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Artvoice Best of Buffalo 2007

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News of the Weird

by Chuck Shepherd

■ Doug Guetzloe, one of central Florida’s most prominent political operatives (and a subject of investigations by the Florida Elections Commission and a highway agency in Orlando), had long eluded criminal charges by denying any knowledge of unethical activities that prosecutors were sure he was involved in. However, late last year, Guetzloe missed a payment on his rental storage locker, and 50 boxes of his personal and professional records were seized and auctioned for $10 to a curious citizen, who then gave them to Orlando’s WKMG-TV, which had several earlier investigations of Guetzloe still pending. Based on early readings of the storage-locker papers, Guetzloe was indicted for felony perjury in March, and the case continues.

Letters to Artvoice

Perhaps “Know Nukes” ought to become the new catch phrase for the anti-nuclear movement (“Getting a Grip,” Artvoice v6n15). Mike Niman is right that nuclear issues have fallen off the consciousness map, but I guarantee they’re coming back. Western New Yorkers ought to be leading the resurgence of resistance against expansion of nuclear power. We have a enough legacy waste here to make us well-qualified to speak about what’s wrong about nuclear power. Today there are 440 nuclear reactors worldwide. Six thousand nuclear reactors are projected to be operational by the end of the century.

Free Will Astrology

by Rob Brezsny

ARIES (March 21-April 19): “I was the wife of Vlajko Stojiljkovic, deceased, who was indicted at the Hague War Crimes Tribunal. First, I assure you that the indictment was politically motivated and utterly without merit. Secondly, I need to transfer our vast fortune out of the country. The funds are in excess of 64 million U.S. dollars. Can you help? Are you trustworthy? I can offer you 30 percent. Please forward your contact info to me a.s.a.p. I am grateful. -Glorja.” Dear Aries, there’s a good chance you’ll soon get a money-related offer that’s as bogus as the above communiqué. DO NOT TAKE IT! Much more reliable financial opportunities are on their way.

Earth Day

Addressing Climate Change

You Can Make a Difference

Gore's Top Ten

You Auto Know

Big Apple Shines

by Jim Corbran

I guess it figures that the one city in the country where you really don’t need a car to get around would host one of the biggest annual car shows in the world. I guess it also figures that, for the 54th consecutive year, I didn’t get to go.

In the Margins

Voice Containers

by Kevin Thurston

Rachel Zolf’s newest collection of poetry, Human Resources, has just been released by Coach House Books. In it, Zolf attempts to become a writing machine, producing a poetry of daily experience, but not necessarily her own. Believing that there is no one, clear, containable “voice” for a writer, she has developed a way to produce poetry that combines “the visceral and psychic cost of selling things with depleted words.” As she commented in an interview with Rob McLennan in 2006, “I no longer hope I’ll open the fridge one day and my Self will pop out.”

Literary

From Haiku to the Blues

by John Kryder

Next Thursday, April 26, Sonia Sanchez headlines the fourth annual Buffalo/Williamsville Poetry, Music, Dance Celebration at Kleinhans Music Hall (7pm, free). Sanchez, whose work addresses the African-American experience from slavery to modern forms of opporessions, is a recipient of the Robert Frost medal in poetry and the Langston Hughes Poetry Award; she has been nomiated for the National Book Critics Circle and the NAACP Image Awards. Recently she spoke with Artvoice about her work:

Theater

Playing Light

by Thomas Dooney

He is resident lighting designer for Irish Classical Theater Company, Kavinoky Theater, Theater Of Youth and Neglia Ballet. Brian Cavanagh, one of the region’s most respected tech personalities, came to the stage almost by accident.

Theaterweek

by Anthony Chase

The New Phoenix Theatre has become a home for innovative ventures in theater. Their current offering takes one of the world’s oldest stories, the Gilgamesh epic, and retells it with the fabulous puppets of Franklin LaVoie.

Film Reviews

Ladies' Man: In the Land of Women

by George Sax

Broken: Fracture

by M. Faust

Film Clips

Avenue Montaigne

by George Sax

Hot Fuzz

by M. Faust

Puck Stop

Better Days

by Andrew Kulyk & Peter Farrell

Within hours of the puck dropping for Game One at HSBC Arena, the video that everyone is talking about was all over the internet. “Better Days,” the upbeat, two-minute montage produced in-house by Sabres broadcast producer Matt Gould, gave everyone around Western New York a spring in their step, raising Stanley Cup fever yet another couple degrees.

See You There

Artvoice Boom Bash II

by Buck Quigley

Indies Under Fire

by Geoff Kelly

Women and Dance: A Timeless Journey

by Caitlin Derose

Hamell On Trial

by Jodi Hahn

Got Live If You Want It

Central Park Grill

Phil Cafarelli has been hosting live music at the Central Park Grill for nigh on 30 years, and in that time the joint has been a home away from home for any number of Buffalo greats, from Gamalon to Shakin’ Smith. Its proximity to UB’s South Campus and the student-heavy University Heights neighborhood means that its stage sees a steady influx of new talent as well, drawn in by Cafarelli’s catholic taste in the music he books. We spoke to him not long ago about CPG:

Calendar Spotlight

Umphrey's McGee

by Caitlin Derose

Antelope

by Donny Kutzbach

Smart Puffs

by Shaun Smith

ActionReaction

Kittie

by Caitlin Derose

SpringFest 2007

by Caitlin Derose

James Plotkin and Tim Wyskida

The Advice Goddess

by Amy Alkon

I am 22, and my boyfriend of 15 months is 41. He has an extremely difficult time expressing any affection or emotion, and our physical intimacy has been dwindling despite my efforts to seduce him. His family says I’m the first girl he’s brought home since 1987, and his longest relationship. They’re rooting for me and say I should call them if he starts pushing me away. They want him to have a family, and he says he wants one, too, but has never come close. I realize I’m young, but for the first time, I feel selfless. I would happily sacrifice my happiness for his. It’s so important to me that he is able to become a father, even if it is not with me. But maybe our age difference means we were supposed to meet so I can bear his children. I strongly believe this man is my soul mate, even if he is not so sure. How do I keep from going crazy while not pressuring him so much that I lose him?