The Buffalodown, Vol. 2, Issue 21
Stories & Events for Social Connection
- Two Humboldt Parkway meetings this week
- Musings on Music: Tribute talk continued
- Featured Events: 20+ this week, encouraging submissions!
- Listening Links: “Today, Explained” leads again
Welcome to the Buffalodown, thank you for your attention!
Special thanks and welcome to the many new subscribers this week! Love the timing, as there are two events in the coming days for the community issue that inspired the conception of Reconnecter – the saga over putting the park back in Humboldt Parkway.
As a refresher for returning readers, the name Reconnecter came during my decade of advocacy for parkway revival, especially as a member of the Restore Our Community Coalition, which for decades has sought to reconnect the ripped-apart heart of our city that was a wide and tree-lined Humboldt Parkway connecting Delaware and MLK Parks, now destroyed in favor of the Kensington Expressway aka the 33.
As part of the effort to revive the parkway – and now part of an effort to instill and in some ways restore social connection that’s been splintered through the vile acts of segregation and more modern vices of social media – I expanded the scope of Reconnecter from the original idea of a summertime festival in and between Delaware and MLK Parks to a vehicle for radically inclusive social connection through events and media, beginning with this (usually) weekly email.
See below for the two public meetings on the issue this week, and the event listings for many more ways to gather in community – as always, submissions for content and events are encouraged!
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Musings on Music
Tribute talk continued
Last week in this space, I gave a take on the recent spike in local tribute shows, in advance of one at Larkin Square that I conceived as the curator of live music there – see below for a brilliant offering of Radiohead’s “Just” as part of the 30th anniversary tribute to their 1995 album, The Bends, by Zak Ward & the Million Dollar Question.
And below that video, enjoy an original song by Zak and the band from their show at Larkin last year – they played “Hoodwinked” again last week as part of their second set of originals as well as rearranged covers, all done with a sound that’s at once familiar yet unpredictable, kept us on our toes the whole time wondering what they were playing, sometimes only evident when the chorus kicked in, as in The Violent Femmes’ “Blister in the Sun” and The Beatles’ “Rocky Raccoon,” or more clearly bending the riff and tempo of Living Colour’s “Cult of Personality.”
While my money’s on their original song below, I realize that a larger percentage of the public comes for the covers – more to come about this, as Zak and I have now been interviewed by The Buffalo News reporter Toni Ruberto for a story on this subject – maybe a series of stories if there’s enough interest.
How about you? Do you have favorite Buffalo musicians that you’ll go to see no matter what they’re playing? Are you craving a certain kind of tribute show? For all I’ve invested in original music, I intend to someday revive the “Tributaries” concert series I organized many moons ago, all ideas welcome!
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Events in the Week Ahead
Thanks to all who’ve submitted their events! Welcoming submissions with a flyer and link to seamus@reconnecter.org.
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Listening Links
Another shout out to Vox Media’s “Today, Explained” podcast for ~30-minute dives into national-level news of the day – here are a few recent examples:
Texas blame game – “Dozens of people were swept away by flash floods in Texas this weekend. The finger-pointing has already begun.”
From Alligator Alcatraz to South Sudan – “The Trump administration is not happy with their deportation numbers. They’re turning to more extreme strategies to hit 1 million by year’s end.”
Elon’s party in the USA – “Elon Musk says he wants to launch a new political party. Voters consistently say they want more choices. But history is littered with failed third-party candidates.”
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