What if death were noise?

Bored or stressed. That’s one way to understand the dichotomy at the core of Oscar-nominated director and writer Noah Baumbach’s worthy film treatment of Don DeLillo’s iconic postmodern novel, “White Noise,” published in 1985. The boredom in this case isn’t of the don’t-want-to-get-out-of-bed variety. It’s the boredom of cacophony, of a surfeit of the trivial, of consumerism (the glitter and meaningless variety of the supermarket), of the ignorance and barely controlled chaos of the family (“the cradle of the world’s misinformation”—precursor to social media’s role)—in a word, “noise.” The stress isn’t of the ordinary variety, either. It’s the stress of the existential: the fear of death, or the fear of the fear of death, that haunts human beings in any age. And boredom and existential anxiety aren’t as separate and distinct as they might seem: “What if death were noise”? asks Jack.  

Occupying the bored/stressed purgatory are Jack (Adam Driver) and Babette (Greta Gerwig, Oscar-nominated director of “Lady Bird” [2107] and Baumbach’s partner and frequent collaborator) and their large, blended family, a product of several divorces—a bunch of know-it-all, bossy, irritating, sometimes prescient, sometimes out-of-control children (“where’s Wilder”?). Babette, who teaches “movement” to old folks, is presumably the stable, “joyous” element. Jack offers courses on “Advanced Nazism” at College-on-the-Hill, surely an ironic reference to John Winthrop’s 1630 sermon that characterized the Massachusetts Bay colony as a shining example to the world, “a city upon a hill.” 

The blended family in distress, led by Jack (Adam Driver). Left to right, Babette (Greta Gerwig) holding Wilder (Henry or Dean Moore), Steffie (May Nivola), Heinrich (Sam Nivola), and Denise (Raffey Cassidy).

Their project—holding things together, accepting the “white noise” of daily life as a shield against the darkest of truths—works, until a toxic cloud appears on the horizon, a reminder of the 1979 meltdown at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. Jack, especially, is in denial (“it won’t come this way”), the children intrigued but anxious. The family’s flight partakes of reality—the cloud’s threat is apparently real, if unknowable—but also of comedy and farce and violence (signs that Jack, and the family, have lost their grip on whatever it was that kept them sane), with a touch of 1984 (when the book is set) bureaucratic-speak: “We have a situation,” notes a worker at Camp Daffodil, an emergency refuge center. The flower is the symbol of rebirth and new beginnings. 

Following the book and a recent cinema industry trend, Baumbach’s script is organized into three chapters. The title of the first, “Waves and Radiation,” bears no relationship to its content (except possibly to television and radio); it’s essentially a description of the day-to-day challenges of life under “white noise.” The third chapter, “Dylarama,” derives from the name of an unapproved drug (and of the spectacle, as in Cinerama) to which Jack and Babette are attracted, because it promises relief from the anxiety of one’s eventual demise. Packed with madcap antics and a less-than-credible sequence involving a gun, this is the least satisfying and most problematic of the chapters, though the heretical German nuns provide a nice touch of black comedy.

It’s the second chapter, “Airborne Toxic Event,” that matters. Until the toxic cloud, there is no plot, and it’s “plot” that Jack seeks to avoid. In the parlance of postmodernism, plot means planning, and planning means projecting oneself into the future—toward the inevitable end. “All plots,” proclaims Jack in a lecture on the plot to kill Hitler, “tend to move deathward.” That’s how Jack sees it—he’s moving deathward—and Driver, sweaty and leaking angst from every pore, plays the part to perfection: low affect, no histrionics, just a man in crisis, losing control. Already the recipient of several Oscar nominations, Driver may have delivered his best performance yet. Gerwig’s Babette, stolid and even wooden as the family rock, stands in contrast to her husband’s growing panic. Then she too succumbs, revealing to Jack, to whom she’s proclaimed earlier that she wants to die before him: “My fear of death is greater than my love for you.” 

Jack’s colleague at the college, Murray (an energetic, entertaining Don Cheadle, 2004 Best Actor Oscar nominee for “Rwanda”), offers another perspective, one more life-affirming. But he, too, can’t resist the ostensibly trivial, suggesting that Americans love car crashes because they exude optimism, and that what academia needs is a study of the “culture of public toilets.” He joins Jack in a “brilliant” but ultimately simplistic classroom session in which Hitler and Elvis are revealed to be the products of over-mothering. At times it can seem as if Murray knows more about life than Jack, but his authority comes into question when he explains to Jack that there are “diers” and “killers,” and that it’s possible to “kill death.” Jack actually tries to do that. 

DeLillo could hardly have anticipated the information overload/white noise of the Fox News/social media/QAnon era, or the damage unchecked capitalism would do in the next decades, enriching the already wealthy while failing to distribute profits even faintly equitably. But he was not alone in understanding the corrosive amorality that characterized Reagan-era economics. “Money for nothin’, chicks for free” was Dire Straits’ 1985 refrain; Madonna said it just as well in her 1984 hit: “You know that we are living in a material world/And I am a material girl.” In the final, Bollywood-like scene of “White Noise,” presented over the credits, shoppers at the A & P lovingly fondle pineapples and dance enigmatically in the aisles as they pick goods off the shelves. “We keep inventing hope,” Jack laments as he enters the store with his brood, “and this is where we wait.” It’s a dance of the about-to-be (and perhaps already) dead—victims not of the toxic cloud, but of “white noise.”

Date: 2022

Stars: 3.5 (out of 4)

Director: Noah Baumbach

Starring: Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Don Cheadle

Country: United States

Language: English and some German (subtitled in English)

Runtime: 136 minutes

Other Awards: 1 win and 19 nominations

Availability: Except for the occasional second-run or art-house theater, streaming only on Netflix after a brief theater run; see JustWatch here for possible future expanded streaming possibilities.

Lead image: Don Cheadle, left, as Murray, who teaches optimism, among other topics, at College-on-the-Hill with Jack (Adam Driver).

See all Five Cent Cine reviews by 2 Film Critics

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Every day, I learn something new about Buffalo. For example, I never realized that Buffalo is considered a “bingo capital.” According to Bianca Falsetti, founder of BB’s Bingo, Western New Yorkers go crazy for bingo of all kinds. But how many kinds are there?

I’ve covered a number of different types of bingo-themed events, all of which had their own unique twists, and followings. Bianca’s twist is “boozy bingo!” She started BB’s Bingo as the pandemic was winding down, just under a year ago. I asked Bianco, “Why bingo?”

“People are obsessed with bingo in WNY,” she answered. “I took bingo and mixed it with booze – two things that Buffalo loves. I was in the restaurant industry for 16 years. Because of the… I can’t event say the p******* word – the bars got really beat up. People had such a rough two years. I wanted to come up with an idea that would generate business for the restaurants, while giving people a reason to socialize. Bingo is huge around here. I figured that it was the perfect game that people would look forward to. They could connect with each other, and get their heads away from their cell phones.”

Although bingo is very popular, there’s still a stigma surrounding the game. Typically, we tend to think of bingo halls, populated by older people. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s just that Bianca wanted to create something that was a lot more exciting, where everyone felt comfortable attending, no matter their speed. That was something that Bianca knew she had to address.

“I asked friends and family, ‘What about a bingo rave?‘ They answered, ‘What does that mean?‘ I knew that people thought I was crazy…. but that’s how every great idea starts! I’m 32, and I love this. I see girls that are 21 bringing their mothers and their grandmothers along. It’s cross-generational. It’s also perfect for a girls’ night out. There are guys too. A lot of husbands and boyfriends are dragged into it, but then they have so much fun. The other day there was a tie game, and two guys had to do a dance off. There were people standing on their chairs cheering them on.”

Bianca is definitely onto something here. Boozy bingo appears to be both timeless and ageless. It’s cute, clever, and creative. And it’s really good for business. Now that word is out, bars and restaurants are clamoring to get into the action. After all, the only thing they are on the hook for is supplying the prizes (there are no cash prizes), which can be just about anything. Bianca makes her money off the ticket sales. So it’s a win-win for everyone. Each event includes ten bingo games, booze, silly antics, and plenty of friendly competition.

“When I put the first event on social media, it got 10,000 views in three days,” Bianca told me. “The tickets are typically selling out in five minutes. It’s incredible. The bars have been reaching out to me… the response has been overwhelming. That’s why I decided to leave my job. I’ve always thrown events. I’m very tenacious. Along with the bingo, I opened a photo booth company called BB’s Booths. I bring the photo booths to some of my events, and rent them out on the side. I also started BB’s Bonded Jewelry Bar, and BB’s Trivia Night. Trivia Night is dedicated to the cult classics – On Tuesday, January 31, trivia night will be at Hofbräuhaus Buffalo (Harry Potter theme). Tickets go on sale on the 19th of January at noon.”

Bianca also gives back to the community. She currently sits on the board of Totally Buffalo Cares, which is a 501(c)(3) charity dedicated to helping people in need. In 2022, she helped to organize a Christmas in July event, which amassed over 400 toys that were then donated to children all over the 716 (see photo below).

On March 5, Bianca will be hosting her one year anniversary for BB’s Bingo. The 400-person event will be held at the Niagara Falls Convention Center. It’s going to be 90’s themed bingo, with food, bars, a mechanical bull, a cotton candy machine, and IV Vitamin Therapy (drips). Local merchants will also be on-hand. Click here for tickets.

“I try to think of everything,” Bianca told me. “People look forward to these events. It’s all about making memories. I pour a lot of love into this business. It’s why people have so much fun.”

In just under one year, Bianca has certainly carved out a significant niche in WNY’s event arena. She certainly has a passion for this, which clearly shows. And if she’s managed to pull all of this off in just under a year, I can’t even imagine where she will be in ten years. All I can say, is that Bianca, and her burgeoning BB event-driven empire, is heading in the right direction. It’s always nice to see a successful business concept that is based on good old fashioned fun, along with some craft beers and cocktails. BB’s Bingo has got Buffalo written all over it.

Click here to see a list of upcoming bingo and trivia events, and to reserve tickets.

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When your stuff breaks, don’t ditch it – fix it! Don’t know how? The fixers with Dare to Repair will show you. Join The Tool Library and Buffalo Recycles for their January Dare to Repair Cafe on Saturday, January 21st at 11AM at the Tosh Collins Community Center in South Buffalo.

Details for the event are as follows:

Location: Tosh Collins Community Center – 35 Cazenovia St, Buffalo, NY 14210 (https://goo.gl/maps/YqGJe2yhMESUSWgp7)

Date: Saturday, January 21st

Time: 11am – 2pm

What is a Dare to Repair Cafe you might ask? It’s a popup community event where you can bring a broken item and work with a team of fixers to try and repair the item for FREE!

Dare to Repair’s goal is to share repair skills, save money, and keep things in circulation and out of the landfill for as long as possible.

All participants are asked to register for the event ahead of time to help with an estimated headcount and gauge what sort of items people will be bringing.

Our Current Repair Categories

Small appliances

Lamps

Vacuums

Small electronics

Video game consoles

Clothing and textiles

Please no gas powered items or TVs.

Volunteer with Dare to Repair! 

Dare to Repair Cafes are a volunteer-powered initiative. Events would not be possible without volunteer fixers who share their skills and talents to bring free fixes across WNY. Interested in becoming a fixer? Want to help share the gift of repair across WNY? Sign-up to be come a fixer with the Dare to Repair Cafes and become part of an incredible community of individuals who are teaching people to rethink waste!

Celebrate the Right to Repair in NYS

With Governor Hochul signing the Digital Fair Repair Act into law on December 28, 2022, New York State has become one of the first states in the nation to codify the Right to Repair : https://www.ifixit.com/News/70515/new-york-passes-historic-right-to-repair-bill 

While last minute lobbying from various manufacturers led to major carve outs in the bill, this is nonetheless a major victory for repair advocates in the state.

The post Dare to Repair is back offering free fixes in 2023! appeared first on Buffalo Rising.

Never let a crisis go to waste.

Lake Erie is still not frozen, exposing us to the possibility of additional lake effect storms.  The two storms thus far, in November and December, have certainly raised concerns about how such storms are handled.  Again.  But this time the number of souls lost to the Christmas weekend storm gives the issue a much greater sense of urgency.

The storm was much worse than the Blizzard of ’77 in all respects.  There probably will not be a series of Blizzard Balls like those that followed ’77 to commemorate the 2022 event.

All communities struggled to address the health and safety issues of the most recent storm as well as the problems of removing the snow.  In Amherst residential streets took a while to get even one pass of a plow.  The degree of effort was of course affected by the amount of snow that each community received.

Buffalo always seems to be the last to recover from a storm. There are always the same reasons given about equipment getting down streets and the cars that block their way.  It has been the same story for every major storm over the past fifty years or more.  Mayor Byron Brown admitted that the city is not prepared to handle blizzards.  We sometimes have blizzards.  

There are legitimate concerns about the challenges that the city faces, but the fact that they come up repeatedly storm after storm shows that the issue dies until the next storm arrives.  Why weren’t there backup generators at warm-up shelters?  Why weren’t schools used for that purpose?  Why aren’t some basic supplies like flashlights and batteries, food and water, diapers, etc. stockpiled in facilities such as fire halls, police stations, and schools?  Why didn’t sound trucks go down the narrow city streets before the storm telling residents to clear at least one side if vehicles couldn’t be taken off the streets?  There are dozens of other questions.

There isn’t as much on-street parking in the suburbs as in the city and it is generally prohibited during the winter months, so the issues are not the same.  Still, the towns and the county seem to handle snow removal better than Buffalo on both major thoroughfares and residential streets.  The county is in very good shape financially and therefore has the resources to buy equipment, plow, and get vehicles removed more expeditiously than in Buffalo.

There should be some serious discussions about metropolitan snow removal.  The state needs to be involved too.  Political leaders who are not pals still need to work together.

The city has retained the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service to do a study about what happened and what can be done better.  Hopefully that consulting work will serve as a guidepost for reforms rather than a dust collector on someone’s City Hall shelf.  The report is due in March.  Buffalo, the county, suburban towns and cities if needed, and the state should all be actively involved to produce needed reforms.

Besides the questions noted above, new matters have come to light concerning such things as the low and uncompetitive rates that Buffalo pays private contractors for snow removal, which has encouraged contractors to go elsewhere.  The lack of proper equipment to navigate snow-clogged streets and snowmobiles has been noted, as well as the age and unreliability of some of the equipment.  Investigative Post’s Geoff Kelly recently reported on the decrepit state of the city’s Broadway Garage, which houses most of the city’s snow-fighting equipment.

Not yet addressed but certainly open for discussion is the question of whether there will be any political fallout from how the storms have been handled.  In 1977 the political fallout was significant, contributing to the election of Jimmy Griffin as Mayor and changes in several Common Council seats.  Mayor Brown is only in the second year of his fifth term, so there will be no direct political impact on him. 

All nine members of the Council, however, are up for election this year.  The fact that Council members have been filing many resolutions suggesting and demanding various reforms in the way that the city handles its snow response is an indication that the Councilmen (there are no Councilwomen) are hearing from their constituents and are taking matters seriously.

The city has benefited from substantial grants of funds from the federal and state governments over many years.  Recently more than $300 million in federal pandemic relief funds was made available.  The Mayor and Council pride themselves on having kept city taxes down for many years.  Property taxes are relatively low in the city and of course, no one wants to pay more in taxes.  The mayor has suggested that the city is lacking in financial resources to update its storm preparedness. 

Problems with inadequate equipment and insufficient funds to pay contractors raise red flags.  Like it or not, the Mayor and the Council need to take a serious look at raising city taxes and fees to pay for the things that will leave them better prepared to address future storms.

Four years ago there was an effort to run candidates against incumbents in several Council district.  The effort failed mainly because those involved did not take care of the political steps needed to qualify candidates for the ballot.  There also wasn’t any particular prominent issue that candidates could focus on.  Well, the issues are there in 2023.  In a few short weeks we will see if the candidates are too.

Ken Kruly writes about politics and other stuff at politicsandstuff.com

Follow on Twitter @kenkruly

The post Snow and Politics appeared first on Buffalo Rising.

Running January – April 2023 at the
Downtown Central Library’s Mason O. Damon Auditorium

When people think about “going to the movies,” most tend to think about going to see the blockbuster films. You know, the current releases that everyone is talking about. But there are a number of film circles around Buffalo that attract the diehard cinephiles. These are the people who are looking for a different type of experience when it comes to catching a flick.

Back in 2016, I first wrote about Cultivate Cinema Circle, and its mission to screen films selected for their excellence, cultural diversity, political relevance, and historic value.

Since that time, the group has continued to screen films that have made cinematic history. These days, the films are screened at the Buffalo Central Library (downtown). The featured films are wide ranging, including past showings of Shanghai Express, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Swing Time, The Defiant Ones, and In Fabric. You can visit the past screenings page on their website to see what’s been shown. You can also visit “upcoming” films to see what’s on tap.

From January 21 to April 1 2023, Cultivate Cinema Circle will be screening a tribute series to martial arts masters of the 1970’s.

“In these cold winter months, what better way to get the blood flowing than a series of martial arts classics featuring none other than Bruce Lee, Angela Mao, Sonny Chiba, and Jackie Chan?” – Cultivate Cinema Circle

Here’s the line-up:

The Big Boss
Directed by Lo Wei
January 21st | 1-3 pm
Featuring Bruce Lee
1971 / 99 minutes / Mandarin with English subtitles / Color

Hapkido
Directed by Huang Feng
February 4th | 1-3 pm
Featuring Angela Mao
1972 / 97 minutes / Mandarin with English subtitles / Color

Enter The Dragon
Directed by Robert Clouse
February 18th | 1-3 pm
Featuring Bruce Lee
1973 / 98 minutes / English / Color

The Street Fighter
Directed by Shigehiro Ozawa
March 4th | 1-3 pm
Featuring Sonny Chiba
1974 / 91 minutes / Japanese with English subtitles / Color

The Drunken Master
Directed by Yuen Woo-Ping
April 1st | 1-3 pm
Featuring Jackie Chan
1978 / 111 minutes / Cantonese with English subtitles / Color

Get connected: cultivatecinemacircle.com

The post Big Boss and the Gang: Masters of ’70s Martial Arts Cinema appeared first on Buffalo Rising.

The new work should celebrate the town’s Polish heritage

Arts Services Inc. of Western New York (ASI), on behalf of Assemblymember Monica P. Wallace’s Office, invites artists in all appropriate mediums from throughout Western New York to submit proposals for an outdoor public art project located at Cheektowaga Town Park on Harlem Road in Cheektowaga, NY. This project has been updated with new guidelines and an updated submission deadline of February 10th, 2023.

Assemblymember Wallace’s Office is seeking a sculpture (of any type of material, size, and base) that celebrates the town’s Polish heritage. This public art work is meant to engage residents to celebrate history, while encouraging ongoing Polish traditions.

“The Town of Cheektowaga has an extensive Polish Heritage and history, and this public art project is intended to celebrate that entire heritage and history within Town Park,” said Assemblymember Wallace. “Town Park is not only an open recreational space for residents, but also hosts many Polish heritage and cultural activities throughout the year.” 

A panel of qualified arts and business professionals (including community members of the Town of Cheektowaga and other resident parties) will review proposals for their eligibility and appropriateness for the project.

The chosen work should:

·       Celebrate Polish history and/or culture – priority will be given to designs that identify areas of Polish history and/or culture that are not already represented throughout the community or are similar to already existing public art pieces. Examples of public art or dedications that currently exist, include but are not limited to The Ampitheater in Cheektowaga Town Park, the Polish Armed Forces war memorial at Canalside/Buffalo Naval Park, and the General Pulaski statue monument in downtown Buffalo.

·       Artists are encouraged to propose designs that are creative, innovative, informative, and expansive of traditional and contemporary Polish culture. Culture can include references to the customs, language, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group.

·       Artists must include an artist statement: An explanation of how the design went from conceptualization to final design. This should include why this design was chosen, including but not limited to research that was done regarding Polish culture, why materials of the sculpture were chosen, and technique and technical skill sets necessary to create the final sculpture. Include images and/or text descriptions of previous work to serve as evidence of technical proficiency. 

·       The sculpture can be of any material, size, and base; artists are encouraged to think beyond traditional bronze statues;

·       Have an expected lifespan of 3-5 years unprotected from the elements. 

Budget

A commission of $20,000-$26,000 is available for the chosen artist to create and install their work.

Artists are required to provide all supplies and materials to complete the work, including a scissor lift or bucket truck, if needed. The Town of Cheektowaga may be able to arrange storage options on site if needed. Please include any and all requests in artist proposal. Artist should detail what assistance or materials are provided by his/her/themself and what may be required or needed by The Town of Cheektowaga or others in their proposal (if applicable).

Timeline

Deadline to Submit: No later than 5 pm on Friday, February 10

February 2023: Selection of Artist

March 2023: Public Announcement of Selection

March/April 2023: Implementation & Planning Meetings

Spring/Summer 2023: Completed and installed work (weather-dependent)

The timeline will adhere to property status and preparation (if needed) to execute a sculpture when appropriate; including factoring in proper weather conditions. 

Proposals should include:

·       A description of the work including materials and dimensions;

·       Sketches of the work; 

·       A budget including artist fees, supplies and materials, services, and any other costs associated to create the work;

·       Technical skills used related to the material & type of sculpture;

·       Optional artist resume with past commissions, training, courses, or other relevant experience to the work being proposed;

·       Links to or images of examples of past work; and

·       Contact information (including email, phone, and address).

Proposals should be sent electronically (in PDF form) to info@asiwny.org with the subject line ‘Cheektowaga NY Proposal’, as can questions. Since Town Park is open and available to the public, a site visit can be done at any time necessary.

A panel of qualified, arts and business professionals (including community members of the Town of Cheektowaga and other resident parties) will review proposals for their eligibility and appropriateness for the project

For photographs of the space and additional details, a full RFP can be found at asiwny.org/calls-for-work.

The post Seeking sculpture proposals for Cheektowaga site appeared first on Buffalo Rising.

The Good Neighbor Fund (GNF) has been founded in Buffalo, NY to help under-resourced entrepreneurs in economically challenged communities. GNF is able to provide “no strings attached” $1,000 micro-grants to founders, along with resources, to help the start-ups to gain footing in their host communities. Because the grassroots organization is 100% volunteer-led with no overhead, the capital contributions – pooled by a “small giving circle” of people who share a passion for entrepreneurship, community, and empowerment – are fully allocated to the start-up efforts.

So often, early-on capitalization attempts by small start-ups require the founders to compete for large sums of money, with huge competition, over extended time periods. The GNF micro funding allows these start-ups to get a shot in the arm, to give them a quick boost.

GNF takes its name from the nickname of Buffalo, “the city of good neighbors.” This nickname represents the diverse community that has endured heartache and tragedy yet always rallies to help its neighbor.

According to Founding Partner, Jason Bartz. “You always hear the term bootstrap when talking about entrepreneurship. ‘So-and-so is bootstrapping their new venture.’ But what if you don’t have bootstraps to pull yourself up by? The Good Neighbor Fund was created to be the jump-start and bridge the gap between ideation and larger organizations.”

“The Good Neighbor Fund was created to be the jump-start and bridge the gap between ideation and larger organizations,” added Bartz.

The organization currently hosts chapters in Buffalo, New York, and Denver, Colorado.

Along with the micro grants, GNF helps startups in myriad other ways, including key intros, program and accelerator matching, and mentorship. GNF is currently developing in-house programs tailor-made for founders at this stage. Combined with the micro grants, this sort of start-up support is invaluable for founders who are looking for instructive help in economically challenged communities.

If you’re passionate about entrepreneurship, community, and empowerment, consider joining the Good Neighbor Fund.

Get connected: www.goodneighbor.fund

The post The Good Neighbor Fund = Micro Grants for Start-Ups appeared first on Buffalo Rising.

So much of contemporary life is underscored by music. How often do we turn to our streaming apps to listen to music? According to one study, In 2021, the total number of on-demand audio music streams in the United States hit an astronomical 988.1 billion. This is an increase of nearly 100 billion from the previous year, reaching the highest number of streams ever. While the power of listening to music is undeniable, we cannot dismiss the power of playing and performing music.

Listen to the full-length interviews:

In generations before our own, it was commonplace for families to have a piano, and for members of the family to gather around and play and sing together. This practice, however, has been eclipsed by the demands and quick pace of contemporary life. But, the fact remains: playing music, or participating in a musical group helps a person unwind and de-stress. The collaboration and teamwork required to perform with others has many benefits. Research has shown that music affects the brain and can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and pain as well as improve sleep quality, mood, mental alertness, and memory. This practice leads to increased self esteem, improved listening skills, and creates feelings of belonging and a sense of security.

Project Best Life spoke to Griffin Brady, ethnomusicologist and founder of the SlyBoots School of Music, Art and Dance, Dr. Robert Strauss, Artistic Director of the Buffalo Gay Men’s Chorus, and Joe Maniaci, owner of Allentown Music about performing with ensembles, music lessons, purchasing instruments, and the power and importance of performing music.

Sly Boots School of Music, Art, and Dance

Griffin Brady discovered the healing power of music first hand.  After suffering the loss of a close friend at 16 years old, it was suggested to him to see famous musician, Bernard Woma from Ghana, play because it might help him process some of his grief.  “My teachers thought, this guy is clearly into music as therapy, he is skipping all of his classes and hanging out in the band room, maybe he could benefit from meeting [Bernard Woma].”  That meeting changed Brady’s life.  “I had an out of body experience.  Everybody in the room disappeared, and I felt as if I was connected to this music. I had never seen an instrument like that before and I knew I needed to learn more about it.”

Brady went to Fredonia State University, where he studied percussion education under Woma.  After visiting and studying at the Dagara Music Center in Ghana with Woma, Brady hosted the  Saakumu Dance Troupe of Ghana in Buffalo. This visit provided the inspiration for the SlyBoots School.

“[It was] basically created to help facilitate the work with Bernard when the [Saakumu Dance Troupe] would come over, in order to get the company around from school to school we needed to come up with something. So, I bought a short school bus off of eBay motors and we retrofitted it to be our tour wagon. Whenever we weren’t on the road, we had the SlyBoots School of Music, Art, and Dance where everyone would stay and where we would do Community classes. It wasn’t a ‘real official School of Music,’ but rather one ‘a little on the sly.’ The idea was, the dream didn’t have to be simply a dream, we just had to be a little ‘sly’ about it, and we had to be clever. We had to cut a couple of corners.  It came up because it needed to.  We needed an institution that would help facilitate the work… bringing cultural representation from Ghana and other places to share their music and dance, and to entertain, educate, and inspire and ultimately to promote positive social change through Cultural Arts, education, and performance.”

Slyboots currently offers a Tuesday night class that features juggling, drumming, and African dance.  The three skills are taught in a progression, and build on each other.  Brady said,

We hear all the time you know people who thought they couldn’t do any of them and end up really enjoying the process of all of them. When it comes to coming together as a community, especially with what we’ve been through over the last couple of years, it just feels good to gather with other human beings.  There’s something therapeutic about that.

Slyboots School of Music, Art & Dance
700 Main St, Buffalo, NY 14203 | 315-771-1414
Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

Buffalo Gay Men’s Chorus

The Buffalo Gay Men’s Chorus is a Buffalo institution that has been in existence since 2001. Currently, the group is led by Dr. Robert Strauss, who serves as the Artistic Director. The BGMC is a choral family of LGBTQIA+ members and straight allies and aims to be one of the best LGBTQIA+ focused choral ensembles in Western New York, but balances levity with the seriousness of their work. According to their website, “the Chorus is a great place to meet people and make new friends, while doing something enjoyable and worthwhile.”

Members of the chorus attend rehearsals one night a week. Dr. Strauss works with all levels of skill and musicianship, from skilled readers of sheet music, to those new to choral singing. Dr. Strauss said that some rehearsals will be “working on vocal technique, some will be cleaning up notes and rhythms, and some will be reading through text and talking about the meaning of the text. We also will be drilling [vocal] parts separately, so there’s a lot of variety in a rehearsal. We are singing the notes and rhythms, but also singing the meaning of texts”

Dr. Strauss said, “singing in a group can help people’s mental health and well-being in a lot of different ways. Just interacting with other human beings with similar interests, like singing and perhaps the mission of the group is one way. A large part of this is breathing, and so we’re all breathing together, and being mindful about our breathing and being deliberate about how we’re doing it. We are also communicating with each other about ‘How does this text make you feel?’ ‘Why do you feel like we’re singing these words?’ or ‘What does it mean for a group like us to sing Abba’s Dancing Queen?’ There will be a discussion of what it means to us to sing, and we learn more about each other, and have more empathy for different points of view, even within the context of people who presumably have a lot of the same ideas.”

Performing for audiences also has a positive effect on the members of the chorus. Dr. Strauss said the choral members “love looking out and seeing people smiling as a result of our concert. If the concert is meant to move people and they are moved, that has an effect on the singers. The chorus is just so proud of what they have accomplished, and that makes them happier and feeling more complete.“

Rehearsals for the group begin on January 10, 2023. Any person, regardless of gender expression or sexual orientation who can sing tenor, baritone, or bass is welcome and encouraged to audition for the group.

533 Amherst St., Buffalo, NY 14207 | 716-883-1277
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Allentown Music

Joe Maniaci, Owner of Allentown Music describes his shop as “a full-service Combo music store, where we sell a lot of guitars, amplifiers, drums and keyboards and violins and any kind of musical instruments and accessories including brass and woodwinds, and orchestral [instruments]. We try to have as much covered as any musician might need. Any supplies that they might need, we try to have that covered. We buy, sell, and trade, and deal in new and used [instruments], we do rentals, we do repairs, as well guitar, bass and piano lessons.”

Maniaci shared “When some people come into our store, it is kind of their happy place. They have had a rough day at work, or just their job in general, then come in and see the instruments, and kind of forget about some of their troubles… and that makes us feel really great. That we can be here for people like that. We are providing a store they can go to locally, where they can come in and purchase [an instrument] without going online or going very far away. It’s almost therapy for some people. They feel welcome when they come in, and the musical instruments make them feel welcome, and happy.”

Allentown music is a fantastic place for a first time buyer to purchase an instrument. Shopping on the internet allows people to purchase instruments without touching or holding them, which can lead to disastrous results. Maniaci feels it is important to get a feel for an instrument, and his team is well equipped with information, and armed with suggestions to make sure the buyer is happy and is comfortable with their purchase. “Photos online can’t tell you if an instrument plays or not… Some instruments online are not much more than wall decorations. They are not really designed for play. That’s why it is important to go into a store. Emailing back and forth is not the same as talking to someone.”

Currently, Allentown music offers lessons in their store.

When you play music, it makes you feel good. If you are practicing, and progressing, you feel good. You don’t have to practice 10 hours a day. 10 minutes a day is a great place to start. 10 minutes every day is way better than one hour a week… music can be therapeutic every day. The more you play and the better you get, the more you will enjoy it.

497 Amherst St., Buffalo, NY 14207 | 716-886-8742
Website | Facebook | Instagram

This series is sponsored by Project Best Life. Buffalo Rising and Project Best Life have teamed up to produce a series on wellness inspiration and advice to direct readers to the people, places, and experiences in Buffalo and beyond that will help them fulfill their health, nutrition, and wellness goals. For more information on how you can live your best life, subscribe to the Project Best Life newsletter.

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The post Project Best Life | Music Builds Collaboration and Community appeared first on Buffalo Rising.

Author: Stephen Vermette | Department of Geography & Planning, SUNY Buffalo State University Research Associate, Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences

Reaching back to the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, Buffalo’s newspaper headlines (Buffalo Museum of Science Weather Archives) are replete with references to snowstorms and blizzards – “Big Blizzard to Swoop Down on Buffalo,” “It was a Blizzard That Buffalo Could Well Boast of,” “City in Grasp of Great Storm,” “Buffalo is Threatened with Howling Blizzard…” (I could go on). 

In modern memory we have the Blizzards of ’77, ‘81, and ’85, the Christmas/New Year Storm of 2001-02, the October Surprise (2006), and Snowvember (2014). Again, I could go on. Just in the first few months of the 2022-23 winter season we’ve added November II and the Blizzard of ’22 to this notorious list of snowstorms.

It should come as no surprise that Buffalo has a well-established reputation for experiencing heavy doses of snow. A New York State contest, recognizing total seasonal snowfall, bestowed the City of Buffalo with the Golden Snowball Trophy for the winter of 2021-22 and, with a commanding lead to date, Buffalo may again receive the trophy for the winter season of 2022-23.

How Buffalo’s snow might fare with climate change – in a warming world – is a fair question. Will snow continue to be in our future? To answer this question, I offer here a climatological (long term) perspective base on climate trends since 1965. I’m using the year 1965 as an inflection point, as it is approximately 1965 when the countries air temperature clearly pulls away from background noise and correlates with the rise in greenhouse gases – climate change is not only something in our future, but it is occurring now. Looking at Buffalo’s temperature record, as well as water temperatures in Lake Erie, there is no question that they are warming with time, much like the U.S. Since 1965, both Buffalo’s average annual air temperature and Lake Erie’s annual water temperature have increased significantly, 2.8⁰F and 2.9⁰F, respectively – averaging +0.5⁰F per decade (Data obtained from the National Weather Service). At face value, such temperature increases do not bode well for the future of snow in Buffalo. So, how has snow data fared in our warming city?

An examination of snowfall in Buffalo (data taken form the National Weather Service Office at the Greater Niagara Buffalo International airport) since 1965 shows quite a bit of yearly variability (as it has been in the past), with an average snowfall of 94.7 inches (see Graph 1). However, there is not a statistically significant directional trend with the snowfall data over time (used a Whitney-Mann test, P < 0.05 to measure significance). In other words, it looks like Buffalo’s average snowfall since 1965 has neither decreased nor increased over time. 

What of the number of days of snow cover (number of days with > 1 inch on the ground) in Buffalo? While the meteorological winter is defined as the months of December through February, Buffalo’s winter experience is typically five months (November through March) and sometimes winter weather arrives as early as October and extends into April.

Looking at snow cover days during both the traditional core winter months and Buffalo’s extended winter period, there is quite a bit of variability (much like the previous snowfall data). The average number of days of snow cover are 56.4 and 70.7 days, respectively. Another way of looking at this is to say that snow covers the ground on average for about 63% of the time during Buffalo’s core winter months and about 47% of the time over Buffalo’s extended winter period of November through March (see graph 2 and 3). Once again, there does not appear to be a statistically significant directional trend for the core or extended period – the days of snow cover does not appear to trend over time. In other words, since 1965 the number of snow cover days has neither decreased nor increased.

What of the number of days recording measurable (> 0.1 inch) snow in Buffalo? This is where we see change! As with the previous data there is quite a bit of yearly variability however, since 1965, there has been a statistically significant decrease in snow days (see graph 4 and 5). Over the 57 years since 1965, Buffalo has lost an average of 13 annual snowfall days (25.5%) during our core winter (December through February) and 21 days (30%) during Buffalo’s extended winter. So, living in Buffalo today means that you experience fewer snow days than Buffalonians from decades earlier.

What of Lake Effect Snow? To address this question, I looked at the number of Lake Effect Snow (LES) events in Western New York which exceeded the 7-inch warning threshold (considered substantial events. Data was obtained from the National Weather Service Snow Event Archive).  Using data from 1994 to the present, it appears that WNY experiences an average of 6.5 LES events per year (see graph 6). Again, as with other measures of snow there is quite a bit of yearly variability. As with snowfall amounts and snow cover, there does not appear a statistically significant directional trend in the number of LES events – neither increasing nor decreasing over time.

With temperatures warming it appears that the response of snow can be found in a significant decrease in the number of snowfall days, while the amount of snowfall, the days of snow cover, and LES events appear unchanged since 1965. Given fewer snowfall days with unchanging snowfall totals means that more snow now falls during fewer snowfall days. Climate Change 101 tells us that a warming world also brings with it more weather extremes. So, while the air may be warming, one might expect frequent blasts of Arctic air and, in conjunction with warming lakes, the continued potential for LES events. 

So, keep your snow shovels and snowblowers on hand, as there is snow in Buffalo’s future. At least for the foreseeable future. 

The post <strong>Is There Snow in Buffalo’s Future?</strong> appeared first on Buffalo Rising.

Michigan Street is taking another step in the right direction. Empire State Development (ESD) has announced the completion of Phase I of the Michigan Street Baptist Church (511 Michigan Avenue), which includes stabilization effort of critical structural components of the historic structure. Funding for Phase I is thanks to grants from ESD and the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (OPRHP), along with other State and federal sources.  

The completion of Phase I signals the start of Phase II – a $2.2 million project that includes the construction of two-story addition that will further stabilize the historic building, while providing room for additional programming. The two-story addition also allows for ADA compliancy. 

The Buffalo Niagara Freedom Station Coalition – a not-for-profit organization that owns the Church – is working alongside a number of other groups to further strengthen the corridor. Together, they have formed a public/private partnership called East Side Avenues that is managed by the University at Buffalo Regional Institute. The group has thus far benefitted from ESD’s $65 million East Side Corridor Economic Development Fund (support from Governor Kathy Hochul), with the intention of generating tourism throughout the corridor. In turn, East Side Avenues is providing funds for staff and programs for the Heritage Corridor Commission.

Ultimately, a number of groups will benefit from the coalition’s efforts, including the Michigan Street Baptist Church (circa 1848), The Nash House, The Colored Musicians Club, and WUFO Black Radio History Collective. 

Empire State Development President, CEO, and Commissioner Hope Knight said, “Our Collective goal is to create a unified tourist destination that will tell the story of Buffalo’s contribution to African American history while attracting new visitors to the region. We are strengthening Buffalo’s cultural tourism potential by creating a hub of activities for visitors that includes the Michigan Street Baptist Church, the Colored Musicians Club, Nash House and the Nash Lofts multi-use building. Capital investments in all the Corridor projects will improve the visitor experience and better connect the assets to each other and downtown Buffalo.”  

The second phase of construction includes an addition to the north side of the Michigan Street Baptist Church (circa 1848), which is designed to mirror a typical structure that would have existed in the neighborhood. 

“It has been a privilege to witness the restoration and development of a church built in 1849 by freedom seekers into a local and national historic site,” said Lillie Wiley-Upshaw, Chair of the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor Commission Board and Chair of the Buffalo Niagara Freedom Station Coalition. “The church’s operational board the Buffalo Niagara Freedom Station Coalition are thankful for the ongoing support from the Buffalo area community and our funders.”

“This investment is a testament to the enduring, collaborative work being done by the anchors of the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor Commission,” said Laura Quebral, University at Buffalo Regional Institute Director. “It also illustrates New York State’s dedication to East Buffalo along with the funding partners of East Side Avenues and the Regional Revitalization Partnership. It supports the community-driven, comprehensive strategic and economic development plans launched last year by the Commission and is part of a cohesive effort to ensure the Corridor’s successful transformation into a unique, historic, inspirational place for residents and tourists alike.”

“The strategic planning and the work of the Corridor anchors along with community support and dedicated funding are helping to make our visions a reality,” said Terry Alford, Executive Director of the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor Commission. “We are proud of the Corridor’s growth and there is more to come, stated Terry Alford, Executive Director, of the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor Commission.”

In June 2022, Governor Hochul announced a “Regional Revitalization Partnership” (RRP) with philanthropic organizations and local government, which will involve a $300 million combined investment in East Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Rochester.  Under the RRP, the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor and its anchors are targeted for an additional combined investment of $30 million to help implement components of its strategic master plan completed with ESD funding in February 2022.

“To God Be the Glory, it has been a long time in the making and this day has finally come,” said Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes. “Congratulations to Lillie Wiley-Upshaw and the Buffalo Niagara Freedom Station Coalition, the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor, and a huge thank you to the Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo for keeping this historic structure upright long enough for Empire State Development, State Parks/SHPO and others to provide the necessary funding to complete this first phase of construction. It’s very fitting that this announcement happen on MLK Jr. Day, given the church’s involvement in social justice advocacy efforts.”

More information can be found at michiganstreetbaptistchurch.org.

Click to enlarge

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