Brief Encounter of the Small World Kind

In December, I treated my parents to the Broadway show "Brief Encounter." We hailed a cab near Penn Station and as we sat in traffic I started a conversation with our spirited and seasoned cab driver.
Somehow, the word Buffalo came up. Turns out, our driver was from Buffalo and did some acting there at Studio Arena and other local venues. I told him that I went to school in Buffalo and visited yearly. He told us about his old performing days and his role in Spike Lee's "Malcom X." Funny, I knew ole' Spike from my stint as John Dean in "She Hate Me."
He was impressed that I was in show biz and he mentioned that his daughter was also in show biz, and that when he wasn't driving a cab, he did some writing. I told him that I coached writers and enjoyed doing script coverage and that he should send me his stuff to look at. We chatted some more as we sat in traffic and when he dropped us off at the theater we exchanged business cards. I was delighted that my parents got to experience a real NY city cab driver with a great story.
A few days later, I got an email from him thanking me for my interest and that he would send me some writing to look at if I was still interested. I wrote back immediately, taking him up on his offer. And that was the end of that. Three months went by.
Earlier this week, my mom randomly asked me if I'd ever heard from that "nice cab driver from Buffalo" and I told her that I had written back to him in December but that was as far as it went. I was impressed that my mom cared so much, but that was no surprise. She's a people person. God bless her.
Last night, I got a voice mail from someone who said, "Hello Peter Michael Marino. I am gonna blow your mind. Call me back at this number and ask for Larry."
Okay. Either this was a crazy person who was going to tell me he was hiding in my bedroom closet and would soon be chopping off my limbs with a machete, or it could be an old college pal. Or both. Naturally, I called "Larry" back.
He answered the phone and I told him my name. He said, "Oh! Peter! Do you remember me? This is Larry!"
I said, "I'm not sure. How would I know you?"
He said, "Hold on. Are you ready? This is gonna blow your mind."
Here's the part where I kept an eye on the bedroom closet door.
A young woman gets on the phone. "Peter? This is Jill. We did the show Runaways together in '86 at Buffalo University."

Here's JILL!

WHAAAA?
She continued, "I was visiting my father and I saw your card on his desk and I asked him why he had your card and how he knew you. He wasn't really sure, he's in his 70's, but he figured he got your card at some event. So how do you know him?"
Now, I haven't seen Jill since running into her at the bank about 5 years ago, but I remembered everything about her and the fun show we did together.
"Jill, your dad is a taxi driver, right?"
"Yes, he is. How did you know that?"
"Well, he drove my family to a show in December and we started talking and I gave him my card in case he wanted me to look at his writing."
"Wow! Small world." 
So now, Jill and I are talking about college and the old days and within minutes we became Facebook friends and she made requests to many of the other folks in the show that I am still friends with. Connecting!


Who would have thought that our brief encounter with a cabbie would lead to a reunion of old college pals? I suppose it's just another great "New York story" - proving that we are all connected on this tiny planet. Every random event is tied to another event. The world is smaller than we think. And everything does indeed go back to college ... or Buffalo.

Buffalo Blog Sequel

For some reason, I'm particularly fond of this Buffalo sauce ... 

even though it's from Texas.

Buffalo Flavored Blog

When I went to orientation at Buffalo State College in 1983, they provided the anxious future students with a popular Buffalo staple called Buffalo Chicken Wings. I was entranced and recall asking, "What do you do with this white sauce?" The natives laughed. The sauce was just blue cheese dressing and one simply dipped their wing in it to cut back on the hot sauce flavor. Of course!
Wings were invented at the famed Anchor Bar in Buffalo in 1964 when the proprietor needed something quick to make for her college-aged son and his pals. She fried some chicken wings and drowned them in hot sauce. Simple. But, it took a while for this snack to take flight. The first time these delicious treats were even mentioned on national TV was on the Today show in the early 80s. 
Since then, the Buffalo Chicken Wing has become a world-wide phenomenon. And Buffalo Flavor is even more popular. Today you can find "Buffalo" flavored everything: chips, tortillas, popcorn, pretzels, pizza, tacos, etc. The major junk-food chains all have a Buffalo burger or wrap. There are hundreds of  Buffalo Wild Wings chains across the USA. Nearly every snack now comes in Buffalo flavor. 
I've even seen the flavour in UK snacks, but I've never found an establishment that makes the wings. Perhaps I should open a Buffalo Wing Shoppe in London?!
Funny thing is, these Buffalo flavored products don't taste anything like actual buffalo, which is a slightly gamey version of beef and a less gamey version of deer. Nor, do they taste like the city of Buffalo, which would taste like snow. The taste like chicken. Just like frogs' legs.
May I suggest Buffalo Frogs legs? Buffalo flavored Buffalo burgers? Or, better yet - a Buffalo Hot Dog, which is not made from either dog or buffalo, but is certainly hot. 
As for the dipping sauce, that's up to you.

Tiny World

I was having drinks with an old Buffalo State College alum, and the young man seated next to us at the bar kept looking our way. 
Finally, I caught his eye after I said some witty Buffalo-related dig. He introduced himself and apologized for eavesdropping, but he had just graduated from Buffalo State as an interior design major and couldn't help but hear us say "Buffalo" a hundred times in our conversation. 
As I've been working on a pitch for a TV show that needs a fun, young, hip, gay interior designer, I gave him my card.
He looked at it, paused, laughed -- and then told me that his boss was none other than Peter Marino, the famous architect and designer.
You seriously can't swing a dead cat in this town without running into someone from Buffalo ... or named Peter Marino.

Deep Dish

Buffalo loves pizza. 
Apparent by the way they decorated the satellite dish above this bar.

Meat Head

Only in Buffalo would a chicken enchilada be 50¢ cents more than a beef enchilada.
Still, it was worth it - cuz I can't eat any more of them damn Greek salads.

Greek to Me

I had lunch at a Greek diner in Buffalo today and ordered the Greek burger with Greek Potatoes, instead of fries. 
Upon placing my order, the waitress took the ketchup off the table saying, "Well, you won't need this since you're getting Greek potatoes."
I guess it's illegal to put ketchup on anything but fries in Buffalo.