Elizabeth Cook at the Sportmen's

For anyone already needing a break from the holiday season, the Sportsmen's Tavern, 326 Amherst Street near Grant Street in Buffalo, will host rising alt.country/Americana singer Elizabeth Cook for a free show Thursday, November 29.
Cook, who was recently received an Americana Music Association nomination for song of the year for her "Sometimes It Takes Balls to Be a Woman," is touring for her new CD, "Balls," which was produced by legendary producer, songwriter and performer Rodney Crowell. Local singer Davey O will open the show at 9 p.m.
Also, Flatbed will bring its gumbo of roots rock, alt.country, traditional and even jammy rock to the Sportsmens' Tavern stage with Col. Chet and the Tonawanda Two opening at 9 p.m. Saturday, December 1.

Smart or Lazy?

I did something Sunday that I have never done before, and the existential ramifications continue.
Sometime around 1 p.m., just after the Bills-Jaguars football game/monstrosity started, an older man knocked at my door; when I answered it, he said that he was raking leaves from neighborhood lawns and would charge $5. Having not had time to get to it and wanting the walkway to be safe for Val, I said yes.
By the time he finished our lawn, which is actually a double property wise (next-door property got deeded to the previous owner after a fire damaged the roof of the house, which was never repaired until we replaced the entire roof this year), he had cleaned up an amazing amount of leaves, deposited most of them and piled up the rest by the driveway. I paid him $10.
I have never hired or paid anyone to rake our leaves, plow or shovel our snow or anything like that before, but my scheduled has been a bit busy, and the price was more than reasonable. Does this make me a bad person?

Another Classic from The Boss

As well as recording and now touring with the E Street Band again, Bruce Springsteen has been busy with the Sessions Band, with which he recorded "We Shall Overcome," a tribute of sorts to the music and times of Pete Seger.
But the CD that has barely left my CD player or Val's car CD player is "Live in Dublin: Bruce Springsteen with the Sessions Band," an expanded band of sorts backing Springsteen during a three-night residency at a Dublin club. More than two hours of great music featured on the "We Shall Overcome" CD, plus serious reworkings of the Boss's older songs, including "Atlantic City," "Open All Night" and "Further On (Up the Road)."
Springsteen and company sound like they are having a great time, the crowd jumps in with repeated sing-alongs and the music, with the particular help of the horn section, takes a serious New Orleans sound, as Val accurately pointed out to me.

Thanksgiving Through the, er, Ages

I remember when the day before Thanksgiving used to be a time to try to get out of work early, rush home to eat dinner, hopefully have tickets to go to the Buffalo Sabres' hockey game, go or watch the broadcast of the game at home and then rush out to meet friends and go to see bands at the Continental, Nietzsche's, Mohawk Place, the Sportsmen's Tavern or, gulp, Stage One.
Now, I will rush from work to Wegmans, then pick Walker Evans up from dog day care, make dinner (ground poultry sausage blended in Chef's sauce on top of wheat thin spaghetti), watch the Sabres' hockey game on television and, if I didn't already doze off, fall asleep early.

Holiday Television Schedule?

I believe that the vast majority of Christmas and holiday television programs, movies and music absolutely, positively suck, worse than the 2007 Miami Dolphins, but there are a few programs and the like that I enjoy.
Because I have not had the time to look it up yet, I am asking you, my tasteful and informed readers, if you know when the first broadcast/showing of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" will be this season.
I will also list some of my favorite holiday music (a short list, indeed), and ask for a few music suggestions.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes at QB?

The New England Patriots' 56-10 obliteration of the Buffalo Bills Sunday night was a painful reminder of where the Bills stand in comparison with the Patriots and the cream of the National Football League, but at least it led to a robust and humorous thread of more than 330 entires at Bfloblog.
I'm a JP Losman fan/supporter, but it looks like, with Buffalo prepared to go in another direction with Trent Edwards as the starting quarterback and next "future" QB for the Bills, that it is time to take Losman out and start Edwards the rest of the season. I believe that Losman is the better quarterback for the Bills in the long run, but JP no longer has a long run with Buffalo. Also, his last three games as starter, in my book, have been one each of good, average and poor, which probably won't win anyone over on the coaching staff.
I hate to have the rest of this season become another rebuilding season, but I also see no better alternative.

Buffalo Arts Studio Members' Show

The Buffalo Arts Studio will hold its annual member artists' exhibition and sale from November 17-December 29, 2007, with its opening from 7-10 p.m. Saturday, November 17, at the BAS in the Tri-Main Center on Main Street between Amherst Street and Sisters Hospital in Buffalo.
Among the fine artists displaying their works will be my lovely wife and the web mistress here, Val Dunne, who will have several new works of photography on display. Those of you who wanted to but missed the opening for Val's current show at Betty's on Virginia Street just off Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo can make it up to us by coming to Saturday's opening, and those of you who were kind enough to attend Val's opening at Betty's are certainly welcome to come see more of her new work here, as well as lots of fine work by a talented roster of artists including potter Bryan Hopkins.

Late WBNY Alumni Weekend Recap

I meant to get to this a lot sooner, but I again had a great time at the WBNY 91.3 FM 25th Anniversary/Alumni Weekend and New Media Weekend at Buffalo State College in October, and was honored and privileged to take part in a panel discussion as well as have lots of fun with a 2-hour air shift that Sunday, October 28.
I've thanked people here before, but I should mention that alumni like Tina Peel, Tom Calderone, John Rosso and the organizing committee/WBNY Alumni Association officers and staff at Buffalo State deserve credit for making the weekend a pretty big deal not just for alumni, but for current students, the college itself and listeners.
And as I have done in the past, here is my play list from the two hours I was DJing: 6-7 p.m. - Rodney Crowell, "Say You Love Me;" Blue Rodeo, "This Road;" Beausoleil, "Zydeco Gris-Gris;" Richard Thompson, "Dad's Gonna Kill Me;" The Jam, "Standards;" Roxy Music, "Same Old Scene;" Rockpile, "Pet You and Hold You;" Mark Freeland and Electroman, "Girl Power;" Nullstadt, "Jimmy;" Davy and the Crocketts, "Stage Zero;" the Nerves, "When You Find Out;" the Plimsouls, "Oldest Story in the World;" Peter Case, "Ain't Gonna Worry No More;" Southern Culture on the Skids, "8 Piece Box."
7-8 p.m. - Lucinda Williams, "Pineola;" Mamou, "Opelousas Sostan;" Girlpope, "Bad Habits;" Michael Oliver, "Little Miss Oblivious;" Roger Bryan, "Lighthouse;" Warren Zevon, "The Overdraft;" MC5, "Shakin' Street;" Los Lobos, "Done Gone Blue;" Jim Whitford, "Crash All Night;" the Pine Dogs, "Been on a Twister;" Enemies, "Disconnected;" Linda McRae, "This Winding Road;" Julie Miller, "All My Tears;" Carolyn Mark, "Happy 2 B Flying Away."
It is always nice to get to play music that I like now and over the more than 20 years since I was on-air at WBNY, and it was great to see so many friends, including some I haven't really encountered/talked to in too many years.
If there is a complaint I have from the weekend, it has nothing to do with the alumni, current students/air staff or the faculty and staff at Buffalo State College, but with what I perceive as the all but ignoring in the news media of some prominent alumni, as well as those who in my opinion stayed true to their WBNY years and experience and have and still are intensely interested in and promoting, DJing, selling, performing and/or writing about music.
In particular, it seems that the vast majority of the media, if they wrote or broadcast anything about the WBNY Alumni Weekend, our 25th anniversary or New Media Weekend, concentrated on the alumni of WBNY who are prominent in the media, in Buffalo, Western New York and nationally, as well as in politics. Mayor Byron Brown was frequently mentioned, as were the usual slew of local television and some radio broadcasters, despite the fact that many of them have never taken part in an alumni weekend or in much of any way to promote the station, while people like Cal Zone, John Hudson, Scott Michlin, Barri Falk, Rita Rich (Tarnovsky), Kevin Walsh, my sister, Heather (Hosey) Keenan, Randy Bushover, Tom Connolly, Dave Johnston, Brian Hartman and many others were all but forgotten.
People like Tina Peel, John Rosso, Tom Calderone, Ralph Cipolla and their like deserve all of the attention they have received as WBNY Alumni, and even more, because they have both achieved a lot in their fields and returned their time and effort to the station and the college. But in a town where non-journalism and non-broadcast skills seem to earn you on-air news jobs (and no, this is not exclusive to Buffalo), "celebrity" of this kind wins over commitment. Oh, well.

Blogger News

I need to catch up on thanking and congratulating several members of the Buffalo Prefecture of Blogistan.
First, a major thank you to Alan Bedenko, better known online as Buffalo Pundit, for putting his time, effort and money where his proverbial mouth is and running as the Democratic candidate for the 4th District Erie County Legislature seat. He lost to Republican incumbent Michael Ranzenhofer, but Alan did what so few people do, went beyond complaining to doing and ran a fine, admirable race.
Congratulations to LC Scotty and his wife, Kelly, on the birth of their beautiful daughter, Ava Mae. We are glad to read that all three are doing fine, and Scotty can fill you in much better here.
Congratulations also go out to Jennifer of All Things Jennifer upon gaining her new job.

Thank You, Veterans

Val and I want to say Happy Veterans Day and thank you to all of the veterans of our armed services (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard) for your service to our country.
Val and I are the proud children of Korean War veterans: the late Edward William Hosey, U.S. Army, and the late Edward Patrick Dunne, U.S. Navy.

Veering Back to Normal

With Election Day finally here and gone, I will be getting back to more regular patterns in my life and more writing here and at our BuffaloRoots web site, as well as other freelance efforts.
Of all of the candidates I worked and voted for, all but one were victorious, and the one loss was a/the major one. So now, it looks like Val and I can actually plan more than one home cooked dinner a week, and I hope that Val, who has been doing lots and lots of photography and graphic arts freelance and other work, can stand to have me around more often.

A Holiday Musical Travesty Returns

With the holiday season here in full force (and too early, as has become the practice), we can welcome a lot of good and bad, but to my ears, the worst is the return, and subsequent playing to death, of music and commercials for and featuring the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Again, while people can like what they want to listen to, I can also dislike it, as I do; it is bad enough how awful awful, wretched and derivative the music is (Progressive rock with more bombast than usual playing holiday classics? How innovative.), but the advertisements don't do much good for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra when they claim originality, etc.
The music is even bad even compared to Emerson, Lake and Palmer, something I barely believe my hands are typing but true. And yes, there is a Buffalo connection (a leader or founding member whose name I could not find during two Yahoo searches), so I will write that the Trans-Siberian Orchestra will play in Buffalo November 25. I'm sure I have something to do that day and night (two shows being played).

Halloween Redux

Halloween at the Dunne-Hosey Estates was a little different than we expected this year, with fewer trick-or-treaters than we've had in years.
We ended up buying almost exactly the same amount of candy as last year, 309 ounces (19 pounds, 5 ounces) but unlike last year, where we gave away all of our candy by 7:40 p.m., we had about seven pounds of candy left at 8:45 p.m., when we handed out candy to our last group of kids. Like last year, our neighbors, Jim Whitford and Lynn O'Meara, joined us on our porch and brought over their candy, about 5 pounds worth, and we handed all of that out as well.
Val and I noticed that we didn't have any trick-or-treaters at our door until almost 6:15 p.m., after always having kids right at 6 p.m. in the past. It seems like fewer parents packed their kids into their cars or vans to bring them to our neighborhood (Norwood, Utica, Bryant, Ashland and Richmond) than ever before. We did see a lot of neighborhood kids and parents, including Mrs. Prego and her newborn son, Serge.
Our leading costume this year was Spiderman, as well as several princesses, Barbie and otherwise, and a good number of ghouls and ninjas, but surprisingly, only two Star Wars costumes, both Darth Vader. Candywise, we gave out Snickers, Tootsie Rolls, Reeses's Peanut Butter Cups and Crunchy Bars, Hershey Smores Bars, Baby Ruths, Butter Fingers and M&Ms, as well as Starburst, Skittles and Twizzlers for kids too old or without costumes.
One indication of candy choice: When I left for work the next morning, I found two pieces of candy on our porch steps; a Tootsie Roll, with a large number of ants crawling on and around it, as well as a package of Smarties two steps higher, totally untouched.
For musical accompaniment, we had two CDs we played for our and the trick-or-treaters' entertainment: the "Shadow Creature" soundtrack (a locally filmed and produced horror movie) by David Kane's Them Jazzbeards, and "The Big Monster Bash, Volume 1," on Sci-Fi Western/Mouthpiece Records, a collection of old and relatively new rockabilly, 60s punk and roots rock, all with monster/ghoulish subjects.
As always, it was great to see Val enjoying herself so much on Halloween, probably her favorite holiday.

That's Entertainment?

Musical theater goers and those with some sort of sense of taste are probably joining me in colon clenching when they hear or read these words that are appearing in the media for an upcoming series of stage performances: "Lou Diamond Phillips in Camelot."
Good Lord, is there a better reason to use the acronym WTF this month? And does anyone think that Robert Goulet's death earlier this week was a coincidence, seeing his Broadway debut was as Sir Lancelot in "Camelot?"