Who Do I Think I Am??

This one's about the festivals.

THE PROMPT: "Every country has its prestigious traditions. Some of those are our favorites. In the community you live now enumerate the good traditions you and your family are anxious to celebrate."

Good evening folks! It's about 15 degrees outside, which makes me even more excited for today's prompt. When you live on the East Coast near a giant lake, and you can't stand the cold and snow much, there really aren't a ton of reasons to brave the elements, which is why I look forward to summer even more.

Buffalo's a great city for festivals in the summer. Between our different creative communities and our diverse population, there's something for everyone to do nearly every weekend, and most carry very little out-of-pocket expenses. You'll forgive me if you're a local who reads this and I left out one of your favorites. Consider this as part of your "Summer In Buffalo" to-do list!

The Allentown Art Festival This is probably our biggest and most popular festival of the summer. Local artists of all kinds line the streets of the Allentown district offering art, handmade jewelery, and all sorts of interesting items. It's worth it just to go and see all types of people getting along in such a spirit of creative community. In other words, it's a blast just to go and do some serious people-watching. But really, it's a great experience. http://www.allentownartfestival.com/

The Taste Of Buffalo Maybe the second-most popular gathering in Buffalo, The Taste Of Buffalo amasses a bunch of local restaurants that serve up bite-size portions of their specialty dishes. It celebrates something Buffalonians love to do...eat! http://www.tasteofbuffalo.com/

Music Is Art This two-day music exhibition was originally meant to showcase local music running concurrently with The Allentown Art Festival, but too many people running AAF were concerned that it didn't fit in and would be bothersome, so they branched out on their own and it's been a wild success. It's run by Goo Goo Dolls bassist Robby Takac (the most successful band to come out of Western New York) and has a few stages running all types of music from our thriving musical community. http://musicisart.org/

Ethnic Festivals Just heading downtown to grab a bite to eat at these festivals is totally worth the trip, but why stop there when you can get a peek at different art, dancing, and other tidbits of certain cultures? The Italian Festival, Hellenic Festival, and Juneteenth Festival are some of the more popular ones.

http://www.buffaloitalianfestival.com/
http://www.buffalogreekfest.org/
http://www.juneteenthofbuffalo.com/

National Buffalo Wing Festival And last but not least, a festival that celebrates what Buffalo is known best for (and no, it's not snow or losing four straight Super Bowls): Chicken Wings! And no, we don't call them "buffalo wings" like the rest of country does...do you think Chinese people order "Chinese Food"? No! They are what they are...chicken wings. Local restaurants and national chains compete to see who makes a better chicken wing...and take my word for it, almost every pizza place and dive bar on every streetcorner in WNY makes a better chicken wing than any national chain out there. Nobody does it better than the originators! http://www.buffalowing.com/

This is just a small sample of what happens here in the summer. This local publication will keep you up-to-date on all the events happening year-'round in The 'Lo... http://artvoice.com/

MUSICAL BREAK!!

Here's just a sample of some local musicians you might be familiar with:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ice7NydF7RM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QD5n98R_nk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYHxGBH6o4M&ob=av2e

VITAL STATS:

After a day off spent getting an oil change and making numerous trips to various places where you can buy things, and then coming home and cleaning out the fridge and the snack cabinet, I'm treating myself to a little reward...a nice, large bottle of Pearl Jam Twenty Faithfull Ale. And I must admit I've never had something so smooth and satisfying in all my years. A little pricey, but I broke down and cracked it when I was able to still find it today at a local shop. One to enjoy, one to save!

And what does justjessica1 make out with today? A lazy susan 3 pot rotating crock pot thing. I'll admit that it's pretty sweet...three 1-qt. pots with separate temperature controls designed to spin around. She's gonna have to start throwing more of her home girly parties just to see that this thing pays for itself .

Finally! An 8pm puckdrop for the Sabres tonight! Quick update on the standings...Buffalo currently sits in 11th place in the Eastern Conference with 68 points, but trail 8th place Winnipeg by two points, which makes tonight's game against Winnipeg all the more important. A win tonight would tie us with Winnipeg for the final playoff spot (which I believe would go to the Jets via the head-to-head matchup tiebreaker) with 16 games to go. Hey Brother Nature , are you watchin'? Good luck Joel!

That's all I've got for tonight, good people who read this. Thanks for your time. And hit me up if you're ever in the area...I'll be more than happy to show ya around. Peace, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQZacxvuLJM

(The scene at the 2:00 mark of this clip always makes me a little misty...I was at that game, watching with a few thousand other fans. Chris Drury scored with a 1.7 seconds left in regulation to tie up a playoff game against the Rangers, and Maxim Afinogenov scored the winner in overtime. His celebratory slide along the ice remains one of the greatest moments of my life.)