Michael Janairo

Web Analytics

Author: Michael Janairo

  • Tonight: Polar Express rides again

    The Saratoga & North Creek Railway Polar Express Train Ride kicks off its second season in the Capital Region today and runs through Sunday, Jan. 6.
    The Polar Express brings passengers on an approximately one-hour round trip to the North Pole, while characters from the animated movie based on the classic children’s story come to life as the book is read aloud. At the North Pole, Santa Claus comes aboard with dozens of elves and silver bells for the children and the return trip includes Santa meeting each child and caroling with the elves.

    The Polar Express offers four seating options: coach ($20-$30); premium coach ($30-$40); lower dome ($40-$65); and upper dome ($45-$70).

    The train departs at 5:30 and 8 p.m. from the train station at 26 Station Lane in Saratoga Springs. Children are encouraged to wear their pajamas. For more information or to purchase tickets call (877) 726-7245 or visit http://www.saratogapolarexpressride.com

  • Twilight, true love and the potential audience

    [nggallery id=8426]

    With the final installment of Twilight opening Friday in theaters, I have theory. I may be wrong, and I’m open to other points of view, but here goes:

    Girls who grew up reading the books (they were published between 2005-2008) won’t be as into seeing the final movie as younger girls (ones who are still tweens) or older women (such as women in their 20s and 30s and the tween’s  mothers).

    The attraction of the Twilight series is the romance of true love, love that breaks taboos (forget the family squabbles of Romeo and Juliet, in Twilight, she’s just a regular gal, he’s a 104-year-old vampire), love that is full of risks (does she dare let him bite her, and forever change her?) and love that has permanent consequences (if you’re undead forever, that’s one way to make sure the love truly lasts forever).

    But that kind of romantic notion of love, I’d argue, appeals to the tween and  young teen set — call them the pre-heartbreak set — and the older, 20-and 30-somethings and mom-age set (aka, the post-heartbreak set) and not the older teens, who may be somewhere in the middle of their own first romances, filled with the kind of drama and tumult that is so real they don’t need a vampire fairy tale to get in touch with a certain depth of their emotions.

    For the pre-heartbreak set, the film can be an emotional foreshadowing — a way to feel something deep and romantic because they have yet to experience it in their lives. For the post-heartbreak set, the film can be a reminder — a way to feel something deep and romantic that they have have felt once before but that is no longer part of their daily lives.

    Does my theory make sense? What do you think?

  • Blurb fame (or infamy) for Capital Region arts editors

    [nggallery id=8409]

    It’s not everyday that a trailer for a new film comes out with blurbs from not only Metroland’s arts editor Shawn Stone, but also the Times Union arts editor Michael Janairo. The film? It is now called Addicted to Fame, but when it was screened in October of 2011 at the Spectrum 8 Theatres in Albany it was called Craptastic.

    The documentary uses the making of and aftermath of Anna Nicole Smith’s final film, the low-budget sci-fi spoof “Illegal Aliens,” as a kind of cautionary tale about the mindless destructiveness of the media.

    Here’s the trailer for the killer.

    Congrats, Shawn!

  • Photos: Emily Johnson’s work-in-progress ‘Niicugni’

    [nggallery id=8378]

    In what ways are we defined by the place we come from—and what happens to us when we leave that place? Dancer/choreographer Emily Johnson grew up in Alaska, of Yup’ik descent, and her work uses stories and movement to examine concepts of belonging, identity and environment.

    Her new piece, “Niicugni (Listen),” which has a work-in-progress showing at MASS MoCA on Friday, Nov. 16, 2012, explores the cellular connection between people and the land they live on. Performed by Johnson (who now lives in Minneapolis) and dancer Aretha Aoki, “Niicugni” unfolds within an installation of handmade salmon-skin lanterns that Johnson designed to evoke her home and heritage.

    EMILY JOHNSON: “NIICUGNI (LISTEN)”
    Where: MASS MoCA, 87 Marshall St., North Adams, Mass.
    When: 8 p.m. Friday (11/16)
    Tickets: $12
    Info: (413) 662-2111 or http://www.massmoca.org

  • ‘Brunswick’ documentary to air on WMHT

    Nate Simms’ documentary “Brunswick” was first screened for the public nearly a year ago at the Spectrum 8 Theatres in Albany.

    Next week, the Troy native’s work will be given a broader audience when it airs twice on WMHT-TV Ch. 17 at 10 p.m. Monday, Nov. 12. Simms’ previous works include the book “Focus on the Land: Images of Rensselaer County.”

    “Brunswick” is about the tension between development and farming in the Rensselaer County town. It tells the tale of Sanford Bonesteel, a farmer in his 90s, whose lifelong connection to his land is now threatened by small town politics and a planned residential development. Local singer-songwriter Matthew Carefully contributed the musical score.

    To learn more, visit http://www.brunswickfilm.com/brunswickfilm/Brunswick.html or http://www.wmht.org/.

  • Steve Barnes on Stephen Colbert on art and strip clubs


    The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
    Difference Makers – Stephen Dick Jr.
    www.colbertnation.com
    Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

    Here’s the story by Steve Barnes:

    The nearly nude dancer climbed atop me as if I were a jungle gym.
    She tossed her hair and gyrated her hips downward, pressing her buttocks into my lap.
    “Spread your legs wider. Let me get in there,” she said before swinging around and rubbing her chest across my face. When she leaned back, I had breast sweat on my askew glasses. A photo taken by a friend shows a red oval outline on my forehead that could be an injury or giant ringworm. In fact, it is a lip print from the dancer.
    I went to the nude juice bar Nite Moves in Latham at the behest of the Comedy Central show “The Colbert Report,” which was eager to exploit the humorous potential of a tax dispute between the club and New York state. My role in the segment of the show, which aired Thursday night, was to review the dancing from an artistic perspective.
    I seem to have been insufficiently compensatory for my dancer’s services, performed in the club’s main room, because she said, “You need to read up on strip clubs and strippers.” A buddy handed her more cash.
    Although chastised and apparently clueless about tipping nuances, I still recognized that what I’d been watching was art.
    The state Court of Appeals disagrees. In a split decision released Oct. 24, New York’s highest court ruled 4-3 against Nite Moves, which has been arguing that its dancers’ performances are akin to ballet and thus entry fees and payments for lap dances are not subject to sales tax. The club’s outstanding tax bill is about $400,000.

    Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/entertainment/article/Colbert-lap-dances-and-art-4022012.php

  • Williams College Museum of Art appoints deputy director

    Lisa Dorin

    Lisa Dorin has been appointed the new deputy director for curatorial affairs at The Williams College Museum of Art starting March 4.

    An alumna of the Williams graduate art history program and a former assistant curator there, she is currently the associate curator of contemporary art at the Art Institute of Chicago.

    Dorin graduated from the University of California Santa Cruz with a bachelor’s degree in art history and studio art and received her master’s degree from Williams in 1998. She has been associated with the Art Institute of Chicago since 2005, where she was initially hired as the assistant curator of contemporary art. Dorin has extensive experience working with new media and living artists. At the AIC, she curates the acclaimed focus exhibition series that presents emerging artists in solo shows. Recent focus projects have featured artists Monica Bonvicini, Richard Hawkins, Sharon Hayes, and William Pope.L.

    The Williams College Museum of Art, which houses more than 13,000 works of art, is widely considered one of the finest college art museums in the country.

    For more information, go to http://www.williams.edu.

    — Azra Haqqie

  • Nas concert moved to Upstate Concert Hall

    [nggallery id=8294]

    The recent issues surrounding live music at the Washington Avenue Armory in Albany has prompted a venue change for the Nov. 9 Nas concert.

    The concert will now be held at the Upstate Concert Hall, 1208 Route 146, Clifton Park. The show includes special guests Jhene Aiko. Tickets are $30 in advance, $35 day of the show, with doors opening at 8 p.m.

    For more information, visit the Upstate Concert Hall website at http://upstateconcerthall.com/2013/?cat=6

  • ‘Hobbit’ tickets go on sale noon Wednesday, Nov. 7

    [nggallery id=8279]

    “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” doesn’t hit theaters until Dec. 14, but tickets go on sale, online and in theaters at noon Wednesday, Nov. 7.

    “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who joins the Wizard Gandalf and 13 Dwarves, led by the legendary warrior Thorin Oakenshield, on an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug.

    Also going on sale at noon that day are tickets to big screen marathons of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy in its extended cut editions on Dec. 8-9.