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Gift Ideas

Don't Make the Same Mistake This Year

You can, if you wish, wait until December 22. Okay, December 23. All, right, who are we fooling? You can wait until the evening of December 24, launch yourself into the cold, desperate night, vowing to find a single shop that is still open and will provide you gifts for every person on the list that you made—finally—that very morning over a cup of coffee.

Analysis

Your Mom, Walking

by Bruce Fisher

The American cities that are suffering worst in this recession are the ones whose economies are tied closely to General Motors and Ford and their supply chains. A recent survey by the Brookings Institution finds that five of the 21 large metros in the Great Lakes region—Dayton, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Toledo, and Youngstown—rank among the 20 weakest metro economies in the country.

News Briefly

All Brian Davis, All The Time

by Geoff Kelly

Last Friday afternoon, Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III insisted that he’d made no plea deal with Ellicott District Councilman Brian C. Davis. Davis had just pleaded guilty before City Court Judge Thomas P. Amodeo to two misdemeanors: using campaign money for personal expenses and filing false campaign finance disclosure reports.

Week in Review

Seven Days: The Straight Dope From the Week That Was

Scorecard: The Week's Winners & Losers

4 Questions With...

Alan Bedenko a.k.a. Buffalo Pundit, Blogger

Attorney Alan Bedenko moved from Boston, Massachusetts to Clarence in the early aughts after discovering the cost of living and real estate here. He immediately began blogging about the pleasures and perils and especially the politics of his new home, and soon joined up with the guys at WNYMedia.net, who host his and a number of other local blogs. Bedenko displays a seemingly inexhaustible appetite for politics and debate, which is why BuffaloPundit is probably the most widely read blog of its kind in Western New York.

Theater Feature

So Long Elsie!

by Anthony Chase

When Elsie Robertson died last week, at the age of 94, Buffalo lost an important link to its theater history. Elsie was one of the last of a group of actors and lovers of theater who worked to transform Studio Theatre, a semi-professional community theater, into fully professional Studio Arena Theatre in the early 1960s.

Theater News

Stagefright

by Javier

It has been a good year for the beloved theater and screen star Theodore Bikel . He turned 85 this past May and marked the occasion with numerous tributes and celebrations.

Theaterweek

Previews & Reviews

by Anthony Chase

Italian playwright and clown Dario Fo and his partner Franca Rame have created some of the most interesting and engaging political theater of our time. We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay!, an early farce by Fo, opens this week at Subversive Theatre Collective under the direction of Donn Youngstrom.

Framed

Arthur Lindberg: An American Realist

by Dean Brownrout

Buffalo-based painter Arthur Lindberg (1895-1977) is an anomaly. Lindberg, who was born in Wooster, Massachusetts, and schooled in New York City, produced a body of workmanlike landscapes and portraits that are respectable in their execution.

B.O.O.M!

We Have Our Round 2 Finalists!

CONGRATULATIONS to our four finalists in our Battle of Original Music: Colors in the Air, the Frontline, Hunger Anthem and the Tins!

Classical Music

Remembering Leo Smit

by Jan Jezioro

When retired BPO concertmaster Charles Haupt started his chamber music ensemble a few years ago, it found a home in the Kavinoky Theater at D’Youville College. This season, the group has found a new home in the Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Auditorium at the new Burchfield-Penney Art Center, where “A Musical Feast” now serves as the resident music ensemble.

Classical Music

A Classical Christmas

by Jan Jezioro

One of the greatest pleasures of the holiday season is the opportunity to see and hear a wide variety of Christmas music performed by favorite artists. The following round up highlights some of the most popular events.

Arts Shopping

Loca-voyeur: Your Guide to Buying Art for the Holidays

by Katherine O'Day

The 1980s mantra “reduce, reuse, recycle” has its modern counterpart in the recent slew of admonishments to “buy local!” The national buy local movement, wherein independent businesses band together to encourage local shoppers to spend their consumer dollars supporting their own community, isn’t new, but it may be reaching its height of popularity in Buffalo this season.

Fashion

Clothes Call

by Morgan Schimminger

Buffalo is not known for fashion. Chicken wings, the Sabres, and heavy snowfall do not add up to a mecca for the likes of Versace, Michael Kors, and Balmain. Despite this ongoing reputation as the antithesis of a backdrop for the fashion faithful, there are several boutiques in our beloved Western New York offering truly bold choices in a variety of sizes and price points.

Food For Thought

Gravy Deconstructed

by Joe George

It’s as ubiquitous at a Thanksgiving feast as the turkey itself. Mashed potatoes would be nothing without it, ditto for the stuffing. Sometimes it’s thin and sometimes it’s thick, but it’s always there. I am, of course, speaking of gravy.

Vine byLine

Think Zinfandel for Your Holiday Table

The much-touted Thanksgiving feast is an ideal occasion to indulge in misty-eyed, heartfelt toasts to family and friends. To commemorate the festivities as well as accompany the cuisine, I inevitably serve one or two favorite wines.

Shop Local

Pick Your Bottles

by Jennifer Mogensen

An Amherst native, the middle child in a family of five and the son of a dentist, Eric Genau seems one of the least likely people to jump into the business of wine.

You Auto Know

Easy Chair Road Trips

by Jim Corbran

Sometimes a book’s title just grabs you and makes you pick it up; sometimes it’s the cover’s design. And then again, sometimes it’s both. That just happens to be the case with these books, which, although technically not about cars, are about driving.

Local Arts & Culture

Giving When It Hurts

by Buck Quigley

Every year at holiday season you get exposed to media stories kind of like this one. They’re all pretty much the same, and they go sort of like this: “Unemployment is high. Many of our neighbors are struggling to make ends meet. The [fill-in-the-blank organization] is partnering with the [fill-in-the-blank group] to reach out a helping hand to those among us who are most in need. Here’s how you can help.”

Film Reviews

An Education

by George Sax

Paris

by M. Faust

The Blind Side

by M. Faust

Planet 51

by M. Faust

Precious

by M. Faust

Listings

On The Boards Theater Listings

Movie Times (Fri. November 20 - Tues. November 24)

Film Now Playing

Events

See You There!

Artvoice's weekly round-up of events to watch out for the week, including our editor's pick: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, who will play the HSBC Arena on Sunday the 22nd.

Offbeat News

News of the Weird

by Chuck Shepherd

For some consumers, good environmental citizenship is important even when choosing among sex accessories. No longer will they tolerate plastic personal vibrators made with the softeners called phthalates; or body lubricants that contain toxic chemicals typically found in, say, antifreeze; or leather restraints from slaughtered cattle.

Letters to Artvoice

The Three Satanic Propositions of Extreme Home Makeover

McCarley Gardens

Literary Buffalo

Big Night! Poet Ca Conrad & More

Lit City: Literary Events

Listings & Resources

Buffalo has a large and diverse gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. For further information about its numerous organizations and activities, visit Gaywatch at Artvoice.com, call the Western New York Pride Center (852-7743), or email WinterDanny@AOL.com.

Horoscopes

Free Will Astrology

by Rob Brezsny

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “There’s nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly,” said philosopher Buckminster Fuller. I encourage you to make that your personal motto in the coming weeks, Scorpio.

Advice

Ask Anyone

Recently, I attended a party for a friend at work who was transferring to another department in another town. I always had a bit of a crush on her, but I didn’t pursue it, since both of us were married and I wasn’t sure that the feeling was mutual.