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Cover Story

Tom Golisano vs. The Casino

by Bruce Jackson

Byron Brown Discovers the Senecas' 10-K

by Bruce Jackson

Joel Giambra: "We're Going to Court"

by Geoff Kelly

Free Will Astrology

by Rob Brezsny

ARIES (March 21-April 19): When I was a kid, I read Highlights magazine. My favorite feature was the section that asked Zen-like questions like “Can you laugh and cry at the same time?” or “If you were a talking parrot, what words would you want to learn?” For this week’s horoscope, I’ve borrowed the spirit of that old source of inspiration. May the following passage incite your raw wonder and feral innocence. What’s more beautiful, the smell of an orange or the sight of a green hill in spring? Under what circumstances might you eat dessert before the main course? Have you ever seen a statue wink? Is it possible to fall up instead of down? Describe how you’d catch a dragonfly without hurting it. Tell a story that’s half true and half lies. Can you grow brain cells just by thinking you want to?

Letters to Artvoice

To this day, Toronto Island Airport is an underutilized opportunity that is fraught with political infighting battles between Government of Canada’s Toronto Port Authority and City of Toronto. A new carrier is about to launch there using Bombardier Q400 turbo prop aircraft that approach speeds close to jet aircraft. This will allow service to Ottawa, Montreal and northeastern USA cities. My personal hope is that this underutilized asset does provide some competition to the most expensive place to land an aircraft in the world—Pearson International Airport. Air Canada’s CEO and president has often been quoted in the press about the expense of landing into Toronto.

Streetvoice

Mayor Byron Brown: His First 100 Days

by Caroline Phelan

Byron Brown marked his first 100 days in office with an in-studio speech delivered on WNED’s FORUM radio show. It was a curiously closed environment, open to the public but not well advertised—an Allentown businessman who telephoned WNED to inquire about tickets was told he was one of only a handful of people who had called. In any case, Artvoice saw fit to ask a handful of Buffalonians of our own selection what they thought of the mayor’s first 100 days. Is Byron Brown the breath of fresh air this city hopes he will be or is he business as usual? Is it possible to tell just yet?

News of the Weird

by Chuck Shepherd

■ Are We Safe? In a two-day period in March, alarming reports revealed that “dirty (radiation) bombs” easily entered the country in car trunks in tests, that one-third of U.S. civilian nuclear research reactors were insufficiently secure and that concerns were heightened about the 2,000 shoulder-fired missiles said to be unaccounted for in the world’s arsenals. On the other hand, the Los Angeles Times reported that the fishing village of Dillingham, Alaska, at least, is secure, now that a $200,000 Homeland Security anti-terrorism grant has paid for 60 “downtown” surveillance cameras, with 20 more to come. Dillingham (pop. 2,400) is about 300 miles from Anchorage, with no roads linking it to anywhere.

The News, Briefly

Tom Golisano and the Balance of Power

by Andrew Kulyk

Last week at HSBC Arena, Sabres owner B. Thomas Golisano held a news conference to announce his endorsements for New York State Senate and to speak on the importance of the balance of two-party power in Albany. Joining Golisano on the podium were local State Senators Mary Lou Rath (R-Amherst) and Dale Volker (R-Depew), as well as Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Saratoga Springs).

Getting a Grip

Casinos, Canadians, and Indians

by Michael I. Niman

As the casino argument heats up in Buffalo this spring, it’s important for us to look at the big picture when organizing our opposition to gaming establishments that prey on poor and addicted gamblers. The casino story is being played out in three sovereign nations—the United States, Canada and the Seneca Nation. Two of those nations have casinos. We live in the third.

Artshorts

Playing to the Room

by Cynnie Gaasch

Three installation pieces on view in Buffalo this spring—two at the University at Buffalo and one at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center—invite an investigation of the art form. Installation art transforms the tools of painting, sculpture and sometimes photography and video into an all-encompassing manipulation of exhibition space. Adam Cvijanovic’s installation in UB’s Lightwell Gallery in the Art Gallery at the Center for the Arts consumes the viewer with the aqua-tinted wonder of Niagara Falls. Similarly, Adam Weekley’s “Hibernation Chamber” at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center allows you to imagine yourself completely surrounded in an idyllic cell for slumber. Kelly Kaczynski’s “Scene from ‘Olympus Manger,’” also at the UB Gallery, affects the viewer physically by its sheer size and occupation of the space.

Fine Dining

Raised on Italian: Mangia Ristorante

by Arthur Page

Although I’m not aware of any Mediterranean genes in my body, given the option I will always choose a meal featuring Italian dishes.

Theaterweek

'Night, Mother

by Anthony Chase

Torn Space Theater, which performs at the Adam Mickiewicz Dramatic Circle on Fillmore Avenue, has made its reputation with avant-garde theater. With Marsha Norman’s 1983 play, ’night, Mother, however, they strike square at the center of the mainstream with a Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway drama.

Book Reviews

The Book of Jon, by Eleni Sikelianos

by Peter Conners

Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis, by Jimmy Carter

by Gerry Rising

Enchantments, by Linda Ferri

by Jill Froebel

Artist of the Week

Ken Feltges

by Peter Koch

Why you should know who he is: Ken Feltges has been working in and around the Buffalo poetry scene for more than 20 years. His poems, each of which draws a vivid character sketch to capture a revealing moment, have been published in several small literary magazines and in local newspapers. Though he’s also a photographer on the side, Feltges considers his true artistic legacy to be his 35-year teaching career at Kenmore West and his current stint at Mt. St. Mary’s. In those institutions, he’s made it his duty to turn young people on to poetry, to show them that poetry shouldn’t be intimidating.

You Auto Know

The Drop-Top Lives

by Jim Corbran

If you were around in 1976, you may recall the big deal made by Cadillac when they produced the “final” Eldorado convertible. It was a big deal at the time because it was the last regular production convertible being made in the US. For a time, anyway.

Play Ball!

Bisons Baseball to Raise Curtain on its 121st Season

by Andrew Kulyk & Peter Farrell

It’s here! A sign of spring…the fresh green grass, the smell of hot dogs, that sweet sound of the crack of the bat, the echo of the PA announcer and the music through the streets of downtown Buffalo, the happy kids and families streaming into the ballpark. It can only mean one thing—Bisons baseball is back.

Film Reviews

Matters of Conscience: Sophie Scholl: The Final Days

by M. Faust

One Thug and a Baby: Tsotsi

by M. Faust

PP&P: Land of Plenty

by M. Faust

Birds of a Feather, Briefly: Duck Season

by George Sax

Music

Room for War: The Flaming Lips

by Donny Kutzbach

Putting "The Rock" in Folk Music: Great Big Sea

by Peter Koch

See You There

Dyngus Day

by Eddy Dobosiewicz

Greg Klyma CD Release Show

by Peter Koch

Langhorne Slim

by Joe Sweeney

In Circulation: Site-Specific Art at Mead

by Geoff Kelly

Alkaline Trio/Against Me!

by K. O'Day

Left of the Dial

Bedouin Soundclash: Sounding a Mosaic

by Donny Kutzbach

Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Show Your Bones

by Jennifer Behrens

Richard Ashcroft: Keys to the World

by Anthony Chabala

Bandwidth

Babik

Anything else you would like our readers to know about the band? When Babik plays a show we are not only improvising during our solos, but the entire show is an improvisation. We create intros and endings and segues depending on what the band and the audience is experiencing or joking about at the moment. We believe this is the spirit of gypsy swing…to follow your instincts and bring much joy to everyone.