An Horse will undoubtedly rock some ratty Converse off when they play Soundlab this Monday (March 29). The Australian duo of Kate Cooper (vocals, guitar) and Damon Cox (drums) writes the most darling indie-pop songs, with a golden ear for melody and undeniable songcrafting skills. Their songs are anthems for [...]
An Horse
on March 29th, 2010
Monday’s Show
on March 29th, 2010
Brad Riter, Tom Schuh and Scott Wilson talk about the Sabres, Tim Tebow, Artvoice’s Best of Buffalo survey (vote for Brad here) and the telethon on Monday’s edition of Riter Radio.
Andy Brickley of Versus also calls in to talk about the Sabres-Bruins game tonight.
Monday Mystery- Where is It?
on March 29th, 2010
How well do you know Buffalo? How about this particular building?
I'll put up an occasional picture of a city building, site or vista and let you guess where it is located. Consider it a test. Some will be easier than others.
Check back for the answer.
‘Local’ Hits Close To Home for UB
on March 29th, 2010
University at Buffalo has an interesting dilemma on the table that will have a big effect on a local business no matter what the final decision is. UB has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to land a car sharing service on campus. When it comes to car share, there are few heavy hitters in the industry. Some of those companies are placing bids to land the deal. One local company has also entered the ring - Buffalo CarShare - a company that was founded by seven UB students and was a finalist (while all seven were at the university, six are currently alums) in UB's Panasci Award.
It would be fair to say that the national companies have the financial ways and means to win the bid, especially when talking about potential sponsorships, donations and other kickbacks that Buffalo CarShare could never afford to offer. When it all comes down to brass tacks, Buffalo CarShare has the ability to provide UB with the allotted cars to meet demand (although two of the cars do border the campus, but are accessible to students).
It will be interesting to see which company will land the final bid - if Buffalo CarShare gets it, you can bet that the infusion of clients would ensure that the local company will continue to grow. If a national gets the bid, it will open up the door to a competitive car share company in the Buffalo market... and that could potentially spell disaster for Buffalo CarShare, a company that has grown to a seven car fleet with three or four additional cars being added in coming months. At the same time, money going to a national company would not stay in the Greater Buffalo economy - it would instead be diverted out of state. At a time when UB states that it is committed to buying local, we will see just how much that sentiment ring true.
Photo: Creighton Randall (Co-founder of Buffalo CarShare)
Andy Brickley on Riter Radio
on March 29th, 2010
Andy Brickley of Versus calls in to talk about tonight’s Sabres-Bruins game with Brad Riter.
Buffalo Rising: Comments, Anonymity and Civility
on March 29th, 2010
Like any successful website or blog with comments, we generate a fair amount of comment controversy. We have valuable commenters who make the site better. We have trolls who perpetually criticize everything and everyone without adding much value to the conversations. And we have some commenters who alternate between those two positions. By and large, we think the commenter community we've cultivated here is the best in Western New York. It's certainly a lot better than what the Buffalo News has to deal with so we're grateful for that much.
Today, we published a story about a building for sale. A number of commenters - some long-time BR commenters and some newly created accounts - used the post as an opportunity to criticize the building's current owner. That criticism created real world personal consequences - the cost of which exceeded the value of the post. So we took it down. And we banned the trolls who created accounts solely to publish comments on that post. While we'll no doubt be criticized for taking the post down (as we were for keeping the post up), we believe it was the right thing to do. And to those who will comment here - anonymously of course - to criticize us for this decision, imagine if someone wrote an article about your house or company and anonymous commenters flocked to the story to call you names. We understand the internet encourages snarkiness, but really, just take a minute to consider the other perspective before you type.
Stepping back, this particular incident raises a frequently debated topic and one we think makes sense to address.
Many of you are likely familiar with Buffalo's own Seth Godin. He's a well-regarded internet thought-leader and he's made the case that 'anonymity is the enemy of civility.' He's written extensively on why more sites should put an end to anonymous commenters and his blog is a must-read. There is, undoubtedly, some merit to Seth's arguments. At the same time, anonymity has some value. Anonymity does, on occasion, allow people to speak the truth when they otherwise would be too afraid or compromised to do so. Indeed, that's why we have whistleblower protection laws because sometimes the truth of a comment matters more than the attribution of the words.
We think of each post as a mini cocktail party. You want the guests to be thoughtful, funny, insightful. You don't want someone who simply attacks everything and everyone. Indeed, the commenters who are consistently negative would likely never act that way if they were at a real life cocktail party; instead, they'd act like civilized adults because they lose the cloak of anonymity. In the past, we've built some features into the site designed to encourage commenters to add value - comment ratings, for instances. That particular functionality added limited value so we moved on. Now we're working on a new version of Buffalo Rising which would allow users to login with their Facebook accounts. And if we wanted to end the anonymity, we could force people to log in via Facebook accounts.
But we're not sure we want to do that. So tell us what you think about the role of anonymity in the BR comment streams and what you think we should do. And please, be thoughtful and constructive as we attempt to navigate what is a truly difficult terrain for countless new media websites.
Sabres @ Bruins Live Chat
on March 29th, 2010
Boston off a 5-0 trashing of the fLames playing a Buffalo team off a 7-1 hammering of the Lightning. SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE.
Ellison, Wilson sign tenders
on March 29th, 2010
Two of Buffalo’s restricted free agents are under contract for the 2010 season. Linebacker Keith Ellison and safety George Wilson both signed their qualifying tender offers upon reporting to One Bi...
Casey vs. Russell, PolitiFAIL 2010 Tourney Sweet Sixteen
on March 29th, 2010
Steve Casey . . . the eminence grise of City Hall. Or Willie Tyler to Byron Brown’s Lester.
The amount of electronic ink that’s been spilled on Steve Casey is practically unending. I won’t recap every last City Hall scandal here; a simple search for the man’s name here on WNYMedia would produce an avalanche of reading material. Go ahead — I dare you.
Instead, I’ll just remind the gentle reader of some of the more classics of the man’s pettiness and corruption, the sort of gems that have been lost amidst the sea of sewage emanating from the second floor of City Hall. Remember when Casey ran Brown’s 2005 campaign for mayor while still on the State Senate payroll? Or when Casey decided he didn’t have to pay to park outside Brown campaign headquarters because he was on “state business” — you know, the business of getting Byron Brown elected mayor? Or (my personal favorite) when he sicced city inspectors on a neighbor because she had the temerity to display a lawn sign in support of Mike Locurto? Fantastic!
Councilmember Bonnie Russell (5 seed), on the other hand, is the summation of everything bad about the average Buffalo politician. She can’t pay her bills, and has multiple liens filed against her (one for $573 – really?). She is married to a judge, exemplifying our inbred political system. And she can’t show up for meetings, much less represent her district (University Heights), much to the constant chagrin of the Answer Lady. If you are looking for an upset for your bracket, I think you’ve found it here.
Brown vs. Kearns, PolitiFAIL 2010 Sweet Sixteen
on March 29th, 2010
Image via Wikipedia
Better than the other guy . . .
Mickey Kearns was most recently a candidate for Mayor of Buffalo in 2009 and is now the proud owner of the South Buffalo committee structure, which has grown his power and leverage in the city. His first opportunity to flex his newfound power will be this summer when he chooses his horse in the NY State Senate election contest between Tim Kennedy, Bill Stachhowski and Sean Cooney. His support and committee loyalists will be a major factor in that race.
Mickey was first elected to the Buffalo Common Council in 2006 after serving as a legislative aide to former South District Councilman Dennis Manley and some work in the private sector as a non-profit fundraiser. Kearns opportunistically staked out some territory as an opponent of the Route 5 highway construction project on Buffalo’s Outer Harbor. From that point, Mickey was essentially running for Mayor and launched one of the most quixotic runs for that office in recent memory. His campaign started out as listless and seemed to lack an agenda that differed significantly from Mayor Brown’s agenda. His earlier opposition to the Route 5 project also destroyed any chance he had of enlisting necessary support from Rep. Brian Higgins, King Of The Waterfront.
He was handed a gift wrapped Mayoral scandal with the One Sunset melodrama and a steady stream of stories about Grassroots political corruption. Carl Paladino also gave him a blank check for the campaign in the last two months. Sadly, Mickey was not prepared to actually win and was unable to capitalize on his opportunity. Just a horribly designed and executed campaign strategy which also included this abortion of a political video:
We interviewed him for a news video and we were surprised by both his choice of a linen suit for the interview and his inability to state a cogent point with any measure of wit or economy. His candidacy drew such accolades as these from Jim Heaney of The Buffalo News:
He’s no dummy, but not the sharpest knife in the drawer, either.
and
In short, Kearns has shown some progressive sensibilities and comes across as an accessible, decent sort. But he’s still pretty green and largely untested. His lackluster campaign for mayor this year is not reassuring.
What voters are left with is a choice between a middling councilman and a middling mayor.
Mickey has shown a willingness to learn, but he’s just the same old, same old. A transactional politician in a city that desperately needs big thinkers. He has demonstrated an ability to pay his taxes on time and not get arrested or even charged with a felony, so he has that going for him, which is nice.
Byron Brown is the current Mayor of the city of Buffalo, and its first African-American mayor in history. He was swept to office in 2005 after winning a crowded primary race, and absolutely pummeled his Republican opponent. He was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2009 – not in a November election against any opponent, however, but in September against a Democratic challenger.
Brown spent time in the common council in the 90s before being elected to the State Senate in 2000. His tenure there, in the minority in Bruno’s senate, was uneventful. He sponsored only a few pages’ worth of legislation, mostly dealing with honorary street names. Mayor Brown’s right-hand man is Steve Casey (who goes up against Brian Higgins on the 24th). Casey is Steve Pigeon junior – just as evil and manipulative, but not as moneyed. Casey is the man behind the curtain and has been known to screw up – through sheer obnoxiousness – more than a few good and promising City Hall initiatives. Brown gets the credit because he knows of it and lets it happen. CitiStat – Brown’s biggest initiative – is a politicized failure. Although the city under Brown/Casey gets some stuff right by accident, it has also been behind the BERC fiasco, the One Sunset scandal, the misuse of block grant funds, and the mishandling of Byron III’s joyride. The fail is widespread and palpable.
Sports Insiders: Saturday, March 27
on March 29th, 2010
Allen Wilson and Rodney McKissic; NCAA Regionals Weekend:
Boating accident leaves operator hospitalized with severe head injury
on March 29th, 2010
The operator of a boat that plowed into a dock in the Erie Canal on Saturday night remains hospitalized today with a severe head injury, Town of Tonawanda police said.
“Merge” with a New Tennis League!
on March 29th, 2010
When you think of 'Merge Restaurant',
fresh food, a cozy yet sophisticated dining space, art and local music probably
come to mind. Here's a new idea to associate with Merge - tennis! Beginning this
May, Merge will offer its first ever tennis league.
Per usual, Merge, owned by siblings Sarah and Eliza Schneider, invites
people to "come together." The new league is just one more way the restaurant
is able to unite people with common interests, which in this case is tennis. Last
summer, Gabe Michael, cousin of Sarah and Eliza, conceptualized the idea for a
league. Although he has no formal experience, Michael is an avid tennis player
himself. His passion for the game inspired him to collaborate with Sarah and
Eliza to create the group.
The league is open to everyone, and you can sign up to play by
visiting the Merge
tennis league Facebook page. So far,
fifty three people have already shown interest. Tennis players of all skill
levels are welcome, but some experience is preferred.
Participants will be randomly paired up to play one doubles game minimum per week, and will receive the names of their partner and opponents through a Facebook message. Games will be played in various Buffalo parks, with games being played from May until August. According to Michael, Merge will soon be holding an informational meeting for all prospective tennis players.
Merge | 439 Delaware Avenue | Buffalo, NY 14202 | (716) 842-0600
Simpson: Buffalo and Western New York in Jeopardy!
on March 29th, 2010
Sounding like 16th century seer and History Channel superstar Nostradamus (right), UB President John B. Simpson (left) announced some apocalyptic visions for our region at a press conference today at UB’s New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences. Then, when asked about UB’s plan to purchase 15 acres of land right outside [...]