Niagara Gazette - Night & Day

DINING: Wing fling back in Buffalo
Calorie-counters, be warned.
Downtown Buffalo will be converted into a gluttonous poultry paradise this weekend as the National Buffalo Wing Festival takes over Dunn Tire Park.
In its seventh year, the festival has continued to grow with each turn of the calendar. A record 74,000 people came in 2007 to consume 25 tons of wings — that’s 500,000 of them.
MUSIC: From ‘Far Behind’ to looking ahead
Entering songwriting sessons for the new Candlebox CD, singer/guitarist Kevin Martin made no bones about how important this record would be for the band.
The Seattle-based group, which had broken up in 1999 after three albums and a couple of key personnel changes, regrouped two years ago when Rhino Records decided to put together Candlebox greatest hits album.
MOVIES: Michael Moore’s pals make documentary films
They make movies that deal with unpleasant topics such as war and racism, yet are entertaining and even humorous. They’re passionate, mischievously creative, politically liberal.
Does this sound like “Michael Moore The Next Generation”?
If so, there’s a good reason. These filmmakers once worked with Moore on pictures such as “Roger & Me” and “Fahrenheit 9/11.” Now they’re turning out documentaries of their own.
TELEVISION: 'Battlestar Galactica' franchise steams ahead
Need proof the television ratings system is dead, a victim of the TiVo, the ubiquitous satellite dish and schizophrenic viewing habits? Take a look at what’s happening with “Battlestar Galactica.”
If the traditional ratings system is used to measure its success, well, the series is scraping bottom like a viper throwing sparks on a hot landing.
Yet the show’s producers are moving forward with two post-“Galactica” projects that would never have seen the light of a cathode tube had ratings been the only factor in the decisions.
MOVIES: ‘Thunder’ reigns again with $16.1 million weekend
The action comedy “Tropic Thunder” weathered a rush of new movies to remain No. 1 for a second-straight weekend with $16.1 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The Paramount-DreamWorks release — starring Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black as actors caught up in real battle while shooting a war movie — raised its 12-day total to $65.7 million.
“Tropic Thunder” came in just ahead of Sony’s campus comedy “The House Bunny,” which debuted in second place with $15.1 million. “The House Bunny” stars Anna Faris as an ostracized Playboy bunny who becomes den mother to a sorority of campus misfits.
MUSIC: Toby Keith returns focus to songs
Toby Keith’s screenwriting career might not be off to a good start, but he fortunately has a pretty good day job upon which to fall back.
The country singer’s debut writing effort, “Beer for My Horses,” tanked at the box office, earning only $209,253 in a limited release of 91 theaters ($2,299 per screen) during its opening weekend Aug. 8.
He doesn’t have much time to reflect on that, though, with the continuation of his “Biggest & Baddest Tour.” The tour, which comes this weekend to Darien Lake, kept Keith busy pretty much every day in the months leading up to the film’s release, as he’d work on the film and do publicity on weekdays and perform concerts on weekends.
FAMILY: The Cave and the Maid
Working for the Cave of the Winds for the past six summers has often dulled my senses when it comes to the Niagara Falls experience.
“What’s the big deal? It’s just water. Go take a shower and you’ll see the same thing,” I would often joke.
But this weekend I decided to take a step back and look at the falls from a tourist perspective. My uncle was married Friday and I offered to play tour guide for his family from Massachusetts.
DINING: Brewfest to showcase best in beer
As if a beer drinker ever needed an excuse to practice the hobby, there’s a good one this weekend: Drinking for charity.
And if you ask Tim Herzog, all that beer drinking just ain’t what it used to be, which a good thing.
To celebrate, Herzog, owner and brewmaster of the Ontario Street microbrewery Flying Bison, is throwing a party. It’s the seventh annual Buffalo Brewfest, to be held Saturday at HSBC Arena in Buffalo. The event, which supports the Buffalo Hearing and Speech Center, is to local beer aficionados what Wingfest is to, well, people who love chicken wings.
MUSIC: Money plays Falls this weekend
Campaign season is kicking into high gear, and there's a third party trumpeting his resume as the electorate gathers to crown new royalty.
The new candidate is none other than “Easy” Eddie Money, and he wants no part of Washington. His aspirations lie just down the I-90 in Cleveland, at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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