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Cover Story

Karen Finley Talks About Eliot Spitzer & the Cult of Apology

by Caitlin Crowell

It must be at least a bit satisfying for Karen Finley to have so many politicians apologizing. About sex. At the very least, it has provided her with a treasure trove of source material.

News

Give Me A Sign

by Eli George

James Flynn has a history with this city. A mail carrier for 30 years, he’s owned and rented the three-unit house at 30 Tracy Street for 27 years. Seven years ago, he left his home in the country and moved into 30 Tracy Street himself. Since then, he has fought for parking in front of his house, a struggle that culminated in a sign.

News

Eds and Meds

by Bruce Fisher

A generation ago, Buffalo and state politicians ignored the experience of New York City, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and other American cities that have downtown college and university campuses. Instead, they built the State University of New York’s biggest upstate university center far from the historic downtown transportation crossroads of the Western New York region.

Getting a Grip

Are We Ready To Vote Yet?

by Michael I. Niman

When future historians sit down to study this era, archived media stories will be of little use to them, unless the Brad Pitt-Angela Jolie baby grows up to rule the world. Probably the biggest history-making story to be ignored by the corporate media this month is the introduction in the US Congress of Articles of Impeachment against George W. Bush.

The News, Briefly

"Newco" hides public documents, gets sued

by Buck Quigley

As a June 30 deadline approaches, a new court case has been filed in State Supreme Court, possibly affecting the ongoing consolidation talks between Kaleida and ECMC. Described by attorney Peter A. Reese as “a last-ditch attempt to force the people who are planning the future of our healthcare in Western New York in secret to comply with the NYS Public Officers Law,” the show-cause order includes the signatures of four petitioners (including, in the interest of full disclosure, Michael T. Quigley, a.k.a. me).

News

News of the Weird

by Chuck Shepherd

Among the items on the menu for world leaders who met in June in Rome to discuss the crisis in world hunger: pasta with a sauce of pumpkin and shrimp, veal rolls, pastry puffs with corn and mozzarella, cheese mousse, Parmesan risotto, ragout of veal with legumes and zucchini pie, washed down with fine Italian wines.

Artshort

Seized: Steve Kurtz and the Art of Dissent

by Lucy Yau

Seized, the current show at Hallwalls, consists of items left behind by federal agents after they raided artist Steve Kurtz’s College Street house in 2004, as well as a series of pieces Kurtz was working on when authorities confiscated the pertinent materials.

Vine By Line

Independence Day: Freedom Wines for a City Barbecue

by Paula Paradise

As the citizenry of my ordinarily practical-minded city make raucous merriment while waving flags made in China (from where in 2007, the US imported $4.3 million worth of American flags), I like to have at the ready a diverse selection of domestic wines patriotically befitting any number of refugee palates. I urge all wine buffs to resist the taunts from the beer queue and proudly flaunt their passion for the vine.

Artvoice Video

White Brothers Livery Collapse

In the 1800's The White Bros Livery stables at 428 Jersey street served as the boarding facilities for the horse drawn carriages of Buffalos upper crust. Today the crust of the historic west side landmark is crumbling and a bucolic pocket neighborhood is fighting to save it from a neglectful property owner and a city ordered demolition. Will they succeed in its salvation or will the landmark structure become yet another part of Buffalo's forgotten past?

Left of the Dial

Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends

by Brad Deck

Handsome Jack - Self Titled

by Donny Kutzbach

Film Feature

Smart. Maxwell Smart.

by M. Faust

I improvised everything,” deadpans Steve Carell about his starring role in the big screen adaptation of the classic 1960s sitcom Get Smart. This is after taking a moment to introduce the film’s writer, seated down at the other end of the table here at a swanky Beverly Hills hotel.

Film Reviews

The Rape of Europa

by Geoff Kelly

War, Inc.

by George Sax

Listings

On The Boards Theater Listings

Movie Times (Friday June 20 thru Thursday June 26)

Film Now Playing

See You There

Sloan (Saturday, June 21)

Rob Dickinson (Friday, June 20)

Silver Apples (Sunday, June 22)

Stiletto Run (Wednesday, June 25)

Calendar Spotlight

F*NIGHT (Weekly; Fridays thru August)

Linda McRae with Jim Whitford (Sunday, June 22)

Peter Murphy of Bauhaus (Sunday, June 22)

Shapes and Sizes (Wednesday, June 25)

Looking Ahead . . .

Gaywatch

Buffalo Gay Men's Chorus Begins Summer Season

by Bryan Whitley-Grassi

What do you get when you cross a slew of talented gay singers, an accomplished musical director, and the belief that Buffalo’s LGBT community needs its own entertainment? You get one heck of a fine chorus.

Letters to Artvoice

State of the Livery Address

by Paul Morgan, Cottage District Resident

Last week six residents adjacent to the historic 1800s White Bros. Livery and Boarding Stable at 428-430 Jersey Street were evacuated from their homes, and the city contracted to demolish this unique and treasured structure under emergency provisions in city law. Among those displaced are two elderly citizens taken refuge at the Holiday Inn, and one elderly woman whose family was forced to place her indefinitely in a nursing home.

In The Margins

Review: Things I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me

by Joe Libutti

Flash Fiction

by Matthew Miranda

Literary Buffalo Events Listings

Horoscopes

Free Will Astrology

by Rob Breszny

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): We’re halfway through 2008. It’s time to take inventory of how well you’re capitalizing on this year’s unique opportunities. So let me ask you, Leo: Have you been redefining your relationship to your job so that it better serves the real you? Are you invoking all your imaginative powers so as to get into a position in which you will love work more than ever before? I hope you’ve been doing those things, because it means you’ve primed yourself to attract lots of help in accomplishing those changes.

Advice

Ask Anyone

Years ago, I purchased an old movie theater that had been vacant for many years. At the time, I had visions of saving the structure. Then, I thought, I’d get some grant money to fix it up and return it to its former glory. I pictured it as a vibrant part of a reborn neighborhood, and, I must admit, I looked forward to the day that I’d be called a hero by preservationists for saving it from the wrecking ball.

Artvoice Video

Seven Seas Sailing Center

by Matt Quinn

Artvoice visits the Canal District and goes sailing at the Seven Seas Sailing Center.