Late Monday, the Buffalo News clumsily excised any mention of Iron Chef from Okun’s review of Valenti’s.  The bit about the parsnips is still there, alone and unexplained. The reason given? I can only imagine the “two sources” were Mr. and Mrs. Valenti. It’s just a red sauce joint. Hell, the food might even be [...]

Alan and I have been writing on the AV Daily blog for about a month and we’ve been having a lot of fun. You know a lot about our politics, interests, and opinions, but we don’t know a lot about you. In order to make content you’d like to read and share with your friends, [...]

Here’s the interior of the 2013 Dodge Dart… Hit or Miss?

The moral of this video is, if you’re on a snowy 2-lane highway in Russia, make sure you have decent clearance before passing a truck. (HT Jalopnik)

Albright Knox by rjgabor via the AV Photo Daily Flickr Group

The news and views fit to be consumed during your morning grumpy. 1. Do you think Congress isn’t doing much this year? You’re absolutely right. An analysis of GovTrack data shows only 66 bills and joint resolutions were enacted this year. The last time the number was even close to this low was in 1995, [...]

It’s not every day the teabagging wing of the Republican Party decides to overrule an 89-10 bipartisan Senate compromise over the payroll tax holiday. It would appear, therefore, that the Grover Norquist pledge never to raise taxes to which GOPers have beholden themselves is voidable in the event (a) that the tax hike disproportionately affects middle-class wage-earners; and/or [...]

Today we bring you this dusty, rather unremarkable 1994 Ford Probe, if for no other reason than to launch this lame joke: I can always tell when my proctologist is in the office by checking the parking lot. He drives a brown Probe. Ba-dum bum. The Probe was a sister car to the Mazda MX-6 [...]

Poloncarz transition team conducting interviews at SEIU’s office. It’s got everything – McCarthy transcription of non-scandal nontroversy, “raised eyebrows”, strawmen everywhere, and eevil yoonyunz. (This will be an occasional – not daily – feature. Because seriously, right wing media can only be consumed in small doses.)

Yes, it’s media criticism Monday. On Friday, The Buffalo News’ venerable, legendary restaurant reviewer Janice Okun gave a new Italian red sauce joint in North Tonawanda, “Valenti’s” 2.5 stars. (I don’t know why literally every single Okun review involves a half-star, either.) In that review, which was predictably yet unfortunately devoid of good feedback about [...]

Outgoing County Executive Chris Collins granted an exit interview to the Buffalo News’ Bob McCarthy. This is no surprise, as McCarthy had been quite vocally assuming all summer that, solely on the basis of Collins’ own deep pockets, he would cruise to an easy re-election. We all know that didn’t happen. A week after the [...]

The Union News Company by Woj Photography via the AV Photo Daily Flickr Group

On Sunday, a great hero of the 1989 anti-Communist revolutions, Czech playwright, dissident, and political figure Vaclav Havel passed away.  He risked his life, his livelihood, and his freedom to peacefully combat against a totalitarian regime. He was active in 1968′s Prague Spring, and in 1977 joined other dissident Czechoslovak intellectuals to prepare and execute [...]

All the news and views fit to consume during your “morning grumpy”. 1. So, Kim Jong-Il is dead. At least he’s no longer lonely. Also, best tweet about his death goes to comedian Rob Delaney. 2. A sample from one of my favorite YouTube channels. Henry’s Kitchen. 3. Chase Whiteside of New Left Media visited [...]