Texas fighting to have sex education in her school, and the film will be followed by a Q-and-A with Shelby Knox and director Rose Rosenblatt. [source: High Falls Film Festival website] Tonight at 4:45 p.m. in the front #1 theater of The Little (240 East Ave.) is The High Falls Film Festival film After Innocence, a documentary about an American falsely convicted and sent to a prison condemned by the U.N. for torture, only to later be released with not so much as an apology from the justice system that put him there. The film is followed by Q-and-A with writer/director Jessica Saunders. [source: High Falls Film Festival website] Tonight's The High Falls Film Festival pick at 7 p.m. is at the front #1 theater of The Little (240 East Ave.) titled Christa McAuliffe: Reach for the Stars. As you might expect, a portrait of Christa McAuliffe, the teacher who was on her way to going into space on Space Shuttle Challenger when it tragically exploded. The screening is followed by a Q-and-A session with directors/producers Mary Jo Godges and Renée Sotile. [source: High Falls Film Festival website] 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

Veteran's Day (observed) There's another Rochester Poets Reading and Open Mike at Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) tonight at 7 p.m. [source: Writers and Books calendar] [all ages] Updated: Wrapping up The High Falls Film Festival is the Audience Award Winners in back at The Little (240 East Ave.) At 7 p.m. is the Winning Narrative World's Fastest Indian (about the guy who broke the land-speed record on an Indian motorcycle) and at 9:30 p.m. is the Winning Documentary Christa McAuliffe: Reach for the Stars. [source: High Falls Film Festival website] Exhumed, Crucifist, pretty good, somewhat gimmicky heavy metal band Blüdwülf, and Finisher will be at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar] [18+] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Wal-Mart: The High Cost Of Low Price starting at 9:30 p.m. (note the later start time.) It's about, well, the hidden costs involved with Wal-Mart. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Today at 12 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. is the first Geva 101 at Geva (75 Woodbury Blvd.): An Approach to Acting featuring Geva's Artist-in-Residence Skip Greer discussing his approach to preparing roles for the stage. [source: Geva Theatre 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

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. This time it's Show and Tell where you can bring in a piece to show off or get a critique. Tonight at Brighton Memorial Library (2300 Elmwood Ave.) at 7 p.m. is a showing of the Russian film Koktebel (Roads to Koktebel) about a father and son without any money traveling to find the father's sister. [source: Rochester Public Library calendar] [all ages] Tonight at Geva (75 Woodbury Blvd.) at 8 p.m. is a preview of Shear Madness about a concert pianist with lots of enemies who's murdered on stage — and the audience decides who the killer is. [source: Geva Theatre website] Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. is Mr. Quintron with Miss Pussycat, Harry Merry, and the very good rock band Tiger Cried Beef. [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

Why are you sitting there naked? Godiva's (653 South Ave.) is having a big sale: 50% off vintage apparel and 20% off military apparel (except coats) today, Thursday, and Saturday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and on Friday from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. (from November 9 to November 19.) The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Wal-Mart: The High Cost Of Low Price starting at 5:30 p.m. (note the earlier start time — particularly if you can't make it to the Monday late show.) [source: Eastman House calendar] Michael Musillami 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] The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask starting at 8 p.m. Filmmaker Isaac Julien will introduce and present this account of the life of theorist and activist Frantz Fanon. Preceding the screening is The Attendant also by Julien. [source: Eastman House calendar] [all ages] Tonight at Kilbourn Hall at Eastman Theatre (60 Gibbs St.) is a concert by Ossia New Music featuring Anton Webern's Symphony, op.21, Franco Donatoni's Sinfonia, op.63, Ethan Borshansky Sinfonietta, Arnold Schönberg Chamber Symphony No.2, and Frederic Rzewski's Coming Together. [source: Ossia New Music 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] [all ages]

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!