Spittin' Wisdom

Mural off Allen Street

Let"s talk about the transvaluation of values...Or not. How many 19th century German philosophers have a bar named after them?
More than you think, but we like this one best.

Urban

Urban Leisure and Luxury, Elmwood Ave.

Stores on Elmwood Avenue are all lit up for the Holidays. Urban Leisure and Luxury has been rocking hip clothes and accessories for close to a quarter century. Located in the heart of the Elmwood Village, Urban has been a centerpiece on the strip, with reliably fun and trendy goodies, from clothes and sunglasses to their latest item, electric skateboards.

Electric Tower

Electric Tower

The Electric Tower, at Genesee and Washington Streets, was built in 1912. The building design was inspired by the Electric Tower featured at the Pan American Exposition of 1901. Its octagonal shape, along with the white terracotta facade captures natural light, as well as night time illumination, living up to its name and making it one of the most spectacular looking buildings in Buffalo.

Tara

Tara Gift Shoppe, South Buffalo

'Tis the season to do a wee bit of shopping. Tara Gift Shoppe, on Abbott Road in South Buffalo, offers a local store with international charm for that Hibernophile in your life.

http://taragiftshoppe.com/index.htm

Peter J. Crotty Casino

Peter J. Crotty Casino in Cazenovia Park

The Peter J. Crotty Casino, in Cazenovia Park, has been at the center of a few promises to rehab Buffalo Parks' buildings. There may have been some minor improvements, but the main building in an Olmsted Park should not look like this. Closed up tight and covered in graffiti, seems a poor fate for a building that could be serving the community in some fashion. If the city is in a renewal phase, it behooves the powers that be to find a creative, interactive use for this building, other than looking like a prop from the movie, The Warriors, circa 1970s.

http://www.southbuffalo.info/html/peter_j__crotty_casino.html

Albright-Knox Exhibit

Albright-Knox Art Gallery

Currently, the Albright-Knox is exhibiting a Picasso collection. Picasso: The Artist and His Models is on display through February 19.https://www.albrightknox.org/

Pretenders

Town Ballroom Marquee

Pretenders take a break from their tour to play a more intimate setting with 1200 of their closest friends.

http://www.townballroom.com/

D.L. & W. Terminal

River side of old D.L.&W.  R.R. Terminal

Delaware, Lakawana, and Western Rail Road Terminal was built in 1917. The structure served both passenger and commercial freight purposes with access to the Buffalo River. The terminal design held countless architectural innovations for the time and was used by D. L. and W. until 1962. In 1979 the property, looted and neglected, became property of The NFTA and today serves as terminus for the Buffalo Metro Subway.

Kostas

Fresco @ Kostas

Ode on a Grecian Diner

Thou still unfinished pile of fries, 

       Thou lamb gyro of tasted and savoured time, 

Sprightly waiter, who canst thus order 

       A rice pudding more sweet than our rhyme: 

   You get the idea... Kostas Family Restaurant has been offering a haven for seekers of comfort food for 39 years. This beacon of Hertel Avenue has seen the evolution of this North Buffalo neighborhood over the last few decades. Today, this stretch of Hertel Avenue is one of the city's go to destinations for restaurants, shopping and night spots.

http://kostasfamilyrestaurant.com/aboutus/

Loco Motives

Cantina Loco Looking Out

There's crazy good food at the corner of Allen Street and Elmwood Avenue. We have two words for you, tacos and tequila. You're at the intersection of simple, fresh, quality and yum.

http://www.cantinaloco.com/

Statler

Statler Building 2016

Straight out of the Roaring Twenties, comes Ellsworth Statler's grand hotel that crowned the Queen City at the beginning of the last century. Recently, the old place has had its ups and downs, but continues to hang in there even amidst calls to raze the once glorious digs. Too many fans in Buffalo and around the country will not stand for that disappointing end. If her sister hotel, 

The Hotel Pennsylvania is still kicking, then certainly this Statler can find a new thriving life in the Buffalo Renaissance.

Roswell

Newest Addition Roswell Park Cancer Institute

The world renown Roswell Park Cancer Institute calls Buffalo its home. Thousands of people from across the country and from around the world are treated in its state of the art facilities, using modalities stemming from research and clinical trials begun at the institute. RPCI has the distinction of being the country's first hospital to focus solely on the study of cancer. The pipeline of research to efficacious treatment has never ceased. Current cutting edge therapies are exploring immunology and genetics. RPCI also conducts New York State's largest Phase I Clinical Trials. Since opening in 1913, RPCI has attracted some of the world's brightest minds, creating a vital resource for the treatment of cancer regionally and worldwide. Roswell sits amidst the ever growing Medical Corridor, which spans four city neighborhoods and includes; Buffalo General, University of Buffalo Medical School and Biomedical Sciences, and Gates Vascular Institute to name a few of the many institutions that make up the Buffalo medical campus.

http://www.bnmc.org/about/

Turkey Trot

Post-Trot Party Buffalo Convention Center/ Photo: G. Rohall

Close to a million people across the country will run in a race on Thanksgiving Day. Last year Buffalo was the 4th largest Turkey Trot in the U.S. This year will mark the 121st running of the race. According to the YMCA, the race organizers, the Buffalo Turkey Trot is the "oldest consecutively run footrace" in all of North America. 

http://www.ymcabuffaloniagara.org/annual-events/ymca-turkey-trot/

Elvishly Good Stuff

Exceptional Vegan Chocolate

Congratulations to my former colleague a her husband on quitting their day jobs and opening their dream shop. Today was the soft opening for Thinking Elvish Fantasy Chocolate, beautifully realized in the old Tabree restaurant on Elmwood. All of the ingredients for their imaginative and flavor-filled artisian chocolates are organic and fair trade from Peru. They roast their own cocao beans, make their own almond milk, and design their own everything, and the results are truly unique. One of the most delightful things, beside the chocolate flavors, was the cold brew made from the cocao shells after roasting. The flavor was something between an exquisite tea and a fine coffee. It was truly something untasted and unexpected. Best, best wishes to Lacy and Tim Christ and their beautiful kids on a very unique take on chocolates and soon to come ice creams. 

JFK

1960 Election Poster

A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.

- President John F. Kennedy