So the new minor league basketball team in Buffalo is called the Silverbacks which are like the elder alpha gorilla male. Some people in the community say it is offensive because much of the team is black males and using monkey or gorilla was often used as a deragatory term used towards black people. I can almost see that though I disagree because I think like the silverback is definetely like a more positive thing than for instance being called the monkeys. Anywho, i was reading the article and while I don't really agree , I could see the other people's point of view UNTIL THIS PART...

the one lady who thinks it is rascist said in reference to the logo and I quote "I did find it offensive. It looked like an angry black man". Ok here is the logo. I'll let you decide.



I did not look at that and think angry black man. I personally do not see a red haired foaming at the mouth fanged basketball playing gorilla and think angry black man but Eva M. Doyle of the Buffalo Criterion begs to differ.

Frankly, I think the fact that she thinks that is looks like an angry black man is frankly way more offensive. By the by, the team players are the ones who came up with the name.

So in two weeks I go to Pittsburgh for a work trip. So I decided to look up what is near the hotel and let me tell you the answer is a big ole nothing. The restaurants within radius listed KFC, Burger King, etc. And the shopping listed one mall which basically was a WalMart/Barnes and Noble/TJ Maxx plaza. SO I'm gonna guess the nightlife is gonna be outrageously fun, right?

Ok , so Fergie (from Black Eyed Pea fame) has realy come up with the most ridiculous song lyricwise ever. I'm not saying it is the worst song ever but lyrically it muts be....here is a clip

How come every time you come around
My London London Bridge want to go down
Like London London want you to go down
Like London London be going down like

I just want to say after helping e:pmt move into their new house , it is really a cool house. I didn't really like it when it was covered in catness, dirt, and garbage but now that it is cleaned up it is looking really awesome. Kudos to e:pmt for a great job at cleaning it up. You should all get excited to see it at the first party they have there!! start clearing your schedules now!

So today is my first day in Pittsburrgh for a business trip. Actually in harmarville about 45 m inutes outside of pittsburgh. The flight was ok. I didn't get sick that much, like i dind' throw up at all. But i was terrified because it was a little plane for about 20 epeople and had propellers circa 1910 and the WRight brothers first invetnion.

Anywho we got in around 1115 and have nothing scheduled to do for the day. Our car wasn't at the Enterprise at the airport. Supposedly our reservations were for a idfferent location and they were out of cars at this one.They told us to go to a different one (isn't there slogan like we bring the car to you or somehitng?) Well THEY DO NOT!!!!) so the taxi driver has no idea where the place is, so we stop around and ask for directions ( at first i thought he was scammiong us but he ended up taking off from our tota since the whole getting lost ridiculousness). So we find the place supposedly that our car is at. It is in a nondescript non-signed building wiht no address. ( hence the confusion in finidng it) WELL NOPE! It's not there either and they have no reservations for us. So then they tell us where they think our car is and so we go there....well we did have reservations at this one, we finally found the right locations, but they were out of cars! How do thye run out of cars WHEN WE HAVE RESERVATIONS! Luckily we only had to wait like 20 minutes or so and then they got a car that was getting its oil changed ready for us! I do no recommend Enterprise as no one at any of these locations was very helpful about the whole siutation or very nice about it.

So then we find our way to the hotel which streets in and around Pittsburgh are ridiculously confusing!! Anywho, we get here and i go in my room and there is a JACUZZI! Not like my tub also has bubbles but like in the room, huge jacuzzi. THe other lady I am with got one too. How random!! (like literally it is completely random, I guess some rooms have them and some don't!) But do I use it? I brought swim trunks, but is it really clean for using? DOn't people die from like Hepatisis from hotel jacuzzi's? Let me know waht you think

Anyway, so this hotel is in the middle of nowhere. It is literally like off the thruway in this little spot with a KFC, McDonalds and another hotle. There is no where to walk to , not even a convnentient store or area around here cuz otherwise you are on the highway. Well that wouldn't be a probelm because we have a rental car but frankly it is super confusing finding anywere and I am not allowed to drive the rental car cuz I am too young!!! (stupid laws) So now from after lunch (2ish) til dinner I am just stuck in my hotel room! Luckily there is internet! And then tonight I am not sure , I am be stuck here again. THe lady said there is a mall a little bit away so maybe we will go there tonight. Then tomrow we have stuff most of the day but then on Friday in the morning we were supposed to have a meeting but she thinks we can probably just not do that and just work on thursday. It is so laid back. A 3 day trip for just liek one 8 or 9 hour meeting! It seems crazy like a waste of money!


Well hope you are all ahving a good time in the B-lo!
P.S, This high spped internet they claim to have , is not so high speed!

Wow, this company knows how to waste money. So today we had about an 8 hour meeting ( mind you this is the only day out of the three we are doing anything work related). Well we spent like a good hour bascially going over how to turn on and off a computer and restart it. Mind you this was all theoretical because we did not get actual computers becauase the rooms wiht computers were all booked. (its not like they spent at least 1,000 to fly the four of us in and put us up for four days, why would they bother haibngh a computer available?).

There was some valuable things we learned about teachign the class. LIke maybe 2 or 3 hours of this trip were necessary. It seems like something that oculd have been done in a onference call or something though instead of a three day trip. I don't mind being here or anything but it just seems like a waste.

So at about 9pmish i got sick of being in the hotel and so i decided to venture into town (or really walk dwon the thruwayish , sidewlakless road to the Giant Eagle grocery store.) The girl at the desk assured me it was safe and I made it back ok and had no problems. I treid ot walk around "town" but there serisuuly is no town. It is just some hotels, some erestaurants , a closed Ames and a Giant Eagle. Even a shut down Burger King. I think it is bad news for your area when you can't support aBurger King. Well I come home at three tomorow and i am ready for some fun adn some partying (so long as I survive the plane ride).

There is another kid my age here wiht us and we could hang out I suppose but htere is nothing to do and I just met him really today. I was gonna call him to see if he wanted to go to the Giant Eagle but I don't know what room he is in and so i oculdn't. He must be even more bored than me because he has been here since monday by himself. He is soo ready to go home. I ca't even imagine how sick of this place he must be as I am dying after just two nights.

Oh, I forgot the most important part. THE GIANT EAGLE HAD STRAWBERRY CHEWIES!!! I WAS ORIGINALLY TRICKED INTO THINKING THEY HAD NONE because they weren't in bulk but I found them in the regular section!!! They were so good! WEll I didn't eat them yet, but they will be. For of those of you who don't know, Strawberry chewies are crack for me and they don't sell them in WNY anymore!!! It is a travesty!!!

OK see ya all back in the b-lo tomorwo. Mike

So many of you probably have heard already that in part of Madonna's concert now she hangs herself crucified style from a large glittery mirrored disco cross while wearing a crown of thorns. She uses the song as she shows pictures of dying African kids trying to bring attention to AIDS. Hmmm...i would think the glittery disco ball with a crucified Madge would detract from the images of the African children not enhance them but who am I to say. Needless to say, many people are upset but in Germany the stakes are raised. I guess it is illegal to do anything religiously offensive or something liek that in Germany (prolly b/c of their not so stellar past in that regard) and so she could be jailed for up to 5 years for doing this stunt at her German concert. I guess the prosecutor's office is supposed to have people waiting at the concert to see if she does it and arrest/fine her or whatnot. How crazy! Though you know what, why should she be above the law?

OMG so e:jill was discussing at coffee the other night that she thought she heard a rap remix of the children's song "do your ears hang low". A few years back we heard a "my buddy and me" remix so we figured it is quite possible though ridiculous...but lo and behold it is true. Listen for yourself at


it is a hopping tune...haha

As some of you may have heard Eckerd was bought out by RiteAid. I have always hated RiteAid, this furthers that belief. My store will likely close I would imagine as there are 3 RiteAids within a mile of my store. This whole training thing I am doing may be canceled considering it seems silly to train everyone on a new system when we may be shut down. We'll see. Besides the fact that I work there I just love my store since I was a kid. It is just a ridiculous old like crappy building but I love it cuz it is different than all the other ones. I hope it makes the cut but I doubt it.

In birthday news, I hope it starts to get better.
First, I can't makethe terry/me birthday party on Saturday. I have a wedding to go to. Hopefully I will still do something for my bday next week but I am saddened by the lack of huge party in celebration of me. Hope you all still have fun but not to omuch fun where you dno't want to party again in a week or something.

Secondly, all i have wanted since the taste of buffalo are the fried cheese stuffed olives from Orazios so that is where my fam was gonna go for my bday. Well we called AND THEY DON'T HAVE them regularly and will not have them next week. So now I don't know where to go to dinner. I seiruosly had looked forward to those for months.

Thirdly, I was supposed to have my birthday off of work. WEl lnow they changed it adn I have to teach my first training class that day (8am-6ish) because the guy from coroporate is coming that day so we have to have one that day.

I hope my birthday doesn't suck as much as it is being set up to be.

Happy Birthday e:terry! I hope your birthday is fun and amazing because you are cool as a cucumber. (I think that saying needs to be brought back) HAVE A GREAT ONE!