Pride Buffalo

by Bryan James Whitley

Pride. One simple five-letter word with so many meanings behind it. Civic pride. Ethnic pride. Pride in one’s community. These are all values that most Buffalonians hold in high esteem. So why is it that we celebrate Pride every June? Because we can.

Now It's Dark...

by Caitlin DeRose

Whoever said that the freaks come out at night was clearly on the ball. Nighttime is freeing; it’s an escape from the banality of the nine-to-five. It’s the time to do whatever you like, not whatever you have to do. In the spirit of exploring all that goes on in the shadows, Hallwalls hosts Nocturminal, its 20th annual Artists & Models Affair, on Saturday night (June 2) at the Buffalo Central Terminal. This one-of-a-kind annual blowout features 28 artist installations/performances and five musical acts that all somehow tie in together under the theme of curiously creepy activities and ideas that originate somewhere in the darkness.

by Rob Brezsny

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): This week’s horoscope draws on the wisdom of Gemini philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. His soaring perspective is a perfect fit for your current astrological omens. Here’s the first: “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” Emerson #2: “What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered.” Here’s your third Emersonian clue: “He who is not every day conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.” Let’s finish up with this battle cry, Emerson #4: “Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

by Chuck Shepherd

■ High-Tech Pet Care: The Japanese company Medical Life Care Giken said it will begin marketing, later this year, a device that measures pets’ stress levels. The tiny patch on the bottom of a dog’s or cat’s paw changes color depending on the amount of sweat secreted, according to the researchers at Toyama University who developed it. And in March, New York’s Long Island Veterinary Specialists performed complicated hip-replacement surgery on a 1-year-old shorthaired cat, using a material about the width of a wooden matchstick. Oreo was discovered wedged in the crawl space of a house. (Dogs receive hip replacements almost routinely now, but cats were thought to be too small.)

If Only This Was a Dictatorship

by Michael I. Niman

Nobody has ever accused George W. Bush of not being good for a few laughs. Unfortunately his humor is inadvertent, with W spewing what have become known as “Bushisms.” It’s when he tries to be funny that our jaws drop in horror. Like when he was the Governator of Texas and he mocked death row inmate Karla Faye Tucker as she pleaded for clemency: “Please don’t kill me,” he whined in a falsetto voice festooned with an ersatz Texas drawl.

Minivan Redux

by Jim Corbran

Perhaps redux isn’t quite the right word here, at least not as far as DaimlerChrysler’s product line is concerned. Chrysler Corporation created the minivan market segment when it rolled the first Dodge Caravan off the assembly line in Windsor, Ontario back in 1983, and it’s been at or near the top in sales ever since. Other North American manufacturers haven’t fared as well, as both Ford and General Motors have thrown in the towel on the minivan market, and have put all of their minivan-ish eggs into the crossover market. Whether or not that was a wise move remains to be seen.

George Bowering: Canada's New Poet Laureate

by Geoffrey Hlibchuk

Artvoice: Vermeer’s Light is your first new major poetry collection in some time. Given the recent changes in your life, such as your appointment as Canada’s first parliamentary poet laureate, what were the unique pressures in compiling this book?

Vermeer's Light: Poems by George Bowering

by Linda Benninghoff

George Bowering, the first Canadian poet laureate, delights in language and in word-play. In Vermeer’s Light: Poems 1996-2006 there are many poems where sound dominates over sense and the theme is language itself. In the title poem, “Vermeer’s Light,” Bowering seems to play with William Carlos Williams’ image of the white chickens.

Gypsy Legacy

by Thomas Dooney

They still call themselves gypsies, those performers who sweat in rehearsals only to glow on stage. Afterwards they wring themselves out, pack up and move to the next show in the next city. It is a term used with pride and respect. Those two characteristics are the foundation of Lisa Mordente’s legacy.

The 22nd Annual Buffalo International Jewish Film Festival

Buffalo’s longest-lived such event, the Jewish Film Festival celebrates its 22nd year with a week’s worth of films from around the world, including seven features and eight documentaries. Saturday and Sunday screenings will be held at the Market Arcade Film and Arts Center, after which the series moves to the Amherst Theater for the remainder of the week. A special screening of the art documentary The Rape of Europa will close the festival on Sunday at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Full screening information is available at www.bijff.com. Among the films to be screened:

by M. Faust

Elias Pozantides

by Racquel Ananiadis

T his marks the 30th year of the annual Hellenic Festival, which takes place June 1-3 at the Hellenic Church of the Annunciation, 146 West Utica at the corner of Delaware Avenue. Admission is $2 and children under 12 are free. Proceeds from the festival go to benefit the church, which has been restored after a terrible fire in 2001—the only year in its 31 year history in which the Hellenic Festival was not held. The church, built in 1906, is on the US and New York registers of historic places and free tours will be available. Just don’t get the impression that this is merely a sedate architectural tour. With great Greek food, drink, music, dance and hospitality, the Hellenic Festival is a true gem among the city’s ethnic celebrations. Artvoice spoke to Elias Pozantides, the 2007 Hellenic Heritage Festival Chairman. Here’s how he describes the event.

by Amy Alkon

Earlier this year, I met what I thought was a sweet, kind, caring man. After a whirlwind romance, he proposed, we got engaged and moved in together. Shortly afterward, I discovered he’d shaved 10 years off his age. He said he was 42; he’s actually 52. (I’m 32.) I then began snooping on his computer. Here’s my problem: He seems addicted to Internet porn. Not just any porn, gay porn. He has five separate email aliases, and belongs to 67 gay porn sites. He has used gay phone sex and gay personals. When I confronted him, he said he was “not gay in the least.” He is very underendowed, and this was the reason he gave for looking at naked men. He claims he pretends that he has what they have while “entertaining himself.” I don’t buy it, but I’m wondering if maybe it’s possible for a heterosexual man to not be gay and be addicted to this type of porn.