Author: JuliaB

When I went to see the Flaming Lips at Artpark last week, I missed the opening band, and I admit to being a little disappointed. I try to get into a show as early as possible not only to get a good spot in front of the stage, but to see the opening band. More often than not, the performers prior to the headliners put on an as good if not better show, though I don’t think anyone is topping the kind of freakouts the Flaming Lips pull off, I was hoping to see Fang Island, whose music is self-described…

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Priscilla Project is one of my favorite difference-makers in the city. Mentoring pregnant refugee women is a very effective, low cost way to improve our neighborhoods not only in the short-term, but over generations. The following is a testimonial from another mentor: “In June 2009, I was at home with my one-month-old baby, experiencing the ups and downs of new motherhood. Around the same time, Poe Meh, was leaving Ban Mai Nai Soi, a refugee camp on the Burma/ Thailand border, and heading to America. Neither of us knew it, but our paths would unite that December, through The Priscilla Project.…

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This week, a post on a picnic for refugees led to an explosion of comments. The practicality of welcoming immigrants and refugees is debatable. Their arrival will change Buffalo’s culture and economy. Time will tell if the changes are for better or worse. The odd thing, however, is that many of us have decided that “practicality” is not always the best way to make a decision, because the right thing to do isn’t always practical. And though it may or may not be wise (and that can be the subject of another post), a large portion of us have given…

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By Julia Bozer:The Buffalo Maritime Center has been on a quest for a permanent home for years. Now, the building it currently occupies at 901 Fuhrmann Boulevard will close its doors at the end of 2010, leaving the local institution out in the cold (and snow). While recent press has covered Director John Montague’s renewed efforts to secure space at the city-owned Col. Ward Pumping Station to accommodate the Center’s Maritime Museum (see post), boat building facilities, research center, library, community outreach programs, and extensive collection of restored and historic boats, a meeting earlier this month between Montague, the building’s…

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