All Things Buffalo

2007-01-03T15:19:00.001-05:00

2007-01-03T15:19:00.000-05:00

Word up, yo.

2006-05-16T17:12:00.000-04:00

our new home on. we're on wordpress now!

word up.

thats where we'll be at from now on. cya around

A "Must Read"

2006-05-16T16:33:00.000-04:00

If you love Buffalo and have a strong stomach, I suggest you buy Diana Dillaway's "Power Failure" about the government and business corruption that brought Buffalo from thriving metropolis to the current state it now lives in. It goes into great detail without naming names about why UB's new campus was not built downtown, why the Bills Stadium was built in Orchard Park, and why Buffalo never evolved with the rest of the country-sticking to a manufacturing economy as the rest of America turned towards knowledge-based economies.
Even though a lot of this stuff is easy for most Buffalonians to figure out, to read it is a real wake up call and erases any questions as to why Buffalo has become such a stuggling, impovershed city after once boasting it had the highest per-capita of millionaires in the US.

Buy it, and hope that the remaining chapters in Buffalo's history do not resemble the ones in this book.

Mr. O'Connell-I want the weather, not your emotions

2006-05-16T16:02:00.000-04:00

As much as I love WGRZ's weatherman, Kevin O'Connell he needs to keep his mouth shut a little more often.

After last night's 11pm airing of the emotional story of a woman with cerebral palsy who found purpose in her life after hearing the Goo Goo Dolls' "Better Days" they move on to weather and O'Connell goes into some tangent about how on rainy days like today he likes to listen to this one song by the Carpenters.

He does this way to often. You're very lovable, Mr. O'Connell but just stick to the weather. Kthxbye.

Yeeeeeah, about that...

2006-05-14T14:58:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody,
Its been more than 10 days since my last update which I find embarassing so here's the deal...

1. I just moved into my new place so I've been muy busy with that
2. I had exams and job app stuffs so I've been muy busy with that
3. And almost every story in Buffalo is covered by everyone else so I don't see the need in reporting it again
4. I need help with the blog. I have a few "contributors" but they don't contribute.

so as of now updating will be infrequent and random. once again, trying to find a niche for this blog. its tough.
one thing i do promise are frequent updates on urban development projects downtown.
other than that i don't know

keep checking though, i'm sure it'll pay off sometimes

and always believe in buffalo

catch ya later.

go sabres.

A song about Buffalo

2006-05-02T10:56:00.000-04:00

The newest Goo Goo Dolls album has a song called "We'l Be Here (When You're Gone)" that is about Johnny Rzeznik's return to Buffalo and seeing the Bethlehem Steel plant. It was already my favorite song on the album before I figured the meaning out. Here are the lyrics....

And through the fence I see a ghost
Of a place that used to breathe
You know it choked away the sun
But we still had food to eat

And now everyone is gone
To a place that won't be home
Can they keep their family strong?
Will they make it on their own?

And we'll be standing when you're gone
And we'll be heard again
We missed our chance but not for long
I know somehow we will hold on we'll be here
When you're gone

Then one day we realized
That they couldn't hear our voice
And it's so hard to understand
When it's caught up in the noise

But the ones who fight and die
Are the truth inside the lie
Now it's all built on our backs
And we struggle to survive

And we'll be standing when you're gone
And we'll be heard again
We missed our chance but not for long
I know somehow we will hold on we'll be here
When you're gone

Oh man...such a good song. It gets my vote for official anthem of Buffalo

One of the worst movies of all time...made by a Buffalonian!

2006-04-26T02:04:00.000-04:00

I still haven't seen it yet (and believe me, I'd like to) but I did a search for Vincent Gallo, Buffalo's own *special* movie director, actor, musician, and came accross the trailer and interview for "The Brown Bunny" known as one of the 100 worst movies of all time. Roger Ebert blasted it in Cannes and he entered a war of words with Gallo. Gallo responded with a quip about Ebert's weight Which led to Ebert getting the last word...

"I may be fat but some day I will be thin, but Vincent will always be the director of The Brown Bunny"

I've always been facinated by this hometown character, this video shows his true colors.
PS-watch the part where he talks about his supporting actress Chloe Sevigny and what she has to do to "get in character".
In an unrelated note I am co-anchoring a newscast from my dorm with WB49's Sara Bishop, but she needs to "get in character" ahem.

This Day And Age's newest song

2006-04-26T01:39:00.000-04:00

After dealing with the dissapointment which is the Goo Goo Dolls latest album, I went over to YouTube to find that unreleased song This Day and Age performs. Mmmm, probably one of my 20 favorite songs of all time. Enjoy. New album in August

Spreading our wings

2006-04-25T17:49:00.000-04:00

The Anchor Bar is opening up a second location. That location?
Charlotte, North Carolina

[begin sarcasm]

I. Am. Shocked.

[end sarcasm]

This furthers the possiblity of my idea. Soon American cities will have not only "Chinatowns" but "Buffalotowns". With our heavily dispersed population we will see sections of downtowns with Anchor Bars, Mighty Tacos, Jim Steak-Outs, Andersons, and Ted's Hot Dogs.

Laugh all you want-it will happen.

1st in Charlotte of course.

Greatest. Hit. Ever.

2006-04-25T09:28:00.000-04:00

In case you were starting to forget about Brian Campbell's epic hit on Umberger in OT of game one, here it is for you to watch whenever-until the end of time...

God, that was so beautiful.

Letting Love In...Starting today

2006-04-25T09:05:00.000-04:00

Today the Goo Goo Dolls release their 8th studio album named "Let Love In" in stores everywhere today as well as iTunes. Lead singer Johnny Rzeznik wrote the entire album in the upstairs of the "Century Grill" (Home of the Bacon Basket) after feeling completely uninspired spending another winter in Southern California.
So far, most critics are not impressed with Johnny's return to the Buffalo roots.
The album has gotten less than stellar reviews from the New York Times, Boston Globe, and Ft.Worth Telegram. Noting the lack of edge and substance after a four year gap between albums.
In addition to that there are only 11 tracks, 9 of which are actually new. But its not all bad, in fact the album grows on you the more you listen to it, and regardless of the criticizms, Let Love in already has three singles that have fared well in the Adult Top 40 charts with a few more songs on the album that will surely be released as successful singles. So lets take a closer look at the album...
1. "Stay With You" A great opener that just starts rockin out the nano-second the CD starts to play. It also is a bit of a new sound for the band around the bridge part. Has some big dramatic build ups and a very catchy chorus.
2. "Let Love In" The title track and one of the catchies intros I've ever heard. The chorus doesn't quite fit with the rest of the song but its still great, this song will be a hit. Guarantee.
3. "Feel the Silence" This song has a lot of potential but the chorus just never kicks up to what it should. Parts of it are catchy but it never really gets to where it should.
4. "Better Days" You hear this song everywhere you go in Buffalo so I don't even wanna talk about it. (Hated it to begin with)
5. "Without You Here" A very dramatic song. Really good buildup and the instruments just all blend together perfectly at the end
6. "Listen" This song is from Robby. Which means "Time to skip!" in most peoples minds but this one is really worth listening to (which is the message of this song..."Why don't you listen!?!?") So obey Robby's wish and give this one a shot-its pretty catchy.
7. "Give A Little Bit" This cover has been out since October 2004-Nothing needs to be said.
8. "Can't Let It Go" This one will probably be on the charts later this year. I don't particularly like it but it has that "Radio Goo Goo Dolls" sound to it. Kind of an upbeat version of "Here is Gone". Rzeznik has said that this is his least favorite song on the album.
9. "We'll Be Here (When You're Gone)" Its as if they just forgot to put this song on their last album "Gutterflower" a great rockin sound that is a bit lacking in the album. The ending is kind of abrupt but its definintley the edgiest song on the album
10. "Strange Love" The. Worst. Song. I. Have. Ever. Heard.......Seriously.
11. "Become" a song with an epic sound to it, very dramatic and should be a hit with the ladies. Very deep and a nice concluding track.

Let the propoganda begin

2006-04-19T23:37:00.000-04:00

Maybe I haven't watched TV in a bit but for the 1st time tonight, I saw a Seneca Nation commercial flaunting impressive statistics about the planned "Buffalo Creek" casino. It was actually the best done local commercial I have ever seen (Buffalo is not known for its cutting edge, flashy commercials-we enjoy a nice 1940's theme to ours). Nice picture of the waterfront and action shots of downtown making our city look like a busy entertainment center.
This commercial definitley will get anyone who doesn't read up on the issues involving this casino-those same people are the customer base of the gambling joints of this area.

Wait...you're a republican?

2006-04-19T23:04:00.000-04:00

So...Joel Giambra wants to legalize marijuana and perhaps some others.

ha.ha.ha.

i love buffalo.

A vital question..

2006-04-19T21:19:00.000-04:00

Does the NFTA have a policy on pets on their trains? I would like to bring my posse of siamese cats for a ride. Thank You.

Walking around Buffalo State

2006-04-16T02:42:00.000-04:00

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More picutes around NW Buffalo

2006-04-16T02:24:00.000-04:00

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Walking around the H.H. Richardson Complex

2006-04-16T02:06:00.000-04:00

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Some Opening Day Pictures

2006-04-16T01:45:00.000-04:00

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Random picture

2006-04-16T01:37:00.000-04:00

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Apparently the HSBC Tower is a tropical paradise on the inside despite being a soviet-looking eyesore on the outside. Hooray!

Random picture

2006-04-15T02:37:00.000-04:00

Well since we're in a baseball state of mind...here's a picture I found from a website devoted to the employees of WBEN over the years...

The Sights and Sounds of Buffalo

2006-04-15T01:53:00.000-04:00

Well I went to the Bisons home opener (didn't stop by at the bloggercon area but I really want to go to the next one). My favorite part about Bisons games are the fans. Here is where you find the heavy set, middle aged, unionized, manual laborers of Buffalo shooting the breeze with their fellow beer-bellied buddies. And with that intro here is my convo of the week

[Pitcher named "Slocum" warming up in the bullpen]
Man #1: "Hey buddy, that guys name is Slocum! You must be named after him! Hahaha!"
Man #2: "Haha nonono his name would be FASTcum"
*The rest of the men laugh at his expense
**if you don't see the pun then forget about it

We also spotted two men together rocking some awesome mullets. It made me want to bust out some Zubaz pants and talk about wether or not Jimmy Griffin should run for mayor again

But anyways, seeing dozens of older men and in some cases-their wives...decked out in Bisons official warmup jackets and jerseys and caps reminded me of when i was really young and Pilot Field was new...It hit me, a lot of those blue collar Buffalonians who used to fill up the ballpark and the bars around town are gone and it kind of made me sad. I love teasing them, but god I love them to death.

It's back...kinda

2006-04-13T14:24:00.000-04:00

According to the Buffalo Business Journal, we're getting 10 o'clock news again starting on April 20th. WGRZ and WNYO are partnering up. First 10min are news and weather, rest is sports. 30 minutes every weeknight. I hope it'll be as good as WB49 was but
1. Why does NBC need two news broadcasts at night.
2. NO SARAH BISHOP :(

...god, I miss that woman already.

Did you know?

2006-04-13T11:27:00.000-04:00

Air conditioning was invented in Buffalo?
add that to traffic lights, winshield wipers, pacemakers, and the worlds largest disco.

Trouble at the Market

2006-04-13T10:42:00.001-04:00

Some bad news for the Broadway Market today in the Buffalo News...Fairport Rep. Louise Slaughter withdrew her $97,000 grant to the historic market because she claims they're turning themselves into an outlet mall. Slaughter mentions a meeting with city planner Tim Wannamaker in which he felt that the best plan for the Broadway Market would be to turn it into an outlet mall. In the short term-that probably is the best idea for it. With the K-Mart closed there are fewer retail options in an already struggling area. I know East Siders won't want to hear this but at this point in time the food options at the Market would be much better fitted in another part of the city (Harborfront Market at the harbor?). I hear a lot on blogs about how the East Side is slowly turning itself around but whenever I'm there its still the same deal and unlike downtown-it seems pretty hopeless. It's good to have a new library and new homes while abandoned ones slowly get razed but the neighborhood from the corner of Winspear and Bailey down to the Perry Projects tell me that better days are too far away if they are there at all. A trip down Bailey ave. is right up there with a trip around Southeast DC-not good.
Its amazing as a young Buffalonian to look at pictures of Broadway Ave. back in the 1960's bustling with families and popular stores. I walked from Main Street to the Central Terminal down Broadway and could tell that it was once a great place to shop which only made its current state only more depressing.
The Broadway Market is without a doubt a great historical asset to Buffalo and especially the East Side of Buffalo. At some point though its going to have to be more about money than history. As long as this community struggles to suport the current vendors while "outlet mall" type vendors come in with moderate success someone is going to have to look at the situation and realize it might be time to move on to greener pastures.

Darwin D. Martin Complex

2006-04-10T15:50:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks ago I took a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's "Darwin D. Martin Complex" for my Architecture class. Here are a few pics...

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This historic complex is nearing a finish to renovation and is located on the Jewett Parkway. Four blocks north of Amherst Station on Main St. Tours are $8 and must be reserved in advance.

Another one bites the dust

2006-04-09T15:29:00.000-04:00

Last week (as previously mentioned on AllThingsBuffalo) Kazuhito Tadano was dealt and now the Indians announced Bison fan favorite Brandon Phillips is a gonner too. I usually don't mind the fact that we have a minor league team but it gets annoying every once in a while when you get a player that you really enjoy watching but then he becomes too good to be in AAA or runs out of options and has to leave. Richie Sexson, Mosies Alou and Jeromy Burnitz come to mind. Bye Bye Brandon. Come back soon.

OPENING DAY/ BUFFALO BLOGGERCON4 FRIDAY @ DunnTire Park!

A list of progress

2006-04-08T18:24:00.000-04:00

Here's a list of projects on the table for the City of Buffalo. Courtesy of Westcoastperspective.

*Most of them are only in the planning phase but its still a pretty impressive list. We've certainly made some progress from even five years ago. From the way things go around Buffalo, I would expect a decent amount of the residential plans to be taken off the table or delayed for a significant period of time. But other than that I would bank on most of these projects being done by 2009. Well, BassPro is another story ;)

OFFIC
Cobblestone Lofts- Office Bldg. Done
Delaware, 591- Renovation UC
Delaware, 599- Renovation UC
HealthNow Headquarters UC
Swan Bldg., 731 Main Street UC
WNY MRI Center- expansion UC
Court Street Tower PL
Courtyard Mall Renovation PL
Delaware, 285 PL
New Era Center- Delaware Ave. PL
Roanoke Bldg. Expansion PL
Seneca Street, 100- Renovation PL
Uniland- N. Genesee Block PL

OTHER
Bioinformatics Center UC
Inner Harbor Excavation UC
Auto Museum- Wright Gas Station PL
Bass Pro Shop (old Aud) PL
Children's Museum- 173 Elm Street PL
City Centre Ramp Expansion PL
Donovan Building Parking Ramp PL
ECC Classroom Building, Oak Street PL
ECC Dorms, Oak Street PL
ECC Parking Ramp/Transit Center PL
Federal Courthouse PL
Roosevelt Historic Site Carr. House PL

RESIDENTIAL
Buehl Block Bldg. Reno (5 Units) UC
Granite Works (29 Units) UC
IS Lofts (24 Units) UC
Pierce Building, 651-3 Main (4 Units) UC
ArtSpace (50 Units) PL
Birzon Building (10 Units) PL
Brownstone Condos (6 Units) PL
Cobblestone Lofts (36 Units) PL
ECC Lofts- Ellicott Street (16 Units) PL
Elk Terminal- New Lofts (48 Units) PL
Ellicott Commons II (36 Units) PL
Greystone Hotel (30+ Units) PL
Hager Mills Lofts (32 Units) PL
Main Street, 456- Baker Shoes (12 Units) PL
Main Street, 535 (3 units) PL
Packard Bldg. (40 Units) PL
RiverPlace Homes, Waterfront Vill. (12 Units) PL
Saturn Rings Bldg. (25 Units) PL
Schmidt Lot Condos (36 Units) PL
Seneca Paper Lofts (30 Units) PL
Spa Lofts (3 units) PL
Waterfront Village- Ellicott Dev. (80 Units) PL
Webb Building (30 Units) PL
YWCA North St- Sr. Apts. (65 Units) PL

HOTELS
Bass Pro Complex Hotel PL
Corn Exchange--- Ramada Plaza PL
ECC Boutique Hotel PL
Franklin, 204- Boutique Hotel PL

Which card to play?

2006-04-08T17:52:00.000-04:00

As of late the Sabres have been struggling and there are a few reasons for that. The defense is a little weak without Numinen and the offense without Hecht, but Ryan Miller's numbers have taken a nose dive during this slump. Once putting up top-notch numbers, Miller is giving up four goals a game while Biron has faired better over the same period of time. As the playoffs approach it seems as if Marty is more worth of the starting spot. Lindy Ruff usually rides the hot hand but I expect him to stick with Miller. Unless he gets his act together soon I expect to see a complete meltdown from Miller come playoff time. Marty is older with a bit more experience and is much more mature for the situation. We'll see what happens. As of now they will play Philly in the first round and as the Sabres continue to slump, they could lose home ice to the fairly hot Flyers. Sabres play Ottawa tonight in Canada's capital (not Toronto).

Best way to stimulate an economy? Terrorism. Duh.

2006-04-08T17:32:00.000-04:00

The antithesis of Buffalo: Washington DC.
In today's WashingtonPost (which by the way has maybe the best online editon of any newspaper. Hope you're reading this Warren.) there is an article about how DC has the best economy in America not to metion how DC has prospered in someways as a result of 9/11. A nice little "in your face" to Bin Laden. And just another story to make a Buffalonian go "augh...why us?" I still chose stagnant economy over terrorist attack but man, its really remarkable to see how fast DC has progressed over the last five years. Living there from 95-05 and then coming back here really puts it in perspective. My parents have been telling me to go back down there because thats where all the jobs are and I know that. But I'm searching as hard as I can to get something here. It ain't so easy PS.

Buffalo has one less gay porn star.

2006-04-07T01:12:00.000-04:00

The Bisons' Kazuhito Tadano was traded to Oakland earlier this week. He was a pretty decent pitcher who did fine for the Bisons. But he will always be known for his decision to be in a Japanese gay porn film because he "really needed the money". Somehow, the Bisons and their fans will pull through this. Somehow.

The Sounds of Buffalo

2006-04-07T00:56:00.000-04:00

Today I went downtown to look for some jobs (not an easy task in case you haven't noticed) and I went by Ellicott Square. Since I first layed eyes on the "Downtown Sportscards" store in 2000 it has ALWAYS been closed. Today I finally caught it being open so I went in. Three guys work at the store and they are your most sterotypical old school, blue collar, rather large Buffalonians who decided to discuss how Paris Hilton was destroying America with her whore-like qualities. One of the men was way out of the loop which led to one of my most famous quotes of all time...

"WHAT THE HELL IS A PARIS HILTON!???!"

...I stared as hard as I could at the 1989 Alex Mogilny card in my hand to hold back the laughter.

An end of an era...

2006-04-04T18:21:00.000-04:00

Its official now. After 10 years, Eric Moulds was traded to Houston for either Houston's 4th or 5th round pick. Moulds will go down as the 2nd most successful reciever in Bills history behind Andre Reed. His best days were with coach Wade Phillips and Doug Flutie but only one year since (with Bledsoe) did he show his greatness. Gregg Williams didn't use him like he should have and Mularkey wished he was dead. And so another road is paved for the new direction of the Buffalo Bills.

Why MySpace is sweet

2006-04-04T17:53:00.000-04:00

Thanks to BuffaloPundit for this amazing find. Buffalo News editorialist Mary Kunz Goldman has "her own" MySpace profile.

Haven't laughed like this in a while.

"Stay With You"

2006-04-04T13:44:00.000-04:00

Its the new GooGooDolls single which became availible on iTunes this morning. A new sound for the band with a touch of their harder sounds of the past. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it is their best song ever. Buy it. 99 cents.

Artvoice + NFTA= kinda not smart.

2006-03-31T01:41:00.000-05:00

Artvoice tells us why we're stupid...

So Artvoice decided to trash the Buffalo News...again...for being against the NFTA wanting to make the NF airport-a commercial airport. Basically Artvoice wants the NFTA to spend money on a new airport because they can. The only arugement made really is that the BNIA runway is too short to handle international carriers. AeroMexico among some other airlines are interested in flying to the Falls and obviously can not fly into Buffalo since the runway is so short.
Hey look, I'm a genius so I came up with this
SPEND THE MONEY ON A FRICKIN RUNWAY EXTENSION AT BNIA INSTEAD. KTHXBYE.
and perhaps spend the leftover on a Light Rail extension to the airport? Sounds good to me.
Jesus, what metro region our size has two airports? BNIA has been a great success story and increases passengers each year with new flights added all the time. The new NF airport would be TWO gates. TWO. Um...we have enough gates for at BNIA and we just need the runway to extend out another 2,000 feet to handle international flights.
Afterall it is "Buffalo-NIAGARA International Airport"
owned by the
NIAGARA Frontier Transit Authority

[smacks head]

Artvoice just likes to see nice looking things pop up in the city that are uneccesary like this thing and the new Peace Bridge.

Olympic Towers

2006-03-28T19:47:00.000-05:00

I've been occupied with some crazy personal stuff latley so I apologize for the infrequent updates as of late...I'm still distracted so I'll give you all a little post.

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Here is a picture of the Olympic Towers. One of my favorite buildings and an extremely underrated one. It blends in perfectly with all the other architectural gems around like the Hyatt on Genessee and the Electric Tower and Gold Dome nearby. Despite this, no one seems to know about it.
I originally looked for it in 2003 when I discovered there was more to Downtown than City Hall and the HSBC Arena. With my "Buffalo Place"map given to me at the info desk I went to the Convention Center to ask where it was. The man had no clue. I asked my cousin who had been working Downtown for seven years at that point and he had no clue either.
Turns out it was RIGHT next to the Convention Center where I originally asked for its location.
Anyways so I accidentally came accross it a month ago and returned recently to admire it. Seems like its a fairly upscale apartment/office building with a nice fitness center. A lot of people talk about how terrible the Convention Center is for Buffalo. Not only did it block off Genesee and not only is it ugly but it blocks off completely the Genesee St. entrance which is quite beautiful but unknown to nearly everyone.

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So one day when you're nearby the Financial district of Downton, stop by the Olympic Towers right next to the Convention Center. Buffalo architecture at its best...and slightly unknown (which I guess makes you cooler since its not loved by the mainstream).

Update on some Downtown projects

2006-03-26T10:40:00.000-05:00

As I promised earilier in the year, every month we'll get you some pictures of the the new projects occurring in Downtown since a lot of our readers are displaced Buffalonians.

COBBLESTONE
This is from the back facing the H-O Oats elevator

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This is from the front facing the side of HSBC Arena

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This building is going to look awesome when its finished. Can't wait to see how the remaining two buildings next to it look when they start renovating them.

ERIE CANAL HARBOR
This one excites me the most. I didn't go downtown that much until 2003 when I believe they started this project. This year they've really got things rolling quickly. And I'm getting pretty annoyed with a fenced-off harbor for all these years too.

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The HealthNow building has had no construction on it yet, really.But it looks like since February they have gotten the entire site ready to build now.
The Pierce Apartments haven't had much progress either since the last picture
Ditto for Granite Works

My rediculous travel adventure

2006-03-22T10:39:00.000-05:00

Although its a personal story, it involves Buffalo in a few ways so I shall share...

Last Saturday I was ready to get my plane back to Buffalo from Baltimore-Washingtown International. As I walked through the gate a Southwest Airlines employee called out my name as well as a name that sounded familiar..."Rashad Baker".

For you Bills fans out there, you should know he's a free saftey for the hometown team. So Southwest decided that they had to bump the both of us off our flight. By the way-Rashad is a great guy...too bad I had to meet him under such stressful circumstances.
For the next three hours Rashad and I strategized for ways to get to Buffalo before the next morning-Flights to Syracus, Albany, Rochester, Amtraks from NYC...everything booked. Eventually I gave up on any hope of getting home so I spent the night at my parents again. As for Rashad-I'm sure he found a way home.

So Greyhound was the only way to get home before Monday. And after the bus ride from Maryland to Buffalo I have a new found appreciation for Buffalo. Especially the Bus Depot that I used to think was sub-standard but from seeing some 10 stations along the way its clear that ours is top notch.

The Pittsburgh one was connected to a prison so I got to see an awesome array of interesting characters who were celebrating their first few hours of freedom I assume. The others were small 50's-looking gas stations that happened to have a Greyhound bus sign on the side. The Erie PA one was alright except it was locked because the guy who was on duty had to pick up his girlfriend.
After the 12 hour bus ride through some sad looking parts of the rust belt...man...that drive on the skyway into downtown was amazing. A real city! A nice looking city! My city!

So thats my story.

Back in the B-Lo

2006-03-20T14:11:00.000-05:00

It's nice to be back, thats for sure. After a week in a region (DC area) with fast-paced growth and a rediculously strong economy-I had enough. So after an air-travel nightmare Saturday I had to end up taking the Greyhound back. On the way we went through Pittsburgh and while I was there I noticed something that every major to mid-major city has but we don't...
Company signs on skyscrapers.
It sounds simple, and even pointless on the surface but I really think It would greatly enhance the appearance of the city.
Almost every skyscraper in Pittsburgh had the company's name prominently displayed near the top of the structure. The closest we have to that is a painted-on logo on the HSBC Tower.

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The original Marine Midland building had a sign up top, the Liberty Mutual did as well. I think it helped the appearance of downtown.
To be honest I think the only two buildings that should really have it would be the HSBC Tower and the M&T Building built in the 60's.
Imagine seeing "HSBC Bank" or "M&T Bank" illuminated for all to see as they pass through the city. Sometimes its the little things that can really go a long way in the appearance of the city...just look at the Shea's theatre sign-really adds a bit of hutspah to the silent downtown we call our own.

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PS...I'm not sure if it was the Greyhound route or what but being on the Skyway and seeing all the beautiful buildings we have to offer makes me so thankful I'm from Buffalo and not any of the towns between Buffalo and Baltimore. Pittsburgh's financial district is beautiful but it lacks that special character that Buffalo has and always will have.

The Infamous Court St. Building. Done deal now?

2006-03-17T12:00:00.000-05:00

Finally.
Finally.
Paladino's Court Street building has been approved and there are no more legal obstacles in the way of getting the damn thing done. So now Paladino has until the late 06 to begin construction. So if this gets built this means the Carl only has 999999967 of his properties in Buffalo left to complete/start construction (Not that I mind seeing a depressing-looking, boarded up Courtyard Mall and Baker's Shoe store in the heart of Downtown).
You go girl.

Buffalo News...cited on national TV?

2006-03-16T20:38:00.000-05:00

So I was watching the "Colbert Report" (which makes the Daily Show boring) and Steven was doing his segment on the SAT scoring scandle. And would you believe it-he cited a quote from a Buffalo News interview!
A
BUFFALO
NEWS
INTERVIEW.
Probably the 1st time in a generation in which an article in our hometown's paper is discussed outside of the WNY region on TV.
Kudos.

Now just make a frickin website worth visiting with blog features. Kthxbye.

Homesickness and Hockey

2006-03-16T17:30:00.000-05:00

So I went to the Sabres-Caps game on Tuesday in Chinatown, DC and it was great for many reasons. If you watch the highlights, on NHL.com just listen to the crowd reactions when the Sabres score. It was incredible. And this isn't Carolina, people! 1,000 Buffalonians in full force.
Ugh...its too bad they couldn't live in their hometown. I'm sure it's not because they wanted to leave...those passionate "Let's go Buffalo" chants throughout the night was all the proof I need to know they miss their hometown.

...back in the B-Lo on Saturday. Back to regular posting on Monday.

A couple things of note

2006-03-14T12:56:00.000-05:00

Okay so I've been in DC since Sunday and will be in the nation's capital until Saturday so the updates will be limited. But I do come bearing some good news for Downtown Buffalo! That abandoned Shoe store (Howard's?) on Eagle is going to become a restaurant thanks to the owner of the Electric Tower

buying up the property with an intention of appealing to the workers of his renovated class A office tower. Good to see one less eyesore downtown!

So whats in store for me today? Well how about some leftover Bocce's Pizza from Saturday and a Caps v. Sabres game tonight!
it's like I never left

Harbor District Plan

2006-03-09T16:17:00.000-05:00

In today's Buffalo News we see that Erie Canal Harbor Corp. is going to release a short/long term plan for the developement of the long dead waterfront. From what I've seen it looks pretty nice. Best part is the creation of the "Harborfront Market". Someone on a blog once proposed moving Broadway Market to the DL&W Terminal. That sounded nice outside of the fact the Broadway/Fillmore would be as nice to visit as Somalia after the Market left. Before we see a new president (2008), we are supposed to see a market, BassPro, Great Lakes Musem, Hotel, and two commerical buildings on the waterfront with bridges, more commercial buildings, further development of the historical features of the harbor and new residential buildings before the war on Iraq ends (2026).
I noticed that there is no more "Inter-modal Transportation Center" that people like Sam Hoyt were so adamant about. It was supposed to happen during the days of planning for the "Adelphia Communications" Tower and was still in the plans with Bass Pro but I guess we're all happy with having a tool shed further down Exchange Street as our train station to go along with our old "Auditorium" light-rail station that looks like it was built out of very large and colorful "K-Nex".
Overall its a nice plan. But being a Buffalonian-I'll believe it when I see it. To their credit, we have never seen plans this fully developed for the waterfront. It probably will not parallel Baltimore's or San Diego's during our lives but at least it will no longer be something to be ashamed of.
Can't wait for that Harborfront Market to open up....sounds pretty sweet.

**map courtesy of Buffalo News

Noronen Dealt

2006-03-09T14:12:00.000-05:00

Well the three headed monster that was the Sabres goalie situation has been settled. 1997 draft pick and two time "Top prospect of the year" Mika Noronen was dealt to Vancouver for a 2nd round pick in next year's draft.
And that was that for the Sabres at the 2pm deadline. Regier likes his roster as is. So do we.

M&T Bank Expansion

2006-03-08T12:12:00.000-05:00

Uniland is going after M&T Bank big-time for their new Delaware Ave building, according to the Buffalo News. Since M&T is at full capacity with their two magnificent buildings on Main Street,

Click for larger picture

it seems as if this will be the most logical place for expansion based on the circumstances. Which is too bad since there is a huge parking lot behind the newer M&T building off Ellicott St. That would be a nice location for M&T to add a bit to the Buffalo skyline which hasn't been touched much since the 70's. Not to mention that Ellicott Street could use a little boost. It's too bad that Uniland couldn't get the AM&A's building since M&T was supposedly the big company interested in moving in there. Wouldn't it be nice to have a new office building on Main Street in place of a hopelessly abandoned department store. In fact it would be perfect-the older and taller M&T building could literally connect to the AM&A's.

See! Right next to each other! Perfect!

The old AM&A's building does have its' charms with its 1930's post-modern design but overall its kind of a monolith downtown-especially when abandoned. (We'll do more of a report on this building later this month). So those are my two cents about M&T's expansion in Buffalo. And here are my two predictions for M&T's future...
1. M&T will move into the Uniland building
2. M&T will build an office tower in Baltimore or DC within the next 10yrs.

**Uniland photo courtesy of "westcoastperspective"

This Day And Age @ The Icon 3.7.06

2006-03-08T00:11:00.000-05:00

A favorite amongst the locals, This Day and Age came to the Icon last night after a few months of writing their new album. It was a very short set (About 8 or 9 songs) but it got the job done as they played some of the favorites from their 1st album "Always Leave the Ground" as well as two new songs-the first one sounds absolutley amazing but its too bad I couldn't get the song title.
There were three opening acts. The 1st one was "Standard of Living" which put together a very solid set. They were going to play a track called "Audobon Amherst" (which obviously got me excited) but then decided not too. Overall they were extremely catchy and fit the mold of a band like TDA
"New Atlantic" was the next band to take the stage, the vocals were alright but the drums and guitars in the set more than made up for it...a mellow-emo-rock sound that kept the concert going.
"Sherwood" was next up with a lead singer who looked eerily similar to the lead singer of "Switchfoot". An interesting band-not so much in sound. The backup vocalist looked like he was hitting on the lead singer of TDA earlier in the concert (and the lead singer returned the favor by dedicating a song to him so who knows what that was about) but the best was the keyboard player who looked and acted like Andy Dick on speed.

It was absolutley astonishing-you had to be there to see it. He would randomly break into spontaneous fidgeting, jumping, and screaming that captivated the audience. (More on him later)
"Walking Ashland" was the last act to take the stage-a band that the ladies absolutley loved. The lead singer played keyboard and sang a good set of catchy radio-style songs that should be heard in time. He was very interactive with the crowd during and after the performance. Overall, a very good performance.

Click here for a larger picture

So after all those opening acts, TDA took the stage to a anxious local crowd. The set list out of order was...
Long Walk Home, Tomorrow is Waiting, Second Place, Slideshow, History is Falling for Science, The Day We Started, I Remember me, Untitled Track 1, Untitled Track 2
For the last song everything was going as planned until the Andy Dick look-alike charged the stage in a tiny pink tee and short-shorts with a tamborine and lite-sabre in hand. As he danced around stage uncontrollably and took over the crowd (deservedly so) it was impossible to focus on the music. But TDA left the stage with its fans satisfied and excited about their new album due out in August. Until then. they won't be touring much at all.
Overall, an awesome night at the Icon and it made up for the Gza show big time.

Sad news, very, very, sad news

2006-03-06T22:25:00.000-05:00

WB49 10PM NEWS HAS BEEN CANCELLED EFFECTIVE MARCH 31
THIS MEANS...
NO
MORE
SARAH BISHOP!

she needs to be hired by ch2, 4 or 7 immediately.
thats all.

but in all seriousness, I really like the 10pm news, it was different from the rest of the newscasts and they did some stories the others never talked about. The only problem I had was the "NewsCentral" crap feed from Baltimore. It will be missed. BUt most importantly, Sarah Bishop will be missed.

Gza @ The Icon 3.4.06

2006-03-05T15:59:00.000-05:00

First of all, my Saturday night, Sunday night was a night only Buffalo could provide...but this is for a later post.
Wu-Tang's GZA (Genius) performed infront of a decent Saturday night crowd at the Icon last night. The gates opened late with dozens of people complaining of hypothermia and the possible freezing of their balls. Eventually the masses were allowed in and the crowd slowly filled in to be entertained first by two men from local record label "Deep Thinka Records" (Based on Hertel Ave). It was decent, but then again, Buffalo lacks in homegrown talent when it comes to rap and hip-hop. After that ADM a group similar to The Roots took the stage for about 40 minutes for a pretty amazing set. An eclectic mix of artsy white musicians and angry, socially conscious black men combined for an addictive combination. The guitar player from ADM was absoultley incredible, it was pretty easy to get lost in his rediculous licks and solos. The drummer was also incredible, toward the end doing a 3 minute solo. Unfournately, their sound doesn't quite transfer onto their recorded tracks but you can check them out on their myspace

Following them was "Hangar 18". A rap duo of your typical young black rapper with an overweight white man who looks like he's 10 years removed from his frat days-but wishes he was still there. Basically their 40 minute set sounded like the same song the entire time with the same words over and over. The obese white man known as "Alaska" was insulted that the crowd was bored to tears with this joke of an act and was anxious for Gza-so he decided to "diss" us by referring to all the guys up front as virgins...we were all very hurt and gathered in each others arms.

Everyone thought Gza was goin to take the stage after the painless and rediculously long set but no...it was time for "Self Scientific" He was actually pretty good but it was getting late and I was getting antsy as well as tired for standing for so long. He peaced out-literally and DJ Muggs got on stage
Muggs worked up the crowd for a bit then Gza took the stage, only to delay more since he needed a handful of towels for the set-not just one so he could wipe down the mic since apparently he has caught colds in the past from so many MCs using the same mic. Since Gza was in the same position as the rest of the crowd-standing around for hours waiting for him he decided to inform us that the wait for the towel was nothing since we had to wait for so long already
Gza worked the crowd well and did a lot of favorites as well as a tribute to late Wu, "Ol' Dirty Bastard". He kept complaining about how quiet the mic was and how loud the music was-it eventually reached the point when he decided to just end it and so Gza dipped out and so did the hundreds of followers into the late night Buffalo chill.

Other things of note:

Typically, white people in Buffalo who get up front for hip hop concerts are the most obnoxious people I have ever met. This crowd was particularly annoying. A crew of absolutley trashed obnoxious white guys (some of them apparently served time) felt the need to drag friends from seven feet away through the crowd towards them as well. Three black kids up front were trying to just vibe out to the music but every 2 minutes they got shoved up against the stage.
From now on buffalo+rap show=me standing towards the back.
The Icon is a stickler about underage drinking...that is unless you're backstage...lots of underage girls absolutley HAMMERED backstage and one of them was the prize of "So Scientific"'s eye.
If you're a big fan of any artist that performs at the Icon, it's extremely easy to meet them...extremely. You'll just need a little patience as well as willingness to see the artist in a not so flattering manner (A bit drunk and on the way into the car of what looks like a lady of the night)

If Barbies were made in Buffalo

2006-03-03T15:26:00.000-05:00

I'm a sucker for humor relating to sterotypes of different Buffalonians...therefore this amused me to no end...

PS...possibly the nicest looking Buffalo Blog?Possibly.
Apparently the link doesn't work...not sure why since the html code is correct...well-its on the sidebar: "the716"

Add another one to the rafters

2006-03-03T14:33:00.000-05:00

Tonight at 8 the Sabres take on their uber-rival, the Maple Leafs who are fighting to the death for the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference while the Sabres cruise into the postseason comfortably for the 1st time since 1996-97. As entertaining as the match-up is, the pre-game festivities are much more important to the average Sabres fan. Former captain, Pat LaFontaine is getting his #16 hung up in the rafters with Gare, Horton, and the French Connection. As someone who started following the Sabres as a 7 year-old when LaFontaine was on the same popularity level with Jim Kelly-I know I won't let myself miss this...its great to see the Sabres honor their past and heal some old wounds with such a great player, and overall person who devoted more time to Buffalo hospitals than possibly any non-hospital employee when he played here.

...last I checked some $120.00 seats are still availible but chances are some Leaf fans already took those.

Hooray for racism!

2006-03-03T02:28:00.000-05:00

My friend takes a "Hip-Hop History" class and today they looked at some NFTA document from 1989 (so apparently they go a little beyond hip-hop) I thought it was some interesting stuff so let me share it with you...

Here is what it says...

3. Status of No Service
Galleria Mall: There ar eno plans to go into the mall because mall owners do not want Route 6, which is the most effective route to use. The y feel that it will not bring in the type of people they want to come to the mall. G.Foster suggested other options included using Route 30 from the Airport in off-peak hours or the use of Route 4 from the Thruway Mall, but it will be a long walk for passengers and also a hazardous one across Walden Avenue if the busees cannot go into Galleria. D.Hanratty will contact the owners to see if they still feel the same way about the use of ROute 6, and if so, what will she tell the press when they question why Metro has no service to the Galleria Mall.

...wait, why do the mall owners have authority over this? Couldn't the NFTA be like "Um, no...we are going to have the 6 stop at the mall". Instead, they covered the owners' asses.
FYI...a Galleria employee died crossing the street on her way to work in 1995...she used the bus everyday to get to work. All because some owners shuddered at the thought of seeing black people shopping.
Here's some links to stories involving the case

Goo Goo Dolls new album update

2006-03-03T02:23:00.000-05:00

Now the release has been pushed back to April 25 and if you go to googoodolls.com you'll get a bunch of different pictures and messages from the band members and here is what is believed to be the album cover...

According to this article
"Among the tracks expected to make the final cut are "Give a Little Bit," "Feel the Silence," "Tuesday," "Strange Love," "Stay With You" and "I Can't Let Go."

Rumor also has it that 2nd single should be comin out in a month

PS...apparently i decided to play around with the mouse and have the arrow goin in the woman's mouth...dont' worry-thats not part of the album art.

But I didn't shoot the food service cook

2006-03-01T22:14:00.000-05:00

This is a UB student and JFK HS grad my friends and I refer to as "Fresh 2 Death". He wears his aviators at ALL times...including events that are indoors and in the dark. He also wears a HUGE gold encrusted belt with his name on it. Anyways...he's really chill, real fly...nothing can phase him.
So on Monday I went to Student Union for dinner and awaited my order, next to me was Mr.Fresh, dancing...the chef came to the front and the next thing I see is Mr.Fresh taking out a toy gun and saying "Gimme my food!" The chef jumped back and the manager came running in to yell at Mr.Fresh for his actions...

...his case will be heard infront of the Student Judiciary Committee.

Sorry for the random stories about random people in the Buffalo area, just though I'd share.

There should be laws against this...

2006-03-01T21:47:00.000-05:00

So I have a myspace (feel free to friend me if you're into that kind of thing) and so usually I get friend requests from 14 year old girls with deep emotional problems...today however, two 16 yr old girls friended me,

but they are not your average teenage girls from Lockport...no no no my friends, they are...
RAPPERS.
yes.
RAPPERS.
Have a listen, you might laugh, or possibly vomit.

It's March, Baby!

2006-03-01T00:27:00.000-05:00

Hey there! We're just cruising along nicely in Buffalo in the year 2006...so much so that "spring" around the corner (as if thats a season worth celebrating up here) As we speak, we are becoming more popular by the day, so I might as well tell you about all of us (All UBers by the way).

Well first of all, one of our potentially key contributors went officially AWOL forever, leaving blogger land for Wordpress, we got two new members who are out of towners, they will mostly cover entertainment stuff.

Lucky Nap Chick is a concert goer from New Jersey originallyso we'll see some reviews from her occasionally.

Nicholas Finoia is the most obsessed Bills fan ever, and he's from...Connecticut (go figure) so one Bills season gets going, expect to see a lot from him. He's also a big CKY & Avenged Sevenfold fan, hence the review he did early on.

DJLethal is another out of stater (Maryland...I'm a good recuiter, ain't I?)...he's taken a serious interest in the uniqueness and randomness of Buffalo. Expect some posts involving the unique behaviors and sayings of Buffalonians. He's also a huge hiphop fan, so he's busy interviewing urban artists on his hiphop blog...metallungies.com

WNYDiplomat is me. Buffalonian to the core. I do pretty much everything on this blog. I've been working on this thing for over a year now and I'm finding my niche and balance here. Senior year of High School gave me a few...distractions. And freshman year of college has even MORE distractions...but after threatening to terminate the blog, I'm back with avengance while finding my blogging niche

...well wasn't that cute, now you know who we all are...

February was great, shattering our records for hits...BIGTIME...FixBuffalo and BuffaloPundit discovered us...that sure didn't hurt our rise. We discussed Main Place Mall, the passing of Mr.Rich Sr., and the beauty of WB49's Sara Bishop (mmmm...soooo beautiful)

You thought February was good for us, huh? Oh you have no idea what we have in store for you in March. We're gonna be all over town covering things from abandoned buildings to rap concerts to the Sabres trade deadline...you name it-we're there.

Keep your eyes peeled baby!

Now entering the "Internet Buffoon Conclave"

2006-02-28T10:53:00.000-05:00

This guy decided to anagram our Light Rail

I'm a bit impartial to "A Foul Nazi Pant" and "Fatal Queer Yeast".

Hard Times on Chippewa?

2006-02-27T10:40:00.000-05:00

Recently I was at the "Chip Strip" (by the way, a very corny nickname for that area which I intend on never using again) and saw what I believe used to be a bar next to Starbucks had become an Adult Book/Video store which I must admit made me think it was a connection to the Chippewa before my time when smut was word. I thought to myself, "Oh boy, Chippewa isn't doing so well" but then I let the presence of a decent amount of people around me convince me that things were alright.This article, however, makes one wonder about the future of the street There were rumors of the downfall of Elmwood earlier with stores closing and ownerships changing but that is no longer a common belief with a new hotel and new apartments being built there-showing that the masses and the big developers belive in the stability of that part of the city. Now as bad as all the bar closings sound on Chippewa, in the long run this could be a good thing. The Calumet was recently sold to someone who is believed to want to make the unused second floor into apartments-creating diversity on Chippewa. Others have complained how Chippewa is so one-faceted with strictly bars and it looks like now, that will have to change.If Chippewa can create a small residental base, and add a market and possible a bit of office space, downtown will be better for it. New bars can go elsewhere-there is plenty of vacant space on Main Street last time I checked.

PS-Here's hoping that Adult Book/Video store closes ASAP, its something I don't associate with a nice and stable downtown.

We Major!

2006-02-27T10:29:00.000-05:00

In today's Buffalo News there is an article on the blogging scene in Buffalo (myself not included)
We have the 63rd biggest blog community according to the article-with Berkely being #1. The blogs mentioned in the article are more than worth your time, especially Buffalo Rising and FixBuffalo (who by the way, refers to this blog in his Feb 6 "State of the Blogosphere"). Looking around, we're pretty lucky to have a blogging community as good as it is, it almost parallel to the big cities like DC and NYC-at least we can be equal to them in something.

Bass Pro (the never ending saga)

2006-02-23T14:30:00.000-05:00

My Darling,
It is month 15 and the air is bitterly cold. The reinforcements have come in but there is no end in sight. The men from Missouri and New York said the deal would be signed but we still are entrenched in battle. I'm not sure how much longer the boys can take this battle, we are growing tired and weary and as usual, supplies are thin. Word on the battlefield is that the agreement is closer to being signed but we can't be sure. Soon enough my darling, we can go buy big green overalls with lots of pockets and some boots for that big bass fishing trip we planned. Oh the fun we'll have.
Yours truly,
Dillusional Buffalonian doing a cute impression of a civil war letter (which I apologize fully for)

But seriously, this WBEN article showes you how *ahem* committed Bass Pro is to Buffalo. Anyone who thinks store is going to save us is rediculous. The parts of the project that benefit the city are the multi-modal transportation center, hotel, restaurant, and musem. The wide selection of fishing poles is not.
Obviously this won't happen but what if we just perserved the Exchange St. facade of the Aud and then extended the Erie Canal Harbor closer to its original location that would give us more possibilites for developement. I'll shut up now since thats not going to happen.
All in all-I'm for the overall project, I just think its silly that there are so many people who feel elated that Bass Pro is coming here (allegedly). The best part about the store is the selling of the Aud seats which sadly, Giambra said should cost $200 a pop.
It will get done people, just don't hold your breath. Seriously.

Major League Homepage

2006-02-22T15:12:00.000-05:00

So the bisons have a new website...good times

It looks really professional. I know you have nothing better to do so you might as well browse around

...why yes it is a slow news day, in fact.

James Williams...saving our schools

2006-02-21T22:15:00.000-05:00

Lots of people hate the newest head of Public Schools, James Williams. But for me, it was love at first sight *no homo*. As a victim of an inner city school before going into the Olmsted program and then fleeing for Montgomery County, Maryland which is known for having one of the top public school systems in America...I can say the the Buffalo PS needs a hell raiser like him who will not give into anyone and is set on establishing order in the city schools. My aunt teaches for a Public School and absolutley loves Mr. Williams since she has seen firsthand the terrible conditions the schools are in. But she is an acception since most teachers hate him greatly over the differences between the teachers union and him.
As much as tax credits go towards bringing in businesses, the quality of public schools has a direct correlation with population and economic success...perhaps that explains the struggles of Buffalo?
Well, Mr. Williams unveiled his new plan of attack for bettering public schools and it all sounds good and doable, yet somethings that previous people in charge would never do.

Oh, and by the way he said that he has..
"an alternative school plan that's going to shock the world."

Should be good times. Something BPS hasn't seen in a while.

Germans Love Buffalo...Part II

2006-02-21T21:13:00.000-05:00

First Jochen Hecht, now Uwe Krupp

Some excerpts...
"The people are so friendly in Buffalo," Krupp said Monday. "It was very easy for me to fit in. It was a great team and a great organization. It was like a family. The Knoxes were great people. I loved Buffalo."
"Buffalo is definitely a place where I had great memories," he said. "I like the people there, and they left a mark."

I tell ya man, we got a market here for Western Europeans!

Putting the "Buffalo" in the UB Student experience

2006-02-21T15:09:00.000-05:00

So I picked up a copy of UB's student magazine, "The Generation". In general, I don't like the magazine at all and therefore have vowed to only pick it up when there is an interesting cover (i.e. Thomas Vanek) but the latest issue's coverstory was the student populations effect on the environment so being the Urban Planning fiend I am, I picked up a copy. Inside I found a well written article about the NFTA student pass system and how UB has not signed on. The alleged reason for UB students not having the pass provided to them is the demand is in question. Okay...so seemingly every school that is significantly smaller than UB has the pass but UB won't have enough demand? Please, if 30% of the students used it (grad students included) then that would be more than the entire student body of Daemen College so end of arguement there. We already pay $30 in tuition for our super duper "UB Stampede" bus service, and extra $25 for a pass that takes us all over the Buffalo-Niagara region would be great for Buffalo. Unlike the other schools around here, UB has a significant amount of people who are completley unfamiliar with Buffalo (and of course only have the preconcieve notion that all of Buffalo is a dump of fat people who just watch Bills games and eat wings during 24/7/365 blizzards). Wouldn't it be great if these out-of-region students could have a convenient way to witness downtown for themselves?
Granted, the stubborn Long Islanders will never say Downtown Buffalo is great, or that our pizza is eddible, but if they see something to do Downtown, they will do it. Being one of the few locals who dorms, I end up getting random calls from people all the time about "where is this?" "how do I get to that" "what is there?". Usually they all find it too inconvenient so they just stay back in the isolated society that is UB North Campus. With a NFTA Student Pass, the chances of future UB alum looking back and having positive memories of Buffalo-the city, and not just the not-so-stunning architechture of North Campus with its surrounding trees till kingdom come, increase greatly. And with a student body of 27,000 and increasing-that will only help.

"Buffalo Creek" Casino Update

2006-02-16T13:42:00.000-05:00

Perhaps Barry Snyder is just dangling a carrot in front of the rabbits we are, but according to the Buffalo News, the Seneca Nation is heavily considering retaining the H-O Oats grain elevator as part of its casino in the Cobblestone district.

Here's the carrot

That would help maintain the theme of that part of town but it still disturbs the emerging real estate potential behind the arena. Speaking of real estate, the Superman of Buffalo (aka Brian Higgins) is looking to make sure the Seneca Nation doesn't start buying up a bunch of land that will not be used for a casino which could be a problem

Higgins lays down the law, again.

...afterall the "Nation" has sold property worth millions for....$4.00 as it retains its sovergnity from the evil white man.
Anyways, the Casino is moving quickly and will be ready in plenty of time...hopefully this thing becomes an asset to Downtown and not some evil black hole that many are precieving it to be. My opinion? It will be neither great nor horrible for the city. There will always be plenty of people who choose to eat and be entertained at Buffalo establishments. There will be poor, pathetic souls who waste away their life and money at the casino. In the end it will balance out into something we can all tolerate-so let's cool down with the whole thing. If Buffalo could survive losing half its population and almost all of its young and bright, it can surive some old men from Cheektowaga and Lackawanna praying for "7 7 7" on a slot machine downtown.

Only In Buffalo..(and i don't say that affectionately)

2006-02-16T13:25:00.000-05:00

Okay, now its official that the city government HATES Harvey Garrett

So Harvey Garrett decides to CUT GRASS and now he can face 15 days in jail or a discharge if he "stays out of trouble". You have got to be kidding me. Its as if the city wants to drive out anyone who is going out of their way to help make this city look better bit by bit.

Thankfully, from what I hear about Mr. Garrett and from what he writes on "BuffaloRising" I don't think this will drive him out of town, but I won't be suprised if someday he just loses it-and I wouldn't blame him. How about we try enforcing housing codes and find slumlords who are ruining the same communities Harvey is trying to save, mkay? Mkay.

Ugh.

A new hotel for Elmwood

2006-02-16T13:17:00.000-05:00

A good idea for this part of town since its so close to Buff State and the Albright Knox art gallery. I don't see too much heated debate coming from this project even though I think a lot of people will want to see those houses that are used as stores go. I will not. Although it gave Elmwood its unique flavor, I'd rather see that part of Elmwood look a little more contemporary instead of cheap-looking store facades. The new hotel will have underground parking and space for retail, keeping Elmwood's charachter while evolving into a more contempoary shopping strip, perhaps with a little extra tourist revenue coming in now. There was a bit of uncertainty of the strength of the retail on Elmwood, but with this hotel and the new three story building going next to Mythos, it looks as if Elmwood will be strong for a while

**photo courtesy of "Westcoastperspective"

Robert E. Rich Dead at 92

2006-02-16T12:57:00.000-05:00

A great Buffalonian to say the least. His committment to the City of Buffalo through thick and thin was unparalled and is reflected in newer generation of Rich's. He was regarded as one of the pioneers of the frozen food indusrty, and his family says they are committed to keeping the company's HQ's in Buffalo, just as his dad would want.
Just thought I'd pass that along.

An ideal valentine

2006-02-14T14:12:00.000-05:00

So this valentine's day I was inspired, who is the ideal woman for any good Buffalo-man?
I've decided that it has to be WB49's Sarah Bishop.

Not only is she beautiful, but can talk about anything Buffalo related all through the night (specifically from 10-10:30pm)
...now THAT is a woman.

PS-I'm single.

Buffalo, where old jingles never die

2006-02-14T11:14:00.000-05:00

Yes my friends, the ol' "Tops never stops" jingle is back and boy isn't that super!?!? I think Buffalo is home of the oldest and corniest jingles in America...the Tops one isn't that bad but a lot of the sausage makers, and Perry's Ice Cream come to mind when I think of just the most incredibly corny jingles ever heard since 1940...which further proves the threory that Buffalo LOVES its past, and is afraid of its future.

...yes this is a small and meaningless post. Why? Because my mono is back with full force, I sleep 15 hours a day and fall asleep standing up by vending machines. Regardless, I'll try to keep updating-we will have NO setbacks this year for posting. NONE. So off to study for an exam I know nothing about...should be fun.

The GLORIOUS Main Place Mall

2006-02-11T12:31:00.000-05:00

Why are you shaking your head? Are you suggesting the Main Place Mall is not where you obtain your retail goods? Or where you pass the time with your friends? Chances are that is what you are suggesting, and for that I say-I feel your pain. I remember as a kid back in the late 90's when I returned to the glory land (aka Buffalo) for Christmas. My aunt who recently moved back to the city from San Francisco with her husband, decided to take me and my cousin (who lived in Japan at the time) downtown for a day of shopping! This was three years removed from the tragic loss of AM&A's accross the street which was pretty much a declaration stating

"Buffalo retail is dead. Kthnxbye."
It was an okay mall, it had some stores, nothing that really stood out for sure (my cousin and I had no urge to come back). All I remember was buying a Buffalo Bills pencil with a little football player eraser on top-which i used with pride in suburban Maryland through the middle school years.
Seven years later I returned to the glory land on a permanent basis and decided to visit the mall again for old times sake. Oh the tragedy it was. Its not like my memory of MPM was very vivid but I do remember shopping at stores upstaits, but there is no such thing in the current days we live in. The food court was busy since it was lunch hour but the rest of the mall?

dead.

dead.

dead.
oh the horror.
It was sad. Two stores that looked like the kinds you would see in a real mall (Foot Locker and Kids Foot Locker), and I don't count Waldenbooks because I think it is the worst excuse in the world for a bookstore in the era of epic, beautiful, Barnes & Nobles and Borders. I came out with my head shaking, wondering "Why? Why?" Instead of using this as a reason to hate on Buffalo, I looked into it and came accross a interesting "BuffaloRising" article

The owner is exposed!

So it turns out the owner, Paul Hotung is just a typical out-of-town guy who comes into Buffalo to buy properties to use as tax write-offs while letting the buildings rot. In a 2000 Buffalo Business Journal article, Hotung stated that he wanted to focus more on bringing in telecommunications companies into Main Place. He also said he did not discourage retail business but the actual retailers have another story...

More reasons why Main Place is what it is today

After clicking the link I see that there was once a "Jim Kelly's City Sports Grill" Are you serious!?!? I would have loved to go to that. And over 50 tennants? Only six years ago? How times change.

But it does bring up an interesting situation. The Main Place Mall, despite the rumors, did pretty well in terms of profit per square foot. It had interesting retail options, something downtown lacks greatly. In fact, there really aren't any retail options downtown. Although its great the Hotung is able to bring in telecommunications companies, the fact is that Main Place/Liberty has a 50% vacancy rate. Which means plenty of space for retail. Nowadays, streetside shopping is all the rage, but I know plenty of Buffalonians who enjoy shopping at the Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto.
Sure Main Place Mall was never a great success, but it provided some really good retail options to the 50,000 people who work downtown and to the occasional urban dweller (people like me). Its too bad its owner has a vision that I, nor many people, see.

NFTA get yo roll on, NFTA get yo motha f** roll on!

2006-02-09T11:32:00.000-05:00

Sorry about that but I got really excited when I read this...

Allen Street extension through Main Street comes with a pleasant suprise

"A key part of the project is replacement of the ground-level portion of the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority's Allen-Hospital Metro Rail station.
While the underground tracks and platforms will not be affected by the street extension, a new above-ground station will need to be designed and built.
'We're really excited about the possibilities for the new station as a mixed-use building, a building that will be great for us and the community,' said NFTA Executive Director Lawrence Meckler. 'I'd expect this is something we'll make decisions on in the next year as the planning process moves forward.'"

...Stop the presses! A new metro station!?!?! I never thought I'd hear such a sentence spoken in Buffalo...ever. And I'm absolutley positive it wont be hideous like all the other above ground stations they have. Now only if they could go to UB North Campus and the Airport.

K. Dot "Hold My Own: The Mixtape"

2006-02-08T16:11:00.000-05:00

This is a post I've intened on making a loooong time ago...
It was a beautiful September night in downtown Buffalo, not a creature was stirring, except for a mouse or two...and three of my friends. Waiting at "Theatre" station for our metro home a man came up to us with some purple cases in his hand and told us a story about a man known simply as "K.Dot". After stories about "K.Dot" and his greatness, I was told that the mixtape that this man made out of his Marine Drive "studio" was being sold for $5. Since I've already lost approximately $30 to homeless men in the city over the last year, I decided that it was an okay investment since I'm actually getting something in return. So I bought it and listened to it when I got home. I was pleasantly suprised.
Track one is "League of My Own", it has a really nice beat and his rhymes aren't too bad-with Buffalo references thrown in there (I'm a sucker for those). This is by far the best track on the mixtape.
2. "Ain't Gone Stop" I'll ignore the gramatical error there...a decent track-this beat has been used in a slightly famous song but I can't remember which one...the lyrics are pretty cliche in this one.
3. "Money On My Mind" Another famous beat he uses...lyrics are pretty cliche again but the beat saves this track
4. "By Any Means" Can't stand this track.
5. "Ladies" Belongs in every club in Buffalo...its nice...and his verses are pretty damn clever in this track
6. "Like This" another famous beat used on this track...not bad but doesn't stand out too much...the beat makes it pretty good though
7. "Hear Me Out" Meh...not much here
8. "Dangerous" hate. this song.
9. "Get Live" Terrible beat...okay flow
10."Young Souljahs" Pretty nice beat, in fact its a real nice beat, deeper than any other track here, he says in this track "I'm feelin a little conceited here" before he flows...but I think he was looking for a synonym for "sentimental"...oh well.
11."What U Think" Another famous beat (used in the movie "Hitch")...voice doesn't match the beat at all...but its not too bad.
12."Go K." Eh...not that great, flow is off, beat is mediocre.
13."Recognize" Terrible beat.
14."K.W.T.A." Nice "Bonus Track" the beat is really nice but the flow is pretty off.

Basically, my friend and I decided he just rapped into a recording device and the dude from Marine Drive put beats over it, making him sound worse than he actually is. Well, I paid $5 for a cultural experience I guess. But overall its not that bad, in fact, it was a pleasant suprise, but we won't see him on BET or MTV Jams anytime soon.

Buffalo Development Projects

2006-02-07T10:42:00.000-05:00

Bush says "Human/Animal hybrids > Buffalo"

A deeper look into the future of the courthouse

The highly touted, heavily anticipated new Federal Courthouse on Niagara Square-despite allegedly being a top priority for US Courthouses-was not funded at all in President Bush's budget...gee, thanks.
Now that this project has been delayed another year, you get the sense its just not going to happen, or perhaps like other Buffalo projects, it will be compromised into a cheaper and less exciting building. Not to get political, but maybe if we weren't so tied up in a war with seemingly no end we might get some federal funding that we deserve.
So yeah, a little fed up with that.

City funded restaurant's fourth reincarnation is an arts center...

A more indepth look at the proposed idea

Breckenridge, Empire Brewery, YaYa's...the city has finally given up on making that spot a successful restaurant spot and will now tie it in more to the art aspect of the theatre district by making it an arts center, using some of the organizations already nearby including CEPA who is in the neighboring Market Arcade...not a bad idea but I think that once cars are back on Main Street, a restaurant would be a better idea.

Dear suburbs, shut up.

2006-02-06T14:26:00.000-05:00

The City of Buffalo is getting new jobs-not everyone is happy.

For the first time in my life, businesses are LEAVING the suburbs and moving INTO downtown. This is a cause for celebration, right? A time for the people who live in the Buffalo area to be happy that their downtown, the city that is the reason for their suburb's existence-is filling vacant office space, right? Absolutley not. Cheektowaga, Clarence, West Seneca are complaining about how the Empire Zone benefits are killing them while giving Buffalo an unfair advantage. First of all, the Empire Zone was not created to do this-it was created to draw in new businesses from outside the county, but downtown Buffalo is a place to work and it lost too many jobs to the suburbs to count. Living in a DC suburb for a while, I saw what was once a sleeper town (North Bethesda) turn itself into a city with a huge performance arts center in the middle of a quaint residential area, a humongous conference center and hotel where there was once trees and parking. Towns like Clarence are places for families to live and shop, and for their kids to go to school. There will always be suburban businesses, but Clarence will do just fine without the businesses they lost. Buffalo, however (no matter how optimistic you are) is struggling mightily, and needs new businesses and new life. In this Buffalo News article, most of these companies came to the city because they wanted to be here, because they needed the extra space, or they wanted to be in an urban setting because it reflected their business-the tax credits were only icing on the cake.
Buffalo lost a lot of its life to the suburbs, and still does to this day (albeit at a much slower rate). Buffalo is the reason why Amherest, Clarence, West Seneca, Cheektowaga, and Orchard Park exist and function the way they do. Cities were meant to be the place where the companies function, suburbs were meant for houses, schools, and later on-shopping malls. The suburbs have reaped plenty of benefits from the City of Buffalo, its only fair that Buffalo get a little of its life back.

"Roll the Highlight Film" Review

2006-02-05T14:56:00.000-05:00

Okay, so this is definitley not your usual album review. No, Rick Jeanneret has not taken up singing (thank God) but the Sabres have released fifty of his greatest calls from "Rene Robert wins it in overtime" to "Call a cop! Hasek just robbed him blind!" and forty-eight clips inbetween.
Before this CD came out, the only way to get these calls was to search long and hard online for some clips. Most of the ones I have came from "The Sabres' Edge", a great site that stopped existing four years ago. You can also find some here...

Rick calls the final game at the Aud

The CD covers the entire history of the team pretty well although there are a few calls I thought should have been there (specifically the Stu Barnes overtime winner vs. Pitt in gm6 of the 00-01 playoffs). Other than that, the album is prefect for any Sabres fan. It is $10 at the Sabres store (it used to be at Media Play locations but we all know what happend with them). And with the way the Sabres are playing this year, they might have to make an updated version for next season.

Pablo Francisco @ Center For The Arts 2.4.06

2006-02-05T13:10:00.000-05:00

Last night at UB's Center for the Arts, comedian Pablo Francisco graced the students of UB with his impressions and punch lines in a great one hour set. Earlier though, a local comedian opened up with a very slap-stick oriented routine which went over pretty well but in general, he recieved a lot of sympathetic applause. To be honest with you, I was suprised at how many people liked him (you could hear people raving about him as the audience left). Once he was done, Pablo took the stage in a UB hat and got the crowd going. A lot of his classics were in his routine ("Girl you're fi-i-ine!", the movie previews guy, latin music, male stripper roomate) even though a Pablo fan like me has heard those ones before, they were still hilarious with his unique, quirky delivery. Pablo's new material was great, specifically pretaining to his drug days, encounters with William Hung, and Indian kareoke singers. For the locals, he poked fun at his stay at a hotel in not-so-safe Riverside before his performance. His Jackie Chan material was good but was dragged on for the 1st ten minutes. Other than that, he kept every part of his routine at just the right length to not get old.
Pablo does a great job at making jokes that other comedians simply cannot get away with. He held nothing back as he made fun of everysingle walk of life possible, and the diverse crowd enjoyed it entirely. As usual, he ended with his mock-trailer for "Little Tortilla Boy"-a great note to end on to send the crowd home. After the performance he took pictures and signed autographs for fans. With the performance he had last night, one assumes Pablo will be back in Buffalo soon, no matter how traumatized he was of his time in Riverside.

CKY and Avenged Sevenfold @ The Town Ballroom 2.2.06

2006-02-04T17:45:00.000-05:00

On a cool evening in the City of Good Neighbors, people of all genders and cliques lined up outside of the Town Ballroom in downtown Buffalo at 5 o'clock in the evening in hopes of witnessing an amazing performance. For some people it was yet another trip to see these two bands, but for some it was their first and most memorable time seeing them. At 7 the doors opened and the thousands crowded inside the extravagant Town Ballroom in downtown Buffalo. The anticipation kept on building throughout the night as two underground bands came on first, yet they earned the respect of the Buffalonians in the crowd. Mosh pits emerged and crowd surfers took the stage (almost literally). The first band was a metal/goth band from England. Decked out in tats, the English band rocked Buffalo and made many new fans. After about a twenty five minute wait the next underground band, Eighteen Visions took the stage swearing at the fans and trying to pump them up. The fans responded by even more moshpits, more crowdsurfers and many more cheers as they axniously awaited the two headliners. After a spectacular and talented perfromance by the Eighteen Visions, the crowd was just waiting for the big bands. About 45 minutes went by until finally CKY came out to chants of "CKY! CKY! CKY!" Deron Miller (rythym guitarist/vocals), Chad Ginsburg (lead guitarist/background vocals), Matt Deis (bass/background vocals) and Jess Margers (drums (and not to mention brother of badass Bam Margera)) came out and started rocking Buffalo. They opened with Escape From Hellview and played Frenetic Amnesic, 96 Quite Bitter Beings, The Human Dive In High Fi, Attached at the Hip, My Promiscuous Daughter, Sporadic Movement and ended with Disengage the Simulator. The people went nuts as Deron tossed his guitar picks into the crowd, Jess chucked a few drum sticks into the crowd as he had backups ready. After they finished their finale, the crowd was ecstatic with the adrenaline still pumping because the night was not over yet. About half an hour later, the people were becoming restless so finally at midnight, the headliner Avenged Sevenfold (A7X) took center stage continuing their "City of Evil" tour. As the band opened up with The Beast and the Harlot, the crowd was insane. Practically the whole floor was decorated with sweaty fans packed like sardines crowd surfing and mosh pitting. The band also played Burn it Down, The Wicked End, To End The Rapture, We Came Out at Night, Forgotten Faces and then to the crowds dismay they had to end the show and they ended it with their current rock hit which currently sits 7th on the billboard top 50 rock songs, Bat Country. After the 7 minute long song the cheers lasted for minutes and the crowd was exhausted but had a great time. They all got their money's worth. After the bands completed their performances they stuck around the ballroom for a while at merchandise areas signing autographs for true fanatics. Needless to say Buffalo's Town Ballroom was rocked hardcore and for many fans February 2nd will never be forgotten.

He's Back

2006-02-04T11:35:00.000-05:00

The Dominator has returned to Buffalo and unlike the handful of regular season games played by Detroit and Ottawa at the arena, Dominik will actually start this time against his former team (At least as of now). This is easily the biggest game the Sabres have played so far this year. Being outscored 21-5 this year agains the Sens and lagging 5 points back in the division, the Sabres want to make a statement. 1,500 tickets remain (between $50-$120).

As Western New York's finest car salesman, Billy Fucillo would say...
It's gonna be HUUUUUUUUUUGE!

Central Terminal clock @ M&T Center?

2006-02-03T16:11:00.000-05:00

Hmm, what's that clock? Let's look closer...

Wait a second...is that the Central Terminal clock? Me thinks it is, but I thought they returned it to the station...guess it would kind of be a waste since not too many people will ever get to see it if it remains in its original environment. Anyone know about this?

A closer look at the clock

Spill Canvas @The Icon: 1.30.06

2006-02-02T21:36:00.000-05:00

The Spill Canvas show on Monday, January 30th was nothing less of spectacular, but why expect anything less when it comes to The Spill Canvas? Getting to the doors early at the Icon is a must for any show I will go to in the future. Getting there earlier assures you place directly in the first row in front of the stage. This also requires you to stand through all the opening bands too of course, which could be either a good or bad thing, depending on the bands. The first band, Sleepaway, was your typical rock/indie/alternative band. Unfortunely, the microphone was turned down and it was hard to heard the lyrics to the songs, but the music was still very good. Then when As Tall as Lions came on the crowd came alive. Their style was more of an ambient/indie type. There were many fans in the crowd who knew the songs already. The best song was "The Carousel" hands down, with even a guest appearance by Nick Thomas, lead singer of The Spill Canvas, singing a few lines towards the end of the song. Lastly Hit the Lights completely riled up the crowd and caused unnecessary anarchy momentarily. They a generic emo/punk genre styled band, just like many of the others that are slowly becoming more popular today with many of the younger generations. Being in the front helps you to avoid all of pushing and shoving. That was one part of the night I would have done without. Then finally, after waiting for more or less three hours, The Spill Canvas came onto the stage. They started out with "Lust A Prima Vista", which stoked the crowd immediately for what was left to come. Another song that stood out was "Staplegunned", not a personal favorite of mine, but it was amazing live, especially since they finished off the song with a clip of "The Tide". Out of the whole entire night "Self-Conclusion" was my personal favorite song on the set list. This is such an intense song, which very emotional lyrics, and when it's sung live, it is overwhelming. I aboslutely loved it. They wrapped up the night with "The Night Will Go as Follows". Then they did the cliché "leave-the-stage-make-the-crowd-want-more-and-eventually-come-back" stunt, and performed "Polygraph, Right Now". They finished up the night in fashion and left the crowd elated and psyched for the next amazing performance to come.

Bonus Photo

Another Bonus Photo

Update on some Downtown projects II

2006-02-02T20:21:00.001-05:00

Hmmm...could this be a weekly installment?!?!? It's the second installment of finding downtown projects and seeing how they're doing but since there aren't enough projects and construction doesn't make significant strides in appearance on a week-to-week basis, we'll prolly make this monthly instead. Mkay? Mkay.

ERIE CANAL HARBOR

Okay so all these pictures suck. Besides that, you see that they are building some sort of shed-looking thing by one of the naval ships, and you can't really see it (trust me on this one) they are digging out some dirt to recreate the original look of the harbor...the water hasn't filled in yet but when you go there you will see a huge hole with metal around it.

COBBLESTONE

Here's a bigger version of the last picture

This is a 3 part development. The one pictured is the 1st step, it will be offices...the 2nd phase is another abandoned warehouse which will be lofts...and the 3rd will be a small warehouse inbetween the two which will be retail-relateed (a market could come in handy)

So thats what I got for you today...its nice to see some progress downtown.

Sounds on the Metro ride home

2006-02-02T19:23:00.000-05:00

After an afternoon walking around downtown (pictures in a later post) it was time to take the metro back to dear old UB...running after the train at Fountain Plaza a familliar large black man stopped me

Man:"Pssst...psssst....hey brotha!"
Me:"Yeah? I gotta catch this train [jogging towards train]
Man:"Hey brotha, check dis out man! [busts out approximatley 10 chains of gold] Come 'on man!"

as usual, I declined his goods. At least this time he didn't have his cronies say to him "Man, dat boy trippin'" (yes, this happens often on Main Street when the Gold-dealer findes me).

So I missed that train and walked down from Fountain to Church...got the train from there and then at Fountain a large grop of urban 20 year olds get on the train, led by their man in cornrows we get my quote of the day...the train was going extremely slow, and when I mean slow, I mean 2-4mph (underground, mind you)...this led the man in cornrows to shout out:
"Maaan, this muthaf**a run out of gas!?!? Man dis mothaf**a DID run out of gas...just what I need"
(NOTE: The Metro actually runs on electricity provided by a cable above the train)
So at Summer/Best they departed and two young men entered ...one in his leather jacket and hat cocked to the side...aaaaand the infamous ticket lady...she comes to this man and the dialogue is as follows:
Ticket Lady: "Ticket"
Man:....
TL: "Tiiiicket?"
Man:"Yo, yo hold up man"
5min later
TL: "Tiiicket???"
Man:"Aiiite, here"
TL: "This is a one way from Amherst, this isn't valid"
Man:"Man, I gaaave you my ticket"
TL: "Do you have a valid ticket"
Man:"Man, I gaaaave you my ticket"
TL: "Either show me a VALID ticket or your ID please"
Man:"Maaaan, I gaaaaave you my TI-CKET"
(This goes on for 5 more min)
(A young white male sneaks him his ticket when the ticket lady walks away...the day is saved.)

...I don't know if the entertainment value transfered into this blog completley...but trust me, I wasn't the only one enjoying it...like me and my friends say,

"Only. In. Buffalo."

Interview With Mayor Brown

2006-02-01T20:20:00.000-05:00

An interesting interview with Byron Brown in today's Buffalo News

To be honest with you, this is the first time I've ever heard him address most of these issues, specifically keeping young people in Buffalo and the dealings with a pretty bad public school system...sounds good although it has hints of Masiello in it.

Germans Love Buffalo

2006-02-01T19:01:00.000-05:00

Jochen Hecht interview on NHL.com

Buffalo Sabres' forward, Jochen Hecht on living in America and more specifically, Buffalo:

"'The cities over here are much bigger,' said Hecht, who has represented Germany 12 times in International play. 'When you go grocery shopping or something like that, you almost have to drive half-an hour. Not like at home. But Buffalo reminds me a lot of European cities I've been in. It's flat and has lots of green trees. I go home every off-season. But I've found Buffalo to be a great place to come back to during the hockey season with my family. It's a great place to live.'"

New Era and Bass Pro Updates

2006-02-01T12:47:00.000-05:00

New Era released to "Buffalo Rising" their design for the new headquarters on Delaware Ave

and it looks quite nice I might add. Buffalo lacks in modern glass structures (the only ones I can think of are the airport in Cheektowaga and the Alferio Center on UB's Amherst Campus) so this to go along with the new federal courthouse will give Buffalo a bit more of a modern feel to it. Apparently some people object to the design...I can't really see why, but you can read those nay-sayers on the link...

And an update on Bass Pro

Apparently the preliminary designs will FINALLY be submitted. There was a rumor that Bass Pro was waiting to see commercial development in that part of Downtown before they started anything but apparently that is not true. It has been over a year since the deal was announced and it looks like we're still a month away from seeing any concrete progress. I just looking forward to buying some damn seats from the Aud.

PS...I hope you guys enjoy the new layout here at "All Things Buffalo". We continue to be inconsistent in updating. Unfortunatly we were really counting on our newest contributor but he went AWOL...regardless...2006 will be a much better and consistent year for "All Things Buffalo" and its readers...keep checkin us out, you're bound to find some goodies...

Artspace...Breeding life into Midtown Buffalo

2006-01-31T15:56:00.000-05:00

Since my Dad's days attending the long departed "Bishop Falon High" in the late '60's, this part of Buffalo has not been known as much of a place to visit (other than the Anchor Bar, of course). Thanks to Artspace

and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus,

it looks like the surroundings of the last two underground metro stops is going to a place that will not only feel safe, but a place worth spending time in (and not just for the previously mentioned Anchor Bar wings)

Artspace released some ideas for what can be done with its surroundings

*artspace photo courtesy of RueB

Lookin' good, Buffalo.

Update on some Downtown projects

2006-01-27T22:47:00.000-05:00

So I went downtown today and I return to the online world bearing news for my fellow Buffalo freaks...

The Granite Works project is coming along pretty well, you can get a better idea of how the thing is gonna look overall now...still looks like it wont be ready until late spring

This one-story building before the Sidway Apartments is looking closer to completion too...I don't think anyone is leasing it but as this part of town continues to look nicer, the leasers will come.

The Pierce Building in the Theatre District has all the windows on the upper floor up now and looks like it will be ready in the summer...I for one hope that hideous jewler that occupies half of the bottom floor leaves soon or at least gets a new sign. That thing is an eyesore (then again, few retailers in that part of Main aren't)

The HealthNow project doesn't have many visible signs of progress but there are....the extremely preliminary works are being layed out on the dirt...the blueprints suggest that the building will not go hand-in-hand with the old Gas Building facade but whatever, its there and the HealthNow building will look nice too, it'll just be an awkward couple.

All the 70something year old bricks and wires have been torn down and sit in a huge pile of rubble around the errily-beautiful H-O Oats grain elevator...
PS-That Rich Creamery factory that Paladino bought NEEDS to be converted into lofts ASAP...that part of town is still dead, and it looks wierd to go from the luxurious Elk Terminal lofts to Rick James' Perry Projects in just a few steps...some serious life is needed there sooon but unfortunatly the Senecas changed Paladino's original plans.

PPS- Kudos to the builders of "665 Main" an absolutley beautiful building. I never really got the chance to take a good look at it since its completion...I am VERY impressed. The Theatre District will be looking top notch by this time next year once the Pierce Building is completed...now if we could only have cars and retail on that darn street.

....so there is an update on some of the works downtown....its nice to see progress in a city that let itself rot for so long...keep your eyes peeled, Buffalo! If you don't you might miss some good stuff happening!

Back to Business

2006-01-27T12:11:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the lack of posting guys. I obtained mono from a young lady who said "don't worry-it was strep, and the doctor said i'm not contagious anymore". So after being diagnosed with SARS, strep throat, and then finally mono, I am ready to get back to work.

Today after class=DOWNTOWN ADVENTURES!!!

which=Pictures and random observations!

See ya later

Young Jeezy has even touched the hearts of buffalonians

2006-01-17T22:29:00.000-05:00

Would you throw up 3 fingers if you were in this picture? Cause then it would be 1,2,3.

So yours truly was on a serious shopping spree target picking up paper and folders for my academic triumphs. When I saw a development that made me forget about all the things I need to buy. A guy my age give or take a few years, was a connoisseur of hip hop and was interested in copping the Young Jeezy album (only 7 months or so late). The album was there but the poor feller noticed they only had clean-edited versions (young kids need their snowman fix too (musically only!)!), so the music section of the target was shut down while an Asian employee who clearly didn’t know Jeezy from Cheez-Its frantically searched for an explicit version on the album, he was later joined by 2 more employees. But to no avail, there was no explicit version to be seen so the guy hung his head low and headed for the exit, Young Jeezyless in Buffalo. So in the end someone should let Jeezy know when he goes to bed that with his lyrics about crack he has even touched the hearts of white kids in Buffalo, its crazy delicious.

All Aboard the Geriatric Train

2006-01-05T20:07:00.000-05:00

Further proof that Buffalo <33333's the past...80 year old Marv Levy has been brought back to the organization as a GM. I remember he seemed soooo old when he retired after the 1997 season, my dad remembers when he seemed sooo old when he was hired as a coach in 1987...but age is relative...we'll see how this one works out. At least Marv's an extremely likeable guy unlike that ass named Tom.

Ralph Wilson Announces He Is Senile

2006-01-04T17:40:00.000-05:00

At his press conference today he also announced that GM/President Tom Donohoe was fired. Wilson adressed many issues including the uncertainty of Mularkey's status (which according to WGR55 has been solidified-he will remain as coach). He also apologized for an issue of fan's anti-manegement signs being confiscated. But the story to me was just Wilson himself. He can make a one word answer into a 30min story. His ability to ramble and his stuborness (he refused to be interrupted-period) made for quite an uplifiting press conference (albeit at an old man's expense) for an not so uplifting season.

Retail Downtown

2006-01-03T20:19:00.001-05:00

Downtown Buffalo is starting to evolve. Now that the NFTA is committing to putting cars back on Main Street, now that Bass Pro is starting to get a little closer to the building process, now that the Elmwood strip is so popular that suburbanites come there constantly-its time to spread out a little more.
On the most amazing place on the web about Buffalo (other than this blog of course ;) ) called "Buffalo Rising" (Link on the right) had a great discussion about bringing an H&M downtown and this brings up a broader issue...

How do we bring retailers to downtown Buffalo?

City Hall has other stuff to do and personally-I'd rather not have them too much involved in recruting. Why not start a coeherent "Retail-Action Committee": a non-profit group that produces pamphlets, a web-site and even pay for a trip for a national retail executive to visit Buffalo and see what we're all about and why we can handle and why we DESERVE contemporary retail downtown. There are a lot of reasons why and it excites me to no end. Its time to really get rid of this awful impression the country has of us and show what we have to offer.

This is from "Figmo" from Buffalo Rising...
Any marketers or business folks or grant/business writers or anyone with other relevant skills out there who can help with an outline? Some really motivated and talented folks have already contacted us about this. Drop us an email at nofrillschic@buffalorising.com and in the next few days, we'll set up a listserv so we can stay in touch, exchange ideas and make some progress.

So make it happen people...it can't hurt and it will only help.

Thank God Thats Over

2006-01-02T12:00:00.000-05:00

PHEW! That embarassing 2005 Bills season ended yesterday after another frustrating loss. Hooray for an offensive line that can't do too much, hurray for a Kelly Holcomb who can't really ever deliver in the clutch and hurray for the most conservative offense I have ever seen. This should be an interesting offseason, hopefully including a Tom Donohoe firing and the keeping of Eric Moulds but in all likleyhood-the opposite will occur.

UPDATE:
This is what owner Ralph Wilson had to say about his role in the offseason...

From the Buffalo News..
"Wilson said he believes he needs to take a more active role in the team, rather than sitting back and letting his top football man make the decisions without the owner's significant input.

'I'm going to be more active,' Wilson said. 'I've been around this game for a long time. And I'm not going to take somebody
else's word that we're going to draft this guy because he's a heckuva player. If we're going to take somebody in the first three or four rounds, I want to see him on tape.

'The last time I saw a player (on tape) we took first, with our first pick, was Thurman Thomas. I saw him personally.'

...So now we know why we haven't done so well latley, THEY WOULDN'T LET RALPH SEE THE TAPES, DAMMIT! I'm sure Ralph will choose the right man for the '06 draft since he's known for his eye for talent...

and I'll close it with this Mr.Wilson quote...
"The first three or four rounds, when we talk about who we're interested in, I want to see (the player)," Wilson said. "I'm not just a bystander who goes up and has a nice Coca-Cola."

"All Things Buffalo" Album of the Year

2005-12-31T15:29:00.000-05:00

Ah yes, the highly coveted and first ever "All Things Buffalo: Music Award". There have been a decent amount of good local releases this year but this year, the competition ended before this blog was even up and running. The first ever winner is [drumroll]...

Ani Difranco-"Knuckle Down"
A great album from start to finish and since I never had the chance to subject all of you to a review of this album, here goes!
1. "Knuckle Down" A very catchy, upbeat song with a little attitude mixed in, gets a little repetitive but boy was this one catchy
2. "Studying Stones" A dramatic and emotional song, you can really feel the emotions of Ani in this song about her childhood
3. "Manhole" My favorite, Ani's cutting words do great in this song with some great guitar in it. Another song that you'll enjoy having stuck in your head.
4. "Sunday Morning" Kind of has a mid-90's mellow rock-chick sound to it...very catchy and once again, her lyrics enhance/compliment the music greatly
5. "Modulation"-Even though this isn't my favorite, it has a good, catchy melody...sounds like the kind of song that sounds good live but just doesnt come accross as well in an album
6. "Seeing Eye Dog"-Don't like this song. Sometimes she feels the need to vocalize in a wierd psuedo-manly voice
7. "Lag Time"-Washes out the taste of the last song completely! Maybe the second best song on this album. You can really feel this one. The melody is beyond solid with good lyrics to accompany it
8. "Parameters"-A spoken word piece, interesting lyrics although for somereason she sounds a little self-righteous in it...but the music in the back is very nice and regardless of the rhetoric-the words are powerful and flow well
9. "Callous"-A dramatic and catchy tune, as usual, deep lyrics to accompany some nice guitar
10. "Parradigim"-An allright trackm, the rythym isnt very solid compared to the other songs
11. "Minerva"-In my opinion maybe the weakest track on the album...gets pretty monotonous.
12. "Recoil"-Great way to end the album...classic Ani at her best with deep lyrics and some extremely catchy guitar (a reccuring theme to say the least)

So it gets 4.5 out of 5 stars..a great album with six or seven songs i can listen to everyday without getting tired of it. Ani comes out with an album a year so expect another release despite her arthritic problem in her wrist that cancelled a majority of her summer tour...so thats it for 2005 for us here at "All Things Buffalo". Thanks to you out there who check our site daily despite our infrequent updates (which we got/will get better at, I promise!) So good luck to you in 2006 and most of all, good luck to Buffalo in 2006, God knows we need it!

Casino Delay?

2005-12-31T15:11:00.001-05:00

It's official now...the Seneca Nation has been sued by a group of Buffalonians who site various violations by the Senecas in persuit of this "Buffalo Creek Casino". Good points brought up by both sides. The Anti-Casino peoples in the lawsuit site that the acquisition of the land, the proceedings to begin construction and ignoring the historically significant "H-O Oats" grain elevator put them in violation. These issues are debatable since a New York state judge did give the Senecas permission to build in Buffalo and in fact a judge DEMANDED that they build in Buffalo and nowhere else. Masiello and Snyder (head of the nation) cite the creation of 1,100 jobs downtown and $11 million in profits for the city of Buffalo. Knowing the way Buffalo works, the Senecas will get this thing done with very little delay. Personally, I'd feel more comfortable with a casino next to the airport, but in reality-we are looking at a desolate part of downtown with no projects planned at the site of the casino. The H-O Oats grain elevator has been abandoned for a very long time with no development in site...this might be progress after all. Not so much the fact that we can gamble downtown, but because to out-of-staters, a casino is more interesting and worthy of one's time than a decaying abandoned grain elevator with no signs of life.

They Just Won't Stop

2005-12-31T15:06:00.000-05:00

Oh those Sabres were at it again! After earning a point in a shootout loss in Toronto they came back strong in front of the sold out crowd at the HSBC Arena to defeat Atlanta 4-1. Vanek, Grier, Afinogenov, and Drury scored the goals and Miller had his best performance of the year with 38 saves. With the Islanders' DiPietro down, it looks as if Miller could join the US Olympic team afterall....this might be hard to believe but the Sabres have the second most points in the ENTIRE NHL! Only three back of Ottawa...Next game is tomorrow hosting Florida (Free autographs after the game BTW)...

A New Sight

2005-12-21T13:10:00.000-05:00

Driving to Toronto through Niagara Falls, USA two days ago I saw the new Seneca Nation Hotel/Casino thingamajigger

and I must admit it looks quite sleek and then I picked up the Buffalo News and saw this...

"The Senecas will top their new hotel with a five-story high-definition television screen shaped like a feather, an embellishment expected to outshine anything across the border and be visible as far away as the upper floors of some buildings in downtown Buffalo.
'On a clear day you can see the hotel from Rich Stadium,' said Dennis Ryan, the Korea-based company's director of sales in North America and a Buffalo resident."

...So who knows what the Sencas are gonna do with the "Buffalo Creek" casino. I'm sure it won't be nearly as breathtaking but it would be nice to have a nice additon to the already nice skyline of our city.

PS...how cool would it be to have a Times Square-Esque TV in Downtown Buffalo!?!?

Goo Goo Dolls Update

2005-12-21T12:58:00.000-05:00

The biggest band out of our city has been doing quite well latley.
As their newest single "Better Days"

climbs the charts, they won an RMA for best band of 2005

and rumor has it that their new album will be titled "Let Love In" due out in mid-February with a tour starting in Buffalo!
Good times!