Simon Cowell made an interesting comment last night on “American Idol” and it made me think of Buffalo. Yes, I watch Idol. I watch it because I’m a musician and singer - and believe me sometimes it’s painful - and of course I watch it because it’s amusing.

Now to my point. One of the contestants in Philly who made it through to Hollywood went out into the waiting area and you could hear the joy of his family and friends. Simon made a comment along the lines of “people in America are genuinely happy for each other. When good things happen they want to share it with one another.” And from his tone, he was truly surprised by that.

Buffalo is a town filled with people who genuinely care for one another and who are really happy for one another. I feel extraordinarily lucky to have so many friends and family that share in my joys and support me in my disappointments. I think the city of good neighbors is an understatement.

A friend forwarded this to me and I’d say it’s pretty true of Buffalonians:

>FRIENDS: Never ask for food.
>BUFFALO FRIENDS: Always bring the food.
>FRIENDS: Will say “hello”.
>BUFFALO FRIENDS: Will give you a big hug and a kiss.
>FRIENDS: Call your parents Mr. and Mrs.
>BUFFALO FRIENDS: Call your parents Mom and Dad
>FRIENDS: Have never seen you cry.
>BUFFALO FRIENDS: Cry with you.
>FRIENDS: Will eat at your dinner table and leave.
>BUFFALO FRIENDS: Will spend hours there, talking, laughing and just being together, and then clean up.
>FRIENDS: Know a few things about you.
>BUFFALO FRIENDS: Could write a book with direct quotes from you.
>FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that’s what the crowd is doing.
>BUFFALO FRIENDS: Will kick the whole crowds’ ass’s that left you.
>FRIENDS: Would knock on your door.
>BUFFALO FRIENDS: Walk right in and say, “I’m home!”
>FRIENDS: Are for a while.
>BUFFALO FRIENDS: Are for life.

Feel free to share…I did!

Museum Hosts New York City-Based Photographer Michael L. Horowitz’s Cathedrals of Industry

Buffalo, N.Y. – Jan. 15, 2008 – Imagine a time when Buffalo was the second largest transportation hub and one of the largest industrial centers in the United States. Such was the case in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Colonel Ward Pumping Station’s massive four-storey steam engines pumped billions of gallons of water from Lake Erie each year, while dozens of towering grain elevators bustled with activity along the Buffalo River and Ship Canal. Today, the steam engines loom mute alongside newer, smaller electric motors and most of the remaining elevators stand dormant in ghostly testament to Buffalo’s glorious past.

The Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society will present an exhibit of large-scale photographs of the present-day interiors of these structures in its museum, located at 25 Nottingham Court at Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo. Cathedrals of Industry: Photographs by Michael L. Horowitz will run in two parts, featuring images from the pumping station from Feb. 2, 2008 to July 25, 2008 and photos from the grain elevators from Aug. 8, 2008 to Jan. 25, 2009.

Horowitz, based in New York City, gained rare access into the pumping station through assistance from New York State Assemblymember Sam Hoyt and the Lake and Rail Grain Elevator from RiverWright Energy co-founder Rick Smith III – and the results are breathtaking. His 40 by 60 inch photographs will be set low to the floor, creating the illusion of walking into these structures and enabling visitors to discover and explore the hidden cores of buildings that were once at the heart of Buffalo’s rise to industrial power.

Throughout his life, Horowitz has been drawn to buildings on the brink of extinction. In his teens, he photographed the decomposition and demolition of New York City’s South Street Seaport and West Side Piers. He later captured the Italian city of Assisi on film shortly before an earthquake devastated the town and its ornate cathedral in 1997.

Struck by the impermanence of architecture, destroyed or discarded by the hand of man or nature, Horowitz turned to photography, as he put it, to “document and preserve cultural history even as – and precisely because – it vanishes right before our eyes.” His photos from Cathedrals of Industry will help the Historical Society maintain the stories of the Colonel Ward Pumping Station and the grain elevators for generations to come.

Cathedrals of Industry: Photographs by Michael L. Horowitz is included in general admission and will be on view during regular museum hours. For more information, the public may contact the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society at (716) 873-9644 ext. 301.

Museum Hours:
Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday Noon to 5 p.m.
Monday Closed

Admission:
Members Free
Children 6 and younger Free
Children 7 to 12 $2.50
Students 13 to 21 $4.00
Seniors 60 and older $4.00
Adults $6.00

The Historical Society’s Museum Shop will carry 24 by 36 inch fine art giclée prints of several of the Cathedrals of Industry images, as well as the book Reconsidering Concrete Atlantis: Buffalo’s Grain Elevators, edited by Lynda Schneekloth, which discusses the historical significance of the elevators and their potential adaptive reuses. Museum admission is not required to visit the Museum Shop.

BRIAN WHEAT & GROGGY DARLIN’, SHAMBU, AND VINNIE DEROSA & DAY GO LOVE AT NIETZSCHES ON JAN. 18

Buffalo-based bands Brian Wheat & Groggy Darlin’, Shambu, and Vinnie DeRosa and Day Go Love will perform on Friday, Jan. 18 at 10:00 p.m. at Nietzsche?s, 248 Allen St. in Buffalo.

Alt.country songsmith (and Gasport native) Brian Wheat was named “Best Solo Artist” by Buffalo Spree magazine in 2007. His finely-crafted songs and evocative delivery have garnered him supporting positions for some of today’s most exciting national and international acoustic artists, including Mark Kozelek (Red House Painters/Sun Kil Moon), Hamell on Trial (Righteous Babe Records), and David Dondero (Team Love). His band, Groggy Darlin’, features a veritable who’s who of the Western New York music scene, including bassist Peter Williams, multi-instrumentalist Peter Gerace, and drummer Mark Longolucco. Check him out here.

Shambu performs textured indiepop in the vein of The Decemberists, The Shins, and Death Cab For Cutie. The band, which includes guitarist/vocalist Peter Burakowski, multi-instrumentalist Dan Reitz, bassist Mike Milazzo, and drummer Brian Dziewa, will reprise its four-song song cycle committed to the 1901 Pan-American Exposition and the assassination of Pres. William McKinley, first performed on the anniversary of McKinley’s death, last September. The band will be joined by special guests Ange Sciarino (French horn) and Jonathan Filbert (trumpet). Check them out here.

With a vocal presence that ranges from soaring tenderness to impassioned grittiness, Vinnie DeRosa offers sincere, convincing soul a la Bill Withers. He will perform with support from his newly-formed band, Day Go Love. Check them out here.

LAST CHANCE FOR MILTON ROGOVIN EXHIBIT AT BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Exhibit of Images by Internationally Recognized Photographer Closes Jan. 13, 2008

Buffalo, N.Y. – Jan. 8, 2008 – The Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society’s popular exhibit of photographs by internationally recognized social documentary photographer Milton Rogovin will close this Sunday, Jan. 13, 2008, at 5:00 p.m. The exhibit, titled Milton Rogovin: Native American Series, 1963 – 2002, is on display in the Historical Society museum, located at 25 Nottingham Court at Elmwood Avenue.

The exhibit includes striking images of Iroquois communities throughout upstate New York, Canada, and Buffalo’s Lower West Side. Rogovin’s black and white photographs capture a cross section of Native Americans, young and old, urban and rural, in varied settings, including psychedelic rock and roll culture, an Iroquois social gathering and weathered reservation buildings.

Rogovin has described himself as a photographer of “the forgotten ones.” Subjects of his work have included the struggle of miners in ten countries, the decline of Buffalo and Lackawanna’s once-mighty steel industry, Yemeni families in Lackawanna, and the movement of the Spirit in store-front churches on Buffalo’s East Side.

Born in New York City in 1909, Rogovin moved to Buffalo in 1938 and opened an optometric practice. He became active in Buffalo’s communist party, which led to a hearing before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952 and the Buffalo News branding him “Buffalo’s Top Red.” Despite the devastating effects of a public blacklisting, Rogovin refused to be silenced and, instead, turned to photography to give a greater voice to the cause of the working class. Rogovin’s work is included in the Library of Congress, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, and the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, Arizona.

Milton Rogovin: Native American Series, 1963-2002 is included in museum admission, which is $6 for adults, $4 for seniors and students ages 13 to 21, $2.50 for children ages 7 to 12, and free for children age 6 and younger. For more information, the public may call the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society at (716) 873-9644 ext. 301.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dorothea Braemer, 884-7172

Channels - Stories from the Niagara Frontier 08

Call for applications for filmmakers and grassroots initiatives

Deadline: Monday, February 4, 2008

Channels - Stories from the Niagara Frontier is Squeaky Wheel’s production
program which matches documentary filmmakers with grass roots initiatives
and groups that effectively address one of these three focus areas:

* Increase Economic Self-Sufficiency
* Reduce Racial Disparities
* Protect and Enhance Environmental Resources

Channels addresses the need to educate people about these issues in their
communities through the powerful medium of documentary film.

Selected documentary filmmakers receive a stipend of $ 2,000 and access to
Squeaky Wheel’s production and editing equipment to produce their projects.
Project starts in March 2008, and all documentaries should be finished by
November 2008.

Channels - Stories from the Niagara Frontier is a production program of
Squeaky Wheel/Buffalo Media Resources and is supported by the Community
Foundation of Greater Buffalo.

Please check out www.squeaky.org to view past Channels projects.