The flavor of the month is getting warm and flat

Took a trip to Buffalo over the weekend. Saw the super fine Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Had pictures taken with a number of bronze statues and one NHL mascot. Was introduced to the strangeness of Steel Panther and drank a fair amount of local beer.

Like many cities around the country, Columbus included, Buffalo is in the midst of the craft beer boom. This is not a bad thing at all. What does concern me is the overwhelming amount of average beer being made, and the number of poor experimentation being done.

One of the best places we visited was in a part of South Buffalo that has seen better times. Gene McCarthy's has been there for at least fifty years and it is at the end of railroad tracks, surrounded on three sides by abandoned factories. About a year ago they put a garage on the property and built a microbrewery.





There's a gravel plot with some tables, umbrellas and chairs installed and it's a wonderful place to have a drink. The beer is all sound, well made and contained your typical ales, stouts, wheat and a lovely Czech pilsner. This was the best beer I had over the weekend.

We went to other places, had some pleasant beer, but so many were loaded with excessive fruit and other gimmicks. I get that, you want some novelty and to stand out, but you want a centerpiece to build your brand on, not flavors of the month.

Again, this is not limited to Buffalo, it's definitely happening in Columbus. A lot of brewers are going to have to up their game very soon because few breweries are standing out in a good way. There is a sea of mediocre beer out there.



What it comes down to is that I'm tired of drinking adjectives. I demand consistent quality. I demand having beer on hand that is not so high in alcohol content I can't have more than one. There is going to be some attrition in the next year or three and a lot of brewers had better start looking at their recipes instead of the cool artwork on their blackboards.

Thank you, Van

One of the great broadcasters, Van Miller, died today aged 87. He was the longtime voice of The Buffalo Bills. His work was terrific. His enthusiasm for the game came across whether the team won or lost. Here are some of his calls for The Comeback Game.



He coined the term 'Fandemonium."

You can listen to more of his calls here.

He retired in 2003, his successor, John Murphy does a fine job as well.

Rest in Peace, Van.

The effect of lake effect

A driveway that I parked in a month ago is now under six feet of snow. Buffalo, New York gets picked on its weather but this week's storm has not given people around the country reason for mocking or ridicule, but respect.

The most snow I experienced was Super Bowl weekend of 1985 when three feet of snow fell in Fredonia, New York. It was impressive and more than a bit scary. College classes were delayed for several days as the semester was set to begin that week.

It is mind boggling for me to think about double that,

When roads were blocked and travel next to impossible I saw the people of Buffalo rally together and help people get to where they needed to go, or to a safe place.

Friends of mine still cannot get out of their homes, thankfully their power and heat remains on. They've shared stories and photographs. They've been trying to dig themselves out to get to work, to get to the store, to do something for a neighbor, to keep from going stir crazy and I have nothing but admiration for all of them. They have had a crazy few days and each one of them deserve all the rest and quality beverages they want when their driveways are cleared and the roads are passable.

Be safe, all of you.

News about the sport balls

The announcement that the Buffalo Bills were sold today for about a billion and a half dollars to Terry Pegula caused a massive sigh of relief and a release of hope for the people of Western New York and Bills fans all over. Since the death of Ralph Wilson earlier this year, and  for many years before, there was a lot of speculation that the team would move if the team was not sold to an owner who loved the city of Buffalo. So the drama that Bon Jovi and Donald Trump caused as potential buyers added to the stress levels of supporters. An opening day win and a home game against arch rival Miami this weekend only adds to the joy of a new season. I'm guessing Pegula is introduced to the crowd sometime during the game, which gives the crowd 80,000 plus another reason to go nuts. The move is not official until approval by NFL owners next month.

Pegula already owns the NHL Buffalo Sabres so there is hope that he can become a benevolent monopoly owner of Buffalo sports teams. Do not be surprised if Kim Pegula has a major role in the operations of the franchise.

The NFL itself is in deep shit over the whole Ray Rice domestic violence situation. When TMZ exposes a story that the league denies in the video of Rice striking his fiancee in the elevator you have a massive credibility issue.

Meanwhile the NFL continues to allow Greg Hardy to play after his arrest in May on domestic violence charges, he threw his girlfriend onto a couch covered in rifles and shotguns, but the league has threatened to fine him if he wears face paint under his helmet.

I'm not sure how much more of the time I have left on this planet will be spent watching this bloodsport.

Thank you Mr. Wilson

The death of Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson was hardly a surprise. He was 95 years old. He did a lot for the city of Buffalo, and the city did a lot for him during his sole ownership of the franchise. He made a lot of mistakes, and was responsible for many of the successes. He was highly respected though, always. My favorite memory of Mr. Wilson was before a playoff game against Miami twenty years ago. Wilson and running back Thurman Thomas exchanged high fives and shouted, "Are you ready?" to each other in the end zone before the game, which the Bills won.



Wilson's death was a blow on a massive bruise that the franchise is taking this week. Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly is fighting for his life in a New York City hospital and will undergo surgery for a recurrence of cancer. What Kelly did for the franchise, the city of Buffalo, is quite a profound story. What happened to Kelly after he left the game is important as well. His son was diagnosed and ultimately died of a fatal condition. He started doing massive charity work and fund raising for research about Krabbe's Disease. He was in a horrible plane accident in Alaska. He endured the pain and surgeries of injuries from his career after he retired. Then, last year, the cancer.

Kelly's in a tough fight. Cancer sucks, it effects everyone.

When the fill level reaches the monk's feet, it's time for a new bottle.

With a great meal at Meat and Potatoes in Pittsburgh in July, my wife had an incredible Sloe Gin Fizz. For the last couple of months I have been trying to recreate it but the quality of sloe gin available in my area is poor. Low end brands like McCormick's and Mohawk do not come close to the quality of the imported sloe gin used in that cocktail. Fee Brother Sloe Gin Syrup combined with gin made an interesting drink but it was not close to the high standards of the original beverage.



Plymouth Sloe Gin is not available in Ohio so we had to wait until a trip to Buffalo, where I finally tracked it down. It's about three times what you pay for the cheap stuff, but in this case the price is equal to the quality. It makes a great drink and I'm looking forward to trying it in other cocktails or with some inexpensive sparkling wine. Plymouth also makes an outstanding gin, it's a fine distillery that's been operating since 1793.



Now to find a decent cocktail shaker as I'm not keen on the one we currently have. I'll know it when I see it.

The true north strong and free

We got incredibly lucky with the weather over the past weekend and had an amazing road trip to Western New York with a trip to Toronto as part of the itinerary.

Everyone had their passports this time as we made the border crossing. Last time we went to Buffalo one of our party had to have his passport sent to the U.S. Embassy to get a visa for a trip to Africa. This time, there was a misplaced passport of another member of the party that was found with little stress and no tears.

My friend said that there would be a longish line at the border because of the holiday (Thanksgiving) weekend in Canada but when we crossed the Peace Bridge, there were no cars in the booth, just a border guard who examined our passports and let us in with no problems.

I keep forgetting that there are a few other large cities in Canada. I knew Hamilton was big with over half a million people, but Mississagua with over 700k, that shocked me. I was reminded that 40% of the country's population lives along the southern part of Ontario.

Our first destination was the Hockey Hall of Fame. Just outside the entrance is a display of goalie masks over the years. Here's Jacques Plante's. He was one of the first goaltenders to regularly wear a mask.



I believe that was a type of fiberglass. The HOF has a number of cool interactive exhibits as well, and some nice displays of the great players in the game.



There's a very cool exhibit where you can call a play and have it played back. I did it to one of Rick Nash's great goals when he was with the Blue Jackets. A lot of fun.

Hockey has the best hardware in any sport. All of the trophies (or their replicas, shh!) are kept in a hall that was once a bank.



It's an impressive display of the history of the game, and I'm glad we finally got to go there.

It had been well over twenty years since I've been to Toronto. There's a lot of construction going on, big buildings!



We took the subway, then a streetcar to the whiskey bar I found online. The Caledonian is a great place. It's run by a lovely Scottish woman who uses the words "Sweetie" or "My Love" in every sentence. She and my wife started talking, turns out she's from the same small town where my wife's Grandparents are from. Small world! The food was authentic Scottish.



Yes, they had haggis, and steak pie, a signed picture of Andy Murray on the wall and a very good whiskey selection. In selling the deep fried Mars Bar dessert, the owner said it's, "The best thing out of Scotland." Here, I had to correct her, because that would be my wife.



There's a billboard you can't see in America.

After a rare brief visit to IKEA we headed back to Buffalo.

We arrived the Canadian/U.S. border reentry point. There's not a long line. Guy in the car in front of us is getting questioned a very long time. After a couple of minutes I see the siren light over the booth go off, then the gate go down behind his car. My friend has been over the border hundreds of times and has never seen this happen. Border guy gets out of the booth, is on his radio, points to where he wants the driver to go. Driver goes to an unknown fate.

We pull up, tell him one place we went to was IKEA. Guard asks us if we spent $2,000 there. Four of us in a KIA Soul. These are strange times we live in.

We had a great time. Went to my alma mater for a too brief homecoming visit on Saturday night and headed home on Sunday morning in a bit of rain, but it was not snow or ice. The Subaru was magnificent, averaging about 30mpg the entire trip.

Just do not mention what happened to the Buffalo Bills.

One More Time

In nine days I'm off to Fayetteville, Arkansas to represent Writers' Block Poetry in the Individual World Poetry Slam. If I did not have a major car repair last month I would not be asking for donations.

If you can spare some cash, any amount will be greatly appreciated.

Those who donate $20 or more will receive a copy of my "I'm Not From Here." CD.

Here's the link, thank you all!

I swear this will be the last time I ask, it's not going to be like this.

What I'm Drinking - 14

Where Everybody Knows Your Game

Going in exact chronological order with this project is not going to happen. I may come close, but I'm going to jump around a little.

It was sometime in late August, early September of 1992 during a rain delay at a Columbus Clippers game when my wife approached a man wearing a Buffalo Bills hat. They got to talking about how it was hard to watch the games in town.

Back then, satellites were rare, Direct TV was not around. What we had to do to see regular season Bills games during the season was find a Buffalo friendly sports bar, not the easiest thing to do in Bengals/Browns country, and hope they'd put it on the screen for you.

We got lucky with a Damon's out in Pickerington, but that was a bit of a haul.

The guy she was talking to mentioned Michael Dominic's, a restaurant in Worthington that was owned by a guy from Buffalo and they showed the games on Sunday. She called and confirmed that while the place was closed on Sundays, it was open for Bills fans to watch the games on his satellite.

Our first Sunday there, we found home.

This was right in the middle of the four season Super Bowl loss streak. The team was great during the regular season. Crowds began forming as word of mouth grew. Eventually it seemed the place was busier on Sundays than it was during the week. Michael would serve chicken wings, Sahlen's hot dogs, beef on weck and other Buffalo food that was not on his steakhouse menu.

The Central Ohio Bills Backers were formed and organized bus trips to Indianapolis and to the Thanksgiving game in Detroit. Great times, despite the loss in Detroit.

The greatest day there remains January 3rd, 1993. A playoff game against the Houston Oilers. The Bills were down 28-3 at the half and 35-3 early in the third quarter. By this time I wanted out, but for some reason my wife wanted to stay.

We all cheered mockingly when the Bills made it 35-10, and said it was not going to be a rout when it became 35-17.

But when Frank Reich threw a touchdown pass to Andre Reed, it became 35-24, and it was game on.

The bar was chanting "D-D-D" People were screaming in all the rooms, running back and forth giving out high fives to everyone. When it became 35-31 people were getting body slammed. Bear hugs. Chest bumps and room spins. The craziest and most intense viewing of a sport on television I have ever been a part of.

The Bills went ahead, briefly and chaos ensued. Houston got a late field goal to sent the game into overtime, but we knew. We knew the Bills were going to win.

On the first drive of overtime Warren Moon threw a pass that Nate Odomes intercepted and a couple of plays later Steve Christie kicked an easy field goal.

I was bruised the next morning. I still find the highlights of the game on Youtube and watch them.

We still had two, sad, Super Bowl losses to sit through. There were still crowds. One of the local stations did a live broadcast of its pre-game show from the bar. The Dispatch came and took pictures. I was on the cover of the metro section, probably a bit drunk with a few other fans. The second Super Bowl loss to Dallas took a lot out of people and their commitment to the team, and going out on Sunday afternoons. After that, the team's run of success came to an end. Attendance diminished. Michael closed the restaurant to move someplace else, and that did not work out.



That's the location of the restaurant today. A strip center 90 degrees off kilter from the entrance. It was a bit unsettling to see the building gone. I spent a good 4-5 years of Sunday's there. The Bills Backers meet at a bar in Dublin now, it's fun, some of the same people still go to the games, even though they have dish network. Others have kids, like me, or have retired or moved on and do not have the investment in the team they way they used to. Maybe this year, with the new signings, and hope of an 0-0 record, I'll go back more.

Glazed with Hot Sauce, Beside the White Refigerator

I'm a rather plain eater. There are foods I like and foods that I do not. I'm far from a foodie, and am puzzled by free range molecular gastronomy. I like a certain taco truck's chicken and have not stepped foot in McDonald's since reading Fast Food Nation.

Moving from the east coast to Western New York then to the midwest, I've come to tolerate and even appreciate pizza that is different and that mustard comes standard on the burgers at Wendy's.

What I will not deal with is an inferior chicken wing.

Thirty years ago, when I went to college in Fredonia, New York, I had never heard of the chicken wing as being a major food group. Soon, though, I learned about ten cent wing night at B.J.'s, where a cook named Gary Kowalski manned the fryer that made the best chicken wings in existence. In later years I had the wings at Ground Zero, The Anchor Bar, and they were pretty darn good, but over priced. I was also turned on to the wings at Duff's, people think they're the best and I'm not going to argue with them.

Moving to Columbus twenty one years ago, it was hard to find a decent wing. Places that were hyped as being the best in Central Ohio were tried, and frankly they sucked. Greasy, soaking wet in slime - all loud hot sauce with little meat and less balance. Idiots did not realize they had to fry and bake!

Eventually I stopped trying. Why spend my money on food that will make my brain sad and my colon spastic?

A couple of weeks ago my nemesis, Scott Woods, started a blog about food that white and black folk can agree on, and the chicken wing was common ground, as Jesse Jackson used to say. Naturally, I have failed to bookmark that site so I cannot link it to you. Hopefully that will be corrected.

So between the coy racism and outright hatred when he and I converse, Scott recommended I try Wings Over Columbus, a wing joint just west of the Ohio State Campus. I looked over the menu, saw the potential and made a note of it to head over when the opportunity knocked.

My vegetarian Scottish Wife is out of town this week.



LOOK AT THESE MOTHERFUCKING WINGS!

I was stunned when I got home and opened the box. They're beautiful. They were also starting to smell really good just before I got home.

Ok, sure they look good, but how do they taste?

I'm going to start with their one flaw, they ain't crispy enough. Call me a wing snob, but there it is. However, they are the best damn wings I've had in Columbus in twenty one years. The meat is plentiful, the sauce (I got the cruisin' altitude) is not over whelming on the meat and just spicy enough to get that burn on your lips. These wings have balance that no other wing I've had in this city possesses. I have found, after years of searching, then giving up, a go-to chicken wing place.

Wings Over Columbus is located at 1315 W. Lane Avenue, in a strip center next to Buckeye Corner. It's mostly take out, there are only three seats in the place, so keep that in mind. Service was lightning fast.

And hardcore wing snobs. I know. I am not in Western New York. I know the wings will always be better there. But I'm not there anymore. I can't drive up to Duff's.

So Thank you Scott, for proving the chicken wing transcends racial divide, now when's that Little Palace review up?

Transition

We're due for about three days straight of rain to start the week. Dreary, dark, depressing and other D words come to mind. None of the words are snow, which is odd for this time of year. Friends in Buffalo are worried. There has been little, if any, measurable snow. A very rare happening.

It's going to get cold though.



On Wednesday night Writers' Block will be holding a Grand Slam for the Woman of the World Poetry Slam. Eight poets will be competing for the opportunity to go to Denver in March. Going to be some hot action on the Kafe Kerouac stage. Starts at eight.

Tumbling Further into the Abyss

My son has got his energy back. He's worn me out to the point of illness. I think the recent temperature changes have done that to me as well. It was thirty degrees warmer than today on Sunday. Which was when I got some yard work done, and went on the roof to make sure the gutters were secure.

Who knows when I got sick? Was coughing all day yesterday, dealing with insurance bureaucracy, a school meeting and a busy day at work.

Day 12 - A Song from a Band You Hate.

Hate is such a powerful word. Keeping with the no repeat rule, since the band I hate has plenty of songs I hate let me present you with some more musical filth.

I was part of a crowd that booed these wanker poseurs off the stage at Rich Stadium back in 1981. These sing songy twerps somehow got their way into one of the opening slots on the Rolling Stones "Tattoo You" tour. After George Thorogood donned a raincoat and blew the clouds away, these middle of the road hacks came on with their smiley waving feel good tunes that no one gave a crap about.

They left, still thinking they were loved, but did not finish their set.

Once again, because I like my readers (and there are more of you now, even if you do not comment) I will not embed the song. But if you click HERE you will see a foul site. Just looking at the lead singer's outfit is cause for a terms of service violation. You've been warned.

A great song with a surreal video that works on so many levels.

This is why the eighties were awesome.



Let no one convince you otherwise.

I saw her live at Shea's in Buffalo sometime during that decade. Knew little about her but she put on a heck of a show.

A Year of Discoveries

One of my favorite apps on the iPod Touch is Tunein Radio. It's a very impressive app that I'm having a lot of fun with and have not even scratched the surface of the stations available.

My stereo system has a dock and charger for an iPod and I tried plugging it in after I bought the iPod, with no success. Finally realized that the back cover had to be removed for the unit to function properly, and it's plugged into the stereo right now, BBC Radio 6 is on. Beautiful.

I've found a couple of stations from the New York City area, one of them being WINS. It's an all news station that is lacking in the Columbus market. For decades they have been delivering the news 24/7. Their slogan remains, "Give us 22 minutes, and we'll give you the world."

When I was growing up on Long Island WLNG could only be tuned in if the wind was right. They're located on the east end and from where I lived, the signal was rarely strong enough for good reception. I love this station's approach. They keep the ads local, there is a sincere personality to the on air talent, and the music is oldies. Their oldies format runs deep to, not just the top five singles, but they go a bit more obscure - and I like that. Plus, the DJ's voices are processed with a bit of reverb. It's a fun station.

Yesterday I somehow lucked into listening to a soccer match live on Radio Merseyside. Most of the BBC stations live soccer matches are blocked over here for copyright reasons, but Everton/Stoke I was able to experience live, and despite the Everton loss it was a thrill to hear as it happened.

This morning I tried to find a link to the Old Firm match, but was unsuccessful. Managed to find a decent video link on the laptop. I cannot be stopped when the urge to see a match exists. Celtic won 2-0 and all was right in the world.

Goofing around a bit later I managed to track down the audio from the second half of the Chelsea/Aston Villa match. Very exciting as the lead went back and forth and Villa tied it, seconds after Chelsea thought they earned the victory.

This season I've been listening to a lot of the Bills losses on the laptop but I listened to 97 Rock's feed as the Jets kicked their asses in today. Looks like the Bills will have a top five draft pick.

This iPod touch is a fancy piece of technology. Bought a cassette adapter so it can be used in the car and a cigarette lighter adapter so we can charge the battery in the car. A lot of wires but to put a new stereo in the Subaru would involve demolition, filing of edges and would lost much more than the twenty five bucks just spent.

Trying to get my writing discipline back. Too many distractions that are my fault are keeping me away from how I want to get it done. Plus, my son has been bouncing off the walls all year. Thank God school starts back tomorrow. Little sleep has made me a grumpy dragon.

I've only been following stats for this blog since April, but thanks for the 2,863 visits. I know I'm not The Dooce, but I do what I can.

Super Bowl Sunday

Yesterday the pro football hall of fame elected seven new members. Two of them were Buffalo Bills, owner Ralph Wilson and defensive end Bruce Smith.

My fandom of the Bills was solidified in the late eighties in Fredonia. I'd go over to Dave's or Jeff's to watch the game. You could see the team was improving from their malaise with Marv Levy as coach. Levy and GM Bill Polian assembled and molded a heck of a football team.

While not Levy's draft pick, he came along in mid 1987, Smith was the number one pick in 1985, a massive kid out of Virginia Tech. It took a few years and a couple of coaches for Smith to settle in Buffalo. He had some weight, drug and attitude issues.

My favorite Smith memory happened in 1988. At the first NFL game I attended. The 'When Harry Met Sally Game' in fact. They were playing New England. It was a very tough game that neither team wanted to win. There were fumbles, penalties, missed field goals and extra points. Somehow the Bills had managed to pull ahead but New England was setting up for one final drive and a hail mary. Before the last play of the game Smith was lined up wide on the right side of the line and he was pumped - winding up his arm like Pete Townshend before a tremendous power chord. The New England quarterback ran to his right as the play started and Smith ended up running more or less halfway across the field and crushed him with a sack, ending the game.

That quarterback's name was Doug Flutie.



I stood next to him while waiting for chicken wings at BJ's. He was a big man, in amazing shape. His biceps were tremendous. One time he tried to help out a waitress there by clearing a tray of glasses. He dropped them. The bar immediately hushed. Everyone stared. Who was going to laugh at Bruce Smith? You?

Sure, you can mention the four straight Super Bowl losses, everyone does. You have to remember though, in the city of Buffalo, these guys are loved, including Scott Norwood. Especially Scott Norwood. I learned a lot about obsession, loss and resilience from watching these teams come back.

My second favorite Smith memory came as his Buffalo career was winding down (it ended in Washington) in a meaningless Monday night game against Miami. Frank and I just stared at each other watching at Michael Dominic's as Smith was covering a wide receiver on a pass play - and he did a damn good job at it.

I'm happy to see that ninety year old Ralph Wilson was finally elected to the Hall also. He was instrumental in getting the AFL started in the early sixties and while he and Buffalo had a love/hate relationship at times, he's always come through for the city.

Now that he's nearing the end of his life though, it gets a bit complicated. None of his heirs want to run the team. It's going to be sold, but to whom? Keeping the team in Buffalo does not seem to be a part of his will and if it leaves, well, an NFL without the Bills in Buffalo is not a league I will support. I want the team to stay, and hope it does, but that's a big unknown.