I'm missing the Elmwood Arts Festival for the first time, which I sort of have mixed feelings about. I like the people and the buzz, but I really hate the parking. Basically, we have to plan in advance and do any sort of provision buying before they close off the street. Once we park the car, we don't move it - for ANYTHING. Maybe I'll be able to check some of it out tomorrow... we'll see.

We are avoiding that this year because it is our grandmother's 80th birthday. We are surprising her with a party at a local restaurant. She thinks she is going out for dinner with her sons and grandsons, but what she doesn't realize is that 30-40 people will be waiting at the restaurant before we arrive. (e:jason) and I did out due diligence and sent her a great looking bouquet and some chocolates from Fowler's. She was very surprised and choked up. Rumor is that she really, really doesn't want a party - apparently my uncle is a terrible listener and organized this dinner event anyway. It should be interesting to see how she reacts.

I've forgotten how hilly Jamestown is - in spots its as hilly as SF and Main St. is probably one of the steepest. They have been renovating some of the downtown buildings - the nicest one now houses the local Brian Higgins Congressional office. Jamestown is one place where mom and pop stores thrive. Last night I went to Johnny's Lunch and had some Texas fries, an orange shake and rice pudding. Johnny's is what Louie's wishes it could be - it is a local favorite and is phenomenal. Actually, Jamestown is home to a few Texas hots spots and all are owned by the same family. I love the shakes so damn much that after I'm done writing this I'm going to another place to get more.

Another beautiful thing - Jamestown (well, Lakewood) is home to Southern Tier Brewing Co. It's been a while since I did a beer review - maybe it's time to rejuvenate that tradition. If you haven't tried Southern Tier's Pumpking try it - 9% and you'd never know it. The beer tastes like buttery pumpkin pie! Anyway, the brewery is 10 minutes away and they have a little bar. It is very laid back and informal - you can take tours and buy their beers there for a very fair price.

Also, if you've never spent time around Chautauqua Lake in the summer it is very, very pretty. Many blue-haired rich folk like to spend their summers at the Chautauqua Institution, which I admit is very, very charming and a place (e:matt) would salivate over. The place is littered with Victorian homes in pristine condition and also house concerts/lectures all summer long. The Amphitheater was home to the Jamestown High School graduation ceremony for eons, until recent years. It is a place that makes you feel like you've stepped back in time.

(e:jason) trusted me to set up our wireless router and configure all of the security settings. I suspect that I'd definitely get a signal over at SPoT. Our previous setup was a networking nightmare that the likes of (e:paul) and (e:jim) would probably find a tech crime. First of all, the router was old and tempermental. We had to string a Cat-5 cable from (e:jason)'s bedroom to mine from outdoors. Then, we had to string coaxial cable from the living room to his bedroom, and then another Cat-5 from his bedroom to the living room.

Now we have a wireless setup whereby I can get 4-5 bars with my laptop from my room, which I wasn't sure about given the amount of potential for signal distortion. We've configured the 360 with (e:jason)'s computer to allow the use of the Windows Media Center to access media from his HDD. That is huge - now I can watch my downloaded shows while (e:jason) games.

Network security was our biggest concern but we're using WPA2. Now, the only problem - how to get my tower a signal. We found a $10 PCI wireless adapter on Newegg that got seemingly rave reviews. I bet the thing burns out in a year but works great - I'll let you know.

Sam Hoyt doesn't love his kids if he'd damage their mother, but nevertheless I expect he'll be re-elected. He has a number of things in his favor: A) he has name recognition in the most apathetic electorate in the nation; B) his party has never looked down upon character flaws such as this; C) despite this "unlucky" mishap he is still at the top of what is the lowest common denominator as far as politicians go.

It's a shame, it really is. I've never really had an opinion one way or another about Sam Hoyt, just impressions - he seems inoffensive, he's around, every so often I get mailings from him which illustrate how government in NY moves at a glacier's pace. He is one of the local political class and he owes his current position to his father, who he succeeded as Assemblyman. He is former Chairman (you're going to love this) of the Assembly Oversight, Analysis and Investigations Committee. He currently chairs the Assembly Local Governments Committee, which I expect is a chair he won't hold for much longer.

This is a major disappointment. Now he is blaming his opponents! I have to be honest, I had no idea that he even had an opponent. The guy has been in office 16 years and it is fair to say that he is part of the political class in Buffalo that has been long on talk and short on delivering. Based on that alone he shouldn't be in office, but we all know he'll retain his seat in the Assembly. We've never punished bad politicians and never will. Nor will a Democrat ever get hung out to dry by colleagues or the media for cheating on his wife - even when she is dying of cancer, eh Johnny boy?

God help our city, although I don't pray for Buffalo anymore.

So if you had to guess, who you would say was the highest paid rapper last year? Jay-Z, Sean Combs? No - it was 50 Cent, who earned $150,000,000 last year. You surely must be wondering, as I did, how the hell he earned that much money in 12 months.



The new king of hip-hop wealth banked $100 million after taxes on one deal alone when his stake in VitaminWater's parent, Glaceau, was bought by Coca-Cola as part of a $4.1 billion deal.

He's a true businessman!

LeRoi Moore, saxophonist of the Dave Matthews Band, died at the age of 46 as a result of complications from an ATV accident two months ago - - it always bothers me when musicians die too soon.

An unfortunate legacy of Heath Ledger's death is his daughter, Matilda, growing up without her father. It turns out that Heath Ledger's will was never updated to include Matilda, so the actors that completed his role in The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law) donated their earnings from the film to the little girl. It isn't as if the girl wasn't destined to be a millionaire and wouldn't have lived off of her father's money the rest of her life, but I still think it was a touching gesture from a few heavy hitters in Hollywood.

Here is an ad hoc manga avatar that reflects today's look and general demeanor!