We stooped at the new Elmwood market at the corner of Elmwood and North after a trip to the park with Gaylin. She was working on a project for school about using parks as learning environments for children.

They don't have beer yet ;( but they do have a broad selection of food stuffs. Very similar to Wilson's Farms but with a little more variety. E.g. more non dairy choices including tofutti brand products. There is also a Deli.



The ceiling is lined with historic pictures of Buffalo. (e:matthew) get a sub.

Who the hell eats Pork cracklins. They make me so sick to even think about. Imagine the nasty factory full of bolts of skin awaiting the deep fry process.



mmmbarf, barbeque

While on a little tour of Park Side we went to the Golf course section of Delaware park so that Gaylin could take some pictures for her project. I think it is the first time I ever made it out to this rock. As a side note, that park is filthy, disgusting filled to the brim with dog shit. I never saw so much in my life. This makes me sound like an idiot but never having had a dog I always thought the plastic bags full of shit everywhere were so weird.

I didn't realize they were from dogs till way late in life and thought that humans, who couldn't make it to bathroom were shitting in grocery bags and leaving them outside.



The ground was so soft at the park, you could see mud everywhere instead of frozen dirt.


We also saw the progress on the Darwin Martin house. It is coming along great. I love the style of the house. At the same time with the Fence around it, it kind of looks like a prison camp gun tower.




And for a totally unrelated ending. We were at the research library at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society the other day and I saw this section of Buffalo phonebooks. Look at the style explosion that is the row which represents the 1960s.


You can see how advertising is changed forever with the addition of color print. What you can't see is the rise of the electronic phonebook.

We went to Saigon Bangkok at 512 Niagara Falls blvd and I have to say it was amazingly delicious and fresh with a pleasant atmosphere and really excellent wait staff. Did I mention hot wait staff?

We had some summer and spring rolls to start.




I also had some crab soup which was super delicious


Then, I had the Saigon Bangkok shrimp fried rice.


(e:matthew) had beef Pho


(e:terry) had the chicken vermicelli.


I would go back anytime. It was one of the best dining experiences I had in a long time. I think the prices were very reasonable too, we paid $48 for 3 people including those appetizers, mmy crab soup and green tea for two.

In response to (e:mike,43826)'s post about the Linwood Home Tour - We have been working so hard on the house to get it ready for the tour. We just painted the dining room yesterday. All of the work we do on the house is with our own money. We in no way benefit directly from the tour.



We were going to paint the living room today but decided to wait until after we see how dirty stuff gets with the floors being sanded.

I wonder how they will get these stains out?


And these trouble areas


The estimator thought it could all be fixed. I can't wait to see.

(e:matthew) suggested making our house a free tour spot.

(e:mike), I totally understand how you felt about the Linwood Home Tour last tour, especially the apartment building (free advertsiement) part of the tour, but you also have to think about having seen the inside of the other houses. Its not often that you get to see what the inside of these houses look like. Perhaps, it is old hat to you because you see our house all the time, but for some people its a totally fresh experience.

None of the money is going back to the people that are opening their homes to 1000 people. It is going to buying new trees, fixing up the street, etc.

You have to think of it like a comic book convention. People will pay $20 to get into a comic book convention if they like comic books. I mean how much of that money goes to charity. Same with the Linwood Tour and people that have a thing for historical architecture - it is really exciting. At least in this case the money is being used to beautify the public space of our neighborhood that anyone can use.

I also think it is stupid that houses can not do it more than one year in a row. I would rather see a couple repeats but have a bunch more houses to look at.

Here we are int he foyer - pre floor redone. (e:matthew) took this picture. You can see the area where we removed that remudled modern bathroom from under the stairs.


UPDATE: While shopping for supplies we stopped at that consignment furniture shop on Sheridan near Colvin and got this solid oak dining set for $299. It is huge and seats eight. The woman selling it was getting a divorce and just wanted to get rid of it. It will be so nice to have somewhere to sit for dinner parties.



The roses from (e:matthew)'s birthday keep getting even prettier.


(e:matthew) really wanted this light at Lowes but it is all plastic and I am done with plastic crap. I feel we have way to much plastic in our lives and I have been working for hard to reduce that. I would rather wait till we can afford a glass one or try and make one myself.


(e:terry) pointed out that if oil runs out, someday plastic will be rarer and people would say an original solid plastic early 21st century tiffany style lamp, lol.

Noah Pred at Bel Cibo
So last night (e:mike), (e:terry) and I headed over to Bel Cibo to hear Noah Pred whose music I realy like. For those of you that do not know Bel Cibo is a new Italian restaurant on elmwood in the place that used to be Sofra and before that the Elmwood Soda Bar. (e:mike) says they have pretty good food. Unfortunately, I was totally not into the venue or the crowd - I don't think I would ever go back. I am not saying people should not check it out for themselves but I found it a bit lame and over priced as a music venue. It was five dollars to get into the crowded venue and it cost $16 for two Rum and Cokes and one Jack and Coke.

The people were anything but fun to look at accept for the waitresses and the door guy which are the hired staff. Everyone seemed to fancy for me. I don't get that whole thing - fancy but fugly - why not just go casual then. We stood in a corner and finished our drinks and then left. I would probably never go back unless it was Kimya playing.

Tabu
Then we went to Tabu the new gay nightclub in the Sidway. It was really nicely designed and had great potential but not many people showed up. I think part of it is that the place is so huge. If the same amount of people were in any other bar it would be crowded.

The DJ, from NYC, was so frustrated that she came up to us to ask what we wanted to hear, she said it was so hard to read the crowd and she needed some feedback. She asked if we though it was more of a lounge or a club environment. Then I suggest she play something with "more bass" which she mistook for Rob Bass and seemed excited about. It was not what I was looking for but I didn't want to ruin her excitement. I think there was much potential to dance in that place and the second story bar overlooking the other one is pretty sweet. I think it is the first dance like club in Buffalo that could make it if the right music and crowd was matched up.

I took some pictures but you know how awesome that iphone pics are in the dark. I decided to post it just to show how crappy they are.

I was so busy with a million and a half projects at work this week. I am just quitting for today right now. I planned on leaving early today to make up for the 106 million hours I work at home on stuff but then something else came up. Luckily, it was a really fun project. Let me just re-iterate my love for Actionscript 3 and for Flex 3. I completed two projects today that would have otherwise taken a lot longer.

I hate programming guides with typos. I am reading Flex Solutions - Essential Techniques for Flex 2 and 3 Developers and there are typos already in one of the first scripts. Not just on typo but several in the code sample. It is so lame that no editor caught this? It appears they changed their mind on the name of some variables but never updated all of the code. I mean I don't care about typos in the text but typos in the code samples is redic.

I never write in books, ever. Like not one book I own, has any marking from me so that I can pass them on to other people, but this one hs a big fat TYPO and corrections on it now. That shoud help other people.
Its so sloppy ;(

I took some of these pics with the iphone and some with a real camera. if find that when using the iphone I don't post mobile blogs as much because it is a gimped piece of shit when it comes to mobile blogging. Its also lack of functional bluetooth and wireless sync meaning that I sync the pics with my computer less often. Enough of that.

The Church's of the Ascension's garbage problem (e:paul,43683) is redic. What makes it worse is the amount of cardboard they throw out - have they never heard of recycling?



I have a thing for dirty snow. I mean I think it looks cool when its all crispy and dirty, not like I want to touch it but it is fun to eat - I mean photograph.




I had some calamari at Ambrosia on Elmwood the other day. their calamari is really one of the best in town. It beats Panos calamari 1000%


(e:matthew) and I went up on the roof this evening when I got home from work. It is crazy how high up it is on the top landing. I can't wait to turn it into a functional porch at some point.




On Easter my mother made wine jello with grapes in it. It looks like frozen grapes. I think it would be really pretty in wine glasses.


For lunch we at at Zhang's on Union again. I really don't like it very much but somehow, even though no one really likes it - we keep going back. today eight of us went.

One time in 2002, (e:matthew), (e:terry) and I got hate crimed by this gang of central american thugs in a parking lot downtown near chippewa and elmwood. They pretty much blocked off the exit streets with SUVS and came after us with knives. Stupid (e:terry) tried to fight. I got in the car with (e:matthew) and decided it would be better to get in trouble for running them over (I really have no problem killing people trying to kill me) instead of having to get ripped apart by them. Unfortunately, (e:terry) was still out of the car. Eventually, they stabbed out all the tires as they blocked my vehicle in. Their girlfriends were screaming stop and jumping on them, (e:terry) got in the car. I honked to horn a lot.

We managed to get out one of the side exits of the parking lot and started driving into the lower west side ghetto. Of course we made it only a block with the stabbed out tires so we got out and started just running and hid in a driveway. We ended up leaving the car until the next day.

Then I read this in the Buffalo News and it just reminded me what fun that was. Apparently, they are new in the area, I wonder what would bring a gang of central americans here to Buffalo?

Police warn gang may stage rear-end collisions, assault motorists

By T.J. Pignataro - News Staff Reporter

A public alert was issued early this evening by Buffalo Police, warning that a gang could be staging rear-end collisions tonight on area roadways and then attacking drivers as part of an initiation ritual.

Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson called an emergency news conference at police headquarters just before 6:30 p.m. to make the announcement.

He said police received "credible information" late this afternoon suggesting that the initiation ritual could involve gang member recruits intentionally causing rear-end collisions and then robbing or assaulting the other driver.

Gipson suggested motorists be aware of their surroundings. If they do become involved in a rear-end collision, he suggested they drive to a well-lit area and immediately call 9-1-1 from a cellular telephone, if they have one. Gipson also suggested motorists stay in their vehicles and continue moving until police arrive.

The Central American gang involved is considered "very well armed" and dangerous. It has a history of violence in other parts of the country but is new to the Buffalo area, Gipson said.

"This is the first time we've heard of this gang making inroads into the area," Gipson said.

Gipson wouldn't provide the name of the gang so as not to give the gang "notoriety."

The gang is known to the FBI to be involved in violent activities such as murder, robbery, assault and extortion, as well as increasing involvement in retail theft, home invasions, burglaries and narcotics trafficking, according to FBI officials in North Carolina concerning the threat of the gang there in 2006.

There are lots of comments about this on topix.com

There was a link to this article in the fayetteville observer where the same thing happend , so maybe it is all fake.

Police: No truth to gang initiation ruse

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City police were swamped with phone calls Tuesday as word spread about a possible gang initiation ruse.

Word was that those wanting to join gangs would cause a rear-end collision with another car and then attack that driver, said Jamie Smith, Fayetteville police spokeswoman.

The rumor was spread by text messaging and e-mail, Smith said.

Lawmen investigated the claims but found nothing to substantiate them, Smith said.

Police believe it was an urban legend, Smith said.

But then there is this argh

Man shot after vehicle behind him flashes lights

Updated: 03/24/08 6:40 AM

A Buffalo man was shot in the leg after stopping his vehicle when another vehicle flashed its lights at him Sunday morning on West Tupper Street.

Jacob C. Burkhardt, 29, was taken to Buffalo General Hospital, where he was treated and released.

Burkhardt told police a car behind him was flashing his lights at about 5:30 a.m. He stopped and got out of the car when someone in the other vehicle, described as a black Buick with four men inside, fired at him. Police recovered seven shell casings at 291 W. Tupper St.

The other day (e:matthew) and I had to come up with a description for our house for the Linwood home tour pamphlet. Here it is. Bear with me it is kind of pretentious but it kind of requires that, you should read Old House journal.

The present owners of twenty-four fell in love with Linwood Avenue after renting an apartment on this historic street back in 2003. Besides having to remove three tons of trash and debris, the house, which differs little from its original form, is a preservationists dream.

This former parish house was constructed by the Church of the Acension in 1898, and housed priests and their families until the late 1980's after which it was used as additional office space by the church. It remained property of the church until 2000, and was bought by the current owners in 2006.

In true late 1890's style, the house boasts an eclectic mixture of architectural features, including elements from shingle style, Queen Anne and colonial revival. The horizontal appeal of the house makes it feel big and important, while the impressive thirty-foot high roof and its six dormers draw the eyes upwards.

The house boasts forty oversized, double-sashed windows, which lets in copious amounts of natural light from sunrise to sunset. The large brick and brownstone porch with intricate wood detailing and formal columns is one of the owner's favorite late afternoon retreats.

Upon entering the large oak door, one passes through the vestibule, with built in boot box, leading into the great hall. While divided by another heavy oak door, the two rooms are visually united with matching oak paneling granting a sense of continuity to the visitor.

Once inside, the first glimpse of the hall is the six foot wooden mantle with original tile and marble surround. Can you believe this entire room and staircase was covered in indoor/outdoor carpeting? To the right, the grand staircase spills out onto the floor leadings to the upper stories with six bedrooms and two bathrooms while passing by the first landing settle.



When the current owners took possession of the property, the staircase had commonplace modern bathroom installed underneath. Luckily, the previous owners had taken care not to damage the original woodwork too severely during installation.

To the right of the fireplace is the entrance to the side parlor. This room boasts original French doors, two large windows, and its own cozy fireplace, which is currently under restoration.

The dining room and formal parlor, like all formal rooms, are separated from the hall by fully functional, six-inch thick pocket doors - allowing an open feel with the option for privacy. Both rooms are drenched in natural light from the prominent bay windows, giving an unobstructed view of the neighboring courtyard.

The dining room, which has its own fireplace with marble and tile surround, is connected to the kitchen by a swinging server's door that allows easy access between both rooms.

The formal parlor with its 1894 pump organ and antique furniture certainly finish the room with a nostalgic charm.

Besides updating the kitchen most future renovation plans are exterior in nature and include painting the house a period appropriate, natural green color scheme this summer and restoring the front second story and rear porch off the French doors.