The Buzz: Will Garangelo's rise again?
Cafe Garangelo on Hertel always reminded Buzz of an Italian opera, and now that it’s closed, it still does. “Oh, honey, it’s the economy,” owner Shirley Galluzzo lamented, distraught, when we called her.
“We would pay everyone and there was no money for us. And Gary wouldn’t raise the prices,” she said, referring to her son, chef Gary Tenebra. “Everyone misses us. It’s like a death in the family! Channel 4 showed it on the news, they showed the building and the note we put on the door. Me and my daughter and my son, we were crying. We were open 17 years. It broke our heart. It’s unreal. We’re in mourning.”
Has the fat lady really sung? Or might the curtain rise again on another restaurant? Galluzzo seemed to brighten. “I’ll let you know, honey,” she said. “I’ll let you know what’s up.”
Buffalo buffalo...
.... Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo! It’s a coherent sentence, and not only after you have had eight Flying Bisons. A gal Buzz was in touch with on a classical piano chat room alerted us to this brain teaser. The eight Buffalo’s in a row make grammatic sense. Here’s how: Buffalo is a noun (a bison) a verb (to buffalo), and, of course, the name of our town. Wikipedia says UB professor William Rapaport came up with it in 1972, and it has been famous in literature ever since. We say it’s a fine thing to chew on at the Thanksgiving table, along with that Wardynski’s stuffing.
Suck it up
What’s new at the zoo? In the recently added rain forest, they’ve got a couple of anteaters. The critters are about the size of dogs, and it’s fascinating to read about how many breaths they take a minute and the ants and dust they can suck in. They’re like living vacuum cleaners! Can we borrow one, as we prepare for the family Thanksgiving?
Speaking in tongues
The greatest thing about the plan to move St. Gerard Church to Georgia: When you talk about it, you will, whether you want to or not, sound like the prophet Isaiah. It’s impossible not to.
That church was hopeless, and then whoa! We mean, lo! Here is Hank Balling, of Arbour Construction Management, in the Western New York Catholic: “If you listen, you may well hear thousands of quiet voices, voices of parishioners whose prayers still echo in whispers there, voices of workers who built the church. To me, those voices could well be saying, ‘Build me anew and let those prayers and voices meet with the voice of new prayers.’ “
Wow. Such oratory –and from a contractor! Why can’t the bishop talk like that?
The buzz
Spotted at 3 a.m., a school bus, turning into Delaware Park. What was it doing? Was it the Partridge Family Bus, lost on the way to the World’s Largest Disco? ... Need opera in your life, with Cafe Garangelo gone? Sure you do. Catch an extravagant production of Gounod’s “Romeo and Juliet,” beamed from the Salzburg Festival to North Tonawanda, at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Riviera Theatre.
Quote
“Snoop Dogg and I make Mom’s mashed potatoes.” –Headline from Martha Stewart’s blog
