I just came from the “State of the Union” party that our friends over at the
WNY Coalition For Progress held at their regular meeting spot, JP Bullfeathers on Elmwood. It was an excellent turnout with about 60 people or so.

The Coalition is a non-partisan group, but it was clear that those in the room were on the side of the Democrats…it was easy to tell from the booing and heckling that occurred everytime the President said something they didn’t like…

A great turnout for the group…good to see people wanting to know more about what’s happening in our country and the world…and of course, about the Coalition and what they’re up to…

The Hancock Tower and Chicago Skyline

Originally uploaded by hudson_jeremy.

This is the view from the Hancock Tower in Chicago. We had drinks up there last night…my picture didn’t come out as well because it was foggy at the top yesterday. Chicago was amazing. I had a great time. There’s tons of things I want to go back and do, but I got to see Millennium Park in downtown Chicago and do a little shopping. Most importantly, I spent time with an old friend who I hadn’t seen in a while, so my thanks to her for her hospitality.

The food is great in Chicago, but I could have guessed that. The food is great here at home, too.

One big advantage that Chicago has over Buffalo is their public transportation system…it was great to get everywhere without a car for an average of $4.

I loved my visit to Chicago…it was nice to have a weekend in a different place, but one thing’s for sure…I’m always glad to come back home to Buffalo…my favorite city!

P.S. - I want to thank Jason…whom I sat next to on both flights for sharing his episodes of “24″ with me…the company made the flight better…

Also…I didn’t realize how much I’d grown accustomed to New York’s non-smoking laws until I was out at both restaurants and bars in Chicago where it seemed like everyone was smoking…

One of the things that I love most about Buffalo is how the simplest plans sometimes turn into amazing encounters! That happened tonight…I was reconnecting with my friend Michelle whom I worked with a year ago.

We were meeting at the Left Bank for drinks. I walked into the bar area and there was my good friend Rich, with some of his buddies. Well my friend Michelle shows up and happens to know Rich…and then I called our mutual friend Zack, who was leaving work and stopped out…and of course, Zack knows Michelle and Rich…Lynn and Pete were over at Hutch’s for drinks and joined us…and of course, it wouldn’t have been a complete night without calling Harvey, who wandered over…

My plan was to be home by 9 PM and in bed by 11 PM…well, it’s now almost 12:30 AM and I just arrived home! But it was worth it…catching up with all my Buffalo friends…all it means now is that I have to pack for Chicago tomorrow morning!!!…more when I return from the Windy City!!!

One night a few weeks ago I decided to make my very first Lackawanna excursion, to check out the Basilica I’ve always heard so much about. Since my method of navigation is to point my car in the direction I think I need to go and drive until I see something familiar, it should come as no surprise that I got totally, utterly and completely lost. At various points I was in: West Seneca, Hamburg, Eden, and a few other places I’d never even heard of. Ebenezer? Are you kidding me? Anyway, at long last I found the Basilica, and yes, it was well worth the drive. Now, I grew up as an Italian Roman Catholic, so I know from baroque, but I can’t wait to go back during the day and see the inside of this magnificent building.

On Tuesday, January 24, 2006, our friends at
the Western New York Coalition for Progress and the UB College Democrats will host a screening of the award-winning documentary film,
“Lost Boys of Sudan” .
The screening will be held at the Screening Room located in the
UB Center for the Arts at the North Campus, at 7:30
PM. Admission is free, but donations to
Journey’s End Refugee Services will be gratefully accepted.
All are welcome.

A panel discussion addressing the plight of refugees from the war torn region of Sudan will follow the screening. Among the panelists will be Sudanese refugees residing right here in Western New York, Among the panelists will be SUNY Distinguished Service Professor Dr. Claude E.
Welch, Jr., who is regarded as UB’s preeminent scholar on African political affairs. Journey’s End Refugee Services of Buffalo is helping to organize the discussion. The plight of Sudanese refugees has not received the attention it deserves. This documentary, which follows two refugees orphaned by the civil war in the Sudan as they depart their war-ravaged homeland and
come to live in the United States. Their tale from war and horror to the culture shock of American suburbia is extraordinary and compelling. There are many Sudanese refugees now residing in Western New York. I look forward to learning more about their homeland and the difficulties that they’ve faced in the past, and the continuing turmoil in their homeland.

Here are the exciting events going on at the Landmark Society over the next 2 months:

Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier

Buffalo Tours: 2006

City Hall Tours: Join one our terrific docents every weekday at noon in the lobby of City Hall for a one-hour tour. Free for all! (Please note that there are no tours on days when City Hall will be closed for holidays.)

Specialty Tours: Tuesdays from 1:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. starting at the Market Arcade Complex on Main Street. Free for members and affiliates / $10.00 for non-members.

1st Tuesday: “Buffalo, the Best Designed City in North America: Ellicott, Olmsted, and E. B. Green”
2nd Tuesday: “Three 19th Century Presidents in Buffalo: Fillmore, Cleveland, and McKinley”
3rd Tuesday: “Chicago Meets Buffalo: Burnham, Sullivan, and Wright”
4th Tuesday: “Underground Railroad to the Niagara Movement: Mary Talbert and Friends”
5th Tuesday: “Underground Railroad to the Niagara Movement: Mary Talbert and Friends”

“Tuesday is Landmark Day” Lecture Schedule

Tuesdays from 12:15 to 1 PM at the Buffalo Architecture Center (BAC) in the Market Arcade Complex. Join us as we continue to explore, “The Nature of the Niagara Frontier.” Free for Society members; a donation is suggested for all others.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - Richard Rosche will present a talk entitled, “Nature Preserves in Western New York” which will focus on some of the rich botanical environments found in the area. Richard Rosche is President of the Nature Sanctuary Society of WNY, Inc., which owns, manages and maintains 3 preserves located in Zoar Valley and the Springville area, with an emphasis on plant life.

Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - Karen Wallace will speak on, “Tifft Nature Preserve: Waterfront Treasure, Healing Scar.” This 264 acre reclaimed brownfield has many stories to tell that highlight man and nature, man vs. nature and what man can learn from nature. Karen Wallace, the Director for the Center for Science Learning at the Buffalo Museum of Science, served as
Director of Tifft Nature Preserve for half of her 10 years with the Museum. She also serves as an adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Buffalo in the Department of Learning and Instruction.

Tuesday February 7, 2006 - Charles Hunter will speak on “The History and Workings of the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens.” Charles Hunter is Curator/Instructor of Herb and Vegetable Gardens at the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens and School of Horticulture in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - Kathy Maloney will discuss “The Gardens in the City.” Kathy Maloney is Executive Director of the Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens located in South Park.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - Donna Fernandez will speak on “The Past and the Future of the Zoo.” Donna Fernandez is the recently returned Executive Director of the Buffalo Zoo, located in Delaware Park.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - Joan Bozer will give a talk entitled, Building On Our Heritage - a Vision for the Waterfront of Tomorrow.” Joan Bozer is a Director with the WNY Sustainable Energy Association.

A look ahead to March, with details to follow…

Tuesday, March 7, 2006 - Paul Dyster, Niagara River Greenway Commission

Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - Margaret Wooster, Great Lakes consultant based in
Buffalo

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - Walter Simpson, Facilities Program Coordinator,
U.B. Energy Conservation

Tuesday, March 28 - Connie Adams, Senior Wildlife Biologist, NY State DEC in
Buffalo

Buffalo’s Next “Ghost Toast”
Friday, Feb. 10, 2006 Town Ballroom, 681 Main St., Buffalo N.Y.

What? You missed the first Ghost Toast on Friday the 13th? Fear not… “Ghost Toast II” is being planned for Friday, February 10, 2006, tied to Studio Arena’s opening performance of Ghosts! Join us for another night of fellowship, phantoms, and multi-level psychic investigation at the historic haunted Town Ballroom. Details to follow! This unique event is a benefit for
the Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier!

Pick up The Buffalo News today and make sure you read
Donn Esmonde because he announces the new Buffalo slogan as chosen by
the CVB and Ed Healy.

Here it is: Buffalo - The Real Deal!

I think it’s a pretty brilliant one and anyone who has lived here for a year or two can attest to that fact. Everything about Buffalo is real. The people, the architecture and history, the culture, the sports teams and their fans…if you’ve been here for more than five minutes, you already know that about Buffalo…Marv Levy said it best during his coaching tenure, “Where else would you rather be, right here, right now?”

The answer is simple: Buffalo.

I just got back from seeing Steven Spielberg’s “Munich”. In case you didn’t know, it’s based on George Jonas’ book Vengeance and is inspired by events that immediately followed the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Here’s what happened in Munich in case you don’t know the history.

The movie is haunting. It focuses around one of the groups assembled to take out the men who killed the Israeli athletes. Eric Bana (Troy, Hulk, Black Hawk Down) is brilliant as Avner, the man who leads the team. It’s not for the light-hearted. The movie deals with what happens to men who are given the task to avenge the death of their countrymen. According to the people they work for, they don’t exist and they don’t work for them…yet, the struggles that Avner and the others go through is very real…

It mixes in real footage from the 1972 Games in Avner’s flashbacks and nightmares…you walk out of the movie feeling for these men who are compelled to exact revenge, but are forever changed by their actions…

In reality, after the Israeli athletes are killed, there are several factions ordered to take out the members of
Black September who killed their Israeli countrymen. This movie focuses around only one group…it’s almost three hours long, but definitely worth seeing…

As some of you know, last summer, I got a wireless card for my laptop. I got it through Verizon and it’s one of those “aircards” where I’m wireless wherever I go, regardless of whether or not it’s a wi-fi spot. I love it…yes, it costs me a bit more $$$ than I’d like to spend, but I love the mobility and accessibility I have now…

Here’s my dilemma…my contract on my cell phone (Sprint) is up in March…and I have to decide whether or not to move over to Verizon for phone service or to stay with Sprint…if I go to Verizon, the cost of my wireless card goes down $20/month (which is really good), but it’s still a fairly hefty monthly cost for the phone service, plus the cost of a new phone, switching over my phone number and phone book (with 250 numbers in it), etc…

If I stay with Sprint for phone service, when my Verizon contract is up in August, I can switch to their wireless card and pay about the same price…and of course, in 8 months, things may have changed or gone down in price as well…

So, I’m looking for some advice from my friends as to what they think I should do…because it means having to get a brand new cell phone…I need one with caller id, text messaging, speaker phone capabilities…I don’t care about the camera function…or using it as an ipod…I already have an iPOD…

Any advice will be gratefully received….

Glad that Marv Levy clarified today that he WILL NOT be the coach of the Buffalo Bills…after leaving it up for speculation during yesterday’s press conference…

Levy is the GM/VP of Football Operations and that’s that…word is, Jim Haslett will be up in Buffalo for an interview very soon…we’ll see what happens…he seems to be the odds on favorites…