What is the result of combining cheesy, unintentionally humorous videos, two witty and entertaining hosts, and audiences that are looking for some laughs? The Found Footage Festival! On Saturday May 22nd, the Found Footage Festival (FFF) will come to Buffalo for the first time. The event, which begins at 8 PM, will be hosted by the Squeaky Wheel/Buffalo Media Resources. The FFF is a “celebration of odd and hilarious found videos,” according to its website. Co-curators and hosts Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher began searching for and accumulating VHS tapes in 1991. Prueher, who had taken a job at McDonald’s,…
Author: Drew
Computers offer limitless possibilities. Perhaps most importantly, computers allow the ability to communicate and create. The techARTS for Girls program offers Buffalo and Erie County girls the chance to gain in-depth knowledge about technology and computers while gaining confidence in themselves. This summer, Squeaky Wheel, located at 712 Main Street, will host techARTS for Girls classes. Participants will be able to “develop computer and technical skills working with printers, scanners, cameras, multimedia editing software and design software,” said Program Director and Squeaky Wheel Assistant/Education Director Tammy McGovern. Squeaky Wheel will offer three techArts classes: Beginners (June 25th to August…
In one year, the small, vacant house at 139 Howell Street in Buffalo’s Black Rock neighborhood was transformed into a livable, fully renovated home known as “Quad Space.” Four UB architecture students, Paul Dudkowski, Dan Stripp, Michael-John Bailie and Ernest Ng, were entering their second year of graduate school in the summer of 2008. The students chose to purchase the once vacant house that is now “Quad Space” at a Buffalo auction for $6,500, with the intent of renovating the house into a useable living space. In October 2009, the fully finished project was revealed to the Howell Street neighborhood…
For the fourth year in a row, Canisius College accepted the Locks of Love/Bald for Bucks Challenge! The event kicked off at 4 PM in Palisano Pavilion on Thursday April 22nd. The 25 participants could either donate their hair to Locks of Love, Goin’ Bald for Bucks, or both causes. Locks of Love, a non-profit organization, creates hairpieces and hair prosthetics for “financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis,” according to its website. There are several guidelines for what types and lengths of hair can…
You know about Santa Claus, so you’ve probably also heard stories about Saint Nicholas. Perhaps you’ve doubted their existence. Maybe you stopped believing in Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas a long time ago. Since the 4th century, the stories told of these renowned Christmas figures have included both myth and fact. The truth is, the traditional red suited, white bearded Santa Claus originated from Saint Nicholas, who lived in Asia Minor. One thing is for sure: the movie Nicholas of Myra: The Story of Saint Nicholas, which was filmed entirely in Western New York, specifically in Buffalo, will capture the…
“The great city is that which has the greatest man or woman; if it be a few ragged huts, it is still the greatest city in the whole world.” -Walt WhitmanI’m a sucker for a good Whitman quote. Perhaps it was the short stint teaching American Literature to high-school Juniors; puzzling them with his sometimes ethereal strings of words and then making sense of them together. But one thing Whitman was never unclear about was his desire to understand the common man, the culture around him and how it interacted solely and then together; about the strength of the common…
Buffalo is an arts and cultural community on the rise. With new organizations and spaces emerging in quick succession, the new Burchfield-Penney Art Center being one of the largest among them, it is almost impossible not to take note of a cultural landscape that is rapidly expanding and strengthening its voice. It is for these very reasons that a group of leaders from this thriving community have joined together to create an exciting new initiative, the Greater Buffalo Cultural Alliance (GBCA), whose mission is to “harness the collective resources of the region’s cultural organizations to position arts, culture and creativity…
Imagine a childhood where books do not exist. Parents who do not read to you or take you to the library. Parents, who sadly, do not know how to read themselves. Imagine how differently your childhood, my childhood, might have been. That, you might think, does not happen here, not today in our neighborhoods. But it does. And it is exactly why Read to Succeed Buffalo (RTSB) is launching a new campaign, a community art project, that they hope will promote the need for a more literate community and, in particular, to promote the idea of family literacy; parents or…
“Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.” Hebrews 13:3″I [Jesus] was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison, and you did not visit me.'” Matthew 25:43Another detainee committed suicide in the Erie County Holding center last Wednesday, and it appears to have been entirely preventable. The story is available at the Buffalo News. Meanwhile, the county continues to fight a lawsuit from the Federal Department of Justice, seeking…
Valentine’s Day is traditionally known for heart shaped candy, cheesy greeting cards and pressure to perform grand romantic gestures for one’s significant other. Here is yet another way to celebrate the day – the St. Valentine’s Day Haunted Pub Crawl of Allentown.This Friday, February 12th at 6:30PM, all are invited to participate in this unique event. The Crawl will begin at Cozumel Grill & Tequila Bar on 153 Elmwood Ave. The event is led by author Mason Winfield and a few close colleagues. For $20 a person, one can experience “a little bit of socializing, a bit of walking, some…