Review of Aimee Mann Concert

Here is the review of the Aimee Mann concert from last night's Thursday in the Square. Mind you, the comment she made about being thankful and feeling fortunate for having power went totally over my head. Sometimes I wish my brain had a wireless hook-up to the Internet so I could get news alerts when something has happened. I can't believe it was six hours before I had any clue about the power outage!

A Quick FAQ on Power Outage

I said no news links, but I think the D&C did a god job at getting a quick list out on what happened.

In The Dark on the Blackout

Ironically, the only time the blackout has affected me was when I tried to get food in Fredonia on my way to Buffalo right after 4pm. I thought the power outage was a local thing at the time. I'm not going to post any news links because part of the information being disseminated is inaccurate.

THE BIG INACCURACY: Lightning was not the cause of this massive power outage. It was a clear day here in Western New York and weather forecasters (AKA Don Paul on WIVB in Buffalo, NY) stated that no lightning strikes have been documented in the region. Plus, Niagara-Mohawk officials from here in Western New York have verified that information as well. So don't listen to that Jean Chretien fellow in Canada. I may love our neighbors to the north (and west in my case), but their leader is way off base on this one. It's too bad the rest of the national media hasn't figured that out yet.

So while a good chunk of this Great Lakes/Eastern Seaboard area was without power, I was basking in the musical beauty of Aimee Mann in Buffalo. What an exquisite concert! She did all my favorite songs ("Wise Up", "Save Me", and "That's Just What You Are"). Unfortunately, that all almost pales in comparison to what I came home to. At least we have power now. Matt says we did lose it for 3 hours while our Board of Public Utilities switched over to its backup of natural gas. Huzzah to that!

Manhunt On for Xerox Killer

News you never want to hear: Manhunt on for Xerox killer. Even thought I can't even pinpoint if I know anyone that works for Xerox, this is still the kind of news that makes you feel like your whole gut has dropped out. And we won't even talk about the media coverage this will get especially since the PGA is in Rochester right now.

Death of a Dancer & Actor

I was a little shocked by news that Gregory Hines has died (registration required). I was very lucky to have seen him in Jelly's Last Jam when I was in New York City in 1992. He was quite an amazing tap dancer. I suppose it was a mere coincidence that I took a class in tap dancing while in college, but I always remembered seeing Mr. Hines dance across the stage. He will be missed.

Stomping In The Rain

I've accepted that anytime I have plans to do something outdoors that will rain. And rain it did right as we were finishing up the Grape Stomping event at Lucy's Birthday Celebration.

The event went well. We managed to work around some last minute snafu's and get everything in a smooth assembly line of a. encouraging people to stomp grapes b. timing them while they stomped c. getting the stompers' feet sprayed off d. and giving them the trivia sheet to fill out. It was a pretty involved event in terms of what people had to do to win one of two gift baskets. And even though it was pouring so much that most of East Third Street was flooding and bolts of lightning could be seen close by, we still managed to finish off the contest with help of Lucy impersonator, Diane Vincent, to much happiness.

One advantage of the rain is that when it came time to dispose of all the mashed grapes, we just let the rain rushing down the hill wash the mash down the storm drain. Mind you we did this at the suggestion of one of the volunteers that also sits on the Board of Public Utilities' board.

How Many Have We Lost?

Go here to follow how many American lives are being lost "post-war" in Iraq. It's troubling especially now that some of the deaths are due to that pneumonia that no one can seem to figure out.

Trading Spaces Spoof Story

How the story would read if Bush and Saddam traded spaces.

Two Men, Two Photos

Visit this site for two pictures of Dukakis and Bush that made me smile (you will have to scroll down a little.. the link is "bloggered"). I was a Dukakis supporter back in '88 even though I was 6 years too young to vote. It's funny how the one of Dukakis apparently caused quite a stir during the election while the one of Bush hasn't. Not in the same way at least. Read the comments section underneath the picture. Lots of interesting opinons and some random info. as well.

Grape Stomping With Lucy

One of many events happening in Jamestown this weekend is Lucille Ball's Birthday Celebration. As part of the Jamestown's NEXT crew, I will be helping out with the Grape Stomping Event. This event was mentioned in last weekend's USA Weekend Magazine. Come down and say "Hi!" if you're in the area.

Babylon 5 Creator in Kitten Rescue Drama

If this story doesn't make you want to bawl your eyes out and want to marry this guy, then I don't know what will.

My Fiance's Biological Clock Must Be Ticking

Matt sent me this link: Perplexing Times. Admittingly, it's a cute site but it's the sort of site I would have expected my mom to direct me to, not my fiance. In fact, it makes me a little concerned that maybe my fiance is more into having babies than me. On the other hand, that wouldn't be hard to accomplish seeing as how I've vowed to do my bit to stop an explosion in the World's population by not contributing to it.

Only 390,000 Out of Work!

To copy this blog lets put on a happy face about the fact that only 390,000 people are out of a job. Yeah. Woo hoo. Tell me again how this doesn't suck?

A Taxing Drink

This world is truly going bonkers. There's some 20,000 voters in Seattle that want to put a tax on espresso. Couldn't they find a better way to raise funds than to tax this high-voltage drink?? Guess not.

Another Good Step Forward

I'm heartened to see that My Episcopalian leaders have voted to elect the first openly gay bishop. I get the feeling that people will look back on the summer of 2003 and call it "The Gay Summer of 2003" with everything that's happened from the Supreme Court's ruling that strikes down sodomy laws to the legalization of same-sex marriages in Canada to the gay-themed television shows that have appeared on the scene (mostly Bravo! and NBC) this season. It's a good thing.

Sometimes The Spam Ain't Bad

I received an email from an university student who has a new website he wanted to promote. Now usually I don't give two bits about this almost-spam, but his idea seems cool after I checked out his site: A Picture's Worth - essays on photographs of personal significance. We'll see how the rest of it pans out. The pictures are quite nice.

Dean on Larry King

Governor Howard Dean was on Larry King Live last night. To read the transcript, click here.

I'm not thrilled with the Governor's stance on same-sex marriages, but in the overall scheme of things, at least he's done more than most of the 49 other states in the Union. His overall platform is what convinces me that he is Our Guy.

Demolition of Memories

My dad had emailed me and I read on my former school district's website that demolition of my elementary school was scheduled to be completed today. I'm a bit miffed that the school district didn't offer to let former students/teachers tour the building before it was torn down. If they did, it wasn't advertised. Also, I wouldn't have minded if they had a "buy a brick" program so I could have had a small memory of the building. I know that sentiment is nostalgia riddled, but I have a lot of good memories about Colebrook School. Well, as good as school memories go! Everything from the first grade classroom where we used to have pancake days and I found out what an atheist was, to the all-purpose room where many lunches were consumed and girl scout meetings held, the library where we displayed our dioramas of books we read, the second grade classroom where we sang along with patriotic tunes and had show-and-tell, to every item in between.

I sent an email to the Public Relations Woman, a person I believe I went to high school with, asking why the District hadn't done anything to offer alumni the chance to reminisce. After all, they had given that opportunity to alumni of another elementary school in the district that was torn down a year or two ago. It's a small thing, for sure, but I can't help but feel like the District arbitrarily took away a memory without ceremony and the community's blessing. I'm quite aware that the school's demolition is part of the District's capital building project plan. I just wasn't expecting it to happen in such an everyday way.

UPDATE: Apparently, my school district hadn't forgotten about us according to this press release. I'm just surprised I never saw anything published in any of that area's local papers. So kudos to W.I.C.S.D. in the end. Now I'm hoping there's some bricks left to buy.

Wegman's Ranks #2 for Customer Satisfaction

My all-time favourite supermarket, Wegman's, has been ranked #2 for Customer Satisfaction according to Consumer Reports. The August issue of Child Magazine also cited Wegman's as being the most family-friendly supermarket in America. Earlier in 2003, Fortune Magazine ranked Wegman's 10th in the 100 Best Companies to Work for in American List. Even Cher got into the love fest last week after visiting the Pittsford Wegmans in Rochester before her concert in the city that night. Accolades all around for something Western New Yorkers have known about for years!

Reverting Back 15 Years

Friday night Matt cooked a nice dinner of lemon pepper chicken, steamed broccoli, and roasted potatoes. After we ate, I washed up the dinner dishes along with the few dishes that had accumulated the past two days. After watching some of the news, I left to return About A Boy and to drop off some library books. The return to the video store included renting The Princess Diaries and The Rules of Attraction. At the library, I took out the first two books in a new-to-me mystery series by M.C. Beaton (the Hamish Macbeth series) and Second Helpings, a young adults book that looked intriguing. On my way out of the library parking lot I realized something.

I was doing exactly what my mom and I used to do on Friday nights when I was in Middle and Junior High School. My parents and I would get dinner, then my mom and I would go to the library, and sometimes we'd even rent a movie. I'm closing in on age 27 and I'm doing the same thing. I marvel at the fact that the idea of staying in on a Friday night would have seemed like a death sentence five years ago. I guess getting engaged, living in a city that doesn't offer much other than the bars and movies on any given night, and having some friends out of town will help you get used to anything. Plus, I needed a night "off".