Jim Nolan's Blog

10 Bedroom Mansion, 7 Baths, Carriage House: $890,000

440 Linwood Avenue, in Buffalo. From an article in BuffaloRising.com. Some neighbors say it'll go for $500,000. Go look at the slide show--it's an amazing house.

ForgottenBuffalo.com

Another fantastic Buffalo blog. They describe themselves as:

An Urban Explorer's Guide to the Buffalo-Niagara Region: Unique Landmarks, Historic Gin Mills, Old World Neighborhoods, History, Nickel City Oddities, Tours and More!

They give tours of Buffalo's incredible neighborhoods, including the East Side, once home of George & Eddie's, the tavern immortalized in Verlyn Klinkenborg's The Last Fine Time. In fact, they're going to have a "Last Fine Time Tour of Buffalo." Here's the site of George & Eddie's today.

Photo by David Torke. Check out his terrific blog dedicated to rebuilding Buffalo at http://fixbuffalo.blogspot.com/ or click here.

Steve Cichon's staffannouncer.com

This is a flat out amazing website any Buffalonian would love. Here's how they introduce themselves:

Steve Cichon's staffannouncer.com is online to celebrate the History of Radio, TV, and the pop culture of Buffalo, NY.... And a combination of the three. Our purpose is to the fill the holes in the internet. There are many sites about all the above, we we here at staffannouncer.com have content you'll find nowhere else! We're constantly updating our featured pages and our youtube channel, so be sure to check back often. Scroll all the way down to see all our our "stuff," or use the site search feature for just about anything under the sun!

You can get your fix of Irv, Rick and Tom here. Steve is a real historian and it's a blast.

 from staffannouncer.com

Greatest TV Show Trailer Ever

Like millions of others, I have become completely addicted to Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel. The new season starts April 12 at 9PM (set your DVR), and the storyline is incredible. Last year Phil Harris, Captain of the Cornelia Marie, died in February, 10 days after a stroke he suffered off-loading king crab at St. Paul's Island. He was the smartest, coolest captain of them all. His two sons, Josh and Jake, worked as deckhands. This year, they take over as co-owners of the Cornelia Marie with a new skipper. In the first episode, Phil's ashes are going to be spread at sea. In the trailer below, Josh and Jake are featured prominently at the end, with the eagle flying over them. The track, Johnny Cash singing "Ain't No Grave (Can Hold My Body Down)" from American VI, is a brilliant and moving choice. 

 

Blair Bunting/Getty Images

The Grover Cleveland Bridge?

Grover Cleveland, the former Sheriff of Erie County, Mayor of Buffalo, Governor of New York and the only non-consecutive two-term president (1885-1889, 1893-1897), was in the running to have what is now known as the George Washington Bridge named after him. Instead, he got a service area on the New Jersey Turnpike. 

Grover Cleveland

"From The Fire"—a new play about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

Illustration from www.trianglefromthefire.com

A new play opened last night composed by former Buffalonian Elizabeth Swados. And the poems in it were written by our family friend Paula Finn. Here's what the play's website says about it:

"FROM THE FIRE," a new work created by the Tony nominated composer, Elizabeth Swados, writer/director, Cecilia Rubino, the poet, Paula Finn, and designed by Bonnie Roche-Bronfman, will dramatize the history of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and bring the event into the 21st century. The dramatic oratorio, sponsored by Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts, will be performed two blocks from the fire at the historic Judson Memorial Church on Washington Square during the week of Triangle's 100th Anniversary, March 23rd through March 27th, 2011.

Here's some background on the fire—NYC's worst disaster until September 11—also from the website:

100 YEARS AGO, New York City experienced its most devastating workplace tragedy before 9/11. In the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, 146 immigrant girls, mostly Jewish and Italian, died trying to escape flames that roared through the upper floors of a garment factory near Washington Square. Trapped behind locked doors, many never had a chance to escape. Others jumped out the windows, some hand-in-hand, their hair and clothes aflame. The Triangle Fire became an unparalleled catalyst for social reform. Public outrage over the event galvanized the progressive movement, women's suffrage, and instigated many of the reforms of The New Deal. The Centennial commemoration of the fire presents a unique opportunity for New Yorkers to honor those who lost their lives at Triangle and provides an important moment for the city and the country to reflect on the legacy of "The fire that changed America."

The Secret Life of Ken Meyer, Revealed

 

The band Life In A Blender. Ken Meyer is in the front to the right, hatless.

Ken Meyer has been kind enough to record and engineer over 20 audio commentaries for me over the years. I have been wise enough to rely on his judgment in all matters. Now I find out he's also a drummer in a totally hip band playing at Joe's Pub at the Public Theater this Friday at 7 PM.

Here's what the Joe's Pub website says about them:

Life In A Blender come equipped with a violin, cello, horns, and a touch of absurdism, bringing a vaudevillian energy to their much-loved stage show. The New Yorker says: "The band's new album, The Heart is a Small Balloon, is rife with Ralph's signature wit, but it is also a richly reflective affair that exudes a poignancy and maturity one might not expect." The NY Daily News says: "The band's orchestrated music is a covert beauty, cleverly disturbing lyrics and askew music....an event worth cheering." Jersey Beat calls the band's latest: "A terrifically dark and despairing work of beautifully bleak20and burnt-out oddball art."

Tonight's CD release is for Life In A Blender's 7th album, Homewrecker Spoon. It will feature Colony Collapse Horns.

I'm going! Who else? Leave a comment.

 

Isabella Bannerman Cartoon #8

I like how the coffee mugs have changed, too. If you like this one, leave a comment below! 

 

Comments Section Working (Finally)

Some of you have tried to leave comments in the past but couldn't. I hope I've fixed that now. Just click on the all-too-small "Comments (0)" below the post. It will ask you for your name and email address (the address won't show), but you only have to do that once. It should recognize you next time you want to leave a comment. No password to remember.

You can also subscribe to the "comment feed" by clicking the orange, underlined "comment feed" thingee under "Comments." 

The 250 readers a month of this blog would love to hear your opinions! So would I. 

Also, if you "Like" any of these posts on Facebook, you should be included in any threads that form.

Isabel Curry Nolan as a Young Woman

A photo of my grandmother from the 1920s, I'm guessing. It looks very modern to me. You can read about her locket in the previous post. Isabel was Lt. John V. Curry's sister, and Sara Curry's daughter. She went to Teacher's College, Columbia University.