Missing Buffalo Ain't Hard To Do
It happens to so many people and you probably hear about it all the time. People leave Buffalo and remain nostalgic about the area. They miss the community they were a part of here as well as all of the spots that make Buffalo different from any other city in the country. It seems that even artists are members of the ilk of people who miss Buffalo. Gilbert Neal misses Buffalo so much, he writes songs about it.
Neal says, “I grew up on the border of West Seneca and Buffalo, where they built the 190 right through. I lived on Aurora Avenue, and even though I lived technically in West Seneca, there was nothing about our neighborhood that had anything in common with the other kids who went to, say, West Senior. All of us were very poor. I spent all of my free time on Seneca Street near the old Mighty Taco, near Rooftops, near Cazenovia Park.”
As Neal got older, he moved into Hyde Park Apartments on North Street. Before he could afford it, he moved from place to place and sublet nine different apartment rooms around Buffalo State College. After moving into his own apartment, he lived just a block from the Old Pink and remembers it with a lot of fondness. “Pretty women, freedom, and loud music! Walkable. Then the Towne Restaurant after that, usually after 2 AM. You never knew who you were going to see. There's nothing like that here. There never will be,” recalls Neal.
Neal recorded a CD with a band called East of Idaho while in Buffalo and he wrote all the songs. He says he didn’t go solo because he was afraid to. “It was just so much easier to hide behind a band name as opposed to your own name, which, I've found out, is pretty scary,” he says. Now, Neal has found that courage and released two CDs, one in 2006 and the other this year.
On his first CD, “Drink The Beast With Me,” Neal mentions his old neighborhood in South Buffalo. His newest CD, “Our Deepest Apathy…,” hearkens back to Buffalo with a reference to Allentown. The cover even features a picture of an office within Bethlehem Steel.
Both of his CDs are described as cynical, his latest being considered more cynical than his last. Attempting to explain his cynicism, Neal says, “I fear that the sum of these last 8 years has taught us nothing. The book "What's The Matter With Kansas" should be required reading in the Midwest. I am bitter about my hometown and the seeming intractability of the powers that be to do something smart with the beautiful resources afforded by nature. By simple chance. Free! I am cynical because it seems men and women cannot be friends when they reach a certain point in their chronology. I feel that God has done more harm than good.”
Now Neal lives in Hillsborough, North Carolina. He originally moved because his girlfriend had a skin condition that unfortunately required a warmer climate. Though he has thought about coming back to Buffalo, the lack of job opportunities keeps him in the South. People down there don’t pick up the Buffalo references in his music unless they were from the WNY area and the only thing they seem to know about Buffalo involves snow – a cliché Neal would like to see eradicated. For now, Neal is happy to just remember the Buffalo area while making his world-weary music.
Neal says that even though he left Buffalo years ago, it still holds a significant place in his memory and heart. He says what he remembers the most are “the friends I made during my youth, that are still with me in one way or another. It's only people who went through the ups and downs of being a Buffalonian that truly understand what true resilience is. There's NOTHING like a Mighty. Or La Nova. Or the Pink. Or the Towne. Or taking pictures of the old Terminal. Or Bethlehem Steel. Or where I played bass for so many years, at Reuben's Backstage, Pearl and Chippewa. There's this history that we all share. And whenever I meet a Buffalonian now down here, there's a rhythm. An understanding. Like a secret handshake. It's odd.”
You can learn more about Gilbert Neal at his website.
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gaustad
Awe, isn't great that you can spend your life miserable in Buffalo or miserable missing Buffalo from afar. You're dammed if you do and dammed if you don't....everyone says it.
The pros and cons are almost dead even. Economy vs. cost of living, Warm vs Cold climate, traffic vs. no traffic, red necks vs familiar faces, style vs. no style, skinny girls vs. obese.....you know the drill.
If the city could only pull it together before we all die, x-pats would move back here in droves. We could all be happy again living with friends and family in the same region.....its was all a dream....good night!
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buffaloweiner
I know what he means. I used to believe it was Buffalo was the first city of the midwest and carried those down to earth midwest values of down to earth, straight forward directness, etc.
However, its more than that because Clevelanders can be just as snooty as Rochester. I think if Buffalo reminds me of a city it would probably be Milwaukee though I think we may even be more friendly than Milwaukee.
For all the stories of rough neighborhoods in Buffalo....all the stories of drugs and shootings...for many Buffalo had a real sense of community and neighborliness. The snow storms that everyone else says they would never move here for....they remind ourselves that we are our neighbors keeper. Where others fail we rise up.
It really is kind of amazing how we can rise up during a crisis and then sink into such apathy in the everyday routine.
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jdfan
Ex-pat Dan Lewis mixed, co-produced, played on a bunch of tracks on Gilbert's first album. Dan's a pretty accomplished musician in his own right, even if he doesn't write songs explicitly about Buffalo.
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gnealboopyboop
II just want to clarify one thing that I probably didn't express too well to Eli in the first place.
I never let others sublet anything of mine, as I owned nothing. I was practically homeless for a good long while whilst attending Buff State, so I filled in for other renters month by month, place by place. It seems like there's nary a neighborhood between Amherst Street and Fargo that I hadn't occupied, but usually only a month at a time.
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Dave
When I lived in Atlanta back in the 80’s I used to hear this song ( don’t know the name) that said “ I want to shuffle off to Buffalo and sit by the lake and watch the world go by” I missed my roots in Buffalo so much I moved back and never regretted it. It’s the only place I really feel at home.
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stewie
This is quite the tug at the heartstrings piece... oh those distant memories of tacos, undercooked pizza, and crappy Greek food. Don't most people always retain that longing for their hometown? I've got to admit though whenever I'm traveling and I hear the Erie Canal song I start crying.
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grace
poiuipoui
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grace
sorry about the last post - accident...
Gilbert Neal is the best songwriter I have ever heard. He is the man! I miss the food in Buffalo...
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CBSbaby
From 1870 - 1944 my grandparents/great-grandparents lived within one mile of themselves southwest of Buff State and Delaware Park. I've been wandering the desert of the SW US for 34 years now after having been raised in the suburbs north of Buff for 20-odd years. Neal's right: whether loving it and living there or leaving it, like it or not, Buff's the life in your blood. It is both my belief and hope that you/I can go home again.
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georged
Gaustad you reference rednecks v familiar faces. Having lived in both the souteast and the west, I can tell you that there are more rednecks in WNY than anywhere else that i have gone. For proof go to a NFL football game in Atlanta, Nashville, or Charlotte and compare the class of people there to a Bills game. You will see a lot more examples of hunting gear, garbage bag raincoats, and mullets at Rich Satdium, trust me. Plus, cross burnings seem to be more popular in Buffalo these days than in more progressive southern cities.
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TranspoGuy
Georged....did you just say Progressive Southern Cities? Such a thing does not exist
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georged
They are doing something right Transpo. Their economies, population, and quality of life seem to be blowing by many of the other parts of the country. But you probablly know much better, being the world traveler that you are.
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gaustad
Georged,
you must be referring to the trailer trash at the Bills game.....I am not gonna disagree with you, Buffalo has their fair share of white trash....don't get me started on the hunting gear, mustaches, and fat women dressed in Buffalo Bills Zubbas.
Going to a Bills game is like going to Nascar.
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georged
Well stated gaustad. I never did get the WNY obsession with the moustache, how long has Magnum PI been off the air? I forgot about Zubaz. It is amazing how even Joey Buttafuoco doesn't sport those anymore but most Bills fans still think they are the rave.
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platt4
I thought I recognized georged and gaustad on the latest cover of GQ! Or was it OUT magazine?
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Joshua
gaustad - Ah no! It is NOTHING like going to Nascar. I don't know who you hang out with when you go to the games.
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georged
Joshua,
Are you serious? I have traveled to many different cities to see the Bills, and no fan base comes close to the dreggs of society like in Buffalo (Cleveland a close second.) NASCAR is bad, but those people actually must have $$ because they travel around the country to watch that crap.
There is no worse (or truer) portrayal of Buffalo's population when they pan the camera around Rich Stadium during a TV broadcast. It is especially humorous during a rainy game and the Buffalo citizenry shows off their unique rain coat fashion-Buffalo Fog, in other words a Glad bag over their jacket. All Buffalo stereotypes are proven true when you attend a Bills game.
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Joshua
georged and gaustad - believe what you want to believe. You dress for the weather, what do you expect people to wear..designer leather coats.. no. You can go ahead and laugh, but I wouldn't.
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heathersmiles
Georged - I disagree on only one point, the Eagles fans in Philadelphia are worse than Buffalo or Cleveland. I agree with the rest, including the "Buffalo Fog" comment.
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EricOak
georged,
I know you never met a stereotype you didn't like, but you don't seem to know Buffalo's social complexion very well. Anyone who equates Buffalo with football is ignoring most of the city's social history. As you get older and have lived and travelled in different places, you realize that people are the same ...everywhere. The only difference? In Buffalo, they smile more.
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gnealboopyboop
It's the people who couldn't care less about sports that define Buffalo for me. The others are sort of like our old relatives who used to go to a tavern to anesthetize themselves from the drudgery of their lives. The movie Buffalo 66 explores this theme somewhat succinctly. People of our father's father's generation would drink themselves silly after work, and then the Bills came along and offered up a chance for them (us) all to share in the glory. Whatever that means. I don't blame them for being terminally entrenched in a ritual that has given their lives so much meaning. It's the meaning itself that should gove one pause. Besides, it's not Buffalo. It's Orchard Park.
And as far as NASCAR, there are entire radio shows here dedicated to it, and whenever the dial lands there it sounds to me like Reverend Lovejoy performing Burns' wedding to Miss Bouvier.
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grace
Here's what I miss about Buffalo - the food, the Sabres.
What I don't miss - the weather, the potholes, the politics, threats of closing libraries and parks and the zoo, constant road construction, thruway and bridge tolls, taxes, crime, the economy and the constant need for Buffalo newspapers to talk about how great Buffalo is and how people want to come back. I never want to go back. I wouldn't even go back to visit if my family didn't live there. Of course there are some nice parts; there are nice parts to almost any place. But the bad outweighs the good by far. I know it's a money problem. It is what it is, but really, there are much better places to work and bring up a family.
There are many southern cities that are very progressive. People that say there aren't are kidding themselves...
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kooksapalooza
ok ill bite....thanks for the insight on buffalo sucking grace!...glad to see you made it back to a crappy website devoted to a crappy city to enlighten us with your love for everywhere else. Ps....dont you have other places to post about if its so bad here? i dont get it!...if you dont like buffalo and see no hope for it and would never come back why do people come to this website. If you are a fan of the city and want to see it succeed and believe it will and enjoy it then your insight is valued. Hence, your opinion is of no value here....
pps bring on the one star
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grace
kooks - typical knee jerk reaction from a person that is defensive. if you choose to have a mature debate about the failings of Buffalo, I'd be glad to.
I came on this website to read a review about a musician that i think is fantastic. The article written about him, though, reeks of Buffalo's horrible self-esteem and absolute pitiful need for patting itself on the back - a sure sign of insecurity.
It's people like you that will make Buffalo fail in the end. If the people there just said "This place is horrible!" then [perhaps they would take the steps to fix it. Keep telling yourself it's a good place; people are leaving in droves. Don't believe me? Look at the stats.
I just get tired of Buffalo apologists. They don't make the place any better. See your city for what it is - a hunk of junk. Now try to make it better. Otherwise, you'll keep saying how good it is until you are the last schmoe to turn out the lights.
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kooksapalooza
im not saying that buffalo doesnt have its probs and has a lot to fix. I am commenting on you. We dont need YOU to come and tell us what is wrong and how awful everything is. I dont think there are very many people here that think buffalo is the greatest place on earth but ill be dammed if ill let you just rip it to shreds either. And so i get back to my original point. Yes buffalo has problems and we all hope they can get fixed but you grace are just annoying. You read your article and it confirmed to you that buffalo still sucks...now go away
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grace
Oh, and Kooks - here's some stats for ya - look up the facts on the web. i can't do all your work for ya...
Buffalo 2nd poorest city in the county. Buffalo 11th most depressing city in the country. Buffalo 11th snowiest city in the county. (unless you like winter sports, this sucks...) Buffalo 6th raniest city in the country. Erie County lost more people than any NY county since 2000. (go ahead - say Erie County isn't "Buffalo". It still is... Buffalo - 208 cloudy days per year. That's 57%. That's alot...
Game on...
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grace
oh and Kooks, I won't go away. Only because you want me to. I think I've found a new favorite friend. YOU. Again, you make it easy. Ya see, I feel sorry for you...and Buffalo. Because of people like you. Sillywilly! Don't you know the first step to eliminating a problem is to ADMIT YOU HAVE ONE?
Say it with me - Buffalo is a horrible place. Buffalo is a horrible place...good. now We are getting somewhere. Now, since you have admitted it, lets see how you can fix it.
Wanna kiss?
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PaulBuffalo
Grace, isn't everyone defensive about where they live? I live in LA and I get defensive when someone labels the area as shallow. I love New Orleans and can understand why people would want to live there in spite of hurricane threats. East St. Louis is one of the scariest places I've ever visited in this country and yet there are people there who love their community. You, obviously, chose a place that's better for you and what you want from a community. However, it doesn't mean that Buffalo is any less vital to its citizens for a variety of reasons.
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kooksapalooza
sorry i tend to not take a liking to sagging women past the age of 40.....nonetheless...you have brought to our attention profound points..THAT WE ALREADY KNOW!....you are making a fool out of yourself because you believe you are better than everyone in buffaalo or you believe that you have some profound way to change anything about buffalo. You dont, you said yourself you have no intentions of ever coming back. So then what is your point of being here and saying stuff like "buffalo is a horrible place," other than to be a complete b*tch (which you seem to have down cold)?
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georged
You know, i can understand some of what you say kooks. I am not really fond of outsiders ripping on Buffalo myself, and i haven'ty lived there in over 10 years. If you do live there or have grown up there, to me its fair game, and i do partake in Buffalo bashing. Just because you don't live in Buffalo doesn't mean you can't go on this blog.
I am not sure what Grace's interest is on checking out this website, but maybe she has a valid interest in what is going on in Buffalo as I do. My parents are in poor health and have a home (the home I grew up in) near LaFayette HS. The neighborhood has gone to hell. They won't move down south to live by me. I can understand why, they have family and friends still there-valid reason. I was talking to a good friend who still lives in Buffalo, and he was trying to quell my fears of things there getting worse, and recommended i check out this blog. All I see is a lot of BS about proposed prjoects, etc-nothing new, same old story. What really angers me is how everything is about how great the "Elmwood Village" is. I guess if things are good there, everything is great in Buffalo. How come my parents neighborhood, which lies only blocks from this invisible line of demarcation, is looking worse all the time. Crime, rats, unkept homes, drugs I could go on. Since a bunch of wannabe yuppies moved in to a surrounding area from the suburbs and beat their chest about how great and stylish it is, everything is now fine!
Nowhere in the nation is there some kind of Shangra-la, but most cities look at these problems and try to fix them. In Buffalo the new leadership-like Mayor Brown, just spout out a bunch of nonsense PR about how things are changing to the positive. The city needs a dose of reality.
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kooksapalooza
i get what you're saying georged. I too get annoyed sometimes hearing about projects then never seeing them work out. I had to leave buffalo 2 years ago for medschool. I got annoyed with grace because she seemed to serve no purpose on the site other than to bash buffalo. Im all about outsiders voicing opinions and contributing to the board, i am an outsider now too. She did it in a different manner though.
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allfit
Grace, I don't disagree with you, if you read my posts you will see that.
One question though, where did you say you are living? I have lived in several southern cities and would like to know what city you are using for comparison.
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grace
i live in atlanta now but i have lived in raleigh and jacksonville fla, all of whom put Buffalo to shame. I lived in Buffalo for 30 years. I have a right to complain. That place scarred me. It made me feel like my future was working in a windshield wiper plant until i get cancer while freezing until i die. Buffalo is one of the best cities for killling people's dreams. I have lived in economies where you barely have to breathe to live a great life. Buffalo makes life a constant struggle.
I don't really care what Kooks says. He is obviously just an apologetist for Buffalo. Like I said, people like him will doom Buffalo. They keep talking about how great it is until he is the last one there. I provided facts. The only way to fix Buffalo is to admit is is a terrible place and go from there. How to do this?
#1 - lower taxes for both individuals and business. #2 - stop raising the damn bridge and thruway tolls. #3 - lower the new york state gasoline tax. (pressure the state...) #4 - quit paying retired and active union workers so damn much - see U.S. auto industry. #5 - fight crime more aggressively. #6 - clean up the streets. get prisoners to do it. last time I was there, there was garbage blowing around the streets en mass. #7 - quit always talking about how great Buffalo is; if you are proud, you don't always have to blab about it... #8 - stop ripping up all of the damn trees when you put up subdivisions and plant more trees where there aren't many.
i have many more...
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grace
whas-a-da-matter, Kooks? The ghost of James Griffin got yer tongue? I haven't heard any retort to my list of facts about the current state of your beloved city. Take the chicken wings out of your eyes and read what I wrote. Now try to debate me. Come on, toots...I'm waiting for a list of things that are good about Buffalo. Don't say friendly people. There are friendly people everywhere. Don't say the sports teams. None of them win the big one. (except for lacrosse and no one cares...) I'm sure you'll bring up architecture. Boring...What else? I'm waiting, my little dirty snowbank of love. The ball's in your court. Don't say the music scene. Are Buffalonians still listening to April Wine and Rush? I know, I know...the goo goo dolls...yawn...doesn't johnny rzeznick live in NYC now?
It can't all be about subs and pizza, Kooks. Give one reason to move BACK to Buffalo, other than family. Don't say change of seasons - there are changes of seasons in the south as well, they are just not as drastic...
I know, I know! I can get cheap cigarettes at Smokin' Joes! Hahahaha.....this is fun. Kooks can I come over to your house for a visit? I just want to come in the summer because I don't want to drive my Lotus on Buffalo streets; one pothole and I'm done for. Will you make your favorite for me? Stromboli and Loganberry? You're the best. I want you to make sweet like to me some more. Ok, chocolate-ears?
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PaulBuffalo
Grace, does your satisfaction of living in a city come down to data? There are many cities that are statistically better than Atlanta, but that means nothing in the adventure of life. You've moved on. Good for you. Is it worth your energy to bash other folks on a website?
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grace
Paul - yes, Mr. Mensa, data is a subset of what the general population of a city says about said city, so it is indeed a measure of a city's worth. Keep loving Buffalo, my insecure friend. One day you will grow up and be able to face the fact that you live in a dump and then do something about it.
Yes, Paul it is worth it to bash Buffalo and the drones that yak on and on about it because the people that defend it are those who stop the city from moving forward and getting better. You are one of them. Keep talkin' proud, my sweet little Beef on Weck. Maybe you can team up with Kooks and Jim Kelly and rub each other with Peace Bridge flavored love oil. Drink the Buffalo kool-aid...Drink the Buffalo kool-aid...
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EricOak
Grace, I'd bet some handsome money that you're the unhappiest person posting on BRO.
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PaulBuffalo
Grace, you make surprising assumptions about me, but I'm not the enemy. I can relate to some of your points because I left Buffalo years ago. I live in Los Angeles, a bigger, bolder and more creative city than Atlanta. Does that mean that LA is better than Atlanta? Does is mean that LA is better than Buffalo? No, it means nothing. I'm not about to engage with you about minutiae like tax rates, etc.
My only point to you is that people love cities and towns for many more reasons than can be conveyed on a website. I just spent a few days on the Navajo reservation. They have no binders of data to defend their hard way of life, yet the Navajo treasure their community and wouldn't trade it for Atlanta or anywhere else. I know disgruntled people in Atlanta, New York, Toronto, Los Angeles... the list goes on. It's not easy to find your place in this world. You've found the place that works for you. Good for you. If you get satisfaction bashing a city, well, that speaks more to your personal issues than any ream of objective data.
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BuffaloSoldier
Grace, you are ridiculous. Buffalo is a better place because you left. Please do not ever comeback. We do not need your negativity or pessimism. It will only hold us back.
Buffalo is a wonderful city. A city lush with culture and stunning architecture, beautiful neighborhoods, parks and business districts and awesome people. I'm privileged to live here and I never want to leave. I've lived in several other parts of the country. The more I was away from Buffalo the more I appreciated it and wanted to come back.
Buffalo is not without its faults. All cities are - including ugly Atlanta. I've been there and was not impressed. In some ways it might be more progressive than Buffalo, but that's because it is significantly larger. I agree with Paul Buffalo, statistics do not paint the whole picture. Quality of life alone cannot be defined by numbers.
Grace, if you don't like Buffalo, fine. You are entitled to your own opinions. However, do not insult us. It is very disrespectful of you to repeatedly bash our home and talk down to us as if we are blind and ignorant. Despite your negativity, your fascination with Buffalo leads many to believe that deep down, you really still love this city.
I
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grace
{deleted- flaming}
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gnealboopyboop
Anyhow, buy the CD!
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BuffaloSoldier
Grace, your idiotic sarcasms and tasteless insults continues to prove to all who read BRO of your immaturity and attention deprived personality. Much like a naive young child who knows nothing better than to throw a temper tantrum because they didn't get the result they wanted.
I might be offended by your Buffalo bashing but I will not be offended by your pathetic insults, much like I am not offended when a child calls me a 'meanie' for scolding them for misbehaving.
BRO is a professional forum for those who love Buffalo, want to see it succeed, and to educate one another on the issues that are affecting our community both good and bad. Clearly, you missed the memo. Who's drinking Kool Aid and taking Clonopin now?
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BuffaloSoldier
My deepest apologizes to Gilbert Neal and Eli George for warping this wonderful topic into the beast that it has become. Thanks Eli for a great article. Gilbert we wish you the best and hope to see you back in Buffalo someday for good.
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gaustad
Grace - you could be one of the all time greats, keep up the good work. You add a new dimension to this site that is sorely needed. Please come back.
I think most of you are missing the point through her sarchasm. quite simply it is the same point that I have been trying to make all along.
There are too many people on this site that buy into all this bull sh!t. I am all for optimism if some of the projects actually were built. none of them are.
People in Buffalo need to get real and then change.
PS - Ralph Wilson Stadium on Bills Sunday is packed with drunk trailer park retards dressed in hunting gear..........and for gods sake, the magnum PI mustache went out of style 25 years ago.
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grace
Hey Buffalo Soldier - whatever, dude. I stick to what I said about Buffalo. It's a dying city. You are offended because you know it's true. If you really loved Buffalo and believed yourself, you wouldn't take it personally. You doth protest too much. Notice I didn't say anything bad about the people in Buffalo, only the robots that keep saying that it is a great place. It's not a great place. If that offends you, oh well. You need to grow up and face the music. People are leaving Buffalo in droves. Every day and night.
Again, keep telling yourself it's a great place. You and Kooks will be the last ones there. Turn off the light, please, or you'll get a giant tax bill. Oh, you already get that. AHAHAHAHAHAHAA
I am getting tired of saying the same thing over and over so I will just say to you Buffalozombies - enjoy the coming winter...
Gilbert your CD is great. Congrats.
Grace
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gaustad
No Grace - DON'T LEAVE ME - I need the entertainment....bored in Buffalo.
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grace
Sorry gaustad, I gotsta go. When my posts get deleted, it's an easy decision. Besides, I really only came to tell that Ed Harris-esque Gilbert Neal how good his CD was. I did get sidetracked by the article writer's embarrasing cheerleading about Buffalo. It always comes to that. "See how good we are? See how good we are?" Eesh...
As far as those who don't like me, maybe we can make up. One day we can take a stroll though Buffalo's great parks together and hold hands. Caz, Delaware, Roswell. You pick. "Isn't It Romaaaaaantic...."
bye now. Gracey In Yo Facey
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Einstein
Grace sounds like a miserable, spiteful, and otherwise discontent person. Good luck with life.
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grace
I'm very sad Einstein. Game, Set, Match. Come on....Let me go ...Gracefully, will ya? Quit pulling me back. Just ignore me. I'm like a vampire. You let me back in!
You want miserable, spiteful and discontent? Take a look around, pal. Maybe you are in Buffalo! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHA.
Harold Arlen (writer of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" ): "To commit suicide in Buffalo would be redundant."
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PaulBuffalo
Grace, Harold Arlen didn't write that. Sorry.
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grace
http://www.time.com/time/columnist/corliss/article/0,9565,1034170,00.html
Read it, dummy....
Grace
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PaulBuffalo
Grace, Michael Bennett wrote the line for A Chorus Line. Sorry.
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grace
I'll make it easy for you Paul...
From this haunted start, Hyman Arluck emerged into the world on February 15, 1905, in Buffalo, N.Y. His father Simon was cantor of the Pine Street synagogue, where Hyman sang in the choir. As Edward Jablonski tells the story in his excellent critical biography, Harold Arlen: Rhythm, Rainbows and Blues, father wanted son to follow suit, but the boy dreamed of being a pop vocalist. The plot of The Jazz Singer could have been based on the Arlucks — especially when the grown-up Harold fell in love with a Russian Catholic showgirl, Anya Taranda, and married her. A home movie seen in the 1999 TV documentary Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Harold Arlen shows a smiling Anya and, next to her, the mother-in-law, positively glowering in disapproval.
In 1912 Simon and his wife Celia had another son, Julius; later known as Jerry, he would conduct some of his older brother's shows. In the documentary, Jerry's wife Rita said of the Arlucks: "They lived in a black community ... and they were very close to these people, and they were really a part of the family." If it's not literally true, as an early Arlen song says, that "I was born with the blues in my heart," then young Hyman certainly picked it up on the street. Anyway, he imbibed those two musical atmospheres, from the synagogue and the neighborhood, and would expertly fuse them in his music. To do that, for all the world hear him, he had to leave home. Which he planned to do in a hurry. As he later told Ben Bagley, who produced the 1970 LP Harold Arlen Revisited, "To commit suicide in Buffalo would be redundant."
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grace
And Kid Rock wrote Sweet Home Alabama and Werewolf of London....wow...you are more of a buffoon than i thought, Paul...
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grace
Now then Pauly-wally-doodle-all-the-day...do you acknowlege that I am your King? Bow to me, peasant. Yes, that's it. Feed me grapes. YES. More...more...mmmm...Fan me you silly little freak. Now go fetch me the Buffalo News. I need to feel better about the city....Yes...yes...oh wait...Ted Nugent just shot a Buffalo. He actually said the word "Buffalo"! We are on the move, Paul, we are on the move...
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grace
ok...i really gotsta go...bye gaustad...no mas...no mas...
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callsit
(deleted)
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Dave
Grace: Buffalo got better the day you left.
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gnealboopyboop
Hey, I may be Ed Harris-esque and dysfunctional, but...what was that third thing you said?
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kooksapalooza
oh grace, you win. You are the greatest person in the world. Im sure your loved ones feel the same way. Although with your attitude i wouldnt be surprised if your pathetic existance was alone and thus miserable about everything in this world. I saw you calling for me yesterday, my apologies for keeping you waiting. Dispite not living in the greatest city in the world (atlanta) i did manage to do something with my friday night. How on earth did somebody of your status and good fortune manage to sit home all day on a friday and saturday and do nothing but post on a website devoted to buffalo? Anyways, I spent a couple mins and thought id enlighten you with some info as well about your great city. Turns out that, believe it or not, you can find horrible information about most cities out there. Ill include references for your reading pleasure seeing as im sure you will be doing nothing else today other than siting on BRO and reading updates: 1) Im gonna die just breathing in atlanta, amongst the worst air quality in the country (http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2008/04/28/daily82.html) 2) you are gonna get run over walking around atlanta, 2nd most dangerous city for pedestrians (http://www.perimetergo.org/Newsroom/press_clippings/ajc_pedsafety.html) 3) Buffalo sports hurt as a fan to watch...we are the 3rd worst sports city in the country!....but OMG!!!!...ATLANTA is the WORST!!!...sweet jesus! (http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/08/sports-atlanta-seattle-biz-sports_cx_tvr_af_0408sportsmisery_slide_7.html?partner=yahoosports) 4)good place to get killed, according to your own police department, chief calls city most dangerous in country: (http://www.bestplaces.net/docs/studies/crime6.aspx)
Now i dont actually give a flying crap about you or your city. My point is that if you spend 10 mins like i did you can find crap about any city. I see you have tried to leave this website many times and think people are inviting you back. Rather, we are mocking you and your existance. You reek of unhappiness and disgruntled post menopausal self loathing, which is ok, because the more you run your mouth the more we all loathe you. And so i officially retire from this thread and from arguing with you like we are in middle school. Which i am aware was prob a good 40 years ago, atleast for you. Peace, god bless and stay the hell away from my city
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Einstein
Grace, you are a troll, not a vampire.
You have done an excellent job of representing Gilbert Neal and the rest of his fans.
Good luck and take care. I hope you find peace with yourself.
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grace
Kooks - this would be funny, except I really don't live in Atlanta. And I'm not a woman. I'm a guy and I live in Chicago. By the way, Buffalo is a horrible city. Did I mention that. People are leaving so fast the only thing left will be mutants like you?
Einstein - go swin in the Love Canal, will ya? you are the best. Hug me, fool!
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heathersmiles
^^ Troll
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DECLOAK
(unfounded).
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Einstein
Decloak - That would be a shame, but probably true.
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gnealboopyboop
itafakxjx
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callsit
(unfounded).
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DECLOAK
(Unfounded)
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gnealboopyboop
Einstein,
If the admins could check the IP addys, they'd see I am definitely not posting as anyone but me. Why would I troll my own article? Anyhow, if you'd believe anonymous trolls and give credence to their propaganda, maybe you're no better. I didn't want to respond to anyone's accusations, but you saying it's "probably true" sort of provoked me.
Anyhow. can we get past this crap? I thought people were supposed to ignore trolls from either side of the discussion?
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DECLOAK
remove from direct connection, ie DSL, and go to wireless and the IP changes
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gnealboopyboop
(shrug)
Maybe YOU'RE Grace, Decloak! It makes more sense. Since you, um, know me so well, you'd know what my particular home network is, and therefore, why your scenario (I guess you've done this in the past?) is impossible. But why bother? You're like a McCain supporter, regardless of whatever evidence shows you how rong you are, you keep making stuff up to fit your preconceived notions.
So Grace is Decloak, who has just revealed how he does it. Nice interplay! Had me fooled.
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gnealboopyboop
wrong
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DECLOAK
hey, mauve man, your personalities are fighting against each other. steeley dan sound alike.
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Einstein
GilbertNeal - No offense intended, if it isn't you then it isn't you. Only you know for sure.
Grace is a troll, who ever s/he is.
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gnealboopyboop
Einstein,
No problem. Agreed.
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heathersmiles
Gilbert - Sorry to see that the original point of this post was lost in the inane posts.
I wanted to let you know that my brother used to be your neighbor and remembers you from Nietzsche's. He said that you were one of the best songwriters in Buffalo at the time, and he would often play you on his WBNY show. He said you were fiercely talented and he wondered what had happened to you after the band (?) disappeared. He said it was good to see that you have gone solo and are making it, he'll probably check out one of your shows or your website or something. I am at a wedding reception with him, and I am drinking, so I apologize if this makes absolutely no sense. Just wanted to share some positive feedback amid all the negativity on the board (mine included).
Good luck, let us know when you play Buffalo.
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