Arborgeddon

Who knows who coined the term Arborgeddon? At Artvoice we heard it first—and stole it—from community activist and would-be Buffalo mayor Kevin P. Gaughan, who heard to from a friend (who heard it from a friend, who…). Buffalo Rising’s Newell Nussbaumer was first to the Web with the name, with a Tuesday morning post in which he explained that the site, like so many city businesses, had been knocked offline by the storm.

With great anticipation I read Artvoice’s interview with soon-to-be Governor Eliot Spitzer (“His Great State,” Artvoice v5n41). It was a great interview and covered many topics important to people living in Western New York.

Paladino on the Casino

by Carl Paladino

When the Senecas first proposed the compact, Mayor Masiello expressed concern about competition with our downtown Buffalo hospitality businesses, its hotels, restaurants and retail. President Schindler promised the mayor unequivocally that the intention of the Senecas was solely to operate a stand-alone casino in downtown Buffalo with no gourmet restaurants, hotels or retail.

by Rob Brezsny

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): You’re renowned for your balancing acts, Libra. Seeing both sides of every story is your specialty. Striving to make opposites attract is an inclination you were born to cultivate. You may not always be in the mood to fight for harmony, and you may not always succeed at maintaining equilibrium, but you work harder at these fine arts than any other sign of the zodiac. Having said all that, though, I will now advise you to rebel against your usual shtick. It’s time for you to try out a new unbalancing act—to go to extremes without worrying about covering your ass. The cosmos is giving you permission to be unapologetically vivacious and mischievously blunt as you say, “It’s my way or the highway.” (P.S. You might want to study the style of your Aries acquaintances.)

by Chuck Shepherd

■ Most of the year, civil aviation engineer Joseph Ngoupou and his wife (a budget officer at the World Bank) live the life of a suburban Washington, DC, couple taking up golf on weekends. But two or three times a year, Ngoupou travels to Cameroon, where he is, by heredity, a village chief, responsible for resolving disputes among his 3,500 subjects. According to a September Wall Street Journal dispatch, his impoverished village has no electrical service or running water and lies five miles of barely passable road from the nearest town, and the isolated villagers are eager to cede Ngoupou authority as the ultimate wise man, to decide, for instance, the fair price of a bride’s dowry or the proper restitution for the theft of plums.

The Week After

by Michael I. Niman

When the snow began falling last Thursday it was a freakish novelty—an office window distraction. Emails flew out of Buffalo like blowing leaves scattering in a wind, starting with lines like, “You won’t believe this.” But of course we knew the snow wouldn’t stick. It couldn’t. Sailboats are still in the water. People are making plans to go camping in the upcoming leaf season. Hell, it was summer just a few days earlier. But then the reality of, as one local TV meteorologist put it, “our unprecedented weather disaster,” hit.

In Small Things Forgotten

by Albert Chao

A small sliver of land—one-eighth inch by 110 feet—parceled off by city zoning, is one of the Queens, New York properties Martin Hogue investigates in [Fake] Fake Estates. An architect and an assistant professor at Syracuse University’s School of Architecture, Hogue spent several months systematically canvassing residual property, comparable to Gordon Matta-Clark’s Fake Estates project of the early to mid 1970s.

Live It or Lose It

by Lauren Newkirk Maynard

Writer, author, world traveler and activist, Frances Moore Lappé has spent the last 30 years developing a revolutionary philosophy on how hunger, poverty and global food systems affect civilization. She is currently on a speaking tour to promote her latest book, Democracy’s Edge: Choosing to Save Our Country by Bringing Democracy to Life (Jossey-Bass). The book is both a sobering diagnosis of society’s current state of depression, inaction and fear, and a prescription for its rehabilitation that she calls “living democracy.”

Ted Pelton

by Michael Kelleher

After nearly a decade of trying, author Ted Pelton finally found a publisher for his novel, Malcolm & Jack. He will be reading from and signing copies of the book on Wednesday, October 25th at Talking Leaves’ Main St. Store.

by Javier

The fabulous Charlotte D’Amboise (pictured above) is finally starring in a leading role in an original Broadway production, albeit a revival. Known as the perennial replacement, D’Amboise is now playing Cassie (the role created by Donna McKechnie) in the revival of A Chorus Line which opened on October 5 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. Conceived by Buffalo’s Michael Bennett, the original production ran from July 1975 through April 1990 and became the longest-running Broadway show before it was surpassed by Cats (now The Phantom of the Opera has that record). The current revival was directed by Bob Avian, who was one of the co-choreographers of the original production. Famed Broadway costume designer Theoni V. Aldredge, who designed the original, has also designed the revival but this time with Buffalo’s Suzy Benzinger serving as associate costume designer. The new cast recording of the revival was just released this past week. And by the way, Donna McKechnie’s autobiographical Time Steps, which was released a few weeks ago, has some fascinating stories about the creation of A Chorus Line and about Bennett, to whom she was married briefly.

Teen Streets

by George Sax

The story behind writer-director Dito Montiel’s debut feature, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, gives off a few vibes of a less awesome variation on young Orson Welles’ triumphalist arrival at RKO sixty-six years ago. The not-quite-so-young Montiel prepped for his inaugural opportunity as a downtown (Manhattan) bar bouncer and music-scene habitue, and later, by writing the semi-autobiographical “memoir” of the same title about his formative years in the Borough of Queens’ Astoria section.

Miller Steals One for the Sabres

by Andrew Kulyk & Peter Farrell

DETROIT—It’s been more than four years since Buffalo fans had to endure the sight of Dominik Hasek parading on the ice in Hockeytown with the Stanley Cup. One year after dissing Sabres fans following a storied career in Buffalo. Ah, yes…Dominik stepping up to the microphone, in his unmistakable accent, proclaiming to the world, “I am, and always will be, a Rrred Ving forever.” Take that, Buffalo.

by Donny Kutzbach