I'm not well-schooled in Buffalo eateries outside the well-traveled neighborhoods: Elmwood, Hertel, Allentown, downtown, University Heights/UB Main St. But a colleague took me down Connecticut to the Armory Restaurant, near the corner of Plymouth and Connecticut right near D'Youville. For the uninitiated, it's an unassuming, old-school Italian-American joint with an old, low-slung wooden bar with two taps, odd collages of old black-&-white photos on the walls, and a few four-tops with red-&-white checked cotton tabelcloths. It was not exactly hip, but it was clean, there was very friendly and attentive service (we were there around 1 on a Monday) and the food was delicious.

I was alll set to order lentils and macaroni but then the waitress started describing the specials and I knew the lentils would have to wait. Beans-n'-greens just sounded way too good. My friend got the sausage giambotta (jyum-BOTT), which looked really good. The waitress warned me that the beans-n'greens typically came with some shells -- no problem there. She served it up steaming hot, in a huge bowl (even I couldn't finish it) along with fresh Italian bread. She mentioned that the hamhocks had stewed in the broth for a day (days?) and the smoky goodness in the bowl said she was no liar. The mix of pasta, beans (black-eyed peas and one or two white bean types), greens (escarole?) and slightly garlicky, smoky broth was sooooooo good.

The two entrees plus a Bud bottle for each of us came to $17. If you're in the mood for old-school Itai-American, try the Armory Restaurant for lunch (it's lunch-only I think) and tell me what you think.


For that matter, tell me your favorite low-rent traditional Itai-American joint. I really like Caffe Garangelo on Hertel, but the Armory's beans-n'-greens is giving me a second thought. What do you think??

OK, actually this is yesterday's news but I thought the pics were interesting. (e:chicoschica) had to evacuate yesterday morning because of a truck fire that threatened to catch the enclosed walkway between RPCI and BuffGen. Nobody was hurt and no significant damage to the walkway or the buildings, but OMG look what happened to that truck.

Smoke from truck fire; with a little imagination, the scene almost resembles a small-scale terror attack (car bomb or something)


The remains of the truck (Kelley Blue Book value = $0.00)


Photos courtesy of a coworker of (e:chicoschica), please do not reproduce

For interested (e:strip)pers -- this event/series is open to the public.

---

5th Annual Human Rights Student Conference

March 20th through March 22nd
Canisius College, in the Richard E. Winter Student Center

This conference is an opportunity for students, professors and community members of Western New York to gather and exchange information about international human rights issues. This year's conference includes presentations on conflict diamonds, child soldiers, torture, the rights of women and the veil, human rights abuses in Kashmir, poverty and race, and the situation in Darfur. We also have a keynote speaker this year from Mauritania.

Tuesday March 20
The Human Rights Dinner with guests from the WNY refugee community. Catered by Kabab & Curry. The dinner is free, but we will be accepting donations for Journey's End Refugee Services.
Grupp Fireside Lounge, Student Center, 6:00 pm

Wednesday March 21
Student Presentations on international human rights issues, 5:30 pm.
The presentations will be followed by a screening of "Sometimes in April," a film about the Rwandan genocide at 7:00 pm.
Regis South, Student Center. Snacks and beverages will be served.

Thursday, March 22
Student Presentations will begin at 5:30 pm followed by our keynote speaker at 7:00 pm, Abdarahmane Wone, the North American Communications Director for the African Liberation Forces of Mauritania (FLAM) and a speaker for the American Anti-Slavery Group (AASG), speaking on "Repression & Modern-Day Slavery in Africa: A Perspective from Mauritania." Regis South, Student Center. Snacks and beverages will be served.

Please RSVP (or direct your specific inquiries) to ias@canisius.edu.

From Robot Chicken

Got a kick out of this article in the Washington Post about Glenn Beck, a TV commentator on Headline News who seems to always be on at the gym when chica and I go there in the evenings. God this guy is really annoying. For reasons I can't quite articulate, I find Nancy Grace super-annoying too. Maybe it's because these two seem as dumb as fenceposts, I dunno. Anyway, just before Christmas one was interviewing the other and I thought my head was going to explode.

Anyway the article is interesting (in a manner similar to a car wreck on the side of the highway) and I recommend it. On page two there's even a reference to the Beast:

[box]"The Beast, an alternative newsweekly in Buffalo, was even tougher, putting Beck on a list of 2006's most loathsome people, along with this description: "Even the leather-winged shouting heads at Fox News look like intellectual giants next to this bleating, benighted Cassandra. It's like someone found a manic, doom-prophesying hobo in a sandwich board, shaved him, shot him full of Zoloft and gave him a show."[/box]

If you look at the article be sure to read all the way to the end.


Love, Peace, and Chicken Grease,
Chico