Buzz Blog

The crowds of promenaders today at the Erie Basin Marina included this family of geese.

The geese purposefully walked a great length along the path -- at least from the Hatch to the battleship -- and didn't seem bothered at all by the people around them. But everyone stepped back to give them room.

Hahaaa... It is great how you can see the big birds' shadows.

Honk if you love geese!

In the Buzz column today we lament the loss of Dorothy Malczewski, a legend of the Broadway Market and a woman who was free with her knowledge of food.

Other people are telling us Dorothy brought the butter lamb to Buffalo, as detailed in that marvelous vintage video above. Our chief memory of her centered on the time she told us how to roast duck to impress Howard, the guy we were dating, and whom we eventually married (the duck worked).

We've written about the incident in the paper before, and just now, we found this story in The News' archives.

There were a couple of surprise details we had forgotten. One was that the duck had been Dorothy's idea! Buzz had confessed we were making dinner for her boyfriend, and she picked up that we hoped to impress him. "How about a duck?" she said. And we said OK, even though we had never made duck before.

Another detail we love is that after giving us the recipe, Dorothy sized us up, like an artist appraising her successor. "I can see why he likes you," she said solemnly. "You're a good cook."

Thanks to her! And now, the recipe everyone is waiting for ...

... Go there yourself!

Wesselmann's strikes again!

So Buzz is sitting here, listening to "Life Without Christmas" by Giya Kancheli, this piece the Buffalo Philharmonic is playing at Carnegie Hall next week. It is this kind of haunting piece of music that Kancheli, who was born in 1935, recalls the cold and oppressive atmosphere of the Soviet Union, when religion was outlawed.

There is weird scoring. The piece includes an electric bass, and strings, and piano, and the taped voice of a boy soprano, and, most impressively, the rumble of Stalin's tanks and machinery.

That rumble sounds most realistic, Buzz thought, listening admiringly.

Then .... oh wait.

It was the construction equipment outside our window! They had a big weight and were boring a pole into the ground.

Wow, this sort of makes the piece complete! Can we record this rumble and add it to our performance at Carnegie Hall? Or, better still, bring along the actual equipment?

After all, as JoAnn Falletta said in Saturday's News: "We aren't taking just the Buffalo Philharmonic to Carnegie Hall ... we're taking Buffalo!"

Buzz admired this sign in a booth at Wiechec's. It is worth a thousand words! Or should we say, characters.

We could not wait to get on Facebook to see what Wiechec's, the great tavern at 1748 Clinton St., would have to say. Surely it would be clash of old- and new-fangled!

And lo....

Unforgettable, this notice for Lance Diamond at Milkie's, the old Elmwood Lounge. Let us cut and paste:

CAN YOU SHAKE IT, SHAKE IT, SHAKE IT!!!!! THEN COME OUT TO MILKYS ON ELMWOOD THIS SATURDAY NIGHT APRIL 27th FOR A PARTY WITH LANCE DIAMOND AND HIS 24K DIAMOND BAND. 522 ELMWOOD AVE, BUFFALO NY . AND REMEMBER LANCE GOES TILL 9 IN THE MORNING. 11pm SHOW TIME, $5.00 at the DOOR....

God love you, Lance, for sticking to that 11 p.m. start time after all these years! One gal we know who used to live in an apartment next door said you could set your clock by what time he went on, and what time he sang "Brick House."

And remember, Lance goes till 9 in the morning!

It is official: As of late last night, the resignation of Channel 2 sports czar Ed Kilgore was proven to have eclipsed the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.

Buzz loves both public figures and so we do not begrudge Kilgore this distinction. We confess, every day we are enjoying the endless shots of Kilgore surrounded by blindingly attractive people wishing him well.

We wish you well, too, Ed!

Only one thing is missing...

Rudolph Giuliani is in town and last we checked, an hour ago, he was finishing up lunch at E.B. Green's.

From there it was on to ...

You would not think we would be able to top that sign seen on Kenmore Avenue last week.

However... this being Buffalo, we have!

This new video has been making the social media rounds.

Josh Potter of 103.3 The Edge has Tweeted: "406 reasons to love Buffalo... 403 are Food Reasons, the other three are Sabres, Bills & St Patrick's Day. I'm moving."

Ha, ha! It is pretty funny when the video goes into high gear, inundating you with picture after picture of wings and beer and beef on weck, Fat Bob's and Gigi's and the Olympic Restaurant. It is like a food fight. Splat! Splat! Splat!

Speaking of which, here is something we can all agree on. Someone, obviously a Buffalonian, writes on YouTube:

"it would be better if you didnt have a seizure from the pictures going so damn fast. Slow the damn thing down and it would be 100X better."