As I predicted, the City of Buffalo wants to expand the usage of the cameras, an idea openly advocated for by city officials because it will increase revenue $3.5 million per year. Keep in mind - this system was built with $5m in grant money and the city really has never paid a dime for it. They want to send a ticket in the mail if you run a red light. What is next down the slippery slope? Tickets for jaywalking? Tickets for parking on the street overnight when a cop is too lazy to patrol? As I've said, and actually as the city has said, this camera system is no replacement for law enforcement. Apparently only one of us was being honest.



The advocacy group Cameras For A Better Police State, aka the Buffalo Common Council and the Buffalo Police Department, cynically prop up the suggestion that safety is the primary concern. Everybody knows that is bullshit. I am sick and tired of our elected officials treating us like children in a juvenile detention center, who can't possibly possess the intelligence and foresight to realize how dishonest these fork-tongued bastards are. I wonder if they even regard us that much. This is what you get when your populace doesn't care - the people in power can fuck with you with no repercussions to their careers or reputations. Hell, if it isn't City Hall being buffoons and making a complete mockery of our city, it's the School Board. None of this is going to stop without the citizens demanding that they do so. I'm for safer streets like anybody else - I'm not for this tripe the city is trying to serve us in the form of reasons. I'm not hearing reasons; I'm hearing excuse making and patronizing vomit speech. Speaking of vomit speech, FUCK Byron Brown, the police department and our city officials. The idea that they are on our side and working to make our city a better place to live is a joke - our city is one or two plant closings away from being a certified hollow shell. They are currently worried about spending grant money in a way that will generate "revenue" to prop up their wasteful and utterly ineffective government. Misplaced priorities? Buffalo? Naaah. Let us keep building Security Cameras that will build us a "bridge to the future" (thanks Slick Willy) and ensure that our city will thrive well into the 21st Century. Don't these idiots know that sooner rather than later, there won't be a tax base left to nickel and dime, annoy, and generally take the piss out of?

Here's some comedy to temper the madness -



Indeed, because if you don't laugh you might cry. Or in the case of the City of Buffalo, you might die.

Today all counties in the State of California are issuing marriage licenses to gay men and lesbians who wish to legally wed.



These ladies are 87 years old and 84 years old, respectively. The length of their relationship is actually longer than that of my grandparents, who were together for 52 years prior to my grandpa's passing. The pursuit of happiness, with few exceptions, should not have limitations. Yet, we live in an America where some people have to wait until they are 87 years old before they can legally marry. And why?

I can barely force back the tears when I see a picture of a couple in their 80's who have had to wait 55 years to fully live their lives out loud. I can't fathom it... I really can't. It rips me apart... this shouldn't be. In America we need to think very carefully about the denial of happiness to others and the consequences of doing so. In my opinion it makes a mockery of our country and its laws, to say the least. Some suggest that comparing gay rights of today and civil rights of the 1960's is wholly inappropriate. I suggest this - if we have rights that some people are excluded from, we have no rights to be proud of at all.

I see this event as a major exercise in freedom. Seeing the smiling faces of the people who have finally been granted this right shows that in more way than one they have been set free. That is something to be celebrated.

(e:jason) and I are also sorry that we couldn't make the get-together - we had a long standing appointment at a golf course with our father that required us to be in Jamestown on Saturday. We missed his birthday so we made it out to hang with him. It was good to see Dad, seeing as we rarely make it back to good ol' J-Vegas. We also visited Grandma, who is still coping with the fact that people think she is funny... as if its a bad thing.

On Friday though, gratuitous fun was had by all at the M*A*S*H Bash. It was my first time attending, and all in all its your standard carnival-style tent with food, a stage with a band, free wine and beer, cigars and lots of people. It was staged, if you didn't notice it, at the Red Cross building on Delaware. I think I should have ate before I drank - it got ugly and my friend had a camera to document it all. Here are some of the more publicly acceptable images.



My brother, myself, my buddy JV and our friend Anne, a former Buffalonian who was visiting from NYC. I was very impressed with her willingness to smoke a stogie with us - she didn't even give it a second thought. She golfs as well so I suspect that she's been around enough golf events to have learned to appreciate fine tobacco. I shouldn't have been so surprised.



My brother and I - as you can see its still daylight but I'm already too drunk to keep my eyes open. (e:jason) was amused.



At Gordon's towards the end of the night. Me, Anne and one of the girls JV and I played darts against. I don't recall this particular picture being taken, and as you can see at this point I probably wasn't taking much into consideration at all. JV told me that I came up with a "classic line" before I left - I'm a bit terrified to find out exactly what I said, to be honest!

Don't ask him - based on this picture he must not know.



Devastating. The article I pulled this picture from referred to this as the "Seinfeld look." This vaguely reminds me of another humorous picture taken of a presidential candidate in 2004.



If you ask me, the only thing missing from Obama's picture is training wheels, which depending on your political outlook may provide some apt symbolism.

Personally, I'm waiting to hear the reaction from the utterly humorless among us that couldn't stand to hear or see exploitation of one humorous moment from "their" candidate. At least he appears to be enjoying himself during some very well-earned downtime. Can't hate on that!

Seriously though, even President Bush has enough sense to put on a track suit. The hippest presidential candidate in 40 years can't really be that unhip, can he?

She does a shit job if you ask me.



She's doing the same thing right now. If she were on the payroll my boss would totally smoke her. Instead she gets cut off when the Tim bits arrive.

Watch this space for a political entry very soon regarding last nights speeches and how I feel about the upcoming election. I am going to utter some words that I've never imagined uttering before regarding Senator Clinton.

Item 1 - Exxon Mobil CEO lashes out at environmentalists and suggests that it is their "corporate social responsibility" to supply the world with fossil fuels. Since I actually work in this industry I find it appalling that he would associate its ideals to theirs, which in reality are completely incompatible. They have no clue what "corporate social responsibility" means and their CEO has now proved it. Oh, and instead of placating global warming activists he is provoking them.

Item 2 - A film of a real deal alien, alive and apparently blinking, is going to be shown to the media Friday in Denver. When things like this pop up, UFO fanatics usually completely overblow the whole thing. Then, when the video is shown everyone is naturally underwhelmed. I really hope this doesn't end up being a scratchy video with a couple of shifting pixels.

Item 3 - Notorious lefty punching bag, Rupert Murdoch, lavishes praise on Barack Obama and the Democrats while poking Olbermann in the eye. (e:jason) and I watched Olbermann last night - I'd have to say I agree. and

Item 4 - In what I am now dubbing the "Million Moaner March," some of Hillary's supporters are planning protests in Washington over what they feel is an inadequate, unfair and disenfranchising solution to the Florida and Michigan delegate problem. A particularly salient bit - "If either candidate dislikes the committee's eventual decision, the matter could go before the party's Credentials Committee in July or August. Any action it took would have to be voted on at the national convention, which opens Aug. 25 in Denver." If the final tally shows that Hillary would have won had all the votes counted, I guarantee it will go to the convention.

Item 5 - Famous opera house La Scala plans on staging an opera production of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth." This is as disturbing as setting Don Rumsfeld quotes to chamber music. The funniest bit is that this will give the phrase "operatic kvetching" a whole new spectrum of irony.

When you are as bored with presidential politics as I am the only thing that will startle you is a tasty little morsel like this one -

It is about how small stories become big news and how the media is complicit in the proliferation of such news, using the recent Hillary Clinton-RFK example. I find media members critiquing other media members fascinating because its one of the few times where they are actually honest about the shortcomings in their profession. The twist - the author was witness to the media echo chamber that he criticizes in this example.

Its just one of many examples on how journalistic integrity is on the wane. Its a bit scary to think that a generation of journalism students are learning from this and presuming that this is the correct way to go about their job.

Is there any other kind?

Creator of N'SYNC is going to the pokey - apparently the man made a decades long career out of bilking banks and individuals for $300 million. For his troubles he's about to become the jail pincushion for 25 years. Looking at the man makes me wonder if Karl Rove and Chris Farley had some sort of love child.

OMG! on Yahoo is the gossip section, so you know. (I'm talking to you Ho sisters and Mike but I suspect you're already familiar with these sites!)



In other news - will we see a quantum leap in space travel during our lifetimes? Scientists are working on developing anti-matter technology for future propulsion systems - as the article states, it would shrink an 11-month journey to Mars down to 1 month.

Its rare that I use my space here on (e:strip) to endorse a product or service, but this time has to be different - I think I found my new favorite spot.

Yesterday (e:jason) and I went down to Hardware after work to drink some Westmalle Dubbel (oh, and we got let in on a couple secrets they keep in the cooler) when I thought about food. Where the hell are we going to eat? I looked out the window across the street at Lagniappes. I thought, "Oh, I read about this guy (gulp) on Buffalo Rising's website!" BRO readers gave the place a ringing endorsement so I had to check it out. Besides, they have po'boys and I haven't had a proper one since I was last in New Orleans.

Its a small place but I'm telling you, the place smells like love. I'm sorry but there is nothing like a small area smelling fragrant with the creole spices in the air. When a place smells that great, you just know that the food is going to be good. Bottom line - I love this kind of food. I ordered the fried oyster po'boy with remoulade, and (e:jason) ordered a fried soft shell crab po'boy. I also got an order of the jambalaya to share with my brother.

I didn't get to the jambalaya and in fact its sitting in my fridge, which is a shame because I did have a bite of it and its freaking lovely. I loved my sandwich - you get a choice of side and I went for the black eyed peas. Absolutely delicious. For a side (e:jason) went for the fried okra - I nicked one when he wasn't looking and agreed with him after letting him know I stole one that they were excellent.

This is not your normal sandwich shop though - the man in the kitchen is an award winning chef. I think it would have been more pragmatic to skip the extra entree I ordered and went for the gumbo. There is little pretentious about the place, with the possible exception of artwork on the wall created by local artists.

Lagniappes dinner hours are Tuesday - Saturday, from 4pm - 2am, and lunch hours are Tuesday - Friday from 11am - 2pm. Read carefully - no Sundays or Mondays. They also deliver if you are so inclined. Here is their website - - give them a try if you haven't. The desserts are listed on their menu as "Fresh Selections Daily - Please Ask." So, for me the only question left is this - where are the beignets?

Quick note - the prices on the online menu are wrong - a few items have gone up a buck or two. A good example is the jambalaya I ordered - originally it was $8 and I paid $10 last night. Nor am I complaining about it really. Keep in mind that their prices are subject to change without notice. The priciest thing on the entire menu is their cajun sampler, at $19 - it includes crab cake, jambalaya, red beans and rice, a cup of gumbo and fried oysters. It must be a mountain of food and I'm sure that it would be a great meal to share with a like minded person of the opposite sex (or same sex, depending on your persuasion). You know, creole spice smells in bed aren't a turnoff for me. Does that make me weird?

Jack shit.



I suspect that this is the closest thing to an honest day's work he's ever put in, so I have to admit I feel conflicted. Does he deserve scorn or does he deserve praise for this effort?

I received an e-mail from Buffalo.com about a free "seminar" being hosted by the Buffalo News tonight regarding citizen journalism. I have a proper rant to launch on this topic later on. Suffice it to say, as usual I have found something (or things) to be skeptical about. Some of you may be compelled to see it my way - I'll lay out the evidence and let you decide.

Today I will find out if O3 Cafe in Snyder has decent food. O3 Cafe is located within the Snyder location of Everything Elmwood - there really is nothing like selling our neighborhood character to the burbs directly, is there?

Sorry - I am a technological Luddite when it comes to phones. I've solicited (e:paul)'s advice but I haven't gotten my bootleg Nokia phone yet. In other words, there will not be any pictures of the food!

I actually have a food question for y'all. I've heard of a few new local joints in and around Allentown have opened up. Seeing as I rarely make it south of West Ferry for anything other than booze, what can you guys tell me about the Quaker Bonnet and Steel Crazy?