Posts from June 2011

I was just thinking lately that Niagara Falls NY is slowly turning the corner and isn't the embarrassment that it has been in the past. From what it appears it's been part government and the other portion has been Canadian investors. The people that just bought the Sheraton own most of Niagara Falls Ontario and it's just ironic that they're bringing the playbook over here. Basically it's have a Starbucks in your hotel and a chain restaurant which is TGI Friday's which will open up next week. The old Hotel Niagara was purchased by some guy from Vancouver, but as you can see from the pics nothing has been done as of you. What gets me is what are they going to do about parking? Carl Paladino beat them to it as it appears he got the lot that used to be used by the hotel.

Yea the old OTB sign still stands on the rusted out mall and the walkway from the parking garage to the now One Niagara Center just looks out of place to the knowledgeable eye.

She drops the value of a MBA just by posting this video. Wonderful...

RIP :-(



In an age where the News Anchor of the National News has faded away, moments like this make you remember how it used to be when a Walter Cronkite would command the attention of a nation. Mark Haines was that and also the cool professor that you loved in college, the awesome neighbor that you could ask complex questions to that would care about the details of your decision. He helped many "small fish" investors understand the markets and feel as though they had a connection to Wall St. I literally cried when I found out and watched some of these videos. It's amazing that I just wanted to go and hug Erin Burnett, a stranger celebrity cable news anchor that has no idea who I am. Mark treated her like a daughter and you can see that very easily on her last day.



You can almost sense that subconsciously they knew..



It's going to be hard for me to watch CNBC for a very long time. I can't believe I feel so emotionally devastated by the news especially for celebrity people with whom I've never met.

Backpackdave#### came to Buffalo NY to the Bob Seger show on April 9th 2011. He is the reason why I started taking concert video to post for my friends. Back a couple of years ago there were a few shows at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre that just took me to another place. Where low and behold there were Youtube videos of the shows and they were Excellent Quality. I thoroughly enjoy his work, especially when it puts up a pregame video when he visits a town.

So enjoy a Sociological showcase of Buffalo before a Big Concert Show:

I went to Pittsburgh this weekend. Then the thought occurred to me, EVERYTHING that the the Buffalo CVB is trying to do by the videos already exists in Pittsburgh. I for once went down there to see Greg Dulli & the Twilight Singers because they he never has played Buffalo for whatever reason.

What got me was the architecture, they have at least 5x the amount of historic structures that Buffalo has and most of them are occupied and in good condition. Also for me as a rail-fan, they never destroyed their train terminal, actually it still is in all of its majestic glory and connected to a bus station. While at the same time they have a real trolly system that goes places, uses an old Pennsylvania Rail Road Bridge and even have some old landmarks for the old trolly system before that was torn up.

To me what Buffalo is almost on the scale of Wheeling West Virginia in terms of old office buildings built around the same period. Heck they even have a nice old theater in town where their Philharmonic plays. I'm just getting tired of the "We Matter" "We're Real" Blah Blah Blah. To me if we don't have the confidence of swagger, no one is going to believe it.

The funny thing I remember about the whole response to the "For Real" video is that it didn't mention anything about sports. Sports and Concerts sell themselves. People come because of the event not because of the town. If they like the town after they get there then they will come back. That's what happened to me & Wheeling. I went there for a casino and went out of my way 2 hours to swing by and say Hello after coming back from Columbus a month back.

It's the same thing with Universities. What got me about Pittsburgh is how impressive the University is and where it is located. I was taken aback by the Cathedral of Learning and the immediate neighborhood as I went there for some 5 guys burgers and fries. Maybe UB is a public institution and that hampers things. If it was on par say with Michigan or even Syracuse would things be better economically? All I can say is that is UB 2020 is cut and slashed this town is doomed.

Artpark hit it out of the park literally. I know Buffalo Place has their lineup next week but at this point I really don't care what they throw out there for Thursdays. I'm just excited that the company that runs it finally put together a plan that puts it at the pinnacle of the "free" shows in the area. Basically they put together a way to have the people that want to see a show without dealing with drunken idiots a way to enjoy it and at the same time raise revenue to keep it free for the people that just want to enjoy outdoor happy hour. What impresses me is that they were able to get a Livenation Amphitheatre show Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive 35 Tour and put it out there for "free."

Which makes me think; Why doesn't Buffalo Place just close off the Memorial, charge $25 and make that VIP seating with beverage service?

Southern California

Well at least not in the smog someone a bit out of the smoke if that is possible, but the place is one of the chakra's of the planet (throat) and the place just seems to be another dimension entirely. I love that the "retroness" of the town is the 1950's and not 2 centuries ago. If I could go to the Hollywood Bowl to catch shows once in a while that would be sweet. Also how can you beat the fact that I would be able to go to Santa Monica and Venice Beach on a regular basis?

Video of driving down Queen St in Niagara Falls Ont during the fog a couple of weeks ago.

Who the F in their right mind would pay this much money to fly from Buffalo to Florida [through Cleveland & Toronto & deal with Customs] for the price of $2,248 when you can fly other alternative airlines for around $300-$400 for the same destination one way ticket?

Totally WTF!?!

This is me in the moment where I vent about how customer service in Canada Sucks, especially when it comes to casinos.