FROM LEFT FIELD

This week's entry has a predetermined winner. But, if you stop reading now, you won't know why. So District of Columbians and Gothamists alike, take a step out of the limelight and give someone their fifteen minutes of fame. This underrated and often ignored city has stolen the crown.

Buffalo, step up to the stand.

Yes, yes, this entry has been Karl Roved. But, I am proud to say that I spent some time in the Queen City and had an amazing time. My co-workers snipped at me when I shared my weekend plans, debachaurous evenings in the Lower East Side still fresh in their memory. My DC pals thought it "bush league" that I had not spent the weekend with them, especially with traditional fall events in which I assumed the role of mayor in years past.

Here are some reasons why Buffalo was the wild card of the week.

FOOD: Everyone knows that the way to my heart is through my stomach. Buffalo was successful in winning my heart over because of their local dishes. While the food I consumed this weekend were neither delicacies nor healthy, it was the most satiated my stomach has been in a long time. Jim's on Elmwood Avenue was a late night stop that hit the spot. Not really knowing what I was being ordered, I was pleasantly surprised at both their chicken finger sub and steak sandwich. That's right...BOTH. A local bruncherie, Pano's, had a morning after solution of scramble and feta in a pita that did the job so well, it's officially called "The Fix." The one destination I had my heart set on was Bar Bill in East Aurora, where my best friend from college claims the best wings are made. Before the wing, we had a glorious appetizer of beef on weck--roast beef on kummelweck. As we had our first batch, he explained to me the art of preparing the dish that made Buffalo famous. The saucing, the deep frying and baking of each jumbo wing does not compare to the love I put into eating it. At the end of the night, my friend's statement transitioned from gospel to truth.

image from: www.theunknowshirt.com

PEOPLE: While the people in Buffalo were not the richest or most attractive, here's where they win. They've got good attitudes. Other than the two guys who had tried to fight my friend, one minute after we exchanged plesantries in the 24-hour convenience mart over our adult bevarage purchases, everyone was real friendly and positive. And who can hate that. There was the super-hyper, but adorable girl. The down to earth brother of a high school friend. And of course, the heir to a juice manufacturing empire. Totally great people.

SPORTS: Buffalo has some fanatics. I mean, where else can you find a grown man in his late 20's knitting Bills beenies the sunday before a huge Monday Night Football game, with temperatures expected to go below freezing. Or where kids would forego a Thanksgiving Feast to support their high school soccer team's attempt at a state championship. Ok, well maybe you can find that in a lot of towns across the nation. But, boy do these people love their sports.

VIBE: So life gets a bit hectic in urban areas. And being in urban areas for such a long time, you forget that life can be simple and it is an enjoyable journey. Don't get me wrong--Buffalo is not Smalltown, USA. But at the end of the day, Buffalonians know that some things are more important. Enjoying pizza and wings with a loving family. Sipping maté on a chilly sunday afternoon with friends. Walking to the local wal-mart, that's better than Walmart. Seeing a natural wonder of the world. Getting drunk and dancing on the streets of Chippewa. Connecting with your non-sister who you tell people is. That's what it's about in Buffalo. And their joie de vivre was exactly what this city boy needed after some rough weeks.

All the things Buffalo had to offer trumped the city that they've always come second to in the State and the first city of the Nation, even for just the weekend. So, kudos Buffalo. You did good kid.

But to be honest, this reign won't be long. And 80% of the reason why I really liked Buffalo was because I was with my best friend who I hadn't seen in months.

So stay tuned, and see the real cities come back to compete.

HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH

The Disney franchise is mistaken in claiming their parks to be the happiest place on earth. Have their surveillance camera not seen the crying babies? Are their costume masks pulled so low they do not see the angry teenager embarrassed to be with her family or the cheating husband who dragged his family to compensate for his extramarital affairs? Okay, that may be a bit extreme, but you get the point--Disney is not the happiest place on earth.

Ask me after I win a Super Bowl championship what I am going to do next? It's not Disney. I'm going to brunch--the happiest place on earth.

Sunday morning after Sunday morning, you will see happy people at brunch. Everyone from families to couples to friends to those proudly going stag gather around kitchen tables or arrive in restaurants between the hours of 9 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon with smiles on their faces. Again I exaggerate, since by smile I mean hangover and dark sunglasses. But regardless, what can bring more joy into someone's life than mid-day breakfast food at the table, coupled with good conversation.

So this entry will not debate Disney, but brunch: a New York establishment or DC tradition.

New York City is a land where home cooking is quickly reaching extinction. Every two steps is a new restaurant that someone has claimed as their brunch spot thirty seconds after its opening. But there are also the old-world establishments known for their brunches, like the Carlyle or Waldorf=Astoria's Peacock Alley. While I'd love to brunch there, I have had my share of good times at more homey places like Petit Abielle (where I was introduced to the magic of croque monsieurs) and Kitchenette (which reminds me of my mother's kitchen, right after coming home from church). My all time favorite brunch spot in Manhattan is Caliente Cab, where my addiction to day drinking on the Sabbath began. A few years ago, this fine establishment served unlimited mimosas, margaritas and bloody marys with any $8 to $10 dish. And not that the unlimited deal was not enough, but my favorite brunch dish--huevos rancheros--was magnificent a la Caliente. Runner up, by a far margin, is a certain restaurant by Columbia that has put a time limit on their unlimited mimosas special due to a certain blogger who has an affinity for the adult beverage.

Now in DC, brunch is not so much a way of life, the way it is in New York, but rather, a wonderful, spontaneous tradition. Every Sunday was brunch driven, rather it was when necessary. By necessary, I mean an excuse to meet up with the people I parted ways with merely 4 hours ago so we can talk about what happened 6 hours ago. Upon my arrival at American University, my aunt from Fairfax brought my family to the much acclaimed Cafe Deluxe. Little did I know that this restaurant would become a Sunday brunch destination for me and the lifelong friends I had yet to meet. Yes, me and my BFFs were the loud ones in the back who asked for more water and more crayons. While we certainly had no stock in the business, we acted like we owned the place. One time, we even had the audacity to ask for a server change because, as we justified to the hostess, we know the kind of service Cafe Deluxe offers. Nearby Bethesda lay claim to another Sunday favorite, Mama Lucia. Fondly called Mama Lu's, this was more of the -unch part of brunch. Hitting the spot with amazing pizzas, chicken parm sandwiches, and unlimited fountain soda, this fed the necessity for greasy goodness after a night of debauchary. Other classics that I frequented, were Bethesda Bagels and Georgetown Bagelery--good grab and go spots which usually meant most of the fun took place in the car ride. But the most ultimate brunch place that keeps a special place in my heart, is good old Steak and Egg. Steak and Egg, or formally Osman and Joe's (? What, WTF? I've never heard of that til this second), is an AU establishment. The transition from late-night eatery to brunch spot is little, if not non-existent, but I love this place on a sunday due to its close proximity to my fraternity's rowdiest house and their menu of extremely unhealthy dishes, like the Paul Bunyan. Good memories with my brothers take place here, right before clean-ups and intramural football matches. My favorite memory of brunch at good ol' Steak and Egg invovled my pledge brother, Luis, our other pledge brother Brian's van, and a little party called "Around the World."

Now to the point: winner of brunches...

DC.

What can I say, I'm a sentimental fool who hates the pretention that comes with brunch in the Big Apple.

THE CHANGE WE NEED

This cover says it all:

Image from www.mwza.com

Though this is the winning cover:

Image from zimbio.com

A man who knows how to inspire, how to believe, how to hope.

Thirty minutes after he made his first appearance as President-Elect, his words still resonate in my mind. Less the actual verbage, more the eloquence and energy it was delivered with (I'm a sucker for good oratory skills). After eight years of lies, ignorance, and disappointment from the White House, Barry has revived the American spirit.

Mr. O, thank you for all you have done and all you will do. And readers, thank him because I am not going to flee for the Swiss Alps as planned had he not won.

And now, the great battle resumes...the City versus the Capital.

ONE FOR THE BOOKS

Today, there's a bigger match up.

Image from: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/the-candidates-comically-drawn

We've heard the argument for both so many times. Today, you decide. VOTE.