Halloweenie

The Adventures of Pete and Pete, a old favorite. Gawd, this was a good show, back when Nickelodeon had some soul

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I put a spell on you….

Greetings of the season courtesy Pete Townshend via Screamin’ Jay Hawkins

“Usher, this man’s annoying me…”

When the home team stinks up the joint as a whole like the lads did on home ice, we moonlighters have a little time to watch the little things.

I was grateful to trade in the polyester blazer from the previous bank for blatantly blue, almost azure, of the new bank’s pullover, an infintely more practical change.

While the drinkers still astound me, it was a treat to watch a couple of different sets of parents bring little kids to their first games. The kids in both cases were old enough to know where they were and what they were about, but young enough to be unable to hid the joy of being there. You have to be made of stone not to find that heartwarming. You know at least a few folks weren’t sarcastic in their wave appreciation.

It cracks me up the way some folks have to go looking for “somebody in a section.” Um, call em.

Inside each of the corridors, there is a cup holder for the staff. Each event I work I get a bottle of water and it generally stays put for me. After the second period last night, a little kid went by, took my still semi full bottle and recycled it. I mean I applaud the spirit, but there was still some contents I was hoping to get to.”

The new daiquiris come in some pretty interesting colors.

The pizza did look pretty good, from a distance, but I’m not sure what will make it artisian, hopefully that is a step from, well, bad.

Hopefully, the guys who came in Sabres costumes get a little better next time out.

Not Fade Away

A reading from Book 2, verse 12 of Angry Birds….

While continuing to not care about the lack of an NBA season, I started to pay attention a little to the World Series a bit as it progressed. It was sort of hard to get terribly worked up about the Rangers and Cardinals. Both have had their good sides and bad sides. I mean the Cardinals’ ownership has inflicted mediorce beer on the world for a long time and when President Bush was involved with the Rangers, they dumped Sammy Sosa off to the Cubs where he and some chemicals gave chase to some home run records. Given the timing, you’d think that would have been a little foreshadowing for Dubya’s presidency. But, you set all that aside, there was some actual interesting baseball there and without a villian, just two teams slugging it out.  I do agree that the frequent cut aways during Game Six to Rangers poobah and pitching Legend Nolan Ryan made it look like he wanted the damn ball to finish off the Cards. He looked like he probably could have done it too.

Yeah, so Ryan Miller might have a problem or two with the Tampa Bay Lightening at the moment, but I don’t care. He’s our guy, it’s a long season and stuff will happen. Remember the start of last hockey season. Stuff happens. You can’t help but like Jhonas Enroth, but everybody should just chill. Enroth will play the needed 20-25 for Miller to stay fresh. I’ll take this year’s start over last year’s anytime.

Glad the Bills signed Fitz, with Johnson and Jackson soon to follow. Now how about some defense now that Merriman has crashed and burned once more.

Being a Mets fan might have wrecked my baseball attention span. When you measure a good game for its nap quality, it might be time to afford the Blue Jays more attention.

Right Club

http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:video:thedailyshow.com:400666

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Flippin’ genius I tell ya

Don’t hate the Playa, hate the rule enforcer

Hey, he has a sense of humor about it, so should we.

Where Buffalo Roams

With my job, I move with a diverse group of folk when getting out of the office. The ones in the office are pretty cool too, but the nature of what we do has you mixing with a number of different publics. One of my favorite on-going collaborations is with the good folks at Visit Buffalo Niagara. The former CVB took a lot of grief from internet wags about their “Buffalo: For Real” slogan and that is unfortunate because it doesn’t really touch on the big picture of this weirdly, wonderful pace we call home. They do tremendous  work getting people to come see the place, but something struck me in watching the various reports, tweets, stories leading up to the premiere of “Buffalo:Unscripted,” the documentary about life here.

A lot of folks here don’t venture beyond their own self-inflicted boarders a lot and you need to play tourist in your own backyard now and again. There is a lot happening, but sometimes you have to be curious enough to go get lost. It’s been on my mind a lot as we try to find the right mix to get folks to come see what we’ve been up to at my place of employ.

Wanderlust is in invaluable thing. My folks still live in the house that I grew up, but that neighborhood is shifting and the bulk of the landed immigrants are younger than me and more than once I’ve heard the comment about “Coming all the way out from the city.” Like to get to Clarence from where I reside in the city, you had to stop in Cheektowaga for rest and provisions before completing the journey.

The key to seeing the big picture is to know some things and not care about others, and to occasionally try something new for the heck of it. Stride into Gigi’s on the east side and you know what evil, what torture, what torment you’ll face? A breakfast that will make you wonder where it’s been all your life. I don’t know how many trips I’ve taken down Niagara Street on various missions over the years, but had to remind myself to go explore Squaw Island on a early September afternoon. It was a left turn worth taking.

Between Buffalo: Unscripted and the National Preservationist Gathering, there is a upshot of feeling that we do indeed have some pretty good stuff around in these parts. What I take away is the feeling that people are looking around a little more, which hopefully means less of “I haven’t been there (zoo, museum, fill in attraction here) in years.” And, you know, hopefully, you start with the Zoo, just sayin.”

So, I hope the preservationist conference attendees go back to their homes and talk about what they found, but hopefully the resounding energy of discovery can translate into somebody from Hamburg curious to see the evolution of Canalside or at least lunch at the Niagara Cafe, or gasp, even a little christmas shopping on Elmwood or Hertel. And then maybe dinner in Blackrock!

Imagine.

Ninety-nine and a half won’t do

“Ninety-nine and a half just won’t do
Oh, no, no, just won’t get it”

I don’t believe Wilson Pickett had the Occupy Wallstreet movement in mind with that, but it popped into my mind with footage of the movement spreading beyond our borders.

You can some similarities as they both center around government dysfunction. And, that, in what is left of my mind, is everybody’s fault. The Tea Partiers have scared the G.O.P. so their sole focus is defeating the President, not so anything gets done. That’s petty and those guys are “representing” anything. The occupiers are upset with corporate greed. I am too, but the corporate folks are running through the loopholes our representatives left behind and are too scared to do anything about, because our “leaders” are concerned mostly with just staying elected. We need to be curious as Wall Street has become a buzz word even for campaigns that have nothing to with Wall Street mechanics.

And, that my friends, is the problem. Both the President and Congress have been disappointing and the polarization is costing people who don’t have the government healthcare afforded senators, congressmen and other criminals and despots.

They all need to grow the proverbial pair.

I’m pretty sure…

…That a Tigers-Brewers World Series would have been fun for everybody but network execs at Fox. Nothing against this year’s finalists, but Tony LaRussa reminds me of a certain football coach in the New England area.

…That the Bills need to tighten the old defensive belt even faster than other concerns. For five out of their six games so far, the opposing offenses are practically running downhill. Otherwise, we are just having an exciting time, but ultimately reality might set in with a resounding thud.

…I would have liked to have been in the First Niagara Center for the Sabres’ actual home opener. That building often seemed a little soul-less, when things aren’t going well. But with anticipation high, the joint has a palpable soul. Despite the loss (the only one so far), it must have been buzzin in Pegulaville.

…that being a Mets fan might have done damage to my baseball acumen. My fantasy team had a firesale after the All-Star break, but it was fun to watch the Red Sox finish coming unspooled right around the time the Bills were doing you know what to the Patriots.

…that I don’t miss the NBA.

…worrying about one call during the Giants game is folly for Bills fans when there were other chances to make that argument moot.

…that I can’t watch Patriots vs. Cowboys match ups as they can’t both lose. Damn.

…I like Ryan Fitzpatrick gambling periodically though. Stuff will happen, but even Jim Kelly had some three interception days. The trick is bouncing back.

Fightin’ the Power