Art Deco = fabulous

Well, Buffalo is rather north from my perspective, isn't it? So, as I'll be here until Wednesday morning (long story), I thought I'd have a look round the place and post some thoughts.

I'm staying downtown, and walked a few minutes to the Theater District, on a stretch of Main St. with a train but no cars allowed. It was 7.00 pm, and it was a ghost town. Hardly a soul in sight. Kinda eerie, considering there are some fantastic old buildings. Shea's is an ornate, old theatre with bright white lights, and nearby is an old art deco theatre with rounded walls and everything.

Then I wandered over to City Hall, and was awed by its art deco splendor. (I'm a fan of art deco, if you hadn't noticed.) Finished with terrible timing as the Depression was in full swing, the building is really, really imposing in a city the size of Buffalo. It has 32 stories, and a whole lot of windows, all of which open inward. Read all about the building here.

I was pleased to see that one of the statues near the building is of Buffalonian Millard Fillmore. As you scratch your head trying to remember where you've heard that name, I'll give you the scoop: he was a US president in the early 1850s, moving up from VP with the death of Zachary Taylor. Fillmore was the last president from the Whig Party. He wasn't nominated by them after finishing Taylors's term, and the disastrous showing by Winfield Scott in the 1852 election led to the demise of the Whigs. Many moved on to the new Republican Party, but Fillmore ran in 1856 for the nativist, anti-immigrant American/Know Nothing Party, carrying the state of Maryland.

Why did I care to see a Fillmore statue? I did my grad school research on that political time period, and thought he was an interesting chap. There's no question he's thoroughly anonymous these days, so I was happy to see his adopted town honor him.

And now, after my brushes with the NFL's chief executive and a broadcaster, I'm watching the Bills-Cowboys game on TV (it's taking place 20 minutes away). The Bills, surprisingly, are ahead. Maybe I've brought them luck to western New York!