It seems like just yesterday when Maxwell Truth (a.k.a. comedian Airborne Eddy) and a band of beatnik cohorts got together (in a fictitious black and white coffee house known as the Hungry Ear) to watch films that they found gathering dust in a forgotten vault in the attic of WKBW-TV7. But its actually been 14 years since that fateful Halloween weekend back in 1993. What began as an assault against the glut of infomercials and the void of local late night television programming has become a saving grace for insomniacs, kids who’ve never known B&W TV shows, parents who forgot them and Moms with newborn babies that haven’t been sold on the idea of sleeping through the night. Now all across North America from San Francisco to St. Pete, people tune in to drink hot coffee and watch cool movies due to the independent syndication efforts of this motley mix of ersatz beatniks from Buffalo. “Off Beat Cinema” is now seen in more than 30 markets throughout the US and Canada and broadcast globally on www.offbeatcinema.com. In spite of all this notoriety, Maxwell and his whacked out pals Bird and Zelda (portrayed by Constance McEwen and Tony Billoni) promise to continue showing “the movies that must be shown, the good the bad and the foreign.” Join the cast and crew of “Off Beat Cinema” for an unforgettable anniversary celebration. In addition to having the evening’s festivities taped for broadcast, highlights include musical performances from the “sound of OBC,” David Kane’s Them Jazzbeards, Maxwell Truth himself and Gretchen Schulz and the Morvells. There might be a few other surprises as well.

Canadian singer Ron Hawkins is something for today’s new-millenium listener—he is not only a talented songwriter and lyricist, but also a successful painter and visual artist. He has found success through a number of artistic outlets, and has garnered quite a loyal fan-base along the way. So loyal are his fans, in fact, that his official website (ronhawkins.com) does not include an artist bio, favoring instead an outlet for Hawkins’ followers to write their own biographies for him. This easygoing and free-spirited mindset certainly finds its way into both Hawkins’ paintings and his music. Released earlier this year, Hawkins’ second solo release, titled Chemical Sounds, recalls his early career by fusing blues and rock, with just a tinge of electronica that calls to mind his founding years as the lead singer of the successful Canadian rock group the Lowest of the Low. The influences from his former band mates are undoubtedly evident in his far more evolved and refined latter releases. Hawkins comes to town to perform a mixed acoustic and electric set at the Tralf that is sure to please audiences with his audacious new “chemical sounds.” Buffalo’s own Jeremy Hoyle (who, you may recall, opened for Hootie and the Blowfish in November of 2005) is joining him for what is certain to be an evening of incredible artistry. Hoyle opens the show at 8pm, and Hawkins will start at 9pm sharp.

Environmental author Bill McKibben has been proclaiming the message of global warming in his loudest voice for nearly two decades, only to have it fall on deaf ears. Today, even as our politicians awaken to the scientific truth that the entire planet is at stake, they are too slow to act. It was this sluggishness that prompted McKibben and six graduates of Middlebury College—where McKibben is scholar in residence—to found a movement, Step It Up. The group organized 1,400 simultaneous rallies in all 50 states on April 14, calling for an 80 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050. That goal, once seen as radical and out of reach, gained wide support following the April action. Besides receiving the support of all the leading Democratic presidential candidates, pending legislation in the House and Senate experienced a critical boom of co-sponsorship (HR 1590 has 142 co-sponsors—none of them from WNY—and S. 309 has 19 co-sponsors). Encouraged by that success, Step It Up’s organizers decided to organize another event for this Saturday, exactly one year before we elect our next Commander-in-Chief. Calling for new, proactive leadership, each event is to be held near a site that commemorates great leaders of the past. And that, according to local organizer David Kowalski, is why Buffalo’s rally and march will start at the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site. The march starts at 11am and will proceed south on Delaware to the McKinley monument in Niagara Square. A rally with speakers will follow.

During the tumultuous 1960s, civil rights marches throughout the South were routinely interrupted by acts of violence against African-American protesters by police with clubs, German Shepherds, tear gas and fire-hoses. The cruelty was displayed for the world to see in newspapers and on TV. Where did the marchers find the courage to face such bloody persecution? As the oppressed have often done, they appealed to a higher power. During those times, music performed one of its most noble roles—as a galvanizing tool of faith and social change. The Staples Singers held a prominent place on that soundtrack. Now, forty years down the line, Mavis Staples is touring in support of a great new CD We’ll Never Turn Back (Anti). These uplifting songs shine like diamonds on the slagheap of contemporary popular music. Joining her will be blues harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite, the North Mississippi Allstars, and New Orleans keyboard master Joe Krown—who backed the legendary Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown for a decade until that bluesman’s death in 2005, shortly after evacuating his Louisiana home after Hurricane Katrina. Against the current backdrop of social injustices, it’s sad to realize that gospel songs like “We Shall Not Be Moved” still resonate so urgently, but it’s a godsend that a true master like Staples is here to deliver this soulful and important music to a new generation.