My sister Liz is getting married this weekend. I'm happy for her but pissed about the fact that we have to drive to Baltimore on the final weekend of my big push to finish my dissertation, and with only 3 weeks left till the big move to B-lo. *sigh*

Nonetheless, I'm excited for her, not only because of the wedding, but because she has lost a ton of weight and looks fantastic. She's even featured as a success story on e-diets! Check it out:


I'm so proud of her. :-)

No that title is NOT meant as an ethnic or religious slur.

In case you haven't seen the news, the Middle East is on the brink of war, thanks to what many see as an overreaction by Israel to the kidnapping and killing of its soldiers by Hezbollah.

Video of the attack on the airport in Beirut:

I'm intensely interested in this not only because I study war, but because I have a friend who was in Lebanon when the Israelis bombed the Beirut airport. Fortunately she's nobody's fool so she scampered back to Syria, where she is studying Arabic this summer.

Her recent blogs give an interesting first-person take on the crisis from the point of view of an American political scientist in a country hostile to Israel. If I know Emily, she'll keep the news coming. She uses fifty-cent words but she's perceptive and the posts could be really intriguing.

At the moment, we're just hoping that the crisis/war doesn't escalate to include Syria...

Hey, just in case anyone cares, they announced the 2006-2007 Sabres schedule today...tix page at

I'm damn disappointed that my beloved NY Islanders will be at HSBC just once this year, and on New Year's Day no less. Oh yeah, that crowd will be REAL interested in getty noisy. Noise is always good medicine for hangovers. Ouch.

Anyway, for those of you nursing wounds from last month and wishing for revenge, there are a few chances to see the Sabres take on the Hurricanes.

I leave you with a funny picture of DP, the Isles' netminder. He looks a little hung over in the photo. Hmm, maybe even still drunk.


keep your eye on the puck

I have seen some choice graffiti in my time, but this is a new one on me. Sure beats all that stupid garbage about sitting on the toilet broken-hearted.



I found it scratched into a metal bistro table on Rutgers' College Avenue campus in New Brunswick, NJ. Apparently, from what I can tell, it's the Kool-Aid guy ( ) in drag. Note the fishnet stockings and high heels. Sweet.

I guess the artist almost got caught because the requisite "Ohh YEAHHHHHH" caption is unfinished.

Also, when I emailed the photo to someone, freaky old G-mail suggested some sponsored links, including this interesting one:

Do people really use that stuff? I can't tell if the Kool-Aid guy does or not.

OK, so I'm no tree-hugger, and I know some (e:strip)pers don't give a damn about the suburbs, but this story in the Buffalo News reminds me of some of the crap I was so happy about leaving behind in New Jersey.

Developer back to cut down foliage
Amherst officials say work appears to be legal

Amherst's foliage is on the chopping block - again.

Chain saws sputtered to life Thursday afternoon, clearing underbrush and felling more than 100 small trees in a Wehrle Drive plot owned by developer William Huntress. But while residents on nearby Bellingham Drive fretted over losing their backyard woodland, town officials assured residents that the developer's men appeared to be within legal bounds.

"We're just taking down all the trees that we are legally able to do," Huntress said.

Hey, why not? They're there, right? Who the fuck needs trees? Useless obstacles to creating a new vacant lot or something. This guy's got some nerve... Oh! But I'm just some sort of wacko environmentalist, right? And this developer is actually just doing what he needs to do to make a living, right? Read on:

Area homeowners were variously incensed and saddened by the renewed clearing.

"This is a spite cut," said Bellingham resident Ann Suchyna. "He [Huntress] will just destroy for the point of destroying."

"If Ann wants a park in her back yard, she should have moved in behind one," Huntress said.

OK, so maybe a little he-said, she-said bickering. They're probably both wrong. But remember the developer's snotty remark, OK? It's important. Now, keep going:

Construction of an office building on the site has long been stalled over a 1983 agreement between the town and the EPA, which forbids wetlands developers from connecting with the town's sewer line. Huntress' company, Acquest Wehrle LLC, which took over the land in 1997, has since sought a waiver from the regulation, but support from the Amherst Town Board has been tough to come by.

"There's no approval to build any kind of building on that property," [Amherst Assistant Building Commissioner F. Robert] Danni emphasized.

So wait... lemme see if I've got this straight... the developer bought the land 14 years AFTER the town's agreement with the EPA to preserve the wetlands area, and NOW he's complaining because the town won't give him a waiver to build an office building in that area? You've got to be kidding me.

I say, hey there asshole, if you wanted to build an office building, you should have bought property that's connectable to the town sewer line!

Ugh. For any of you who is sensitive to foul language or who has a developer in your family, I apologize if I've gone too far. But these bully tactics are total garbage, and no one should level a wooded area just because they're having a temper tantrum because they didn't do their own damn homework!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUGH

I'm not really a vindictive person, but this really burns my ass:



For those who don't want to click over to the article, Ken Lay died of a coronary at his VACATION HOME in ASPEN.

Couldn't this prick suffer just a LITTLE for what he did to employees of and investors in Enron, not to mention the poor suckers in California and elsewhere who got to pay for this man's underhanded financial bullcrap?

Goddammit.

Weird article from the NYTimes (6/25/06):

Basically the article is written by a woman who, after getting frustrated with her good husband's annoying habits, decided to take a lesson from the people who train exotic zoo and water park animals. Apparently men can be trained after all...?!

I guess I'm posting the link basically to bait (e:chicoschica) (nice new pic, chica!) into some sort of a reaction, but I also couldn't resist the tangential connection to the marriage discussion revolving around (e:dragonlady7,37) .

I'm tempted to be insulted by the article but I think (like the husband in the article) I'm more amused than irritated. Hell, I even laughed out loud at one point -- an unlikely event when I'm reading the NYTimes. haha

Now that we've ostensibly found a place -- don't want to jinx anything here, but let's assume for argument's sake that the 3 br upper with a view of Delaware Park is going to happen (seems like all systems "go") -- we are facing the next big step: figuring out a moving plan. We're fortunate enough to have assurances of help with moving expenses, so we might be able to afford a professional mover instead of a big U-haul... what a luxury! But also, apparently, a potentially huge pain in the ass.

All of the how-to sites about choosing a mover emphasize getting recommendations from people you know, so...once again, beautiful and generous people of (e:strip), help!! Have you done an interstate move (or are you close with someone who has recently done one)? If so, can you recommend a moving company for us to check out? We'd be most grateful for your reco's. We can do all the follow up work (ICC #, AMSA certification, etc.), we're just looking for companies that people have had good experiences with.

Alternatively, I'm thinking PODS ...anyone use them before? Good/bad/ugly?

Thanks (e:peeps)....

Just read in the Buffalo News about a grocer who lived meagerly and gave away his fortunes to the needy and to deserving causes. Below is some irresponsible blogging...more like theft...but surely worth reading. I don't know about you, but I could stand to be more like Waldemar.

Waldemar Kaminski, who quietly ran a food stand in Broadway Market for more than 50 years, has been revealed to be a self-made millionaire and philanthropist who anonymously gave millions to Buffalo charities and neighbors in need. He died at home Wednesday night from complications of a long illness. He was 88.

"He didn't want anyone to know him, but I just had to thank him," said Anne Gioia, co-founder of the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation, to which Kaminski donated several million dollars. "Now I think we should shout it from the rooftops."

He lived in a modest flat and didn't really buy much at all. He squirreled away his profits and shared them liberally with people and organizations in Buffalo.

Kaminski gave so much to so many that it's difficult to quantify just how much he's given. He donated millions to Roswell Park - including $1 million for an endowed chair in pediatrics and $1 million to build a two-acre park on the institute's campus.
He gave handsomely to other groups as well, including the Father Baker Home, the Salvation Army, Hilbert College and Camp Good Days and Special Times. He even helped neighboring families with mortgage payments, college tuition and lines of credit at his stand.
"It wasn't a handout. He was supportive and helped them maintain their dignity," said one of his nieces, Marsha Kaminski of Oakland, Calif.
"If they were helping themselves, he wanted to help, too," Eller said.
His gifts were kept quiet both because of his deeply humble nature and for his personal safety. Kaminski had been beaten and robbed several times over the years, and publicly revealing his wealth would only make him a larger target.
But now that he has died, no one who knew him is holding their tongue. The green space he helped create will be named "Kaminski Park" in his honor.

Good show, old man.

I'm really stunned right now. A friend -- not a close friend, but a guy I've known via the conference circuit for quite a few years now and one of my first contacts in Buffalo -- just died yesterday.

Paul S. was just 38 years old. Professor at UB, leaves behind a wife. I have no idea what the circumstances of his death were, just that he's gone.

Paul S. was a real advocate of the city of Buffalo -- he grew up in Buffalo and after completing his graduate studies he came back.

When I was deciding between Atlanta and Buffalo, I asked Paul S. for his help, and he wrote the following:

Buffalo is an awesome place to live -- way underrated by those who have never spent much time here. Cost of living is low, traffic a dream, food and restaurants excellent, good schools, several universities and colleges, pro sports in hockey and football (and Triple A in baseball), excellent theater and museums, Canada
just a few miles away, the lakes are great in the summer, good skiing a half hour away and great skiing an hour away (with easy access, low prices, and night skiing to boot!), very user friendly airport, some very hip and artsy areas. Most of our incoming faculty really dig it. [Name withheld] has turned down a
number of job offers over the years because he loves the area so much (he grew up and went to university in NYC).

Maybe less gritty and ultra-realistic than kookcity's brilliant love letter to Buffalo (e:kookcity2000,21) , but certainly written with conviction. And it helped convince me that Buffalo was worth moving to...which I still believe, despite all the bad shit about Buffalo that I hear and read.

Anyway, this isn't really about Buffalo, it's really about Paul S. I'm deeply saddened at the loss his death imposes on his wife, family, friends, UB faculty and staff, and UB students. And Paul, I'm sorry that we couldn't get to Buffalo soon enough to share a meal with you and your wife before your untimely passing.

Rest in peace, Paul.