H H Richardson Complex

Last weekend I took part in a tour around the grounds of the H H Richardson Complex, also known as the abandoned Psych Center. When it was in operation, the entire thing was 2/3 of a mile long. It's too dangerous to go inside (or so they told us) but the outside is impressive enough.

Stately Wayne Manor

The Masons date back to the Flood . . . because they caused it?

Meanwhile, in the Penguin's lair . . .

The structure is so long it needed vehicle access tunnels going underneath it.

So the building was abandoned, the water stayed on, the pipes froze and burst and water damage tore the building apart from the inside. This is the main entrance for those so inclined.

There is $76 million set aside to fix the structure . . . so they built this fence. Woo hoo!

Behind the Richardson building are several more abandoned buildings. This place is HUGE.

The very edge of the building. One wing was for men, the other for women. The farther from the center, the crazier the patient. The idea was that you'd be closer to the pastoral tranquility of fields and gardens. As you were "cured," you'd work your way to the center of the building and walk out the front door. And with that knowledge, I'll leave you at the extreme end of the looney bin. Until the next post, toodles!

Wingdings '07

Some of us gang members checked out the Buffalo Chicken Wing Festival. The event was such a success that they ran out of wings after only the first day. If you go next year and you see a wing place from LA selling "Habanero" and "el Diablo" flavors, stay away! They're trying to kill you.


You never who you'll bump into downtown. Look who it was right in front of us in line! It's the greatest Special Teams player of all time, who just got his name on the wall in Ralph Wilson Stadium this afternoon: Steve Tasker! I love that guy.


???


The awards ceremony. I also took some video footage of the Buffet Bowl championship, where a 100 pound woman nicknamed "Black Widow" ate about eight pounds of food, but I'll save its poor quality for a later post.




MC 2Many Wings warms up the crowd


Jazz Hands


Exotic flavors

Blogging About Buffalo

1. You have to give it to JP Losman: he's a man of action. He started Buffalo Lives to get some basic cleanup done around the city and today, twenty busloads of people showed up to help. When my bus got to our work location this morning, JP was already there unloading a truckload of peat moss by himself. For an event kickoff, everything was well-organized: free transportation, bottled water, shirts, work gloves, garbage bags, rakes, then pizza and a live band.


View Larger Map

This is good news on progress, especially since Buffalo was just declared the second-poorest city in the nation. During my first summer here I've personally talked to dozens of folks who are realistic about the city's problems but proactively work to solve them. Today's volunteers were more than friendly, and we met several thankful families who wondered why armies of cleaning crews were invading the streets. One family moved here last week from Burma, proving that yes, there are worse places you can live.


Just think: each of these people filled at least one bag of trash.


2. New World Record is moving from Elmwood and Cleveland to Hertel and Delaware. While they're emphasizing Hertel's economic growth and the extra 500 square feet of space, it remains that less people are buying music and the store needs lower rent to survive. I like the place where it is, sure, but it's only to buy show tickets or browse. I last bought a record there about two years ago. (Charging $18.98 for a Hives album won't earn you any new friends either.) Unlike the whiners posting comments to this article, I can walk the extra distance to their new location without much of a problem. That doesn't mean I'll want to, however.

You can get more, better music online, for free, and before stores do. Here's Tick Tick Boom, the new single from the next Hives album, and it's sublime.

Here's the Foo Fighters doing a dead-on cover of the Arcade Fire's Keep The Car Running live on the BBC. You won't find this in stores.

Finally, here's a recently uncovered 1973 recording of Too Many Cooks (Spoil The Soup) by none other than Mick Jagger and John Lennon, brought to my attention by the blog I Am Fuel, You Are Friends (who also links to a new song by Bruce Springsteen). Free, free, free.

Phil & Sarah

Ol' buddy Sarah G married longtime boyfriend Phil this Friday and it was a blast. The bridesmaids' dresses complemented the church's color scheme, the music selections were perfect, and the cake tasted exquisite.





Group hug!
Here are some video clips as well. That kid rocked Brass Monkey. While dancing I stepped on each of Kim's toes, but she was a great sport about it.



The first dance as husband and wife:



Oh, and the vows.





Early that morning I noticed the hotel marquee spelled Sarah's name without the H, so I made a call.
Finally, I got to meet some of Phil and Sarah's friends from Machias for the first time. They were surprised to know even I knew about the magic that is Scottie2Hottie.

Scottie2Hottie's Real World Audition



Congratulations again to Sarah and Phil!

Justice - †

If I only force-feed one album to my roommate this year it's going to be Justice's †, a French industrial dance masterpiece that he demands I turn off less than three seconds after I hit Play. Now it's your turn.

Download this!

1. Genesis
2. Let There Be Light
3. D.A.N.C.E.
4. New Jack
5. Phantom
6. Phantom Pt II
7. Valentine
8. The Party
9. DVNO
10. Stress
11. Waters of Nazareth
12. One Minute to Midnight

What does it sound like? Imagine if Daft Punk's Homework met the breakdown in Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and decided to collaborate on a remix of Modest Mussorgsky's Night On Bald Mountain. Don't believe me? YouTube to the rescue. Enjoy!


Daft Punk videos rock, hard


A Filipino prison practices "Thriller" (compare to track 1, "Genesis" and note some lyrical hints of MJ and the Jackson 5 in "D.A.N.C.E.")


"Night on Bald Mountain" from Disney's Fantasia (compare to track 10, "Stress")

Electric Tower

I gave a tour of Downtown Buffalo this Saturday and made an audible to check out the Electric Tower. Not only did the security guard show us around the lobby (with some impressive photos of the building's history and renovation), he also knew a lot of details about the owners and the construction work. Then we checked out the fourteenth floor! When Mayor Brown participated in opening ceremonies last week, he only went as far as the twelfth story. Here are a few pictures:

IMG_0816, originally uploaded by fcschrock.

Lobby

IMG_0846, originally uploaded by fcschrock.

Lobby detail

IMG_0844, originally uploaded by fcschrock.

Original phone booth

IMG_0849, originally uploaded by fcschrock.

A second floor office behind a glass wall

IMG_0854, originally uploaded by fcschrock.

The 14th floor has a fireplace in an all-wood "oval office" boardroom.

IMG_0855, originally uploaded by fcschrock.

The shadow of the Electric Tower on top of the Goldome Building.

IMG_0856, originally uploaded by fcschrock.

An eye-level view of the top of the Central Terminal

Other pictures are here.

In any case, the lobby is open to everyone on weekdays, and it looks great.

I'm Gonna Live Forever

Fame! Did you know I made the front page of the paper?


Look closely. No, not there. Lower. Lower. . . . Okay, you see the boat? Click on the picture and read the caption.

"On both days, tours of the schooner will be available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., as well as walking tours of the Canal District at 1 and 2 p.m." and GUESS WHO GAVE THE 2 O'CLOCK TOUR?? No, really! Guess! Come on!

You guys are no fun, you know that? I make the front page with Lindsay Lohan and nobody even cares.

See if I come to your funeral.

Meanwhile, this next song pretty much defines me as a person. Once I put this music to a computer animation of the Lincoln-Douglass debates and then played it in a history class. Best presentation ever.

Dueling Jukeboxes

Of all people, Brian Emerson popped in from Cleveland after a charity golf tournament in, of all places, Akron. Unlike this thing here, Brian's blog actually discusses subjects such as community activism, home improvement, and modern Catholicism with some real insight. Lately I've only posted lousy photography, homemade YouTube clips, and unpopular music. I should be ashamed.

So anyway, here are some pictures from the night. The Cincoshakes were delicious.





We ventured to the Jolly Jug, a place known to many as the place Vincent Gallo robbed when he was a teenager in Amherst. (Others like their tacos.) The blurry, second picture shows that our corner of the bar was inhabited by two different jukeboxes. Here's top secret hidden video of them playing simultaneously, which was retarded. And loud.



We even saw a local celebrity: Lou, the guitarist from Mexican Cession! The guy that tore it up every encore playing Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher!" Here, Brian: you better not be using an RSS feed right now, because this .mp3 is dedicated in your honor.
Mexican Cession - Bagel Pimp

"Psychedelic Sufi Trance Rock"

Haale rocked Neitzsche's last night and it was a pretty sweet show. It's not often you get people sitting Indian-style on the floor of a bar. Here is the encore:

Here too is a short interview where Haale describes her Persian instrumentation.



Neitzsche's


Beth Hirsch shared the double bill


Dave smuggled a glass out the door. Guess where he hid it?


The new paint job on the Old Pink


They're Baaaaaack. . . .

80 Minutes for 8 August 2007

I actually put this together a month ago but never got around to posting it. You can hear the tracks as individual .mp3 files or in one big .zip. Let me know about any dead links.

Today's tracks
Last month's tracks

Enough of my yakkin', let's boogie.

Afghan Whigs - Dixie Peach Promenade
Atmosphere - My Alien Girlfriend ft. Murs
Bad Plus - Tom Sawyer (Rush cover)
Beth Orton - Heart of Soul
Hives - Supply and Demand
Jesus Lizard - Nub (live)
John Zorn - Litany V [not for the weak]
Kings of Leon - My Party
Kleptones - 18:00 War of Confusion
Loose Fur - The Ruling Class
Mudhoney - You Got It
My Brightest Diamond - Freak Out (Gold Chains Panique Mix)
Nine Inch Nails - Hyperpower
N.W.A. - 100 Miles and Runnin'
Queens of the Stone Age - Goin' Out West (B-side)
Squirrel Nut Zippers - Bedbugs
Tom Waits - Step Right Up
Velvet Underground - Venus in Furs (Norman Dolph acetate take; recently discovered)
Vietnam - Priest, Poet, & the Pig
Wilco - Camera (Australia bonus track)

Cornographic

Dave just returned from the Eden Corn Festival and wanted me to post this little video. Get ready!

OH S***

A preview for R. Kelly's new Trapped in the Closet: Chapters 13-22? Oh s***! Seriously, I'm crying right now.

Infringement Festival

For some strange reason my roommate decided against going out at one in the morning, so I packed up and headed to Nietzsche's on my lonesome for part of the Infringement Festival. Knife Crazy is an off-kilter band with interesting dance moves, as you'll see in the video.



Pocket Gallows, a Pennsylvania band, played right before. While a lot of people stayed in the bar during this one I thought they had a good sound. Too bad they're too abrasive for most listeners. Here's their very short last song.



Well, I liked it.

Detritus pt. 3

Lately I've found it easier to create photo slideshows on Windows Movie Maker than upload pictures on Picasa. YouTube, Picasa, and Blogger are all owned by Google, but while Picasa has tight limits on the number of photos to upload, YouTube has only a 10-minute limit on films. At one photo every three seconds, you could post 200 pictures with relative ease. You can even include music, showing everyone just how computer savvy and artsy-fartsy you really are.

Here is a slideshow of random pictures I've taken over the summer. In general they follow the order of:

Greek Restaurant in Mississaugua
Karpeles Museums
Front Park/Connecticut Street Armory
Peace Bridge/Porter/Richmond
Ani Difranco's Church
Allentown Art Festival
Thursday At The Square
Dr. Lonnie Smith, Lafayette Tap Room(check out this site!)
Taste Of Buffalo
Gusto at the Albright-Knox
Fish Fry at Cole's
Sorrento Italian Festival
Buffalo Waterfront
I Spy Exhibit, Buffalo Central Library
Dinner, Buffalo Brew Pub
Scott's New House, Clarence
River Lea/Beaver Island Historical Society
Vagina Exhibit on Allen Street

The Last Picture Took Itself

You'll probably notice a strange dot at the top of some photos. Since those were taken I've bought a new camera, explaining the better resolution near the end. Have you been to any of these places/events?



Music: Mouse On Mars, "I Go Ego Why Go We Go"
Architecture In Helsinki, "Heart It Races (as played by Hey Willpower)"

Insert Red Hot Chili Peppers Joke Here*

Old Buddy Ed celebrates his birthday today. Ed is from Minneapolis, and drove under that bridge about twenty minutes before it collapsed. (Ed, is this true?) In any case we're all happy for him.



*or Simon & Garfunkel

Detroit Cobras @ Mohawk Place

Several weeks ago I checked out the Detroit Cobras at Mohawk, one of the best bar bands you'll ever see. Jack White produced one of their albums, if that means anything to you. A good time was had by all. Dear venue owners: please start Sunday shows earlier. Sure, the ticket said doors opened at 7, but when the headliner gets on stage at 12:10 Monday morning at screws up my whole work week. Here's the band playing "You Don't Knock" from the great Seven Easy Pieces:


Opening band Willowz also rocked a decent set, as well as a sturdy local band called The Found. Overall, three good bands for $12. And there's nothing to do downtown on the weekend?
Willowz


Detroit Cobras, rockin'


The men's room, unoccupied!


Members of Willowz get down


Dave and Fred outside

I'll Take My Board

I was minding my own business at work today when who do I see ten feet in front of me but Pat Wilson, drummer for Weezer! I think he was there with his wife. In retrospect I should have given him the "W" sign or told him "hey, I saw you guys play three times" or asked him why Make Believe sucked so hard, but I played it cool and walked on by.

[this guy]

In other news, Dave reports that Cat Stevens played an impromptu three-song set in a Tops Markets today. He ironically notes that the performance was next to the dog food aisle. More info as it becomes available. Until then, here's Zach Galifianakis and Will Oldham in a Kanye West video.

Jazz Flute!

Today involved about 10 miles of walking, including:

-sidewalk-clogging masses of the intra-Buffalo Garden Walk
-2 seconds of Frisbee with some guys I passed on the street
-being accosted by 3 shady dudes near a subway stop
-a trip to the Erie Basin Marina, walking right in front of Mayor Byron Brown's press conference, in progress
-taking and then giving the tour on the canal district
-getting on the Lois McClure canal schooner and the Buffalo Fire Department's boat
-free soda and cookies because I "looked like that guy giving tours"



Above is a quick and dirty slideshow of pictures I took today. The music is by a group called Millish, who put on a heckuva show at Shannon's Pub tonight. Their show reminded me of a certain scene in Anchorman where Will Ferrell ripped some hot flautist licks. If not for Dave's nose for good events I never would have known about them. I bought their album not just because the show was great (best musicianship in any show I've seen this year!) but because they sold CDs by donation. Prince would be proud. Check 'em out.