Author: George Johnson

Buffalo Rising Co-Founder. Designer (Product, Graphic, Motion). Geek.

Yesterday, NPR released a powerful video featuring a number of Frederick Douglass’ great, great, great (and great) grandchildren reading his “What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?” speech that he originally delivered to “a large, mostly white crowd in Rochester, New York on July 5, 1852.” I spent a lot of yesterday thinking about that speech and the NPR piece. I played it for my mom and on that particular day, at this particular moment, it stirred in both of us the medley of conflicting feelings most Black folks have about the 4th of July—and America—in general.…

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Westside Gunn released his new album “Pray for Paris” last night, and we’re still up listening. The prolific Buffalo MC, who’s said he’s a designer or stylist before being a rapper, was inspired by his visit to Paris Fashion Week. Half the album was recorded in Paris just a few days after the event. “The inspiration was different. There was no difference as far as recording because I do what I do. That was all inspiration from me coming off the plane for the first time in Paris. That was the first time I left the country. I’m front row…

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Behind the scenes, the Buffalo Rising team is at work on a few surprises this quarter–a handful of changes and additions we plan to launch by the end of the year. One of those additions is a new online space exclusively for regional architecture, home design, and decor. With a small group of local professionals, we’re putting together stories of special local redesigns and renovations as well as posts that highlight fresh local design thinking and trends. We’d like to share some of the best home design examples from our readers as well, and we’re reaching out for submissions. Whether…

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Every once in a while, we come across articles about our city and what goes on here, written by national and international media outlets. Here are some of the more interesting ones we’ve come across this past week. How to Build a Rust Belt Art Boom Aaron Ott, the first-ever curator of public art at Buffalo’s Albright-Knox Art Gallery, talks about leading an uncommon cultural initiative across Western New York. Tesla’s Solar Factory Is Reportedly Struggling to Meet Elon Musk’s ‘Aesthetic Demands’ Two years ago, Elon Musk promised the world that Tesla would produce solar panels virtually indistinguishable from roof…

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Uber, the official ridesharing partner of the Buffalo Bills, has just announced a plan to make it even easier to use the service to get to and from New Era Field. Beginning this season, you’ll be able  to use Uber Zone (located just south of the stadium at the corner of Abbott Rd and Big Tree Rd)—to easily connect with your driver. When hailing from New Era Field, your pickup location will default to Uber Zone and your driver, once he or she arrives, will call or text you to let you know in which row they’ve parked. One suggestion:…

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Chef Victor’s late-night Instagram post of preserved blueberries and cinnamon in a circulator… That’s what piqued our interest a few days ago. So we reached out to find out what he was up to. Victor Parra Gonzalez and his partner, Vincenza (Zina) Lapi, are the team behind Casa Azul—an exciting and much-anticipated new Downtown restaurant that offers a few different experiences. Downstairs is a taqueria serving Mexican street fare grounded in tradition, pushed forward with new ingredients and technique. The soon-to-open upstairs will offer a slightly more formal family-style experience with a fully realized bar program, large and share plates,…

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“It’s looking quite promising that a solar roof actually costs less than normal roof,” Elon Musk said at a shareholder meeting at which shareholders approved the Tesla/SolarCity merger with an 85% vote. “Before you even take the value of electricity into account.” That “Before you even take the value…” part is a pretty big deal. In October when SolarCity’s solar roof tiles were unveiled, Musk said the cost would compete with comparable roofing tiles, once the value of the electricity they generate is taken into account. At yesterday’s meeting Musk spoke about how Tesla is reducing costs by eliminating inefficiencies…

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