Another thing convincing people to stay home is the price of simple things that you almost take for granted at a football game or any sporting event for that matter.   We have been bitching about beer prices for years now.  A cheap beer at the stadium is eight bucks.  You can pay more than that depending on which stand you go to and what kind of beer you want.  I think the eight dollar beer is Miller (but don’t quote me on that).

As you probably guessed by the title of this post, six dollar hotdogs, my main beef this past week was the price of a friggin hotdog.  Give me a break.  During the preseason (for kids day) the Bills sell hotdogs for a buck apiece.  During the regular season, they sell foot long dogs for six bucks.  Really!  Six bucks for a friggin hotdog? Wow how things have gotten out of whack.

At those prices it is no wonder that the lines are really (really) small for concessions.  When I started going to games twenty some years ago, the lines for beer were a mile long.  You also could not get food without a substantial wait.  People would actually pay you money to let them in line in front of you.  Now, things are different.  An awful lot of the time now, there are more workers behind the counter than there are people in line to buy concessions.

My wife and I buy a large sub from our local deli every Sunday morning before the game.  We also buy some munchies.  That stuff gets packed in a travel bag along with some beer and other adult beverages.  We typically tailgate along with some other friends and relatives before the game.  The stadium food is decent quality, but at those prices we won’t be buying too many of their concessions.

I know that this kind of thing just happens.  It just pisses me off that the city is so damn dirty that this kind of thing is more common than it should be.  I wish the scumbags who are responsible for littering and turning that part of the city into a shit-hole would grow up and act like adults.  Pick up after yourself you worthless shitheads.

Take some friggin pride in your neighborhood for Christ’s sake.   Just look at what has happened to the majority of the city over the last fifty years.  All those old neighborhoods where families used to live in tight communities have been neglected by the people living there.  The gangs and scumbags have taken over a lot of those neighborhoods.  Those neighborhoods all look like ghettos now.

It really doesn’t matter which side of the city you are on either.  Every side has its own shit-hole.  Some are bigger than others.  Still, the vast majority of people who actually give a shit about their property have moved farther and farther out to get away from it all.

When you are driving around the city pay attention to the condition of the vehicles.  Notice how many dents you find in the vehicles.  Accidents happen, but they happen a lot more frequently in the city.   I think that a lot of that stems from the same carelessness that you see in the housing.

The city’s solution is to bulldoze the old homes and make way for new housing.  Do you really think that is the fix though?  Isn’t the long term fix really to somehow get people to start caring about their own environment?  Let’s see how those new housing developments that have been government funded end up in a few more years.  Maybe these residents do care and will take better care of those homes.  There is also a good chance that those people will be driven out of the city just like their predecessors.

I don’t have any idea how the city intends to go about attracting people to live there who actually care about their environment.  One drive around the city’s limits will change their minds.  It is a real shame that you can find hundreds of thousands of people living in a region who couldn’t give a shit about their neighborhood.

If I saw a plastic bottle or broken glass on the street in front of my house, I would pick it up.  I wouldn’t leave it for someone else because I know that nobody else is going to pick it up.  As far as I am concerned the city of Buffalo has become one giant garbage dump.  Carelessness breeds more carelessness.  I wonder if we will ever get to be the caliber of an area that will ever produce another United States president.  It doesn’t look like it at the rate we are going.  Isn’t it amazing how so much can change in just a couple generations?

You can’t automatically expect, presume or assume that everyone else loves animals as much as you do, nor is it any of your damn business whether they do or not.  As far as the lady goes with the horses that were portrayed as being so badly abused, the horses did not look badly abused to me.  They are farm animals after all.  They grew up sleeping in horseshit.  They grew up smelling horseshit their whole lives.  They are used to horseshit being stuck to their bodies.  I can assure you that if the horses could speak and you asked them about the horse manure, they would tell you that it really is no big deal.  In fact, not only is it not a big deal, they probably aren’t even aware of the fact that there is shit stuck to them.

Ask any kid who grew up on a dairy farm in the country about the smell of cow shit and how much it bothers them.  They will tell you that you get used to it and it is no big deal.  It is part of life growing up on a dairy farm.  Horses getting shit stuck to them and having to sleep in their own feces is part of growing up a horse.  I am sorry if you think that is abusive, but I think it is pretty normal to a horse.  I think a judge with any common sense whatsoever would also agree, especially any judge with experience in farming.

Another fact to consider is that older people also have a different outlook than we of a younger generation do.  I can’t help but think of when I was a kid.  Farmers would not hesitate to get a gun and put a 12 gauge slug into the vitals of a stray dog that was running loose on their property.  That includes little old church going grandmothers.  They would also not hesitate to kill them even though it was probably someone’s beloved pet.  (In case you can’t tell, I grew up in the country)  This was part of life.  Dogs were not to be trusted.   Nobody ever got reprimanded for it.  You knew that if your dog went and visited the neighbors farm, there was a really good chance it wasn’t coming back.  Those old farmers would exceptionally good marksmen.

When we had a pet dog growing up, that dog spent its entire life sleeping in a dog house outside.  So did grandma’s dogs.  That dog was loved and cared for, but it was never treated as well as one of us kids, nor do I think it ever should have been.  We would turn it loose and play with it outside on nice days, but living in that doghouse was its reality.  After all, it was a dog.  Isn’t that why they invented the dog house?  What did the dog eat?  It ate table scraps and dog food.  After all, it was a dog.

The point I am trying to make here is that I think reasonable people put all pets below humans on their priority scale.  Some people will put them at the very bottom of that scale.  Some will put them higher above most other things in terms of their importance in the grand scale of life.  I love animals too, but I obviously put them much farther down the scale of importance than you obviously do.  When I see a dead animal, I feel sorrow for the pet owner, but very little for the pet itself.  I don’t like to see an animal suffer but I would euthanize one before I would pay a $1000 vet bill.  That is right.  I put $1000 above the value of a pet’s life.  Call me cold hearted.  I call it being a practical person who has his priorities right.  I could care less if your animal’s value is $1 or $10,000,000.  That is your call.    Just don’t expect me to put the same value as you do.  That is my judgment to make, not yours.

People have different perspectives and priorities that we need to consider and respect.  This lady who was arrested for animal cruelty was in tears over the death of her dogs.  Was it a stupid thing to do?  Yes, of course it was.  Should she have been arrested for it?  I hardly think so.  In my mind that is obvious abuse of power over a citizen who caused no harm to another citizen.  Was it irresponsible?  Yes, without a doubt.  I think that those tears on her face were penalty enough as far as I am concerned.  How would you like it if you got arrested for every irresponsible thing you have done in your life?  Yea, I thought so.  You probably have done far worse things than neglect your pets in your lifetime, and you got away with it.  Yeah.  How about your early drinking years when you got behind the wheel after a couple too many beers?  I bet you did that more than once or twice.  How about that first time you smoked that doobie with your buddies?  Yeah, how would that look having a permanent police record for something like that?  This lady is balling her eyes out because she knows the death of her dogs is her own fault.  Leave her be.  She will not repeat this mistake.  The laws in this country and this state are out of hand and you seemingly innocent people who think you are doing everyone a favor are really adding to the problem.

It is Friday and I heard Tom say on his show that he doesn’t claim to be an angel.  Really Tom?  Sounds to me like you are talking out of both sides of your mouth. 

Tom, I like your apparent stance on political issues which I happen to agree with almost entirely.  But, sticking your nose into these people’s business like this just because animals are not as high of priority in their lives could not be any more liberal.  Your whole stance on this issues screams that you are a raging liberal on this issue.  You lost major wisdom points in my book pal.  You call yourself a Tea Partier?  Really?  How about you let people live their lives their way and butt the hell out if it doesn’t affect you.   Isn’t that what this tea party movement is all about.   You claim to want the government out of our lives and yet you support stiff laws against people who neglect a friggin dog?

I am so infuriated by this issue that I am seriously considering stopping all future contributions to the SPCA.  I thought we were helping out a good organization.  After seeing them stick their noses into matters like these farther than I think any person has a right to, I have to reconsider my previously undying support for their organization.  Maybe that money isn’t supporting the kinds of things I thought it was. 

It is great that you love animals.  It is great that you do what you can to help abandoned animals.  However, it is completely irresponsible for you to stick your nose into these people’s lives in the way that you have with the horse lady and this lady with the dead dogs.  It was wrong of you to make the accusations and assumptions that you have without considering the obvious fact that these people have the human right to set their own priorities in life when it comes to how much they care about the animals they own.  Stop assuming we all should and that we all ought to treat animals as well as we treat our brethren. 

I encourage you all to travel out into the country and take a damn good look around a real farm.  (You know, the places where that packaged food in the supermarket comes from.)  How about a little common friggin sense on this issue?  If you really loved animals that much Tom, I can assure you that you would be a vegetarian.  Go visit a slaughterhouse for Christ’s sake.   How could you possibly take the stance on these issues that you have and not be completely appalled at what goes on every single day in the life cycle of every single farm animal.  Come back to reality, would you please?  Animals are animals and should be treated as such.  It is sad when they are mistreated.  People should be encouraged not to mistreat them.  But, that is as far as it should go.  They are animals after all.

From everything I know about the horse issue, I am glad to see the horses were returned to their owner.  That is the common sense thing to do whether you nosy do-gooders like it or not.  I applaud the judge for standing for liberty.

One thing that I look forward to every year though is the fresh Polish sausage that you can get this time of year.  There are so many good vendors around Buffalo that make the stuff too.  I usually get a little from each.  Redlinski’s holiday sausage is consistently good.  Lupas Meats inside The Broadway Market is also consistently good.  I like to visit The Broadway Market on Good Friday and load up on a couple pounds of it from each of the vendors in there.

Don’t forget your butter lamb and the fresh rye bread.  Mmmmmmm…good.

I also like to get some of that freshly ground horseradish that is ever so popular.  Then there are the jelly rolls and all the other baked goods that you can get there.  Damn I love that place this time of year.  I wish it was in a neighborhood with less crime.  Good Friday is pretty much the only time I feel pretty safe around there.  Still, it never fails that I see police walking someone out of there in handcuffs every time we go there.

It’s a real shame that the old Polish neighborhood surrounding the market has become a wasteland.  A lot of those old homes where our families used to live have been bulldozed.   If you drive down the side streets you see chicken wire on windows.  Real attractive guys.  Then there is the occasional gang graffiti that some loser teenager has decided would look good on the side of a random building.

Thank god Sloan is still a relatively tight neighborhood where neighbors kind of look out for each other.  So long as it stays that way, we will always have the Sloan market to get really good deals on Polish food.

Okay, that is about enough of me whining over how things have degraded around Buffalo in my lifetime.  There are better more positive things to think about.

Easter is the perfect excuse to get together with family and get a good drunk on.  It seems like every year is even better than the last.  The food is always good and tasty.  The weather is just starting to improve.  Flowers are starting to bloom.  The air smells fresh.  Nothing tastes better than sharing a little whiskey with your brothers on a big holiday.  What is not to like about this time of year?

We had some outstanding prime rib at Salvatore’s original restaurant prior to the concert. The meal was fantastic and prepared perfectly. We also had a really nice bottle of Conn Cabernet Sauvignon from 2005. It is a Napa Valley Cabernet. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a full bodied Cabernet. This wine was really much better than we expected.

This year at the holiday concert we got seats close to the front. We sat closer than ever which was really cool. It is neat to see the violinists up close. JoAnn Falletta put together a great show that ended with a standing ovation. We got to see a special appearance by John Stevens who is the kid from East Amherst that made it quite far on American Idol. The guy has a great voice. I wish he would embrace the classic crooner style of Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby a little more. I think he would sell a lot more Christmas compact disks if he would just sing the songs the same way that those predecessors did. Nonetheless, his singing is top notch. He is just a bit too Jazzy for me.

There was also a gorgeous female singer there named Michele Ragusa. She is an absolutely lovely performer. We enjoyed her appearances very much. It is amazing how many high quality singers we get to see at these Holiday pops concerts.

If you have never been to one of these Holiday Pops concerts by the BPO, I strongly suggest you attend one. They are a terrific way to spend a classy night out with good friends. You won’t regret it. Whether or not Marvin Hamlisch is conducting, the show is always great. It has become a regular family tradition for us. We will continue attending the show every year so long as they keep giving this kind of outstanding performance.

I can’t believe we made it all the way to December first without any snowfall. This is unbelievable. I usually look forward to the snow to cover the ground in mid November. That makes it a lot easier to see and track the deer when you are deer hunting. Plus I hate having a green Christmas.

We have had green Christmases before. They aren’t as much fun. What is the point of living in an area that gets so much snow if you cannot have it for the holidays? I think it was some pope who decided that Christmas should be celebrated on December 25th. Jesus’ actual birthday was in late winter or early spring I think. Most people don’t know that. It was a church leader who decided we should celebrate it on December 25.

I wish they had chose January 25th or February 25th instead. Then we would always have a white Christmas. Plus, we could look forward to all the snow melting soon after Christmas. The way it is now, Christmas just reminds us that the snow is going to be with us for another few months.

It is easy to enjoy the snow right up till about New Years day. After that everyone around here can’t wait for it to melt and go away. Unfortunately, we are just getting started with it at that point. Most of the major snowfall comes during January and February.

With it being warm up till now, we are also at risk for major lake effect snow storms blowing in from Lake Erie. During years when the lake doesn’t freeze until later it usually ends up being more snowy than normal. This is a real possibility this year.

The radio stations, more specifically WJYE and Star102, are playing Christmas music already. It’s not even Thanksgiving yet. Every year when this happens you start to hear a few people grumble and mumble about it being too early to start with all of this.

I for one applaud the early Christmas mood. Christmas is by far my favorite holiday. When I hear a good classic Christmas song from Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Andy Williams or Johnny Mathis it just causes a little stir in my stomach that reminds me to be nice to people and be happy. For Christmas is coming and all is right with the world at least for a few days.

I can’t help but think back to my childhood when I would be out building an igloo with my brothers in the snow. We used to dig tunnels in the snow in the sides of snowbanks. Then we would take buckets of crabapples and throw them at each other like it was some kind of war zone. If only it was possible to return to a time when our biggest concern was whether or not school was going to be closed for the day so we could go play in the snow. What a great childhood it was.

When you look at the happy little kids around you have to envy them. There is bliss in ignorance. They haven’t the slightest care in the world about the economy, the war in the middle east or terrorists. Nope. They worry about things like how bad it is going to hurt when they have to go to the doctor tomorrow and get their swine flu vaccination. They worry about when it is time to leave their grandpa’s house on Sunday because they are having too much fun playing with cousins and their uncles. Ahh, to be that young and care free again. Then they get to look forward to Santa Claus.

I just love the holidays. I can’t imagine them being the same if we were to move out of western NY. This is home and holidays remind us of that. With all of its baggage, this is still the place that we were born and raised. In the words of the great Marv Levy “Where would you rather be than right here right now?”

People are leaving this state in droves. They are leaving for jobs. They are leaving because New York is so unfriendly to business that big businesses do not want to operate here. The only way we can get a real fortune 500 company to expand operations in Western NY is to bribe them with some kind of tax breaks or other incentive. How ridiculous is that?

The funny thing is that corporate America knows that the population of New York State is a highly educated one with plenty of skills. Yet this obvious advantage is not enough to overcome the red tape and other baggage that comes along with a New York State corporate address. That is a damn shame.

I can’t count how many people I graduated high school with who have uprooted their families for greener financial pastures in places like North and South Carolina. We were reminded of how many people have left Buffalo when we saw the thousands of Buffalo Bills fans at the Carolina Panthers game a couple weeks ago. That is downright embarrassing.

These damn politicians (Paterson excluded) just don’t realize what they have done. Instead they keep raising taxes on the people who remain here to make up for the shortfall from the ones who left. They are dreaming up ways of collecting new revenue. Instead of altering the tax and spend policies that are at the root of the problem the exacerbate the problem even more. Political genius at its best.

When is there going to be a state constitutional convention for voters to vote on in the ballet box? Isn’t it about time we had one?

This Brandon McLean kid is in serious trouble for this. What a retard this kid is. He has ruined the next god knows how many years of his life. Damn fool. All just because he got drunk and could not control himself.

Now we all have done stupid things at 19 that involved alcohol. But not running people over with a vehicle. I feel bad for the person who bought the alcohol. They are going to be in court also. They are going to be sued for personal injury right along with the McLean kid. Both the alcohol buyer and this Brandon kid are going to be in the poor house for many years to come. Can you say bankruptcy?

This will be a public announcement to people in their early twenties who party with kids that are too young to legally drink. If you buy minors alcohol, this could happen to you.

I can see all the local personal injury lawyers salivating at a chance to get a piece of this pie. You can bet that those lawyers will find some way to blame Ralph Wilson stadium for this too. They will be sued too. Did I mention I hate lawyers. Fricken vultures. Leeching off society.

I sure am glad the Bills beat the Buccaneers lat night. Otherwise this would definitely be a slow week.