BRO submission by Lorne Opler:

What are some of the thoughts that cross our mind in the course of any day?   How about, "What am I making for dinner?" or, "I hope my rent check didn't bounce."  How about, "Why can't this country have universal health care?", and then there's the ubiquitous, "Am I too fat?"   Recently, another question crossed my mind, "How are things on Elmwood these days?"
 
What prompted this thought was my realization that it's been two years since I moved out of my beautiful attic apartment on Ashland near Bird, returning to the "True North Strong and Free."   There are a lot of things I miss about Buffalo, but top among them is EV. 
 
From the first time I landed there, I felt at home.  Sure, there are other nice parts in the city; North Buffalo and Allentown are two.   But for...

The Buffalo Sabres defeated the Dallas Stars last night in a high scoring match (5-3) and set them on their way to a decent a 3 game win streak. It's good finally see  some wins after that long skid they went on. They went 5 games without scoring in the first period.

Rookie defensemen Tyler Myers tore it up with a 4-point game which is his personal best to date. Scoring the first goal only 55 seconds into the game, Myers kept up his hard work and continued to join the rush with Buffalo forwards. Vanek and Pominville each had a goal, which was good to see, and Patrick Kaleta stepped up to defend his team against heavy hitter Steve Ott of the Dallas Stars. You can check out that footage over here. Overall, the team looked pretty solid. Wednesdays win put Buffalo into 3rd place in...

Buffalo & Erie County Public Library Staff Review by Kara Stock:

16-year-old Will Heller, aka "Lowboy," is a paranoid schizophrenic who has gone off of his medication. He has escaped the chaperones of his mental institution and flees into the New York City subway system. Lowboy is his nickname because he can be moody and because he likes underground trains. Convinced that the world is about to end due to global warming, Will becomes determined to prevent it by cooling down his own body. He plans to achieve this by losing his virginity.

This one is a thriller told through two storylines. The first is Will's warped yet poetic perspective;  the other the frantic pursuit of Will by Detective Ali Lateef assisted by Will's mother. Both worry that he may harm himself or others. This novel reads at a fast pace and has a climatic ending that...

From disc jockey to break dancer, DJ Simple jumps back and forth from the two personas on a daily basis, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Over nine years ago, J.R. Noble, otherwise known as DJ Simple, began scratching on turntables and becoming familiar with the hip hop scene. Growing up, he fell into it as a hobby from going out with friends and watching other DJs spin.

"Back in the day I was going to raves with friends and I was really into music," says Noble. "Just by going to (these events), it was just kind of like me being cocky. I was like 'I could do that.''

From that time on he was hooked. He bought his first turntable and started experimenting and before he knew it he was making quality music - people would get up out of their seats for every time his...

Are you feeling festive and in the mood to celebrate St. Patrick's Day early this year? The Valley Community Association is hosting its 17th annual "Old Neighborhood" Parade on Saturday, March 13, at noon at the Valley Community Center, the second largest St. Patrick's Day Parade in Western New York.

Typical sights include floats, marching bands, Irish dancers, family clans, fire and police departments, clowns, classic cars, and more. A traditional Irish "Hooley", a festival of food, drink, and dancing, will immediately follow the parade and runs from 1pm-6pm at the community center. "Poor Ould Goat" will play live music and the O'Sullivan Irish Dancers will perform a routine.

Peg May Szczygiel, a South Buffalo native of Irish descent and longtime volunteer of the Buffalo community, will serve as the Grand Marshal of the parade this year. In honor of the first neighborhood St. Patrick's Day...

People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH), a grassroots, non-profit community organization working to rebuild the West Side of Buffalo, is advancing plans to renovate three vacant buildings on a four-block stretch of Massachusetts Avenue.  The group is working with residents to create and implement an action plan for improving the neighborhood.  A prime focus is the redevelopment of empty houses for occupancy by low-income residents.

The City of Buffalo designated PUSH as the redeveloper for 397 and 398 Massachusetts Avenue (left and right in entry image), two vacant City-owned properties, in October 2008.  460 Massachusetts (below), at the corner of Chenango, was acquired in November 2009 from a private owner.  Eleven apartments will be created in the three structures.

 

Funding consists of a $1.47 million grant from the state Department of...

Young Audiences of Western New York is teaming up with the Albright-Knox Art Gallery this Friday March 12 to give families the opportunity to go Around the World with Young Audiences through interactive experiences in art, dance, and storytelling.  Presented as part of the popular Gusto at the Gallery series, admission to the gallery and participation in events are free to the public.

The programs offered with Around the World on Friday include interactive workshops and performances at the Albright-Knox from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the classrooms and auditorium of the gallery.  Each activity explores a different culture or group of cultures.
 
"Gusto events are a great way for Young Audiences to share the diversity and talent of our teaching artists with the public," said Cynnie Gaasch, Executive Director of Young Audiences WNY. "Our programs are educational and artistically excellent.  Because they are most often offered...

Apparently photography runs in the Cascio family as verified here by this sweet photo taken by Joe Cascio's grandfather. Thankfully Joe has access to a ton of similar images taken around the city - it may be a different era, but you should be able to tell where this is. Joe confessed that he is still learning about many of the images, but that shouldn't stop us from showcasing some of them.

This one in particular, taken of the city's beautiful Goldome Building (originally Buffalo Savings Bank and now M&T Bank) is amusing in countless ways. The image calls out for a slew of different fun captions. So far the general response upon viewing this image is, "What the 'heck' is that?" From the looks of it, this must have been in conjunction with the Pan American Expo - is that an Elk on top of that stone...

After much recent thunder and lightning over the state rehabilitation stimulus program--a legislative thoroughbred which was unaccountably hamstrung by the Governor's budget office prior to leaving the starting gate last year--the rainmaking got underway in earnest yesterday, led primarily by western New York's legislative delegation.  An urgently needed fix which has been on their radar screen since last year got some much-needed gale-force wind in its sails in recent weeks as the sturm-und-drang played out in the western New York media.  High-stakes moves by local developers to show us what kinds of projects we could make happen with our grand old buildings--and what we could risk losing--have clearly gotten Albany's ear as well as the attention of everyone who wants to see new life breathed back into our decaying urban places.  And Donn Esmonde's flailing away at the very people who have moved the ball to first-and-goal position certainly...

I can't say it any better than Joe the Planner.  Sprawl is the biggest threat to WNY's economy. It matters not if you live inside the city or on an idyllic suburban cul-de-sac.  Sprawl has its evil hand in your pocket big time. It is time for WNY to wake up to the sprawl disaster and start leading the country to a better way.
 
Check it out - Joe the Planner makes the insanity very clear. Here's an excerpt:

As it turns out, the Buffalo Metro area is a nearly ideal case for the study of sprawl and its effects. This is for a couple of reasons: (1) the region has well-established pre-World War II cities and towns, and (2) the metro population has essentially remained unchanged since the end of WWII.

Yep, you read that right. Buffalo's metro population has...