Al Gritzmacher's Blogosphere

Once again, NY State and the Seneca Nation seem to be headed towards a conflict over collecting taxes on sales made on the reservation. I don’t know who’s right here, I can see both sides and don’t see a mutually agreeable way out.

I have the utmost respect for the Native American culture and beliefs. Unfortunately, I don’t see where exploiting a situation where certain commodities prices have become high, in part due to taxes, should be exploited for the profit of a few Native Americans. That’s not what we should learn from their culture. Maybe it’s what they’ve learned from ours…

And just what is a “Native American” anymore, anyway? I was born here. My parents were too. So were my Grandparents. I don’t know how many generations I would have to go back to actually find an ancestor from Europe. Am I as much a “Native American” as some blonde-haired, blue-eyed person who has a Great-great-grandmother that was born on a reservation? Continue Reading…

You’ve probably seen the bumper stickers that say Mean People Suck. Well, I’m sure they do, but I think we should focus on civility and say Rude People Suck.

I’d be willing to bet a lot of people’s meanness comes from being treated rudely anyway, so it’s a way of getting to the root cause.

There is no one incident that spurs this posting. No one ticked me off and caused me to rant. It’s just a long-term observation that a lot of what ails our society comes from a lack of manners. From talking on cell phones while driving, talking loudly on cell phones while in public, just talking in public, to lack of respect, and violence towards one another, it all stems from a lack of basic manners. Continue Reading…

Here’s a safety question for you:

Q.: When a pickup truck cuts in front of you and stops dead in the road to make a right turn into a driveway, and you are traveling downhill at about 30mph on a bike, what is your proper response?

A.: Pass the pickup truck on the right and hope he sees you and doesn’t drive over you as he turns.
B.: Pass him on the left, and hope there isn’t any traffic in that lane that will make you a meat pancake.
C.: Crash into the rear end of the truck to let him know you don’t appreciate his cutting you off.
D.: Squeeze your brakes for all you’re worth, while yelling at the top of you lungs: “NO! You @$$#Ø13 Don’t stop here!”

Continue Reading…

Call the boss, take some time off work, you won’t want to limit yourself to one or two shows this week. Let’s see what’s coming:

Tuesday: Artpark - Derek Trucks/Susan Tedeschi, Matt Schofield
Wednesday: Gateway Harbor - The Soul Barons, The Diva Show
Wednesday: Artpark - Matthew Good, Rob Falgiano Band
Thursday: Lafayette Square - Umphree's McGee, Tea Leaf Green
Friday: Buffalo Harbor - Crowded House, Lawerence Arabia
Friday: Lockport Canal Concert - Three Dog Night,  Leroy Townes,
            Rob Falgiano
Saturday: Buffalo Harbor - Eileen Ivers, Cherish The Ladies
Saturday: Hard Rock NF - BPO Plays Pink Floyd, Scott Celani
Saturday: Artpark - Great Big Sea (mainstage)

Several of these events have changed since first announced,
possibly due to touring schedule conflicts. This is as up-to-date as
I can find out.

Let’s look at this weeks shows… Continue Reading…

Okay, if you were in any doubt about it being summer concert season, it’s now in full swing with the Independance Day holiday behind us and the rest of the season ahead. What’s on this weeks slate?

[Left: Amanda Nagurney]

Tues. - Artpark - The Guess Who, Son of the Sun
Wed. -  Gateway Harbor - Wanted Dead or Alive and Beatle Magic
Thurs. - Lafayette Square - Ozomatli, Rebelution
Fri. - Lockport Canal Concert - Gretchen Wilson,  Bareback Jack,
                     Amanada Nagurney
Fri. - Gateway Harbor - Shadows Motown Review with
                     Barbara St. Clair & Billy McEwan
Sat. - Hard Rock Cafe - The English Beat, with Giant Panda
                     Guerilla Dub Squad and Floozie

Great holiday weekend, now it’s time to get to business. Let’s run through the who’s-who of the week: Continue Reading…

I went into Downtown Lockport last night to check out the Canal Concert. This was the first time this year for me, as I was out of town for the opener last week. I didn’t actually stay for the concert, but passed through the area twice during the event. These are my impressions…

I was walking down Main Street early, about 5 o’clock, and noticed a lot of broken glass, mostly of the brown variety, on the sidewalks. Not an isolated place, but everywhere. Did I miss a riot, or something? This was before the concert started and they don’t serve glass containers there anyway, so where did all this come from? I don’t think it was the craft show! It was endemic the whole length of Main Street. Big pieces were gone, like they had been picked up, but smaller pieces were in every crack and crevice. Is beer-bottle throwing some new sport in Lockport? Continue Reading…

This week’s summer concert lineup comes to us as follows:

Tue.: Artpark - America w/ Stacy Clark
Wed.: Gateway Park - Jonesie & the Cruisers, Nickel City Pimp Choir
Thurs.: Lafayette Square - Ed Kowalczyk (No opener listed)
Fri.: Lockport - Our Lady Peace w/ Jimmy Gnecco of Ours, The Incurables
Fri.: Gateway Harbor - Backbeat 64
Sat.: Hard Rock Cafe - Gord Downie, Joshua James, Alison Pipitone

and it looks like a great warm-up to Independance Day! Continue Reading…