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Cover Story

All Aboard the Ghost Train

by Albert Chao

On May 5, 11 and 12, performers, mechanical sculptures, storytellers of the supernatural and the paranormal, and wild and fantastical inventions will take the stage as part of Ghost Train, a multi-media event at Buffalo’s old Central Terminal, the East Side icon that was saved from demolition and now has become a choice venue for events, as well as for art exhibitions and performances that push genre definitions. Ghost Train is most assuredly all three.

Free Will Astrology

by Rob Brezsny

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The outsourcing of fortune-telling is well underway. Psychics and astrologers from India have been showering me with email invitations to take advantage of their services. “By the grace of the towering flames of goodness that burn the roof of our temple,” said one, “we have pledged to slave away our lives to cause the happy encroachment of bubbling karma on your masterful head. We will coax and guide the effects of various planets on the living accidents of your health so as to ease your slippery ride.” I suspect you’ll soon get puzzling offers of help like this, Taurus. You may even be given gifts you can barely make sense of and receive blessings that seem irrelevant or unlike anything you imagined you needed. My advice: Don’t ignore them. They will ultimately turn out to be quite useful.

News of the Weird

by Chuck Shepherd

■ To fund a new Iraqi economy and government after the March 2003 invasion, the US Federal Reserve shipped 484 pallets of shrink-wrapped US currency, weighing 363 tons, totaling more than $4 billion, and, according to a House of Representatives committee staff report in February, most of the cash was either haphazardly disbursed or distributed to proper channels but with little follow-up tracking. By March 2007, The Times of London found bank records revealing, for instance, that two unremarkable Baghdad small-business men (appointed to the defense ministry) eventually deposited over $1 billion in private accounts in Jordan, and that US efforts to buy state-of-the-art equipment for the Iraqi army were seriously undermined because middlemen purchased only cheap, obsolete Polish munitions and pocketed the savings.

Letters to Artvoice

First of all, thank you for informing the public on the school board vote taking place May 1—without you I wouldn’t have even known the vote was coming up.

Getting a Grip

Global Warming Is Just a Symptom

by Michael I. Niman

Suddenly everyone’s an environmentalist. That’s because, unlike any other political movement, this one packs the punch of immediacy. We can dawdle on about war. Millions of lives can be lost, and bad will can spread chaos and violence around the world. But we’ve been here before. And as a species we’ve more or less survived the political hells that we’ve created.

The News, Briefly

The Write-Off Vote

by Geoff Kelly

Not the Usual Suspects

by Robin Carman

Five Questions For…

Christopher Byrd

by Racquel Ananiadis

S.K.O.Z. Crew

by Matthew Quinn

You Auto Know

Realigning the Planet

by Jim Corbran

With the two upcoming models from Saturn—a new Vue and the Astra—General Motors has just about come full-circle with the division it introduced in the early 1990s as “A different kind of car company, a different kind of car.” Back when the Saturns were first being marketed as “different,” you’d be hard- pressed to find any mention of GM in any of Saturn’s advertising or marketing materials. It was hoped by GM bigwigs (not to mention by stockholders) that the Saturn would usher in a new era for the old carmaker, one not awash in red ink brought on by crappy product.

Puck Stop

Giddy-Up, Guys!

by Andrew Kulyk & Peter Farrell

Our Buffalo Sabres, so rich with talent, so full of speed, finesse and playmaking skills, so able to score seemingly at will during the regular season, are now stumbling through stretches of sluggish and shoddy play.

In the Margins

Slam=Forceful Impact

by Anne Reed

If you think poetry readings are boring, staid, dead…think again.

Poetry

Huron

by Gregory Solak

Poetry

by Colin Scharf

Theater

On With the Shaw

by Thomas Dooney

Those who have visited the nearby Shaw Festival, or traveled further afield to sample Shakespeare at the Stratford Festival, know the pleasures of taking a theater vacation. For those others, perhaps this is your summer to spend a day a weekend or longer at either of these Canadian festival stages…or both.

Theaterweek

Spamalot

by Anthony Chase

Spamalot has, at last, arrived in Buffalo, and judging from the gales of audience laughter that tended to precede punch lines at Tuesday’s opening, this is an eagerly anticipated event. The show boasts an extraordinary cast that performs the slim material admirably.

Film Reviews

Reluctantly in the Patriot's Game: The Wind That Shakes the Barley

by George Sax

The People's Hero: Spider-Man 3

by M. Faust

Film Clips

Lucky You

Year of the Dog

Music

Rock and Roll Sunshine

by Caitlin DeRose

Ever heard of the phrase “Don’t sweat the small stuff”? There are people who can argue both sides, either believing that everything is small stuff or taking in the bigger picture and letting go of insignificances. A glass that’s half-empty or half-full kind of scenario. It may not be so easy a task to attempt the conversion of a half-empty proponent to a half-full believer, as pessimists are notoriously steadfast in their beliefs. But there are ways to make even the most obstinate of the bunch break character and turn that frown upside down—just tell them to get happy.

See You There

Silversun Pickups

by K. O'Day

Loomer

by Buck Quigley

John Bacon: Duos

by Jodi Hahn

Dufus and Jeffrey Lewis

by Shaun Smith

Left of the Dial

Two Cow Garage: III

Golden Smog: Blood on the Slacks

Calendar Spotlight

Enter the Haggis

by Caitlin DeRose

Save the Elephants

Team Radio

by Shaun Smith

The Slackers

by Shaun Smith

Matt & Kim

by Caitlin DeRose

Tussle

The Advice Goddess

by Amy Alkon

I’m a 49-year-old guy, and when I met my girlfriend of six months she told me she was 30. Our 19-year age difference worried me, but she said it was cool with her. A few weeks ago, I inadvertently discovered she’s really 39. She admitted it, apologized, and said she didn’t know why she didn’t tell me. I’m glad she’s 39, but should I be worried about this kind of dishonesty spilling over into other areas?