Sunday, May 12, 2013

THIS is "The Buffalo-Niagara Frontier."

The "Heart" of Buffalo, New York, USA is within a distance from Toronto, Ontario, Canada described by the tangent of the arc of the urine stream made by a normal adult male, thus bestowing upon the Buffalo airport a glamour that only "International" can.

The terminal at Buffalo International Airport is painted in the hard-to-find "white" colour and is of a size described by the dimensions of a standard cargo shipping container. Barely. The walls are refreshingly free of the clutter brought by paintings or photographs; there are no picturesque representations of Buffalo. A simple black-lettered sign above the Buffalo-mover greets misdirected wayfarers:

Welcome, We Are The Buffalo-Niagara Frontier.

It chokes one up, it does, to see that sign and feel the pride of the Buffaloes, however briefly. Choke. Buffalo Intercontinental Airport teems with Buffaloes, tens of them, yearning to breathe free, yearning to breathe air unbefouled by the scent of other Buffaloes, yearning to get the hell out of Buffalo, New York, USA. However briefly.

For "The Frontier" teems with culture also. You have your Buffalo Symphony Orchestra and Oom-pa-pa band; You have your Amanda Knox Museum of Art with its renowned "Paintings by Brothers of Famous Artists Collection," featuring works by Murray Rubens, brother of Peter Paul, Seth Picasso, and Joey Monet. Among others. You have your professional football team, the Buffalo "Bills," named for a successful local child molester, which has distinguished itself on the "gridiron" by being the only team in history to lose five million Super Bowls. And you have your professional ice hockey team owned by corporate art patrons Pepsi-Cola whose "logo" is a bottle cap with the nickname "Bison" imprinted thereon. In chic script.

It is all there on The Frontier and I am privileged to have experienced it All in 40 degree weather in May. However briefly. I am Benjamin X. Harris and THIS is Public Occurrences...No, really it is, THIS is Public Occurrences, This IS Public Occurrences.