A little slideshow from Christmas Eve

Been Busy Being An Elf...

or more correctly the ONLY Elf around here.



Christmas MySpace Animations



I have to agree with my friend Diane. Two days before Thanksgiving she starts muttering and jumping into her "In my next life I want to come back as a man" mantra.

Ice Bowl Update

Remember back here when I was talking about the Ice Bowl....I mean...'Winter Classic'?

Well..we got our letter which contained not the 40 tickets we paid cash for, but 3..yes..count 'em, THREE measly tickets for the event. How's that for sucking???

Oh, well. Thats the way the puck bounces I guess. We weren't really happy, but what can you do? Since there were only the 3 tickets we decided to use them as a prize for the Buffalo News Neediest Fund party/fundraiser that Al puts on

At least we got our money back the same way we put it in....cash. That kinda surprised me. Thought they might try the old 'we'll credit your season ticket account' trick.

Great pic from Lisa

Thought I'd share, so everyone can have a great evening!

Went to the mall today...Walden Galleria Mall to be specific.

What the hell was I thinking???

The MALL???? on a Sunday????

Don't I know about the Canadian Invasion that happens every weekend?

Don't I know that getting a parking spot is almost hopeless??? Although, I did notice that there were hardly any Ontario plates in the upper level parking deck over by JC Penney. Hmmm.. perhaps they haven't found that place yet.

It's just crazy over there, what with the new found strength of the Canadian dollar and the close proximity to our friends in the great white north, the busses full of shoppers can't get over here fast enough. More power too 'em. Lots of sales tax generated. Bed tax from the hotels over there by the mall where the bus loads of shoppers stay. That Galleria addition will be paid for in no time.

There is a little problem with these invaders. Garbage. Here's the story from Channel 2 News.....

With the value of the Canadian dollar rising against the dollar, shoppers from Canada are spending big at the Galleria Mall. But, it's what they're leaving behind that's the problem.

Carla Avery is the manager for Hurley Corporation. They manage the trash at the Galleria Mall.

"It's just the garbage. The trash is unbelievable, keeping up on trash alone," said Avery.

She says the company has added 15 people in the last month to deal with all the extra work Canadians are causing. And you might be surprised at what they're leaving behind.

"They just change here, leave their old stuff here and put their new stuff on and leave boxes and bags and it piles up," said Avery.

2 On Your Side didn't believe it, until we saw it for ourselves. Canadians taking off their old shoes and throwing them in the trash. Then, wearing their new ones right out of the mall. Some shoppers even changed outfits and threw the rest away.

Canadian Robin Kostyscyn, "I think when they get to the border they're trying not to get busted there, so they take everything off. They wear probably old shoes over here and then change them out, put on their new shoes."

So we approached several groups of Canadians to find out if they're trying to avoid duty on the way home. Most tried to avoid our cameras, but one couple admitted it.

Reporter, "We've heard some people are trying to avoid paying the duty on it, so is that what it is?"

"Yes, that's true," the woman admitted.

Others say they just want to ditch the boxes because they're too bulky. With the value of the Canadian dollar rising against the dollar, shoppers from Canada are spending big at the Galleria Mall. But, it's what they're leaving behind that's the problem.

Carla Avery is the manager for Hurley Corporation. They manage the trash at the Galleria Mall.

"It's just the garbage. The trash is unbelievable, keeping up on trash alone," said Avery.

She says the company has added 15 people in the last month to deal with all the extra work Canadians are causing. And you might be surprised at what they're leaving behind.

"They just change here, leave their old stuff here and put their new stuff on and leave boxes and bags and it piles up," said Avery.

2 On Your Side didn't believe it, until we saw it for ourselves. Canadians taking off their old shoes and throwing them in the trash. Then, wearing their new ones right out of the mall. Some shoppers even changed outfits and threw the rest away.

Canadian Robin Kostyscyn, "I think when they get to the border they're trying not to get busted there, so they take everything off. They wear probably old shoes over here and then change them out, put on their new shoes."

So we approached several groups of Canadians to find out if they're trying to avoid duty on the way home. Most tried to avoid our cameras, but one couple admitted it.

Reporter, "We've heard some people are trying to avoid paying the duty on it, so is that what it is?" Yes, that's true," the woman admitted.

Others say they just want to ditch the boxes because they're too bulky.

Yeah...thats right..the boxes are too bulky. *wink wink* Maybe the Galleria staff could put out collection bins for all those old items and they could take the stuff down to the City Mission. Or GoodWill. Or Amvets. Damn...that's a great idea.

this kid had the best costume last night...

...looked even better in the dark as she was walking down the street

My pumpkin turned out pretty good too!

Happy Halloween!!

Full Moon Fever

Full Moon tonite. Everyone.. up off your butts and bark at the moon.

AAHHHOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW OWWWW OWWWWW OOOOOOWWWWW

Try it..it's very theraputic!!!!

I love this sign

On This Date...

...in 1985, Offspring #2 made her grand entrance!

Happy Birthday Shell!!!

On This Date in History...

...Offspring #1 entered our universe on this date in 1983.

Happy 24th Melissa!

Also...that pesky little storm came sweeping across Lake Erie one year ago today.

If you are a mom...or you have a mom...you need to watch this

Autumn?

What a glorious start to October!! Lots of sunshine during the day, temps in the high 70's, low 80's and absolutely perfect sleeping weather at night.

As far as the leaf change goes....its not been too spectacular. I dont know if its because of the damage from last year or from the relative dryness over the summer. Some trees have all but changed and some havent started yet. Perhaps when there's more of a crispness in the air the colors will begin to be brilliant, but I dont know. This time last year, two weeks before he big storm, there was crimson and gold and brown everywhere.

On a scary note, this time last year we were having the same kind of weather. I guess we should just enjoy it whilst we can, cuz in two weeks, who knows whats gonna happen. I'm just sayin.

Clever

Animator vs. Animation by *alanbecker on deviantART


Thanks to Scott for this one!

On This Date...September 20, 1988

....Offspring #3 made her grand entrance into our little universe.

Happy 19th Emily Kay!!!

One of the coolest things....

...that will happen around here is set for January 1st. The Sabres will be playing the Penquins in the second outdoor hockey game,(first one in the US...Edmonton being the home city in 2003) put on by the NHL. 74,000 people in The Ralph for an outdoor hockey game. Way cool!

Tickets went on sale this morning at 10:00. The event was sold out at 10:11. I guess they put out 34,000 tix for general sale. We got ours! Being season holders, Justin bypassed the line at the ticket office and went right over to Guest Services. The woman in the window said "how many you want?"...he says "40" hands over the cash, and voila!!..we're in. There's gonna be one hell of a tailgate party before this game. I'm giddy.

What the??????

I had to run into the mall this afternoon. Parked the car outside Penney's cuz I'm gonna dash thru their store to get where I'm going....and what are they doing in the center of the store???? Putting up friggin' Christmas trees and decorations!!! It's September eight-frigging-teenth!!! Halloween is, what, 6 or 8 weeks away??? Thanksgiving is 10 or 11???

Does it seem like every year the holiday prep starts earlier and earlier or what?

Criminey!!!

So..the monitor on the old 'puter got fried for some reason. Turned off my trusty friend the other night...Sunday I think it was, cuz of the nasty little thunder storm we were having. Next morning I go to power up..and NUTHIN out of the LCD. I hate when that happens.

On the bright side, it could have been a fried motherboard.

The Last First

Well..its the Last First Day of School. Offspring #4 started her senior year of high school today.

WoooHooo!

Brraawkkk Brawwkk brawk Braaaaaawwk

Offspring #3 and I went to the National Chicken Wing Festival yesterday afternoon. For the most part....YUM!! Neither one of us were big fans of the teriyaki or the 'jerk' sauces....and she had one of the 'hots' that was so hot we had to mosey over to the Chiavatta's stand to get a corn on the cob to put the fire lips out. There was a stand from NYC, if I remember correctly, that had a wing with asiago sprinkled on it...very tasty.

I do have to say however...of all the wings we ate, Anchor Bar's were the best...and rightfully so, I would think.!

Talk about shattered illusions

Apparently this whole 'Mars as big as the moon' thing is BOGUS!! I was just thinking to myself yesterday, as the news folks were going on and on about the Lunar Eclipse that happened this morning, I thought 'self, why have we heard nothing about the Mars thing' Well, we've heard nothing cuz its a falsie. Snopes.com sets the record straight.

My illusions are shattered. I thought everything on the internet was true *dripping sarcasm*

J.P. Losman is rolling up his sleeves to beautify Buffalo, and invites others along

How cool is this? Offspring #3 and her boyfriend are planning on participating. I would too but I'm working.

Here's the story from the BuffNews. I'm sure that link will only work for a short while...then it goes into the archives and you have to pay to get it.

In any event.. here's the link for the website for info.

JP is starting to be one of my favorite sports people around here.

So....

...It's my first day off in, like, 3 weeks. Got tomorrow off too. Feels kinda weird.

Bought myself an iPod about 2 weeks ago. Lovin' it. Uploaded all my old napster-fed-back in the day when tuneage was free- cd's back on to the old 'puter then down into the iPod. All those cd's rattling around in my car, now compressed into an, 'iiiiitty-bitty living space' *wow...did an Aladdin image just pop into your head right there? *

When the moon hits your eye....

Two moons on 27 August*

*27th Aug the Whole World is waiting for...*

Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting August.

It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will cultivate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles of earth. Be sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am. It will look like the earth has 2 moons. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.

Share this with your friends as NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see it again.

You dont want this guy at your next card game

Happy Independence Day!!!!

Ok, so we haven't had any rain in weeks...I'll go so far as to say months *about 2*. When does it rain???? TODAY of course.

The festivities at the sis-in-law's cottage are cancelled for lack of indoor gathering space. Oh, well...thats the way the firecracker explodes.

We do need the precipitation badly, though. The grass really shouldn't crunch when you walk on it.

The Silver Lining

I was perusing Buffalo Rising Online today (where I swiped this picture from) ... http://buffalorising.com/ and came across this article . Nice to see this sculpture thing has taken off! Kudos to Carvings for a Cause.

Check this out...

...incredible

Thanks to Nina for sending it to me.

Devils 46 -- Legends 44

Wes and Nancy and Alan lower the Legends flag after the softball game Thursday night. There won't be a 2007 on that flag next year, so there'll be the big rubber match.

Quite fun, this game. A tennis ball with a hole punched into it...*to reduce bouncing* and the best part.....extra runs if you take the 'slip & slide' into home plate.

Click here to view a litte slide show of some of the pics from the game and here for the pics from after the game. Good times, good food, good friends. Thats what its all about

This is great

Uncle John sent this to me....

I'm gonna share....



Rick Monday Tribute 1976 - video powered by Metacafe

Thats right!!

I'm from Buffalo. We eat chicken wings, not buffalo wings. Jack Kemp is a quarterback, not a politician. We drink Labatt Blue and love it. Mighty Taco always has preference over Taco Bell. Pop, not soda and Pepsi, not Coke.

They are sneakers not tennis shoes. It's a sucker, not a lollipop. Bison Chip Dip, La Nova Pizzeria, Aunt Rosie's Loganberry, Chiavetta’s Chicken, Peter K's Potato Pancakes and Ted's Hot Dogs are all too familiar... not to forget Taffy's Shakes and Charlie the Butcher.

A fake ID is unnecessary, there is always Canada. But we have them anyway. Our bars don't close until 4 AM, and we DO sell beer in a grocery store (Tops or Wegmans), which always makes for early starts and late nights. Jim's Steak Out at 4 in the morning is calling it an early night.

We never cuss, but we swear entirely too much. We know that a 65 mph speed limit really means 80. We will cut you off, swear, and give you the finger if you are not keeping up AND do it all in the snow, while expecting nothing less in return. Driving in the snow not only comes naturally, it is fun.

We know what Artvoice and Nitghtlife are and we either love them or try to burn every copy we see. We start the weekends off right at Thursdays in the square enjoying beer, free music, and an interesting crowd.

We lived through Wide Right, The Forward Lateral, and No Goal. Dubbed by Dan Marino as "the meanest fans because no-one actually wants to live here." We all know he wouldn't stand one winter up here. We love the Bills (no matter what) and accept that it takes 2 - 4 hours to get home from a game.

Nothing closes in 3 feet of snow or -20 windchills. In fact, that's how we prefer to tailgate. The 2001 Christmas Storm that dumped nearly of 7ft of lake effect snow, we still think it's a mere 2nd to The Blizzard of '77.

We can correctly pronounce, spell, and identify Chippewa, Scajaquada, Lackawanna, Cheektowaga, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Olean, Tonawanda and Gowanda without hesitation. When giving direction it's not " take I-90 to Route 33 east" it's "take the 90 to the 33 east"..."the" is not an option.

We are 30 minutes from another country, one of the seven wonders of the world, and even a few beaches. It's the second largest city in New York.

I AM FROM BUFFALO, a drinking town with a sports problem, and damn proud!

LOVE IT OR HATE IT

Reshoot

Had some free time today to go out and shoot some follow-up pics of the TreeStorm damage.

Remember the weeping willow on Borden Rd.? I thought she was a goner. Arborists were saying any tree that lost 50% of its crown had to be destroyed. Well...she got all trimmed up and apparently was worth saving. We'll see what happens. The house in the backround didn't fare too well. Bigass fire pretty much destroyed it. Aside from the big burned out hole in the roof, this angle doesn't look too bad. The other side of the house is a different story.

I headed over to St. Matthew's Cemetery. They did a great job over there.

Then I was off to GardenVillagePlaza..the former staging ground for the debris. Now it's just a parking lot in a mostly vacant plaza. It looked better with all the sticks.

Why did I not have my camera at the ready????

I wish I had been paying more attention to my odometer...but nooooo.....so I missed this on 34567. Dang it!

I was mocked by The Spouse for posting the pic with all 3's. Apparently he thought it was stupid. I guess I'm even more stupider now!

It all comes down to your stuff.

In the end...its just your stuff...and where it goes. Temporary storage for the late Mom-In-Law's stuff that we inherited is now in the garage, waiting for its new place. The grill, lawnmower and garbage cans moved up front from their corner in the back for easy access.

Man..this is a rather macabre couple of posts, huh?

Who does this?

Is this bizarre or are we just quirky?

This looks like just another ordinary family picture, right?

Wrong.

This was taken after the funeral breakfast for the Spouse's Mom, who passed away last week. We've done it the last couple family funerals we've had. I dunno...weird or not?

R.I.P. Nancy

All that glitters blue and gold...

After the phenomenal season the Buffalo Sabres had, I'm pretty bummed that the season ended the way it did. But, hey....there's always next year. Man..I'm sick of hearing that every year. I'm also a little tired of Big Shiney Trophys being handed out on our ice to visiting teams.

Series Three Game Five

This is getting interesting!!! Its now 3-1..and after this afternoon, I think it'll be 3-2. I've got good feelings!!! Let's make this a series boys!!!

****starts a chant****
Let's Go Buffalo
*clapclap clapclapclap*
Let's Go Buffalo
* clapclap clapclapclap*
*sprinkles blue and gold glitter all over the place*

Check this out....

... It's pretty funny...

Series Three Game Four

This is for all the beans. Down 3-0. Now that we've lulled the Sens into thinking they're awesome, it's time to pounce. I know, I know...I'm grasping at straws whilst looking for shadows in the dark, but till it's over, I still have hope.

****starts a chant****

Let's Go Buffalo

*clapclap clapclapclap*

Let's Go Buffalo

* clapclap clapclapclap*

*sprinkles blue and gold glitter all over the place*

Not so good

Well.....the fat lady has entered the room....she hasnt stated warming up yet, but....

The optimist in me says to hang on and believe, so thats what I'm gonna do. I dont wanna hear the fat lady sing.

Series Three Game Three

Ok...they dont call them the Kardiac Kids for nuthin'!!! I need a few more grey hairs....lets kick some Senator ass tonite . I for one refuse to believe that we wont win this series. There..I said it..now lets get it done!!!

****starts a chant****
Let's Go Buffalo
*clapclap clapclapclap*
Let's Go Buffalo
* clapclap clapclapclap*
*sprinkles blue and gold glitter all over the place*

This song and video will now and forever remind me of the amazing ride we've been on this year.



This is also a really good read... click here

Series Three Game Two

They'd better show up tonite!!!!

****starts a chant****
Let's Go Buffalo
*clapclap clapclapclap*
Let's Go Buffalo
* clapclap clapclapclap*
*sprinkles blue and gold glitter all over the place*

Series Three Game One

Buckle your seatbelts......this is gonna be a hell of a ride!

****starts a chant****

Let's Go Buffalo

*clapclap clapclapclap*

Let's Go Buffalo

* clapclap clapclapclap*

*sprinkles blue and gold glitter all over the place*

Do I?....or..Don't I?

I've heard the best way to make a decision is to make a list of pros and cons. I believe that's what I'll do. The question....

Do I fork over $135 for a ticket to Thursday nights game?

Pro---They've won both series where I've attended Game One
Con---Can't think of one for that.

Pro---I have the funds
Con---Again..I got nuthin'

Ok...Ok..this is foolish...I'm gonna have a big fat 'nuthin' for any Pro I come up with. I believe I just need to rationalize this to myself.

There's its all settle...I'm going.

This picture says it all

Series Two. Game Six

****starts a chant****

Let's Go Buffalo

*clapclap clapclapclap*

Let's Go Buffalo

* clapclap clapclapclap*

*sprinkles blue and gold glitter all over the place*

Unfriggin Believable!!!!!

Another Friday night, another close Sabres game, another time I jet outta work, another Sabres win. Watch this to get a feel of the atmosphere from Friday. You'll notice there's a couple darker shots of people with the gold pompoms. Thats shots from the plaza outside the arena. There were over 4000 fans out there watching the game on the big screen they have set up. Offspring #4 was out there totally into the craziness whilst The Spouse was inside in my seats that I couldn't use cuz of the whole work thing.

I'm thinking the boys with come out today firing on all cylinders to put the Rangers away for the summer.

Series Two, Game Five

Well....here we go. Hopefully the extra day off gave the Sabres time to pull their collective heads out of their collective asses. There'd better be some passion and desperation tonite.

****starts a chant****
Let's Go Buffalo
*clapclap clapclapclap*
Let's Go Buffalo* clapclap clapclapclap*
*sprinkles blue and gold glitter all over the place*

Series Two Game Four

****starts a chant****
Let's Go Buffalo
*clapclap clapclapclap*
Let's Go Buffalo* clapclap clapclapclap*
*sprinkles blue and gold glitter all over the place

Oh, brother!!!

So..I get up Sunday morning and I'm all set to cast my Blue and Gold Glitter spell and SHAZAM!! no internet! Time Warner has chosen this particular time to switch over some servers from the now defunct Adelphia servers and we're without cyberspace till midmorning Monday.

What happens??? Sabres lose Game Three. Not cool. It's the playoffs, man....we need all the mojo working!!!!!

Series Two, Game Two

I'm feeling pretty confident that the Good Guys will play the way they did the other night. This is gonna be a good one!

****starts a chant****

Let's Go Buffalo

*clapclap clapclapclap*

Let's Go Buffalo
* clapclap clapclapclap*

*sprinkles blue and gold glitter all over the place*

What a game!!

Pic of warm-up from Wednesday's thumping of the Rangers. It was probably the best game I'd been to all year. The arena was electric. Totally worth the $150 I paid for the seat.

Series Two...Game One

Snagged some tix for the game tonite. Sabres v. Rangers. Oh, hell YEAH!!!

****starts a chant****
Let's Go Buffalo
*clapclap clapclapclap*
Let's Go Buffalo

* clapclap clapclapclap*
*sprinkles blue and gold glitter all over the place*

Series One....OVER

Sabres 4...Islanders 3....Sabres win Series 4 games to 1.



On to the next round!

Series One, Game Five

This could be big. Hope they close out the series tonite.

****starts a chant****

Let's Go Buffalo

*clapclap clapclapclap*

Let's Go Buffalo*

clapclap clapclapclap*

*sprinkles blue and gold glitter all over the place*

33333

I turned 33333 on the 300 today.

I just barely got into the driveway, parked it there, and ran in to get the camera so I could capture the moment for all time. Good thing too...cuz when I pulled into the garage it went 33334.

This just occurred to me......

33-333 has the same cadence as Let's Go Buff-A-Lo. How cool is that???

Series One, Game Three

Bummer about the loss on Saturday....gotta play all 3 periods to come out on top. Tonite will be, hopefully, a different story!

****starts a chant****
Let's Go Buffalo
*clapclap clapclapclap*
Let's Go Buffalo
*clapclap clapclapclap*
*sprinkles blue and gold glitter all over the place*

Series One...Game Two..

Look at that focus....

Lot's of great game night pictures can be found at... http://www.mikelynaugh.com/sabres

****starts a chant****

Let's Go Buffalo

*clapclap clapclapclap*

Let's Go Buffalo

*clapclap clapclapclap*

*sprinkles blue and gold glitter all over the place*

The C-O-C

So....went to the game last night. Big win..as they all are from here on out. I'm loving every minute of it. Feeling quite COC ..... Cautiously Optimistic Confidence. I'm loving every minute of that too.

I'm not really reading the message boards too much right now....I can't stand all those pessimists predicting gloom and doom. I don't do gloom and doom. Enjoy the ride..you dont know when you're gonna experience this again. I've been watching this team since 1970...some of the fondest memories of my dad are from watching games..or even better listening on the radio....but anyway...where was I? Yeah...enjoy this ride...no matter the ending. It's been a great year to be a Sabres fan.

Well.. I just put in 12 hour day. Sleep is where its at right now. I tend to ramble when I'm tired.

Series One, Game One..

..Tonite, 8:00..Sabres vs. Islanders..HSBC Arena, Section 308, Row Two, Seats 21 & 22 . That's where I'll be! I'm taking Justin. We made a deal when drawing the tickets, I'll take you if you take me! Way better to have 1 ticket to 2 games than 2 tickets to 1 game. At least that's how we're feeling. We're smart that way.

****starts a chant****

Let's Go Buff-A-Lo

*clapclap clapclapclap*

Let's Go Buff-A-L0

*clapclap clapclapclap*

*sprinkles blue and gold glitter all over the place*

This thing is hilarious...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzkcTLyDMmw

This beautiful piece of hardware...

...The Presidents Trophy..

....now belongs to the Best TEAM in the NHL....The Buffalo Sabres!!!

I'm slighty over the line of giddy!!

It's Glitter Time!!!

Expect to see this many times in the next coming weeks as your Regular Season Eastern Conference and Northeast Division Champs go grinding for the Holy Grail....


****starts a chant****
Let's Go Buffalo
*clapclap clapclapclap*

Let's Go Buffalo
*clapclap clapclapclap*

*sprinkles blue and gold glitter all over the place*

I was cleaning out some files and stuff..and I ran across the following pictures.

Imagine this...it's 1911. It's probably been a really cold winter. You go to the Falls for the day...just to get out of the house. These are incredible pictures. This right about the time when this region was in its heyday....just after the turn of the century. Imagine one of these little icicles falling off and hitting the ground. This one is pretty cool....they people look like ants marching up a hill.

Happy Feet

I got a new pair of Crocs today. I love these things. I'm on my feet all day long and these little pillows from heaven have made my feet happy. When my feet are happy...I'm happy. This is my 4th pair....my first dip into the color pool. The guys at work who made fun of me and my first pair, are now sporting around in them. Its a beautiful thing...all these happy feet!!!

What an awesome picture,,,,

...and it's not so much Chris Drury after that wicked goal....its the kid behind him. That, right there, is what its totally about. Click on the picture to get a better view. That kid will never forget that moment..you can see it in his eyes. Speaking of eyes.....look at Drury's. That's intensity to the Nth degree.

I get shivers.

Man..what a lucky kid...front row seats behind the goal. I have almost the same view...from up in the 300's...lol!

Quack

Every year at this time, we get a visit from these two. Donald and Daisy, I call 'em. It won't be long before Macho Duck comes along and challenges Donald for a shot at Daisy. There'll be a big fight in the water. Don and Macho will start going at it and Daisy will just swim around the perimeter with her tail up in the air like she's all that. Then, when Donald gets done showing Macho who's the boss. Daisy will thank him. That gets noisier than the testostone fight.

Nothing says Spring like a good duck f......ight...I meant to imply fight.

The next visitors to drop in will be Fred and Ethel... the Long Neck Geese that prance around in the field behind the fence. It's loud enough with the quacking...wait till the honking starts!

I love Spring

Two Days...Two Gifts...

....and its not even my birthday!!!

I gave Offspring #3 and her boyfriend my tickets for the Sabres/Leafs game on the 23rd. Y'know the one where the Leafs choked away a 3 goal lead and the Good Guys in Blue and Gold went on to win 5-4. So the Offspring's boyfriend gives me these to show his appreciation. He's such a nice guy.

Then, last night at bowling, Shari gives me this.

I'm feeling really special right now!

The Trees are Budding..The Trees are Budding!!!!

Ok...so its my lilac bush, but its BUDDING! So are the majestic Weeping Willows. From a distance you can see a green little halo around them. Granted the lilac and the willows are usually the first to come into season, but I'm really excited about it.

I'll have to start carrying the camera around with me for the reshoot of the previous storm pics.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patricks Day Animations

I should work on finding something green to wear tonite

Thanks for the info Scott!

Ok...found out where those pictures of the Lake Effect came from. I promised credit...here's credit!

"Ever want to know what it looks like when a snowstorm rolls into town? Traffic Reporter Air Gordon (WBEN, Star 102.5) sees it all the time from the weather copter. "It's fascinating," he relayed to me. "The snow looks like something from The Poseidon Adventure. There is a virtual wall of snow... one minute it's clear, and the next it looks like a big wave is about to engulf the city."Even though these photos look menacing, the storm that actually rolled in when these shots were captured was not very significant. They were taken a couple of weeks after the 'October Surprise'.. just a typical lake effect snowstorm dropping some white stuff on the city. "I thought that BRO readers would like to see what it looks like from the air," Gordon said. That's true... we know what it looks like from the ground, so why not get a different perspective?"

Let's get the mojo working again....

I haven't used this in so long....time to break it out again.

*starts a chant* Let's go Buff-A-Lo *clapclap clap clap clap*

*sprinkles some blue and gold glitter all over the place*

5:30 pm....

....and it's still light outside.

The Spouse has been on his annual "Florida Golf Tour" for a week now. One more week to go.

March is a good month.

Whatcha' mean its snowing by you? It's not snowing by me

Check out these incredible pictures. Mother Nature having a little fun with the city. I don't know who took these pictures, but as soon as I find out, they get credit for them. Thanks Nina for sending them to me.

For the geographically challenged....the body of water in the upper right quadrant is Lake Erie. The tallest building on the left that's being draped in the precipitation is the HSBC Tower. I'm pretty sure that highway on the lower right is the Kensington Expressway, The 33, if you will. I'm gonna take a guess and say that these were taken from a helicopter or airplane, judging the different angle this one was taken from. Imagine driving down the I-90, *which you cant see in this pic...it runs along the lake shore*. One minute it's all sunny and stuff, gorgeous day for a ride then BAM!!! right into a wall of whitestuff. Crazy....just crazy.

Workin' at the Car Wash!!

Great weekend if you owned a car wash! ChaCHING!!!! Once the temps get up over 30 those places are mobbed!

Got my SuperKiss from Delta Sonic on Wednesday. Used my free wash Saturday. Both days there were a good 30 cars in line in front of me. Of course, as soon as I got down the road about 2 miles I could have used another wash, what with the spray from melt on the road, not to mention the dust from the salt clouds on the roads that were dry. Sheesh!

I hate having to shovel the snow snot and stalagtites out of the garage.

Wind!!

Progress!!! These are the wind turbines that are going up at the old Bethlehem Steel Plant in Lackawanna. Pretty cool.

In a completely ironic twist...they should have been up in November but the project was hampered by...you guessed it... windy conditions.

The inevitable

Well...the inevitable has happened. Sustained white stuff all over the place. Had to break out the big orange machine a couple of times. It's still damned cold out too. The 'deep freeze' as the news stations are calling it. On the bright side....its bright out!!

rethink the reshoot

So..I decided that I'm gonna wait till spring to reshoot the photos.

We haven't had much of a winter....till now.

Damn, its COLD outside!!! I walked from the grocery store to my car, which was parked in the second slot...two rows from the entrance, and my face was frozen!

--Heard today that the Doobie Brothers will be releasing a compilation CD in February. 33 song from 1971 to 2000. Guess who's gonna be making another trip to Record Theatre real soon.

Random thoughts

I should go out and reshoot some pics from the same locations as those I've posted here to compare the images. I know its way different. I'll have to get around to that soon.

It's pretty awesome to be anywhere in this town lately. No matter where you look, you'll see people wearing Sabres stuff. I like it

pssst...pass it on

This is worth a look.... re-tree wny . Way cool idea with this

So....we haven't really had much snow since the storm. I think the running total, not including the 2 feet in October is only at 9 inches of the white stuff so far. We are, however, now getting hit with the ice that's been moving across the country. I've seen a good number of limbs down already. Offspring #4 said a tree in her girlfriends back yard is just split down the middle and covered in ice.

I sure hope we don't have to go get that generator again. And I hope the trees that survived the TreeStorm *like this one that we dug out and brushed off before* aren't wiped out by this ice.

That would suck

My life is full of romance

So...today, on the ride home from work, I'm cruising radio stations...as I'm prone to do...when I hit upon "Babaji". Track 5 off Supertramp ...Even In The Quietest Moments. I'm still downtown so the reception isnt that great since I'm picking up a Toronto station. Not being a fan of the static, I'd normally hit the button for a new station, but I haven't heard this song in a while and I decide to stick with it...the receptions picking up right about the time of this decision. GOOD DECISION on my part cuz when the song is over it goes right into "From Now On". I know immediately that it's an album side.

Coolness!

I decide to take the long way home *yeah .. I meant to put that obvious 'breakfast in america' song there .. thats right*. Nothing like the long way when there's good tune-age.

Then I stopped at Record Theatre on Transit and bought 3 remasters. The aforementioned Quietest Moments, along with Breakfast in America and Crime of the Century.

My life is full of romance.

"Live it up, Rip it up, Why so Lazy?

Give it out, Dish it out, Let's go crazy, yeah!!"

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! Health, Wealth and Happiness to everyone!

Finally getting over this flu crap. I cant remember ever spending 4 consecutive days in bed feeling that horrible. I may actually eat more than toast today!!