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COMMENTARY: BRIAN WILLIAMS AND MEMORY

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PUBLIC QUESTIONNAIRE: Actor Adam Yellen revealed.

COMEDY: Open mic night at Milkie’s, plus Gary Gulman at Helium.

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LOCAL NEWS

LOOKING BACKWARD: FENTON’S PEKIN “It is putting it mildly to say that the first sight of ‘Pekin’ will cause thrills of amazement, admiration, and delight.” —Buffalo Courier, October 3, 1915

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE BUFFALO HISTORY MUSEUM.

Fenton’s Pekin, 85 Broadway, was one of the great pre-Prohibition pleasure palaces of Buffalo. Opened in 1915 by Nathan Fernandez, better known as Nate Fenton (and pictured here), the American and Oriental cabaret was thronged nightly by patrons lured by chop suey, singing and dancing waiters, and jazz and vaudeville acts. The Pekin was designed as a Chinese pagoda by Emerson C. Dell, who sought to craft an attraction which “embodies the weird, fantastic, yet strangely beautiful ideals of Chinese artists, architects, and dreamers.” Five tiers of flaring fan-like projections rose one above the other and spreading out on all sides of a high tower. Over the entrance on Broadway, a flashing blade sign depicting a Chinese dragon was “fearsome of aspect” and “a mass of glowing and riotous color.” The interior finish was of burnt wood, in the tradition of Chinese temples. Along the bottom of the upper-level gallery where patrons could watch the swarming crowd, “great gold dragons flashed red and green eyes at intervals amidst the smoke of hundreds of cigarettes.” The slogan of the Pekin was: “If drinking interferes with your business, give up business.” Then came Prohibition. After 1920, repeated raids discouraged the after-theater throngs, and the business declined. In 1922, Fenton sold the Pekin to the Buffalo Evangelistic Association, which made it the first site of the City Mission, now in operation at 100 East Tupper Street. Today, the block on which Fenton’s Pekin was located is home to 77 P Broadway, an office building. –THE PUBLIC STAFF

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NEWS COMMENTARY

BRIAN WILLIAMS AND MEMORY Memory is not a hard drive or a book. It is active, ever in flux, ever reconfiguring bits of information BY BRUCE JACKSON Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, announced Saturday that he was going into seclusion while everybody figures out what to do about his oft-told story about having been in a helicopter forced down by a rocket-propelled-grenade in Iraq, which turns out not to be at all true. Williams was in a helicopter that came on the scene maybe a half-hour later. In a firefight, half an hour is a serious amount of time. It is forever. Some people are excoriating Williams for having expropriated the experience of other people and made it into his own. Some are calling him a flat-out liar, a media pro who used the situation to pump up his own career. According to the Stars and Stripes website, “The NBC online archive shows the network broadcast a news story on March 26, 2003, with the headline, ‘Target Iraq: Helicopter NBC’s Brian Williams was Riding in Comes Under Fire.’”

HEADLINES A pause here: As every reporter knows, you don’t write the headlines above your copy or, in the case of TV reporting, preceding the edited version of your feed. The incident happened in 2003, almost 15 years ago. Did Williams make the claim then or did he ease into it over time? In the years in between, was he lying? Was he misremembering? Was he conflating narratives? Was that initial headline out of New York something in his feed or something a desk guy decided would play well that night? I don’t have a clue. Who ever knows what is in someone else’s heart or mind? Where is the truth, in the heart or the mind? Until NBC releases the reports Williams filed in those first days, none of us will know the truth of the first part of this story. Memory is not a hard drive or a book. It is active, ever in flux, ever reconfiguring things as bits of information that seemed irrelevant at the time take on, because of other information, new significance and not only fit into, but change the story. I can imagine Williams putting himself into that RPG moment from the beginning; I can also imagine him looking back on the aired and edited and headlined footage and buying into that narrative constructed by others and making it his own with no malign intent whatsoever. I have two specific examples of that, one about me, the other about Warren Bennis, UB’s first provost.

HENRY FONDA’S DRAW At a conference on Western films in Sun Valley in 1976, Peter Fonda told a wonderful story about his father preparing for a fastdraw scene in the film Warlock. Henry was out there by the pool, whipping his pistol out, reholstering it, whipping it out again. A guest was there for dinner and said, “Hank, come on in.” Fonda

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said he couldn’t: He had this scene in the morning in which he had to be a fast draw. The friend said they could undercrank the camera (shoot the scene at maybe 18 frames per second rather than the normal sound speed of 24 frames per second), which would speed up the apparent physical action. Fonda said they couldn’t do that because his character wore a Phi Beta Kappa key and it wouldn’t swing at the right speed. The visitor said, “No one will notice that.” “But,” Fonda said, “they’ll feel it.” That became for me one of the key statements on what doing art is about: the micro things you do that no one will ever notice—but they’ll feel it. I don’t know how many times I told that story. Then, when I was working on a book about narrative, I listened to Peter’s story on tape. It was nothing like the story I’d been telling for years, or like the one I just told you. There was no dinner guest. There was no dinner. It was just Peter’s dad out by the pool practicing his draw. Peter’s story went on over days; mine was just before dinner. Peter’s story was about his relationship with his father. I, without any notion I’d changed a word, turned it into a story about making art. All the years I told that story, I thought I was telling the story Peter Fonda told about his dad. Maybe 30 years later I realized I was hypothesizing a story about what artists do.

WARREN BENNIS’S ECONOMY Warren Bennis and I came to Buffalo in fall 1967. He left MIT to become dean of Social Sciences; I left Harvard to become an assistant professor of English. A mutual friend with whom I’d been teaching at Harvard, Norman Zinberg, said we should meet before we left Boston. So I went to Warren’s Boston house for a Sunday brunch in May 1967. Saul Tauster, a poet and lawyer for Martin Meyerson, who was then UB president, was also there, as was Warren’s wife Clurie. During the brunch, Saul got a telephone call from an assistant dean of Arts and Letters at UB telling him that Leslie Fiedler— then on the UB faculty and perhaps the best known literary critic in the United States—had been arrested on a drug charge. The charge was bogus and it eventually went away but it caused a big stir for a while. Here is why I’m telling you about it here, in this article about Brian Williams: In the early 1990s, after Warren and I hadn’t seen one another for a while and we were catching up, and he was introducing me to his current wife, he told a story about when Martin Meyerson was hiring him for the Buffalo job, the phone rang, and it was that same assistant dean telling him that Leslie had been busted. When he finished, I pointed out that in the academic world, deans are hired in the fall, and that Leslie had been busted

in May, and I had been the one in the room when the phone rang. Maybe five years later, we all were having dinner again in Los Angeles, and Warren again told the story of Leslie’s arrest, and again put Martin in my chair. We all paused and he looked at me and said, “I did it again, didn’t I?” Both times, Warren, author of maybe 35 books, one of my closest friends, told a story that made sense, that worked, but which, in fact, collapsed two events seven months apart and subtracted the least relevant person—me.

MEMORY Memory does that. It’s not always our friend. If you’re a novelist, it’s great because you can riff everywhere you wish. If you’re trying to deal with reality, it may not be your best source of information. Memory, as those two stories I just told you, tunes the past for your immediate purposes and it collapses events for economy. I heard Peter Fonda talk and the story I took from what he said (which was not his story) was about the making of art. Warren Bennis had two visitors to two brunches and subtracted the less important of the two—me—in service of the story.

SO WHAT ABOUT BRIAN WILLIAMS? Did Brian Williams make it up or did he do what we all do: Let the story trump the facts. The past few days I’ve heard people frothing about what a scoundrel and liar he is, and others saying things get confused and conflated in time. I guess it depends on when he started telling the story of being under fire. If it was in the moment, on the day that NBC headline got posted, he’s in trouble. If it was years later, when he slipped into the story others were already telling, a story in which he was a participant, I don’t think we should be too quick to judge. Memory, as I said, is ever on the job. What was there yesterday may not be there today. Memory is constantly reconfiguring and making new sense of the past, adding details it picked up along the way, dropping details that no longer fit, always configuring a story that makes the best sense of things it can. The fact that you remember something doesn’t mean it happened; it means only that you remember it. The novelist John Barth (who was some years back a member of the UB English Department) put that another way: “The story of your life isn’t your life. It’s your story.” Bruce Jackson is SUNY Distinguished Professor and James Agee Professor of American Culture at SUNY Buffalo. He is the author of The Story is True: The Art and Meaning of Telling P Stories, 2008.

EDUCATION NEWS

THE SNOW IMPERIAL STOUT

CUOMO’S EDUCATION GAMBIT Governor’s budget pits him against the education establishment BY SHANE MEYER It’s Cuomo versus the teachers unions, says the press. The unions, argues Cuomo, have a monopoly on schools to the detriment children. Teachers respond that they are dedicated to their work, that they also have kids who attend public schools, and that they need the financial and moral support of the community and its leaders in order to continue the work they do. A portion of the community is sympathetic to this plea, while another portion is doubtful. Teachers, the latter group decries, are in it for themselves. They make too much money, live too comfortably, and, in extreme cases, undergo surgical procedures in order to improve their hideous appearances. There is no middle ground.

taken the savings from school aid data adjustments over the past four years and diverted into the general fund to help create surpluses, instead of investing that money to help offset multi-billion dollar school aid cuts that have been made in New York State.

In fact, it is not Cuomo versus the union—it’s Cuomo versus the entire education establishment, which comprises several bodies of professionals (e.g. superintendents, board members, business officials, etc.). Many of them spoke before the NYS Senate’s Finance Committee last week in order to give their testimony on the budget proposal offered by the governor in January.

Deborah Cunningham, director of education and research of the Association of School Business Officials, opined that “$1.1 billion is really too low,” while Georgia Asciutto, executive director of the Conference of the Big 5 School Districts, told the Assembly that $1.1 billion recommended by the governor “clearly falls far short of what is needed, particularly for high needs school districts.” Asciutto also asked for a $2 billion increase.

There was resounding agreement among the experts with regard to the proposal: Its allotment for schools is not nearly large enough. The proposal offers school districts $1.1 billion should they accept Cuomo’s slate of controversial reforms. If districts don’t implement the reforms, they can take a $377 million increase, the minimum legally required. New York State Education Department Acting Commissioner Elizabeth Berlin asked state lawmakers for at least $2 billion during the hearings. The figure was echoed by the New York State School Boards Association, which asked for “a minimum increase in support for public school districts of $1.9 billion.” The School Administrators Association [SAANYS] called Cuomo’s proposed school aid increase “insufficient,” while the Council of School Superintendents [CSS] noted that “the $1.1 billion increase he recommends would not be enough to address widely shared concerns.” Brian Fessler of the NYS School Boards Association went into greater detail regarding the figure: “$1.1 billion is not enough…One of the things we looked at with the $1.1 billion figure that the governor mentioned—that figure is still below his own estimates over the past four years. The division of budgets’ enacted budget reports over the past four years show a cumulative $1.25 billion underfunding of school aid even based on the governor’s own numbers. He’s effectively

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“We request a minimum $1.9 billion increase going into 2015-16,” he added. David Little, executive director of the Rural School Association of NYS, was in agreement: “Rolling over our existing programs and services for public education takes about $2 billion dollars, and so, when your upper limit [is half ], it’s probably inadequate.”

Furthermore, a resounding majority of the speakers decried that Cuomo had tied the $1.1 billion figure to reforms. The tactic was described at turns as bullying, heavy-handed and overreaching. “The possibility of the $1.1 billion increase proposed by the Governor is almost enough to continue the status quo; and the threatened $377 million increase (or less) is ludicrous and unconscionable in consideration of state fiscal capacity and the extent to which school districts are known to be underfunded,” SAANYS wrote in its testimony. It’s been suggested that Cuomo’s proposal was a way of sending a message that he’s serious about reform, as well as a negotiating tactic. “It’s his strategy, and he has a right to his. And we’ll have our own,” Assembly Ways and Means Committee chair Herman Farrell told the Buffalo News’s Tom Precious. For now, at least, some lawmakers are betting that their prowess for negotiating is greater than the governor’s. According to a Newsday report, Senator John Flanagan, chairman of the Education Committee, assured a group of educators and administrators that “I am very confident that the $1.1 P billion is the floor—we will add money.”

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LICENSE TO

KILL MOST OF THE HOMICIDES IN BUFFALO ARE

UNSOLVED. THE BODIES ARE NUMBERS, WRITTEN IN RED ON A HOMICIDE BOARD IN THE BUFFALO POLICE DEPARTMENT. AND THOSE NUMBERS ARE ASTOUNDING: ONLY 25 PERCENT OF THE HOMICIDES IN 2014 RESULTED IN ARREST. BY FLORINA ALTSHILER

Buffalo homicides by location, 2011-2015, based on available data. (Precise locations of 20 killings in that time period are not available but will be plotted online as information becomes available.) Homicides in red are unresolved; homicides in blue have been cleared. Map created by Zachary Burns / zmburns.com.

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CRIME NEWS The murder of 19-year-old Dakym Reese—shot and killed in front of his home in the Shaffer Village public housing complex in Riverside on January 19—was the first of the year in Buffalo. Already, less than a month later, it has faded from public memory. Once a homicide drops out of daily media coverage, we assume the case must be closed and justice complete. A look at crime data reported by the Buffalo Police Department and crime statistics from around the country reveal a different truth: Most murderers in Buffalo are never caught. According to the Buffalo Police Department, 59 deaths were ruled homicides in 2014. Only 15 of the 59 homicides have been “cleared,” a term that the Buffalo Police Department uses to signify that an arrest was made. It does not mean that the person arrested was prosecuted and convicted of the homicide—only arrested. Forty-four homicides from 2014 remain unsolved or “under investigation,” according the Buffalo Police Department. The figures aren’t much better for 2013: 47 homicides and only 13 “cleared”—34 of them, or 72 percent, remain open from over a year ago. This yields a sad clearance rate of only 28 percent for 2013. In 2012, the Buffalo Police Department reported 49 homicides. Only 18 of those 49 homicides resulted in an arrest. The clearance rate for Buffalo’s homicides dating back to 2012, with the benefit of three years of investigation, is still only 36.7 percent. To put it more bluntly, almost 64 percent of Buffalo’s murderers from 2012 are still walking free, never having been arrested for the killings. Calls to the Buffalo Police Department for comment on these concerning statistics remain unreturned. According to FBI data, the national clearance rate for homicides is 62.5 percent—that is, 62.5 percent of the homicides committed result in arrest. In cities with similar populations of 250,000 to 499,999, the homicide clearance rate averages 54.7 percent—still significantly higher than Buffalo’s. The average homicide clearance rate for the Northeast is 59.1 percent. In metropolitan counties, the clearance rate is 67.7 percent, according to FBI statistics. One might assume that metropolitan counties have larger police forces and bring greater resources to bear, accounting for the higher homicide clearance rate. Accordingly, a look at the statistics associated with law enforcement employment is warranted. In 2012, Buffalo, with its then population of 262,434, had a total of 923 law enforcement employees. Excluding civilian employees, Buffalo employed a total of 759 officers. These figures are comparable to those of other cities with similar populations: Pittsburgh has a population of 312,112, with 947 law enforcement employees and 886 officers; Orlando has a population of 246,513, with 931 law enforcement employees and 721 officers. There are examples of larger cities with smaller police forces: Bakersfield, California has a population of 355,696 with 473 law enforcement employees and 347 officers; Corpus Christi, Texas has a population of 312,565, with 619 law enforcement employees and 432 officers; and Anchorage, Alaska, with a population of 299,143, employs 511 law enforcement employees and only 372 officers. The numbers are significant in their insignificance: Buffalo appears to be just right in terms of the number of officers employed compared with its population. In January 2014, the BPD swore in 32 new recruits. In August 2014, the BPD swore in 19 more new recruits for a total of 51 new officers. Buffalo’s police force is growing but the homicide clearance rate is dropping. This inverse relationship is confounding. If the size of the police force is not the issue, why then is the city’s homicide clearance rate so low? In Rochester, every homicide this year has already resulted in arrests and charges filed. What accounts for the stark difference in clearance rates between the two cities? What is Rochester doing right? Rochester police credit their results to deploying increased resources to homicide investigations during the critical initial 48-hour period, community participation in solving crimes, and co-

operation with federal investigative agencies. “In years past, a couple of homicide investigators would be assigned early on and would keep that case,” said Sergeant Naser Zenelovic, a supervising sergeant in Rochester Police Department’s homicide unit. “Now we attack it with a lot more resources early on. We have as many as six investigators and sometimes all 12 investigators working on a homicide in the critical first 48 hours. “The more you go after it early, the better we are later on. We gain trust and cooperation. If you wait a week or two, people are less likely to talk.” The results show: Just over a month into 2015 and all four of this year’s homicides in Rochester have been cleared. Looking back to 2012, 76 percent of that year’s 37 homicides have been solved. Thirty of 2013’s 41 homicides were cleared, yielding a 73.2 percent clearance rate that year. And 28 of that 2014’s 34 homicides have cleared—an impressive 82.4 percent clearance rate. Detectives in Rochester credit this clearance rate to a strengthened relationship with the county District Attorney’s office, the Monroe County Crime Laboratory, and the county Medical Examiner’s office. Their team approach includes having the medical examiner on scene at every homicide as well as a prosecutor from the District Attorney’s office and a member or multiple members from the crime laboratory. Sometimes, when applicable, they also have federal partners from the ATF, DEA, US Customs, and/or the FBI investigating the homicide alongside homicide investigators from the Rochester Police Department. US Attorney William Hochul prosecutes federal cases across Western New York, including Buffalo and Rochester. He notices the stark difference between Buffalo and Rochester. Hochul recently hired three additional attorneys to prosecute violent crime and narcotics-related cases, but they can only prosecute cases in which a suspect has been arrested. The problems in Buffalo are confounded by gang involvement, witness intimidation, uncooperative civilians, and limited community involvement. Hochul explained that his office relies heavily on “cooperators”—gang members who enter into plea agreements to inform on other gang members. When asked about the unsolved homicides in Buffalo, Hochul said, “Buffalo is a safe community unless you’re in a hot spot where violent gangs are operating, generally confined to the East Side of the city.” The Public’s mapping of the homicides reveals just that. There are a disproportionate number of homicides, particularly unsolved homicides, on the East Side. Mayor Byron Brown recently credited intensified gang sweeps with helping reduce Buffalo’s murder rate. Hochul also credits gang prosecutions, led by federal agencies, with a drop in homicides on the West Side of Buffalo. But citywide the murder rate has actually increased. Hochul said that there is not a concentration of power with any one gang on the East Side; the diffusion of gang control makes it harder to come down on them and eliminate them in one fell swoop. “If we remove just the Fruit Belt Posse, next door another gang operating will simply pick up the slack,” Hochul said. “We need to do our best to identify the most violent perpetrators and move them off the streets. We need the public’s help.” When asked to describe best practices in other cities, Hochul pointed to Boston’s top 100 list of perpetrators aimed at taking down the city’s most violent criminals; he pointed to Rochester’s multidisciplinary approach to homicide investigation; he identified several things that other cities were doing right. When asked what Buffalo police were doing right, he politely switched gears and talked about pastors and a need for community involvement. He had nothing positive to say about BPD’s homicide investigation practices. A pastor from a local church on the East Side told The Public, “You know, people talk about not saying anything, not divulging any information to the police. Unless it happens to them, and P then everybody wants to say something.”

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ALLENTOWN: 2BR newly-reno’d lower unit with A/C. W/D & strg in bsmt. Sm dogs OK. 19 N. Pearl, $1,200 (incl. heat & hot H20). Mark W. DiGiampaolo, 887-3891(c) ALLENTOWN: Updated 1BR + den, 1.5BA w/ hrdwd flrs, mantels, coff’d ceilg in custom kit/DR. 451 Franklin St., $1,100+. Mark W. DiGiampaolo, 887-3891(c) CHEEK OFC: Two sep. 1200sf ofcs (1st or 2nd flr) w/ reception & 4+ rms each. Shared parkg for 30. 3620 Harlem, $1,200/mo for ea. unit. (incl util). Ellen Drexler, 912-1966(c) CHEEK: 3BR w/ hrdwd, kit w/ new appl, terrace, beaut. yard, fin garage. 58 S. Rossler Ave, $1,000+. Robin Barrell, 9864061(c) ELMWOOD VLG: 5BR, 3.5BA house w/ hrdwd flrs, hi-end kit w/ SS, LR w/ built-ins, DR w/ fp, lg mstr, yard & gar. 128 Lexington, $2,800. Susan D. Lenahan, 864-6757(c) NO. BUFFALO: 2+BR, lrg LR, formal DR, eat-in kit, den-study w/ exit to sm. porch. Updated bath, new windows & furnc. 27 Commonwealth, $900+ util. Robin Barrell, 986-4061(c) SOUTH BUFFALO: 3BR lower unit, appliances included, W/D hookups avail. On street park only. 28 Magnolia, $725. Robin Barrell, 986-4061(c) WEST SIDE: 2BR. Former church w/ hrdwd flrs, gas fp, in-unit lndry. Lrg mstr, sitting rm & full bth on 2nd flr. Rooftop deck. 75 Bird Ave. $1,300+. Robin Barrell, 986-4061(c) WEST SIDE: NEW! Large 2BR w/ hrdwd flrs & nat wdwrk, formal DR, ofc/den, bsmt lndry, attic strg, porches, off-st park, 268 Baynes, $900+. Robin Barrell, 986-4061(c)

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NEWS PROFILE

REMEMBERING FRANK GOLDBERG BY JENNIFER CONNOR & HARPER SE BISHOP

“I THINK THAT SHE WAS REALLY BRAVE. BRAVE IN HER ACTIVISM AND HER GENDER EXPRESSION, ALSO BRAVE EMOTIONALLY,” SAYS HARMONY GOLDBERG.

Novy, only seven weeks old, has an adorable elfin face and eyes that see a thousand years. He is the newest addition to the Goldberg family. Novy means “new” in Ukrainian. Jesse Goldberg bounces Novy as we talk about his sister’s life, a story of “deep emotional connections and those that were energetic and fun, joyous…that any life can be okay sometimes even in the midst of hard stuff.” Frank Goldberg was involved—with people, with life—and her overflowing life force comes through in the words of each person who spoke to us. Frank’s given name was Aimee Francis Goldberg. In her 30s, she began to go by a variation of her middle name. More than for saintliness, Saint Francis was known for his humanity, a fitting namesake for someone who had a kinship with animals and whose unapologetic humanity allowed her a radical solidarity with people, a talent for true friendship. And also like her namesake, though Frank was avowedly not religious, if she did have a church, it would be the forest. “I think that she was really brave. Brave in her activism and her gender expression, also brave emotionally. I always call her one of the bravest people I know,” Harmony Goldberg, who now lives in New York City, wrote of her younger sister and kindred spirit.“Frank inspires a fierce kind of love from the people in her life. Frank has this special gift of being able to hold the hard and rough edges of life with a tender and gentle hand. She doesn’t look away from the dark places or offer you a map through them. Instead, she can sit with you as you find your own way, offering the kind of presence and understanding that you only have when you are familiar with the dark places, too. And she doesn’t make you feel judged or broken, just witnessed and honored for your courage to keep finding your way.” Frank was born on February 16, 1977, weeks after the infamous Blizzard of ‘77. She grew up in one of Buffalo’s more affluent suburbs, where she went to school and spent endless hours in the forest—her forest—close to her childhood home. She dreamed big dreams in that forest: of one day becoming an astronaut, amongst other lofty, youthful aspirations. Her parents, Joan and Russell Goldberg, were committed to progressive politics. A former

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Catholic nun married to a Jewish man, both feminists. Both professors as well; Russell still teaches at ECC, and Joan now teaches part-time at Attica Correctional Facility. They imparted to Frank their secular humanist perspective, sharp analytical skills, and deep appreciation for nature. They also instilled a respect for difference rather than a fear of it. Her parents were supportive, in a way that most LGBTQ youth and adults rarely experience. In the early 1990s, while still in high school, Frank came out. She was 15. “She gave our family all copies of Stone Butch Blues, telling us it would help us understand who she was,” said Harmony. “I think that understanding that what Frank was struggling with—in terms of sexuality and trying to figure out around gender—those questions were never separated for Frank.” Nor was the political. “What it meant to be genderqueer was to be political and neither of those things were separable.” She went to her junior prom in a tux with another woman, Harmony recalled. “She faced a lot of harassment for that during her senior year, but she just came out stronger—distributing condoms and so on. She also got involved in clinic defense when Operation Rescue came to Buffalo.” Frank left Buffalo to attend college. She went to New York University, where she was a dual major in Urban Studies and Queer Theory, until she dropped out to become a full-time administrator at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She continued her queer activism through organizations like AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, better known as ACT UP, and harm reduction work, mainly through the city’s Lower East Side Needle Exchange Program. She also helped develop a distribution center in Coney Island. Eventually, she began to use heroin herself, as did many of her friends in the harm reduction world. It was in these years that Frank decided to define herself as genderqueer, maintaining the feminine pronoun as way of putting her personal gender theory into practice. When Frank found her way back from New York, it was to go through an undisclosed and solitary withdrawal from heroin at her parents’ house, accompanied by her cat, Monkey, who she had adopted when her friend in New York died of an overdose. In her first years back she worked for the Allentown Association and the Department of Motor Vehicles. Her work for the Allentown Association reconnected her to

the larger community; her work for the DMV was everyday work, but “it allowed her to explore what room Buffalo had to offer. People coming in could have an ally behind the counter because it was the early days of ‘are you male or female’ and I.D. is one of the first steps… it wasn’t that the DMV was the place she was going to start, it was that anywhere she was, she was going to explore that,” Jesse explains. Jesse refers to later work as her “career path,” which placed her as ally to people whose shoes she had walked in. She continued her work with needle exchange programs at Evergreen Health Services, formerly AIDS Community Services, and was instrumental in securing funds for the Trans Health Initiative, though she did not work for THI due to internal politics. She helped organize Pride festivities, was involved in Spectrum, a non-profit dedicated to trans issues, and facilitated TransGeneration, a support group for people who identified as transgender or genderqueer. People from these years express the incredible respect with which she treated them, as well as an ever present creativity. About four years after her return to Buffalo, she hit bottom again, this time as a result of alcoholism. In the course of her own recovery, she pursued further education to help others in their recovery. And, in the course of programs which did not allow smoking, she found knitting. She knitted as she lived—enthusiastically, creatively, and making her own patterns. Pat Shelley, who was partners with Frank in her early years back in Buffalo and remained close, remembers “stage sets, costumes, protest signs, skits, silly song lyrics or ditties made up on the spot, educational presentations on TRANS 101 sessions. It is that spark of creativity joy humor and intelligence that I miss most. She could always surprise me.” Jesse names the Pride parade and the Dyke March as banner days for Frank, no matter what else was going on in her life. “She’d show up halfway through the morning, already sunburned ’cause she had forgotten to put sunblock on, and just beaming…even when things were tough she was still happy and excited on those days, that joyfulness this was totally hers. She just owned it,” Jesse says. For more than a decade Frank was the Stage Master to the Real Dream Cabaret, a satirical

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1/8V performance collective. The Stage Master was not performer, but was nonetheless performed, “complete with costumes and improvised lines from the tech booth,” recalls Ron Ehmke, known to Real Dreamers as “Ronawanda.” “She never wanted to be in the spotlight, but she made the most of her role behind the scenes. She had a great sense of humor and a boundless supply of enthusiasm. I miss her very much.” “It feels like there is a Frank-shaped hole in the Vintage Vaudeville Cabaret,” says Leslie Fineberg, a Cabaret member. “Frank always made me laugh. I won’t lose what Frank brought into my life. I won’t get more, which is the hard part, but I won’t lose those moments.” When Leslie got bronchitis before their performance, Frank told her to hold strong “And this is the part I will never forget, she said: ‘Don’t worry. I’ll hold you up. You’ll be okay.’ I wanted to cancel, and she said, ‘No, all the little cancellations add up to the big picture.’ When it was over she came to me and said that she was glad I let her help me, and I said, ‘If you ever need help.’ And then, in that moment, she didn’t call me. I’ve had all year to think about that.” Frank struggled with addiction for most of her life. She started drinking at the age of 13 and went through three main phases of recovery, the last one right before her disappearance. The third time around was different; the same programs were not working for her, and so she looked further afield. “We looked into programs that were within driving distance of Buffalo, but none of them had that great of a reputation. And she felt that as a genderqueer person that she would not feel comfortable there,” explained long-time friend and former partner, Karin Lowenthal. “Rehab is a vulnerable place. You’re expected to work very hard emotionally, and you can’t do that unless you’re sure you’re going to be treated with respect and dignity as a whole person. It is not a superficial question to ask whether or not the program has the training, resources or even awareness to address some of the issues that come up for people in the LGBTQ community.” After conducting a national search, Frank finally decided on the Hazelden Rehab Center in Springbrook, Oregon. Frank’s closest circle pooled money to help her go. After successfully completing the program she had decided to embark on a new life in Portland, but returned to Buffalo for the holidays. She quickly found herself overwhelmed. Frank went missing on the night of December 16, 2013, after relapsing. She spent most of the day by herself, in spite of friends’ inquiries, though in the company of her cats Monkey and Tort. That night Jesse tried to contact Frank to make sure she was all right but he didn’t hear back. A little concerned, and mindful of the state she was in, he walked back to the apartment. Frank wasn’t there. He found a note, written in pencil, left on the kitchen counter which read, “I’m sorry. I’m just too tired. Truly sorry. Love, Frank.” He called the police to report her as a missing person. Upon closer inspection of the apartment, he found other important personal items left behind: wallet, keys, cell phone, and, most telling of all, her cigarettes.

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Early the next Saturday morning, December 21, a crowd gathered at Sweetness_7 Cafe on the corner of Grant and Lafayette, the majority of which did not know Frank personally. They were serious-minded individuals intent on taking part in the community-led search for Frank Goldberg, pictured on the flyer that had been distributed far and wide since the time of her disappearance five days prior. People searched for hours in the rain both that day and the next. “After two days of searching in the places that we thought she was most likely to have hung out in, or where we were told she had been seen— including the Niagara River. That was about as much as we could do,” Karin recounts. Everyone involved at that time emphasizes the way the community came together and poured out support and love and practical resources. The Frank Fund draws on that experience. The fund, set up in Frank’s honor, publicly acknowledges her lived experience and attempts to defray the costs of rehabilitation for other LGBTQ people who are struggling with addiction. Further details on The Frank Fund can be found at gofundme.com/thefrankfund. To honor Frank Goldberg’s life, friends, family, and community will gather on Sunday, February 15, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo, 695 Elmwood Avenue, 3-5pm. It won’t and can’t be everything to everyone, as many still seek closure, the period at the end of the long, seemingly never-ending sentence. However, organizers have prepared an afternoon where complexity is welcomed. There will be memories shared. Tears shed. Laughter heard. Creativity and candor. Formalities and irreverence. Love and liberation. All will leave with a remembrance of Frank’s spirit and of the day. Jesse Goldberg, like many who were close to Frank, believes she took her life, but speaks to how the importance of coming together supersedes what happened: “Either way she has been out of everyone’s lives for all that time. Rather than keeping that sense that she could be back any minute, we want to realize she is gone and we miss her and recognize that. For people who are ready, the memorial will be a chance to share some of that. For people who aren’t ready, it will be a chance to hear in a supportive space some beautiful words and thoughtful sentiments about Frank so that we can have some peace around her disappearance rather than a vague sense of not knowing. It’s an intentional way to transition from the unknown to saying she’s gone.” P

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MUSIC SPOTLIGHT

“I SHOULD BE EXPERIENCED AND CHARMING ENOUGH AT MY SHOWS TO MAKE EVEN THE MOST NORMAL OF STRANGERS FEEL AT HOME ENOUGH TO GET FUNKY AND HEDONISTIC AT SOME LEVEL” around one of the aforementioned plush creations, either for a game of keep-it-up or as a harmless weapon. Confetti, silly string, balloons, and a mattress pad have all made appearances during performances. Louis maintains a crucial element of fun and surprise. Each show provides a unique and meticulously prepared experience for the audience. “I hate making people feel uncomfortable, but I much love weird and experimental things. It’s a dilemma. It’s just that at this point in my career, I should be experienced and charming enough at my shows to make even the most normal of strangers feel at home enough to get funky and hedonistic at some level. If I make someone purely uncomfortable, then they won’t see the value in the music or imagery. That being said, I do understand that any time a new idea is introduced to a body, there is a sort of auto-immune response, ready to fight it. So ultimately, there is a good kind of uncomfortable and a bad kind of uncomfortable, I just need to be able to interject the good kind into people’s heads.”

LESIONREAD BY TOM ETU

I’m on the fifth floor of the Tri-Main building, surrounded by Tommy Nyugen’s interactive installation for “Me Plush You Long Time.” Artist Sean Louis, upon greeting me, picks up one of the colorful plush creations and hurls it at my face. A brief plush fight breaks out—bright designs and tentacles flying through the air. This is what it’s like being in the orbit of Lesionread. If you see soaring stuffed animals, inflatable swords, dancing red men, and large flashing lights, you’re either at a one of her shows or you may want to consider checking yourself into a hospital. The hardworking and confrontational do-ityourself artist has been a vibrant figure in Buffalo’s art culture for over a year now and is about to drop her first full-length album, Greatest Hits Vol. 1. Louis, the creative mind behind Lesionread, has already released hundreds of songs under that moniker through discs, flash-drives, and mp3s, but she has shied away from releasing a full-length record. “It wasn’t until now that I felt confident I had such a solid group of tracks to mass produce and distribute. Obviously there is a humor to the name [of the album], but I’ve been crossing between so many different angles

of experimental pop songs, it’s nice to be able to have a way to conceptually unify them.” Louis started out by crafting avant-garde electronic noise pieces that have since been honed into electro-soul. Her vocals inject a raw humanity that hops and skips over the hammering and sliding of various synths and sound sequencers. Through audio manipulation, Louis’s voice takes on elastic qualities, stretching across the spectrum from ethereal and soulful to comedic and odd. Even without effects she has W/ SLEEPY HAHAS, IF YOU APPROVE a magnificent range, and the marriage of the ERRORS WHICH ARE ON THIS PROOF, THE organic with the electronic makes for a delightPUBLIC CANNOT BEJON HELD RESPONSIBLE. PLEASE EXAMINE THE AD BAP, & PLANET THREE ful contrast. THOROUGHLY EVEN IF THE AD IS A PICK-UP. SAT, FEB 14 / 8PM In addition to slinging out musical jams, Louis MESSAGE and TO ADVERTISER � CHECK COPY CONTENT has also cultivated various art installations DREAMLAND, 387 FRANKLIN ST ThankShe you for advertising is an experienced digital video artist. plays � CHECK IMPORTANT DATES THE sevPUBLIC. Please well with others, and has shot with and edited review your eral tripped-out videos of exceptional qualityad and check � CHECK NAME, ADDRESS, for any errors. original for Buffalo bands such as the Sleepy Hahas and The cians. Lesionread’s live#,performance PHONE & WEBSITE is an outinstructions have Aircraft. Her own videos open layout up a wormhole landish wonder to behold. beenunexpected. followed as closely as � PROOF OKThe (NO concerts CHANGES)focus into a pastel-colored world of the heavily on crowd interaction and participation. possible. THE PUBLIC offers The zany assault on the senses that is her lat� PROOF (WITH CHANGES) design with has twobecome Louis almostOK infamous for being a est video, “ART ALL DAY $$$,” was services filmed proofs at no charge. THE catalyst of wild behavior. There is an element in an attic with a make-shift green screen, and PUBLIC is not responsible features cameos from various other local musiof childlike nostalgia that comes from tossing Advertisers Signature

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Even Lesionread’s merchandise is innovative, including canisters of silly string and nail polish amongst T-shirts and other, more typical paraphernalia. Her music has been distributed through CDs as well as custom flashdrives, but Greatest Hits Vol. 1 will be released on cassette tape. When asked about what she would like people to take away from all of this, she says, “I’ve learned my focus should be on creating and making sure that what I’m creating reaches people. They can get whatever they want out of my art. After that, as long as what they get out of it is something positive, I’m happy.” Lesionread’s album release show will take place at Dreamland, which has become a local hotbed for artistic progression and expression. Louis says that attendees can expect interactive experiences like spin the bottle, as well as free wine for kissing couples since it’s on Valentine’s Day. “We’ve been building a cool balloon installation that everyone will experience from the inside. I’m gonna finally fight Sleepy Haha’s lead singer Pat Butler and settle our aging dispute once and for all. I’ve got new surprise P props. I’ll be playing all the hits.”

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In the Age of the Internet, intellectual property piracy is rampant. That means it’s more important than ever to protect names, logos, and ideas from ill-meaning and unwitting intellectual property pirates in Buffalo and beyond.

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live painting by Vinny AJ Alejandro Adam Yellen is a naturalistic actor with boyish good looks who excels in character roles. The SUNY New Paltz theater graduate is currently playing Joel, cynicalfeb and12,insightful brother of it saysthe saturday its the 14th the main character in Beau Jest at Jewish Repertory Theatre of WNY. It’s a sweet comedy about a Jewish girl who hires an actor to pretend to be her boyfriend, so gras her parents mardi is $5 won’t know she’s dating a gentile. In the recent past, he’s played the evil Sheriff in Robin Hood at TOY; he’sChevon played one of the w/ The stripteasers. Davis’ gangster pastry chefs in The Drowsy Chaperone at MusicalFare; he appeared in Bounty: the Mutiny Drag show. the steam donkeys, the at the New Phoenix. Last season he appeared in Body Awareness at JRT. Yellen’s characters often take albrights, more. on a bit of the endearing quality he exudes in real life—even when he’s playing a villain or a cynic. This lends, even his most comic roles a note of humanity and reality. Here, Adam submits to The Public Questionnaire. What word would your friends use to describe you? Jocular. What quality in your current character is most unlike your own personality? I’d like to think that Joel is a lot more pretentious than I am. He also has a pretty strained relationship with his mother, which is very much the opposite in my own life. What quality in your current role is most like your own personality? His skepticism. When and where were you the happiest? The summer of 2013 doing Hamlet in Shakespeare In Delaware Park. I had a blast with that cast; it almost felt like summer camp for adults. I also started dating my lovely girlfriend Arin that summer, so there is that as well. What is your idea of hell on earth? The Wegmans parking lot on a Sunday afternoon. What is your greatest fear? Losing my passion for theater. Which talent do you most wish you had? Improvisation. I have a massive respect for actors and comedians who can think of exactly the right thing to say right in the moment. That has never come very naturally for me. What superpower do you most wish you had? I am gonna go with reading people’s minds. Growing up as an only child I spent a lot of time eavesdropping on other people’s conversations, so I’m naturally a pretty curious person. Having that power would make things a lot easier. What would you change about your appearance? One day I wish to have some semblance of a jaw line. What trait do you most dislike in others? Lack of self-awareness. What do you most value in your friends? Their humor and open-mindedness.

What quality do you most value in a good director? The ability to distill a complicated thought or concept into a simple and clear idea or image. I also tend to fall into patterns early on in the rehearsal process so I have a great respect for any director who can make me look at the character in a myriad of ways. What is your guilty pleasure? Eating large amounts of unhealthy food late at night and bad Arnold Schwarzenegger films. Who is your favorite fictional hero? The Dude from The Big Lebowski. Who are your real-life heroes? Bill Maher, P. T. Anderson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Walter Matthau, Michael Stuhlbarg, James Murphy, Cormac McCarthy, Richard Dawkins, Saul Elkin, and my Grandfather Phil, to name a few. What do you consider to be the most overrated virtue? Sobriety. On what occasion do you lie? When my mother is mad at me. Sorry, Mom. What was the subject of your last Google search? I believe it was “Peaky Blinders.” It’s an awesome Netflix series about gangs in Birmingham during the World War I era. I binge-watched it in like a week and was looking into the history of English gangs around that time period. Cool stuff. If you come back in another life, what person or thing would you like to be? A film director. What role, in which you will never be cast, is perfect for you? I would really love to play the character of Peter in Bug by Tracy Letts, but I just don’t see my self ever being cast in that role. What is your motto? “The most wasted of days is one without laughter” —e .e. cummings. P

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PSYCHO LOVE by Buffalo artist Michael Mararian, part of an anti-Valentineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s show called Dream in Plastic in Beacon, New York.

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SPARKLEBOMB Bring in the Night (EP) Recommended If You Like: Burial, Dan Deacon, horror movie soundtracks

The follow-up tape to last year’s Funeral Beats, Angie Conte delivers another anxious yet bright collection of synths and samples. Bring in the Night can be purchased via tape distro Prime Ruin.

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COOKIE Tell it to the Fudge (EP) RIYL: Desaparecidos, Japandroids, Built to Spill

A new super-duo, comprising members of Newish Star, Softlines, and Dream Journal dropped a quick and brash three-song EP late last week. Tell it to the Fudge was self-recorded at Mohawk Place.

KRISTACHUWAN Seeing Eyes (Will Not Be) (EP) RIYL: Animal Collective, SBTRKT, Flying Lotus

Chris Svoboda released his going away EP before moving out west at the end of January. Seeing Eyes finds the former Cinnamon Aluminum multi-instrumentalist blending elements of funk, soul, and jazz into his typical abstract and at times, abrasive sounds.

ALEX BERKLEY “Gold in the Avenue” (Song) RIYL: Sufjan Stevens, Mountain Goats, Beirut

“Gold in the Avenue” is the first song from Berkley’s third installment in the Sugar City curated, Fun-a-Day project. Follow his daily progress all month via his soundcloud page.

LOCAL SHOW PICK OF THE WEEK STEAK & CAKE RECORDS 4 YEAR ANNIVERSARY CURLY’S, 647 RIDGE RD / FRI, FEB 13 / 5PM / $5

[FOLK] Our first edition of The Public Presents, featuring Humble Braggers, Mic Excel, Cove, and Jeffrepeater, was an outstanding mix of indie rock,

pop, hip hop, and electronica. For the second edition, we’re going to bring you something completely different. Out of the ashes of The Andrew J. Reimers Country Punk Extravaganza comes a new Reimers-fronted bluegrass/rock band called the Rear View Ramblers. They’ll take the stage at Nietzsche’s on Thursday, February 12, along with steamfolk band Mr. Boneless. In July, the four-piece band released their full-length LP, Cutting Teeth, which mixes rambling guitar licks with bourbon-saturated vocals to create a drunken and delirious mix of alternative rock and bluegrass. Buffalo Americana band the Leroy Townes Band will also join alongside Brooklyn-based musician and Headway Recordings artist, Jaye Bartell. -CORY PERLA

WEDNESDAY FEB 11 Free Week at the Knox (All day) Albright-Knox Art Gallery, 1285 Elmwood Ave. free

[ART] Generously coinciding with many local schools’ mid-winter break, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery is offering free admission next week. County Executive Poloncarz put it this way in a press release: “A week of free admission to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery is reason for families to come out and see the world-class art treasures that are housed here.” Indeed, a perfect time to catch up with an old friend, one who keeps the temperature at a perfectly archival 68 degrees. In this case: Helen Frankenthaler, Paul Feeley, Arturo Herrera, David Adamo, and Robert Heinecken. -AL

FRIDAY FEB 13 Some Kinda Love 3: Private Writing Made Public 7pm The 9th Ward, 341 Delaware Ave. $5

[LIT] This Valentine's Eve, stop by the Ninth Ward in Asbury Hall to experience a unique live reading that will pay tribute to the sort of literature that is common yet discreet, the kind of writing we are all personally familiar with yet remain largely unaware of when it comes to others: private writings. The category includes everything from police reports and report cards to love letters and journal entries. Invited participants and attendees alike are welcome to partake in this confessionary style open mic and share personal writings that have been passively aching for an outlet. -JEANETTE CHIN

14 THE PUBLIC / FEBRUARY 11, 2015 / DAILYPUBLIC.COM

REEL Queer Film Series

Average White Band

7pm Hallwalls, 341 Delaware Ave. $8 general, $5 students & seniors & Hallwalls/Squeaky Wheel members

8pm Seneca Niagara Bear’s Den, 310 4th St. $25

[FILM] On Thursday, February 12 REEL Queer Film Series is screening Matthew Warchus’s 2014 feature film Pride at Hallwalls. Pride is based on actual events set in Thatcher’s England when a group of lesbian and gay activists raised money to assist with families affected by 1984’s miners strike. A foundational moment both for Britain’s gay community and the labor movement. After the screening, a paneled discussion will take place including the Buffalo News’s Colin Dabkowski, UB’s Dr. Ruth Meyerowitz, and Mark Higgins of the NYS Workers Compensation Board. -AL

[FUNK] Funk is making its way back into the mainstream with artists like Bruno Mars and others bringing that feel-good vibe to the forefront. Average White Band has been around since the 1970s and are one of those acts that everyone knows. They’re actually one of the most sampled groups in history, so even if you don’t know their songs directly, you’ve probably heard them through other artists like the Beastie Boys or Nas. This Friday, February 13, the group will be taking the stage at Seneca Niagara Casino’s Bear’s Den Showroom. -JS

CALENDAR EVENTS PUBLIC APPROVED F E AT U R E D E V E N T S

WED 2/11 @ 7PM

BLUES NIGHT W. JONY JAMES BAND » $2 » 18+ » Doors: 6pm Show: 7pm

FRI 2/13 @ 9PM BEAUTIES OF BUFFALO PRESENT

A NIGHT OF BURLESQUE » $10 ADV / $15 DOS » 21+ » Doors: 8pm Show: 9pm

SAT 2/14 @ 9PM

BEAU SASSER’S ESCAPE PLAN & MISTER F

» FREE » 18+ » Doors: 8pm Show: 9pm

TUE 2/17 @ 7PM

TRIVIA NIGHT

W. GEEKS WHO DRINK

» FREE » All Ages » Doors: 6pm Show: 7pm

THU 2/19 @ 8PM

TOMMY Z BAND

» $3 » 18+ » Doors: 7pm Show: 8pm

FRI 2/20 @ 9PM

TINY DESK CONTEST CONCERT THURSDAY FEB 12

JONATHAN SCALES FOURCHESTRA W. BLUE ROOTZ

» $7 ADV / $10 DOS » 21+ » Doors: 8pm Show: 9pm

7PM / MOHAWK PLACE, 47 E MOHAWK ST. / $5 [ROCK] The competition is fierce, in all respects: Thousands of submissions, many of remarkable quality, have inundated the offices of NPR Music

for the Tiny Desk Concert contest. The popular video concert series has featured everyone from classic singer-songwriters like Jackson Browne to current superstars, a la Adele, to any number of impressive indie stalwarts and up-and-comers alike. They all get crammed into the NPR studios (behind a "tiny desk") for a short set of maybe five tunes—call it the internet’s more tasteful answer to MTV Unplugged. NPR has opened the floodgates this winter by putting out a call for artists that will result in one grand prize winner being awarded a Tiny Desk Concert of their own and a showcase slot in Austin for SXSW. The winner will be announced Wednesday morning. Buffalo participants will strut their stuff on Thursday, February 12 at Mohawk Place, amounting to somewhat of an indie-folk showcase. From the banjo-and-mandolin-spiked, rustic harmonizing of The Observers to the old-timey string work and lilting vocals of Tiny Rhymes and the socio-political observations of troubadour Tom Stahl, some of our best local talent will be on display, all for the bargain price of $5. -CHRISTOPHER JOHN TREACY

SAT 2/21 @ 9PM THE HEAVY PETS W. BROWN SUGAR

» $7 ADV / $10 DOS » 18+ » Doors: 8pm Show: 9pm

FRI 2/27 @ 9PM

WORKINGMAN’S DEAD

» $5 ADV / $7 DOS » 18+ » Doors: 8pm Show: 9pm

SAT 2/28 @ 9PM

buffaBLOG Presents Heavy Rotation: Lonely Hearts Dance

80s PARTY W. HAIR NATION » $5 ADV / $8 DOS » 21+ $3 w. Bandits Ticket » Doors: 8pm Show: 9pm

7pm Allen Street Hardware Cafe, 245 Allen St. $5

[DANCE PARTY] Married, in a relationship, or single—perhaps there’s no better way to kick off your Valentine’s Day than to get down and dance yourself clean. Luckily BuffaBLOG has got you covered: This Friday night their dance series Heavy Rotation strikes Hardware once again and for this installment the music blog has rallied DJs to spin in both the front and back rooms. It’s full access with Cove, Projex, DJ Teenwolf, and Camaican Sensation, who’ll be delivering a plethora of hot jams ranging from hip-hop to electronica to fiery mashups. So, if you’ve been waiting for an ideal occasion to unleash those moves you’ve been saving, look no further. -JC

8th annual Mardi Gras Jam 6pm Sportsmens Tavern, 326 Amherst St. $20-$25

[CAJUN] Music from New Orleans has always been well received here in Buffalo over the years. Whether it’s the music’s melding of the blues or just the way it makes us move through the winter, various acts have had good turnouts on their way through the Queen City. This Friday, February 13, the 8th annual Mardi Gras Jam will happen at Sportsmens Tavern. The night will open with Flatbed and Randle & the Late Night Scandals before Joe Krown Trio closes. -JS

TUE 3/3 @ 8PM

MELVIN SEALS & JGB wsg / FUNKTIONAL FLOW » $20 ADV / $25 DOS » 18+ » Doors: 7pm Show: 8pm

UPCOMING EVENTS THU 2/12 @ 5PM

HAPPY HOUR W.

ALEX KATES ty media installation entitled Safe Wor(l)d, which is made possible via an Oculus Rift, a 360-degree field headset that responds to the movements of the participants. Whatever sort of interaction you think is appropriate for Valentine’s Day, these “shared virtual reality experiences,” at $20 a person, will be unlike anything you’ve tried before. Hourly reservations begin at 5pm, and the event runs until 9pm at The Foundry Suites. It’s strongly advised to buy tickets in advance, the cost of which also covers a cocktail and snack. -CJT

Boléo 8pm Pausa Art House, 19 Wadsworth St. $7

SATURDAY FEB 14 Safe Wor(l)d: Valentine's Day Edition 5pm The Foundry, 298 Northampton St. $20

[INTERACTIVE] Together, Jax Deluca and Kyle Marler create a feast for the senses and call it Flatsitter. Their current collaboration is a mix of sight and sound, a virtual reali-

[CLASSICAL] The line between folk and classical chamber music is easily toed by Boléo. Featuring violinists Lazara Nelson and Miranda Scoma, cellist Katie Weissman, and Moshe Shulman on violin, viola, and bandoneon, the group captures the feeling of Renaissance chamber music, while casting a new light on the genre. Boléo comes to Pausa Art House on Saturday, February 14. -CP

» FREE » 21+ » Doors: 4pm Show: 5pm

The Fredtown Stompers

8pm Gypsy Parlor, 376 Grant St.

[RAGTIME] The already romantic decor of Grant Street’s Gypsy Parlor will host a Valentine’s Day party featuring a five-course aphrodisiac dinner menu and the music of Buffalo’s ascendant ragtime band, The Fredtown Stompers. A set by DJ LoPro will follow into the night. Dinner reservations recommended by calling 551-0001. -AL

Snocore 2015 6pm Rapids Theatre, 1711 Main St. $22-$27

[ROCK] In 2014, hard rock band Flyleaf returned with their fourth studio album, Between The Stars—their first since original singer Lacey Sturm was replaced with Kristen May, formerly of Vedera. Despite the lineup change, the record picks up where the band’s 2012 record, New Horizons, left off. The band will headline Snocore 2015 at the Rapids Theatre this Saturday, February 14, which will also feature Adelitas Way, Framing Hanley, and Fit For Rivals. -CP

CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

FRI 2/13 @ 5PM

COBBLESTONE DISTRICT HAPPY HOUR SERIES W.

TIMBRE LAND WHISKEY » FREE » 21+ » Doors: 4pm Show: 5pm

SUN 2/15 @ 5PM

WED 2/18 @ 5PM

SABRES PRE-GAME PARTY W. MIKE & DAVE’S ACOUSTIC WONDER EMPORIUM

HAPPY HOUR W. RONNIE DAVIS COMBO W. SHARON BAILEY

FRI 2/20 @ 5PM

SUN 2/22 @ 8PM

» FREE » All Ages » Doors: 2pm Show: 5pm

COBBLESTONE DISTRICT

HAPPY HOUR SERIES W. KICKSTART RUMBLE

» FREE » 21+ » Doors: 4pm Show: 5pm

POST SABRES GAME PARTY

W. MANBEARPIG » FREE » 21+ » Doors: 2pm Show: 8pm

TICKETS: BUFFALOIRONWORKS.COM OR TICKETFLY.COM CAN BE PURCHASED AT: BIW BOX OFFICE OR TERRAPIN STATION

49 ILLINOIS STREET • BUFFALO, NY

716.200.1893 • BUFFALOIRONWORKS.COM

DAILYPUBLIC.COM / FEBRUARY 11, 2015 / THE PUBLIC 15

EVENTS CALENDAR CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15

Lady Lush & the Vinyls with Hooked on Casiophonics

PUBLIC APPROVED

8pm Milkie's, 522 Elmwood Ave.

[FUNK] Some funk will definitely be brought to Milkie’s on Valentine’s Day this year, compliments of our local soul-pop six-piece, Lady Lush and The Vinyls, featuring live beat-boxing from Shawn Romero and co-ed vocals from Raphael Santos and Sophie Howes. Also on hand will be Pam Swarts with her buddy RockNutz for some neo-hip-hop, Casiophonic shenanigans. -CJT

SUNDAY FEB 15 Tig Notaro 8pm Tralf Music Hall, 622 Main St. $22

[COMEDY] Finding yourself naked and alone on stage is the classic premise of an anxiety dream, but for Tig Notaro it’s a challenge, and the objective is to refocus the audience with her moseying delivery and dry punchlines for the remaining 20 minutes. She went topless onstage in 2012 after undergoing a double mastectomy without any reconstructive surgery. Comedians often show their scars, but never quite so literally, and that’s the hallmark of Tig Notaro—she’s a revelation in the (male and female) comedy industry. A deadpan comedian of the driest kind, her causal offhandedness makes other comedians’ stand-up seem effortful. She gets more personal on her current tour, Boyish Girl Interrupted. Droll, she shares bits of her personal story, referencing her battle with breast cancer, remarking that after years of making jokes about being flat-chested, her breasts overheard and decided to kill her. Laughing in the face of tragedy, or rather, using comedy as a vehicle to move you away from tragedy, even if only for a minute, is the theme of this tour. Notaro has always delighted in replaying stories and shifting perspective, like when a child gets excited over the sound of a fire truck, but those on the other end of that siren are anything but excited. It’s that shift in perspective, looking at her situation through a different lens, that’s indicative of her strength. Catch Tig Notaro at the Tralf Music Hall on Sunday, February 15. -KP

SUGAR CITY’S SOUL NIGHT FRIDAY FEB 13 10PM / MILKIE’S, 522 ELMWOOD AVE / $5

[DANCE PARTY] The history of soul music is deep and too seldom plumbed. It’s equally full of huge household hits and obscure cuts too often buried in record store basements or grandparents' attics—cuts that deserve to be dug up every once in a while. In anticipation of Sugar City’s Soul Night dance party at Milkie’s this Friday, February 13, DJs Handsome Dan, Katastrophe, and The Good Reverend Johnny Drama have chosen some of their all-time favorite soul classics. Handsome Dan: Curtis by Curtis Mayfield At the end of his run with the Impressions, Curtis Mayfield unleashed his solo debut Curtis. “Move On Up” and “(Don’t Worry) If There’s Hell Below We’re All Gonna Go” are socially conscious dance floor fillers (the former being one of the best pop songs of all time), while the rest of the album is buoyed by spiritually propelled sweet soul ballads. Curtis is a truly empowering work and should essential listening for everyone.

The Good Reverend Johnny Drama: James Brown Live at The Apollo and Sam Cooke Live at The Harlem Square Club, 1963 I absolutely love live recordings of great soul singers. Funny, because I can think of few more torturous experiences than having to listen to most rock bands go off on a live extended jam. From that first spine-tingling “I Feel Alllll-Riiight!” to the blistering take on “Think” and straight through every crowd frenzied shriek in that brilliant medley, “Live at the Apollo 1963” is a wild journey with the Godfather ( James Brown) at the helm. That record is maybe only paralleled by my other pick here Sam Cooke Live at Harlem Square Club, 1963. Cooke is playful, impeccable, charming, heartfelt, and just so fucking cool. When he just starts shredding his vocals while screaming “Oh Operator! I want my baby!” at the beginning of “Bring it on Home to Me,” man, it kills me. -CORY PERLA

PUBLIC APPROVED

RED ROVERS ROLL SATURDAY FEB 14 Kim Manning 8pm Duke's Bohemian Grove Bar, 253 Allen St.

[FUNK] Though not an original member of Parliment Funkadelic—the legendary funk band headed by George Clinton—singer and actress Kim Manning has been an indispensable figure for the group, adding beautiful soul vocals to P-Funk’s already soulful and funky sound. She says she joined the group shortly after a random encounter at a live show. Clinton brought her up on stage and “baptized” her in front of the crowd. She later jammed with the band and soon found herself on the phone with Clinton, who asked her to join the group in 2001. As a solo artist she has worked with bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the String Cheese Incident, and even Snoop Dogg. As an actress she has appeared on television shows like The Bernie Mac Show, Boston Public, and The Man Show. Now she’s touring behind her latest pop-tinged funk album, Space Queen. Kim Manning returns to Duke’s Bohemian Grove Bar on Sunday, February 15 for a special show featuring Preach Freedom of Rusted Root and Critt’s Juke Joint. -CP

Katastrophe: Little Ann “Deep Shadows” My first choice would probably have to be Little Ann’s “Deep Shadows.” It might even be my favorite record that I own. She was one of the many talented, yet unknown soul singers from the 1960s Detroit Motown scene. Her music at the time never got the chance to be pressed into an album but it was rediscovered decades later as part of producer/musician Dave Hamilton’s “Detroit Dancers” compilations. If you like the Ronnettes, Aretha Frankin and Martha and the Vandel’s you should check her out.

10PM / NEW SKATELAND ARENA, 33 E FERRY ST. / $5 + $1 FOR SKATES, 21+ [SKATE PARTY] Themed for the couple’s choice skaters on

Valentine’s Day, Red Rovers Roll is calling for skaters from every side of the city to roll to dance-heavy beats of DJs Reazon and Sike. Roller-skating ain’t nothing new, but using skating as a tool to build a a more unified community certainly feels novel in the light of Buffalo’s many social problems that we’ve covered so often in The Public, such as education, poverty, racism, and homicide. Organizer Barrett Gordon, who also operates an arts program out of a Burmese-owned laundromat on Massachusetts Avenue (The Wash Project) and works with students in Lafayette High School as part of the Ferry Street Corridor Project, feels that rollerskating’s blend of sport, history, music, and style has the ability to transgress segregation. And there’s no better location to do that than the centrally-located Skateland which straddles the city’s regressive East-West divide. -AARON LOWINGER

16 THE PUBLIC / FEBRUARY 11, 2015 / DAILYPUBLIC.COM

CALENDAR EVENTS

BEAU SASSER’S ESCAPE PLAN SATURDAY FEB 14

PUBLIC APPROVED

9PM / BUFFALO IRON WORKS, 49 ILLINOIS ST. / FREE [FUNK] Beau Sasser’s Escape Plan are

making their way to Buffalo this weekend for a free show on Valentine’s Day, Saturday, February 14, at Buffalo Iron Works. This week we had the chance to talk to Beau about his new band, their sound, and his love of Buffalo: How did you settle on the band name? We liked the name because we felt it was pretty descriptive of what we do. Performing and creating art through music is an escape for us, an escape from reality for just a few hours a day. We want the audience to be involved as much as possible, that’s what we are all about, so we want it to be an escape for them as well. Our plan is to create art and make people happy through funk music, feel good music! Music you can clap your hands to and shake around a little! Being that you’re a new band, are you playing all original material or mixing in a few select covers? It’s currently a nice mix of originals and covers. We are writing a lot as a group and also each member brings songs to the table, so we are constantly finding out what works and what doesn’t. We love Frank Zappa, so we have quite an arsenal of Zappa tunes at our disposal. We also do some James Brown, a few choice Beatles arrangements, and are taking full advantage of the two-guitar lineup with a couple of Allman Brothers covers!

Railroad Earth

7pm Rapids Theatre, 1711 Main St. $22.50-$27.50

Given your connection to Alan Evans (of Soulive and Alan Evans Trio) and Buffalo, what’s your favorite thing he’s shared with you about the city? I always love the vibe in Buffalo and really enjoy hanging out with Al and his incredible family every time we were there. Favorite things he shared with me would be the most awesome wings at Gabriel’s Gate…and also chicken finger subs at Jim’s SteakOut! I have to mention the D’Avolio olive oil spot too…Al turned me on to that place and I stop there every time I’m in town now…awesome white truffle oil! What message does singer Mary Corso bring and how does it add to the Escape Plan’s goal? This scene needs more involvement from female musicians; there are plenty out there and a lot of them are incredible! So many people have approached me and have been super excited about Mary’s presence onstage. It has really made me think about how few females are out making their way in this particular scene. I’m really glad she is onboard with us, the tunes she has written for the band are incredible, lyrically and musically, and her vibe on stage adds so much to the show and draws the audience and musicians in immediately. I would say her message is “I’m a wicked musician and a team player and I’m gonna funkify your life whether you like it or not!” -JEREMIAH SHEA

PUBLIC APPROVED

[ROCK] Railroad Earth is a band some may not be familiar with, but the group has been steadily gaining popularity with the rise of bluegrass and its many dedicated festivals that have been cropping up in recent years. This isn’t your grandfather’s bluegrass though, as the band brings in other elements, rounding out their sound with a mix of Celtic, rock, jazz, and a good dose of improv. The band will headline the Rapids Theatre in Niagara Falls this Sunday, February 15 with openers Crow Moses. -JS

MONDAY FEB 16 Alex Berkley & Sonny Baker 8pm Nietzsche's 248 Allen St. free

[FOLK] Berkley has made some local headway with his backing band, Atlanta Falcons, but lately he’s been launching a number of side projects that showcase his oddball sense of humor and knack for melancholy melodies. A set of holiday tunes surfaced late last year entitled Put Some Records On While I Pour performed by Alex & Kayleigh—worth it for the tune “Frosty vs. Rudolph” alone. His Star Trek Movies EP offers a glimpse into his inner nerd, but the demos he’s recorded with Sonny Baker, who joins him at Nietzsche’s on Monday, February 16 are a fair bit more serious. -CJT

TUESDAY FEB 17 You Blew It 6pm Studio at the Waiting Room, 334 Delaware Ave. $10-$12

[EMO] Orlando-based emo quintet, You Blew It recently released a new EP, Pioneer of Nothing, and it picks up right where their 2014 sophomore album Keep Doing What You’re Doing left off. Despite its rugged exterior, at the heart of this EP are delicious pop hooks, brilliant melodies, and cathartic emotion. With the mainstream success they’ve garnered from their last two endeavors, it seems they’ve constructed the perfect formula; complex instrumentation and explosive production underpinned by Tanner Jones’s confident, yet vulnerably passionate vocals. Tiny Moving Parts and Rozwell Kid will open for You Blew It! at the Waiting Room on Tuesday, February 17. -KP

THE PINK FLOYD EXPERIENCE MONDAY FEB 16 7PM / TOWN BALLROOM, 681 MAIN ST. / $28-$32 [ROCK] When Pink Floyd hit the stage in San Diego on their final tour in 1994, the Division

Bell Tour, Tom Quinn devised the Pink Floyd Experience (PFX). The first Floyd tribute band on the West Coast, PFX won several San Diego Music Awards before Annerin Productions approached them in 2003. Recognizing the musicality and passion of each PFX player, the Canadian-based producers supplied state-of-the-art special effects, aiming to drive PFX shows even closer to Floydian authenticity. PFX takes the stage in the key of true progressive rock, paying little attention to the audience with the same alien seriousness about their art as Floyd. Lights shift overhead, bathing the band members in vibrant color, and fresh billows of smoke flood the stage. HD projections and scads of complex props (like the trademark flying pig) are underpinned by intense quadrophonic sound, as first employed by Floyd. The entire performance has a theatrical vibe, with such dynamic sonic and visual elements that the performers themselves become secondary. On their current tour, the 4 Sides of Floyd Tour, the band plays four different sides off of four different Pink Floyd albums back-toback: Animals, Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall. The band comes to the Town Ballroom on Monday, February 16, presented by Funtime Presents. -KELLIE POWELL

DAILYPUBLIC.COM / FEBRUARY 11, 2015 / THE PUBLIC 17

ARTS REVIEW

3 AT CEPA

From Valerie Kasinki’s Together We Are.

Lukia Costello, Patti Ambrogi, Valerie Kasinski BY JACK FORAN Lukia Costello’s exhibit at CEPA is about how things change but remain the same in beleaguered Ukraine, where she traveled recently to visit relatives and observe and photograph in the wake of the Russian gobble up of the Crimean region of that country. It’s one of three exhibits currently at CEPA, including one on nature in peril from various forces by Patti Ambrogi, and one of overlay manipulated photos—part portrait, part nature scene—by Valerie Kasinski. The Ukraine exhibit is called As I Wake, I Cry. Some of the photos show life going on apparently much like always. Others show ineffectual outrage by ordinary Ukrainians at the Russian power play. Hand-lettered protest posters—some in Ukrainian, some in English, or reasonable facsimile—versus a guns and tanks military invasion by the second most powerful world regime. A middle-aged man in a “Ukraine” baseball cap and several posters, one of which reads: “Agenda of Russia has never changed!! Under Czar, USSR, or Putler’s ‘Democracy,’ they always wanted more!!!” (Putler’s apparently for Putin’s.) Other shots are of street vendors selling milk, eggs, vegetables. High-rise housing projects looking a little scruffy and unkempt, but not uninhabitable or uninhabited by any means. A pair of workmen waiting for a bus or trolley. A busy street scene dominated by a Gucci poster for some item of accoutrement—maybe a chic pair of sunglasses—that it doesn’t look like any of the people in the scene would be purchasing any time soon. One of a peasant woman hiking down an otherwise empty rural road, lugging a pail of something, a timeless scenario. But others of urban street scene impromptu memorials likely to individuals or groups killed resisting the Russian takeover, featuring flowers, candles, religious images. And public protests. Amid which, a youngish woman with a sign announcing, “I am Ukrainian and I cannot keep calm!” A middle-aged woman with a red purse and sign that reads, “Support Ukraine!” One particularly eloquent photo in a public park—people in the background on park benches, talking, enjoying the sunny day—of a brown marble drum base for a statue of Lenin—the name “Lenin” inscribed on the drum—but the statue removed, just some support bolts protruding from the top of the drum, which bears in addition the tattered and defaced remnants of a pasted-on image of the prototype propagandist of the now defunct but apparently not fully dismantled Communist system. Ambrogi’s exhibit is entitled The Rebel Forest. It comprises two series of large-format, lush, and very beautiful photos of islands of pristine nature of different sorts and differently threatened. A woods tract in Victor, New York, that is landlocked in being surrounded by subdivisions and other private interests, the proprietors of which we get the sense would like to take over the tract for extension of their backyards or whatever other uses, except that it is currently under control of The Nature Conservancy. But land that is inaccessible to the general public, an unresolved issue. The threat in the other case is from nature itself. The scene is Cathcart Island in the Georgian Bay, Canada. Rugged, rocky, primeval-looking. The photos document the struggle for survival of the island’s vegetation—trees, bushes, grass—through a long summer drought in 2012, and aftermath. Some larger trees died and

IN GALLERIES NOW: BY TINA DILLMAN = ART OPENING 464 Local Art Gallery & Gifts (464 Amherst Street, Buffalo, NY 14207 464gallery.com): Residential Property, Resident Artist Group Exhibition through Feb 8. WedFri: 12-6, Sat-Sun: 12-4, by event or appointment. 1045 Elmwood Gallery for the Arts (1045 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14222, 716-228-1855-call for open hours photographics2.com/store/welcome-to-ourstudio-1045-gallery-store): Valentines Day, February 14, 2015–4-7 pm: Ceramic artist Sarah Cozzemera (Everyday Earthware) teams up with Vegan Pathways in creating an all vegan soup extravaganza. Ticket price of $20 (plus sales tax) includes: Select your bowl (hand thrown deep dish bowl), enjoy a specially created vegan soup for the evening (choice of three) as well as a cup of tea (in hand thrown tea cup of your choice). Visit website to purchase tickets. Albright-Knox Art Gallery (1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York 14222, 882-8700, albrightknox.org): Imperfections By Chance: Paul Feeley Retrospective, 1954-1966, on view through Feb 15; Giving up One’s Mark: Helen Frankenthaler in the 1960’s and 1970’s, on view through Feb 15; Arturo Herrera: Little Bits of Moderism, on view through April 5; David Adamo in the Sculpture Court, on view through May 17: Robert Heinecken: Surrealism on TV, on view through May 31. Tues-Sun 10am-5pm, Closed Mondays and open late First Fridays through 10pm. Attendance is free for the week of February 10-15, 2015.

CEPA GALLERY 617 MAIN ST. / 856.2717 / CEPAGALLERY.ORG

were felled by the no doubt fierce winds that must sweep through the region, and scrubbier vegetation turned brown and sere. But the ecosystem on the whole survived and seems to have thrived on the harsh weather episode effectual culling and cleansing. Reedy grasses seem to have fully recolonized the breaks and interstices between shoreline terrain boulders still deeply grooved and striated by glaciers that would have passed over the region some twenty thousand years ago.

Art Dialogue Gallery Custom Framing (5 Linwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14209. artdialoguegallery.com): Riding the NYC Subway, Sketches by Andrew Sanders, circa 1960-71, up through March 13. Wed & Thurs 11am-5pm, Fri 11am-4pm, Sat 11am-2pm. Artists Group Gallery (Western New York Artists Group) (1 Linwood Ave, Buffalo, NY 14209, 716-885-2251, wnyag.com): 2015 Non-Juried Members Exhibition, on view through Feb 6. Tue, Wed & Fri 11am-5pm, Thu 11am-6pm, Sat 11am-3pm. Artspace Buffalo Gallery (1219 Main Street, Buffalo, NY, 14209): Candy Coated Darkness, artworks by Tanya Chutko, Darlene Garcia Torres & Ashley Smith. Sat & Sun 12-4pm. Benjaman Art Gallery (419 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14222, 886-0898, benjamangallery.com): Rotating selected works from collection. Thu-Sat 11am-5pm, Sun-Wed by appointment. Betty’s Restaurant (370 Virginia Street, Buffalo, NY 14201, 362-0633, bettysbuffalo.com): Catherine Shuman Miller: Works on Paper on view through March 22. Big Orbit (30 Essex Street, Buffalo, NY 14222, cepagallery.org/about-big-orbit): Members show on view through Feb 22. Fri & Sat 12-6pm. BT&C Gallery (1250 Niagara Street, Buffalo, NY 14213, 604-6183, btandcgallery.com): Millie Chen: stain, on view through Mar 27. Fri 12-5pm, or by appointment. Buffalo Arts Studio (Tri-Main Center, 2495 Main Street, 5th Floor, Buffalo, NY 14214, 833-4450, buffaloartsstudio.org): Tommy Nguyen, Me PLUSH You Long Time and Dennis Barraclough, Recent Works. Both shows on view through March 6. Tue-Fri 10am5pm, Sat 10am-2pm, Fourth Fridays through 8pm.

18 THE PUBLIC / FEBRUARY 11, 2015 / DAILYPUBLIC.COM

Kasinski’s exhibit is called Together We Are. In her artist’s statement she refers to the work as “staged and fabricated visualizations” that engage in “a dream-like and often Arcadian narrative.” Portraits with superimposed environmental images looking a little like extravagant body tattoos. The humans in the photos are fellow photographers she has met in her travels, and the environmental scenes relate to where on the North American continent she met them. Several from California, several from British Columbia, several from New York State, including Letchworth State Park. The Patti Ambrogi and Valerie Kaskinski shows continue until P February 28. The Lukia Costello show until March 28.

Buffalo Center for Arts and Technology (1221 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14209, 259-1680, buffaloartstechcenter. org): Currently on view, Graham Mitchell Sears, on view through mid-April. Mon-Fri 10am-3pm. Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens (2655 South Park Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14218, 827-1584, buffalogardens. com): Michael Haderer, Arcangel Gallery Exhibit, on view through March 15, included with admission. MonSun 10am-5pm. Burchfield-Penney Art Center (1300 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14222, 878-6011, burchfieldpenney. org): Judy Olson Gregory: Taking Tea, on view through Feb 22; Exalted Nature: The Real and Fantastic World of Charles Burchfield, on view through Feb 22; Inquisitive Lens: Marion Faller, on view through Mar 29; Discovering Deco: Photographs by Bruce Jackson, on view through Mar 29; When the Self is Not: David Moog, on view through Mar 29; Alexander O. Levy: American Artist, Art Deco Painter, on view through Mar 29; Phillip Stearns: A Chandelier for One of Many Possible Ends, on view through Mar 29. Tue, Wed, Fri & Sat 10am-5pm (second Fridays extended hours until 8pm), Thu 10am-9pm, Sun 1-5pm, Closed on Mondays. Admission varies, visit site for more information. Burchfield Nature and Art Center (2001 Union Road, West Seneca, NY 14224, 677-4843, burchfieldnac. org): Cheektowaga Art Guild Exhibit, Feb 5-March 1.Tue-Fri 10-4pm, Sun 1-4pm. Castellani Art Museum (5795 Lewiston Road, Niagara University, NY 14109, 286-8200, castellaniartmuseum.org): Gary Sczerbaniewicz: High Strangeness, on view through May 3. Tues-Sat 11am-5pm, Sun 1-5pm. CEPA (617 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14203, 8562717, cepagallery.org): Patti Ambrogi: The Rebel Forest & Valerie Kasinski: Together We Are, on view through Feb 28 & Lukia Costello: As I Wake, I Cry:

Revisiting Ukraine, on view through Mar 28. Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat 12-4pm. Dreamland (387 Franklin Street, Buffalo, NY 14202, facebook.com/dreamlandarts.buffalo/timeline): Currently on view through Feb 21st, Julia Wald: Collages with Albert the Fish Performing. Contact space for visiting hours. Fargo House Gallery (287 Fargo Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14213, thefargohouse.com/, visit website for appointment): Currently on view, Caitlin Cass: Benjamin Rathbun Builds Buffalo, on view through April. Visit the site for more information about visiting. Enjoy the Journey Art Gallery (1168 Orchard Park Road, West Seneca, NY 14224, 675-0204, etjgallery. com): Currently on view, Be Inspired, work by West Seneca Academy of Visual Art. Flying Anvil Metalworks (51 Botsford Place, Buffalo, NY 14216, 308-0825 flyinganvilmetalworks.com): Work by Mollie Atkinson and Kenny Kash, on view through Feb 13. Tues-Fri 12-6pm, and by appointment. Hallwalls (341 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14202, 854-1694, hallwalls.org): Amid/In WNY, survey of local and regional contemporary artists, through Mar 6, 2015. Tue-Fri 11am-6pm, Sat 11am-2pm, Closed on Sundays & Mondays. Upcoming Film screening in conjunction with Squeaky Wheel and REEL Queer, present, Pride, Thu Feb 12 at 7pm. Impact Artists’ Gallery (Tri-Main Center, 2495 Main St. Suite 545, Buffalo, NY 14214, 835-6817, impactartistsgallery.org). Feb 4-Mar 13, Beyond Reality, Fantasy Art Exhibit, Artists’ Reception Feb 27 from 5:30-8pm. Wed-Fri 11am-4pm, Sat 11am-2pm. Indigo Art Gallery (47 Allen Street, Buffalo, NY 14202, 984-9572. indigoartbuffalo.squarespace.com): Singular Impressions, Monotypes by Mark Leo Lavatelli,

GALLERIES ARTS

PERSISTENT PURSUIT Katherine Sehr tows the line at WNYBAC BY PATRICIA PENDLETON

WESTERN NEW YORK BOOK ARTS COLLABORATIVE

“The value of art is in the observer,” said artist Agnes Martin. Those who visit the dozen “Untitled” drawings by Katherine Sehr will experience this truth. She calls this group of work Small Obsessions. While her mysterious marks suggest calligraphy and written language, they hang quietly against a pale gray wall without a shout of narrative. Step in closer for an intimate look at the energetic micro-activity within the blocks and columns of varying hues. Colors merge, squiggles and loops weave an urgency found in “hypergraphia” and express a playfulness associated with doodling. The labor-intensive drawing process cannot be rushed. A sense of time and effort infuse her patterns. Akin to intricately bound textiles, there is a trickiness in viewing this work. What dissolves to vagueness from afar, awakens at close range. The artist Paul Klee once commented that “a line is a dot that went for a walk.“ Sehr’s line is a bit like a frisky dog who leaps and tumbles along the way—a line with no beginning and no end.

WNYBOOKARTS.ORG

After attending the University of Buffalo, Sehr received an MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago. She has exhibited extensively in recent years and is now one of five artists selected for a yearlong residency at the Western New York Book Arts Center made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts. The show is accompanied by an exhibition brochure and commentary by Burchfield Penney Art Center Chief Curator and Associate Director Scott Propeack.

Visitors to art venues may be accustomed to observing installations of conceptually demanding work that is abundant in materials, story, and idea. Small Obsessions is quite the opposite. The artist’s renderings of infinite space are created with traditional materials—papers and pens. She favors Gelly Roll scrapbooking pens in jewel and earth tones. Her refined drawing process refers back to an artistic lineage that includes the abstract calligraphy of Mark Toby and color field painting of Mark Rothko.

Green on Mulberry Paper by Katherine Sehr.

Beth Pedersen and Kathleen Sherin. On view through March 1st. Tue, Wed & Fri 12-5pm, Thu 12-7pm, Sat 12-3pm, and by appointment Sundays and Mondays. Jewish Community Center of Greater Buffalo Bunis Family Art Gallery (2640 N Forest Road, Benderson Family Building, Amherst, NY 14068, 6884033, jccbuffalo.org): Jerome Greenberg, Our Buffalo, a photographic retrospective of Buffalo during the 40’s and 50’s. Through Feb 27, 2015, Mon-Thu 530am-10pm, Fri 530am-6pm, Sat-Sun 8am-6pm. Jewish Community Center of Buffalo, Holland Family Building (787 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY, 14209, 886-3172, Hours: jccbuffalo.org): Richard Huntington, Whereabouts Unknown, a series of reinterpreted artworks that were lost or destroyed during World War II. On view through Feb 27, 2015, Mon-Thu 5:30am-10pm, Fri 5:30am-6pm, Sat-Sun 8am-6pm. Kenan Center House Gallery (433 Locust Street, Lockport, NY 14094, 433-2617 kenancenter. org/arts/gallery.asp). MANmade Art: A Cross-Generational Survey, including work by Gerald Mead. On view through Feb 22, 2015, Mon-Fri 12-5pm & Sun 2-5pm. Karpeles Manuscript Library (North Hall) (220 North Street, Buffalo, NY 14201, 8854139, rain.org/~karpeles): The Wright Brothers’ Documents. Tues-Sun 11am-4pm. Karpeles Manuscript Museum (Porter Hall) (453 Porter Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14201, 8854139, rain.org/~karpeles): Maps of the United States, and upcoming, Early Maps of the World. Tue-Sun 11am-4pm. Lockside Art Center (21 Main Street, Lockport, NY 14094, 478-0239,. locksideartcenter. com): Made by Hand, sculpture exhibit. FriSun 12-4pm Manuel Barreto Furniture (430 Delaware Avenue,

468 WASHINGTON ST. / 438.1430

Buffalo, NY 14202, 867-8937, manuelbarreto. com): Selected Works by Buffalo Based contemporary artist, Matthew John Pasquarella, on view through Feb 28. Tue & Wed 11am-5pm, Thu-Sat 10am-6pm. Native American Museum of Art at Smokin Joes (2293 Saunders Settlement Road, Sanborn, NY 14123, 261-9251) Open year round and free. Exhibits Iroquois artists’ work, 7am9pm. Niagara County Community College Dolce Valvo Art Center (3111 Saunders Settlement Road, Sanborn, NY 14132, 614-5975): Currently on view, Menagerie: Paintings and Woodcuts by Polly Little, through Mar 6,artist’s talk Thu Mar 5 at 1130am. Mon & Tue 12-5pm, Wed & Thu 12-7pm, Fri 12-3pm, Sat 11-3pm. Nichols School Gallery at the Glenn & Audrey Flickinger Performing Arts Center (1250 Amherst Street, Buffalo, NY 14216, 332-6300, nicholsschool.org/artshows?rc=0): Kurt Treeby, Traces. On view through Mar 30. Mon-Fri 8am4pm. Nina Freudenheim Gallery (140 North Street, Buffalo, NY 14201, 882-5777, ninafreudenheimgallery.com): Beverly Semmes: Feminist Responsibility Project. On view through March 9. Tue-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat & Mon by appointment. Queen City Gallery (617 Main Street, Buffalo, NY, 14203, 868-8183, queencitygallery.tripod. com): Rotating members work on view. TueFri 11am-4pm and by appointment. First Friday open until 8pm. Open Mic for musicians and writers on Thu 7-9pm. RO (732 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14222, 240-9387, rohomeshop.com): Hosts shows of local artists on a bi-monthly rotation, call for more details or visit Tues-Sat 11am-6pm, Sun 11am-4pm.

Squeaky Wheel (617 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14203, squeaky.org): Sang Jun Yoo, Distant Light. On view through Mar 21. Tue-Sat 125pm. Stangler Fine Art (6429 West Quaker Street, Orchard Park, NY 14127, 870-1129, stanglerart. com): 6 Ways: 6 Women Artist 6 Different Mediums. Mon-Fri 11am-5pm, Sat 11am-3pm. Starlight Studio and Art Gallery (340 Delaware Avenue, Bufflao, NY 14202, starlightstudio. org): King Ridiculous, work by Neil Mahar & John Farallo. Mon-Fri 9-4pm. Studio Hart (65 Allen Street, Buffalo, NY 14202, 536-8337, http://studiohart.com): February Artist, Matt Kenny. Tue-Fri 11:30am-3:30pm, Sat 12-4pm. First Friday 6-9pm. UB Art Gallery (North Campus, Project Space) (201 Center for the Arts, Buffalo, NY, 14260, 6456913, ubartgalleries.org): P.P. SHEET, works by Harumo Sato and Amber Sliter. Tue-Fri 11am5pm, Sat 1-5pm. Villa Maria College Paul William Beltz Family Art Gallery (240 Pine Ridge Terrace, Cheektowaga, NY 14225, 961-1833): Student work from the Animation and Fashion Design and Merchandising programs. On view through Feb 6. MonFri 8am-8pm, Sat & Sun 10am-5pm. Western New York Book Arts Collaborative (468 Washington Street, Buffalo, NY 14203, 438-1430, wnybookarts.org): Katherine Sehr: Small Obsessions, (reviewed this issue) on view through Mar 13. Wed-Sat 12-6pm. Wine on Third (501 Third Street, Niagara Falls, NY 14301, 285-9463, wineonthird.com): Call for show information. Mon-Wed 4pm-12am, Thu 4pm-1am, Fri & Sat 4pm-2am, Sun 4-10pm. P

Ancient wisdom of the Tao tells us: “Where the Mystery is the deepest is the gate of all that is subtle and wonderful.” Influenced by Chinese art and Taoism since visiting the country as a teen, Sehr told an interviewer on the Lemon Hound website that her drawing process has a calming effect on her. That calm is clearly extended to the viewer who spends time with this work. The exhibition is on view through March 13.

Mouth by Beverly Semmes, at Nina Freudenheim Gallery.

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FILM REVIEW

LABOR RELATIONS ON THE FLY TWO DAYS ONE NIGHT BY GEORGE SAX If Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, the veteran Belgian filmmaking brothers, thought that casting Marion Cotillard, the Oscar-winning French actress (for her portrayal of Édith Piaf in La Vie en Rose), would enhance their prospects for a foreign-film Academy Award nomination of their latest, Two Days, One Night, they must have felt some disappointment when the nominees were announced this year. No such luck, the same as every year they’ve been eligible. And they’ve been working at this for over three and a half decades. The brothers have conceded they wouldn’t mind a nomination at all. Always, when they’ve made features—they’ve also done documentaries—they’ve used actors whose names would almost certainly stir no recognition among Academy voters. This time, they went with an international star, to no avail, if that was their game. Aesthetically, it would be difficult to argue with that choice. Cotillard is quietly but compellingly effective. As Sandra, the movie’s lead character, she’s first encountered in bed, although it’s the middle of the afternoon. There’s an immediate hint of personal difficulty. Almost as quickly, a phone call informs her of additional, concrete trouble. She’s being fired from her job at a small solar panel factory. We learn that Sandra has been on leave after an emotional breakdown. In her absence, her bosses, especially a belligerent foreman, have offered her co‑workers a 1000 Euro bonus if they’ll vote to oust her. And they have, by a tally of 14-2. At the urging of a sympathetic friend and her husband (Fabrizio Rongione), Sandra, already in a fraught place, undertakes to individually contact as many of the other employees as she can to ask them to change their vote in a second ballot the plant manager has reluctantly agreed to abide by. She has one weekend to do this. This skillfully unemphatic movie follows Sandra as she tracks down and approaches these employees to make her case. As her

IN CINEMAS NOW: BY M. FAUST & GEORGE SAX

PREMIERES FIFTY SHADES OF GREY—B&D goes mainstream in

the movie adaptation of the books that have sold an estimated 100 million copies (even though no one will admit to liking them). Starring Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, and Jennifer Ehle. Directed by Samantha Taylor-Johnson (Nowhere Boy). Amherst, other area theaters. HUMAN CAPITAL—In Italy’s submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar, an auto accident binds two families, one wealthy and one middle-class, in the remnants of Berlusconi’s economy. Starring Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Matilde Gioli, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, and Valeria Golino. Directed by Paolo Virzì (Caterina in the Big City). Reviewed this issue. North Park. KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE—British spies go the Men in Black route in this action comedy. Starring Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Mark Hamill, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Strong, and Michael Caine. Directed by Matthew Vaughn (Stardust). Area theaters. STILL ALICE—Julianne Moore’s Oscar-nominated performance as a Columbia professor diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. With Alec Baldwin, Kate Bosworth, Kristen Stewart and Hunter Parrish. Directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland (Quinceañera). Reviewed this issue. Amherst TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT—Marion Cotillard’s Oscar-nominated performance as a single mother trying to convince her co-workers to side with her when they have to chose between her job and their bonuses. Directed Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (Lorna’s Silence). Reviewed this issue. Eastern Hills

ALTERNATIVE CINEMA

LA ANTENA—From Argentina, a fable in the style of silent German expressionist films about a town that has lost its soul to a corporation represented by “Mr. TV.” Directed by Esteban Sapir. The first in “Kaleiodotropes,” a monthly film series curated by Little Red Booking’s Jake Mikler. Wed 7pm. Squeaky Wheel. BEYOND BOUNDARIES—Two short documentaries about the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s: “The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement,” in which a civil rights veteran reflects on past and future during the first presidential election of Barack Obama; and “Far From Home,” about the continued school busing program in Boston. Followed by a panel discussion. Free and open to the public. Thu 6:30pm. Burchfield Penney Art Center.

Fabrizio Rongione and Marion Cotillard in Two Days, One Night.

husband has pointed out, the couple, who have two very young kids, can’t afford their modern apartment if she’s unemployed. Two Days, One Night develops its own kind of modestly pitched tension as Sandra drives herself to ask her co‑workers to make a sacrifice on her behalf. These brief meetings are also emotionally resonant because the employees are mostly in the same socio-economic boat as she is. The bonus—which amounts to a kind of blood money— is something many of them believe they need. These aren’t people with a lot of economic leeway in their lives. In hurried, uncomfortable conversations, several apologize to her for their votes, even as some decline to change them. Part of the Dardennes’ success lies in their ability to persuasively present little portraits of people challenged by social circumstances and pushed into very difficult choices. The bad choices the Dardennes’ characters sometimes make usually don’t render them unsympathetic. The brothers can forgive, or at least understand, the damage that may result in consequence of their actions. In perhaps the Dardennes’ most conspicuous invention, in L’Enfant from 2005, Bruno, a fecklessly amoral lumpen youth, sells his newborn baby to an adoption ring, and spends the rest of the movie desperately trying to retrieve it and to redeem himself with his stricken girlfriend.

THE BABADOOK—An exhausted single mother (Essie

Davis in an Oscar-calibre performance) tries to deal with the monster haunting her young son. But is the real monster herself? It may be too intense a portrait of maternal struggles for pregnant women and new mothers, but the feature debut of Australian writer-director Jennifer Kent has created one of the best horror thrillers of recent years. –MF Fri 9:45pm. Screening Room. BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S (1961)—Audrey Hepburn as Manhattan dreamer Holly Golightly. With George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, and an unfortunate Japanese caricature by Mickey Rooney. Directed by Blake Edwards (The Pink Panther). Fri 7:30pm, Sat 7pm. Screening Room. DEAD AGAIN (1991)—Kenneth Branagh directed and stars in this satisfying Hitchcock pastiche/tribute as a private eye who helps an amnesiac (Emma Thompson) uncover her relation to a woman murdered in the 1940s. With Andy Garcia, Derek Jacobi, Wayne Knight, and Robin Williams. Sat 9:30pm. The Screening Room. HENRY’S FUTURE (2010)—You would never mistake this for a movie made anywhere but in Buffalo. Set in the period between New Year’s Eve and Valentine’s Day, this romantic drama wears our snowfalls on its sleeve, accessorized with plenty of local restaurants and sporting events. Jason Gelsomino heads an (almost) entirely local cast as Henry, a 31-year-old bachelor who puts his unwavering faith in the words of a psychic who tells him that he is about to meet the woman of his dreams. His task is to look around him and decide who fills the clues provided by the crystal ball. Directed by DonnaMarie Vaughn. Thu 7:30pm, The Screening Room; Sat 3pm, 7 pm; Taste of the Midway (dinner packages available), 97 North Main, Angola. KITTY FOYLE (1940)—Ginger Rogers, one of Hollywood’s top comedy and musical stars, got her Oscar for this dramatic performance as a girl from the “wrong side of the tracks” who falls in love with a guy above her station. With Dennis Morgan and James Craig. Directed by Sam Wood. Fri 7:30pm. The Old Chestnut Film Society, Philip Sheridan School, 3200 Elmwood (836-4757). ODD MAN OUT (1947)—In one of the early classics of British cinema, James Mason stars as a wounded Irish nationalist seeking shelter in the nighttime streets of Belfast but finding only people with their own agendas. The Irish accents are variable, but that’s a small hitch in this otherwise brilliantly conceived and executed noir. With Kathleen Ryan, Robert Newton, and Cyril Cusack. Directed by Carol Reed (The Third Man). A presentation of the Buffalo Film Seminars. Tue 7pm. Amherst Theater. PRIDE—Fact-based story about the decidedly unlikely but actual alliance between London gays and striking members of the British miners union in the mid-1980s. The picture is dedicated to emotional

20 THE PUBLIC / FEBRUARY 11, 2015 / DAILYPUBLIC.COM

Most of the workers Sandra importunes would rather not have done what they did. There’s the young Middle Eastern man who starts to tear up as he expresses his regret beside a soccer field on which he’s just been playing. A young gay man tells Sandra that he should have voted for her, but his lover is unemployed and they can’t afford to reject that money. The movie hardly harps on it but a theme of a fundamental labor-management conflict can be discerned. As part of the bargain the company has struck with the workers these people will have to take up the slack Sandra’s absence will entail. In the brief parking lot conversation, the manager tells Sandra and her friend that Asian imports are threatening profits. Everyone is a victim of market forces, but a few have more room to maneuver than most people. With the exception of only one jarring turn, the Dardennes eschew sharp dramatic conflict. Their tone is calmly observational but clearly there’s a knowing sensibility at work, too. At the very end, in a shot that’s strangely reminiscent of the last one in John Ford’s 1939 Young Mr. Lincoln, Sandra walks away P from the camera, down the road toward a moral victory.

and political uplift, and it pulls out a lot of stops in trying to draw audiences in and win them over. I mostly succumbed. Starring Ben Schnetzer, George MacKay, Matthew Flynn, Andrew Scott, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton, and Bill Nighy. Directed by Matthew Warchus (Simpatico) Thu 7pm. Hallwalls. – GS SAY ANYTHING (1989)—John Cusack holds up a boom box to Ione Skye’s window. It’s a generational thing. With John Mahoney, Lili Taylor, and Pamela Adlon. Directed by Cameron Crowe (We Bought a Zoo). Sat-Sun 11:30am.

IN BRIEF: 2015 OSCAR NOMINATED SHORT FILMS—Two pro-

grams featuring the nominees for best live action short film and best animated short film. As always, both programs are filled with satisfying work from veteran animators and emerging live-action filmmakers. –MF Eastern Hills AMERICAN SNIPER—Clint Eastwood’s adaptation of the memoir of Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), who as a Navy SEAL sniper killed between 160 and 250 targets in Iraq, is hardly the only recent film “based on a true story” to play fast and loose with the facts. But the goal here seems to be less dramatic shaping than hagiography, a disappointment given Eastwood’s more nuanced films of recent years. The script doesn’t only ignore Kyle’s human failings (which is understandable if unfortunate); it erases most of what might have made him interesting as a character. Eastwood remains the consummate craftsman, but the film serves no real point. With Sienna Miller, Jake McDorman, and Luke Grimes. -MF BLACK OR WHITE—As a story of a family dispute generated by racial differences—a mixed-race girl is fought over by her white (maternal) grandfather and black (paternal) grandmother, who both want custody—Black or White arrives at a perfect time to add something to the freshly simmering debate about race and civil rights in America. But it brings little to the table, either substantively or aesthetically. It’s a rather plodding, insufficiently focused effort, uninformed by real insight or narrative facility. It mostly resembles Kramer vs. Kramer, succumbing to a melodramatic conclusion that resolves nothing. Starring Kevin Costner, Octavia Spencer, Jennifer Ehle, Anthony Mackie, and Bill Burr. Directed by Mike Binder (Reign Over Me). -GS THE BOY NEXT DOOR—Thriller starring Jennifer Lopez as a teacher who regrets a moment of passion with the neighbor kid (Ryan Guzman) when he turns out to be a psycho. With Kristin Chenoweth and John Corbett. Directed by Rob Cohen (Alex Cross).

THE IMITATION GAME—The story of English mathe-

matician and logician Alan Turing, who was instrumental in breaking Germany’s Enigma code during World War II but was later driven to suicide for being gay. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Turing as a kind of comic but poignant genius in a clever and vivid performance. Britain’s stringent secrecy laws kept Turing’s role in the Allied victory a secret until the mid-1970s, since which point Turing has become both a hero of the code-breaking program and as a martyr of the oppressive, sometimes vicious treatment of homosexuals in the British Isles. Although the movie’s dramatic arc is consistently entertaining, it bears only a limited general resemblance to the more complicated story told in Andrew Hodge’s long, dense 1983 Turing biography, credited as a primary source. Exaggerating and invention are hardly uncommon in biopics, but the filmmakers choices here are dramatically conservative and audience-oriented. Co-starring Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Charles Dance, and Mark Strong. Directed by Morten Tyldum (Headhunters). -GS

INTERSTELLAR—That Christopher Nolan’s magnum

opus, about the search for a planet capable of supporting human life, is the most argued-about movie of the year has less to do with reaction to its content than with its inconsistency. Your own opinion likely to hinge on what you most want in a movie, visual effects, provocative ideas or fleshedout drama. The ideas are there, though whether they’re plausible or merely fantastical is likely to be over the heads of most viewers. Nolan and his co-scripter brother Jonathan alternately withhold information that you want (about the demise of our planet in the near future) while rushing science at you too quickly to digest. Matthew McConaughey’s performance demonstrates that it’s possible to overact quietly, though he’s still effective in the occasional tear-jerking moments. It’s worth seeing (if you have the patience for a three-hour movie), but don’t expect anything as dazzling as The Dark Knight or Inception. With Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Matt Damon, John Lithgow, Casey Affleck, and Topher Grace. -MF

JUPITER

ASCENDING—The Wachowski siblings should be put to work raising money to combat world hunger. If they could raise $180 million for their newest movie after a record of mega-flops like Cloud Atlas, Speed Racer—well, everything they’ve made since the original Matrix—they obviously have powers that are being wasted on making dull, turgid sci-fi spectacles. It was supposed to be released last summer but was pulled—supposedly for reshoots, but I’ll bet because the studio was afraid to go up against Guardians of the Galaxy, which is just as derivative but at least knows how to entertain an audience. Starring—oh, why bother naming them, it’s not their fault. Starring Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Eddie Redmayne, and Sean Bean. -MF THE LOFT—Remake of the 2008 Dutch drama (by

REVIEW FILM

OH, THE HUMANITY HUMAN CAPITAL, STILL ALICE BY M. FAUST

You probably first heard the term in discussions of settlements made to the families of those killed in the September 11 attacks. “Human capital” refers to the assessment made by insurance companies of the value of a life when they have to make financial restitution for one that has been lost. The family of a victim who had high earning expectations would receive more than the family of, say, a janitor. It’s a controversial subject because it attempts to quantify something unquantifiable. Italy’s submission for this year’s Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award (it didn’t make the final five), Human Capital is based on an American novel of that title by Stephen Amidon. Reset from Connecticut to a wealthy suburb of Milan, it otherwise has little difficulty adapting a universal story of economic inequality. The film opens with an accident on a nighttime road. A restaurant worker, biking home after a long shift catering a ritzy affair, is run off the road and critically injured by an SUV. Who is responsible? The story unfolds in three threads that begin six months earlier. Dino (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) is a real-estate broker with a failing business and a pregnant wife (Valeria Golino, repatriated to her native country after a Hollywood career in films like Rain Man). His teenage daughter is dating the son of a successful hedge fund manager, and when he wheedles an invitation to join the latest offering, he foolishly puts his family’s future on the line. Carla (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) is the trophy wife of the billionaire. She tries to lend meaning to her empty life by heading a campaign to renovate a local theater, unaware that her husband’s fund is on the verge of collapsing. Serena (Matilde Gioli), Dino’s

Valeria Bruni Tedeschi in Human Capital.

Alec Baldwin and Juilanne Moore in Still Alice.

daughter, has her own secrets, one of which is the key to the tragedy that opens the film.

saw Seventh Son, newly released after a year on the shelf where it should have been left to rot.)

Glossy and engrossing, Human Capital unfolds like a variation on one of those films that spend two hours showing how a handful of seemingly unrelated characters are connected. After each segment covering the same six months, we go back to see the period from the viewpoint of another character, until all is clear. Like too many of those films, the structure is more compelling than the revealed story. Its portrait of income inequality is unlikely to shock anyone who hasn’t been in a coma since Y2K. But if the drama is undernourished, it provides material for two excellent performances from veteran Tedeschi and newcomer Gioli.

If only the film itself were worthy of Moore’s work. It was based on a novel by Lisa Genova, a neuroscientist whose other books feature characters with Huntington’s Disease and autism. Moore’s character, Alice Howland, is a prominent academic with an equally successful husband (Alec Baldwin) and three adult children on the way to promising careers. (Well, except that black sheep daughter who wants to be an actress.) There’s an unspoken notion that this instance of the disease is especially tragic because it stuck so fine a person, as if all the “ordinary” people also stricken wouldn’t be nearly as interesting. (They’d certainly have a lot more trouble financially.)

Like the just-departed Cake, you can’t help but feel that Still Alice exists largely to get an Oscar nomination for its star, in this case Julianne Moore. She may even win: Forgive me for sounding cynical if I note that her performance as a woman who learns she has early onset Alzheimer’s disease is traditionally the kind the Academy loves to reward. She’s excellent, which is no surprise. (I was going to say that she’s always good, but that was before I

Directors Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland are lightweights who want to touch audiences without really disturbing them, and their film has little of the lasting effect of either the Glen Campbell documentary that played here last week or MiP chael Haneke’s wrenching Amour.

the history of his marriage. But while we go into the film knowing it will end in divorce, the factors driving the couple apart feel elided. It’s as if the filmmakers didn’t want to be disrespectful to a man who is considered one of the great scientific minds of our era. But in that case, why make the film at all? Even the irony that, as presented here, all that ended the marriage of a man so obsessed with the nature of time was time itself seems unintended. With fine but unostentatious performances by Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones as the Hawkings. Co-starring Harry Lloyd, David Thewlis, and Emily Watson. Directed by James Marsh, best known for documentaries like Man on Wire. -MF

the same director, Erik Van Looy) about a group of married men who share an apartment for extra-marital affairs, until a corpse turns up and they realize that one of them must be the killer. Starring Karl Urban, James Marsden, and Matthias Schoenaerts. .

MR. TURNER—From Mike Leigh (Naked), a biogra-

phy about the difficult late years of 19th-century British landscape artist J. M. W. Turner. Starring Timothy Spall, Dorothy Atkinson, Paul Jesson, Marion Bailey, and Lesley Manville. Amherst.

PADDINGTON—The beloved “short but polite”

talking bear of children’s books comes to the big screen in a good-natured movie that will be beloved by Anglophiles of all ages. Combining computer effects with animatronics and voiced by Ben Whishaw, Paddington’s story stays close to the books as he journeys from “darkest Peru” to London in search of a home. For dramatic structure the movie borrows from 101 Dalmations in the form of Nicole Kidman as a Cruella De Vil-ish taxidermist in a snakeskin jumpsuit. It was co-written and directed by Paul King, but don’t expect anything as anarchic as The Mighty Boosh, the cult comedy show he’s best known for: Special effects aside, it’s as traditional as a cup of hot chocolate. The cast includes Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey’s Earl of Grantham), Sally Hawkins, Peter Capaldi, Julie Walters, and Jim Broadbent, along with other faces you’ll probably recognize if you’re a Britcom fan. -MF

Pride

assessment of the timing and political opposition. With Cuba Gooding Jr., Tim Roth, Giovanni Ribisi, Carmen Ejogo, Martin Sheen, and Tom Wilkinson. -GS

TAKEN 3—It may have the same star (Liam Nee-

son) and production team as previous Takens, but there’s no kidnapping this time. Instead, the story is lifted from The Fugitive: Retired CIA operative Bryan Mills scours Los Angeles for the men who PROJECT ALMANAC—Michael Bay production about SEVENTH SON—If you were to go by the pedigrees framed him for murder while evading police detectime-traveling teens, originally known as Welcome of its creators, you’d have hope for this medieval tive Forest Whitaker (in the Tommy Lee Jones part, to Yesterday when it was supposed to be released special effects extravanagza: production designer but without any of the snappy dialogue). There’s a year ago. Starring Jonny Weston, Sofia BlackDante Ferretti, costumer Jacqueline West, and viplenty of action, all filmed in a way likely to induce D’Elia, and Amy Landecker. Directed by Dean IsraVISIT DAILYPUBLIC.COM FOR MORE FILM LISTINGS & REVIEWS >> sual effects designer John Dykstra are all tops in seizures—hand-held cameras, editing that cuts so elite. their fields, while Russian director Sergey Bodrov much you can’t get a grip on what your seeing. has two nominations for best foreign language film SELMA—Detailing the events leading up to the 1965 Worse, there’s nothing in the by-the-numbers sto(Mongol and Prisoner of the Mountains). Throw in march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, the ry that makes you in any way interested in what two A-list stars—Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore— capital, to protest the denial of the vote to the you’re seeing. It’s slickly made product ordered up and what could go wrong? But something sure as great majority of the state’s African-American resby executives just because they need a third film hell did in this snoozer that sat on the shelf for a idents, director Ava DuVernay’s film ranks among in order to be able to market a Taken Trilogy DVD year. As a witch-hunting knight breaking in a new the very few respectable and involving American box set next Christmas. With Dougray Scott, Fammovie treatments of historical characters, forces, apprentice, Bridges seems to be trying to go campy ke Janssen, and Maggie Grace. Directed by Olivier and events. Martin Luther King (David Oyelowo), with a straight script that gets the better of him. Megaton, a name that just dares reviews to make VISIT FOR FILM LISTINGS & REVIEWS >> both the great public leader and DAILYPUBLIC.COM symbol and the Moore gets off easierMORE because she has less to do. cracks about “megaton bombs.” -MF private man, is at the center of this film, but he’s The plot is bland, the visuals murky, and the effects THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING—As an Oscar conpresented as part of an increasingly diverse and nothing you haven’t seen in a dozen other movtender, this biography of Stephen Hawking, based populist campaign in this movie’s unusually clear ies. -MF on a memoir by his first wife Jane, is a model of and sophisticated narrative. Its one lapse is in THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SPONGE OUT OF WATER— restraint and inoffensiveness: it’s a shoo-in for exaggerating President Lyndon Johnson’s (Tom The title seems pretty self-explanatory to me. Dithe The King’s Speech voters. Hawking’s work takes Wilkinson) resistance to sending a voting rights bill to Congress, which was actually based on his rected by Paul Tibbitt. a back seat to his slow debilitation from ALS and

CULTURE > FILM

UNBROKEN—The true story of Olean native and Olympic athlete Louis Zamperini (adapted from Laura Hillenbrand’s 2010 book) focuses on the horrifying experiences of his young life: As a lieutenant in the Air Force during World War II, he spent 47 days adrift in the Pacific Ocean after his plane was shot down, only to wind up in a Japanese POW camp where for two years he was tortured by a corporal who became obsessed with him. These painful scenes may be unparalleled in a movie intended for a mass audience. And by ending with Zamperini’s rescue from the camp, the film oddly avoids terminates the more satisfying dramatic arc that would have been provided by the rest of his life. Director Angelina Jolie does fine work in the opening scenes of the plane being shot down, but at 137 minutes most audiences are likely to be very uncomfortable with the movie’s brutality. Starring Jack O’Connell, Finn Wittrock, Domhnall Gleeson, and Miyari. Joel and Ethan Coen were among the scriptwriters. –GS THE WEDDING RINGER—The ubiquitous Kevin Hart

as an LA hustler who makes a good living hiring himself out as a hip best man to guys who have no real friends to turn to for their weddings. His skills are challenged when financial executive Josh Gad comes to him in need not just of a best man but seven groomsmen as well—and in 10 days. The directorial debut of Jeremy Garelick, who rushes through all the best material in his own script. (Maybe it was his way of not having to cut anything?) It’s not well tailored for Hart’s strengths, allowing Gad to steal most of their scenes. The humor isn’t as crude as other wedding comedies of recent years, which is a plus or a minus depending on your perspective. Nor is the bromantic aspect adequately fleshed out. It’s not an awful movie, but neither is it memorable. Co-starring Affion Crockett, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, P and Ken Howard. -MF

CULTURE > FILM

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ACROSS 1. Niagara Falls feature 4. 50 Cent piece? 7. Crystal-lined rocks 13. Was never cuckolded? 14. Bond choice 16. Rapa ___ (Easter Island) 17. Dior dresses 18. Bunch of cows opens a wine bar?

22. Word before rock or project 23. “Elm Street” director Craven 24. “Grand Theft Auto” gun 27. Answerable with just a head movement 29. ___ Lanka

58. Bullet at a card game 59. They’re better for fishbait than pates?

30. Words before the mill or the house 32. Spots for icicles

63. Invasive apps

34. ASAP relative

65. “Culpa” starter

36. 1985 concert sensation “Live ___”

66. Home of the Promised Land CSA 67. Newsman Postles is comedian Benny’s waiter? 68. Dead Sea Scrolls author 69. Cadillac luxury vehicle introduced in 2013 70. Uncut film sequence

38. Got a ticket, in a way 39. Rural festivities 40. Preventative measure? 41. Emmy winner on her 19th try 42. American Indian 46. “The Birds”’ Tippi

DOWN

48. Furthest from noble

1. Taco adjective

50. Toro’s $46 signature dish

2. Drinks out loud 3. With no one behind

51. Division at 66 Across 52. Boon to Scottish tourism

31. A chorus line?

4. “Chicago” actress Zellweger

33. #1 spot

5. 18-and-over crowd

35. “Born in the ___”

6. “Punxsutawney ___”

37. After-shoveling feeling

7. Forest Lawn site

38. NYS Assembly Speaker who’s “corrupted” in 13, 18, 59, and 67 Across

8. Army poster verb

61. The Rio Grande divides it: Abbr.

9. “Alias” actress

62. Bit of a shock

42. Most common blood type, for short

10. Take to task

63. “Lemon” end

11. “Vietnam” suffix

64. A couple of Spaniards

44. Anticipated

12. “Heat’s coming on” sound

45. A real mouthful?

15. “___-majesté”

47. Tonawanda thoroughfare, for short

19. Bobbin cousin

49. Airer of debates

20. Paul Klee or Max Frisch, e.g.

53. ___ man out

25. ___ Valley

54. “... yadda, yadda, yadda”

26. “... provoked with raging ___”: Shak.

56. “It’s Easy as 1-2-3” hit of 1970

22 THE PUBLIC / FEBRUARY 11, 2015 / DAILYPUBLIC.COM

43. Status ___

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FEATURE COMEDY implores everybody to tip the bartender (Nikki Rosenberg, who has become such a staple at the mic that they’ve threatened to make bobbleheads of her) and they’re off. By this point, more than 30 comedians—new, old, sober, and drunk—have signed up to tell jokes. The next two-and-a-half hours are totally unpredictable. In Rock’s words, seeing a show at Helium is Top 40; an open mic is punk rock. Here’s an abbreviated timeline:

8:07 The first comic, Tim Victor, kicks things off.

8:22 As BC Garvey performs, more

non-comics start showing up to the mic. Maclin’s apparent anxiety about people showing up dissipates.

8:46 Brian Netzel makes a joke about

the “sexual rock paper scissors” of staying at the bar until closing time. He is indeed one of a handful of people who stays at Milkie’s until the end of the night. But that might be dedication: He’s been coming here since the start while also producing podcasts at ProjectFunnyface.com.

9:11 Maclin comes over to whisper, “As Standup comic Brian Netzel and host Tyrone Maclin.

FIVE MINUTES Open Mic at Milkie’s is a Drunken Good Time BY DANIEL BAUER

“Y’ALL COMING TO THE COMEDY SHOW TONIGHT?” Ten minutes to showtime and Tyrone Maclin is, in his words, trying to “carny people in” as they pass by Milkie’s on Elmwood. With a drink in one hand, a cigarette in the other, wearing a forest green “Cosby sweater,” Maclin is all loungey charm. But he wouldn’t be outside in the cold yelling at strangers if he weren’t a little worried. He had a full house last week. Tonight is comparatively light. Maclin has hosted the comedy open mic at 8pm each Wednesday at Milkie’s since it started in June. He’s watched it go from relatively quiet to nearly too popular for its own good. Last week, Maclin put up 30 comics. At five minutes a pop, that’s two-and-a-half hours of comedy, plus the delays that occur when the performers, the host, and the timekeeper have been drinking since kickoff. That capacity for sustained raucousness is there by design. Maclin’s partner in crime, Kristy Rock, started the Milkie’s mic with her experience watching comedy in Chicago in mind.

In Chicago in the 2000s, talented comics like Hannibal Buress, TJ Miller, and Kumail Nanjiani were hitting mics all over town. At those mics, the lists ran long and the comics ran the room, creating a home base for veterans and upand-comers alike. “I want Buffalo to be known as an incubator city,” said Rock. And recreating the kind of incubation that she saw in Chicago means having places nearly every night of the week where comics can work out their material and meet each other. It was at one of these lauded Chicago mics that introduced Rock to comedy in the first place. Recently separated from her now ex-husband, Rock found herself out for a drink with a friend on a Sunday night. The bar just happened to be hosting a comedy open mic. “It literally saved my life,” said Rock. “I had no support system. And then comedy happened to me and I had idiot scumbugs I could drink with

PHOTOS BY CHRISTA SANTA MARIA

that also gave a shit about me and made sure I got home okay every night. I didn’t have that before comedy.” Rock’s desire to give back to said “idiot scumbugs” led to projects like publishing RE:COM magazine, running BuffaloComedy.com, and starting the mic at Milkie’s. Maclin, too, credits comedy with saving his life. Six years ago, he performed for the first time at Nietzsche’s open mic and caught the attention of the host, comedian Kristen Becker. “I’m personally forever grateful to Kristen Becker for me not being dead in a ditch,” said Maclin. “All I was doing was drugging myself to death…comedy gave me a reason not to kill myself with drugs, just that five minutes every Tuesday.” He sees that same dynamic every week at Milkie’s. “I’ve got a lot of young comics here, and I’m pretty sure there’s a couple of them that think about the five minutes they get the same way I thought about mine,” Maclin tells me. “That was everything, those five minutes. Then I had to turn back into a pumpkin and go home, be a normal dude.” With support from Becker and from his brother, Freddie, Maclin kept performing. He’s a good comic, but he’s a great host, and that fact is obvious from the moment the show begins. At 8pm sharp, Maclin grabs the microphone and proceeds to corral a room full of chatty comedians into paying attention. He

GARY GULMAN FEB 12 - 14 / $15-$23 CHECK WEBSITE FOR TIMES: HELIUMCOMEDY.COM HELIUM COMEDY CLUB 30 MISSISSIPPI STREET Meeting the president: a sad fate that has doomed too many of comedy’s greats. Comedian Gary Gulman wasn’t asked if he would meet the president if given the chance, but it seems like he probably would. The former Boston College tight end and ex-school teacher comes off as quiet all-American. However, you’re unlikely to see that presidential meeting pop up in his stage material. “I always notice that a comedian started to fall off right when he started doing jokes about meeting the president. It’s almost uncanny how common [it is],” Gulman said. “A guy’s specials: The first special will be great, and then in the second special or the third, he’ll be so huge that he’s met the president, and that’s a 10-minute chunk in his act, and as an audience member, I’m like, ‘Yeah, I don’t really get into that.’” Gulman’s material seems highly unlikely to go in that direction anyhow, thanks to his microscopic focus on day-to-day minutiae. He digs deep for good stuff in places where most comics don’t always look, like the evolution of orange juice pulp through the ages to it’s current status. This is aided by his good dude likeability and real world understanding of what it’s like to work a day job and struggle to get by.

a child, I always wanted to have a lounge act. Now I do.” He’s right: Milkie’s used to be the Elmwood Lounge. The dim lights and mirrored walls give it a comfortably sleazy charm—half dive, half Vegas.

9:28 Everyone has been at the bar for

about two hours now, so I’m not surprised when someone tries to sign up to perform on my notes.

9:35 While introducing Jesse Winterh-

alter, Maclin segues into Ghostface Killah lyrics, a motif he vows to keep alive all night.

10:17 I never would have guessed the

thing that would bring the energy back up after two hours would be a bit about Titanic. You go, Nicky Spin.

10:31 Maclin, at this point, has opened up his intros to the entire Wu Tang Clan.

11:07 It becomes apparent that a big

chunk of the non-comics in the room are here to see one particular performer: Kevin Thomas, Jr. Maclin tries to sell them on staying for the whole show. They do.

11:22 By now, the performers have been

sitting around long enough to write entire routines ripping on Maclin and his bright green sweater. Barbs include “Irish Pride Mr. Cooper” ( Juese Cutler) and “The Grinch Who Stole Kwanzaa” (Bruce W.).

11:50 We’re done. I feel a little dazed and

tired from laughing; Rock and Maclin, meanwhile, are beaming. Which makes sense. Both Rock and Maclin credit comedy with saving their lives, and they just gave 30-plus comics and a room full of people a chance to get saved, too.

“A few years ago I went broke around the same time that the rest of the country went completely broke, so, I had a lot in common with everybody else. I think at least 45 minutes of my last special, which was an hour, was on the economy or being broke or just certain aspects of income disparity between people and everything like that…just things like buying guacamole and letting yourself have enough money to buy a new bar of soap rather than try to combine the slivers of soap into a Frankenstein bar. So I talked a lot about the economy, and had I been more successful at that time, I would have missed out… even though I would have rather not struggled, I would have missed out on a lot of the comedy opportunities,” Gulman said. Gulman’s In This Economy special is available for streaming on Netflix, the streaming video service and cultural touchstone that became the subject of a Gulman bit. Although Netflix takes many measures to profile its users tastes, it has yet to suggest a Gary Gulman comedy special to Gary Gulman. “I’m always being suggested comedians who aren’t me, and I have to admit, I am my favorite comedian, because I talk about all of the things I’m interested in, so Netflix really missed to boat as far as suggesting me to me. But, I will say that the fact that my show has been in Netflix, other than Last Comic Standing, there has been nothing as influential as far as getting people to come see me live as those Netflix specials. I’m thankful and I’m hoping they’ll let me call my next special P Popular on Netflix.” —KIP DOYLE DAILYPUBLIC.COM / FEBRUARY 11, 2015 / THE PUBLIC 23

Closing soon— on view at The Center through February 22, 2015. Don’t miss the opportunity to experience Charles Burchfield’s luminous interpretations of the natural world in Exalted Nature, featuring more than 50 masterworks never before seen together.

For additional information, please visit www.BurchfieldPenney.org.

Charles E. Burchfield (1893–1967); July Sunlight Pouring Down (detail), 1952; Watercolor on paper, 35" x 26"; On permanent loan to the Burchfield Penney Art Center.