A rewarding J-O-B

I interviewed for a grant-writing position with the Buffalo Alliance for Education today – it’s an Americorps job where I would be a coordinator for their Field Trip Fund come September.

While I normally don’t like to talk too terribly much about personal stuff, I really hope I get this job – it’ seems like it would be too much fun and way to rewarding to pass up.

 Here’s the deal: nearly all the Buffalo public schools have lost their funding for field trips, so the Alliance, along with some timely donations and volunteers, fill in the educational gap by offering field trips with transportation to city teachers. There are local places like the Buffalo Zoo and the BPO, but there are some more unique places like the Power Authority and Old Fort Niagara, and even some things near Rochester.

I’m already thinking I want to ask some area businesses if they’d be willing to host some field trips – places like the Roycroft Center and maybe Zoar Valley (if we can get some regular, trained guides).

Anyway, if anyone reading this is looking for a job, the Alliance is looking for someone for their Materials Reuse Project - the title sounds a little dry, but it’s another rewarding gig. You hit up area companies for their excess office supplies and collect them all at a warehouse where Buffalo teachers can shop for supplies for, of course, next-to-nothing. 

People forget that city schools – and their students – are desperate for supplies that suburbanites take for granted. If you’re interested in donating or helping out, check out the website or give a call. www.buffaloalliance.org

Sunshine underground

Nothing against Miami, Phoenix or LA, but they got nothing on Buffalo summer so far:

July 10: h: 79 l:64

July 9: h: 81 l:61

July 8: h: 80 l: 57

And so on – since July 1, Buffalo’s average high has been about 80, overnight lows have been about 61. You can’t ask for more comfortable weather.

By comparison, Miami has been sweltering in humidity (average highs of 90 with Florida humidity), Phoenix is an oven, and LA is just gross.

At least the weather has been nice and catastrophe-free – hopefully a nice summer will get people excited about fixing Buffalo.

When I come back, wearing the 4-5…

It ain’t to play games witchu
It’s to aim at you..

 The Hove might be back, and I can’t wait.

I’m back too, so look for more. Soon.

Getting Buffaloed

ESPN's John Clayton wrote an interesting piece chastising Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson for his recent saber-rattling regarding the new NFL collective bargaining agreement.

What was interesting about it was that Clayton both understands why Wilson voted against the deal, but at the same time couldn't understand some of Wilson's comments regarding the deal.

Things like:

Toward the end of Friday's talk with the Buffalo media, Wilson suggested it might have been better to have no new deal and prepare for an uncapped 2007. That, in my opinion and that of the 30 owners who voted for the deal, is ridiculous.

In a way, Wilson is right – the Bills, as a business, would see an increased profit if the league went to an uncapped year of football. How? They would slash and burn the roster – good bye Willis McGahee, franchise back, hello Joe Burns..?!

Salaries would drop, but profit margins would rise. But that would only help in the short term – competitively, the Bills would be thrown back into the stone ages, resulting in a crappy(er) team with no hope to return to glory. And probably no hope to remain in Buffalo.

 Wilson also complained about not being comfortable with what he called the "new guard" of owners. It's understandable – the founders of the NFL as we know it are dying off, being replaced by new guys – a new breed of businessman – that isn't part of the old boys' club of Wilson's era. 

I have always liked Wilson as an owner, and I don't think his comments should be held against him, but I agree with Clayton – the Bills need to learn how to work the system. We are not the smallest revenue team in the league by a long shot, and with Toronto, Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo and pretty much all of Southern Ontario on board, we have a pretty big metro area to draw fans from.

What the Bills need to do is turn to some different revenue streams. Don't rename The Ralph – I love that it's named for the owner. The bills should look to their past to create their future – they've already brought back Marv Levy, so why not bring back the royal blue uniforms? When the Bills unveiled the throwbacks, everyone from the fans, the players and ESPN's Uni-watch loved them, and I'd bet the switch to those beautiful uniforms with that cool standing buffalo logo would sell all over the country – no other team has anything that approaches the look. They would be *GASP* unique.  

NYTimes redesign

The New York Times unveiled a Web site redesign this morning, and it's actually pretty sharp.

It's wider (for all you folk with crazy widescreen technology) and is a bit more photo-friendly.

I did like the old design – very grey ladyish – but I think the new layout will be alright. I guess there will be new features to the site, like personalization, but if they make you pay for it in TimesSelect, I'm boycotting.

Olcott Beach Polar Bear Swim 06

Olcott Beach Polar Bear Swim 06

Originally uploaded by eppic.

My sister Ashley, my buddy Ken and I all did the Olcott Beach Polar Bear Swim for Sight on Sunday. It was our first polar bear swim ever, and I can tell you that even though it was the coldest I’ve ever been, it won’t be my last.

Have a look at the pictures – there were tons of people, some babes, and we drank and ate ourselves numb.

I think Olcott Beach is one of the most underrated spots in Western New York – I’d been there before, over the summer on my way back from the LEVELS Regatta in Youngstown. It’s a quaint little resorty area that’s seen better days, but when i took a pitstop there this summer, I fell in love with the place.

This time it was like a redneck mardi gras – the characters and costumes were all way out there – there was live music, and people filling the streets, both swimmers and spectators alike. The best part is that it was all for a good cause.

Photek @ The OPM Lounge, Fri, March 3

Photek @ The OPM Lounge, Fri, March 3Originally uploaded by eppic.

I went to the Photek show at OPM Lounge on Friday. It was an awesome show.

The club is small, slightly dingy/unfinished feeling, but the people are awesome and the crowd was good. I actually got to talk to Photek after the show, and he said he liked his first time in Buffalo, even if it is, “Fucking cold.” What else is new.

Anyway, if you have a chance, check out OPM’s regular Friday drum and bass series – they get really big name dj’s for a small club. Pendulum, one of the biggest names in the U.K., is coming on St. Patrick’s Day and DJ Die is the next week. I highly recommend it.

For more photos of the show, check out my flickr show by clicking the pic up top.

PS- Photek has a new compilation coming out this summer, called Form and Function, Vol. 2. It’s all his hard d’n'b stuff he’s been making since he left Virgin records – if you’re a fan of straight d’n'b, check it out.

School pride

When I graduated from high school, I didn’t look back. It’s not that I didn’t like high school, it’s that I was damn ready to get away from the competitive, political culture that my high school was devolving into. Simply put, I was not proud of the school I came from.
That’s why I was so excited about the J-Mac story. Jason McElwain is a senior at Greece Athena High School, my old high school. It is the first time since I graduated that I have been proud of my school and the fact I was a Greece Athena product.

It’s not that I didn’t enjoy high school – I had some great teachers and made my best friends there – the problem is the politics of school administration, teachers, programs and the students that began to permeate the school’s culture turned it into a wasteland.

Greece Athena is a school in an slightly upper-middle class suburb of Rochester, NY. It has one of the largest concentrations of Republicans in Western New York. It also has an overinflated ego. The football team is a perenniel contender, just like the soccer teams, baseball teams and every other sport. The music department, particularly the Show Choirs, are ultra-competitive. And with that success comes politics – overzealous parents care only to see their kids win, and that attitude translates to the teachers and coaches too. In a nutshell it’s Desperate Housewives + Fame + The Program, except suburban, less important and more desperate.

It’s a typical story, but Athena was at the mercy of cliques, and there was an inescapable selfish mentality throughout the school – in the kids, the teachers and everywhere else.
Then J-Mac came along.Watching the video of the game where Jim Johnson (my old gym teacher!) put J-Mac in the game, it’s obvious the students, the families and everyone there had something to unify them, and it was pure mania when J-Mac hit his six three-pointers. The gym exploded with joy, and when students rushed the court and hoisted him on their shoulders to end the game, you couldn’t help but get goosebumps.

I don’t doubt for one second that the energy in that gym is what gave J-Mac the ability to score 20 points in four minutes. It was that energy, that excitement to see someone who needed the support of a community, that makes me proud. It was the first time I’d ever seen my community excited for something other than a meaningless competition.

There are reports that the J-Mac story is going to go to the movies, but in reality the story is way better in real life – commiting it to the extravagances of Hollywood will only cheapen it.

The story is still staying in the news cycle, so check it out while it’s still around:

Normally cynical Crooks & Liars love it

and you can check out more story here and here.

Keep rooting for the Greece Athena Trojans in sectionals and follow up on them here. They’re a team of destiny now!

PSA #1

Just a note inspired by the weekend:

Don’t be a corporate whore: Don’t do coke.

And the cock crowed, “Good Morning!”

I’m sure I’m way behind the times on this but:

There are better ways to fix an aging city than giving it some Viagra.
Throw some water on that thing, WNYCP, or think of your grandmother in the shower or something. Anything to get your mind, body and logo under control.