December 2009 Archives

Buddy Nix, former director of scouting for the Buffalo Bills, has been named the team's new General Manager.  Nix, who is 70 years old, spent 7 years in San Diego and served as Assistant General Manager and Director of Player Personnel.  Nix will report to Russ Brandon who has been promoted to the Chief Executive Officer of the Bills. 

Fan reaction to this hire is likely to be mixed.  In some regards, this is a hire from within - Nix spent years with the Bills and is not the big name many fans were hoping for.  Buddy Nix is not as well known as /2009/12/index.html

There were several Buffalo Rising stories that piqued reader interest in 2009, garnering new readers and sending stalwart commenters back time and time again to have their say over the issues that arose.
Though we consider BRO to be less political and more about development, food and local business, nothing gathered as much attention as Newell's (queenseyes) story "Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely" about the Silent Exchange concert gone bust due to huge misunderstandings in City permitting.

Before you started to organize the comedy scene in Buffalo, was there anything else going on at all in the city... or in the region?

Comix café was running out in the Colvin and Eggert plaza, that's where a few of the guys were getting some stage time, but there were no open mics geared towards comedy. So yes, you could go get a five minute guest spot, but there was nowhere for anybody to really work on their sets. To really perfect the craft of comedy, you have to be able to try new stuff that may not work, but doing that as a young comic in a packed club, with the owner watching,

We ask every time we buy new stamps: Do you have any with artwork on them?  The clerk opens the stamp drawer and sifts through it, holding up various sheets for approval.  We've come away with Eames chairs, Georgia O'Keeffe paintings, Ansel Adams photographs, and several sheets of a collection of American photography that we really, truly had trouble using because they were so beautiful.  And we miss the Marvel Comics series; Elektra was outrageous! (Guess which bill she went on.)
Now, as a point of pride for the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and therefore,

Leave it to Buffalo ReUse to have a ReGifting party right after Christmas.  The idea is simple - bring a gift you know you're not going to use, and give it to someone else.  Who knows?  They might like it.
ReUse's Director of Community Programs

Yesterday we told you about New York Times Bureau Chief for City Blog Sewell Chan's visit to Buffalo, alerting you to stories he wrote about Buffalo's Lower West Side and the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site.
Today we see that he posted

The Buffalo Edition of Extreme Makeover will air on ABC on January 24th as a two-hour special, from 8 to 10PM.
The show, normally one hour long, is being extended to highlight the improvements that were made in the West Side neighborhood around the subject of the show, the demolition and rebuilding of the home of Delores Powell.
There's a

When you're very small, having your art work hung on the fridge is a badge of honor.  But in the back of every young mind, there comes the question, "Am I a good artist, or is she just hanging my work because she's my mother?"
On to school.  Many art teachers are tuned in to students with real talent and give encouragement along those lines.  Maybe there's a school art show, or maybe your work gets hung in the hallway.  Still, every child who's proud of their work and talents yearns for a bigger venue.  But no "real" gallery hangs children's

I have not fully wrapped my thoughts around this subject, and I am not sure how many parts this series I will put together--but here goes.  After reading the vintage 1969 Sports Illustrated story posted on BRO, my mind jumped to this circa 1980 image of a building at the corner of Main and Virginia Streets.  
This type of scene would have been a pretty representative face of Buffalo in 1969 (along with pretty much every other city), and it is the face

Housing Opportunities Made Equal has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. $20,000 will be utilized for the "Home for HOME Project," and $5,000 to provide free training for landlords in 2010.

The "Home for HOME Project" will save an architecturally significant building on the corner of Main and Ferry Streets in Buffalo. After renovation and new construction, the building will house HOME's offices as well as ten units of energy-efficient,

The next time you think about ordering snowboarding, outdoor and urban apparel on-line, think again. While shopping for clothes on the Internet might be easy, the 'store' that you're buying your merchandise from is not plowing your commercial sidewalks. And they're not decorating the trees in your neighborhood. They're not even sweeping any sidewalks.

Earlier today I ran into Urban Threads owner, Ward Pinkel, who was busy plowing the Elmwood sidewalks from Forest to Bryant. He was riding an Elmwood Association mini-plow, and I immediately asked if he was getting paid for the service.

Reader Craig sent us this link to a Sports Illustrated article from 1969, written after a disappointing Bills season and before the term "politically correct" came into play.  
"As a Bills fan and someone who loves Buffalo," Craig explains, "I found the whole article incredibly

The 3rd Annual Music is Art Big Easy in Buffalo Mardi Gras Jam, starring Preservation Hall Jazz Band, will take place on Friday, February 12th, 2010, at Kleinhans Music Hall. In the morning there will be a performance for students in grades 4-5-6 from public, private, parochial, and charter schools in Erie, Niagara, and Chautauqua counties.  There are already over 1000 kids coming, but there's room for more!  Get in now! Starting

Family, fun, skating, and all for free for members of The Elmwood Village Association. Family Skate Day for all Elmwood Village Association members and guests will take place on Wednesday, December 30th, from noon to 1:50PM at the Buffalo State Ice Arena. The Elmwood Village Association will cover the cost of skating for the first 160 Elmwood Village Association members that attend. Not a current member of the Elmwood Village Association? You can become

Yesterday I got an email from Sewell Chan, bureau chief of the New York Times City Blog. He said he follows Buffalo Rising (also said it was great), and he had some questions about the city.  Mostly, it turned out, he needed some directions as he tried to pinpoint

By Vanessa Oswald
Buffalo's own Queen City Roller Girls are gliding their way into the New Year to raise money for the WNY Food Bank on January 2nd at 7:30PM.
Women's roller derby continues to gain popularity nationally and within the media, especially with the 2009 film Whip It starring Juno's Ellen Page, directed by Drew Barrymore. Attendance for local roller derby events has tripled in ticket sales with the upcoming derby, guaranteed to be a sell-out. The grueling sport, which has taken on somewhat of a rough girl aesthetic

Beginning tonight, and then every Monday night, The Tralf Music Hall will rock with rhythm and blues. The house band each Monday will be feature local Buffalo Musicians Doug Yeomans, Mick Hayes, Pete Holquin, Jim Ehinger, Steve Sadoff, and Al Monti, with special guest musicians weekly.  
Musicians young and old are invited to take part in the ongoing development of this new way of using a venerable old Buffalo venue.  You can't have a bad time at the Tralf, and just like Tuesdays were Spiro Gyra night

Say you want to be downtown for the ball drop?  Want to be with cool people?  Do you want to watch the fireworks, but you're just not the type to hang out in the cold?
The answer to your desires is the 2nd annual WNY Book Arts Collaborative New Year's Party and Fundraiser.  
See the midnight ball drop from the Electric Tower from the 2nd floor of the Book Arts Center, enjoy tasty hors d'oeuvres from celebrity chef Mine Dosluoglu, and help WNYBAC take the next step in their progress

Following up on last week's charges, Erie County Legislator Michele Iannello says residents may breathe easier following the arrest of Mark L. Kamholz, the Environmental Control Manager for the Tonawanda Coke plant.
Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that Kamholz has been charged with failing to notify government officials that levels of a hazardous substance beyond what U.S. code allows was being released into the air.  The complaint against Kamholz says he knew about the emissions, but failed to notify the feds.
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