A few random thoughts from the week that was:

-The paving of Delaware Park's ring road started this week, lousing life up for those of us who work there. I first saw the sign Wednesday, revised for Thursday centered around all our usual turf. At this rate, I'll be paying my employer to park in our lot where it's safe. It will be fine in the end as it is nice to have a break from people who drive smart cars yet still manage to take up two parking spaces.

-Can't our cable provider get BBC America and CBC in HD? CBC for the hockey and BBC for the Top Gear? I'd be a happy guy.

-Think Derek Roy's disappearance from the stat sheet saved Cellino and Barnes substantive cash?

-Speaking of Top Gear, the History Channel is going to take a shot at an American version, which will be a mistake. The quintessentially British car show is as much fun as it is because of the people doing it. Instead of American comics, do us a favor and show some from early launch. We don't always need to convert to improve. But at least, it's the History Channel trying because if NBC gave it a go, it would be doomed. One of the actual hosts of the program, Jeremy Clarkson, once told some tv writers that American audiences wouldn't get it. He's wrong, american television executives wouldn't get it.

-I think Joe Golombek might be on to something if he'd quit fighting Sam Hoyt and thought more about Antoine Thompson (not my concept, but I agree with wholeheartedly)

-The nicest thing I can think to say about Dale Volcker's retirement is "Bye"

-Thanks to my company's stature, the loan I took has already started being paid back and I still haven't seen the check yet.

-Really don't care about the NFL Draft and the ratings/cash grab of two nights of prime time tv, which did serve to keep the Mets off it.

It's a day of random notes:

Good to be the client? when the account rep moonlights at a ticket office -- Roger Waters seats will be mine, oh yes, they will be mine.

Was at the Anchor Bar on Saturday night with a good friend. We grabbed a table in the bar area to avoid what seemed like a wait. Came away with three lessons learned: Latin Jazz ain't doing it for me since Tito Puente's passing, The AB is kind of a mediocre wing joint these days, and none of their bartenders know how to pour Guinness. It ain't Coors, asshats.

Earlier in the day, I took my son to the Bar Mitzvah of one of his school chums. A few other friends of his turned up, but I didn't want to be the dad to kick his kid into Temple Beth AM by himself. I was a little curious. I asked him for his impressions afterwards. He says he liked the ceremony (It was pretty beautiful) and that the rabbi looked a lot like my very irish father. Grandpa got a chuckle out of that.

Is there anything nicer than an empty shared laundry facility on a Sunday afternoon to an apartment dweller? It is nice to start off the week with a clean slate.

Speaking of the old man, I have somehow been rogered in to helping him with an auction next week toward being the guy behind the microphone. I did it once for work which somehow qualifies me to give it a go again. Socially inept lil me? Wonders will never cease.

Playoff beards don't work.

Must be spring for real as I left work Friday only to notice that somehow a bird left his mark on one of my doors. Give you pause to think how sick he or she must been to pooping at that angle.

New week, new car wash

Denoting the fact that this idiot wasn't watching to see if his idiot guard was on the beard trimmer. That wakes you up in a hurry, a sort of reverse playoff beard.

Went out for a stroll post dinner Sunday night and the power of the shuffle setting on my Ipod sent me rolling for a few miles, home flush with fresh air and salient observations:

An old J.Geils Band can make you laugh to yourself, but that isn't really out of place around Elmwood & Forest.

We would all flunk our road tests if we had to take them again as nobody, myself included, does left turns right. We're a region of semi-circles, when we should be angles.

Jon Vogl from the Buffalo News is right, the Bass Pro ain't gonna fly downtown, even if it wasn't fictional. An IKEA would bring em, though.

It's "punch bug" not "punch-dub"...asshats

There are some pedestrians that have incredible faith in traffic and how it won't hit them. Walking back near Delavan, I saw the light change and a bus and car both started to move and the woman darted out in front of both. She stuck her arm out Heisman trophy style like that was enough to keep the vehicles at bay. Guess it was, foolish chance though.

I took my car to the car wash near Record Theatre yesterday and $15 bucks there is worth is worth multiple kisses from the other guys. I couldn't help but snicker a little as my 8 year old Grand Am was sharing space with a Porsche Boxster, Mercedes and a Cadillac. They all shined up nicely, but I think despite running fine, my car now has esteem issues.

Brodo closed its Elmwood location (bastards!), but that didn't stop a "Street Commerce" Agent from attempting to relieve folks of extra change. No rocket scientist I, but wouldn't you double your control group if you did that closer to a business that had people going to it?

Maybe, just maybe, people will get off Patrick Lalime's case now.

Parenthood has it all over Brothers and Sisters.

Hearing the phrase "Mets-Nats highlights at 11!" doesn't fill me with, well, any anticipation.

A book and a soundtrack in the Elmwood sunshine seems like well, just right.

The Rollerblade experiment was successful (as I didn't fall), just wondering how many peeked out their waterfront windows and wondered....

You know you are getting older, when your musical heroes appear equally on the covers of Rolling Stone and Modern Maturity. I've always had decent luck in securing a ticket for something I've really wanted to see locally. Even my mom was emboldened with some benign coolness as I had a test the day Bruce Springsteen tickets went on sale in 1980. My mom took mine and my friends money and went up to National Record Mart and scored first row golds. Couldn't do any better than that in days of yore. In fact I think it set a precedent for shows that I really wanted into the next generation. I took my lovely eldest daughter to her first major show the last time U2 deigned to come to Buffalo. On the ticket, behind the stage didn't sound promising, but since they played to whole arena, every few songs my daughter borrowed my phone to tell people she was "this close to flippin Bono!"

If you are over 35, you remember cueing up for tickets on Delaware Ave or one of the record stores (remember them?), but it has gotten more complex and incredibly more expensive in the age of these here internets. Inflation and greed made my $5.00 ticket to my first Bruce show seem downright quaint. Witness the shenanigans of Live Nation and Ticketmaster as well as Tickets.com., where you get assessed double digit "convenience" charges for tickets you can run off your home printer. The upshot of this is I've gotten very picky about venues as I ease into late middle age.

To see Neil Young at an actual concert hall seemed like a worthwhile opportunity. The pricing structure for Shea's seemed kind of odd. It was a little strange to see 69, 99 and 149 dollar seats in a building so compact. For 69 dollars, you would have the abilities to spit on the people who paid 70 dollars to sit 70 feet closer. That irony should strike some. Despite a little shock at $150 price tags, I thought it might be worth 69 bucks to see ole 'weird Neil. But, it ain't to be. Despite being armed with a decent internet connection and speedy cell phone, I could only watch as the retail tickets disappeared 5 minutes into the on sale time frame.

StubHub had some that had only been inflated 2-300% from the original selling price within 20 minutes.



Sorry, Neil, guess I'm sitting this one out. Heart of Gold was on tv last night. I think it was foreshadowing. Ticketmaster, Live Nation, Tickets.com? This thing of yours ain't working for us working folk, but since profits are higher than ever before for you guys, I guess you really don't care. Good luck with that merger.