Buffalo Bloviator

 

 

A reuse for aging Buffalo grain elevators was detailed on page one of yesterday’s Sunday Buffalo News.

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060730/1048952.asp

This is exciting news indeed. The Buffalo Bloviator has been investigating the feasibility of utilizing the idled capacity of our inner harbor for ethanol production ever since we learned that a plant was announced earlier this year for the Town of Shelby. Observing that General Mills uses huge lake freighters to deliver their grain and provide Buffalo with the wonderful aroma of roasting Cheerios, we reasoned that it must be more cost effective than rail or truck. We knew that our elevators could be upgraded because other cities still use theirs. Our elevators did not become obsolete, rather they became irrelevant when the St. Lawrence Seaway opened and took Buffalo out of the commercial shipping corridor.

We are not reinventing the wheel with ethanol. Brazil has already done it. Brazil began their ethanol program in 1973 during the oil embargo. It took them 30 years but they have made themselves energy independent. They have equipped their national fleet with ethanol burning vehicles and have developed the necessary fuel delivery infrastructure. Brazil is so efficient at producing ethanol that the USA can actually import it cheaper than we can ever produce it domestically. Brazil’s climate allows them to use sugar cane instead of corn or grass. Sugar cane requires fewer energy units to produce a given amount of ethanol than does corn. The USA may never be able to get over that production cost disparity. Our government has demonstrated a commitment to restrict ethanol imports from Brazil in order to foster our agricultural industry. The markets have interpreted the government’s commitment to protectionism as reliable enough to rationalize investment in the domestic ethanol industry. That is why we believe there is tremendous growth potential for our nascent ethanol industry.

The Buffalo Bloviator predicts (and hopes) that there will in fact be ethanol production in Buffalo taking advantage of our harbor and grain elevator capacity. The question is, will the Buffalo ethanol industry really be kicked-off by RiverWright Energy, LLC?

Here are some hints that the public records have thus far provided:

1) The New York State Department Of State has no record of a domestic entity or a foreign entity doing business in New York State called RiverWright Energy, LLC.  There is no record of an entity name reservation for RiverWright Energy, LLC.

2) The Erie County records do not show any change of ownership activity on the parcels on Childs Street where the plant location was announced. It is still owned by Conagra Maple Leaf of Omaha, NE. The property is currently occupied by “RiverWright, LLC”, a processor of wood chips. RiverWright has been advertising for help wanted so they appear to be a going concern.

3) “Ethanol industry veteran” KL Process Design Group was named to manage the project’s design, completion, and operations. We found information that KL typically takes an ownership share. As a major part of KL’s service, they manage the formation of capital. In this case the capital requirements were announced to be around 80 million dollars.

Ground breaking is scheduled for September 2006. Production is scheduled to begin September 2007.

Now either these amazing fellas can raise money and construct an 80 million dollar ethanol factory faster than Mark Croce can say, “I’m building a new restaurant”, or there are some missing pieces to this puzzle.  

Either way, I salute them for having the rare vision, which is sometimes required to see the obvious.

Good luck guys, and let us take a look at your prospectus. We will certainly consider investing.  

 

Dodo Greene performing at Anchor Bar in 2005
Photo taken by Buffalo Bloviator.
 
Buffalo bade farewell to beloved jazz diva Dodo Greene this afternoon in a moving memorial service held at Friendship Baptist Church on Clinton Street. Locally speaking, Dodo is most recently known for her 14-year stint at the Anchor Bar on Main near Allen. It has been standard practice, for those charged with entertaining visitors to Buffalo, to show off in one-stop fashion, an evening of saucy Dodo Greene and extra hot chicken wings. Dodo’s soulful standards and trademark naughty shtick assured both regulars and guests a lasting impression of our city’s cultural breadth and character. In 1962 Dodo Greene recorded her hit album “My Hour Of Need” and established herself the first female recording artist on Blue Note Records. 
    

 
Friendship Baptist Church This Afternoon.

 

A jam session at 166 Cedar Street followed the funeral.

The crowd at Dodo’s funeral was more than expected, judging from the fact that the printed programs ran out. Still, it’s funny in a way that Buffalo’s TV and radio stations didn’t pay more attention to the passing of this legendary figure. Couldn’t WBFO have halted its ordinary programming and played Dodo’s album? Couldn’t someone on the station have talked about her a little bit? (We don’t know for sure the station paid Dodo no notice, but none of our friends who usually listen to the station heard anything.) Likewise, couldn’t TV have paid Ms. Greene more than perfunctory notice? You have to wonder sometimes if anyone knows, really, who she was.
 
C A U T I O N –DO NOT PROCEED READING THE REST OF THIS STORY IF YOU ARE ADVERSE TO EXPLICIT LANGUAGE.
Everybody has a Dodo Greene story about her raucous way of communicating. Here is one of mine. The monster Buffalo pianist Wally Jedermann was called to a Dodo gig at the last minute to play piano in her band. The regular piano player couldn’t make it. Wally thought that the gig seemed to be going ok – however, throughout the performance, Dodo never actually communicated with him. The two had still had never met. Wally is also one of the funniest people I know and he has never been lost for words. The gig ended and Wally went outside to pack up his equipment into his car. Finally Wally got to meet Dodo Greene. She walked up to him and the first words out of her mouth were, “You must be eating some of that black pussy, you play so funky”. Dodo then walked away. This was the only time I have ever seen my friend Wally speechless.

 

If James Thurber had spent the past two years here in Buffalo, he would have more likely been busy daydreaming about Rick Snowden rather than working on his classic “The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty.”

What guy in Buffalo hasn’t been living vicariously through Rick Snowden? Mr. Snowden has got it all. He lives in Buffalo’s equivalent to Wayne Manor, has millions of dollars, owns the best gentleman’s club in town, and owns Hugh Hefner’s Playboy limousine. Plus he’s happily married with five kids. Rick has the best of all worlds and is pushing the envelope of the American dream.

In a surprise announcement last week, the public learned of his decision to sell his toys and move back to Las Vegas. In a live radio interview, Mr. Snowden explained his feelings of rejection. He feels that many people object to his being a proprietor of “strip clubs.”

 

In my opinion, Mr. Snowden should stay. Mr. Snowden is a family man who has demonstrated his genuine concern for civic causes. He has hosted lavish parties at his mansion raising tens of thousands of dollars for good causes. Mr. Snowden is a good businessman and contributes to our tax base.

 

Here is my plan to keep Mr. Snowden right where he is. What guy in Buffalo wouldn’t take a chance on a raffle ticket to win a day of being Rick Snowden? That’s right. The money would go to his favorite causes, and the winner gets to enjoy everything that Mr. Snowden has for one day. 

 

Think about it. Begin your special day at the mansion. A lovely family, including five wonderful children, will see you off to work in the morning. You will be whisked to your gentleman’s club in the Playboy limousine. While in the limousine you will take care of the routine newspaper interviews and radio talk show dates. At the “shop” you will count money, entertain your friends in the lap (dance) of luxury, and keep an eye on the staff. Then, back to the mansion to entertain your dinner guests.

 

 

 Dick Cheney revels in his proximity to Rick Snowden.

 

By Buffalo Bloviator, Staff Religion Reporter

 

…Rambo Jim quote. Heard this week on local talk radio.

The Buffalo Bloviator thanks our supporters including Jon Wile, Attorney At Law and Covert GPS Vehicle Tracking Systems, a Buffalo based manufacturer of specialized GPS investigative electronics.