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NEWS: CRIME & ASSIMILATION IN THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY

ART: JOZEF BAJUS & OLGA BAJUSOVA AT WNYBAC

THEATER: REMEMBERING MICHAEL HAKE, WHO DIED LAST WEEK

FILM: INTERVIEW WITH MIKE CLEMENT OF DIPSON THEATRES

THE PUBLIC CONTENTS

ON MONDAY, CEPA DIRECTOR SEAN DONAHER WAS REINSTATED AFTER A MONTH-LONG SUSPENSION THAT RAISED EYEBROWS IN THE ARTS COMMUNITY. READ AN INTERVIEW WITH DONAHER AND CEPA BOARD PRESIDENT NANCY J. PARISI AT DAILYPUBLIC.COM.

THIS WEEK ISSUE NO. 56 | DECEMBER 9, 2015

LOOKING BACKWARD: Washington & Broadway, 1860.

ON THE MARKET: In Paris, discussing the price of climate change.

ART: At the Central Library, a terrific collection of historic science texts.

ASSISTED LIVING: All I wanted was some hats…

CENTERFOLD: Shasti O’Leary Soudant’s Weeping Wall.

ON THE COVER JOZEF BAJUS + OLGA BAJUSOVA, his late wife, are the subject of a joint exhibit at Western New York Book Arts Center (468 Washington Street) that closes December 12.

SPOTLIGHT: Meet Rio Mansour, painter with coffee grounds.

THE PUBLIC STAFF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF GEOFF KELLY MUSIC EDITOR CORY PERLA MANAGING EDITOR AARON LOWINGER FILM EDITOR M. FAUST ASSISTING ART EDITOR BECKY MODA EDITOR-AT-LARGE BRUCE JACKSON CONTRIBUTING EDITORS ENVIRONMENT JAY BURNEY THEATER ANTHONY CHASE POLITICS ALLAN UTHMAN

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COVER IMAGE JOZEF BAJUS COLUMNISTS

ALAN BEDENKO, KEITH BUCKLEY, BRUCE FISHER, THOMAS DOONEY, JACK FORAN, MICHAEL I. NIMAN, NANCY J. PARISI, GEORGE SAX, CHRISTOPHER JOHN TREACY

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JUSTYN BELLITTO, JEANETTE CHIN, KIP DOYLE, ARI GOLDFARB, CORINNE MCCARTHY, PATRICIA PENDLETON, KELLIE POWELL, DAN TELVOCK

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Battaglia Demolition continues to snub neighbors, government BY DAN TELVOCK / INVESTIGATIVE POST STATE AND CITY OFFICIALS HAVE FAILED

to follow through on promises made over a year ago to clean up operations of a construction and demolition debris facility that’s the subject of a decade-long dustup with neighbors. As a result, Seneca-Babcock residents said they endured yet another summer of dust, noise, and diesel truck fumes from Battaglia Demolition’s operation off Seneca Street. Battaglia Demolition collects concrete, bricks, and other construction and demolition debris. The facility also crushes concrete and brick, which residents say stirs up clouds of dust that settle on their properties. In addition, up to 200 trucks a day rumble up and down Peabody Street, swirling more dust into the air. “I like to have my windows open, but we can’t because of the dust,” said Peabody Street resident Elsie Karpinski. After several reports by Investigative Post last spring, state and local officials stepped up enforcement of the business. Then, in October 2014, US Senator Chuck Schumer held a press conference in the neighborhood urging regulators to clean up Battaglia’s operations. Fourteen months later, neighbors said little has changed. Consider: •

The city took the owner, Peter Battaglia, to Housing Court in July 2014. That case is stalled in Housing Court.

•

The state Department of Environmental Conservation has filed five separate notices of violation since April 2014. The DEC has taken no further enforcement actions against Battaglia Demolition or the company’s owner, however.

•

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office picked up the case from the DEC a year ago, but has failed to file any legal action.

“It’s been 20 years of abuse,” Battaglia said in a short phone interview. He declined further comment. Both the city’s law department and the Attorney General’s office refused to comment, citing Battaglia’s legal action. DEC officials said they have referred enforcement actions to the Attorney General’s office, “which will determine next steps, including assessment of penalties for violations.” Residents, meanwhile, are growing increasingly frustrated. “It’s feeling like nobody’s getting any justice here,” said Rebecca Newberry, executive director of the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York, which is working with residents.

CITY CASE PLAGUED BY DELAYS Residents have complained for over a decade about the impact Battaglia Demolition has on their quality of life. The truck traffic creates noise and spews diesel fumes into the neighborhood. Dust coats cars and houses, both outside and in. “It’s horrible,” said Peabody Street resident Diane Lemanski. “You don’t even want to sit outside in my lawn because of the diesel fumes.” City officials last year installed a blue-light police camera in front of Battaglia’s facility to document any breach of operating hours. Neighbors said they regularly see trucks entering the facility before 7am and leaving after 6pm. Then, in July 2014, the city filed charges against Battaglia in Housing Court. The city says the company has operated outside the scope of its permit by accepting garbage and ignored the hours of operation approved by the Planning Board. But the city case has been plagued by delays. A trial is rescheduled for January 21.

While regulators and leaders have failed to bring the dispute to a resolution, Battaglia Demolition continues to operate.

“It’s frustrating because every time we go [to court] we think we’re going to get some kind of closure,” Lemanski said.

The only substantive action has come from Battaglia, who filed a lawsuit in September against the DEC and the City of Buffalo.

“It’s always postponed due to baloney.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 DAILYPUBLIC.COM / DECEMBER 9 - 15, 2015 / THE PUBLIC

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Advertisers Signature DEC officials knew four years ago that brick and concrete fragments drift into the neighborhood ____________________________ from Battaglia Demolition’s crushing operation. State reports show the fragments likely contains Date _______________________ silica, a carcinogen. On December 7, the state filed a notice Issue: ______________________ KEVIN /2011, Y15W48 of violation against Battaglia Demolition, in an attempt force it ERRORS to applyWHICH for a state IF YOU to APPROVE ARE air ON permit for a concrete crusher, which could require polluTHIS PROOF, THE PUBLIC CANNOT BE tion-control measures. HELD RESPONSIBLE. PLEASE EXAMINE THE AD The company has refused to apply for the perTHOROUGHLY IF THE ADcrusher IS A PICK-UP. mit, stating the EVEN capacity of the falls short PROOF MAYforONLY BE USED FORis required. ofTHIS the threshold which a permit Battaglia has also maintained the business is exPUBLICATION IN THE PUBLIC.

empt from the law the DEC is citing. Since Investigative Post’s report in April 2014, the DEC has filed at least five additional notices of violation against the company. The latest violation notice, on May 8, 2015, includes repeat offenses, such as operating the crusher without a state air permit and operating without a valid state construction and demolition debris permit since February 2013. But the state also cited the company on charges of failing to control dust “so that it does not constitute a nuisance or hazards to health, safety or property,” and installing business signs that contain inaccurate or misleading information. Those signs, according to the DEC, incorrectly

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& WEBSITE PROOF OK (NO CHANGES) LOOKING BACKWARD: WASHINGTON & BROADWAY, 1860 � PROOF OK (WITH CHANGES) �

The mansion at the corner of Washington and Broadway, built by Jonas Harrison in 1825 and purchased by Sheldon Thompson in 1830, was one of Buffalo’s landmarks of the era of Advertisers Signature the Erie Canal. This image, taken in about 1860, shows the mansion prior to its demolition in____________________________ 1865. The Federal Style house, of which only a handful remain in the city, is built with no setback or front yard—an elevated ground story gives the home its sense of privacy. The stoop and workable shutter are revealed as the lost art they have since become. As the home Datethe_______________________ from 1830 to 1851 of Sheldon Thompson, it was the residence of one of the pioneers of Great Issue: shipbuilding ______________________ Lakes and freight forwarding. Sheldon Thompson & Co. built the Pioneer, the CY / Y15W49 third steamboat on the lakes, in 1823. In 1826 the Troy & Erie, his transportation firm, began operating regularERRORS lines ofWHICH passenger IF YOU APPROVE ARE ONpackets and freight boats along the Erie Canal. He built the steamboat Sheldon Thompson , long THIS PROOF, THE PUBLIC CANNOT BE prominent on the lakes, in Huron, Ohio, in 1828. With partners, he purchased lumber and mining lands in Ohio and Wisconsin, and bought, laid out, HELD RESPONSIBLE. PLEASE EXAMINE THE AD and developed Ohio City, now part of Cleveland. Thompson became the first popularly elected THOROUGHLY EVENinIF1840, THE AD IS A PICK-UP. mayor of Buffalo besting Democrat George Barker by only 10 votes. Today, like so THIS sites PROOFinMAY ONLY BE Buffalo, USED FORmultiple layers of history have been written and erased on many downtown the site, whichINhas been a parking lot since the demolition of the Lafayette Theatre in 1962. PUBLICATION THE PUBLIC. P -THE PUBLIC STAFF

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LOCAL NEWS

“THIS COMPANY HAS LEFT THE SENECA BABCOCK COMMUNITY IN WHAT ONE LOCAL MEDIA OUTLET CALLED ‘A DECADE-LONG DUST BOWL,’” US SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER SAID DURING HIS PRESS CONFERENCE. state the company’s permits, hours of operation and the materials it can collect. Battaglia denied the charges in a May 23, 2015, letter to the DEC. He said the dust is not generated by his company and that his signs are “lawful.” The DEC last year referred the case to the Attorney General’s office, which this summer collected depositions from neighborhood residents and at least one Common Council member. “The biggest frustration is that it’s taking so long,” said Fillmore District Common Council Member David Franczyk, who gave a deposition to the Attorney General’s office. Battaglia’s business operates in his district.

SCHUMER’S CALL NOT HEEDED Schumer’s visit to the neighborhood in October 2014 buoyed optimism among neighbors. The senator joined Peabody Street residents in front of Battaglia’s business to call on authorities to put an end to the disputes. “This company has left the Seneca Babcock community in what one local media outlet called ‘a decade-long dust bowl.’ That is not right, that is not fair, and we need to change it,” Schumer said during his press conference. A year later, neither the federal Environmental Protection Agency nor the Attorney General’s Office has heeded Schumer’s call to action. “It’s really difficult to have hope presented to you, that there will be a change and your neighborhood will get better, and then nothing comes of that hope,” said Newberry of the Clean Air Coalition. “That’s what I am hearing from folks on Peabody Street.” In fact, only Battaglia followed through after Schumer’s visit, by filing his claim against the city and DEC. Battaglia’s lawsuit in State Supreme Court repeats the same arguments he has had with state authorities for the past four years. He says his business is exempt from the laws for which the DEC is citing him and that city officials are unfairly enforcing regulations. The Attorney General’s office has filed a motion to dismiss Battaglia’s claim. A hearing is scheduled for 10am on Monday, December 14. “Battaglia is a master at brinkmanship,” Franczyk said. “It’s a never-ending cycle.” Meanwhile, residents continue to deal with the same problems. “We’re still breathing in diesel fumes and silica dust,” Lemanski said. The situation hit a new level of bizarre on December 1 when some dropped half of a white pick up truck in front of the Peabody Street home of the Weaver family, who are critics of Battaglia. The property is owned by Battaglia and there are truck tracks leading from the half-truck to a side gate for Battaglia Demolition. “I don’t know if he is trying to make the neighbors mad, but it’s an eyesore,” said Norm Weaver. Dan Telvock is a reporter for Investigative Post, a nonprofit investigative reporting center focused on issues of importance to Buffalo and Western New York. P Read more at invetisgativepost.org.

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BECOMING THE NEW AMERICANS What crime and gang activity among Buffalo’s refugee community indicates about its growth and assimilation BY JUSTYN BELLITTO IN A CITY SAID TO HAVE JUST TWO SEASONS, winter and Fourth of July, the weather on a day last summer likely brought back memories of the tropical highlands of Myanmar for many of the WASH Project’s Burmese patrons. The Massachusetts Avenue laundromat that doubles as a community center has become a gathering place for many of the estimated 10,000 refugees from a multitude of Burma’s ethnic groups who have settled in the region over the past decade.

The oppressive afternoon humidity brought most of the activities of this modern-day agora outdoors. Curbside, recently completed children’s paintings sought out the breeze lacking inside while several men applied brushstrokes to a mural on the building’s naked red brick. Sidewalk figures created with chalk would soon be washed away by a midsummer downpour almost certain to arrive that night. Those inside the building were occupied by a friendly game of billiards between volunteers and neighborhood kids. One of the minds behind this innovative space is Zaw Win, a former political prisoner from Myanmar who has translated the community organizing skills that made him a pariah in his home country to the streets of the West Side. His knack for coalition-building has come in handy uniting Buffalo’s Burmese after they were targeted in a rash of 50-plus reported break-ins between the months of October 2014 and April 2015, and more since then. Zaw, along with other refugee leaders, was influential in initiating a public forum held back in March with the help of Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo to deal with frustrations that populations with

Community activist Zaw Win outside the WASH Project.

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THOSE KIND OF TOUCHY ISSUES. THERE IS AN IDENTITY, OUR IDENTITY—AS BURMESE, AS KAREN, AS REFUGEES. WE DON’T WANT TO HAVE BAD NAMES. WE ARE PROTECTIVE.” limited English language skills and other communication barriers have with Buffalo police. Zaw knows that improved relations with the local authorities is no panacea to restore some semblance of safety to the streets that his community call home, because often those indicated or arrested in burglaries are also Burmese. When asked who these culprits are, Zaw believes they are affiliated with refugee gangs, a worrying phenomenon in recent years that has lured Burmese youth to the West Side’s criminal underworld.

ENEMIES WITHIN In a 2015 Safe Streets Task Force report, a collaboration between local police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 30 street gangs were identified as currently active in Buffalo. Some of the newest gangs originate from the refugee community anchored on the city’s West Side. Specific groups known to operate in this vicinity include the Karen Bloods, Tanzanian-Asian Bloods (TANAB), and Karenni 716. Rumors of increasingly organized gangs made up of refugee youth, mostly with Southeast Asian and to a lesser extent East African backgrounds, have circulated in recent years, yet community leaders have had a hard time gathering intelligence on the situation. “We have quite limited information about such gang activities, but we are seeing more and more,” says Ba Zan Lin of the Burmese Community Support Center. “This is something we don’t really see yet with other refugee groups.” Lin sips mint tea in the neglected courtyard at Concerned Ecumenical Ministry as he discusses the recent break-ins. Witnesses have faced intimidation or threats, frightened to come forward with information that could assist ongoing police investigations. “No one actually came out and testified,” he says. “People are just so scared. And why are they so scared? It’s not like Latino gangs or African-American gangs showing up at your doorstep. It’s your own people. They know what you are doing every day. They know where you go, they know where you shop. They are with you in the same community, so it’s really hard. People usually get super antsy. I know that one family was approached by the Attorney General’s Office and was offered protection, but it still didn’t happen.” There is also an important element of Burmese collectivism. In this social framework, the actions of one individual reflects upon the group at large, especially when those actions are shameful. “Usually when you approach Burmese, they are really hesitant to talk about those kind of touchy issues,” says Lin. “It’s very uneasy for us…because there is an identity, our identity—as Burmese, as Karen, as refugees. We don’t want to have bad names. We are protective.”

THE BUILD-UP Upon his immigration from Yangon to Buffalo in 2006, Lin was one of only a couple hundred of his countrymen to call the 716 home. About a year later the first big influx of people with origins from Myanmar arrived straight from refugee camps, mainly those located in Thailand. Burmese identity is by no means monolithic. The first and largest groups to come over consisted almost exclusively of ethnic Burman and Karen. More recently, smaller waves of Karenni, Chin, Rohingya, and other minority groups have arrived here. The fact that the Burmese community and ethnic tribes contained within now constitute the largest refugee diaspora in Western New York, one with a significant presence stretching back over a decade, is a crucial reason for its youth participating in gangs disproportionately compared to other displaced peoples in the area. However, a clearer picture emerges when hearing about the tribulations that the first Burmese arrivals in Buffalo faced. Peering from behind his glasses, Lin recalls the early years of resettlement. New arrivals often received an introduction to the American way of life at the hands of street criminals and mug-

gers. He recalls friends beaten up and robbed of belongings and peers having bikes ripped from their hands in broad daylight. Rumors of youth organizing into self-defense gangs started to percolate soon after, in late 2008. “It was not a sudden thing,” says Lin. After months of intensifying offenses, accounts of crime against refugees came to a trickle. Lin believes this is in part due to the reactionary gangs establishing a sense of rivalry with other neighborhood crews and laying claim to a their own territory. New lines were drawn. “The youth that I know, and my wife knows, suddenly became very territorial,” he says. “One [youth] that I worked with could no longer visit his friends on the West Side safely. He and his family eventually had to move out of Riverside.” In the months and years following, Lin, his wife, and other community members began noticing subtle changes in some Burmese youth. “My wife works at schools and she is seeing a lot of kids coming to school with a whole bunch of money that they shouldn’t have. Hundreds of dollars that they just keep spending like nothing. And we’re talking about sixth- and seventh-graders.” One look at social media postings of suspected Karen Blood members and the imitation of American gang imagery is obvious—sagging jeans, flat-brim caps, red bandanas, and fingers signing allegiances. The spree of home invasions have indicated a diversification of criminal activity, going along with already suspected drug-dealing. “We see groups of youth hanging around the park on Massachusetts dealing things, and with a whole bunch of cash,” Lin says. “This is where other people are stopping by and picking up. And suddenly, out of nowhere, these youth are not having any jobs. Where are they getting money from? Their parents cannot afford any pocket money for them. There is an obvious drug problem.” For now, most of what these gangs do has remained non-violent and largely unrecognized by outsiders, but it only takes time, says Lin. “There is not much about shootings…and I think it’s because we still have limited access to firearms. But who knows when they have access, of course. When they are vying for certain territories, certain markets. It is going to happen eventually. We are not seeing full-blown turf wars yet.”

A GANG EDUCATION Barrett Gordon, a librarian by training who runs the WASH Project’s creative activities, retrieves the children’s paintings, now fully dried. “It’s blind leading the blind assimilation. These kids don’t understand Blood or Crip culture,” he says. “They try to assimilate by faking it until they make it.” He points out that many young Burmese are trying to assimilate in a neighborhood where even many native-born youth have failed to do so for generations. Lafayette and International Prep, the West Side’s two public high schools, have four-year graduation rates of 16 percent and 44 percent, as indicated by the New York State Education Department’s 2014 Report Card. Gangs are well aware of the vulnerability that these schools create, says Lin. “We know that they reach out in school to target youth. There are no formative activities after school, no nourishing environment for youth, and negative elements know this and use this to target youth. Ninety percent of these gangs are youth.” Barrett ushers Zaw’s panting pug inside and heads towards the pool table, where only the eight-ball is left to pocket. The Burmese students around the table are hesitant to discuss the subject of gangs. One teen with pool cue in hand, a recent graduate of the Buffalo Public Schools, mentions that he saw bullying of other Burmese students. “A lot of new kids who don’t speak English get picked on by Puerto Ricans and some

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tained within. Vive, the largest asylum shelter on the northern border, recently had its programing � CHECK IMPORTANT DATES assumed by Jericho Road and is now overseen the West Side have become ground zero for gang by Ireland. A former Peace Corps volunteer, she � CHECK NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE #, � CHECK NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE #, formation not only because of glaring academic has spent the last 13 years immersed in the local WEBSITE & WEBSITE failures, but& also because, in a neighborhood that refugee community. Over that time, Ireland has has become so territorial, this is one of the few � PROOF OK (NO CHANGES) � PROOF OK (NO CHANGES) witnessed a positive evolution of the public’s view places where all groups are guaranteed to conof refugees. The turning point, in her opinion, � PROOF (WITH CHANGES) � PROOF OK (WITH CHANGES) verge. Both of theOK aforementioned schools have occurred in the aftermath of the tragic beating native speakers of more than 40IFlanguages. It is YOU APPROVE ERRORS ARE ON THISboyPROOF, death of aWHICH 10-year-old Somali in 2012THE at the not uncommon for refugee students to report PUBLIC CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE. PLEASE EXAMINE THEdrew AD hands of his refugee step father, a case that Signature bullyingAdvertisers by American-born students. With such Advertisers Signature THOROUGHLY EVEN IFinternational THE AD IS A attention. PICK-UP. “Past reaction was to dea conflation of cultures, the concept of othering port all refugees, but this reaction was to punish ____________________________ ____________________________ is introduced early on; Burmese and other pupils child beaters, not she says. � refugees,” CHECK COPY CONTENT MESSAGE TO ADVERTISER in exile are confronted with the fact that not all Thank you for advertising Date _______________________ Date _______________________ More recent tragedies and hardship of their classmates are inclusive. � CHECK IMPORTANT have DATESconwith THE PUBLIC. Please tinued to galvanize cross-cultural shows of supThe result been the forging of a new your collec-ad and check � CHECK NAME, ADDRESS, Issue:has______________________ Issue: ______________________ review MARIA /Y15W44 MARIA /Y15W46 port. The murder of a 13 year-old Iraqi refugee tive refugee identity. “There is a for unique PHONE #, & WEBSITE anyidentity errors. The original brought hundreds to a memorial at the Delaware Lin says. “It’s always WHICH us versus layout instructions haveGarden in May 2014. And last sumIF YOU APPROVE ERRORS AREsomeON IF YOU APPROVE ERRORS WHICH ARE ON of refugee,” Park Rose � PROOF OK (NO CHANGES) one else. It’s kind of like a 300-year-old trend. beenCANNOT followed closely as an inter-faith and multi-ethnic rally held THIS PROOF, like THE PUBLIC BE as mer, THIS PROOF, THE PUBLIC CANNOT BEWhen immigrants Italians and Polish came, possible. THE PUBLIC offers � PROOF (WITH CHANGES) following the July theft ofOKthousands of dollars HELD RESPONSIBLE. PLEASE EXAMINE THE AD HELD RESPONSIBLE. PLEASE EXAMINE THEthere AD was an othering. And when people get othdesign services with oftwo worth merchandise at the Burmese and Soered, they tend to create a new identity.” THOROUGHLY EVEN IF THEproofs AD IS A PICK-UP. THOROUGHLY EVEN IF THE AD IS A PICK-UP. at no charge. THE owned IT Garden brought a commali refugee PROOFschism MAY ONLY BE PUBLIC USED FOR is As not responsible THIS PROOF MAY ONLY BE USED FOR The actTHIS of social is a two-way street. plete cross-section of theSignature city to the Grant-LaAdvertisers for anyassumed error if not notified an example, many Burmese PUBLICATION IN THEwrongfully PUBLIC. fayette Block. PUBLICATION IN THE PUBLIC. within 24 of receipt. ____________________________ in the beginning that the perpetrators of hours the Lin, who was on hand for this latest vigil, agrees Theonly production burglaries were African American, later to department with Ireland. is actually more welcomDate: _______________________ must have a signed proof in “Buffalo realize that the guilty were their own. ing than other places, because there is a vested order to print. Please sign CY / Y15W49 Through this continued sociological separation, he says. of the city are dilapiIssue:“Parts _______________________ and fax this back interest,” or approve an unlikely gang alliance between Burmese and dated. You now see the progress on Grant Street by responding to this email. Somali gangs has emerged, leading to the creand the population is increasing for the first time ation of TANAB. As children grow up together There is serious impact THIS PROOF MAY ONLYinBEdecades. USED FOR PUBLICATION IN economic THE PUBLIC. in the same fractured schools, facing the same and interests.” challenges of integration, exclusion, and learnAccording to a 2014 report by the University at ing a new language, this impromptu fellowship Buffalo Regional Institute, 28 percent of resiis further cemented. George Orwell writes in his dents on the western portion of Buffalo have innovel, Burmese Days, “There is nothing like an comes below the federal poverty line, more than earthquake for drawing people together.” The double the rates of Erie County and the United mutually experienced upheaval of being stripped States as a whole. In the Designated Refugee Reof one’s citizenship, one’s roots, unites more than settlement Area that is the 14213 zip code, the skin color or ethnicity divides. area with the highest concentration of refugees, this rate is almost 44 percent. �

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In the 2002 movie Gangs of New York, the historically inspired anti-hero, Bill “The Butcher” Cutting, leader of an anti-immigrant gang known as the “Natives,” leads his followers against perceived foreign encroachment on that city’s Five Points neighborhood. Just as Burmese youth gangs formed gangs in reaction to aggression against their own soon after arrival, those straight off the boat in New York Harbor also organized, most notably the Irish Dead Rabbits. Fast-forward to the present, where Buffalo News message board comments and presidential campaign rhetoric disturbingly suggest that nativism is on the rise and the spirit of Butcher Bill lives on, creating conflict that will only perpetuate othering and give ethnic gangs further fodder for existence. However, anonymous Internet bigotry aside, the consensus among local service providers is that Buffalo is not headed for a return to the world depicted in Martin Scorsese’s film. According to Dr. Anna Ireland, chief program officer at Jericho Road Community Health Center, nativist sentiment has actually receded in recent years as many immigrant and refugees have made momentous contributions to the city’s revitalization. At Ireland’s office at Vive La Casa on Wyoming Avenue on Buffalo’s East Side, one is greeted by the ruins of the adjacent St. Matthew’s Church and its fractured sandstone façade. Inside the former school building next door, hardwood floors creak as a mosaic of asylum seekers queue in the musky waiting room with garbage bags in tow, the sum total of their possessions con-

And each year, 1,500 refugees on average settle in the region, and vacant store fronts are becoming increasingly rare along the Grant Street corridor. With the alignment of economic interests turning refugees into the “It” group, others on the social periphery express frustration at what they consider a further marginalization. The pushback that Lin and other refugees have experienced seems to come most notably from the West Side’s African-American and Hispanic communities. The University at Buffalo report indicates that 44 percent of black residents and 50 percent of Hispanics on the West Side live in poverty. The poverty level for a growing Hispanic population is double that for Hispanics in the country as a whole and the highest of any ethnic group west of Main Street. Compare this to 2030 percent of immigrants and refugees considered impoverished. Anywhere you get a concentration of poverty, competition for resources is likely to follow. For Ireland, the biggest factor in the creation of refugee gangs are the economics of the West Side. “Anywhere you have a group of people subjected to poverty, you will get a gang,” Ireland says. Lin feels a loss of hope in many African-American and Latino citizens that is not present in the hearts and minds of his own people. “There is a misconception that newcomers are getting all the benefits. Established minority groups say, ‘We are also having a lot of issues. Why no help? Why is everyone talking about the Burmese, Nepali, Somali in the news? Why is no one focusing on African-American communities on the

LOCAL NEWS pared the Karen and other Burmese for the ambiguity of their life here. Unlike the local Iraqi contingent, who in large part come from an urban intellectual tradition and include doctors, lawyers, engineers, and teachers among their ranks, years of monotonous camp life have robbed the Burmese of much of their social capital.

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The primary point of concern is the uncertainty surrounding the public school system, especially as Lafayette remains slated for closure. “I hate to say it, but the Buffalo Public Schools are breeding too many undesirable products. The next-generation dropout rate is increasing,” Lin says. It is against this backdrop that the Burmese community is trying to make a shift from underclass to mainstream citizens. Ba Zan Lin of the Burmese Community Support Center. PHOTO BY PARTNERSHIP FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD

East Side?’ There is definitely a spotlight on one group and not another.” Lin admits that there is insufficient grassroots support for the Hispanic population in particular. “A lot of the nonprofits that have sprung up have a special focus on refugee communities.”

CARRYING THE CAMPS WITH THEM The 14213 zip code that stretches from Kleinhans to the Scajaquada is the second most diverse in the entire state. Foreign-born inhabitants make up almost 25 percent of the population in this tract alone and can be heard speaking more than 70 languages. Yet its residents live in relative harmony compared to the world that the Burmese left behind, one that must be looked at in order to understand the unconscious appeal of gangs. Myanmar is home to 135 officially recognized ethnic groups, many of whom have been at war since the country’s 1949 independence in the world’s longest-running civil conflict. It is no surprise then that even Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has referred to her country as a “basket case.” The legacy of this perpetual state of war has resulted in more than 400,000 refugees, up to 662,400 internally displaced people, and an estimated 1.45 million stateless persons. Along the 1,118-mile Thai-Burma border alone, upward of 140,000 mostly Karen refugees are housed in nine official camps. Lin is convinced that this lawless borderland purgatory so many escaped has left indelible impressions on Burmese youth in their formative years. “Usually in each refugee camp there are kind of like two administrations. One is like the official camp officials. The second is kind of like an organized gang that actually runs things— from trafficking, human and other, to drug dealing, and labor,” explains Lin. “They grew up with that and it would have affected them significantly,” referring to the many Burmese people who have only ever known this version of Thailand prior to making a new home in Buffalo. On paper, non-governmental organizations under the auspices of the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) help provide food, shelter, and education, while the Thai military provides protection. However, due to lack of commitment to fight and even implicit collusion with paramilitary groups and organized crime, security forces and officials on both sides of the border have limited control of a zone that is the world’s second-largest producer of opium. For the many Burmese, especially the Karen and Karenni who made it to Buffalo after years of limbo in Thailand, entire generations have never known their homeland or the rule of law.

MAKING A NEW HOME For the Karen refugees who actually have lived on their ancestral lands in the mountainous region along the Irrawaddy delta in southeastern Myanmar, their existence was marked by subsistence living in an often unforgiving environment. Besides the government forces they have been at war with for 60 years, they battled monsoon rains and flooding. In passing conversation, any number of Karen proudly refer to themselves as “jungle people”; the term is perhaps deemed insensitive by our own correctness, but to them indicates resiliency. As self-described taw thar, directly translated as “sons of the forest,” their peasant past and later life on the run has pre-

After living in the suburbs for the past seven years, Lin and his wife are preparing to move into a new home in the Grant-Ferry area and plant deeper West Side roots. With the opportunities afforded to him, Lin recognizes that he lives in a different circle than most of his folks. “I drink Community Beer Works beer. I go to Resurgence,” he says. Only a select few in his community have access to high-quality education and a middle-class way of life. As he pursues his PhD at the University at Buffalo in education policy, Lin will be a vital resource in what amounts to rebuilding a society from scratch. While it is easy to be cynical, Lin sees great potential in the refugee community as a whole and in the city that he regards as on its way to be the next Seattle. It is easy to forget that many Burmese youth are the first in their families to receive any universal education, even if the system is still failing them. The Burmese experience in Buffalo is a case study in progress. Through his environmental education background, part of Lin’s expertise lies in human interaction not only with geography but with each other. To ameliorate intercultural tension, the Burmese and their refugee contemporaries cannot continue to exist in self-isolation but must break bread with their neighbors on the West Side and city at large, he says. With the guarded optimism of a future politician, Lin is already seeing progress on this front. “At a community leadership level, especially in the African-American community recently, I am seeing significant interest in us. We still don’t have much connection to the Latino community. We haven’t had a chance to collaborate with them at all. I am hopeful this will change.” At the end of the day, the Burmese must make the most of the village on which they have already left their mark. “We cannot afford to move. Think about Grant Street. This is where we get centered around,” Lin says. Even leaving behind the West Side for the Elmwood Village would be financial difficult and result in de facto exile— separation from the Asian markets, churches, temples, and a way of life. While dryers set to tumble meld their sounds with those of the street to create a symphony, above Zaw Win hangs a t-shirt with the words “Rainbow Bridge Motel” screened on its white front. He is eager to explain that this is the title of a movie filmed locally, in which he makes an appearance. Cradling his dog in his arms, Zaw prepares to those gathered in his shop. The gangs and break-ins have convinced him that the refugee community needs a greater stake in neighborhood law enforcement efforts. The long-term goal is to see the Buffalo Police Department hire its first Burmese-speaking officers. In the shorter term, Zaw advocates for the creation of a volunteer force made up of refugee community members themselves. His hope is that these community officers and active members of the force can learn from each other, sharing criminal intelligence, not to mention providing language skills in the hope of rebuilding trust. Such a unit, in the mind of Zaw, could respond quicker to incidents on the West Side and also play a special truancy role by ensuring youth drawn to gangs remain in school. A man of quiet demeanor, his closing words reveal the dissident fire within him. “In our country we fought for freedom,” Zaw says. “Now we have freedom and democracy, but not safety. We need P to fight for safety here.”

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ARTS REVIEW

Stitch in Time, an altered book by Jozef Bajus.

OPEN BOOK The work of Jozef Bajus and Olga Bajusova at WNYBAC BY PATRICIA PENDLETON THE INSTALLATION ON VIEW at the Western New York Book

Arts Center has been curated by Elisabeth Samuels to highlight the underlying connection between the work of married artists who began their journey as students in Slovakia. Now a member of the faculty in the fibers/design program at Buffalo State College, Jozef Bajus is also an award-winning fiber and mixed media artist with long history of exhibitions in the United States and abroad. Olga Bajusova (1954-2012) had an equally engaging art career in illustration, printmaking, and film. She contributed work to numerous Slovakian children’s magazines and published books. Both artists have shown their work at Samuel’s Indigo Gallery on Allen Street in Buffalo. She points out in her exhibition statement that each artist has a gift for poetic clarity in their ability to translate and transform. While his work is “physical, tactile, conceptual… adept at rescuing and revisioning,” her “distilling narrative captures the essence of text into visual form.”

IN GALLERIES NOW = ART OPENING 640 Gallery (640 Ridge Road, Lackawanna, NY 14218, 716-823-5124): Search for Sanctuary, paintings by Jeff Freier on view through Dec 21. Mon-Fri 10am-4pm. 1045 Elmwood Gallery for the Arts (1045 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14222, 716-228-1855, photographics2. com/store/welcome-to-our-studio-1045-gallery-store): Southwest Six, New Mexico-inspired show with work from Karen Foegen, Eileen Graetz, Carole Kauber, JoAnn Mileham, Susan M. Miller, and Maria Thompson. On view through Dec 31. Thu & Fri 1-5pm, Sat 114pm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery (1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14222, 882-8700, albrightknox.org): Eija-Liisa Ahtila: Ecologies of Drama, moving image installations on view through Jan 3 2016, Looking at Tomorrow: Light and Language from The Panza Collection, 1967–1990 on view through Feb 7, 2016. Tue-Sun 10am-5pm, open late First Fridays until 10pm. Art Dialogue Gallery (5 Linwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14209, wnyag.com): Very Buffalo, a selection of photographs by Len Kagelmacher. Tue-Fri 11am-5pm, Sat 11am-3pm. Artists Group Gallery (Western New York Artists Group) (1 Linwood Ave, Buffalo, NY 14209, 716-885-2251, wnyag. com): 21st Annual Artful Gifts—The Fine Art of Giving (and Collecting). Tue-Fri 11am-5pm, Sat 11am-3pm. Benjaman Gallery (419 Elmwood Avenue Buffalo, NY 14222, thebenjamangallery.com): Man of Extremes: A Survey of the Work of Wes Olmsted. Salon 3: An Exhibition of Everything: Over 150 Unique Works of Art from $50 — $900. Works by Bruce Adams, Charles Burchfield, Robert Blair, Virginia Cuthbert, Augustina Droze, A.J. Fries, Richard Huntington, Alexander O. Levy, Bill Maggio, George Renouard, Charles Rohrbach, Amos Sangster, Martha Visser’t Hooft, and more. On view through Dec 19. Thu-Sat 11am-5pm. Big Orbit (30d Essex Street, Buffalo, NY 14222, cepagallery.org/about-big-orbit): Appetites/Anxieties: multi-disciplinary installation by Liz Lessner. Fri-Sun 126pm. BT&C Gallery (1250 Niagara Street, Buffalo, NY 14213,

Shown here are Bajusova’s illustrations made for Slovakian children’s magazines, Vcieka, Zornicka, and Slniecko. She uses traditional materials (paint and ink on paper) to conjure a whimsical world of universal truths—art made to encourage young minds to imagine and open their understanding of the world. Pictures from early reading experiences often stay with a person through adulthood. Without comprehending a word of text, the illustrated objects of childhood tell stories—buses and bicycles, animals and fish, butterflies, houses, and numbers. Expressive scenes suggest heartfelt familiarity. A woman whispers (a secret?) into the ear of another. A family looks down with pleasure at a platter of baked fish on a table set for dinner. Children and their pets frolic in the snow. The artist’s depiction of the known world stirs a yearning for it. Further down the gallery wall, books open to reveal mysteries— experiments of folding, carving, tearing, and piercing. Bajus favors unwanted materials, such as old hardbacks in pristine condition with richly colored bindings. His altered books rest gracefully on a shelf—others are hung to cast shadows on the wall below. The intimacy of scale mirrors the quiet introspective reading experience. In this case, the words on the two-dimensional page are no longer carriers of information. Instead, they function as visual elements in the manipulated multi-dimensional paper sculpture. The interior reading process of thought is transformed into a physical presence of pattern, texture, light, and shadow. Bajus has preserved the original found-book titles as the names for his most recent works—curious titles, such as The Dirty Secrets Club, Heist Society, and The Ruins. Bajus says about this work: “Transforming books is great fun for me and behind every piece is a lot of planning. I love exploring new ways of cutting, drilling or tearing prior to a final very precise folding. Chance is part of my artwork, very often with a surprising outcome.” I am reminded of the instruction from Jasper Johns to “take something and do something to it and do something else to

604-6183, btandcgallery.com): Features, paintings by Julian Montague. Fri 12-5pm or by appointment. ¡Buen Vivir! (148 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, 14201 buenvivirgallery.org): The End of the Game–The Last Word from Paradise Revisited; photos by Orin Langelle. TueFri 1-4pm, Fri 6-8pm, Sat 1-3 pm. Buffalo Artspace Gallery (1219 Main Street, Buffalo, NY, 14209): Let Me Show You What I Saw, 25-year retrospective of Elizabeth Spiro-Carman. Sat & Sun 12-4pm. Buffalo Arts Studio (Tri Main Building 5th Floor, 2496 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14214, 833-4450, buffaloartsstudio.org): BAS Annual Resident Artists Exhibit and Sale, on view through Jan 8, 2016. Tue-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 10am-2pm, Fourth Fridays till 8pm Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens (2655 South Park Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14218, 827-1584, buffalogardens. com): Mon-Sun 10am-5pm. Buffalo & Erie County Central Library (1 Lafayette Square, Buffalo, NY 14203, 858-8900, buffalolib.org): Milestones on Science: Books That Shook the World! 35 rare books from the history of science, on second floor. Mon-Sat 8:30am-6:00pm, Sun 12-5pm. Burchfield Penney Art Center (1300 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14222, 878-6011, burchfieldpenney.org): Squeaky Wheel: 30th Anniversary Exhibition, on view through Jan 24, 2016. Through These Gates: Buffalo’s First African American Architect, John E. Brent, on view through Mar 27, 2016. Mystic North: Burchfield, Sibelius & Nature and Fluidity In Form: Selections From The Dean Spong Collection, The Artist’s Legacy, on view through Dec 4; Inquisitive Lens: Richard Kegler/ P22 Type Foundry: Charles E. Burchfield (The Font Project), on view through Jan 10; Body Norms, selections from the Spong collection; Artists Seen: photographs of contemporary artists by David Moog; Charles E. Burchfield’s Gardenville Studio. Tue, Wed, Fri (Second Fridays until 8pm), Sat 10am-5pm & Sun 1-5pm. Admission $5-$10, children 10 and under free. Burchfield Nature and Art Center (2001 Union Road, West Seneca, NY 14224, 677-4843, burchfieldnac.org): Photography Contest Exhibit, on view through Dec 27. MonFri 10-4pm, Sun 1-4pm, see site for upcoming classes. Café Taza (100 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14201): One of a Kind, emerging artists from Autism Services, satelite exhibition to Albright-Knox. Canisius College Andrew L. Bouwhuis Library (Canisius Col-

10 THE PUBLIC / DECEMBER 9 - 15, 2015 / DAILYPUBLIC.COM

Illustration by Olga Bajusova.

TRANSLATION: THE WORK OF JOZEF BAJUS & OLGA BAJUSOVA WESTERN NEW YORK BOOK ARTS CENTER 468 WASHINGTON ST, BUFFALO / WNYBOOKARTS.ORG

it.” This is the artist’s task—devotion to inquisitiveness leads to a creative life and work. Whether working with industrial materials to create his grander installations or common paper of these more intimate works, Bajus draws upon the basic methods of a fiber artist—cut, tie, twist, weave, join—to discover evermore possibilities. Bajusova worked with the tools and techniques of a painter. The translation artistry of each is infused with a spirit of playfulness that I can only imagine has been a great joy for their children. Translation remains on view through December 12 in the gallery at Western New York Book Arts Center at 468 Washington Street, P open Wednesday through Saturday, noon-6pm.

lege 2001 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14208, 888-8412, library.canisius.edu): MISHAP contained, work by Sarah Zak. On view through Nov 27. Castellani Art Museum (5795 Lewiston Road, Niagara University, NY 14109, 286-8200, castellaniartmuseum.org): Highlights: The Castellani Collection, through January 17, 2016. Tue-Sat 11am-5pm, Sun 1-5pm. CEPA (617 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14203, 856-2717, cepagallery.org) Fire and Ice: photogrpahs by Alan Friedman and Douglas Levere. Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat 124pm. The Neil and Barbara Chur Family Gallery (Roycroft Power House, 31 South Grove Street, East Aurora, NY 14052): Clufffalo: Autumn 2015, Charles Clough. One painting, painted on by 59 participants in 27 sessions and completed by Clough. On view through December 31. Collect Art Now (Virtual gallery, collectartnow.com): Featured artist: Craig LaRotunda. Dana Tillou Fine Arts (417 Franklin Street, Buffalo, NY 14202, 716-854-5285, danatilloufinearts.com): The Old and the New: 180 Years of Painting and the Arts. WedFri 10:30am-5pm, Sat 10:30am-4pm. Dolce Valvo Art Center (NCCC 3111 Saunders Settlement Road, Sanborn, NY 14132, 614-5975): Student Art Exhibition 12:30-2pm. On view through Dec 12. Tue, Thu 125pm, Fri 12-3pm, Sat 12-4. El Buen Amigo (114 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14201, 885-6343, elbuenamigo.org): Hispanic Christian folk art exhibit. Mon-Sat 11am-7pm, Sun 11am-5pm. Enjoy the Journey Art Gallery (1168 Orchard Park Road, West Seneca, NY 14224, 675-0204, etjgallery.com): Reflective Life, work by Danielle Heyden. Opening reception Fri Dec 11, 7-9pm. On view through Jan 2. Tue & Wed 11-6pm, Thu & Fri 2-6pm, Sat 11-4pm. Hallwalls (341 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14202, 854-1694, hallwalls.org): Amid/In WNY Part 5 with work from Laura Borneman, Mickey Harmon, Kyla Kegler, Pat Kewley, Mark Lavatelli, Julian Montague, Eileen Pleasure, J. Tim Raymond, Peter Sowiski, and Marissa Tirone. Tue-Fri 11am-6pm, Sat 11am-2pm, Closed on Sundays & Mondays. Hi-Temp (79 Perry Street, Buffalo, NY 14203, 852-5656, 10am-4pm Mon-Fri, call for appointment): Group show with work by Nick Sardynski, Andrew Rafanowicz, Steve Siegel, Richard Christian, Chris Main, Andy Rus-

sel, George Gilham, Eric Johnson, George V. Miller, Nate Hodge, Todd Lesmeister, Norma Joy, John Schweikhard, Brittany Rose, and Jonathan Rogers. Indigo Art Gallery (47 Allen Street, Buffalo, NY 14202, 984-9572, indigoartbuffalo.com): Flux, recent work by Colleen Toledano. Wed & Fri 12-6pm, Thu 12-7pm, Sat 123pm, and by appointment Sundays and Mondays. iPrintfromHome Gallery (2630 Elmwood Avenue, Kenmore, NY 14217, (800) 736-8652, iprintfromhome. com): Recordamos a los Muertos, Porque los Vivos son tan Olvidable (We Remember the Dead, Because the Living are so Uninteresting); wheat paste and paintings by Christopher C. Galley. On view through Dec 5. Karpeles Manuscript Library (North Hall) (220 North St., Buffalo, NY 14201): Robert Fulton and the United States Navy, on view through Dec 31. Tue-Sun 11am-4pm. Karpeles Manuscript Museum (Porter Hall) (453 Porter Ave, Buffalo, NY 14201): Maps of the United States. TueSun 11am-4pm. Lockside Art Center (21 Main Street, Lockport, NY 14094, 478-0239, locksideartcenter.com): Group exhibition from members of the Niagara Arts Guild. Fri-Sun 124pm and by appointment. Manuel Barreto Furniture (430 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14202, 867-8937, manuelbarreto.com): Paintings by Alixandra Martin. On view through Dec 18. Market Street Art Studios (247 Market Street, Lockport, NY 14094, 478-0248, marketstreetstudios.com): Holiday art sale. Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 11am-4pm. Meibohm Fine Arts (478 Main Street, East Aurora, NY 14052, 652-0940, meibohmfinearts.com): Etchings and Paintings, George Renouard. On view through Dec 31. Tue-Sat 9:30am-5:30pm. MJ Peterson Buffalo Office (431 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14202): Annual art show with work by Scotty Bye, William Cooper, Ramon Dennis, Fotini Galas, Mark Hussien, Jeffrey Livingston, Glenn E. Murray, Kiersten Minnick, Sally Januale Treanor. Opening reception Fri Dec 4, 6-9pm. On view through Jan 1. MUNDO IMAGES Gallery (Tri-Main Center, 2495 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14214, Suite #255 Lobby): Colors From My Gypsy Soul, watercolors by Fritz Raiser. TueFri, 11:00am-4:30pm. Native American Museum of Art at Smokin’ Joe’s (2293 Saunders Settlement Road, Sanborn, NY 14123, 2619251) Open year round and free. Exhibits Iroquois artists work. 7am-9pm.

REVIEW ARTS

MILESTONES OF SCIENCE Books that shook the world at the Central Library

MILESTONES OF SCIENCE: BOOKS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD

BY JACK FORAN BACK IN THE 1930S, Chauncey Hamlin, the mainstay backer of the Buffalo Museum of Science, acquired for the museum an original edition of the book that launched modern science and the modern world, mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus’s De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, on the heliocentric theory, published in 1543, the year Copernicus died.

The acquisition launched Hamlin’s project to amass for the museum the best collection of original edition historical science books anywhere. He arguably did it. In the 1990s, the full collection was purchased by the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, where the cream of the collection is currently on view in a marvelous display on the second floor of the downtown library. (Where there used to be library books, until Chris Collins became county executive and cut allocations to the library and other cultural institutions to the bone and beyond, ostensibly for fiscal responsibility reasons, but also no doubt just Republican animus against cultural institutions in general. People who read books and go to the theater are not likely voters for Chris Collins or Republicans in general.) The first book in the exhibit—each book is in a separate podium vitrine—is the Copernicus, open to Latin text and Copernicus’s illustration of the supposed circular orbits of the known six planets, and outer circle of supposed fixed stars. And right next to it, the book that made so much trouble for Galileo, proclaiming essentially the same idea—the heliocentric theory—almost a hundred years later. His Dialogo dei Massimi Sistemi, published in 1632. Why the problem for Galileo? The vernacular language for one thing. Italian, not Latin. Latin the language of scholars, who all—just about all—by Galileo’s time knew the heliocentric theory was correct, just didn’t know how it comported with the Bible. Italian the language of everybody else, for whom the heliocentric theory was a little scandalous as well as seriously

Niagara Arts and Cultural Center (1201 Pine Avenue, Niagara Falls, NY 14301, 282-7530, thenacc.org): Artists and friends exhibit featuring Violet Gordon. Opening reception Dec 5, 6-8pm. Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat & Sun 124pm. Nina Freudenheim Gallery (140 North Street, Buffalo, NY 14201, 882-5777, ninafreudenheimgallery.com): Kyle Butler, Joan Linder, and Michael Stefura. Opening reception Fri, Dec 11, 6-8 pm. On view through Jan 21. Tue-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat & Mon open by appointment only, and closed on Sundays. Pausa Art House (19 Wadsworth Street, Buffalo, NY 14201, 697-9069 pausaarthouse.com): Butterfly Effect, works by Chuck Tingley. On view through Dec 19. See website for events and hours. The Phoenix (269 Amherst Street, Buffalo NY 14207, 4471100 thephoenixbuffalo.com): Café Series, by Mary Begley. Wed-Sat 5pm-10pm. Prism (MyBuffaloPride, 224 Allen Street, Buffalo, NY 14201): The Amoore Project, works by Ari Moore. Thu & Fri 4-8pm, Sat & Sun 3-7pm. Queen City Gallery (617 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14203, 868-8183, queencitygallery.tripod.com): Neil Mahar, David Pierro, Candace Keegan, John Farallo, Chris McGee,Tim Raymond, Eileen Pleasure, Eric Evinczik, Barbara Crocker, Thomas Bittner, Joshua Nickerson, Susan Redenbach, Barbara Lynch Johnt, Kristopher Whatever, Michael Mulley. Tue-Fri 11am-4pm and by appointment.

BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY, CENTRAL BRANCH, 1 LAFAYETTE SQUARE, BUFFALO / BUFFALOLIB.ORG

counter-intuitive. The vernacular language and Galileo’s somewhat pugnacious general attitude. The spokesman for the Aristotelian/ Ptolemaic (versus heliocentric) system is a character named Simplicius, translatable as Simpleton.

Leonardo da Vinci, who lived from 1452 to 1519 and did everything except publish, is represented by an 1883 volume of snippets of his drawings and handwritten related Italian text from his notebooks on right-hand pages, English translations on the left-hand pages.

Whereas Copernicus wrote not just in Latin, but an abstruse, formidably mathematical version of it. Though it also helped Copernicus avoid contention over his theory—or at least personal involvement in any contention—such as dogged Galileo for his last decade or so—by dying the year his book was published. Or maybe waiting until he saw the grim reaper on the near horizon before publishing.

Among other notables, Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, Jakob Bernoulli, Vesalius, Mendel, Mendeleyev, Madame Curie, Georges Cuvier, and Anton Van Leeuwenhoek. And not just all Europeans. Ben Franklin is included. His book Experiments and Observations on Electricity, 1769.

The vernacular versus Latin matter is another modern world marker. Phase two modern world. Galileo’s book—of the volumes on exhibit—was the first in the vernacular. The next, French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes’s Discours de la Méthode, 1637. Next after that, Irishman Robert Boyle’s The Skeptical Chymist, 1661. But the regular practice of the time remained to write science books— scholarly books—in the language of Cicero and Caesar. The latest date Latin volume in the exhibit is Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus’ Species Plantarum, 1753. The only non-science book—book portion in this case—is a single page from a Gutenberg Bible, the first moveable type printed book, black letter, about 1450. The ancient Greeks are represented by Renaissance editions of their works in Latin. Aristotle, Hippocrates, Galen, Ptolemy. In recollection of Rembrandt’s famous depiction of Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer, next to the Aristotle podium—his volume De Animalibus—for contemplation, is a bust of Aristotle.

River Gallery and Gifts (83 Webster Street, North Tonawanda, NY 14051) Buffalo-Niagara Art Association—Fall Exhibition. Wed-Fri 11am-4pm, Sat 11am- 5pm. Sports Focus Physical Therapy (531 Virginia Street, Buffalo, NY, 14202, 332-4838, sportsfocuspt.com): Prints by Jane Marinsky. On view through Feb 28. Mon-Fri 9am5pm. Spot Coffee (1406 Hertel Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14216): Celebrate Buffalo, paintings by Stephen Coppola. On view through Jan 2016. Squeaky Wheel (617 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14203, squeaky.org): STILL/Moving: Works from the Gerald Mead Collection. Work from Cory Arcangel, Colin Beatty, Sylvie Belanger, Michael Bosworth, Lawrence Brose, Diane Bush, Max Collins, Allan D’Arcangelo, Jax Deluca, Marion Faller, Hollis Frampton, Courtney Grim, Tom Holt, Deborah Jack, Cletus Johnson, Douglas Kirkland, Jody LaFond, Barbara Lattanzi,Robert Longo, Esther Neisen, Jonathan Rogers, Cindy Sherman, and Craig Smith. On view through Jan 9, 2016. Tue-Sat 12-5pm. Stangler Fine Art (6429 West Quaker Street, Orchard Park, NY 14127, 870-1129, stanglerart.com): Open holiday exhibition with work from Karen Carlton, Joan Fitzerald, Joyce Hill, Bryan Hopkins, Anita Johnson, Fran Noonan, Beth Pedersen, Joseph Porreca, Kathleen Sherin, Lisa Schreiner, Ilania Stangler and Christopher Stangler. Opening reception Sat Dec 12. On view through Jan 1, 2016. Wed-Fri 12-5pm Sat 11-3pm

Copious illustrations throughout. Most of the volumes are opened to illustrated pages. Line drawings and engravings and in some cases woodcuts, sometimes in color. As in German physician and botanist Leonhart Fuchs’ De Historia Stirparum, a catalog of medicinal plants, 1542, notable for its more than five hundred detailed colored woodcut plant illustrations by various German artists of the time. But nothing among the illustrations more beautiful than a superb miniature and facing page spectacular gold leaf boxed initial letter on dark blue background with faint floral tracery in the Galen volume, Opera, 1490. Essentially medieval art. The science books collection was once slated for Christie’s auction by the cash-strapped Science Museum, but following considerable community protest of that idea, a deal was worked out with the library, which traded an incomplete edition of John James Audubon’s Birds of America—the library had and has another, complete edition of the Audubon masterwork—for the science books. The museum then auctioned off the incomplete Audubon to bolster its coffers. There’s still time to catch this exhibit. It runs until September 2017. P

Studio Hart (65 Allen Street, Buffalo, NY 14202, 5368337, studiohart.com): 2015 TOY STORE Invitational Exhibit, work by Bruce Adams, Bob Collignon, Linda Collignon, Cynnie Gaasch, Barbara Hart, Ani Hoover, Billy Huggins, Candace Keegan, Bethany Krull, Amy Luraschi, Ruth McCarthy, Gerald Mead, Esther Neisen, Deborah Petronio, Joe Radoccia, Elizabeth Switzer, Richard Tomasello. On view through Dec 24. Tue-Fri 11:30am-3:30pm, Sat 12-4pm. Sugar City (1239 Niagara Street, Buffalo, NY 14213, buffalosugarcity.org): Through the Looking Glass—The Third Dimension, paintings by Yegor Mikushkin. Open every Fri 5:30-7:30, during all events, and by appointment. TGW@497 Gallery (497 Franklin Street, Buffalo, NY 14202, 981-9415): Work by Jane Bergenn, Joan Fitzgerald, Patti Harris, Marie Hassett, Joyce Hill, Catherine O’Neill, Julie Lewitzky, Richard Rockford, Carol Case Siracuse, Ann Steivater, Russell Ram, Sally Treanor, and David Vitrano. Wed-Fri 12-5pm, Sat 12-3pm. UB Anderson Gallery (1 Martha Jackson Place, Buffalo, NY 14214, 829-3754, ubartgalleries.org): A Tribute to David K. Anderson, Cravens World: The Human Aesthetic, on view through Dec 31, 2016. Wed-Sat 11am-5pm, Sun 1-5pm. UB Art Gallery (Center for the Arts, North Campus, Amherst, NY 645-6913, ubartgalleries.org): Splitting Light, work from Shiva Aliabadi, Anna Betbeze, Amanda Browder, Erin Curtis, Gabriel Dawe, Sam Falls, Nathan

Green, John Knuth, David Benjamin Sherry, and Hap Tivey. On view through Jan 10, 2016. Re:res: Contemporary Interpretations of the Cravens World Collection; work from Skylar Borgstrom, Caitlin Cass, AJ Fries, Kristine Mifsud, Carl Spartz, Marc Tomko, Kurt Treeby, and Necole Zayatz. On view through Dec 12. Tue-Fri 11am-5pm, Sat 1-5pm. UB Libraries Poetry and Rare Book Room (420 Capen Hall, Amherst, NY 14260, (716) 645-2918, library.buffalo. edu/specialcollections): Artifact, works from the UB Libraries Special Collections, on view through Jan 15. Mon-Fri 9am-4pm. Villa Maria College Paul William Beltz Family Art Gallery (240 Pine Ridge Terrace, Cheektowaga, NY 14225, 961-1833): Animation and Fashion Design & Merchandising Program student exhibit, on view through Dec 11. Mon-Fri 8am-8pm, Sat 10am -5pm. Western New York Book Arts Center (468 Washington Street, Buffalo, NY 14203, 438-1430, wnybookarts. org): Translation: The work of Jozef Bajus and Olga Bajusova, guest curated by Elisabeth Samuels on view through Dec 12. Wed-Sat 12-6pm. Wrafterbuilt Furniture (119 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14201, 913-5313, wrafterbuilt.com): Drawings and sketches by Jaime Schmidt.

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’LEARY SOUDANT’s Weeping Wall was unveiled in the atrium of 500 Seneca on December 3. The work was commissioned by Savarino Properties and Frontier Development, and fabricated by Rigidized Metals. DAILYPUBLIC.COM / DECEMBER 9 - 15, 2015 / THE PUBLIC 13

EVENTS CALENDAR ment, and the Saturday Night Live Band. The band’s leader, Jane Getter, is known for her work with the SNL band as well as jazz greates like Brother Jack McDuff. Her band includes Adam Holzman, Alex Skolnick, Stu Hamm, and John Mader, who all have their own list of impressive credentials. The Jane Getter Premonition comes to Nietzsche’s on Thursday, December 10 with support from Grayo. -CP

PUBLIC APPROVED

Get the Led Out

PRESENTS

8pm Town Ballroom, 681 Main St. $24-$26 [ROCK] Swanky and gleaming, while simultaneously eloquent, folksy, and breathtakingly enchanting, the recorded music of Led Zeppelin has become the 1970s archetype for classic rock. More than a tribute band, Get the Led Out aims to capture the spirit of Zeppelin’s repertoire and bring those rich and bold sounds to the live stage. From the layered instrumentals to skintight musicianship, the six-piece band pays honorable tribute. Catch Get the Led Out at the Town Ballroom on Thursday, December 10. -KP

ON THE MENU

FRIDAY DEC 11 Roswell Tree of Hope Lighting

4:30pm Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Elm & Carlton Streets [HOLIDAY] Almost 75,000 lights will have their chance to shine on Friday, December 11 for the Roswell Tree of Hope Lighting at Kaminski Park. Each year, this tree is lit up as a symbol of hope for those affected by cancer. Bring the family and enjoy live music, a brilliant light show, face painting, refreshments, and much more. RSVP online for this event. -CORINNE MCCARTHY

BIG DITCH & LAKE EFFECT MAKE ICE CREAM BEER FLOATS bigditchbrewing.com, lakeeffecticecream.com

Just this week, Big Ditch Brewing Company (55 E. Huron St.) announced the release of their seasonal Vanilla Oatmeal Stout. This in itself would be great news as we are big fans of the majority of their beers, but it gets better. They also announced they are pairing their stout with Lake Effect Ice Cream to make beer floats. You need one in your life.

Flatsitter: Clinical Trials

PHOTO BY MARINA CHAVEZ

SLEATER-KINNEY THURSDAY DEC 10 8PM / ASBURY HALL, 341 DELAWARE AVE. / $28

POLISH VILLA 2 JOINS THE FOOD TRUCK SCENE 1085 Harlem Rd. Cheektowaga, polishvilla2.com

We were saddened to hear that Betty Crockski owners Dana and Kate were walking away from their food truck, but we have good news for locals who want their Polish food in the mobile form. The owners of Polish Villa 2, a classic Polish restaurant that's recently undergone improvements, have announced they are opening their own food truck in the coming months.

[PUNK] You’ll probably start seeing Sleater-Kinney’s latest record, No Cities to Love, popping up on various year-end best-of lists this week. After nearly a decade-long hiatus, the band’s longtime lineup—founding members Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein on guitars and vocals, and drummer Janet Weiss—reunited just as suddenly as they had disbanded in 2006 with the announcement of a new record and the release of a new single, “Bury Our Friends.” The resulting full-length, released by Sub Pop Records in January, is a record that is as much defined by its reinvigorated angular punk sounds as Tucker and Brownstein’s radical lyrics, which remain a signature of the band. The power trio doesn’t betray their legacy in the least on No Cities to Love—a lurking fear among fans of any influential band; quite the opposite, it builds upon and advances the hungry, feminist punk ideals that fans appreciated on records like Dig Me Out, cleaning up without sanitizing, and maturing without losing relevance. Sleater-Kinney comes to Babeville’s Asbury Hall on Thursday, December 10 with support from Waxahatchee—presented by Dan Smalls Presents. -CORY PERLA

THURSDAY DEC 10 Pablo Francisco 8pm Helium Comedy Club, 30 Mississippi St. $20-$33

NEW YORK BEER PROJECT OPENS, BEER IS COMING SOON

[COMEDY] Pablo Francisco takes the comedy stage armed with creative jokes and tons of energy. His standup is paved with erratic outbursts, from his spastic dubstep sounds—which he calls “the devil’s music”—to silly pop culture impersonations. He is a favorite on the comedy club circuit, and has released two Comedy Central Specials, Ouch! and They Put It Out There. Catch Pablo Francisco at Helium Comedy Club on Thursday, December 10 through Saturday, December 12. -KP

nybeerproject.com

The next time you find yourself in Lockport, make sure to stop by the newly opened New York Beer Project (6933 S. Transit Rd.). Trust me, you won't miss it. It's the gigantic brick building with gorgeous lighting and a large crowd of people on the inside. The menu includes mainly pub food classics as well as a bunch of local beers. According to their Facebook page, they just started making their first batches, so expect to see some NYBP beer soon.

BUFFALOEATS.ORG 14 THE PUBLIC / DECEMBER 9 - 15, 2015 / DAILYPUBLIC.COM

Balkun Brothers 8pm Buffalo Iron Works, 49 Illinois St. $5-$7 [ROCK] Hailing from Hartford, Connecticut, the Balkun Brothers (Nick and Steve) carry a torch for American blues that dips its toes into psychedlia, with forays into modern rock and funk. It’s an amalgam of core rock-and-roll ingredients that keeps the duo moving forward without losing a shred of reverence for the past, as they’ll surely demonstrate at Buffalo Iron Works on Thursday, December 10. -CJT

Jane Getter Premonition 9pm Nietzsche'S, 248 Allen St. $10 [ROCK] If you don’t recognize the names of some of these musicians, you’d certainly recognize the names of the musicians and bands they’ve played with—which include Miles Davis, Ozzy Osborne, Steve Miller, Joe Satriani, Testa-

5pm Box Gallery, 667 Main Street [ART] Performance duo Flatsitter (Jax Deluca and Kyle Marler) are launching a month-long, one-on-one virtual reality experience this Friday. If you've never gone under the Occulus Rift headset with Flatsitter at the controls, there's hardly words to describe the experience beyond breathtaking and immersive. It's a powerful tool and it's in the hands of able artists who will collaborate at everY step of these "clinical trials": with guided meditation from poet Noah Falck, lighting design by Carlie and John Rickus, a "bubble spa sculpture" by Frank Napolski, and "biofeedback medical systems" by Volker Einsfeld. The so-called trials are experiments of a sort as Marler and Deluca build notes on their planned 2016 "Theta" tour they are describing as a "traveling meditiation spa." Appointments are strongly recommended and can be made at trials.flatsitter.com through January 3. It'll be 15 minutes you'll think about for a long time. -AARON LOWINGER

Banda Manix 8pm Pausa Art House, 19 Wadsworth St. $5-$7 [JAZZ] It’s been a mild December so far, but if you still need some warming up, head over to Pausa Art House on Friday, December 11. The jazz club will host Jon Nelson’s latest project, Banda Manix, inspired by the bandas of southern Mexico. The ensemble will touch on salsa as well as other music from Latin America, and even some popular rock and funk from the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Herbie Hancock. -CP

Pass the Soy Nog, Smash the State #8 7pm Sugar City, 1239 Niagara St. $6, $5 with 3 cans of food [PUNK] We’re not sure if this is actually the eighth annual event, or if it’s just a great rhyme. Either way, we’re sure you’ll have a great time, because punk rock at Sugar City is always fine. It’ll be quite divine, with the Scajaquada Creeps heading the line. The Utah Jazz don’t play ball, but they’re sure to enthrall, and Brooklyn’s Death Vacation can really do it all. You’ll love Jamie and the Debt and Gun Candy too; snacks will be provided, along with a soy nog brew. The bands start at 8pm, so don’t be late! And bring cans of food three for a buck off the entry fee! -THE PUBLIC STAFF

CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

CALENDAR EVENTS PUBLIC APPROVED

TODD BARRY FRIDAY DEC 11 8PM / TRALF MUSIC HALL, 622 MAIN ST. / $20-$25 [COMEDY] Comedian Todd Barry deftly pinpoints the most interesting pieces of considerably uninteresting topics. Frequent flyer miles. Hotel arrangements. A Swedish woman’s usage of the word “boundaryless.” Barry’s low-key tone and mock boastfulness make him an ideal captain for sailing the seas of the mundane, making his act anything but boring. But Barry doesn’t even need material to operate a hilarious show. His The Crowd Work Tour special (produced by Louie CK) follows Barry through seven cities. Now available on Netflix, The Crowd Work Tour showcases Barry’s ability to drop the material and begin to roll on anyone or anything in the building. Barry’s heady, free-flowing questionnaires and commentary build a healthy nervousness that locks the audience in attention. Audiences can expect a dose of crowd work and well-crafted comedy when Barry returns to Buffalo for the first time since 2011 with a performance at The Tralf set for Friday, December 11 at 8pm. Tweet him your recommendations for chicken wings and coffee shops at @toddbarry. You are sometimes referred to as a "comic’s comic.” Is that a term you welcome? I’m happy to be called a “comic’s comic,” because I know that I’m not just a “comic’s comic.” I mean, sometimes it applies to people where it’s really like, “You’ve got to be a comic to get this guy,” or comics get this guy unproportionally over civilians. But I love when I go on the road and a bunch of comics on the scene come over after their open mic nights. I think it’s great. I like when comics like me. What is your take on big-name comics like Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock showing their displeasure with current college audiences for being too politically correct? I never watched that Seinfeld interview, but from what I’ve heard, I do know what he’s talking about. There are times where you can just say a word, and people will chill up because they are afraid. They are afraid like, “Oh, I don’t know if I can laugh at this.” I don’t do a lot of colleges, so I haven’t really had a problem with that. For me, colleges are more challenging because I’m just too old. Sometimes I just feel like they’ve never bought a CD or record or paid rent with money they earned. There are just things that they aren’t thinking about, because they are 19, and I’m…older than that. I always think it’s great when a comic can get me laughing at something that I can’t really defend. Patrice O’Neal, Dave Attell, [they] say things that, if you just wrote them up on a blog, you could probably make them seem like “mean guys.” But in the context of a comedy show, it’s entertaining and people enjoy it. You retain a commanding presence on stage with your standup act, yet you must relent to influences outside of yourself when interviewing a subject for The Todd Barry Podcast, in terms of pacing and where the conversation goes. What has it been like hosting conversations rather than your own calculated standup material? Yeah, I prefer that actually. I’ll write a few notes, because there are times where I felt like I’ve hit a dead zone and I wish I had more notes, but I look up a few things and try to get [an interesting conversation going]. And I know most of the people on the podcast. The vast majority I actually know and they are actual friends of mine. So, I do a little research but I always want to take it in the direction where I don’t know where it’s going. I had Janeane Garofalo on and somehow she mentioned eating Cheez-Its, which was good, just because not alot of people are going to talk to Janeane Garofalo about eating Cheez-Its. You are a serial tweeter. How do you know if something your working on belongs in your routine or if it simply merits a tweet? I just go, "Would I say that on stage?" And if the answer’s no, then it could be a tweet. Your Twitter account is full of critiques and observations about coffeehouses and restaurants. What are your thoughts on Buffalo’s famous food staple, the chicken wing? I do love wings, and I’ll probably get some when I’m there. I always feel weird asking people while I’m there where I should get them, because they are just so ready for that question, and they don’t want to hear it. One of your most memorable film roles was opposite Mickey Rourke in 2008’s The Wrestler. The movie ended with Rouke’s character, the ailing Randy “The Ram” Robinson, leaping off the top rope to either his ultimate doom or another wrestling victory. What do you think happened to Randy? There were people who got kind of mad that it was a cliffhanger, and I thought, "What difference does it make at that point?" I just remember some people feeling cheated, and it was like, do you really need to see him in the hospital flatlining or whatever? Do you need to see him die? I felt like at that point it didn’t really matter, because he was at that age he had his health problems. -KIP DOYLE DAILYPUBLIC.COM / DECEMBER 9 - 15, 2015 / THE PUBLIC 15

EVENTS CALENDAR

STAY IN THE

THIS WEEK'S AGENDA FRIDAY DECEMBER 11

BUFFALO GAY MEN’S CHORUS PRESENTS “BELIEVE” 8PM at Riviera Theater, 67 Webster St, N. Tonawanda

The chorus kicks off its holiday concert series with traditional songs of the season. Additional performances: 8pm on Saturday, December 12 at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 1080 Main St. and 3pm on Sunday, December 13 at Unitarian Universalist Church, 695 Elmwood Ave. Tickets are $20, available at buffalogaymenschorus.org and at the door.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 12 BUFFALO GAY BINGO 7PM at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 724 Delaware Ave.

A fabulous time for everyone, but not your grandparents’ Bingo. Doors open at 6pm. Games start at 7pm. Optional reservation tickets are available at 5pm in the church parking lot. This month’s theme: Snow Queen/Let It Go. Discounted game packets that include all games but Tic-Tac-Toe are $20. Admission is $5.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14

Scope & Figure

PUBLIC APPROVED

8pm Mohawk Place, 47 E Mohawk St. $5 [INDIE] Rochester’s Scope & Figure finish out the year with a Buffalo date before going on hiatus to finish a new record to follow this year’s "Exemplary Sports Magic" EP. The addictive four-song quickie is a perfect introduction to the band’s core musical spirit, which takes sunshiny bursts of psychedelic pop and tweaks them with frayed punk edges. The results are hyper and scrappy in all the best ways. The closer, “Calm Me Down,” slows the pace, but the guitar work is “exemplary magic” indeed. Friday, December 11 at Mohawk Place with locals Dreambeaches, Sonny Baker, and Mr. Boneless. -JC

Difficult Night 9pm Nietzsche's, 248 Allen St. $5 [INDIE] Songwriter and guitarist Shane Meyer has been making music with bassist Damian Weber for over a decade, putting a sense of familiarity at the core Difficult Night, rounded out by drummer David Hooper and keyboardist Miles Kirsch. The results speak to lost values and dissatisfaction, giving credence to the band name. But the melancholy is tempered with moments of shimmering melody, which Kirsch further augments with his artfully placed flourishes. Friday, December 11 at Nietzsche’s with Roger Bryan & the Orphans, Welks Mice, and the Patterns. -CJT

DARWIN DEEZ FRIDAY DEC 11 7:30PM / STUDIO AT THE WAITING ROOM, 334 DELAWARE AVE. / $12-$14

SATURDAY DEC 12 Tommyrotter Holiday Pop Up Shop

12pm Tommyrotter Distillery, 500 Seneca St, Ste 110, free [HOLIDAY] After the success of Tommyrotter Distillery‘s Small Business Saturday event, which hosted a slew of DIY vendors, the distillery located in Larkinville decided to do it again. This time they’ll feature only one vendor, Rust Belt Threads—an Etsy-based vintage shop that sells everything from vintage sweaters and dresses to stylish shoes and neat trinkets. However, when Rust Belt Threads brings their collection to Tommyrotter, the focus will be on vintage drinkware (and RBT has a great selection—once even selling some items for use on the television show Mad Men). Public Espresso will also be on hand to keep you caffeinated. This Saturday, December 12. -CP

[INDIE] Darwin Deez is that gangly, doe-eyed friend who alternates between calling you “buddy” and “pal”—the one who wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to build a couch fort to this day, yet suddenly busts out some obscure technical expertise in the midst of a zombie apocalypse scenario. He whips out a soldering kit, tinkers with the rust-enveloped radio transistor that he fished from a dumpster, restores it, and basically saves all of our lives. While this is a fanciful fabrication, it’s true that the indie-pop of Deez unfolds similarly. On the surface, his most recent LP, Double Down, is lighthearted and even innocent in a transparent sort of way, but don’t mistake this quality as a sign of fluff sentiments. The album retains a sense of purity throughout its course, but not without catching you off-guard with its deft melody acrobatics and startlingly clever and introspective lyrics. The single, “Kill Your Attitude,” for instance, is at once contagiously playful while directly confronting the darker emotional substance of a relationship gone awry. He sings “When your batteries died, don’t come untied.” With the support of a three-piece band, Deez carries his brand of tender optimism to the realm of live performances, garnering a division of fans who adamantly insist his live shows outshine the studio recordings. Are their opinions justified? This Friday, December 11 is an opportunity to confirm for yourself as he takes the stage at the Studio at the Waiting Room. -JEANNETTE CHIN

PUBLIC APPROVED

SATURDAY DECEMBER 12

DIRTY CAN-CAN SHOW 10PM at Underground, 274 Delaware Ave.

Imperial Court Emperor and Empress 19 Paul "Toy" Smith and Coco LaTique present their annual holiday favorite. Come see your favorite performers and tip them with canned goods and nonperishables. Canned goods will also be available for purchase, and all funds and goods collected benefit the Food Bank of Western New York.

MONDAY DECEMBER 14

JOANNA NEWSOM SUNDAY DEC 13 7PM / ASBURY HALL, 341 DELAWARE AVE. / $30

REMEMBER HAKE-OKE? 9PM at Q, 44 Allen St.

In memory of beloved community member Michael Hake, the bar brings back his trademark night of entertainment for one night only. Request and sing your musical theater favorites with Joe Donohue on the keyboards. Specials on “Black and Blue” (Labatt’s Blue and a shot of Black Velvet), Hake’s signature drink order.

LOOPMAGAZINEBUFFALO.COM

[FOLK] If singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joanna Newsom's career in music were to end now, she’d still have made her mark. Others have done it with much less. With Divers, out in October on Drag City, she’s managed to rein in her peculiarities just enough to make something that resembles pop music without sacrificing anything essential from her beguiling trove of quirks. It’s a collection of chamber-folk tunes with vaguely pop structures that “looks at love from both sides now”—more specifically, before and after marriage (in this case, to actor Andy Samberg). Not nearly as sprawling as 2010’s triple-disc, Have One on Me, and with shorter vignettes than 2006’s Y’s, which featured string arrangements a la Van Dyke Parks, Divers is a work of intense focus that examines the way time and nature conspire to regulate our lives and loves. From the interplay of swooping birds in the opener, “Anecdotes” (“Anecdotes cannot say what Time may do,” she posits, setting a tone of wary uncertainty that permeates the set) to the title track, which looks at life’s outcomes through metaphors about the fate of divers under the water and the impacted sailors and women above, Newsom seems to be calculating the risk of loving deeply in a world where she’s not running the show. The closing song, “Time as a Symptom,” behaves like performance art: The lyric projects a sense of resolution about the time/nature/love conundrum, but our protagonist sounds like she’s still racing to beat the clock, leaving the impression that she’s not entirely convinced her love is safe from the ravages of the natural world. Curiously, the album ends on a fragmented lyric that leads right back into the opener, creating a loophole in time that’s a subtle act of genius. With assistance from Nico Muhly, Noah Georgeson, Steve Albini, and Dirty Projectors’ Dave Longstreth, Divers is awash with the sort of instrumentation that makes you wonder if it was recorded live-to-tape decades ago (clarinet, English horn, bouzouki, recorder, celesta, mellotron, saw), but the truth is that it’s a largely digital construction, five years in the making. Newsom moves between her signature harp and keyboards, vocalizing like a wise-butloony relative that tucks you in with a good story and a bit of booze on her breath. She’ll perform many of her new songs and a few of her older ones in an able quartet at Babeville’s Ashbury Hall on Sunday, December 13 with Alela Diane & Ryan Francesconi opening. -CHRISTOPHER JOHN TREACY

16 THE PUBLIC / DECEMBER 9 - 15, 2015 / DAILYPUBLIC.COM

CALENDAR EVENTS SantaCon Buffalo 1:30pm D’Arcy McGees, 257 Franklin St. [HOLIDAY] Have yourself a merry little…SantaCon? Kick off the holiday season by celebrating in the streets of Buffalo in your most festive garb. All festivities begin at D’Arcy McGees at the corner of Franklin and Chippewa. Register for the “North Pole Stroll” the day of the event or online on the SantaCon Buffalo website. Grab your Santa suit, your elves, and get ready to party. -CM

PUBLIC APPROVED

Kameron Corvet & Angela Johnson 7pm Tralf Music Hall, 622 Main St. $25-$30 [R&B] If you enjoy modern R&B, Corvet and Johnson come to Buffalo on an indie-soul double bill that’s bound to please with their equally gooey vocal stylings and sounds rooted in a classic urban vibe. Louisiana-born Corvet, also a guitarist, now hails from Cincinnati, and he’s done extensive touring (including opening for Adele) while also writing for genre mainstays like Freddie Jackson and Angie Stone. Johnson is that rare neo-soul singer who knows when to hold back rather than going over the top at each and every opportunity, as you can hear on her stellar, unaffected cover of Teena Marie’s Rick James-penned classic, “Deja-Vu.” Saturday, December 12 at the Tralf Music Hall with Zoe Viola. -CJT

Brassband, Dixeland, Americana, & Burlesque 3 9pm Mohawk Place, 47 E Mohawk St. $10 with donation, $12 without [FOLK] Buffalo folk rockers FolkFaces team up again with the Stripteasers, the Fredtown Stompers, and the 12/8 Path Band for another raucous edition of Brassband, Dixeland, Americana, and Burlesque. This is the third edition of the series that mixes live music and dance. Prepare to take some whacky photos at a photo booth run by photographer Brandon Perdomo and also, expect to dance your ass off. Audience participation is expected. A food and clothing drive for Friends of the Night People will be held, so bring your dry food goods, coats and hats. A portion of the proceeds will also go to Friends of the Night People. So dance and feel good about it this Saturday, December 12 at Mohawk Place. -CP

SUNDAY DEC 13 Freezer 5K Run 9am Buffalo Iron Works, 49 Illinois St. free [HOLIDAY] Enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Erie Basin Marina and Buffalo’s Cobblestone District during this chilly Freezer 5K Run. The race starts and finishes at Buffalo Iron Works where runners will enjoy a brisk 3.1 miles around the city. After the race, participants can experience exciting door prizes and an appearance from “The Yeti.” Pre-register for the race online or register day-of. -CM

IMAGINE THE AD THAT WOULD MOST

TRAILER PARK BOYS: DEAR SANTA TOUR TUESDAY DEC 15

CONVINCE YOU TO

8PM / SHEA'S PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, 646 MAIN ST. / $29.50-$54.50

RIGHT HERE.

BUY OUR BEER.

NOW IMAGINE IT

[COMEDY] The Trailer Park Boys are coming to town! Bubbles (Mike Smith) wants to share the true meaning of Christmas with the world, but his warmhearted intentions are sullied when Julian ( John Paul Trembly) decides to corruptly capitalize on the holiday season and Ricky’s (Robb Wells) relentless pursuit of Santa, or “SantaJesusGod.” Further adding to the madness is the inebriated Mr. Lahey ( John Dunsworth) and his cheeseburger-popping sidekick, Randy (Patrick Roach). After nine seasons and two feature films, this plot may seem trite, but their scripted synopsis is merely a loose structure to allow these remarkable comedic actors to improvise and interact with their audience. For those who don’t know, these five gentlemen star in the Canadian series Trailer Park Boys. The mostly improvised mockumentary follows the lives of three trailer/car/shed-dwelling Nova Scotians who can usually be found committing petty crimes or smoking and drinking (or all of the above). Their diet primarily consists of cheap booze, pepperoni, and chicken fingers, and they speak in a vernacular that’s equal parts malapropisms (“supply and command,” “get two birds stoned”) and tremendously creative obscenities (“go f***off in f***ity f*** land”). The Trailer Park Boys: Dear Santa Tour hits up Shea’s Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, December 15. -KELLIE POWELL

NOW STOP UNDERVALUING

YOUR LABOR BECAUSE

YOU SHOULD CHARGE FOR

THAT KIND OF THING.

PUBLIC APPROVED

Classical Music Sundays

3pm Daily Planet Coffee, 1862 Hertel Ave. [CLASSICAL] The Daily Planet Coffee Shop on Hertel Avenue has gotten into the groove, holding regular “Classical Music Sundays.” This Sunday the coffee shop will feature Drew Azzinaro and Ed Croft playing jazz and classical music pieces. -CP

MONDAY DEC 14 Eric Hutchinson 8pm Buffalo Iron Works, 49 Illinois St. $22

[POP] “Let’s tell the world all the things we’ve done/Falling in love and the setting sun,” Eric Hutchinson proclaims in his contagious anthem “Tell the World,” which caught a break for the Maryland-raised singer-songwriter when it was used in the ad campaign for Microsoft Windows 10. The plucky, island-hop exuberance that permeates the song is a fine example of his musical approach, which recalls both Jason Mraz (for whom he’s opened) and Matt Nathanson. Hutchinson’s delivery is refreshingly honest at a time when pop often feels deceptive, and his writing is quick-witted, but things got off to a rocky start: He secured a deal with Madonna’s Maverick label, but the original company shut down before his album was ready, leaving him to release it on his own. (Maverick has since reopened.) Warner picked up his 2008 disc, Sounds Like This, after it made some indie-chart noise, and his profile has remained high ever since. His latest studio set, Pure Fiction, debuted in the Top 10 on iTunes’ overall albums chart when it was released in spring of last year and it continues making waves, landing the boyish 35-year-old the opening slot for Kelly Clarkson’s 2015 summer shed tour. He’s finishing out the year with a series of solo acoustic gigs, which brings him to Buffalo Iron Works on Monday, December 14.-CJT

Mama’s

HOLIDAY

LET THE FIRE BURN WEDNESDAY DEC 16 7PM / BURNING BOOKS, 420 CONNECTICUT ST. [FILM] One of America’s darkest recent chapters that many people have never heard about: In 1985 Philadelphia police dropped a bomb on the home of MOVE, a black liberation group then classified by the city as a terrorist organization. The bomb killed group leader John Africa and 10 others, including five children. When the flames spread to neighboring rowhouses, firefighters on scene were instructed to “let the fire burn”; the conflagration consumed 65 homes and provided the title to this award-winning 2013 documentary about the group and the 1985 incident. It’s a fascinating look at how an upstart political movement based on black liberation, animal rights, and an anti-technology worldview that sought a return to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle clashed with a militaristic, big-city police force. The film presents many ethical questions very much in play today as the country begins anew to confront police violence against people of color. The documentary provides a fascinating—if terrifying—window into the mid-1980s, with archival footage from key players from both sides of conflict and the resulting legal fallout. Burning Books bookstore will P screen Let the Fire Burn next Wednesday, December 16. -AARON LOWINGER

CHEER! D6-1e0c 1p6m music provided by

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DAILYPUBLIC.COM / DECEMBER 9 - 15, 2015 / THE PUBLIC 17

THEATER REMEMBRANCE

THANK YOU, MICHAEL HAKE Remembering a local theater stalwart who died suddenly last week BY ANTHONY CHASE MICHAEL HAKE, POPULAR MUSICIAN, MUSIC DIRECTOR, AND

local theater personality, died suddenly in the early hours of December 3. The community was stunned and saddened by the news. Michael had been a constant presence on the Buffalo theater scene for years, known for his astonishing musicianship, his razor-sharp wit, and the familiar rolling of his eyes when obliged to suffer the foolishness of the world. He was 52 years old. Despite his relative youth, memories of Michael go back a long way in the theater community. He served as music director for innumerable productions. For a time, he produced highly admired musicals with his own production company, Cadenza Productions, including a fondly remembered rendition of Sondheim’s Assassins, which won the Artie Award as Outstanding Musical in 1994. Actor Jeanmarie Lally, who now resides in New York City, played Squeaky Fromme in that production. “Michael was, without a doubt, one of only a very few real musical geniuses I’ve personally met in my life,” says Lally. “He was the first musical director I had in my first professional music job in Buffalo, after receiving my BFA. We did a show called Cabaret Voltaire at the Cabaret, in which he played while I sang ‘Mon Dieu’ as Edith Piaf, while I was smoking and wearing just a black slip. We ran to rave reviews—let’s face it, because of his direction and talent—and spent many a night in Bacchanalia with Bart Mitchell, Erica Wohl, Robby Takac, Johnny Rzeznik, David Kane, Gina Sully, Paula Makar, David Butler, Tony Billoni, and others. We’d lock down the Cabaret and stay most of the night.” “So many other shows came along. We did Baby and then Assassins, and with SummerFare he music directed Into the Woods.” Lally played Cinderella and won an Artie for her efforts in 1992. “I can’t count the number of eye-rolls and huge sighs that went into our solo rehearsals, but it was always because he was pushing me to do better. But I loved him, in that funny way of love and musical

PLAYBILL ANNIE (music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, book by Thomas Meehan): After a gajillion performances over the past 38 years, do you really need a description? Purists will enjoy knowing that this tour (same beloved story, brand new staging) is directed by Martin Charnin, the show’s lyricist, who also staged the original award-winning production on Broadway. Now, everybody sing! “Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow…” And tomorrow starts December 8, continuing through December 13 at Shea’s Performing Arts Center, 646 Main St. (1-800-745-3000); sheas.org. HARVEY (comedy by Mary Chase): The Dowd family are part of a starchy small-town aristocracy. Elwood, the middle-aged scion, upsets the clan with his delusional ways. The delusion is named Harvey and unseen by everybody except Elwood. Harvey and Elwood wreak confusion at home and in town to a point where everyone winds up at the gates of the local insane asylum. Conjecture all you want about sanity, stuffiness, insanity, and love, just sit back and enjoy the laughs in this vintage comedy. Richard Lambert, Tammy Hayes McGovern, David Lundy, Caitlin Coleman, Nicholas Lama, Sharon Strait, Nicholas Lama, Betsy Bittar, Franklin LaVoie, and others appear under the direction of Tom Makar. Fades away on December 20. At New Phoenix Theatre, 31 Johnson Park; (716) 853-1334; newphoenixtheatre.org.

Holiday Fare A CHRISTMAS CAROL (Dickens favorite adapted for the stage by Neal Radice): From “Marley was dead” to “God bless us, everyone,” Alleyway Theatre’s production is a thorough and economic telling of miserly Scrooge’s reformation on Christmas Eve. The Christmas treat is

respect and a shared passion for Sondheim, and a good piano barstyle collaboration. “He’d show up at my door at all hours, drive me mad, not speak to me, and then would, frustratingly, say something so tender I’d melt again. We went round and round over the course of six years, often quietly. I sabotaged many a dating scenario because I couldn’t let Michael go.” Lally also remembers a pre-Internet time when Michael was at the heart of a theater social life centered around an old bar on Main Street called Flynn’s, now gone. Flynn’s was a bar where theater folk from every venue in town would show up every night of the week. Fight with your boyfriend? Go to Flynn’s. Need a check cashed at midnight? Go to Flynn’s. Need a stage management gig? Go to Flynn’s. Many trace the strong sense of community, bordering on family, that characterizes the Buffalo theater community, to that bar. After a show, given a choice to go home or go out, Michael would invariably elect to go out to be among people. “Hake-eoke” was a longstanding event at Q, at which anybody could select a song and step up the microphone to be accompanied by the incomparable Michael Hake. It was designed the recapture some of the fun and social life of Flynn’s. “With Michael’s death,” says Lally, “I think about my old friends and wish I could go back and be with everyone again. Lisa [Ludwig] and Javier [Bustillos], and Moira Keenan, who are not on Facebook, share these memories. [Loraine] O’Donnell and [Kerrykate] Abel know what I am talking about. In the old days, at a time like this, we’d be sitting in Flynn’s, drinking and talking and crying.” The death of Michael Hake has inspired powerful waves of nostalgia.

larded through with holiday song and dance. Besides anchoring Alleyway Theatre for more than 30 years, it is the fifth-longest produced version of Dickens’s novella in the US. Radice also directs David Mitchell, Joyce Stilson, and carolers Stephanie Bax, Melissa Leventhal, Roger VanDette, and David G. Poole. Opening on December 10 and closing on December 20 at Alleyway Theatre, One Curtain Up! Alley; (716) 8522600; alleyway.com. A CHRISTMAS CAROL (solo performance conceived, directed, and starring Mike Randall): A show built around the concept Charles Dickens reading to an audience his most popular manuscript began 170 years or so ago when that entrepreneurial Victorian author did just that, even appearing in Buffalo in 1868. So, who can fault a 21st-century actor for doing the same? Mike Randall is doing so this year as he has for some time now. You might know Randall as this region’s favorite weather broadcaster (as tallied by weatherist.com popularity voting). If you are contemplating a stage experience like Ted Baxter in Waiting for Godot, or Katie Couric as Emily Dickinson in The Belle of Amherst, or Bill O’Reilly in anything, be assuaged. Randall’s portrayal is both is dignified and festive and certainly well worth the ticket. Performances pop up variously around the area and this year can be found on Fri., Dec 11 (7pm) at Epiphany Church, 10893 Sisson Hwy., N. Collins, (716) 337-268; Sat. Dec. 12 (2:30pm & 8pm) Roycroft Pavilion, S. Grove Street, E. Aurora, (716) 687-6727; Sun.;Dec. 13 (3pm & 7pm); New Phoenix Theater; 31 Johnson Park, (716) 8531334; Fri., Dec. 18 (3:30pm), Olean Public Library, 134 N. 2nd St., Olean (716) 372-0200; Sun., Dec. 20 (3pm), Hamburg United MethodistChurch, 116 Union St, Hamburg, (716) 649-8080. A LITTLE HOUSE CHRISTMAS (adapted by James DeVita inspired by the fiction series by Laura Ingalls Wilder): Laura, Ma, Pa, and the neighbors carry through in the manner we have come to love them for. Wonderful

18 THE PUBLIC / DECEMBER 9 - 15, 2015 / DAILYPUBLIC.COM

Actor Lisa Ludwig, managing director of Shakespeare in Delaware Park—who played the witch in that long ago production of Into the Woods (and also won an Artie for her performance)—recalls meeting Michael when she was 16 years old and working at the Grain Mill, a restaurant that had singing waiters. “I remember that I was entering the Miss Erie County pageant and I needed an accompanist,” recounts Ludwig. “Michael agreed to help me out, and then when I arrived to rehearse, he had assembled a six-piece band for me! For free! I said, ‘Michael, I just need somebody to play the piano,’ and he said, ‘Well, you’ve got a band!’ That’s the kind of guy he was.” In recent years, singer Katy Miner had become a particular favorite of Michael’s. He enjoyed her voice and accompanied her at the piano often. Miner acknowledges with bemusement people’s accounts of Michael’s sometimes temperamental nature, opining that health scares and bypass surgery might have helped alter his outlook on life. “Michael had quit smoking and was actually very affirmative and sentimental, especially in recent years,” observes Miner. “He would often find a moment to tell people that he loved them. ‘I love you! I love you dearly!’ He was a very social and loving person.” Over the past year, Miner twice traveled to New York City with Michael. “We went twice over the summer, in June and in August,” she recalls. “The first time he came with accompany me on an audition. I didn’t want to find someone in New York. I wanted someone who could rehearse with me, and coach me. So we took a bus down to the city and back. The audition went really well and we had a lot of fun. I remember hanging out at a café with Michael, and at a restaurant on a West Side pier, out by the water where it was just gorgeous, eating clams and having a couple of beers. Then we bussed back. “The second time was to celebrate the first trip and my birthday,” says Miner. “We saw two shows. He chose Fun Home and I chose Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. We sat in the front row. Everything was Dutch treat. We had a great time. We went to ‘Don’t Tell Mamma’ to listen to the music and talked and laughed. It was wonderful. “I always valued Michael’s opinion of my singing,” says Miner. “Singers don’t actually get a whole lot of useful feedback. Michael could provide a wealth of tips about everything from a tempo, to phrasing, to the interpretation of a lyric. He had a great ear for those little habits singers can get into or the liberties we might take with the music. He was super nitpicky. Sometimes he would ask for my opinion—but not very often.” About Michael’s famously strict process, Miner says, “He might get frustrated, but not generally emotional. He did not like to waste time, and had little patience for pettiness in the rehearsal room. It was an attitude of ‘Look. Let’s get the work done. Here is the goal.’ And then you’d work toward it with Michael. And no matter what they might say, every singer who worked with Michael craved and valued his approval.” Jeanmarie Lally echoes Miner’s observation. “I will never forget Michael and all of the love and madness and mutual admiration— which was sometimes a bit begrudging on his part, now that I think about it. What’s the old poem? ‘Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there, I do not sleep.’ And do you know why that is? It’s because he’s somewhere playing the piano, and drinking, and laughing, and making faces and rolling his eyes while we sing. But I say to myself, ‘God bless and keep you, Michael. And thank you.’ While a more formal service will be planned for the future, there will be a “Remember Hake-eoke” celebration at Q on Allen Street this Monday, December 14 at 9pm, commemorating the life of a P marvelous artist and great friend.

plans go awry but adversity is no match for strong wills and good spirits and everything works out well in the end. Music, dancing, and a familiar group of characters are presented to audiences wrapped up with Christmas trimmings. Larry Smith and, Kim Cote are among the residents of Plum Creek. December 4 through 20 at Allendale Theatre, 203 Allen St, Buffalo; (716) 884-4400; theatreofyouth.org. JOSEPH’S GOSPEL (solo show written by John Dowie): A humble carpenter working in Nazareth tells everything that happened on the way to the manger in Bethlehem. His courtship with Mary, those three kings, and more are all related from Joseph’s POV. This engagement at 710 Theatre is the US premiere of a one-man show, originally known as Jesus, My Boy when it debuted in Britain. Reviewers in Europe, Israel, and Ontario have called it humane and touching. Performing this story is Alan Safier, who has earned his own fans after touring many seasons as George Burns in the solo-show Say Goodnight, Gracie. December 17 through 20 at 710 Main Theatre, 710 Main St.; (1-800-745-3000); sheas. org. THE SANTALAND DIARIES (solo show scripted by Joe Montello, based on the writings of David Sedaris): Bitterly ironic minimum-wage worker takes Christmas gig at Macy’s then lives to kvetch about it. Kevin Kennedy steps into the pointy-toed slippers of an elf named Crumpet for the annual revival of this bile-laced egg nog. Sardonic, Sedaris-style laughter assured. Bring your own cigarettes. Staged by Doug Weyand for Road Less Travelled Productions, premiering December 4 and running through December 13. Extended with two additional performances: Fri. Dec. 18 & Sat Dec. 19, at 7:30pm. At the company’s new home 500 Pearl St.; (716) 629-3069; roadlesstraveledproductions.org. TRAILER PARK BOYS “DEAR SANTA TOUR”: Demanding connoisseurs of red-neck literature and humor will certainly wish to attend this rollicking, yet poignant,

depiction of male friendships in all its bacchanalian wonder. Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles, along with Mr. Lahey and Randy—and an inordinate amount of intoxicants—commence a world crusade on behalf of the true in addition to a pursuit of the real Santa. Fraught with allusion to the great literary quests and quixotic dreams of favorite picaresque characters. This is a one-night-only (December 15) presentation at Shea’s Performing Arts Center, 646 Main St.; (1-800-7453000); sheas.org. UH OH! HERE COMES CHRISTMAS (by Robert Fulghum, Ernest Zulia, and David Caldwell): Robert Fulghum, the guy who stopped learning after kindergarten (or whatever), put together a bunch of stories that were adapted for the stage by Messrs. Zulia and Caldwell. If you find the reindeer games of Christmas commercialism to be frantic, the over-scheduled festivities to be manic, the forced jolliness of the season just too much, you will find sympathy in this show. Of course, this adds another holiday obligation to your calendar. Just bite down on the mistletoe and Santa up to the challenge. Joey Bucheker directs Corey Beiber, Tim Goehrig, Edith Grossman, Mary Moebius, and Michael Starzynski for O’Connell & Company. Opens on November 27 and closes on December 20 at Park School Auditorium, 4625 Harlem Rd. (Snyder); (716) 8480800; oconnellandcompany.com

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Information (title, dates, venue) subject to change based on the presenters’ privilege. Email production P information to: theaterlistings@dailypublic.com

SPOTLIGHT ART

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RIO MANSOUR

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IT’S A FRIDAY NIGHT and a group of about 15 or

20 people are assembled in a wide open room with picture windows overlooking Main Street. They’re there for a night of painting and drinking, but this isn’t your typical paint night; this is a paint night led by Rio Mansour, and Mansour does things a little differently. “My main medium is coffee,” he tells me as we sit in Ashker’s Juice Bar on Elmwood. Each Friday he invites a group to Ashker’s new location at the corner of Main Street and West Ferry (1526 Main Street) for drinks—juice provided by Ashker’s Juice Bar—and painting. Except you won’t find any actual paint here, just double brewed coffee and coffee grounds, which Mansour teaches his students to paint with. This week we talked to Mansour about how exactly he paints with coffee and what inspired him to paint 40 paintings in 10 days. How does one paint with coffee? You have to brew it first and then let it sit for a day. To create shades of coffee, different types, I just mix it with water. The main thing is to use the coffee grounds. The grounds give it the texture and make it easier to control. The longer the pot of coffee sits, the more coffee grounds it collects. In Arabic culture we have our own type of coffee; it’s more like an espresso, and once the cup is done, they have a tradition where they grab the cup and flip it upside down. After a few minutes the cup will stain, and they pick the cup up and start reading what the picture is. It’s like reading tea leaves. Why did you decide to start painting with coffee? I was really influenced by my cousin, Issam Philippe. There aren’t many coffee painters. Going from my culture—I’m Lebanese—and being influenced by my cousin, I just thought it would be so unique and different than using an oil-based paint. It was kind of weird because I picked it up so fast. It’s much harder to paint than with acrylic paint, though. Acrylic is much easier to control. Coffee is much more delicate. It runs on canvas much faster. The less you have on your paintbrush, the easier it is to control. And now you do a weekly paint night where you teach people to paint with coffee. It takes place at Main Street and Ferry, at Angelo Ashker’s new space. He’s the best guy ever. If everyone in the city was an angel like him, this would be the most successful city ever. So we host paint night every Friday. Every Friday it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. A ticket gets you a twohour session, a coffee painting, and Ashker’s juice and hors d’oeuvres. What other styles of painting do you do? I have three different collections. One is the sports-abstract paintings. I also do a lot of splash painting when I use acrylic. I have a collection called “Love Beats Everything.” The main reason I made this collection is because I feel like people are just so carried away in life with beauty. I have a lot of friends who just want to get into relationships, get married, have kids; but all they look for

SPLASH ON CANVAS SPLASHONCANVASART.COM

How did you get into painting? As a kid I was always drawing. I went to Buffalo State and studied fine arts. After college I tried to pursue art as my career, but it was tough. I went on and started a collection business. But I wasn’t happy. I was doing it for the money, not for the love. At the time, I was into playing poker, and I met a gentleman at a casino who said he was going to Chicago for an art show—a convention. He said that it was sold out but I could jump in his booth. It was 10 days away. He said to come with 20 paintings. So I picked up all of my poker chips and ran home. For 10 days I was in my garage all day and night and I knocked out 40 paintings. How did you find the inspiration to create 40 paintings so quickly? Well, I had no job. I was 27 years old; I had to figure out what to do with my life. There were supposed to be 20,000 people at the convention, so that motivated me. I painted everything Chicago. All of the sports teams. There were athletes there signing autographs, so I wanted to make something that people could have signed. There were a thousand booths, people selling art and memorabilia. So I posted up to sell my art, but it didn’t go well. It was a national convention. For three days I didn’t see one person from Chicago. Everyone wanted their hometown team. Finally, on the third day, I sold six pieces. But I was interviewed by a journalist there and he wrote an article about me and a few other artists, which made it all worth it. On the long drive home, I was inspired to start my art business. Which is called Splash on Canvas Art. Tell me about that. This is a custom art business. I do custom art for weddings, kids’ parties, private events for companies. For the wedding gig I provide an abstract splash painting. I create a template based on the couple’s personality and the theme of the wedding. Then I paint a design on the canvas. Once I finish it, I bring it to the wedding. During cocktail hour I present it and all of the guests take a splash bottle and splash the canvas. By the time all of your guests splash, the canvas is done. After cocktail hour, I clean it up a little and I present it during dessert time. So the bride and groom now have something so memorable that they can hang it up on the wall, and it was done by everyone who P was a part of the wedding.

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in the world is beauty. They don’t really look for the heart, so they keep getting their heart broken. Stop looking for the walking mannequin. Start loving for the heart first. Your face, your beauty is bound to change. Your heart stays the same.

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FILM FEATURE

BETTER THAN EVER

Dispon Theatres president Michael Clement.

The purported decline of independent movie theaters is news to Dipson’s Michael Clement BY M. FAUST YOU HEAR A LOT OF TALK about the death of movie theaters, or at least of independent theaters. That’s news to Michael Clement, president of Dipson Theatres, the locally owned independent chain that has operated theaters in Western New York for more than 75 years. Currently Dipson runs the Eastern Hills Mall Cinema, Flix in Lancaster, the second-run McKinley in Hamburg, and the Amherst on Main Street. For the past three decades, Dipson-run theaters have been the primary destinations for fans of independent films. They may be considered niche programming, but it’s a niche that has only grown larger as Hollywood devotes more of its production budget to comic book and fantasy films. If you want to see the movies that will be competing in the Academy Awards in a few months, you will more than likely see them on a Dipson screen. And while the movie business has its ups and downs, Clement says that for Dipson, “Business hasn’t been bad for many years.” He has just finished a major renovation at the Amherst, the most visible aspect of which is motorized reclining seats in all three auditoriums. (The McKinley received the same seating last month.) More importantly, viewing quality is being improved along with comfort. Says Clement, “In the [largest] middle theater, we just installed a new screen. It’s wider and we raised it up higher for a better viewing experience. In January we plan to install bigger screens in the two smaller rooms as well. They’ll be both wider and taller, going wall to wall and up to the ceiling. And we’ll be enlarging the screens at the Eastern Hills at well. “We’ve added other amenities at the Amherst, too: new captioning devices for the deaf, and descriptive devices for the blind, so that someone who can’t see the film can wear a headset and hear a description of the movie along the dialogue. “We keep up with market trends, and bigger screens and luxury seating are things that our customers enjoy. Some people assume

IN CINEMAS NOW BY M. FAUST & GEORGE SAX

PREMIERES OPENING FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11 IN THE HEART OF THE SEA—Moby Dick prequel, more or less. Chris Hemsworth, Tom Holland, and Cillian Murphy. Directed by Ron Howard (Rush). Area theaters MACBETH—Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard as the Thane of Cawdor and his wife in a new film of Shakespeare’s drama. Directed by Justin Kurzel. A review will be posted at dailypublic.com. Amherst

ALTERNATIVE CINEMA A CHRISTMAS WITHOUT SNOW (1980)— Michael Learned as a divorced woman who moves to San Francisco to start a new life and joins a church choir. With John Houseman, James Cromwell, and Valerie Curtin. Directed by John Korty. Fri 7:30pm, Sat-Sun 7 Mon 7:30pm, TueWed 7pm. TJ’s Theatre IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)—Jimmy Stewart gets to see what life for his friends and community would have been like had he never lived in Frank Capra’s holiday classic. Co-starring Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers, Beulah Bondi, Frank Faylen, Ward Bond, Gloria Grahame, H. B. Warner, Frank Albertson, Sheldon Leonard, and Charles Lane. Sat, Tue 7:30pm. Screening Room JINGLE ALL THE WAY (1996)—Arnold Schwarzenegger as a dad desperately searching for a sold-out toy his son wants for Christmas. Sinbad helps. With Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson, Martin Mull, James Belushi, Harvey Korman, and Laraine Newman. Directed by Brian Levant (The Flintstones). Sat-Sun 11:30am. North Park LET THE FIRE BURN (2013)—Contemporary newsreel footage is used to recount the infamous story of the city of Philadelphia’s attack on MOVE, a back-to-nature group holed up in an urban row house that the city firebombed in 1985. Directed by Jason Osder. Wed Dec 16 7pm. Burning Books, 420 Connecticut St. MY OLD LADY—Broke Kevin Kline is thrilled to inherit a Paris apartment, until he finds that current resident, Maggie Smith, is legally entitled to live in it for the rest of her life. With Kristin Scott Thomas and Dominique Pinon. Written and directed by Israel Horovitz. Sun 4pm. Roycroft Film Society, Parkdale School Auditorium, 141 Girard Ave., East Aurora. www.roycroftcampuscorporation.com PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (1959)—Ed Wood’s best remembered film is hardly the “worst movie ever made,” but it is one of the most entertaining bad ones. The fun lies not in the story about aliens intent on destroying Earth but from the cardboard sets, stock footage, and overripe acting from an assortment of Hollywood wannabes (padded out with a few minutes of footage of Bela Lugosi, shot just before his death). Thu 8:15pm. Screening Room SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS (1964)—If Ed Wood had made a holiday movie, it would have looked like this gloriously godawful, no-budget, Christmasploitation turkey. A camp classic even before we realized that the nine-year-old actress playing Martian child

that business is going down because we’ve taken seats out [the recliners are substantially larger than traditional seats], but that’s incorrect. Business goes up because the percentage of occupancy goes up. Our customers are happier coming to the movies when they can sit in these seats, so they will come to the movies more often. And we’ll attract new customers as well.” What can audiences expect to pay for these increased luxuries? Nothing—ticket prices were not raised. It’s a point of pride for Clement: “We only raise prices when we have to because of increased business costs. We’ve always maintained the lowest firstrun ticket prices and concession prices in the area.” Founded by Nikitas Dipson in 1939 and run for many years by his son, the chain was acquired by Bernard Clement in the 1980s after the death of the younger Dipson. Bernard also had theaters in Pittsburgh, where Michael was raised and started working in the family business. “At age six I remember working in my first movie theater cleaning popcorn machines. When my dad moved back to Buffalo, I stayed in Pittsburgh, but I would come visit him on holidays, go to the office, and go for lunch with him and Mr. Dipson. When I graduated college, I went to work for him. He gave me two weeks off first.” Though Dipson has six screens at the Amherst and Eastern Hills for independent films, that’s not always enough to be able to bring everything that’s available to town. But while readers of the New York Times may wonder why all the films opening in Manhattan don’t play here, Clements points out that it’s often not his choice. “If independent films do well in New York and LA, the distributors will take them to the next tier of cities—Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh. If they’re successful there, they’ll continue to roll them out to other cities. But with most of these movies, that doesn’t happen. It’s up to distribution—they own the rights, and if they don’t make them available in your market, it’s impossible for the

Girmar was the one and only Pia Zadora. Best seen at a venue that sells beer and wine. Thu 7pm. Screening Room. Also Sat-Sun 5pm. TJ’s Theatre (free admission with donation of a new unwrapped toy for Operation Santa) WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954)—It’s hasn’t aged terribly well, the mawkishness of the plot is mitigated only by the film’s failure to pay much attention to it, and the title song (first used a dozen years earlier in Holiday Inn) is framed with the reverence of a visit from the Pope. But the urge to wallow in it is undeniable, at least if you’re of a certain age. Starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, and Dean Jagger; look for George Chakiris as a dancer. Directed by Michael Curtiz (Casablanca). Fri 7:30pm. Screening Room A WOMAN REBELS (1936)—Proto-feminist drama starring Katharine Hepburn as an 19th-century Englishwoman determined to make her own way in the world. Co-starring Herbert Marshall, Elizabeth Allan, and Donald Crisp. Directed by Mark Sandrich (Top Hat). Fri 7:30 pm. The Old Chestnut Film Society, Philip Sheridan School, 3200 Elmwood (836-4757)

IN BRIEF

THEATER INFORMATION IS VALID THROUGH THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10 BRIDGE OF SPIES—Steven Spielberg isn’t the most intellectually or aesthetically penetrating director of the last three decades—not nearly—but given good, exploitable material, he can expertly tell a story, and does so here. Tom Hanks stars as James Donovan, a New York lawyer of the 1950s who takes a pro bono case to defend a Russian man accused of spying against the United States. Because of this he is enlisted to negotiate with the Soviets for the release of captured American spy-plane pilot Francis Gary Powers. Scripted by Joel and Ethan Coen with Matt Charman, this is a big, large-spirited movie that relies on small scenes of human interaction. With Mark Rylance, Scott Shepherd, Amy Ryan, and Alan Alda. –GS Four Seasons, Regal Elmwood, Regal Transit BROOKLYN—Saoirse Ronan stars as an Irish girl who emigrates to the United States in 1951, when the economy of her home country was in shambles. Adapted from Colm Tóibín’s 2009 novel by Nick Hornby, Brooklyn is not only an extraordinarily good film; it’s also an important one, arriving as it does at a time when so many people are being forced to leave the lands of their birth and so many normally decent people want to turn them away. Emotionally rendered by an attractive cast and crafted in the best traditions of mainstream filmmaking—it wouldn’t look out of place if you were to see it some evening on Turner Classic Movies—Brooklyn is a captivating and rewarding moviegoing experience, the kind that at best comes along once or twice a year. Co-starring Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson, Jim Broadbent, and Julie Walters. Directed by John Crowley (Closed Circuit). –MF Eastern Hills (Dipson), North Park CREED—Sylvester Stallone finished his long-running Rocky series with Rocky Balboa in 2006, but writer-director Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station) convinced him to let him use the character in a spin-off film focusing on the illegitimate son (Michael B. Jordan) of Apollo Creed. Determined to follow in his father’s footsteps, her persuades the retired Rocky (Stallone moving into the Burgess Meredith part) to coach him. The result is a crowd pleaser that pays affectionate tribute to memorable locations and characters from the Rocky films

20 THE PUBLIC / DECEMBER 9 - 15, 2015 / DAILYPUBLIC.COM

theater owner to show them. It all comes down to marketing and advertising dollars.” While it may seem that younger audiences are only interested in comic book movies, Clement thinks there’s still a strong enough mix to attract viewers of all ages. Looking at the movies he expects to play during the upcoming holidays, he guesses that “Youth, with Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel, that’s definitely going to skew toward an older audience. But then there’s [David O. Russell’s] Joy, with Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, which targeted at all the art and independent theaters, and that will be a younger audience. And The Danish Girl will be a healthy mix.” The bottom line for Clement is that, despite competition from video on demand and streaming and an endless variety of entertainment options, he is in a business that people want. “Going to a movie is still a very social part of our society. It’s the most P affordable form of entertainment, hands down.”

while following a different structure. Coogler also retains Stallone’s sentimentality, and the notes struck by the cast here are honest, even if the challenge faced by his hero feels contrived. With Tessa Thompson and Phylicia Rashad. –Greg Lamberson Flix (Dipson), Maple Ridge, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria CRIMSON PEAK—The first third of Guillermo del Toro’s new movie is set in Buffalo at the turn of the 19th century, when it was the model of up and coming America. He didn’t actually shoot here, making do with some digitally-incorporated photos of local landmarks, but it’s still nice to see the Queen City reflected in its first glory days. Aside from that, Crimson Peak is less of a horror movie than a Victorian melodrama with some CGI ghosts and an absurdly violent finale. As always with del Toro, the production design is spectacular, which does a lot (thought not enough) to distract you from how threadbare the story is. Starring Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam, and Jessica Chastain, who should have been allowed to go the full Dame Judith Anderson with her sinister character. –MF McKinley (Dipson) THE GOOD DINOSAUR—There’s a subversive charm in the way Disney/Pixar’s latest effort inverts stereotypes without explanation—the family of apatosauruses (I checked) runs a farm complete with crops and livestock, and a human cave toddler acts like a dog—but this hero’s journey is a long haul for adults. After young Arlo’s father is killed in typical Disney fashion and a storm casts Arlo far away, he makes a perilous journey home. Sam Elliott won me over as the voice of a grizzled T-Rex cowboy, but the overly familiar plot points are fossils. I preferred “Sanjay’s Super Team,” the preceding short. Directed by Peter Sohn. –Greg Lamberson Flix (Dipson), Maple Ridge, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY—PART 2—Teen dystopian sequel. Starring her, him, the Ozzie, stoner dude, beardo, baldie with a toup, the dead guy, and that chick your dad thinks is hot. Directed by someone, I guess. Bet it’s playing at the mall! INSIDE OUT—A combination of the 1990s sitcom Herman’s Head with Christopher Nolan’s Inception is the best I can do for a brief summary of the new Pixar animation. As apparently the only person in the world who didn’t like it, I don’t expect you to deprive your children of it on my say-so. But I suspect that kids are responding to it for the relentless movement rather than the plot, which is spun out as such a heavy allegory that it collapses under its own weight. It’s as overwrought and out of control as Tomorrowland, but a dazzled audience is often a happy one. With the voices of Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Mindy Kaling, Richard Kind, and the dependably funny Lewis Black. Directed by Pete Docter and Ronaldo Del Carmen. –MF McKinley (Dipson) THE INTERN—Robert De Niro puts little of himself into his enervated performance here as a harmless sweetheart, a quietly avuncular retiree aiding a stressed corporate executive (Anne Hathaway in a tense, ill-conceived performance) through personal and professional difficulties. A comedy with pretentions with social commentary that it doesn’t earn. Nancy Meyers’s soggy, uninventive film is old-fashioned in the worst senses of the word, ditching its odd couple premise to become a sentiment-coated domestic-crisis dramedy built on small, easily-surmounted problem situations. Co-starring Rene Russo and Anders Holm. –GS Four Seasons KRAMPUS—Why did it take so long for someone to make a movie based on the Alpine folklore about St. Nick’s counterpart, the demon who deals with the naughty kids? Maybe because the subject seems impossible to

deal with other than as a flat-out horror movie, which is hardly likely to pull in a big crowd this time of year. Director/co-writer Michael Dougherty tries to mix in comedy by using a feuding family as the object of Krampus’s visit, which works more due to the talents of the adult cast (Adam Scott, Toni Collette, Allison Tolman, David Koechner, and Conchata Ferrell) than anything in the script. It’s admirable that his monsters (Krampus has a krew of debased holiday figures) are masked actors and puppets rather than CGI, but they look awfully low budget. And the ending is a terrible cheat. But there are pleasureable moments along the way for genre fans. –MFFlix (Dipson), Maple Ridge, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria LOVE THE COOPERS—Remember Love, Actually? Writer Steven Rogers (Stepmom) and director Jessie Miller (I Am Sam) obviously did in fashioning this American answer to Richard Curtis’s movie about different people approaching Christmas while dealing with variously comic and dramatic circumstances. But it lacks the British film’s nimbleness, coming off as a bunch of underwritten stories played by a better cast than it deserves: John Goodman, Diane Keaton, Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin, Amanda Seyfried, Marisa Tomei, Ed Helms, Anthony Mackie, and June Squibb. Aurora, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria THE MARTIAN—It makes sense to update science fiction variants on the Robinson Crusoe story every so often to take advantage of both new technology and new knowledge. And the armchair survivalist will be engrossed by at least the first half of this adaptation of Andy Weir’s novel starring Matt Damon as the can-do science guy stuck on Mars. But scripter Drew Goddard, who has given us such logically wobbly films as The Cabin in the Woods and World War Z, is less interested in illustrating Weir’s problem-solving than the more familiar stuff about NASA mounting a rescue operation. The overall result would be more enjoyable on a popcorn level if the first half hadn’t put you in a logical mode that the second half abandons. (The disco music is particularly idiotic—as if a mission to Mars in even the near future couldn’t come equipped with at least as much music as you or I could fit on a thumb drive right now.) With Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Pena, and Sean Bean. Directed by Ridley Scott (Prometheus). -MF Maple Ridge, Regal Elmwood, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria THE NIGHT BEFORE—Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, and Anthony Mackie as childhood friends searching New York City for the ultimate debauched Christmas celebration. A splinter effort from the Judd Apatow comedy school (penis jokes and a James Franco cameo are inevitable), it’s a hodgepodge that evokes the holiday moviegoing spirit by vaguely referencing A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life. The sentimental stuff is pro forma, but some of the comedy is fun, particularly Rogan’s reactions to the drugs his wife gave him as a Christmas present. With Michael Shannon and Lizzy Caplan. Directed by Jonathan Levine (Warm Bodies). -MF Flix (Dipson), Maple Ridge, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria PAWN SACRIFICE—Tobey Maguire lays any memories of wimpy Peter Parker to rest with his intense performance here as chess master Bobby Fischer, whose highly publicized matches with Russian champ Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber) made world headlines in 1972. Channeling James Cagney with a dash of Anthony Perkins, Maguire is the center of an equally fast-paced movie that is over before you have tie to reflect on its substantial flaws. (Chief among them: Was Fischer, a Jew who despised both Jew and “Commies,” merely

IN CINEMAS NOW FILM

LOCAL THEATERS AMHERST THEATRE (DIPSON) 3500 Main St., Buffalo / 834-7655 amherst.dipsontheatres.com AURORA THEATRE 673 Main St., East Aurora / 652-1660 theauroratheatre.com EASTERN HILLS CINEMA (DIPSON) 4545 Transit Rd., / Eastern Hills Mall Williamsville / 632-1080 easternhills.dipsontheatres.com FLIX STADIUM 10 (DIPSON) 4901 Transit Rd., Lancaster / 668-FLIX flix10.dipsontheatres.com FOUR SEASONS CINEMA 6 2429 Military Rd. (behind Big Lots), Niagara Falls / 297-1951 fourseasonscinema.com HALLWALLS 341 Delaware Ave., Buffalo / 854-1694 hallwalls.org HAMBURG PALACE 31 Buffalo St., Hamburg / 649-2295 hamburgpalace.com LOCKPORT PALACE 2 East Ave., Lockport / 438-1130 lockportpalacetheatre.org MAPLE RIDGE 8 (AMC) 4276 Maple Rd., Amherst / 833-9545 amctheatres.com MCKINLEY 6 THEATRES (DIPSON) 3701 McKinley Pkwy. / McKinley Mall Hamburg / 824-3479 mckinley.dipsontheatres.com TJ’S THEATRE 72 North Main St., Angola / 549-4866 newangolatheater.com NORTH PARK THEATRE 1428 Hertel Ave., Buffalo / 836-7411 northparktheatre.org REGAL ELMWOOD CENTER 16 2001 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo / 871–0722 regmovies.com REGAL NIAGARA FALLS STADIUM 12 720 Builders Way, Niagara Falls 236–0146 regmovies.com REGAL QUAKER CROSSING 18 3450 Amelia Dr., Orchard Park / 827–1109 regmovies.com REGAL TRANSIT CENTER 18 Transit and Wehrle, Lancaster / 633–0859 regmovies.com REGAL WALDEN GALLERIA STADIUM 16 One Walden Galleria Dr., Cheektowaga 681-9414 / regmovies.com RIVIERA THEATRE 67 Webster St., North Tonawanda 692-2413 / rivieratheatre.org THE SCREENING ROOM 3131 Sheridan Dr., Amherst / 837-0376 screeningroom.net SQUEAKY WHEEL 712 Main St., / 884-7172 squeaky.org SUNSET DRIVE-IN 9950 Telegraph Rd., Middleport 7357372 / sunset-drivein.com TRANSIT DRIVE-IN 6655 South Transit Rd., Lockport 625-8535 / transitdrivein.com

eccentric or genuinely insane, and was the US government actually responsible for abetting his madness?) With Peter Sarsgaard, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Lily Rabe. Directed by Edward Zwick (Blood Diamond). –MF McKinley (Dipson) THE PEANUTS MOVIE—Charles Schultz’s beloved comic strip characters in a 3D animated feature scripted by his son and grandson. It’s as faithful as can be to the spirt of the original comic strip and TV cartoons, so adults who grew up with Charlie Brown, LInus, Lucy, and Snoopy won’t find a fond childhood memory assaulted. Directed by Steve Martino (Horton Hears a Who). Flix (Dipson), Maple Ridge, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria ROOM—A young woman raises her five-year-old son in small room while trying to hid form him the reality of their situation, that they are being held captive by the man who kidnapped and raped her. A crucial part of the Room’s impressive achievement is to render this situation persuasive as we experience it from the boy’s perspective. Adapted by Irish writer Emma Donoghue from her own novel, it’s a conceit that is easier to pull off in literature than with the objectifying glare of movies, but director Lenny Abrahamson somewhat improbably succeeds in conveying the receptive suggestibility of a small child and his construction of a little world. If the second half, in which the boy discovers the real world, lacks the dramatic urgency of the first it never really loses its focus, thanks largely to the acutely sensitive and sometimes riveting performances of Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay as mother and son. -GS. Eastern Hills (Dipson) SECRET IN THEIR EYES is a remake of the 2010 Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, though changed so much that you may not notice. Shortly after 9/11, three people working on a Los Angeles anti-terrorism unit find their lives disrupted when the teenaged daughter of one is brutally murdered. That part of the story is interwoven with the same people 13 years later, reopening the unsolved case. As the pivotal character, Chiwetel Ejiofor makes good use of his gift for expressive empathy; Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts, by contrast, hold their cards in closer. It’s an unwieldy story with a lot of red herrings and an ending you probably won’t be expecting: You may not find it satisfying, but it’s not boring. With Dean Norris and Alfred Molina. Directed by Billy Ray (Shattered Glass). –MF Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria SPECTRE—The 24th official James Bond movie is a letdown after Skyfall, though still better than any of the Bonds of the 1980s and 1990s. (A low bar, that.) Concluding his term as 007 in a series that essentially rebooted the franchise, Daniel Craig makes his reported unhappiness with the character part of his performance. But the script struggles to weave the previous Craig films into a common storyline, while preparing for a future that will feature bigger roles for team Bond—M (Ralph Fiennes), Q (Ben Whishaw), and Moneypenny (Naomie Harris). With Christoph Waltz as the villain of the piece, Léa Seydoux, Monica Bellucci, and Jesper Christensen. Directed by Sam Mendes (Skyfall). -MF Flix (Dipson), Maple Ridge, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria SPOTLIGHT—One of the very best movies ever made about the working press, a group that can certainly use a little support in the face of the preening entertainment personalities, opinion pushers and bombastic bloggers who have given modern journalism a bad name. Recounting the efforts of an investigative unit at the Boston Globe to uncover decades of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests and the diocese’s cover-up, the film isn’t overburdened by seriousness. Focusing on the team that worked the story, this is a film about people; with an ensemble of performances that work individually and together. It keeps a humane focus even as it generates drama. Starring Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, and Stanley Tucci. Directed by Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent). –GS Amherst (Dipson) SUFFRAGETTE—Docudrama following women working the get the vote in early-20th-century London who turn to civil disobedience after decades of peaceful campaigning get them nowhere. It’s about as accurate as any other historical drama out there these days, but perhaps because there so much more pertinent tension in 2015, this British drama fails to work up audiences the way it ought to; it seems almost quaint that the abused laborers here put so much faith in the vote as a way to improve their lives, especially to audiences who can barely bother to go to the polls at all. Starring Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne-Marie Duff, Meryl Streep, Romola Garai, Ben Whishaw, and Brendan Gleeson. Directed by Sarah Gavron. –MF Amherst (Dipson) TRUMBO—Bryan Cranston is suitably amusing as Dalton Trumbo, the rakish, self-indulgent but courageous screenwriter who wrote some of Hollywood’s greatest scripts even while he was blacklisted in the 1950s. Recounting the history of the “Hollywood Ten.” Jay Roach’s film is only partly successful, self-handicapped by a combination of earnest striving for accuracy and honesty up against some muddled, fact-challenged recreations and too much drab narrative about Trumbo’s family life. With Michael Stuhlbarg as Edward G. Robinson, Helen Mirren as a broad, crude Hedda Hopper, Diane Lane, and Louis CK. –GS Amherst (Dipson), Eastern Hills (Dipson) VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN—This vaguely steampunk version of the man who made a monster unfolds primarily from the perspective of Frankenstein’s assistant Igor (Daniel Radcliffe), whom he rescues from servitude at a circus after recognizing his self-taught medical brilliance. It’s certainly a different take on a much-told story, with James McAvoy a gleefully loony but energetic Dr. F. But it all leads to naught with a perfunctory climax. The amount of violence and gore in this PG13 film is further proof, if any were needed, that the MPPA ratings are utterly worthless. With Andrew Scott and Jessica Brown Findlay. Directed by Paul McGuigan (Gangster No. 1). –MF Flix (Dipson), Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria P

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IF YOU APPROVE ERRORS WHICH ARE ON THIS PROOF, PUBLIC HELD RESPONSIBLE. PLEASE E TheTHE Public intends toCANNOT supportBE local business and THEEVEN WESTSIDE the community as a whole with our cash mob THOROUGHLY IF THE AD ISBAZAAR A PICK-UP. series this holiday season. From Thanksgiving 11/28/15 . 10AM-8PM to Christmas, we encourage you to Advertisers join us andSignature � CHECK COPY CONTENT MESSAGE TO ADVERTISER 25 GRANT ST, BUFFALO support the local businesses outlined to the left. Thank The youWest forSideadvertising with Bazaar is a not-forTHE PUBLIC. Please review your profit international market and food ad and destination check forlocated any on errors. The the West Side. � original layout instructions have been followed as closely as possible. QUEEN CITY MARKET THE PUBLIC offers design services � with two proofs at no charge. THE 12/5/15 . 11AM-5PM PUBLIC is not responsible for any KARPELES MANUSCRIPT error if not notified within 24 hours of LIBRARY 453 PORTER AVE receipt. The production department BUFFALO must have a signed proof in order � Queen City Market an one-stopto print.ThePlease sign andis fax this holiday-shop, featuring 50+ localto back or approve by responding vendors, artists, and food trucks. � this email.

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HORSEFEATHERS 12/12/15 . 10AM-2PM 346 CONNECTICUT ST, BUFFALO

Horsefeathers winter market is a two floor market that hosts local artisans and great spot to sit for a meal.

WNYBAC 12/18/15 . 4PM-6PM 468 WASHINGTON ST, BUFFALO

Western New York Book Arts Center is hosting their 8th annual Last Minute Panic Holiday Sale, filled with unique handmade goods.

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VISIT DAILYPUBLIC.COM FOR MORE FILM LISTINGS & REVIEWS >> DAILYPUBLIC.COM / DECEMBER 9 - 15, 2015 / THE PUBLIC 21

PUBLIC MARKET TO PLACE AN AD CALL (716)856.0737 OR EMAIL CLASSIFIEDS@DAILYPUBLIC.COM / DAILYPUBLIC.COM/CLASSIFIEDS THE PUBLIC’S NOTICE The Public encourages you to use caution while participating in any transactions or acquiring services through our classified section of the newspaper. While we do approve the ads in this section, we do not guarantee the reliability of classified advertisers. If you have questions, email classifieds@dailypublic.com.

APARTMENTS NORTH BUFFALO 3 Bedroom apartment. Off Hertel, near Delaware park and less the 20 minute drive from North Campus. Washer and dryer included as well as 1 spot off street parking, and additional space in basement. $900/mo. e-mail gjgikas@hotmail.com or call 716-9121586 -----------------------------------------------------KLEINHANS AREA Historic Orton Pl., 2 bdrm lwr, appl, lndry, wlk to BPO/Allen Street. Avail Jan 1, 2016. $700 + sec/util. 882-5028 ------------------------------------------------------

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SERVICES LANDSCAPING + FALL CLEANUPS TRIMMING AND MAINTANENCE DESIGN AND PLANTING Call Jordan at Plant Matter 716-249-1519 -----------------------------------------------------LEARN ABOUT MEDITATION Open House every Thursday evening at 7. Free instruction. Shambhala Meditation Group. Find out about us at: buffalo.shambhala.org -----------------------------------------------------FREE LEGAL ADVICE The Free Legal Advice Clinic is free of charge and open to the public. Lawyers will be on hand to discuss issues and give advice on ANY issues you have questions about. Hosted by WNY Council on Occupational Safety and Health (WNY COSH) and PUSH Buffalo. Our Lady of Hope Church corner of Lafayette and Grant. Thursday 11-19 -15 4:30pm to 6:30 pm Any questions call Marshall at WNY COSH @ (716) 833-5416

PHOENIX RISING THERAPEUTIC is looking for a NYS licensed massage therapist to rent a room in a busy practice in the Elmwood Village. Laundry on premise and parking included. Serious therapists inquire only. Please call (716) 551-0970!

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GUY AT MIGHTY TACO We talked a couple times while I was waiting for my order. You seemed really nice. It was around lunch time and pretty busy. Reply with what show we were talking about. Maybe this is lame, but I don’t have a lot of friends. -----------------------------------------------------WE MET IN LINE Monday 1630’ish in OP ,we chatted in line. best conversation I had all day. coffee?. - DARYL

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THE COST OF CLIMATE CHANGE As the Paris talks continue, the world will have to wait patiently as leaders debate the costs of global warming BY ARI GOLDFARB THERE APPEARS TO BE a cautious optimism growing in Paris as the Climate Change conference continues. Reuters reports that more than “150 nations arrived in Paris for the United Nations climate talks,” and that expectations are high due to the increasing global temperatures and rising sea levels brought on by global warming. US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to work together during the Paris international talks to ensure the 21st century strives to be the greenest since the birth of industrialization.

In 2001 the US government made it clear that they believed the short-term economy could not handle a fight against climate change; they opted out of the 1997 Kyoto agreement. The threat of climate change did not frighten our government, nor a majority of the population. Despite many in the scientific community claiming that climate change is one of the greatest threats mankind faces today, many seem more concerned with tangible threats. PEW Research reports that less than half of Americans and Europeans (42 percent) see climate change as a “very serious issue.” The majority of countries that do see climate change as a leading threat to our existence are located in South America (61 percent) and Africa (59 percent). In 2009, under a new administration, our government completely changed its position on the environment. Obama said this in his Copenhagen Climate Council speech six years ago: “As the world’s largest economy and the world’s second largest emitter, America bears our share of responsibility in addressing climate change, and we intend to meet that responsibility. That is why we have renewed our leadership within international climate negotiations, and worked with other nations to phase out fossil fuel subsidies.” Carbon emission in the United States reached its peak, of the past 25 years, in 2005. It has been on the decline since 2008. Since taking office, Obama has laid out a “Clean Power Plan” that would reduce America’s carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent of what they were in 2005. According to the White House, not only will this plan protect American health, “preventing up to 3,600 premature deaths” and “90,000 asthma attacks in children,” but it will also save American families “enough energy to power 30 million homes in 2030” and “save consumers $155 billion from 2020-2030.”

22 THE PUBLIC / DECEMBER 9 - 15, 2015 / DAILYPUBLIC.COM

One might ask why all this matters. As stated earlier, many people do not see climate change as a threat because they feel it is difficult to see without the assistance of charts and graphs. That’s why according to PEW, 68 percent of Americans viewed ISIS as our most serious threat, and 62 percent viewed the Iran nuclear deal just as important. Not only are these two conflicts easier to visualize than global warming, they also one do not need the help of scientists to explain how dangerous they are. It is easier to be apathetic about climate change because it does not have the same emotional pull as terrorists; it is far easier to focus fear on a threat that actually has a body. That is why it’s important to present climate change in a way that can generate a reaction out of the most people: discussing how much it can lighten their pockets. The White House website shows that storms like Superstorm Sandy cost our country $65 billion. Hurricane Isaac was another $23 billion. Wildfires, droughts, and heat waves across the West have cost our economy over $31 billion dollars since 2012. As the Paris talks continue, the world will have to patiently wait and watch as leaders from over 150 countries debate the value of its fate. Passing legislation for short-term solutions will no longer help. Whatever restrictions are created from this council will have to be honored in the fight against climate change. We may not be able to afford paying for the symptoms of neglect much longer. The information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but we do not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete. Any opinions are those of Goldfarb Financial and not necessarily those of RJFS or Raymond James. This material is being provided for information purposes P only and is not a complete description.

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THI

FAMOUS LAST WORDS BACK PAGE

ASSISTED LIVING “FEDORA THE EXPLORER”

QUEEN CITY MARKET

BY KEITH BUCKLEY

2015

PHOTO BY SHAWNA STANLEY

DEAR KEITH: I own an eBay business called Hats Time, which specializes in rare and hard-to-find hats. I was recently contacted by a man who claimed to have a “large collection” of what he claimed to be “mint condition, exceptional hats.” Based on his descriptions and drawings of the hats, I offered him a large sum of money for them. He accepted my offer, so I zapped him off a PayPal payment and eagerly awaited the hats. The man had done nothing to make me suspicious while we were negotiating a price for his collection. He was polite, always got back to me quickly, and had 72 positive feedbacks on eBay. But as soon as I sent the PayPal payment, he dropped off the face of the earth. My emails went unanswered and my calls went straight to voicemail. Even stranger, his voicemail greeting was now what sounded like a little girl speaking very slowly in Spanish. Not being the distrusting type, I kept coming up with various excuses for the guy in my head. Maybe he’d fallen ill. Maybe he’d just given up on moving and couldn’t get to his phone. Maybe he’d become a slowmotion Spanish girl. Maybe he’d become dead. Honestly, I couldn’t have cared less, I just wanted many hats. I tried looking him up on Google and Facebook and even tried calling his name into a nearby cave, but he had become a ghost. After I’d fully exhausted every means at my disposal of finding the guy, I finally contacted PayPal to file a claim. Strangely, within minutes of filing the claim to get my money returned to me, I got a call from an unknown number. Sure enough, it was my guy. While he had no real excuse for any of this, he apologetically assured me that the package was on its way. Finally, after waiting for nearly five weeks, I received a package. My address was scrawled on it in pencil, my name was misspelled, it was covered in $85 worth of Forever stamps, and on the upper left corner of the box it simply had the word “hats” written in lieu of a return address. The huge box was in terrible condition and much heavier than I expected. Upon opening it I found the man had accidentally mailed me a wife. Please help settle an argument between her and me: Does a high-efficiency dishwasher use more water than hand-washing? —JACY CATLIN

This year’s Queen City Market at Karpele’s Manuscript Library on Porter Avenue was alive with tons of holilday cheer! Artists and vendors from across Buffalo came to celebrate the city and give shoppers a chance to support local businesses. –THE PUBLIC STAFF

PHOTOS BY BILLY SANDORA-NASTYN

DEAR JACY: Yeah, I think it does.

HAVE A QUESTION FOR KEITH? ADVICE@DAILYPUBLIC.COM Editor’s note: As front man of Every Time I Die, Keith Buckley has traveled the world gaining insights about the universe. In this biweekly column he’ll use those insights to guide our readers with heartfelt and brutally honest advice. DAILYPUBLIC.COM / DECEMBER 9 - 15, 2015 / THE PUBLIC 23