The grande opening (March 17th) for the Elmwood Market & Grill was a success; everything (mostly, save for the beer and some organics, the credit/EBT system was yet to be activated) in place and ready for the steady stream of customers wishing them success and of course, buying things. I was there Monday morning, and seeing as I live accross the street, I'll be there every day no doubt. The atmosphere is a whole lot more inviting than Wilson farms, and less of a chore than Walgreens. I also had a chance to chat a bit with the owners: Dale, Alex, and Tony. The guys are very excited to be on Elmwood and are eager to fit in with the community, asking for suggestions to stock (organics and conventional) and basically trying to get a feel for the area. Since Latina's closed last spring, the community has been longing for a new place to shop. Unfulfilled talks of Dash's, Tops, and Whole Food's filling the void that Latina's left put despair in the area. No one wants to be let with a crummy Wilson Farms; the added burden has had a negative effect on the store, overcrowding at times and leaving the store more haggard than it has been in years. Thus, the Elmwood Market has many shoes to fill... have they picked the right ones to tackle? We'll see. Read on for my initial assessment of the store and its role for the community.

The Elmwood market is...

• Your Morning Stop - the Breakast Combo (any breakfast sandwich, coffee and two hashbrowns for $3.99) is sure to be a winner in the morning. pick up some cold cuts, cheese, a few Costanza rolls, and you have lunch fixin's for a week. I'll have my good buddy Kirk report back on how that works out for him. He was a big fan of X-cel. I'll start getting the breakfast special as soon as I use up my Wilson's Coffee Bucks.

• A Cheap (and good) Grill and Deli - In the wake of X-cel, getting something to eat left you with Jim's or Just Pizza. While both are amazing places to eat and definite Buffalonian mainstays, I doubt anyone's gut will survive a sustained diet of either. You can and will get full for under $10 bucks, most sandwiches won't take you past 6 bucks; all 12' subs are only $6.49ea. as for the deli meats? I'll do a little research, but I hear the meats are cheaper than Tops. As of right now, the grilled chicken sandwich is my favorite, and nothing is better than a sammy on a Costanza roll.

• A Essentials Market - Obvious, but the shelves are stocked with enough goods that you will only need to head to Tops for produce or that giant stock-up I hear you people that buy food do once a month. I haven't had groceries in my house for a year, partly due to laziness and partly due to my pride of not wanting to be loaded down on the bus. I still may not. Why, with a pantry next door, I'll just dash down and get what I need. In the next week or so, I'll have a price comparison between Wilson farms, Walgreen's, and Elmwood Market on the essentials like milk eggs, tp, etc.

• A Safe Place to Shop - I have never seen so many security cameras in one place before. There is even a cam pointed on the street by the store, and everything is hooked into the video system. This was a common fear of impending trouble but i can assure you these guys have it covered. In addition to the cameras, there is a no single beer can/bottle policy, aiming to keep the riff-raff from hanging around panhandling for change to get a 40oz. I'm sure someone will make a try to knock this place over, but the deterrent factor is huge.

The Elmwood Market is not...

• A Wilson Farms Killer - Wilson Farms serves a valuable purpose and always had. Once people get used to the Market, the Farms will go back to what it was.... a late night beer/smoke/munchie stop. A little healthy competition is good for everyone, and when the Market closes at 11pm, Wilson's is and will still be the place to go for the afterhour goods.
• One of "those" places - As with all good things, people want to fail the market before it has a chance to mess up. Supposedly, the guys who own the market own a few stores on the east side that are in sorry condition. I haven't been to these places but this is the "dirt" that I've heard the most. I really hope that this won't happen to their Elmwood location, and I don't think it will. The place is just too nice to let it go to shit, and the spacious location will prevent the overclutter that leads to dumpy grocers. However, this is all relative to the amount of support given to it by the community. Hold them accountable for a great store and support them and the Elmwood Market should be here for years to come.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the Market. I've talked with Dale and Alex and they really seem to want what's best for the community. Everyone at the Market is very friendly, inviting questions and even letting a blogger like me get all nosy.

[Ironman tought us that gang signs are "totally cool." ]

That means that you need to go in there and say hi, tell them a bit about what you want to see stocked at the Market. You can also head to their website and send them a note, and read their welcome to the community. The owners will be in the store for the first month before leaving the store in the hands of the managers; don't wait to say hello. This is your Market, get involved.

[Good luck you guys! Thanks for the T-shirts - Buffawhat & Sai One ]

You can check out the rest of the pictures of the Elmwood Market in my flickr set, just click below..,

The Canadians are laughing at us (New Yorkians) right now, and Virgin Mobile Canada is taking the joke all the way to the bank, using our disgraced NY Governor as a part of their new "you call the shots" campaign. The ads will run in Toronto newpapers this week. The copy reads..

• At Virgin Mobile, you're more than just a number. When you call us we'll treat you like a person, not a client. Whether you're #9 or #900, you'll get hooked up with somebody who'll finally treat you just how you want to be treated.

In addition to Spitzer, VMCa  has plans to release ads poking fun at Hillary and Obama as well. via CNet News

Since I wasn't feeling to particularily sneaky to try and record MSTRKRFT when they showed up at the Tralf in Buffalo this Sunday, I bring you a clip of their previous show on the 7th @ StudioB in NYC... MSTRKRFT in person is more amazing on stage than you could possibly imagine. If it wasn't for the annoying opening acts like Mark Webb and Bev Beverly, I could have stayed till the end. However the pulsing highs from the synths of the opening acts put too much fatigue on my club ravaged ears, and I had to leave. Real bummer, I felt a bit like "clockwork orange" being pained to hear music from a group I love so much. However next chance I get I'll be at another MSTRKRFT concert, with earplugs.

One of the greatest things about the Le French Dunny Series is how there are visible connections and proof of collaboration between some of the artists. Instead in some series' where each character is completely different, I'm gonna point out a few details on some of the French figures that bring them together.. as well as explain why the Easy Hey is so goddamn ugly unique. First off, the French Color Trio. Look at the 123KLAN, Oktus (I've yet to score this figure), and Superduex  together, notice anything? The three colors (blue white red) aren't just the French national colors, they are a prevalent design aesthetic for Superduex, who also did the packaging design for the series. Superduex, 123KLAN and Oktus all have collabo'd together via french Design groups like UNCHI. Looking at the art styles of 123KLAN, I'd assume that they followed Superduex's concept to create a matching figure. And Oktus was more of a color adherence. either way, the three look appropriate placed next to each other. Now, onto the the Peen and the Sourpatch. We found the cock and balls "discreetly" painted on the underside of the SecretLab figure during the Hero Party. It wasn't till the end of the night that I discovered that the Koralie I just traded for had a raspberry under her. I refuse to believe that this is a coincidence. Ok, now why Easy Hey is so.. Unique. For being 1/400, this is a real stinker of a figure. I guess thats makes sense, seeing it was based off of Easy Hey's Kid Onion "pet" character.... On another note, Oktus and Easy Hey are both part of the same French Design Group called Delkographik The French Dunnys are selling fast and strong, stop by Hero Design in Buffalo and pick up a few, or visit the KidRobot page to learn more.

As Buffalo Old Home Week Homecoming approached, BuffaloGeek is asking around to find out why the hell you'd wanna live in Buffalo, let alone come back. Here is my story. People ask me how I get around, seeing as I don't own a car and still seem to get from point A to point B pretty well. I tell 'em "boys and bus passes." I pride Buffalo for a fairly manageable public transit system, and I guess part of that is why I stay here. As for the boys, that's what landed me in Buffalo. I was raised in Rural North Carolina, injected into the South by my father's Air Force career. The air was fresh and the beach (think ocean not lake, goddammit) was only a couple hours away. However, I soon began to loathe the culture, I felt like a city boy and the cotton fields were like padded walls, keeping me protected from myself and the rest of the world. Turning 18 and a heightened sense of the world thanks to the good ole intertubes made me crave something new. I received my first chance when I began dating a good natured, yet slightly simple boy living in Raleigh. He would travel to see me, and I'd spend weekends in the city with him. The concrete hustle and bustle attracted me, living in a machine of commerce and humanity. I was hooked. The horrible occasion of his dad's stroke led us up to West Virginia and the opportunity for me to move in to help take care of him. Back in NC, I spent 3 months playing wet nurse to the most ornery old man I've ever encountered, who'd just rather piss on himself then try to get off the couch to walk three steps to the loo. Thankfully he recovered and we took him home. I was able to Lysol the couch, but Jimmy and I weren't able to patch our relationship, strained by having to play "straight" for three months around a loopy old man. I learned a lot from Jimmy, though, like how hard it is to keep living with someone you are no longer with romantically while trying to find romance elsewhere. West Virginia boys are conflicted and very jealous I suppose. The need for me to stay in North Carolina had ended. My family had all fled moved on (save my mum, but this was in the early stages of none of us wanting anything to do with her) and another opportunity arose. Dad had just moved back to Bradford, Pa(mid 2004), into his girlfriend's house. All of his family were scattered all around Northwest PA; I had never had a connection with many of them do to the distance and an imposed alienation via my mom. After one too many post relationshipal fights with Jimmy, I moved up in February of 2005 with Dad and Jerrie to spend some much needed family time, and to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Once again, I was in the sticks. Bradford has three main employment options: Zippo, Walmart, or the oil fields. Each one will suck you in, and you will never get out of Bradford if you take the bait of steady employment. I was soon restless, and began to harness the web to escape the reality. Don't get me wrong, Bradford is a beautiful town, but I couldn't bring my self to settle here. I decided to use the method of dating to explore the area. I went all over the Southern Tier trying to find a fit. Marienville, Jamestown, Fredonia, Erie, Oil City, Olean, none really appealed to me. After realizing I had slept with essentially every applicable Bradford gay, I turned my eyes to NY. I admit Buffalo attracted me for one thing: the Buffalo Chicken Wing. Never actually eaten a real chicken wing, the idea of a city who's food tastes influence the whole world intrigued me. I started my quest to find out about this city, and looked around for a guide to show me. I found this gentle and passionate bear named Jamie, who one night out of the blue drove up to show me his world. After rocking his world, natch, the relationship grew and once again the opportunity to start fresh and move to a new place arose. Ahh, Buffalo! I fell in love immediately. I wanted to know more, I wanted to learn what made this city tick. I saw a bit of every town I've ever been to in Buffalo, and the people with their manic attitudes and over busy lifestyle just sucked me in. I started to assimilate, first with the chicken wing, then I gave the Sabres a try. Niaevety soon fell away however, like taking the case off of a swiss cuckoo clock, I saw the inner workings of Buffalo. I noticed that many gears were missing, and even some just ground against each other, going nowhere; yet the clock kept ticking. Turns out a few gears are missing from the gay male population in Buffalo, as well. Jamie turned out to be nuts and after 11 months in a codependent controlling relationship, I broke his ribs in a drunken fight and that was the end of that. I had created a trend: every so often pick up and start fresh. "Learn from your mistakes and get the hell out of there" was the motto.Where was I to go? Rochester? Did I wanna go back to bradford and start the hunt again? I couldn't. Buffalo had me, I felt like belonged after only a year, and I couldn't bear to leave. So I stayed and broke my trend, starting a new life down the street, instead. I actually have a job here, its not the best, but it pays the bills and I have them there benefitos that the old people worry about. I don't own a car and I don't ever want one as long as I'm here. I get around just fine, like I said, boys and bus passes. Sure, the metro rail could do more than run in a straight line, but relying on public transportation has made me a Elmwood Village boy. I love it. I shop "local" because I don't have a choice, I rarely go to the malls despite my love for the commercial. I feel like one of those gears, My impact is small, but I exist here.

Unless you catch my twitter, I've been somewhat silent about John on my blog, and partly its because I wasn't thrilled to get the reaction. See, I've spent the last couple of years in Buffalo being the cruelest gaming asshole ever. I've dated a few guys, broken a few too many hearts, and pissed off a whole bunch of people. I've come to the conclusion that I no longer wish to continue this trend; it seems to get in the way of me finding real happiness. To go from player to lover, deceptor to devoted, is as easy as flipping a switch.  However, proving that that switch to people is a lot harder. Thus, the second part of my conclusion is that I no longer care how people will perceive my sincerity on this because I only have to prove myself to one person, and i quite like it this way. I've fallen quite deeply for this redheaded bear named John. John lives in Maryland. I most recently spent President's day weekend with John, and we seemed to have fallen in love. I'm a firm believer that if you care for someone, then you make sacrifices and take chances that you wouldn't normally do for anyone else. The risk of failure is only high when you hesitate, and is most surely 100% when you don't take the risk at all. The mechanicals of our relationship are very intersesting, merging social technology and cross-culture immersion to make up for the physical gap between us.  A uniquely funded travel budget may be in the future, and beyond that is too early to tell. All I can say is this dude completes me in every way I could ever have possibly imagined and to pass this by based on something as stupid as distance would make me a fool. Oh, and he twitters...

[Click above for the Maryland Trip Flickr Set]

Hey you club kiddies! Want some candy? Check out the newest Digital Bitchslap, fresh and unpressed, from Buffalo's spinning godfather, DJ Xotec. Like always, the DB series features the latest commercial squeeze, fortified with vogue beats and diva house; every track has been rubbed with love and perversion just for you.

• Here another “alternative lifestyle” mix for my Marcellas twirlers and other assorted deviants and freaks…very much on the “commercial club’ tip…and exclusive re-rubs of Alicia Keyes, Adina Howard, 50 cent/Justin Timerlake, etc…Enjoy!

I must point out the tracklisting is very strong with the highlight on the "Alicia Keyes vs TP 2000 -No One / ItsNotRightButItsOkay (xotec’s crack is wack re-rub)." I've taken the time to isolate it and you can hear it below. [audio:http://www.buffawhat.com/files/audio/xotec_aliciakeys_vs_TP2000_crackiswackrerub.mp3]

Track listing

1. Steve Angello - Be (x’s hips and thighs re-rub)
2. Alicia Keyes vs TP 2000 -No One / ItsNotRightButItsOkay (xotec’s crack is wack re-rub)
3. Jamelia - Something About You (Nr Oizo rmx / x’s re-edit)
4. Tegan and Sara - Back in your Head (zombie rmx)
5. Simian Mobile Disco - Hustler (AVH rmx)
6. w/l Chakka Khan - Feel 4 u
7. AVH - I Want Your Soul (Crookers rmx - x’s re-edit)
8. Enur - Calabria
9. Swen Weber vs Electric Six - Gay Bar Samba (xotec’s duct tape and a dream re-rub)
10. Vandalism vs Adina Howard - Freaks (xotec’s sugar for yer knees re-rub)
11. Timbaland - The Way I Dub
12. Lil Mama - Lip Gloss (krazy fiesta rmx)
13. Ram Jam / Secret Service - Black Betty (x’s re-edit)
14. Wahoo - Damn you’re Here (Freeform Five remix)
15. Utah Saints - Something Good (Ian Carey rmx)
16. Dave Armstrong /Redroche - Love is Gone (Peter Gelderheim rmx)
17. Sheldon Romero - Dirty Things
18. 30hz / Miles Dyson - Daddio
19. Snoop Dogg / Robyn - Sexual Eruption (xotec’s butakke re-rub)
20. Nelly Furtado - Promicious (Axwell rmx)

• Download Digital Bitchslap v7.0 (rightclick and "save as") - 81MB, MP3
• DJXOTEC.com

Studio Arena presents to you -- produced by Road Less Travelled Productions -- To Kill a Mockingbird, running from February 2nd, till Sunday the 24th.

• The story, based on the best selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel contains some of the most memorable characters in American literature – Atticus Finch, Boo Radley, and the children – Jem, Dill and Scout. This compelling piece speaks to the very heart of American integrity, while raising questions about racism and prejudice. The story, told through the eyes of a young girl is filled with moments of discovery as she uncovers the secrets that her neighbors and community hide. This production stars Doug Zschiegner as Atticus Finch and Dee La Monte Perry as Tom Robinson. It is directed by Scott Behrend, Founder and Artistic Director of Road Less Traveled Productions.

Opening night brought forth one of the longest and most deserving standing ovations I've ever seen at Studio Arena. Why we clapped so hard, hooting and hollering like Cher was on stage? its easy: the cast gave everything into their roles. This was a hard production to pull off because the story is so common; everyone has their own idea of what the characters look and sound like. Every character was cast with perfection. I wondered how they managed to find a child so small to play Dill, till I realized that Joseph Westphal ("Dill") is a Lukemia survivor. Amazing talent was also seen from Doug Zchneigner ("Atticus"), whose furrowed brow and upright stature accurately portrayed the conviction that Finch lived his life with every day. Tickets are on sale now, priced $25-65.00.

• To Kill A Mockingbird @ Studio Arena

With February now amongst us, that means that Valentine's Day is in just two short weeks. With that said, Angel has a drawing over at his store for a V-day bundle worth about $125! The rules:

1. Head down to Sai One (818 Elmwood, across from the Lexington Co-op), and take a gander at the glass jar full of Hershey Kisses.
2. Guess the amount of Kisses in the jar and write the number down on a slip of paper with: your name and your phone or email address, which ever gets a hold of you first. Slip it in an envelope and go about your business.
3. On February 13th, Angel will pick the entry with the closest (or exact) number to the actual count of the Kisses without going over. In case of a tie, a random draw will decide the winning slip. You'll get a ring or a ping, and you can pick up your prize.

The prize:

1. One-of-A-Kind Spring handbag, made especially for the contest.
2. Angel's custom Chocolate body line: lotion, body wash, and bath salts; all infused with the rich and lucsious scent of chocolate.
3. A Sai One red Ladie's Tank/Panty set.

No purchase necessary, just head over and take a guess. Since the drawing is on the 13th, that gives you the opportunity to gift this as well if you win, making you look super special with your lady and possibly securing third base.

• SaiOne (818 Elmwood, Buffalo, NY) - Blog

First off, I'll really miss Astoria (423 Elmwood). We never had enough time to prepare; with a shady hasty announcement (two days prior) to staff and patrons that their last day was New Years Eve, I managed to get in for the final supper and spend that last moment with the best cajun-grilled porkchops I've ever had. days later the paper was up and word that a French Bistro called Tabree was going to replace it. However, a "swift transition" it has not been. Its been almost month, and I've seen the lights on plenty of times, moving shadows cast against the privacy paper, but never enough to get a good glimpse of progress. Till now. An accidental (maybe?) gash in the paper granted me a peek and a few photos, including one of the renovation plans..

• It seems they managed to rip up all the old booths and cleared out the partition to the kitchen. On the far right side a bar will go, and the front facing kitchen door will be relocated to the adjacent side. From what it looks like, there will be 27 indoor dining seats, bar included, with the front window areas converted to booths. Patrons of Astoria will notice that the center dividing booth will be rebuilt, extended, and split up into two tables of four and one two seater by the wall

[would you like a larger peak? click above to embiggen]

Aside from the bar in the main dining area, and the new booths, there doesn't look to be too much more change from the original set up. I have no idea what a French bistro will offer, but they have a bar so I'm all for it. I just hope they can hurry it up. Though I'm excited for a new place to eat on Elmwood, I know Tabree won't be anything like Astoria. It was Lolo and Dimmer, Chris and Goldpenny that made Astoria memorable, not to mention the incredible food. So many good times were had. I even met Angel for the first time in the back kitchen; I have Astoria to thank for helping me cultivate some of my best friends on the block. Oh well, here's to new memories and some good food, eh?

• Update: I heard in a roundabout way that the owners plan to open in April, which is a lot longer time than even I expected. However, I also heard of some very interesting plans to create a giant waterfall in the patio area.