Laura, Linda, G and I shuffled off to Buffalo yesterday to sightsee, shop and see the live stage version of the uber-trashy tv show, So You Think You Can Dance. Granted, on the gayness scale this would be waaaaay up there.

Now, it’s been eons since I was in Buffalo. The last time was back in my university days (daze?) when my sister and I shuffled there to hang out at “The Library” (anyone remember that place?!), dance, and drink too much. Time before that I was 14 or so and we had a swim meet down in Buffalo over the weekend. We were billeted with a Buffalo family, I remember but there was – not surprisingly – a snowstorm that derailed everything … the swim meet included.

After getting lost (oops, Laura!), we ended up at the Walden Galleria, which bills itself as “the premier shopping centre in Western New York”. Now, G and I know how to shop, and, sad to say, Walden’s got its tagline a little mixed up. It is by no means ‘premier’. More like Square One in Mississauga than Yorkdale. We were disappointed and lasted 45 minutes.

From the Galleria our next stop was the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. We managed to arrive just in time for free entry (after 4:00pm) … bonus! The Albright-Knox is not the AGO but I did thoroughly enjoy wandering its collection of mainly modern and contemporary works: Warhol, Mondarian, Dali, Gauguin in amongst a Monet and Degas.

The show itself was fantastic! We had amazing seats, row A in the balcony of the dropdead gorgeous theatre. The top ten were all there but it’s clear Travis is best of the bunch. They danced all the sets you wanted to see from the season plus each dancer got their solo. Here’s some pics from the night.

I also filmed two dances. This one below with the entire gang dancing their thang. Xanga morphs the video quality on upload so if you want a better quality version of this, email me. I also filmed Travis and Heidi doing Celine Dion’s “Calling You” (the one with the park bench). It’s hot! Again, if you want to see it, let me know.

Sunday’s movie: Ghost in the Shell
Based on the work of Masamune Shirow, this brilliant, brilliant anime film from 1996, directed by Mamoru Oshii, traces the action of Major Kusanagi, a (wo)man/machine AI as she tries to solve the death and subsequent disappearance of another AI, known as the PuppetMaster.

The film, on a simple level, is a police thriller but if viewed critically it’s an exploration of ethics and philosophy surrounding life, the role of the state, and the continuing ‘creep’ of technology into our lives. It truly is, in a word: brilliant.

While I still find the ending disappointing, you have to give eprops to Shirow and Oshii for vision and for setting the trail the Wachowski brothers would follow with the Matrix trilogy three years later (in 1999). Rent it; see it!

My rating: 9 out of 10.

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