Eli George
As some may know, the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society’s museum building was the NYS pavilion during the Pan-American Exposition. Sitting in the exact same place as it always has in the museum building is the Steinway & Sons grand piano, custom-built 107 years ago for the exposition. Stephen Baker, the BPO’s Associate Executive Director, will bring the grand piano to life at “Music for a Sunday Afternoon” on Sunday, July 6.
Baker comes from California and has had a lifelong career of playing the piano. He won the Young Artist Competition for piano in Los Angeles and went on to receive his bachelor’s degree in piano performance from the Mannes College of Music in NYC, where he studied with Nina Svetlanova. He has performed with Academy Award-winners John Williams and Elmer Bernstein and played as a studio musician at Universal Studios. He has been an administrative leader for more than twenty years and has worked at Carnegie Hall, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Hous…
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queenseyes
Can anyone tell me why the vast number of cafés and restaurants in the city do not recycle? I’m actually having a hard time coming up with more than a couple that do. I am constantly walking back to the cash registers with papers and plastics asking where the recycle bins are. And I’m repeatedly told that there is no recycling policy in place. That means that the only way to recycle is to do it yourself… and who wants to carry papers and plastics around with them until they get home?
Have you ever witnessed the nicer restaurants in town dump their wine bottles into the blue garbage bins? Most of them do it from what I have witnessed. If you ask the owner why the answer ranges from, “Restaurants are not given big recycle bins” or “There is no deposit on a wine bottle”. Why is there no deposit on a wine bottle? And why is it so easy for cafés and restaurants to no…
queenseyes
One of the things that I really enjoy at the Thursday at the Square concert series is watching all of the young people congregate on Main Street. Last evening I found out that there is a new policy in place that forbids these kids from hanging out near Lafayette Square. From what I understand, a couple of fights broke out last Thursday and a shop window got broken. I can understand that there should be a concern when these incidents happen, but shooing everyone away because a couple of bad eggs stir up some trouble?
Last evening police officers told the kids to “Move along” so that they couldn’t even stand for a few moments to talk. I was talking to Justin Booth who was running the bike valet service (all total there were four of us standing there with our bikes) and we were told to “Get a move on”. I could hardly believe it. Here we are trying to find reasons bring p…
Tom Waters
Let’s get something straight right off the, well, off the bat, here. Alan Moore’s Batman: Killing Joke is damn near as perfect a Batman story if ever there was one. In addition to The Dark Knight Returns (Frank Miller, Lynn Varley), Batman: Year One (Frank Miller, David Mazuchelli), Arkham Asylum (Grant Morrison/Dave McKean) and more recently, Batman: Year 100 (Paul Pope, Jose Villarubia), there is none better. Each one of these titles raised the bar on the adult graphic novel in a way that their contemporaries weren’t capable or talented enough to brush the bottom of. And along comes Batman: Lovers & Madmen.
This handsome hardcover hits the soft reboot on the Joker’s origin story in the same fashion that Batman Begins flipped the film mythos on its ear. When I saw that Michael Green (the screenwriter …
Susan Marie
Grüvology grooves: Jazz, funk and blues. Grüvology is an expression of modern jazz and world beat including a mixture of standard tunes and original compositions. The groove is apparent with or without a drummer. This is fusion.
Grüvology members are Walter Kemp III on keys, Bernard Kunz on electric guitar, Efferin Fuse on bass with the accompaniment of Tim Webb, and Dave Phillips on percussion. Created May 2006 as the result of a duo performance by Walter and Bernard at Café Allegro in Buffalo, NY, Efferin was invited to a rehearsal and Grüvology was born.
Walter Kemp III took piano lessons from the age of 6 to 13, and later become a percussionist. At Virginia Union University, he completed studies in mathematics, returned to Buffalo at 23 and began playing keys. With a strong desire to play gospel and jazz, Kemp returned to piano at Music City. His fi…
Jennifer Lawandus
After the 2006 October snowstorm, Re-Tree WNY was established with the goal to restore the 8400 trees that were destroyed in Buffalo during the October 2006 storm. Re-Tree WNY has been gradually climbing towards their goal with 2,730 trees currently planted in Buffalo and a plea for organizations to join Re-Tree WNY during their planting this November of 2,000 trees.
Even if you're not a member of an organization, Re-Tree WNY is encouraging individuals who would like to plant trees on their street to team up with their neighbors and form a tree planting group. "Groups of neighbors planting trees on their street is more effective than just one individual planting a tree in front of their house. Not only will groups of neighbors planting trees accomplish social capital but it will also build ties between neighbors" said Justin Booth, Board-member.
With a goal of planting 2,0…
thursday july 3rd 2008
Reducing Take-Home Vehicles
Jennifer Lawandus
With gas prices on the rise, it's no surprise that Mayor Byron W. Brown announced a 41 percent reduction of take-home vehicles used by City of Buffalo employees. This reduction means there will be 50 take-home vehicles available, instead of the previous 85.
"41 percent is a number we are pleased with, and we will continue to review other ways to save money," Mayor Byron Brown explained. With a decrease in take-home vehicles the money spent on gasoline for these vehicles is also expected to decrease by 41 percent, which was $231,985 in fiscal year 2007-2008.
Some city workers will be notified today that their take-home vehicle is now only available for use during the work day. This means they will have to drive their personal vehicles to and from work. "Additionally," Brown stated, "the vehicles will not be permitted to leave city limits unless pre-approved for conferences an…
queenseyes
It is amazing to me that there are still neighborhoods and parks in the city that still have cobra-style street lighting. These are the street lights that were built for highways and freeways and somehow ended up becoming a standard form of lighting for the quaintest streets and parks in the city. Seriously, there are some neighborhoods in Allentown that look like the residents have dumped millions of dollars into house facades, gardens, walkways, historic banners, etc. - yet the street lighting shouts out, "Speed down this street!"
Fortunately there are some residents in Buffalo who have demanded that these cobra-style lights come down. Now, instead of just lighting up the street for the cars, the sidewalks are also lit, which ultimately makes walking in neighborhoods safer. I was just taking some photos of cobra-style street lamps in front of Trattoria Aroma (on Bryant Street…
George Thomas Apfel
With the opening of the Commercial Slip and other developments on the waterfront, there's been a renewed interest in Buffalo's rich harbor history. Now you have a chance to get up front and personal with the true behemoths of the of Buffalo: the massive grain elevators. The Industrial Heritage Committee's 23rd Anniversary Historic Buffalo River Tour kicks off tomorrow July 4th 12:30pm - 2:30pm with the first of three summer boat tours of the Buffalo River.
Joseph Dart perfected the grain elevator in Buffalo in the 1842, first constructed of wood and steel but plagued by fire and explosions, steel reinforced concrete was introduced by the end of the century. Over one hundred years later many of these mammoth monoliths, a tribute to Buffalo's heyday as a transportation hub, remain mostly unused. Some argue they should be demolished and the land reclaimed for other use; but…
Jennifer Lawandus
Time Warner Cable and the Buffalo Bisons have joined forces to give Buffalonians the chance to catch a Bisons game without being in Dunn Tire Park.
The teaming up of the two was announced Monday, June 30. Ten Buffalo Bisons home games will be aired live on Time Warner Cable SportsNet, Channel 13. The lineup of games available on your television will begin on July 3 with a game against the Rochester Red Wings at 6PM.
After the games have been aired live, they will be available for fans anytime on the WNY On-Demand Channel 997.
Of course, whether your at Dunn Tire Park or watching on your television, a Bisons game wouldn't be complete without Ben Wagner and Duke McGuire. All games played at Dunn Tire Park will include play-by-play from "The Voice of the Bisons," Wagner and commentary by McGuire.
We won't know until the first game is aired on July 3, but it seems like this will…
