East Side Monthly April 2011

April 2011

Storm Warnings

Providence prepares for a Category Five event

Hamilton House: The East Side’s Best Kept Secret?

RISD Faculty Votes No Confidence in Maeda

New Listing! $739,000

New Listing! $297,000

College Hill gem on historic street. Updated kitchen/ baths join with traditional East Side luxury-high ceilings, decorator colors, hand-hewn woods. Central A/C installed 2008.

Garden level condo in College Hill. 2/3 beds, Wide plank floors, wood-burning fireplace, 2 car on-site parking. Walk to downtown, train for easy commute.

Daniel Byrnes

Michael Young

New Listing! $375,000

West Warwick. Townhouse in move-in condition. Master on 1st, 2 beds on 2nd, 2.5 baths, granite kitchen, private deck, central air, 2 car attached garage.

Betsy Walsh

New Price! $2,399,000

New Listing! $359,000

Fabulous new construction townhouse with 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. Enormous master suite! Lovely kitchen, central air, hardwoods, great closets, 2 car garage.

New Listing! $309,000

Spacious brick front cape features fireplace, hardwoods and charming details. Replacement windows, new roof, lovely garden, back porch and pergola.

Sue Erkkinen

New Listing! $189,000

Sunny 1 bed condo in College Hill! Updated kitchen, original details, great closets/storage. 1 car parking.

Fee includes heat/hw. Location speaks for itself!

Bob Del Deo

New Listing! $199,000

Barrington. Elegant Victorian has been restored with improvements and all original details preserved. Home features 5 bedrooms, heated pool, patio and lushly landscaped grounds.

Priced to sell! Beautiful 2 bed, 1.5 bath townhouse in historic Armory District. Updated kitchen and baths, hardwoods, skylights, 2 car parking. Excellent association.

Daniel Byrnes

New Listing! $340,000

Attractive restoration in historic area. 2 fireplaces, updated baths and new kitchen, high ceilings, 2 car parking. Low fees. Rare opportunity!

Sue Erkkinen

Helen Macdonald

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East Side Monthly April 2011

Contents April 2011

This Month 14 Category Five

The forecast on Providence’s financial storm

18 Springs Arts Previews

Theater, movies and art blossom this season

22 The Mighty Quakers

Moses Brown’s hockey program comes into its own

25 A House That’s Become a Home

Go inside the East Side’s Hamilton House

28 No Confidence?

Reflections on the recent vote at RISD

Every Month 6 Letters/Editorial 8 Other Side 11 Community News 31 On the Menu Ramen: it’s not just for dorms anymore

25 32 Dining Guide

46 Pajama Monologues

Your resource for eating out

Two great minds for jazz

35 Movies

47 Calendar

The Adjustment Bureau and Beastly reviewed

All the info on April’s happenings

54 East of Elmgrove

38 Education

An aspiring young chef

Teachers and students react to the mayor’s plan

East Side Monthly is now online!

42 Art The hidden gem of local galleries

Visit www.providenceonline.com to read the entire issue

45 Finance Breaking bad habits

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Editorial A Guide to Category Five Survival “The buck stops here.” -President Harry Truman in describing leadership and responsibility in government.

“Victory has a thousand fathers and defeat is an orphan. ” -Another former President, John F. Kennedy.

“What, me worry?” -Alfred E. Neuman of Mad Magazine.

As the current category five fiscal hurricane bears down on Providence, the blame game has begun in earnest.

Make no mistake about it: the responsibility starts at the top, which in this case means former Mayor David Cicilline. And this time, there’s no Buddy to blame either.

The current crisis is clearly the result of decisions the ex-mayor made or, as opposed to some other cities and towns, difficult decisions he didn’t make. True, some of the responsibility needs to be

shared by the City Council – although it was their Auditor, Jim Lombardi, who was accused of crying wolf over the problems while being constantly stonewalled by the administration.

During the mayoral primary, both City Councilman John Lombardi and former Representative Steven Costantino attacked their opponent, Angel Taveras over the City’s fiscal mess. Taveras, who was dubbed Cicilline III during the campaign, often seemed to be unwilling to address or even acknowledge the precarious finances.

To his credit, when he was confronted with the situation, Taveras accepted full responsibility and immediately began addressing the problem head on. Though he has so far failed to acknowledge the former mayor’s culpability, this may be nothing more

than not wanting to bite the hand that helped you get elected.

What the new mayor has done is demonstrate an aggressive willingness to do whatever it takes to help us weather the storm. The fiscal audit he wisely commissioned during his first weeks in office provides a comprehensive road map on how the City might begin to extricate itself from the current crisis. We’re also encouraged by the mayor’s willingness to, in his words, “put everything on the table,” in terms of dealing with bad past practices while considering all possible future solutions.

There is no question that these solutions are likely to be painful and expensive. But so long as they are perceived as fair and broad-based, perhaps there is some light beginning to peak through the storm clouds after all.

Editor’s note: Amidst the ongoing confrontation between the faculty and administration at RISD, the following letter was forwarded to us to explain the current position of the students.

To the editor: We write this to and for our fellow students: Please forgive us for not getting this message out sooner – we’ve been busy trying to receive an education, a point of interest that seems to be slipping from this campus’ list of priorities lately.

On the Wednesday evening following the faculty’s vote of no confidence in the current administration, the students at

the Graduate and Undergraduate Student Alliance meeting voted to release the following statement: “We are concerned by the lack of communication from all parties and request an open dialogue that we wish to be included in.”

We fielded over 147 emails, text messages, Beluga pods and phone calls.

Students, we are asking you to stop fueling the gossip and simply ask for our faculty and administration to talk.

No one has all the information and we are embarrassed that anyone on this campus would choose a side without hearing both parties. We know we are a liberal campus, but it’s like calling yourself a Democrat and only watching Jon Stewart. We are belittling our opinions by making decisions without holding an

open forum first.

Everyone on this campus needs to talk and they need to talk together. As your students, we beg you to do this so we can focus on our education.

We are left to merely hope that the faculty and administration are keeping the mission of RISD – to educate and inspire – in the forefront as they work together to come to a resolution on the current situation.

Naomi Mishkin RISD Undergraduate Student Alliance President Jason Huff RISD Graduate Student Alliance President

Our new info is:

1070 Main Street, Suite 302 • Pawtucket RI 02860

Phone: 401-305-3391 Fax: 401-305-3392 publishers of

Providence Monthly • East Side Monthly • So Rhode Island • The Bay • In Providence • providenceonline.com

East Side Monthly April 2011

Publishing Director Jeanette St. Pierre Managing Editor Barry Fain City Editor Steve Triedman Executive Editor Julie Tremaine Special Projects Manager John Taraborelli Art Director Alli Coate Assisant Art Director Karli Hendrickson

Graphic Designer Meghan H. Follett

We've Moved!

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Publishers Barry Fain Richard Fleischer John Howell

Advertising Design Director Layheang Meas

Letters The Students Speak

1070 Main Street, Suite 302 Pawtucket RI 02860 tel: 305-3391 | fax: 305-3392 esm@providenceonline.com www.providenceonline.com

Account Managers Danielle Claro, Louann DiMuccioDarwich, Ann Gallagher, Nicole Greenspun, Nellie Lima, Dan Schwartz, Elizabeth Riel, Jessica Webb Classified Advertising Sue Howarth Contributing Writers Bob Cipriano, Mary K. Connor, Jill Davidson, Renee Doucette, Don Fowler, Mike Fink, David Goldstein, Bob Mariani, Betsey Purinton, Elizabeth Rau, Dan Schwartz Calendar Christina Evon Interns Andrew Brennan, Eileen Burdick, Carlee Carbone, Ashley Graham, Sabrina Kiel, Chelsea Sherman Contributing Photographers Laurel Mulherin, Dan Schwartz, Jonathan Beller Contributing Illustrators Ruth Chung, Ashley MacLure, Jessica Pollak

Calendar announcements and news releases should be submitted by the 1st of the preceding month. We reserve the right to omit and edit items. Letters to the editor are welcome. We will not print unsigned letters without exceptional circumstances. East Side Monthly is not responsible for typographical errors. Corrections will be run at discretion of editor.

Copyright ©2011 by East Side Monthly.

All rights reserved. Printed by TCI.

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Other Side by Barry Fain

April Without the Fools ESM is on the move and in the know this month No Fools Us Yes, this is our April issue. And yes, we have a decades-long tradition of April Fool’s cover stories.

But as Providence reels from its staggering budget deficit numbers, as teachers nervously await word on whether they will be even working in September, as our cars disappear beneath canyon-sized potholes that need fixing despite the City’s lack of funds, this year it just seemed frivolous to ignore the importance of city events that continue to break even as we go to press. Instead we have offered our take on what we think is going on. In addition, we got some input from four political veterans who will have a role in helping Mayor Taveras try to lead us out of the crisis. Even our warped sense of humor has its limits. Hope you enjoy the issue.

Pawtucket: The new Epicenter of Rhode Island?

While it might be presumptuous to say so, we like to think Pawtucket’s image has just gone up a couple of notches because perhaps the state’s most honest, hard-working, ever-vigilant, always crusading and still free magazine chain – our very own Providence Media – has looked deep into its soul and still decided to move all the way to Pawtucket. You can now find us at 1070 Main Street, where we’re sharing the third floor with the local Congressional Offices of David Cicilline. While moving out of Providence after all these years was difficult, we would hasten to point out we’re now a statewide “conglomerate” of five magazines that prints 80,000 combined and covers the entire state (and parts of Massachusetts).

Besides, we’re only a couple of hundred feet from the Providence/Pawtucket line. And, to paraphrase the inimitable Sarah Palin, on a clear day you can actually see the Capital City. Feel free to drop in to see our new digs. We may even give you a free cup of joe for making the long trip. Definitely a tour! But don’t worry, our hearts and hopefully well-honed journalistic instincts still belong to Providence. Our new phone number, by the way, is 305-3391.

It Takes a Village to Host a Craftopia Now that we’re actually in Pawtucket, we feel we have to at least keep our eyes and ears open here, as well as Providence. Already we’ve gotten word that an artist’s gala called Craftopia will be held at the handsomely-restored Hope Artiste Village at 1005 Main Street in Pawtucket, a block north of our

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East Side Monthly April 2011

new Providence Media home. Craftopia is a one-day festival of art, craft, food and fun in which over 70 participants combine to make this a truly one-of-akind event – which is appropriate, since everything for sale is unique and one-of-a kind as well. Admission is only a buck and kids get in free. The event will be held on Sunday, April 10 from 10am-4pm. For more info call Kim Clark at 626-1833 or email info@ rhodycraft100.com. Sounds like fun.

Twelve Years, Eight Artists, One Spectacular Show In 1999, two well respected local artists, Elizabeth Goddard and Regina Partridge, decided to try something new. They created a special earth-friendly printmaking studio and gallery for like-minded artists in Pawtucket. But why there you ask? To take advantage of a tax-free arts zone there. (Oh, and great space and great rents too). Now with over a decade of printmaking behind them, the studio is considered one of the most successful and well respected in the state. To celebrate their longevity, as well as the long-awaited arrival of spring, the studio will be holding a rare open house on Thursday, April 14 from 5-7pm (opening) and Sunday, April 17 from 2-4pm, which will feature the eight artists who use the space. Come. Enjoy. Celebrate. Studio Goddard-Partridge, 163 Exchange Street, Pawtucket.

Call 724-4991 for information

Swinging for the Fences Again this year, East Side Monthly is proud to be a sponsor of the Fox Point Little League. While we confess it’s been a while since the ESM Tigers, Scribblers, Yellow Journalists or whatever we’re called have actually won anything, hope springs eternal that this may be the year. Who knows? Maybe we’ll make it all the way to Williamsburg, PA. Or Not. Either way Little League is a wonderful activity for kids between the ages of 8-12 and deserves all of our support. So check out one of their games. You’ll meet your neighbors. You’ll have some fun watching kids try their very best. And, who knows, maybe you’ll even see a star in the making. After all, Hall of Famer Davey Lopes started on these very Fields of Dreams. So on that note, play ball!

Survival of the Fittest at Wayland Square Kudos to Denise Chakoian-Olney, owner of Core

Fitness at 469 Angell Street (Wayland Square), whose fitness center turns five on April 1. Starting with two small studios, her center is now up to five. Her secret? Individualized sessions, affordable prices (group fitness classes start at $12/per person) and programs for everyone – athletes, indoor boot camps, pilates, even some very fancy LA and NY stuff. To celebrate the anniversary itself, Denise is planning both a private function to thank some of her loyal regulars, as well as a more public event for the rest of us. Give her a call at 273-CORE for more informatiion. Or just drop in to see what makes this place so unique – and us so tired just thinking about the options.

I’m Gilbert, He’s Sullivan.

One of the frequently overlooked East Side arts venues is our very own Brown University Theatre.

From April 8-10, the theatre will be trying something a little different when they present Gilbert and Sullivan’s Princess Ida. Performances will be held at Alumnae Hall Auditorium, 194-200 Meeting Street. It’s classic theatre, perhaps not for everyone, but certainly at least worth considering. While we’re on subject of Brown events this month, if Gilbert and Sullivan is too tame for you, there’s also an evening of Ghanaian drumming and dancing scheduled for April 27 at the Grant Recital Hall on 105 Benevolent Street. You might be able to say, “G & S, been there, done that.” But Ghanaian drumming? Details on both events are available at www.brown.edu.

Louie, We Hardly Knew Ya Jazz lovers, mark down April 2 in your calendars.

Legendary jazz trumpeter Byron Stripling will be featured in a pops concert at Veterans Memorial Auditorium at 8pm, lead by Philharmonic Conductor-in-Residence Francisco Noya. Entitled “A Tribute to Louis Armstrong,” the evening will showcase the talents of Stripling, who is the former lead trumpeter for the likes of Count Basie, Woody Herman and Lionel Hampton. He has put out several of his own albums, among them Byron, Get one Free, Stripling Now and the collaborative Louis, We Love You. He has also made albums with Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole and Gerry Mulligan among others. For more info visit www. vmari.com. And on that note, hope all our readers have a great month.

Other Side by Barry Fain

Classical Honors Distinguished Alums Event to be held at Providence Marriott on April 9 The Classical High School Association will be hosting its seventh annual Distinguished Alumni Awards with a Saturday evening event on April 9 at the Providence Marriott. This year’s recipients include a well-known attorney and community leader, a Pulitzer Prize nominated columnist for the New York Times, a best-selling science writer and professor from New Orleans, an environmentalist from Alaska and an honest-to-goodness rocket scientist from Washington, DC..

All money raised from the event will go towards helping to fund activities for the current group of students at the school. Tickets are $75 per person and can be obtained by calling the Alumni Office at 441-2052. Proceeds from the awards dinner benefit the after-school enhancement programs at Classical High School.

Melvin L. Zurier graduated from Classical in 1946. He received his B.A. from Harvard University in 1950 and his L.L.B. from Harvard Law School in 1953.

He served as a judge advocate in the United States Air Force and as Executive Counsel to Governor John Notte in 1961-62. Since then, he has maintained a general legal practice, including work for the Public Utilities Commission, as well as for numerous local businesses and individuals. Among his many community volunteer initiatives are stints as president of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission, the Harvard Club of Rhode Island, Temple Beth-El and service on the Providence City Plan Commission. He also has been on the Board of the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island, Miriam Hospital and the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association.

Anthony F. Gasbarro graduated from Classical High School in 1957.

He received his bachelor’s degree in forestry from Colorado State University in 1962 and a master’s degree in land resources from the University of Alaska in 1979. Anthony has devoted

his life to the wellbeing of the world’s forests, serving as a forestry advisor in the Peace Corps, a forester at Sequoia National Forest in California and administering forestry projects in South and Central America for the United Nations before moving to Alaska in 1972. For the next 24 years, Anthony studied and protected Alaska’s forests, combining a teaching career in forestry at the University of Alaska with work as a researcher in forestry land use and regional development. In 1996, Anthony rejoined the Peace Corps for two years tending to the forests of El Salvador. Anthony also is a member of the board of Project Salvador, which provides assistance and scholarships to support the education and empowerment of women in that country, though he continues to live in Alaska.

John M. Barry graduated from Classical High School in 1964, and he received his B.A. from Brown University in 1968. John began his career as a football coach, guiding teams at the high school, small college and major college levels. He then became a writer, producing a story about football that Sports Illustrated included in a 2006 anthology of the best football stories of all time. John’s writing career has been wide ranging, as he has written books on American history, science and public health policy that have won more than 20 awards. More recently, John also has advised the offices of Presidents Bush and Obama as well as the World Health Organization on influenza, crisis management and risk communications. He also has served on advisory boards at MIT and Johns Hopkins, as well as for the Society of American Historians. John currently is a Distinguished Scholar at the Center for Bioenvironmental Research of Tulane and Xavier Universities, dividing his time between New Orleans and Washington, D.C. Joseph Nocera graduated from Clas-

sical High School in 1970. He received his B.S. in journalism from Boston University in 1974. Joe began his journalism career writing for regional audiences at the Washington Monthly, Texas Monthly and New England Monthly. In the 1980s, he became a contributing editor at Newsweek, and he wrote the “Profit Motive” column for Esquire from 198890 and GQ until 1995. For the next decade, Joe held a series of positions at Fortune Magazine, including contributing writer, editor-at-large and executive editor. Joe became a business columnist for the New York Times in 2005, where he also writes for the New York Times Magazine. Joe is a regular business commentator for National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition. He has written several books, been the recipient of numerous journalism awards and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He currently resides in New York.

Karina Montilla Edmonds came to America from the Dominican Republic with her family when she was eight years old. She graduated from Classical in 1988 and received her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Rhode Island in 1992.

She went on to earn a master’s degree from the California Institute of Technology in 1993, and a Ph.D. in 1998. During this time, Karina worked as Principal Investigator at TRW, Inc. in the areas of internal research and development efforts. In the decade that followed, Karina held a series of positions at Cal Tech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where she became the director of technology transfer. In 2010, Karina accepted a position at the United States Department of Energy to serve as Technology Transfer Coordinator.

She is responsible for working with the Department’s National Laboratories to accelerate the process of moving discoveries from the laboratory to the private sector. Karina currently resides in Washington D.C.

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April 2011 East Side Monthly

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Community News Community News is space that East Side Monthly makes available to community organizations free of charge.

The content does not necessarily reflect the views of the editors of this publication.

Brown Street Park

By Wendy Nilsson Friends of Brown Street Park Phone Number: 454-8712 Website: www.friendsofbrownstreetpark.org Email Address: wendy@friendsofbrownstreetpark.org Mailing Address: 30 Pratt Street, Providence, RI 02906 Fourth Annual Friends of Brown Street Park Earth Day Celebration and Cleanup Featuring Joe’s Backyard Band. Please let Meg@friendsofbrownstreetpark. org know if you would like to volunteer to lead a team of mulchers, planters, weeders or picker-uppers. We will have snacks sponsored by our friends at Whole Foods University Heights and lots of things for the kids to do with our friends from the Mt. Hope YMCA. Check the website for updates. Saturday, April 23, 2:30-4:30pm. Free.

Second Annual Friends of Brown Street Park Fitness Expo Come sample the classes that we will be offering this spring and summer featuring our fitness partners: East Side Mt Hope YMCA, Crossfit Providence, Elyse

Rotondo’s OM Kids Yoga, Brown Street Park ring swingers and more. Sample classes for kids, adults and family. For a full schedule of the day’s events, information and updates, check the FBSP website. Saturday, May 14, 2-5pm. Free.

Ice Skating Brown Street Park hasn’t been totally at rest this winter; for the first time we put together a skating rink for everyone to enjoy. The bad news is that we got a late start in the season and there were technical challenges and not enough sustained cold weather to allow skating.

The good news is that we learned a lot about putting a rink together and have a tremendous corps of volunteers who will be ready to install the rink in the winter 2011-12 skating season. We want to thank the Park Penguin Sponsors who generously supported construction of the rink; they are listed on the BSP website.

Additionally, thanks to all the partners and friends who did so much other stuff behind the scenes this winter: Bartlett Trees for taking care of all of our trees after a brutal winter, Wastehaulers for keeping us clean and green, A-Z Auto shop in North Kingstown for snow removal, and the fabulous corps of volunteers led by Mike Paradiso and Pedro Dal Bo for attempting our ice rink.

Summer Concert Series: Call for Volunteers Summer 2011 will feature our fourth annual summer concert series. While the four concert dates have not yet been finalized, volunteers to staff the concerts are needed! Approximately three to four volunteers per event are needed to help set up our fundrais-

ing snack table, staff the table during the two-hour event, and then break down the table. Half-hour to hour shifts per person are appreciated. This is a great opportunity to enjoy great music, give back to the community, and meet your hungry neighbors! Please email David concerts@friendsofbrownstreetpark.org if you can help.

Community Garden For information on this year’s Community Garden membership and activities, please check the FBSP website.

Blackstone Parks

By Jane Peterson Blackstone Parks Conservancy Phone Number: 270-3014 Website: www.blackstoneparksconservancy.org Mailing Address: PO Box 603141, Providence, RI 02906 Now, in the “brisk and shallow restlessness of early spring” (to borrow a phrase from the poet Mary Oliver), it sometimes feels like a race between creation and destruction in the Blackstone Park Conservation District. Green is sprouting all around and the birds are singing their hearts out. Yet the challenges of erosion and invasive plant species persist. If your vision, your dream, is “Healthy Urban Green Space for All,” where do you start?

We Blackstone Parks Conservancy volunteers are trying to select priorities from a list of urgent needs and projects,

and to study these threats and how best to counter them.

With the Boulevard, the task was clear if not easy: raise tens of thousands of dollars to plant and prune trees, provide benches, rebuild the Trolley Shelter and plant gardens. Hundreds of volunteers gave many hours to fill in where the Parks Department and contractors couldn’t do it all.

Our work on the Boulevard is nearly done but for upkeep. And we still need to raise $23,000 to finish wiring and pruning, roof the small shelter and plant replacement trees.

But what about the microcosm of nature that is the Blackstone Park Conservation District (BPCD)? Erosion carries away precious topsoil; invasive plants drive out superior native species.

A Rhode Island Natural History Survey map uses eight colors to locate various invaders – pretty and scary.

Some say that these 45 acres are so degraded, why bother? And certainly, they are degraded. In the years since the first five-acre parcel was set aside in 1866, the park was sometimes “mined” for sand and firewood.

Now the BPCD risks being “loved to death,” as a Department of Environmental Management forester put it – too many visitors in too small an area, heavy off-trail use. Compacted soil in many places can no longer absorb and slow the water that rushes down to worn bluffs.

Nevertheless, a trove of biodiversity survives. People have counted 139 bird species in woodland and water. A Conservancy family skating on Hockey Pond marveled at a large hawk this winter. A snowy owl was spotted. There are ospreys and migrating warblers, to name a few.

April 2011 East Side Monthly

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Community News continued...

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East Side Monthly April 2011

The BPCD provides habitat for small mammals and birds, for many species seen and unseen in a world where habitat is fast disappearing. It is an outdoor lab for schoolchildren and a destination for birdwatchers. And this woodland overlooking the Seekonk River is an escape from city pressures, a place to breathe more deeply. People find beauty and solace here.

Resources are limited, so you do what you can. One key to reducing stress on the soil and the undergrowth holding it in place is to mark trails clearly. With the Parks Department, Conservancy volunteers are working on a master trail plan.

Twice a year the Appalachian Mountain Club mobilizes members to work here. April 9 they will extend the splitrail fence begun last October to keep visitors off the badly eroded bluff trail overlooking York Pond. On the eastern bluff, where they built a similar fence two years ago, life is slowly returning.

Protecting the Blackstone woodland takes a metaphorical village of city and state agencies and volunteers focused on one question: How can we both enjoy and defend this treasure entrusted to us? If you would like to join this effort, see our website above.

Upcoming Projects April 30 cleanup of the Boulevard and the Conservation District.

Rhode Island Natural History Survey project to remove invasive species on track for late spring.

Photography exhibit June 5 at the Narragansett Boat Club: Through Our Eyes: Woodland and Water.

College Hill

By Diane Greco Josefowicz College Hill Neighborhood Association Phone Number: 633-5230 Website: www.collegehillneighborhoodassociation.org Email Address: chna@collegehillneighborhoodassociation.org Mailing Address: CHNA, P.O. Box 2442, Providence, RI 02906 Updates from the CHNA Board At CHNA’s last Board meeting, held on February 7 at Lippitt House, the Board agreed that future meetings will be open to the public. Meetings will con-

tinue to be held at the Governor Henry Lippitt House Museum, 199 Hope Street, at the corner of Hope and Angell, on the first Monday of the month. Meetings begin at 7pm.

To ensure that our meetings proceed efficiently, agenda topics are determined in advance. If you would like to make CHNA’s Board aware of a specific issue, please email us at chna@collegehillneighborhoodassocation.org to ask about securing a spot on an upcoming meeting agenda.

CHNA was also pleased to welcome Leslie Kellogg, Mary Musat Crandall and Ted Trafton to the Board.

CHNA Urges Sensible Liquor Licensing On behalf of the Board, President Allison Spooner submitted a letter to Andrew J. Annaldo, chairman of the Providence Board of Licenses to request restrictions on the hours of liquor sales at Better Burger Co. at 215-217 Thayer Street. Although CHNA found no fault in Better Burger’s plan to remain open until 2am, the organization urged the Licensing Board to restrict the restaurant’s sales of alcoholic beverages to 11pm on weeknights and midnight on weekends. While CHNA enthusiastically welcomes new businesses on Thayer Street and elsewhere in the neighborhood, their operations should not diminish quality of life for residents.

With this proposed restriction on serving times, CHNA seeks to strike a fair balance between residential and commercial interests. The letter was read at the public hearing of the Board of Licenses on February 22.

Whither Clarke Flowers?

CHNA attended the Zoning Board Hearing at City Hall on March 16, where neighbors presented their positions on the fate of Clarke Flowers on Hope Street. Schartner Farms, the owners of this property, want to sell it to Brewed Awakenings, a growing RI-based coffee shop chain. The owners have applied for zoning variances that will allow Brewed Awakenings to demolish the flower store and build a new coffee shop with a drive-through. CHNA opposes these plans, as they threaten to intensify traffic, increase noise and emissions, and disrupt pedestrian activity. The proposed changes are of a scale and intensity inappropriate for a medium-density residential area, are incompatible with residents’ visions for their neighborhood, and are contrary to the Providence Comprehensive Plan’s goal of encouraging new development

that preserves and complements the present character of the Summit neighborhood.

Membership Drive This year, CHNA is focused on significantly increasing its membership, but we can’t meet our goal without your help. If you’re not already a member of CHNA, won’t you please consider joining? Membership is $20 per year and includes invitations to events, as well as timely email crime alerts and our free, mostly monthly e-newsletter, which reports on neighborhood news as well as CHNA’s activities. To join (or renew) your membership, visit our website, www. collegehillneighborhoodassociation. com, and click “Join CHNA.” Or send a check for $20, made out to College Hill Neighborhood Association, to the Treasurer, Box 2442, Providence, RI 02906. Be sure to include your email address.

Wayland Square

By David Kolsky Neighborhood Discussion Group at Books on the Square http://groups.yahoo.com/group/waylandsquare Upcoming Events: Monthly Meetings: Free and open to all. Future meetings will be at the same place and time on the fourth Wednesday of each month through October 2011. Wednesday, March 23 and Wednesday, April 26, 2011, 7pm.

Books on the Square, street level, 471 Angell Street (at Elmgrove, next to CVS).

Meeting Topics: No specific topics had been decided at this writing for the March or April meetings. Some interest has been expressed in finding ways to keep the corners of sidewalks passable for pedestrians after the plows have pushed snow off the roads. This is also the time to begin planting trees for the spring and summer. We also hope to invite some of our elected officials to talk to us in the near future.

Check our Yahoo! Group’s messages before a meeting to see if any topics or speakers have been decide.

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The first week in March was not a good one for former mayor and now U.S. Representative David Cicilline. He had just finished a congressional junket – his first – to Afghanistan, only to have the military base he was visiting come under fire. The week he returned home, current Mayor Angel Taveras released the results of an emergency financial audit his office commissioned to get a reality check as to the City’s true financial status. The report was so pessimistic, the congressman now finds himself ducking for cover again as the numbers suggest he left the City teetering on the brink of financial disaster. And as if things couldn’t get any worse, Buddy Cianci, a frequent critic of Cicilline, who takes such delight in tormenting him on a daily basis over the airways, released his new book on the Ides of March, providing his spin on what’s right and wrong with Providence.

14

East Side Monthly April 2011

Proving that he is a quick and astute learner, Mayor Taveras skillfully put the current financial crisis into terms any Rhode Islander could understand.

“I thought maybe we were a category three hurricane. This is a category five,” he gravely informed us.

“I certainly expected a deficit. I didn’t expect one of this magnitude.” In effect, Taveras seemed to be suggesting that we forget about stocking up on bread and milk. If changes aren’t forthcoming quickly, we should man the lifeboats.

Right now everyone continues to play the blame game. How could Cicilline not have known how bad things really were? Did he lose focus on City business as his attention turned to the heated race to succeed Congressman Patrick Kennedy? His boast of a departing surplus and seven years of balanced budgets with no tax

increases has given way to the audit commission’s report of a $180 million structural deficit. Obviously someone’s numbers are off. But there’s a bigger question: What can be done to ensure Providence doesn’t become Central Falls II? Ernest Almonte, the retired Auditor General for the State of Rhode Island who was selected by incoming Mayor Taveras as part of a five-member team looking at City finances, was worried about the capital city from the very beginning. “I’m concerned about Providence,” he said in an interview weeks before. “I look at the City of Central Falls as really being just one of many cities and towns in our state that are teetering on financial problems.

And that’s exactly the case when you look at Providence, with their unfunded pension liabilities, their unfunded post-retirement benefit liabilities, the

overall structural deficit they have – you combine all of those, and how are you going to pay for it? ” The Mayor’s new Director of Administration, Michael D’Amico, who headed the panel, admitted he was quite surprised to discover that six months into the fiscal year the previous administration and the City Council still had not agreed on an operating budget.

“I thought I’d have a few months to tinker with the existing budget, while we prepared for the next fiscal year,” he said. Now he and his staff are desperately scrambling for answers.

The numbers are staggering. In the City’s $638.5 million budget, the audit is projecting a $70 million deficit, $29 million of which is operating. And this is after a tax increase and draining the rainy day fund. The structural deficit projected for next year, which begins July 1, is $110 million and represents

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over 17% of the city’s current operating budget. To put things in perspective, the state is projecting a $250 million deficit on its $7 billion operating budget – only 3.6% of the total. The difference is staggering.

Then add in the really scary numbers for Providence: $828.4 million in unfunded pension liability and $1.5 billion in unfunded retiree health care. What is troubling about the latter figure, explains Almonte, is that while pension increases go up on a cost of living basis (generally around 2-3% per year) which is bad enough, healthcare costs continue to skyrocket at more like 10%-12% annually.

Perhaps the only encouraging aspect of the City’s financial melt down, is the manner in which the new mayor has taken charge.

Despite having very little administrative experience, he has surprised his critics by the speed and forcefulness of his decisionmaking. It’s impossible not to be impressed with his first 60 days.

So what comes next? In a bold, if controversial, move, his firing of all Providence teachers has given his team the flexibility to try to reduce costs as they move to close down somewhere between four and six schools. “I simply cannot allow us to pay teachers who do not work,” Taveras argues. He notes that of 76 teachers who lost permanent positions in the last cutback, some 75 are still on the payroll.

While the response from the teachers was predictably irate and vocal, given the magnitude of the City’s problem, it’s difficult to see an alternative. The mayor does expect the vast majority of terminated teachers will

be rehired. The issue of course is who will make the determination on which teachers will stay and which will go. He admits his staff and the union have different views on this, as well as on what determines a termination versus a layoff. “It’s in discussions,” Taveras says. “I’m hopeful we’ll work out something that’s fair to both sides and won’t impact on the quality of the education.”

The mayor himself has already taken a 10% pay cut, which will also affect his non-union staff. He then begins the more challenging task of negotiating concessions from the unions. He also plans to reopen negotiations with taxexempt institutions, as well as lobbying for more State aid. With a liberal governor, a Providencebased speaker of the house and a less confrontational mayor, Taveras hopes to get more funding from the State than in years past – but it remains a question mark.

The audit also addressed the larger problem of trying to close the ever-increasing structural deficits that threaten the future of the City. This is where larger, more long-term issues come into play: the need for pension reform, increasing employee pension contributions, the possibility for a single plan for all City employees to lower cost, better fiscal management (which includes things like more realistic budgeting, monthly monitoring and hiring a permanent finance director).

The analysis looks at issues both large and small. Do hundreds of employees have to have their own cell phones? Do City vehicles need to be taken home at night? Do we need so many park rangers?

How many fire personnel do we really require? What about allow

Perhaps the Projo is finally is beginning to take its responsibilities as a newspaper seriously. For most of the Cicilline years, the paper gave the administration a free ride. As long as he wasn’t Buddy, he was given a pass on most issues. Scandals in the police department, bounced checks from his now incarcerated brother, issues with his tax collector and the like were always discussed – but gently. Any investigation into City finances was limited at best. As the degree of the current financial shortfall became apparent, the paper seems to have done a 180. We hope it’s a trend.

Maybe things are so bad we have no alternative other than share the pain together. It’s likely that as long as everybody gives a little, the city as a whole stands to gain a lot in terms of finally putting our financial house in order. Not only will current residents be the beneficiaries, but so too will be our children and our children’s children.

For the first time in a while, the mayor, governor and speaker of the house all seem to speak the same language. Governor Chafee, Speaker Gordon Fox and Mayor Taveras represent a trio of liberals familiar with urban issues who should be able to work together in a collegial manner. Mayor Cicilline was always more issue-oriented and combative (which may make him more effective in Washington).

This group promises to be more pragmatic.

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We have an ideal opportunity to demonstrate the advantages of a small state when everyone works together. Is this finally the time for regionalization? For centralized purchasing? For eliminating the competition between cities (and their economic development departments) to attract businesses? How about Providence/Pawtucket going metro together?

Is it time to finally get nonprofits to pay their fair share? Legislation has been introduced in the General Assembly to allow cities to charge up to 25% of assessed value for taxes in compensation for services supplied. We don’t know what the number is, but there are models in New Haven, Pittsburgh, Cambridge.

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ing overnight parking in Providence and charging appropriate fees as a revenue generator? Taveras promises everything is up for consideration.

When asked about specific changes we can expect on the East Side, he offered a cautious prediction of what might happen. He doesn’t foresee any of our schools being closed. This is good news to parents who have been participating in the successful resurgence of Nathan Bishop. He has already begun preliminary discussions with some of the nonprofits, and while acknowledging their importance to Providence, he insists they must be part of a shared solution as well. And as for taxes? “I realize how heavy the tax burden is for our residents, so raising taxes will be a last resort,” he offers, adding, “That said, though, I need to be honest in suggesting some sort of increase is likely.”

If there is a mantra in this crisis, it is, “Everything is on the table.” The mayor believes that if all parties take a hit, the financial pain can be better absorbed

governor, which hopefully will help.

His priorities should be dealing with the unions and the tax exempt institutions, creating a better formula for education funding and creating a real focus on economic development.”

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and the City has a chance to work its way out of the current mess. That means his team will consider selling off assets like Roger Williams Park Zoo or the Casino. When asked how this is different than the one-time sale of assets that was a frequent technique employed by both the Cianci and Cicilline administrations, Almonte points out, “If the asset is just going towards plugging a revenue shortfall for the year, it doesn’t. The hope though is that would be applied towards closing a structural loophole.”

During the campaign, while candidates Lombardi and Costantino were hammering away at their perceived concerns over City finances, Candidate Taveras was a little more protective of the outgoing Cicilline administration. Having seen how bad the numbers are, what does he think now? “All of us were certainly surprised by the magnitude of the problem,” he concedes. In an interview with Ian Donnis and Scott MacKay of WRNI, the mayor acknowledged there

On what needs to be done: “We have a severe structural problem that has not been addressed for eight years. The major areas to look at: personnel, pensions, retiree benefits, as well as budgets and management in the police, fire and school departments. We also have some ridiculous contracts, like some for ‘infrastructure management’ that aren’t being utilized because they are too complicated.”

Former Mayor and City Councilman John Lombardi On Cicilline’s role in the current crisis: “I told you so! It’s not a category five hurricane – it’s a tsunami. What that kid (Cicilline) did to this city is absolutely criminal: overspending everywhere, staggering consulting contracts to cover up mistakes. It was unbelievable.”

On what Angel should do next: “I’ve spoken with Angel several times and I think that he is making the right moves – but he has to get rid of (City Finance Director) Kerbel who was behind the coverup of the financial mess. On the positive side, Angel has a very good relationship with the

Current Speaker of the House Gordon Fox On his involvement in the process so far: “I applaud Mayor Taveras for taking an aggressive approach in immediately addressing the financial problems in my home city. He has kept me apprised of the magnitude of the crisis while I have provided internal resources, including the services of the State’s acting Auditor General, to give him guidance and assistance along the way.

On some of his upcoming plans to assist in the process: “The problems in Providence, Central Falls and other urban cities will have a great impact on our state’s future, which is why I have appointed a special commission which will hold hearings and solicit expert testimony on the financial health of our municipalities. We will carefully scrutinize the looming crisis in several municipalities that has the potential to dramatically impact local bond ratings and jeopardize pension plans that are already woefully underfunded. I also hope to bring Mayor Taveras and General Treasurer Gina Raimondo together to try to craft a lasting solution to the problem. The numbers are staggering and it is time to bring the structural budget deficits under control.”

were quite a few hires during the last months of the previous administration. As with expenses, Taveras says his team will be looking at everything, including new hires, cell phone usage, expense accounts and the like. But he carefully sidestepped any direct criticism of his predecessor. “I think the best path is to talk to the Congressman directly,” he suggests.

Certainly the scope of the City’s problems is daunting, yet there is also a sense of excitement among the young, energetic staff the new mayor has assembled. “There’s almost a Kennedy-esque feeling here,” enthused Melissa Withers, the Director of Communications, in an earlier interview.

So is Taveras up to the challenge?

During the campaign, the “Head Start to Harvard” candidate was proud to remind residents, “People have been underestimating me all my life.” Given the crisis facing Providence, and the forceful first 60 days of his administration, there’s at least some cause for optimism.

Former Mayor and Businessman Joseph Paolino On how this could have happened: “For eight years, the Cicilline Administration was able to mask over and add to all of the financial problems. There was no accountability and no scrutiny by the City Council, who were to a degree kept in the dark, but who still should have seen that problems existed and needed to be addressed. And, the media did nothing. When Buddy was mayor, the Providence Journal had 12 reporters covering the City; when I was mayor there were eight. The Providence Journal had one reporter covering Cicilline.”

On some things we can do: “City government must change. We’re operating on a system that was created in the 1920s and Providence is not the same city it was then, or even in the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s or ‘90s. Departments must be merged. There should be one finance department and it should include the school department,” On how things might end: “Angel has been prudent and diligent in his approach and his message. The City’s current financial situation is a mess and the solution is going to be like making a sausage – real ugly when you are making it, but hopefully it will taste good after it’s prepared.

I haven’t seen the mayor’s budget proposal, but that is the real blueprint for change and we’ll have to wait and see.”

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spring preview

Theatre Coming In from the Cold

Spring theater is just getting warmed up • By Don Fowler

The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming and local theatres are booming with exciting new and old works by familiar and unfamiliar playwrights. In short, it’s finally time to replace cabin fever with some good theatrical experiences.

Providence Performing Arts Center Monty Python’s Spamalot returns to PPAC for the second time, April 15-17. I never laughed so hard as when I saw this 2005 Tony Award-winner for Best Musical. It is loaded with the Python-style humor, as the cast spoofs King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. If you missed it last time, join those of us who can’t wait to see it again.

Would you believe that West Side Story opened on Broadway more than 50 years ago? The classic Bernstein and Sondheim musical returns to PPAC with a new, fresh version of the Romeo and Juliet-themed tragic love story, directed by Tony Award winner Arthur Laurents. The new Broadway cast album won the 2010 Grammy award, making us ask, why don’t they write songs like “Tonight,” “Maria” and “Somewhere” any more? West Side Story is at PPAC from April 26-May 1.

421-ARTS, www.ppacri.org

Trinity Rep Steel Magnolias, Robert Harling’s southern comedy with some of the wackiest characters you will ever meet, will be at Trinity from April 15-May 15. It is about a group of women and the lasting power of friendship.

Trinity has a cast of some of the finest actresses to portray them. Tyler Dobrowsky, Trinity’s associate artistic director, recently noted that one of the reasons Trinity chose this play is that they feel the female members of their troupe are especially well-suited to bring the Magnolia women to life. It should be fun.

Trinity actor Stephen Thorne has written a new play with a long title:

18

East Side Monthly April 2011

The Completely Fictional – Utterly True – Final Strange Tale of Edgar Allan Poe. It will be directed by Curt Columbus. Thorne tells us that Poe has been missing for a week when he turns up drunk, dying and out of his mind, beginning a strange journey through his life and life’s work. 351-4242, www. trinityrep.com

Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre While many theater groups have planned their spring lineups with comedy in mind, the Gamm continues its outstanding season with both a serious and a funny play.

Howard Brenton’s Paul, which opened March 17, continues through April 17. Tony Estrella directs the thought provoking, powerful play about Paul (Saul), who has devoted his life to spreading the “Good News” of Jesus. Estrella says that Brenton has taken a secular look at the evolution of a belief. It met with both praise and controversy when it opened in London in 2005. This will be its North American premiere.

If you have ever seen a Christopher Durang play, you know that you are in for something outrageous and provocative. Take a trip to Pawtucket between May 5-June 5, and you’ll see what I mean. Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them (that’s not a grammatical error on my part) tackles the problem of America’s “War on Terror.” The play was a hit offBroadway in 2009. 723-4266, www. gammtheatre.org

his short stories.” He promises “a laughout-loud evening of infectious humor, touching tenderness and unending fun.”

I’ve seen most of Simon’s plays, but I had never even heard of this one. I look forward to the experience.

Keeping things interesting at 2nd Story, the provocatively titled In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) keeps things buzzing from April 29-May 29. The play, by Brown alum Sarah Ruhl, explores themes of Victorian Era sexual mores, female desire and, of course, the device of the title.

247-4200. www.2ndstorytheatre.com

2nd Story Theatre

Newport Playhouse

Director Ed Shea has made a change in his play selection for the spring, replacing The Playboy of the Western World with Neil Simon’s seldom-seen comedy The Good Doctor. The play opened on March 11 and will continue through April 10. Shea says that Simon has written “a heartwarming and hilarious tribute to Anton Chekhov, weaving in a variety of

Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna wrote a very funny play together about two widows whose daughters have moved them into a condo in Las Vegas, where, full of complaints and aches and pains, they meet a gentleman.

Bermuda Avenue Triangle will be at the Newport Playhouse and Cabaret Restaurant from March 31-May 15. This

The Cast of Monty Python’s Spamalot

one sounds like it should be a lot of fun.

Most of us have seen Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple, but few have witnessed Florence Unger and Olive Madison in The Female Odd Couple, a feminine twist on the popular play. Tony Annicone directs the comedy, which will play from May 19-June 30. You also get to enjoy the plentiful buffet before the show and lively cabaret afterwards.

848-7529, www.newportplayhouse.com

At The Colleges Stephen Sondheim and Julie Styne’s Gypsy will be performed by Providence College April 1-3 and 8-10. Call 8652218 for reservations. If you have not seen a production in their state-of-theart theatre, this is a good one to catch.

Talk by Carl Hancock Rux, directed

by Erik Ehn, is the closing production at Brown University on April 7-10 and 14-17. For tickets and more information, check out their web site at brown. edu/taps, or call the box office at 863-2838.

spring preview

MOVIES Springtime for Hollywood

(Oldman), an evil peacock with a powerful weapon that threatens the very existence of kung fu. Did we mention the all-star voice acting?

The Beaver May 6

Pirates of the Caribbean

Source Code April 1 Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright.

Captain Colter Stevens (Gyllenhaal) wakes up in a body that isn’t his on a train he doesn’t remember boarding. After the train blows up, he learns he’s part of a secret government program that allows him to cross over into another person’s identity for the last eight minutes of their life. The man Stevens has become was on a train hit by a terrorist attack, and Stevens must relive the event repeatedly to find clues that will help prevent a second, much deadlier attack. Think Groundhog Day meets The Sum of All Fears, but directed by Duncan Jones (Moon).

Ceremony April 8 Michael Angarano, Uma Thurman, Lee Pace Sam Davis (Angarano) convinces his former best friend to spend a weekend at the beachside estate of famous documentary filmmaker Whit Coutell (Pace). The reason for the sudden trip becomes clear when Coutell’s fiancee turns out to be Sam’s former love, Zoe (Thurman). Pintsized Sam hopes to win her back from the wealthier, more successful and much taller Coutell just days before their wedding.

Hanna Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana Raised in the Finnish wilderness by her ex-CIA father (Bana) to become a selfsufficient and practically perfect assassin,

the teenaged Hanna (Ronan) eludes and eliminates government agents lead by a ruthless intelligence operative (Blanchett). As she treks across Europe in search of her target, she may find out more about herself than she bargained for.

Water for Elephants April 22 Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, Christoph Waltz Based on the New York Times Best Seller by Sara Gruen and directed by I Am Legend’s Francis Lawrence, the film centers around an elderly man reliving his youth in a Depression Era traveling circus. Jacob (Pattinson), a veterinary student, falls in love with Marlena (Witherspoon), the star of the circus and wife of the charming but cruel animal trainer (Waltz). The pair form a special bond with Rosie, the seemingly untrainable elephant, while Jacob and Marlena eventually find love in the big top.

Kung Fu Panda 2 May 26 Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, David Cross, James Hong, Victor Garber, Michelle Yeoh, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Gary Oldman Po (Black) is back, now a kung fu master leading his old team (voiced by an all-star cast), who must join forces with other kung fu masters (also voiced by an all-star cast) to form a super-skilled, celebrity-voiced martial arts menagerie in order to defeat the evil Lord Shen

Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster A comedy-drama that once had Steve Carell and Jim Carrey interested in the lead, The Beaver follows the once successful CEO of a toy company, Walter Black (Gibson), who has become increasingly overcome by depression.

Just before hitting rock bottom, he comes across an old beaver hand puppet. Black dons the toy rodent and uses it to speak to his wife (Foster) and children, allowing him to finally express the feelings that were slowly unraveling his life.

Bridesmaids May 13 Kristen Wiig, Rose Byrne, Jon Hamm, Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, Ellie Kemper Paul Feig (of Freaks and Geeks and The Office fame) directs this comedy about a maid of honor whose already messy life falls further to shambles while trying to plan her best friend’s wedding.

When Annie (Wiig) hears that Lillian (Rudolph) has gotten engaged, she does her best to put her lackluster love life and money troubles aside to give Lillian the wedding of her dreams.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides May 20 Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Penélope Cruz, Ian McShane In the latest installment of this extremely profitable franchise, Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) crosses paths with Angelica (Cruz), a mysterious woman from his past, who forces him aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge, helmed by the pirate Blackbeard (McShane), in a search of the Fountain of Youth.

Voice of the Voiceless Local documentarians tune in to West African radio “Leh Wi Tok” is a Krio phrase which means “let us talk.” After more than a decade of civil war, which has devastated the West African nation of Sierra Leone and divided its people, the simple phrase takes on a much deeper meaning. Through interviews and personal accounts, Leh Wi Tok tells the story of Andrew Kromah and Radio Moa, the “voice of the voiceless,” a community-led radio station in Sierra Leone.

Before the civil war, Andrew leased mining and farming equipment for a living. When rebels killed 28 of his employees in 1990, Andrew had no way of notifying their families; there were no cell phones, and only the government controlled the airwaves.

It was this tragedy and inability to communicate that led Andrew to establish Radio Moa, the first independent radio station in the country.

Since its first broadcast in 2003, the station’s programs have exposed corruption, kept citizens up to date on politics and elections, played music and been an all around source of hope and critical information to a region long left in the dark. All of this is done on a simple transistor radio powered by aging diesel generators located in the middle of nowhere and accessible only on near-impassable dirt roads.

This documentary is packed with local talent: director and producer John Lavall from Rumford, producer Mary Copp from the East Side, associate editor Julie Lewis and photographers Kate Kelley and Jonathan Beller all from elsewhere in Providence, and underwritten by The Foundation for West Africa – a Rhode Island-based nonprofit headed by Topher Hamblett of Barrington. Leh Wi Tok will premiere at the Park Theatre in Cranston on April 7.

April 2011 East Side Monthly

19

(Photo by Scott Suchman 2010)

It’s almost blockbuster season – but not quite • By Andrew Brennan

spring preview

ARTS Full Bloom

Dance, music and fashion blossom in the city • By Carlee Carbone

It’s time for the galleries and stages to break out of the deep freeze and heat up with shows ranging from the RISD Museum’s tribute to cocktail traditions, to Festival Ballet’s reinterpreted classics to a showcase for female voices.

Noya and the Philharmonic Pops Orchestra in a Tribute to Louis Armstrong. Stripling has performed all over the country and is known for his precise renditions of Lois Armstrong songs with his own personal touches.

Festival Ballet May 14-15

April 16 Larry Rachleff and his orchestra will be joined by violinist David Kim for a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. The orchestra will also be playing Smetana’s The Bartered Bride Overture and Lutoslawski’s Concerto for Orchestra. Kim, who started playing the violin when he was threeyears-old, is world-renowned and was named Concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1999.

The magical fairytale classic Sleeping Beauty will be recreated in a three-act ballet performance at the VMA. Festival Ballet will bring to life through movement the story of Princess Aurora and the spell cast on her by evil fairy Carabosse, which can only be broken by the kiss of her one true love. This retelling features the music of Tchaikovsky and is based on the fairytale “La Belle au Bois Dormant” by Charles Perrault. 421-ARTS, www.festivalballet.com

May 7

Firehouse 13 April 30 The Jes Powers Project, a loose collection of musicians fronted by the titular siren, presents Chanteuse at Firehouse 13. This bimonthly showcase throws the spotlight on the wealth of female vocal and musical talent around New England. The lineup for this second installment (the first was in February) includes performances by Miss Wensday, VulGarrity’s Tracy Garrity, Boo City’s Tai Funmilayo, Abbie Barnett, Kristen Minsky, Michaelle Saintil and, of course, Miss Powers herself. 2701801, www.thejespowersproject.com

Providence Performing Arts Center May 10 The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will be debuting their magnificent dance moves and mesmerizing energy at PPAC. The company portrays African-American culture, humanity and spirituality in their

20

East Side Monthly April 2011

Sleeping Beauty

performances. For over 50 years Ailey has amazed his audience with the lively performances, including Revelations, which explores AfricanAmerican holy blues and a soulful way of life.

May 20-22 Much like The Blue Man Group, which came to PPAC last month, The Aluminum Show has a different take on entertaining audiences. It is the story of a young machine that is determined to reunite with its parents. The cast wears, interacts on set with, and uses recovered materials from industrial factories. The unusual yet captivating performance is accompanied by unique effects, vibrant lighting and exciting music. 421-ARTS, www. ppacri.org

Rhode Island Chamber Music Concerts April 5 One of the world’s most renowned string quartets, France’s own Ebene String Quartet, will perform classical music at First Unitarian Church of Providence.

They will be performing Bartok’s String Quartet No. 3 and Debussy’s String Quartet Op. 10 in G Minor. The four men will also improvise jazz and pop standards. 863-2416, www.ricmc.org

Rhode Island Philharmonic April 2 Byron Stripling brings his soulful sounds of jazz and blues to Veterans Memorial Auditorium, where his powerful trumpet will join Francisco

Larry Rachleff will conclude the Philharmonic’s 2010-2011 season on a good note by leading his orchestra in a performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 in D Major. Susan Platts and the Women of the Providence Singers, led by Andrew Clark, will make a guest appearance and add their superb voices to the already potent mix. All concerts at Veterans Memorial Auditorium.

248-7000, www.ri-philharmonic.org

RISD Museum April 15-July 31 Fashion by well-known designers such as Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta and Coco Chanel, to name a few, will be on display in Cocktail Culture Ritual and Invention in American Fashion 19201980. This exhibit is organized by the museum’s Department of Costume and Textiles and is the first to display the social and cultural rituals that defined the time period from the Roaring ‘20s right up to the Awesome ‘80s. Fashion, entertainment, design, barware, furniture and photography are among the 200-plus items that will be on display. 454-6500, www.risdmuseum.org

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The

Mighty Quakers

Moses Brown hockey achieves powerhouse status Story & photography By Dan Schwartz

“If you blow that horn one more time I’m going to shove it you know where!” yells a Cranston West high school girl toward a Moses Brown teenager sending out Viking blasts from his vuvuzela. It’s the final hockey game of the regular season and the Cranston Veterans Memorial rink is packed to capacity with fans. Red and white attired cheerleaders with heavy makeup and hair pulled back pivot in front of the Plexiglass; balloons and posters for Cranston West players festoon the corners and the two teams are grinding it out at ice level for their respective slots in the upcoming postseason. Moses Brown coach Larry Tremblay compares high school hockey in Rhode Island to Friday Night Lights in Texas or basket22

East Side Monthly April 2011

ball in Indiana, and no doubt about it, the atmosphere is electric.

Since taking over coaching duties 15 years ago, Tremblay has solidified the Quakers’ hockey program and helped them make the jump from Met B into the state’s best hockey division in 2007.

This year Moses Brown is a top contender heading into the postseason with an impressive 14-3-1 record backed by a trio of stars: Rob Rinn, Eric Salzillo and Evan Jacques. What is amazing is Moses Brown has less than half the student enrollment of schools like Mount Saint Charles and La Salle Academy, yet somehow they are finding a way to compete with the state’s hockey juggernauts.

Hockey teams survive on the talent of their players, and a private school with

a solid hockey reputation will draw the top performers. It is the classic chickenor-the-egg scenario for Moses Brown, because once Tremblay brought the program up to a competitive level in Met B (state champs in 2002 and 2004), and with the current dominant season in Division One, more top flight players want to join the Quakers. To understand how Moses Brown evolved into such a strong presence, one needs to look at the pedigree of its coach.

A native of Woonsocket, 64-year-old Tremblay was steeped in hockey ever since his early days playing for Mount Saint Charles Academy and then Providence College under the guidance of assistant coach Lou Lamoriello (now the president and general manager of

the New Jersey Devils and an inductee of the Hockey Hall of Fame). Tremblay became the assistant coach for Mount Saint Charles under the renowned Normand “Bill” Belisle for the first years of their unquestioned domination of Rhode Island hockey – with 26 consecutive state championships – before coming to Moses Brown. Tremblay is modest and explains that his philosophy is all about focusing on what’s best for the kids, but it is impossible to ignore his championship heritage.

Tremblay notes that the development of the Moses Brown program took a lot of hard work. “We changed our practices a bit and started to attract more talented players and retain them,” he notes. A good example of that reten-

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better – and I should have,” Tremblay admits. “Be that it as it may, we took our punishment and I’m serving my penalty. We want to move on.”

He explained that Moses Brown didn’t have enough players to field a JV squad and the coaches wanted to set up scrimmages, so that players who don’t normally dress had a chance to play in a game situation. Instead of using starting varsity players to fill in the gaps, they used a few eighth graders, including a goalie. Tremblay was bothered that this was addressed in an anonymous fashion, allegedly from a parent disgruntled about his or her child not getting enough ice time.

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tion is recent star player Austin Mayer who, like his two older brothers, left to play better hockey at Toll Gate, but returned to Moses Brown to lead the team to a state championship in 2004.

There is a small pool of highly skilled players that everybody wants. Public schools complain about losing some of their best players to the private schools within the Rhode Island Interscholastic League, and the private schools themselves are losing some of their top performers to the out-of-state Juniors programs.

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Coach Larry Tremblay compares high school hockey in Rhode Island to Friday Night Lights in Texas or basketball in Indiana. periods, while Juniors has a 30- to 40-game schedule with 20-minute periods. Players simply get more ice time and exposure at Juniors. But at schools like Moses Brown, they are also receiving a great education; coupled with the strength of their hockey program, that has a noticeable effect on open houses. “We used to get three or four hockey players visiting,” Tremblay says. “Then we started to get 15 to 20 kids. Moving to Division One has made a huge difference.”

As is normally the case in Rhode Island, politics had to make an entrance at some point: an anonymous letter to the Rhode Island Interscholastic League about three eighth graders playing in a couple of varsity practices and participating in two junior varsity scrimmages resulted in Tremblay being suspended for two games, the school being fined $400 and the entire sports program at Moses Brown being put on probation for what was deemed a violation of eligibility and recruiting rules. There had never been a precedent for a varsity coach being suspended for this act and the timing couldn’t have been worse, as the next two games happened to be against the two best teams in the league, Bishop Hendricken and Mount Saint Charles (both games resulted in losses). “The committee felt that being a veteran coach I should have known

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Hockey coaching styles vary greatly from the screaming, skate-until-youpuke variety to quieter forms of authority – Tremblay is the latter. He has no children of his own and he regards all his players like family, often keeping in touch with them long after they graduate. East Sider Jim Engle is a Moses Brown graduate whose three sons all played for Tremblay; they still keep in touch with him. “He was always good with the kids,” Engle recalls. “They all liked playing hockey and loved playing for Larry.” The Quakers practice for an hour-and-a-half starting at 6:15am on weekdays, so for a player like Eric Salzillo, who lives in Johnston, it means getting up at 5am every school day; that love for the game and your coach makes a huge difference.

With the Quakers current success they now have a target on their back, being viewed as unwanted competition from both public schools and the established powers among the private schools. There is a sea change in Rhode Island hockey: Moses Brown is here to win. By the time this magazine is distributed, the playoffs for the 2011 season will already be over, but no matter how far Moses Brown goes, with Larry Tremblay at the helm, the Quakers hope indeed one day to climb the Mount to a Division One state championship.

April 2011 East Side Monthly

23

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East Side Monthly April 2011

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A House That’s Become a Home Angell Street mansion has been home to active seniors for almost four decades

By Barry Fain • Photography by Laurel Mulherin The handsome historic French chateau, while gorgeous from the outside, can be a bit intimidating. But take one step inside, and any feelings of concern immediately give way to ones of warmth, conviviality and excitement.

Welcome to the world of Hamilton House, an institution that is entering its 39th year as a gracious and elegant home-away-from-home for active seniors (or anyone else for that matter).

While the beautifully appointed, rather formal living room that welcomes you speaks of an old Providence that no longer exists, the rest of the impressive building is alive with the activities and enthusiasm that crackle with modernity.

In one room, a group is taking a course in conversational German. In another, a retired Brown professor is lecturing on 20th century poetry. In a sunny room toward the back of the house, a dozen mah jong players are clicking and clacking away energetically. An hour from now, they will be replaced by bridge players with aerobics and yoga classes scheduled for later in the day. An elderly man is in the basement working on his bank shots on a gorgeous, regulation-

size pool table while an artist, her smock a smorgasbord of color, is embellishing her latest watercolor next door. Upstairs, Hamilton’s in-house chef is busy preparing a true smorgasbord, what with lunchtime only an hour away.

“I think Hamilton House is one of the best-kept secrets on the East Side,” suggests executive director Jessica Haley.

“All the pity, since we’ve become such an important and comfortable resource for the 350 or so active members who use the House on a regular basis.” She explains how members can dial up or dial down usage depending on their interests and availability. “We have some regulars who drop in and have lunch here on an almost daily basis. But then others just come when the spirit moves them – say when they’re in the area or taking a specific class.”

Hamilton House was begun in 1972 when Florence (“Florrie”) Hamilton bequeathed her imposing estate to the Congregational Church next door. The elegant chateau, built in 1896 and now on the National Historic Register, was clearly too big a structure for the church to absorb. But its leaders, Reverend

Raymond Gibson and Robert Whitaker, felt there was an opportunity to use the space for the benefit of both its congregants and East Side neighbors.

The church made the space available for a dollar a year and wisely hired Moses Brown teacher Ted Whitford and his wife Ruth, who were retiring after many years at the school, as co-executive directors. Ruth remains active at the House, though well into her 90s. Through the years, a dedicated staff has lovingly created the current atmosphere of the Hamilton House as a place that offers rich intellectual and artistic stimulation in a warm and welcoming atmosphere, and encourages new friendships.

The Whitfords’ legacy remains indelible on the building, though it is now executive director Haley and her assistant director, Anna Mason, who have assumed the responsibilities of maintaining house activities on a regular basis.

Every Monday through Friday, members are offered a choice of over a dozen different activities: some to stimulate the mind (language instruction, film courses, current affairs and the like), the body (T’ai Chi, Hatha yoga, aerobics, reflexol-

ogy) or just the “fun gene” (bridge, winetasting, painting classes, horticulture).

Board member Marilyn Quesenberry, who moved to Providence ten years ago when her husband took a position with Lifespan, recalls her first involvement with Hamilton House. “I knew so few people when I first arrived. It was here that I’ve made new friendships that remain so important to me,” she recalls.

“Now I try to do my part to help the House in return.”

Like most nonprofit boards, “giving back” usually involves some participation in helping the organization navigate the current challenging economic landscape. Translated: fundraising. While the building itself remains quite extraordinary, it is over a century old, which means there are roofs that occasionally leak, wiring that needs updating, walls and windows that need maintenance.

One source of help is found in a gloriously framed oil painting that hangs in the sitting room. It’s of George Champlin, who not only was one of the founders of the Champlin Foundation, but also the brother of Florrie Hamilton. The foundation has been quite generous in April 2011 East Side Monthly

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East Side Monthly April 2011

providing some help for the upkeep of the house. But given the organization’s commitment to keeping usage fees low, as well as the realities of staff and scheduling costs, budget issues are always lurking, even at a place as robust as Hamilton House. “In the early days, we were fortunate that there were several bequests which helped support our growth,” explains Haley. “But this kind of funding is not predictable so we need to rely on more traditional sources: grants and our membership.

Board Member Beth Samuels, herself a recent retiree from teaching at Moses Brown, remains enthusiastic about the future of the house. “The people who come here, including myself, obviously, love it – we just need to clear up a couple of misconceptions,” she stresses.

“First, we do need to support ourselves independently, though obviously the help from the Church and grants are enormously helpful. Second, we are not exclusively for East Siders. In fact, only about half of our current membership lives in Providence. Thirdly, we need to emphasize that Hamilton House is open to anyone, regardless of race, creed, color or gender. And finally, we need to broaden our appeal to the younger crop of baby boomers heading towards retirement, who will be looking towards organizations like us to provide challenging activities for them. My hope is that in the future perhaps we can expand into things like providing travel and outdoor recreational opportunities.”

Director Haley echoes these sentiments. “If any member has a good idea, we try to make it happen. In the past, in response to member suggestions, we have offered special courses covering the History of Jazz and AfricanAmerican Literature. We even helped a member organize a Monday night men’s poker group. We did encourage him to keep the stakes low, though,” she adds with a laugh.

Hamilton House is located at 276 Angell Street near the corner of Hope.

While there is parking in the back, space is somewhat limited, Haley admits: “Fortunately the city allows our members to put stickers on their cars that allow them to park for longer than the posted two-hour limits. We also find our users are creative at getting dropped off or using public transportation.” A full lunch menu is provided each day at somewhat subsidized prices. “It provides a social and affordable way to have lunch,” she adds.

Courses are taught by retired professors, teachers or volunteers with experience (or passion) in the subject matter.

In addition, Brown students often sign up to teach as well. “It gives them a chance to practice their teaching and computer skills and they love the enthusiasm our ‘students’ bring to the subject matter,” observes Board Member Joan Mekrut, herself a former teacher. “I originally came here because my mother was so involved and have now become hooked myself.”

Membership costs between $125-200 a year, but includes unlimited use of the facility. Hamilton House also offers occasional fundraising events to both replenish its coffers and educate the public about its activities. The next event is a special Spring Brunch and fundraiser on April 10 that will feature Rory Raven, Mentalist and Mindbender.

Contact the House for more information and to reserve a spot.

For more information on Hamilton visit www.historichamilton.com or call 831-1800. Better still, just drop in and take a look for yourself. A quote on the front of a brochure sums it up best: “The excitement of learning separates youth from old age. As long as you’re learning, you’re not old.”

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observations of longtime RISD English and Film Professor Mike Fink responding to the recent faculty meeting at which those in attendance voted no confidence in President John Maeda and Provost Jessie Shefrin. The vote was 147 to 32 with 15 abstentions. The vote was in response to an academic reorganization plan to merge the Division of Architecture and Design and the Division of Fine Arts into a single Division of Undergraduate Studies.

A colleague of long duration spoke up and underscored the phrase “freedom of speech.” Is there really any such thing, anywhere, any time? I mean, can a professor at a faculty meeting say what’s on his/her mind without making foes from friends? If your opinion is shaded, qualified, will anybody lend an ear or just brush you off?

The room was jammed beyond the doorways, with teachers both full and part time, classroom and studio instructors, as well as department and division chairs. I guess I have served on the RISD campus beyond anybody else’s tenure: I entered the lecture halls in 1957! And yet I was reluctant

to speak my piece at our recent gathering to vote “no confidence” in the present administration.

I heard, again and again, such statements as, “Never in the history of our college has there been such antagonism between faculty and administration!” People stood up, grasped the microphone, announced the length of their tenure, and called for immediate action. Except for a few voices, calm and collected, who pleaded for a delay until the next meeting in order to make yet another effort to express the widely held views of our faculty and to await an acceptable response from up above.

View of what? Of the vision presented by the current board of RISD and their central academic offices for the future shape of the curriculum – that is, of the relationship of department to department. Who shall stay and who shall go from their desks? Will the Wintersession survive the cuts?

You can’t survive as many decades as I have at RISD without making a few adversaries among the allies, without suffering some setbacks among the five-year contracts that our union has secured for us, once as teachers we

have passed “critical review” beyond the biblical first seven years.

I remember there was once a plan (should we call it a strategic plan?) to tear down Carr House, that feudal turreted castle on the corner of Benefit and Waterman. I wrote a letter to the student newspaper objecting to the plan to raze it and raise up instead a new building. For that, I received a registered letter of rebuke from then President Albert Bush Brown announcing that, at the close of my contract, I would not be rehired. Freedom of press and speech? Hardly. As it turned out, he left and I won a reprieve. So, yes, a top administrator can suppress and oppress. Nothing new there.

Yet to this day there are those hired by him who claim, quite reasonably, that he transformed the school from a local “vocational” resource into a national and international magnet, and expanded and exalted the liberal arts division among others in the process. Like all administrators, he made both opponents and adherents, enemies and intimates.

The second time I was threatened with getting fired, it was a division chair who objected to my use of a

nude model in a writing class. The rules and customs of classroom and those of studio seem to differ, and I grieved the complaint through the union. Once again, the boss guy left and that was that. Still another time, it was a department head who tried to do me in, and our own human resources officer determined the outcome of the “trial” in my favor. I have also earned over the years many kind gestures of recognition: Alumni Teacher of the Year, Honorary Alumnus, John Frazier Award for Excellence in Teaching, among other salutes not directly connected to RISD. But my point is that President Maeda is not the first creator of conflict on campus, nor the prime model of the “autocratic authoritarian.” The faculty members, sitting in judgment on his performance, are not the innocent bystanders of abuse of office.

Many among us have injured our neighbors among our ateliers. I can list and name them. One of them is the very spokesman who has been overquoted in newspaper and media coverage. It is easy to rile up and rouse. I know, because I have often had occasion to write letters of support to the Committee on Faculty Appointments.

I’ve also served on that committee and been witness to some rather ugly statements made by and about one’s fellow instructors!

Had I spoken, I would have taken up too much time acknowledging both sides of each issue. The truth, to me, generally lies on a seesaw.

When first I heard John Maeda speak, I agreed with those who quite forcefully asked him to abandon the little mottos he had placed on a table and to address those pressing issues that mattered to us. When I heard of the departure of some of our favorites among the administrators and their assistants, from Jay Coogan, our then Provost (and a former student of mine), to many others in the past two years, I joined the faculty in protest in appreciation for their helpful service to us and to our students. I thought that Hope Alswang grew into a welcoming and warmly receptive director of our museum, and regretted her departure.

As to his personal style, unlike some others, I found his t-shirts and fancy scarves lively and innovative. I grew to like him, not only as a person, but as a supportive symbol of the vitality of the school – both its past and its prospects, its achievements and its possibilities. When I wrote a letter to the Providence Journal in the summer of

his first semester with a balance sheet of his accomplishments and his errors, I received a list of hate messages in my computer. Yet when I composed those sentences, I had been afraid of offending him by not defending him enough.

I go back to the era when we were best known for our skills and craftsmanship. We taught anatomy and calligraphy, and Industrial Design was termed quite frankly, “Machine Design.” As we move into a totally different epoch, President Maeda, I think, seeks to open the doorways to new concepts of creativity, while at the same time safeguarding the traditions built into the core of the college. When first I met him on the steps of the house at which he hosted the reception following his earliest convocation, he already knew our names and our record at RISD. Since then, he has steadily endorsed our teaching and our connections with alums from half a century ago and ever onward.

“They remember you, and what they learned,” he would repeat each time we would meet. On his blog he printed and shared descriptions of retired professors from long ago.

President Maeda gave breakfasts for each of the faculty, prepared them and recorded them, and gave the impression far and wide that his respect for the education we had shaped constituted the treasure trove of RISD. He has altered policies when students made protests and requests.

RISD is not only its faculty. Not only its boards, staff, chief officers. Primarily, it is its pupils, from first year disciples through seniors, graduate students and alums. It is even its custodial caretakers. Sometimes I trust their level headed perspective more than anybody else’s.

It is therefore difficult for me to see and accept the impression our president seems to have made upon so many of my peers. I can only conclude that, to some extent, there is an element of mass hysteria, of a lynch mob mentality, that builds a monster from a man. I do, in the end, bow to the will of the majority.

I listen to the diatribes of speakers, eloquent and heartfelt, and I think, I guess I am wrong. And yet, I hold out the hope, as I write, that these troubles may dissolve and that all sides, including the student alliance, may together resolve their differences and that RISD may revive like an exhausted hummingbird and rediscover its route.

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Classical High School Alumni Association 5th Annual Distinguished Alumni Awards Saturday April 9, 2011 6:00 pm Providence Marriott, Orms St. Melvin Zurier, Esq., Class of 1946 Lifelong dedication to community service and Classical High School Anthony Gasbarro, Class of 1957 Peace Corps Master’s International Program Coordinator, University of Alaska Fairbanks John M. Barry, Class of 1964 Prize winning and New York Times best-selling author Joseph Nocera, Class of 1970 Business Journalist, New York Times and National Public Radio Karina Montilla Edmonds, Phd., Class of 1988 Technology Transfer Coordinator, U.S. Department of Energy

Contact Mary Figueroa (401) 441-2052 classicalalumni@yahoo.com

Awards Ceremony and Dinner - $75 per person The Classical High School Alumni Association supports current Classical students with in-school enhancements & after-school programs

April 2011 East Side Monthly

29

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East Side Monthly April 2011

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On the Menu

by John Taraborelli

Nagasaki Champon Ramen

Top Ramen The famous Japanese noodle dish gets its due While most people have some familiarity with ramen, the vast majority probably thinks of the low cost, high sodium packets of dried noodles or microwavable cups of noodle soup that are the staple of so many dorm rooms. In Japan, however, ramen is a wheat noodle dish, originally of Chinese origin (it is often known as chuka soba, which means “Chinese buckwheat noodle”), commonly served in specialty ramen restaurants. Even in larger American cities like New York, ramen houses are a popular choice for lovers of Japanese food, but no restaurant in Providence has truly explored the many delicious varieties.

Much like barbecue in the American south, each region of Japan has its own unique variant of ramen.

Enter Ebisu, the unassuming little Japanese restaurant hidden on the Providence/Cranston line (38 Pontiac Ave.). It’s gone practically unnoticed by all but the most ardent foodies since it opened in 2009, but Ebisu has been quietly and consistently putting out some of the most exciting and inventive food in Providence. From their extensive sake menu (including some very creative sake cocktails) to their ever evolving izakaya (Japanese bar food) selection to their Rice Burger, a take on fast food that is equal parts silly, ingenious and addictively delicious, partners Kazu Kondo,

Gift Nutalaya and X Premwat (who all met while working at that East Side staple of Japanese food, Haruki) have been both elevating and defying diners’ expectations (many of whom are surprised to find a Japanese restaurant that has neither a sushi bar nor a hibachi grill).

This month, they explore four regions of Japan through ramen. “During my childhood in Tokyo, one of my favorite foods was ramen,” Kondo explains, adding, “I still love ramen and every time I visit Tokyo, I never fail to visit the Ramen Museum in Shinyokohama, where they have several ramen restaurants serving different regional specialties ramen under one roof.” There lies the inspiration for Ebisu’s new ramen menu, which spotlights the variants of Tokyo, Okinawa, Sapporo and Nagasaki.

Each one is served noodle soup style, accompanied by nori (the seaweed most often used to wrap sushi) to add a little extra salt and flavor to the broth. In our case, the waitress offered the nori on the side, apparently assuming that we were of lessthan-adventurous American palates, but traditionally it would already be in the bowl when served. The differences between the dishes are numerous: the thickness of the noodle, the type of broth, the toppings, etc. At times, the variations were quite specific, as

in the case of the Tokyo Miso and Nagasaki Champon. Both are made with pork broth, but where the Tokyo version is flavored with miso and chashu (roast pork), Nagasaki uses tonkutsu (pork knuckle) stock as its base.

The landscape of its origin also comes into play with each dish. The northern city of Sapporo, for instance, is known for its seafood, but also its dairy products. As such, its version of ramen is topped with squid, shrimp and scallops, as well as butter, which lends the broth a creamy richness not found in the others. In southern Okinawa, where the climate is more subtropical and the flavors lighter, the broth is made with kelp and bonito (skipjack tuna) flakes.

This sort of culinary exploration is exactly what we need more of on the Providence dining scene, introducing new flavors and encouraging diners to be more worldly and open to the unfamiliar. Kondo says the new ramen menu has already been a hit with their regulars, so perhaps if more diners show an interest, they’ll be inspired to make it permanent. For the moment, however, don’t miss your chance to visit four regions of Japan without even leaving your table.

Got food news? Send it to John at onthemenu@providenceonline.com.

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April 2011 East Side Monthly

31

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Downtown ASIAN BISTRO 123 Dorrance Street; 3833551. Chinese, Japanese and Thai, hibachi and sushi – they’re all under one roof at Asian Bistro. For the freshest flavors in a convenient downtown location, this is the place. LD $-$$$ ASIAN PALACE 1184 North Main Street; 228-7805. All the flavors of Asia are here: from Chinese classics to new Thai favorites to fresh, impeccably prepared sushi.

The gorgeous banquet room is available for private functions. LD $-$$$ CAV 14 Imperial Place; 751-9164. The New York Times’ choice as one of Providence’s five best restaurants, CAV’s contemporary upscale cuisine is available al fresco for lunch and dinner daily. They also feature weekend brunch. LD $$-$$$

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HEMENWAY’S 121 South Main Street; 351-8570. A true Providence classic, Hemenway’s has been serving top-notch seafood for 20 years. Their oyster bar features everything from the famed Prince Edward Island variety to the local favorite Poppasquash Point. LD $$-$$$ MILLS TAVERN 101 North Main Street; 272-3331. The only restaurant in RI to receive the Mobile Four Star Award for five consecutive years, Mills Tavern provides traditional American cuisine in a warm, friendly setting. LD $$-$$$

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32 East Side Monthly April 2011 7/26/10 10:28 AM Taste_ESM_SEP2010.indd 1

mo – sauteed fatty tuna and monkfish liver pate with eggplant tempura, served with a black bean sauce. LD $-$$$ MAD ERNIE’S 485 Angell Street; 3311031. Mad Ernie’s serves a delicious, tempting array of homemade ice creams and yogurts, as well as savory fare like lobster rolls, hot dogs, grilled cheeses and more. LD $ RED STRIPE 465 Angell Street; 4376950. Red Stripe serves classic comfort food with a French influence. From their signature Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup to their ten different styles of Moules & Frites, their food is reasonably priced and made with passion. LD $$-$$$ WATERMAN GRILLE 4 Richmond Square; 521-9229. With its covered outdoor seating overlooking the Seekonk River, Waterman Grille offers seasonally inspired New American fare in a comfortable setting. BrD $$-$$$

Hope/Thayer CHEZ PASCAL 960 Hope Street; 4214422. Chef Matt Gennuso’s East Side kitchen offers French food with a modern twist. Sample the Escargots a la Bourguignonne, or try the Bistro Menu (Tue-Thur), which features three courses for $30 per person. Delicieux! D $-$$$ KARTABAR 284 Thayer Street; 3318111. This European-style restaurant and lounge offers a full menu of unique dishes with Mediterranean flair and eclectic flavors. They also offer a top-notch wine list and martini menu. LD $-$$ NOT JUST SNACKS 833 Hope Street;

SAWADDEE THAI 93 Hope Street; 8311122. Serving authentic Thai cuisine since 1984 (originally under the name Bangkok Cuisine), Sawaddee Thai continues to set the standard, while providing a comfortable, neighborhood atmosphere. LD $ THREE SISTERS 1074 Hope Street; 2737230. Try their local, organic coffee, quick and filling breakfast sandwiches, fresh panini and famous homemade ice cream that’s simply to die for. BBrL $ TORTILLA FLATS 355 Hope Street; 7516777. You can’t go wrong with the laidback attitude and exceptional Mexican fare at Tortilla Flats. Sample a Margarita from the bar and the “Nawleens”-style Catfish to get the full experience. LD $-$$

Wickenden UNITED BBQ 146 Ives Street; 751-9000.

Barbecue is an art form here. Feed the inner man with a classic rack of ribs or make it light with a “Tofurkey” kielbasa sandwich from the menu’s Weird Stuff section. They deliver. LD $-$$ TEA IN SAHARA 69 Governor Street; 709-3252. Tea in Sahara brings a little taste of Morocco to Providence, with a selection of traditional appetizers, panini, coffees, teas and more in a relaxed atmosphere decorated with Moroccan handicrafts. LD $ WINGS AND THINGS 250 Brook Street; 369-7551. This family run business offers fresh, never frozen, chicken wings bathed in hot sauce made by hand from freshly ground chili peppers, plus 20 sauces, appetizers, sandwiches and soups. LD $ Z-BAR 244 Wickenden Street; 831-1566.

This cozy, classic bistro offers value, and a wide range of fare including, steaks, panini, salads and house made ravioli with an emphasis on fresh, local and organic ingredients. BrLD $$

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East Side Monthly April 2011

Movies

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The Adjustment Bureau

Still the Same Old Story The Adjustment Bureau and Beastly reviewed The world will always

welcome lovers, especially at the cinema. But have there ever been this many date movies? The routine boy-gets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl scenarios are an integral part of the cinematic landscape, but having temporarily exhausted Jane Austen and Shakespeare, Hollywood has lately managed to find romance among nerds, sleazeballs, pornographers, vampires, werewolves and even corporate suits.

Science fiction and dramatized fairy tales aren’t new to the genre, but retooling The Matrix for its love quotient is different enough to feel new, and it’s been years since the last Beauty and the Beast remake.

Both The Adjustment Bureau and Beastly manage to be entertaining enough, but you must remember that a kiss is still just a kiss. When you know before the movie even starts that love is going to triumph over adversity, then that adversity better be innovative enough to keep you on your toes between the opening and closing cliches. The Adjustment Bureau is a clever, lively romp, while Beastly is cornball drivel.

In The Adjustment Bureau, Matt Damon’s man-of-the-people’s sen-

ate campaign collapses over a tabloid exposé in a fast-paced, well-shot flurry of activity by writer/director George Nolfi. Enter Emily Blunt, pretty obviously the woman of Damon’s dreams, helped by the immediate chemistry between the two actors. So much for boy-meets-girl. The trouble for these wannabe lovers comes in the conflict between our known world and the controlling forces that exercise strong influence over it.

Basing his screenplay on yet another cinematically-friendly, existentialist short story by science fiction icon Phillip K. Dick, Nolfi pays scant attention to metaphysical speculation and concentrates on what matters: powerful beings in the guise of men wearing hats do not want Damon and Blunt to stay together.

These men in hats (three in particular: John Slattery, Anthony Mackie and Terence Stamp) work hard to ensure that a grand plan for humanity is carried out. They can co-opt free will, desire, even love if those glitches get in the way of the plan. (That coffee spill that made you miss your bus? That was them. The love of your life was on that bus. The men in hats didn’t want the two of you to meet.)

Oh, it’s all for the best, mind you.

These men in hats aren’t bad men. It’s just that, sometimes, what’s good for you isn’t good for the rest of the world.

(It turns out that the problems of two little people can amount to far more than a hill of beans.)

When coincidence and persistence allow Damon to stumble onto these normally undetectable men in hats, they must take him into their confidence to keep the world on an even keel. Thus begins the adventure. Anybody who has seen any Matt Damon movie knows he’s not going to put up with anybody – human or (possibly) angelic – telling him what to do, much less whom to love.

The Adjustment Bureau becomes a thriller. Cat and mouse chases abide as a series of doors in New York City act like portals from one section of the city to another, allowing a man in a hat (if it’s the right kind of hat) to get in the way of love, if that love will mess up the grand scheme of things. But, if a regular Matt Damon kind of guy knows about the hats and possibly can even get his hands on one, well, all bets are off.

Beyond the obvious suspension of disbelief, The Adjustment Bureau is April 2011 East Side Monthly

35

Movies

continued...

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East Side Monthly April 2011

Beastly very easy on the eyes and ears. Nolfi’s fast pace never lets up, his actors are consistently credible, and given that there are no real villains in the piece, the tension is more than sufficient to get you from Point A’s first kiss to Point B’s last one. The in-between stuff is likable, inventive, intelligent enough and just adult enough to qualify as sophistication.

Beastly, on the other hand, has a tough time on its hands trying to convince anybody that skin deep beauty is not where it’s at, when every bit of popular information and virtually every aspect of our culture insists otherwise.

Corporate movie-making at its most garish, the film unites marketable hunk-of-the-month Alex Pettyfer and High School Musical’s Vanessa Hudgens. He’s a beastly, rich punk. She’s a beautiful innocent. Both attend an exclusive academy for the spawn of the rich, where Hudgens managed to get in on her brains.

Enter Goth girl Mary-Kate Olsen (again impressive in spite of, or possibly because of, the brevity of her part) as a witch who curses Pettyfer, transforming him into a beast who is subsequently banished from

the academy to a brownstone by his crass and insensitive anchorman father (Peter Krause).

With a year to overcome Olsen’s curse by getting someone to see past his repulsive face and find something beneath it to love, he rescues the vulnerable Hudgens (her father is no day at the beach either, plus, he has enemies who are a threat to her) and offers her sanctuary in his brownstone.

The good part of the movie is watching the talented Hudgens slowly fall for the hapless Pettyfer, whose makeup actually works against him by making him appear more provocative than beastly. Adolescently glib dialogue helps except when it falls flat, which is far too often. (Neil Patrick Harris as Pettyfer’s tutor gets most of the good lines.) And the staging of the action has a made-fortelevision feel that fails to lift the film into a realm of genuine fantasy.

Daniel Barnz wrote and directed without any noticeable vision, forcing the familiar story into comfortable but uninspired predictability. Beastly is nothing more than a reliable old chestnut that can lull you from Point A to Point B – but it’s an uneventful journey.

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37

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401-272-2704 38

East Side Monthly April 2011

A week of news about Providence’s horrendous fiscal situation followed the stunning termination of all Providence teachers, as we learned in dizzying succession about likely school closures and program cuts.

During February’s school break, many of my teacher friends were reeling. We know now that the city aims to restore most teachers to their current positions in a timely way, but when the news first broke, they were blindsided and unmoored. One fifth grade teacher, who learned about the termination from an online news source, immediately thought of her students, whom she would not see for another five days. She noted, “It’s not that we don’t know that there’s a fiscal crisis. It’s not that we think that we should be immune. My concern is with the way the news was released.

During school vacation, kids turned on the TV and heard that their teachers were fired.”

“I don’t believe that this was handled this way on purpose,” she added. “But the adults who were dealing with this situation needed to remember that there are children involved. My biggest worry is the effect that uncertainty will have on them.” Since she and I talked, we have learned more about the timelines for rescinding most termination notices and school closure announcements. But when school resumed after vacation, all of that remained unknown, and her students were “shaken and silent.”

This teacher created a short lesson on the basic mechanics of budgets and school funding that gave her students a tenuous handle on the maelstrom, but another teacher wasn’t equipped with subject area expertise to address students’ anxieties

with clear information. “When my first period class came in, I didn’t know what to expect and neither did they,” she recalled. “Some of them were surprised to see me – they thought I’d already been fired. I did my best to field questions and be as positive as I could all day long – and get some teaching done. We are there to make them feel safe and secure as well as teach them. How do you do that if you don’t feel secure yourself?”

In some schools, the effects of this budget crisis interrupted momentum toward improvement. Another teacher, who had in past years felt buffeted by the winds of constant change – new principals, new curriculum, new assessments – had been feeling that teachers and students in her school had been settling down into a productive groove.

“I am particularly sad because this year was going so well,” she lamented. “In the past few years, it’s been so demoralizing to be a teacher. Until now, this year felt better.”

As I write, we are waiting to learn which schools will close. Some folks around the city might be hoping that the school their children attend will

indeed close or that their kid’s teacher doesn’t return. They aren’t satisfied with the situation they have now, and may well be willing to roll the dice on a new school. But most are worried. Families build routines around schools and school programs, and we need that consistency in tough times. Most will likely weather the change resiliently, and some may well feel that they’re better off. But some families will experience disruption and they are often those who can least tolerate difficulty and who have no meaningful alternatives.

With the benefit of hindsight, we know now that the way the teacher termination decision was reached and announced was extremely far from ideal, even if could not be helped. I am not in a position to know if there were no other choices.

What I do know is that the specific circumstances of the teacher termination announcement – during vacation, with no guidelines or support of which I am aware provided for teachers to manage students’ anxiety – created a perfect storm for stress and unease. One can assume the utmost good will and believe that no one intended to create anxiety among students, but the consequences, however unintended, have been real. The erosion of trust that resulted from the way the teacher termination news broke created resentment, confusion, anger and worry at precisely the moment when we need everyone at their best, as we pull together to preserve what works and improve what’s broken in our schools for the benefit of our city’s young people.

Jill Davidson can be reached at whathappenedatschool@gmail.com or her blog, providenceschools.blogspot.com

Spotlight by Dan Schwartz

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He has been providing the East Side with quality tree care since 1992, and has also served as arborist and Tree Resource Manager for the City of Providence Forestry Division for 15 years, organizing and implementing the planting of 400-500 trees every year in Providence neighborhoods.

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When asked what he sees as a tree concern on the East Side he mentions soil conditions. “With small yards there are often issues with soil health,” Tom says. “Many people have turf or compacted soil, which can limit a tree’s root zone. It’s often major a problem, and it usually goes unseen.”

TTC also performs soil aeration/decompaction as well as compost and mulch amendments.

Tree preservation is Tom’s goal, but when it is not possible, TTC can perform removal of hazardous trees, invasive species, or trees that are simply no longer viable. It is clear when talking to Tom that he is passionate about tree care. “I love the ability to return, whether it’s in one year, five years or ten years later and appreciate a tree I have helped that’s doing well,” Tom explains.” His work literally leaves behind a living legacy. Call Tom today and protect one of the best assets on your property.

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Susan, one of the owners, explains, “For example, if you don’t take care of your alignment it will wear your tires out. It becomes a vicious cycle.”

With the economy being what it is, Susan has noticed that people are using their car less and in return aren’t bringing them in often enough to have them serviced. “Machines are meant to be used, and a sitting car is a rotting car,” Susan explains. “Seals can dry up and can cause more issues than one would think.” If you are accustomed to bringing in your car for an oil change every 3,000 miles but aren’t driving as you normally would you should still have the oil changed every three months (or every five months if your car demands all synthetic oil).

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East Side Monthly April 2011

Spotlight by Dan Schwartz

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April 2011 East Side Monthly

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East Side Monthly April 2011

Art

by Renee Doucette

Hidden Gem An exciting new exhibit at a little known gallery In Fones Alley

off of Hope Street, Heuser’s color selection and lines. behind a dark door marked only by These sculptural drawings are unlike a bright gold sun knocker, lies a hidanything else. Each work appears to den gem of the East Side called The be magically floating against the wall; Cade Tompkins Project. Even though some look like treasure maps drawn this gallery could still be considered on a napkins and others resemble in its infancy, the woman behind The sonar machines from deep sea submaCade Tompkins Project is no stranger rines. It is no surprise that these works to the dealings of art. Ms. Cade Tompappealed to the curators of The Philkins opened the doors of her gallery lips Collection – each plays with color on September 25, 2009. Backed by and lines in a way that is truly striking. over 20 years of experience, she brings her knowledge and eye for spotting artistic talent to Providence as she continues to exhibit artists that are not only interesting, but worthy of being on a collector’s wall.

The experience of visiting this hidden gallery is different from any other in the city. Every person who rings the service bell at the door is personally greeted

by Tompkins, who is ready to talk to any visitor about her artists. This experience alone proves how down to earth and devoted this former New Yorker really is.

The Cade Tompkins Project’s next exhibit features the work of mid-career artist Tayo Heuser. This exhibit is a combination of work that Candy for Rothko was made in the past couple years, as well as some never before seen by the public.

Tompkins was introduced to Heuser, a faculty member at Roger Williams University and RISD alum, by artist Kirsten Hassenfeld, herself featured in Tompkins’ first gallery exhibit back in 2009.

Since this fruitful introduction, Heuser’s career has continued to flourish; her most recent success was having her work featured at The Phillips Collection in Washington D.C. Some of the pieces from that exhibit are also featured in this show, including the striking sculptural drawing Candy for Rothko, which not only pays artistic homage to abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, but also has a flavor of Fauvist Henri Mattisse in

Tompkins also included some nonsculptural drawings. In them, there is a feel of not just clean minimalism, but of a gorgeous organic energy that flows from Heuser’s shapes. Drawn to the vertical line, even her small drawings are relatively large, but their size only draws further attention to the artist’s use of shape and color. Her circles resemble a map of celestial bodies, not just a collection of perfectly drawn circles. Precision is a key ingredient to her work, and one she has clearly mastered.

Another area of Heuser’s mastery is her sculpture work in glass. Her collection of three blue glass knots is a perfect addition to any collector’s mantel,

bookshelf or windowsill. At first glance it may be a step away from what would be expected after viewing her drawings, but her choice in using glass, an organic material, to represent rope, also an organic material, leaves the impression that even though her subject and material may have changed, her underlying tone is still the same. Her glasswork seems to channel Mother Earth, furthering Heuser’s organic electricity throughout this show.

Heuser clearly draws inspiration from nature’s shapes, but her work also has a hidden Asian element. Importing paper and ink from Japanese art for her drawings really reiterates how global the art world has become in the 21st century. What used to take a special trip halfway around the world to acquire now has become accessible to so many people, allowing further exploration of materials. Heuser takes full advantage of pigmented inks and Japanese paper to create her own voice. She also finds inspiration from Turkey with a technique called burnishing. This process requires egg whites to give some of her drawings a subtle glow. Despite these international tools and processes, Heuser makes each one her own, maintaining her own voice.

Similarly, the artist uses her love of minimalism as a launching pad, but takes a step past it to give the viewer a simplicity that is still somehow complicated and visually engrossing.

Cade Tompkins Project has a very exciting season ahead and is unlikely to remain a hidden gem for long, becoming instead a full-fledged jewel in Providence’s crown of galleries.

Tayo Heuser, April 15-May 21 The Cade Tompkins Project 198 Hope Street 751-4888 www.cadetompkins.com

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East Side Monthly April 2011

Finance by Betsey Purinton | illustration by Ashley MacLure

Clients Are Incorrigibly Themselves

Our Famous Lobster Roll

is

WoW!

Recognizing hard-to-break habits “Betsey,” my client says,

“I am thinking of leaving my job.”

“Oh really?” I respond feigning encouragement. But my inner voice is saying, “Not again!”

Together my clients and I develop financial plans that we believe can work.

We set actions they need to take to get them to what they ultimately want. The goal is most often a comfortable retirement, but plans can cover any aspect of their financial lives: from college funding to buying/selling properties to developing a long term care strategy.

Planning often requires adjustments in one’s habits – some small, some fairly major. What I have learned over the years is that most clients are fairly flexible. Once they have a plan in place and know what they need to do, they want to move ahead in a disciplined way. The next time I see them, their checklist is often well underway. However, frequently there is at least one aspect of their lives they find very hard to change. To rephrase a memorable quote from John Updike, “Clients can be incorrigibly themselves.”

Let’s take the case of Anna. She is the one who wants to quit her job, again. I have no problem with clients changing employment – I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t risked starting a new career ten years ago. Nor do I believe people should stay in jobs that make them unhappy or provide unreasonable stress. But Anna’s case is different.

When I first met Anna eight years ago, she wanted to take a break from her demanding medical position. We worked together to find a way for Anna to have some time off and redirect her energy, all the while coping with difficult personal challenges. This meant she tapped into savings and added to debt to get her through the rough patch.

Several years later in a new job, Anna had just gotten back to the point of a reasonable budget and meaningful savings. But restlessness reemerged.

This time she confessed that her job was exhausting and less rewarding than she had hoped. I stopped worrying only when she found another position, which

paid well and seemed tailored to her expertise.

Now I am worried again. In her recent call Anna says she wants to change careers entirely. She is in her mid-‘50s and her retirement is not yet secure.

Is Anna ultimately a restless spirit? My concern is how this restlessness might affect the choices that she makes now and the implications for her future.

Sometimes my job requires that I say,

“Here are some problems I see with that idea.” It feels good that clients ask my opinion and respect that I will give them a no-nonsense answer. But I have learned that no matter what advice I may provide, sometimes clients will do what they want to do. Their habits are incorrigible.

Another case in point: Bruce and Louise are property lovers. They just bought their fifth investment property right after the holidays and are looking for a sixth. While two pieces of real estate are up here in New England, Bruce is expanding his ownership in Florida, where he feels real estate is dirt cheap.

He says he is being very selective in his choice of properties, which leads him to believe that there will be little issue with renting the units and covering costs. It all sounds wonderful and the couple’s enthusiasm is palpable.

Several years ago, when Bruce and Anna only owned two Florida properties, they sought my advice regarding renovations. They had already put retirement savings into one of the properties and desired to upgrade the other with a large addition. My advice at the

time was to focus on the needs and jettison the wants. The addition was a luxury they couldn’t afford at the time.

Bruce and Louise have thanked me several times for stopping them from sinking money into real estate right before the market crash. Yet here we are, three years later, and the urge to invest in real estate has overtaken them again.

Buying up condos and houses in Florida could turn out to be a brilliant move for Bruce and Louise. My concern is: what happens if it is a good idea that goes awry, especially given the outlook for the housing market?

When I review a client’s balance sheet, I want to see sufficient investible assets, a manageable amount of debt and a secure rental income stream to make any investment properties cash flow positive over the long term.

My advice to Bruce and Louise is that they sell at least one of the New England properties (preferably both) before buying anything else in Florida. They intend to do this anyway, but given the difficult housing market in New England, I wouldn’t be surprised to get yet another call from Bruce and Louise. “We need to take an additional distribution from our retirement accounts. We have found the perfect townhouse.” For them, the “property bug” may be hard to beat.

Anna’s incorrigible trait is her restlessness; Bruce and Louise’s is their undying belief in the value of real estate. I am tasked with identifying these patterns of behavior and helping clients stay focused on their long term goals. To do so, I raise a lot of questions and run through a series of what-if scenarios.

At the end of the day, I try not to be too judgmental. We all have parts of ourselves that can get the better of us.

I only ask that clients allow me to help them see the various choices they can make.

Betsey Purinton, CFP® is Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer at StrategicPoint Investment Advisors.

You can e-mail her at bpurinton@strategicpoint.com.

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April 2011 East Side Monthly

45

Pajama Monologues

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46

East Side Monthly April 2011

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McBride’s Pub

Meeting of the Minds Two kinds of men, two kinds of music The music I hear sometimes as I’m drifting off to sleep is pretty eclectic.

Tonight it’s soaring, high-energy bebop riffs played by the immortal originator of modern jazz and bebop, Mr. Charles “Yardbird” Parker – “Bird,” for short. In my dream, Bird is backed, uncharacteristically, by a lush string orchestra. He is improvising on the Cole Porter classic entitled “I Love You.” I’m not at all sure Mr. Porter would recognize his own song the way Parker interprets it once he leaves the melody after a single chorus. From what I’ve read about Cole Porter, he was not particularly a fan of “progressive jazz” or bebop, or “that Chinese music,” as bandleader Cab Calloway referred to it.

Reportedly, Porter even carped when Sinatra took the liberty of substituting a few of his own hip rewordings for some of the composer’s impeccably crafted lyrics. I can only imagine what he must have thought about the way Charlie Parker deconstructed Porter’s beautiful musical landscapes, turning them into abstract expressionist adventures.

In most ways, Parker and Porter were as different as… well, “Night and Day,” to use one of the songwriter’s most famous lyrics. But both musicians shared one thing: originality.

Bird’s life was almost incomprehensibly chaotic and self-destructive. He lived it on his own terms and was an insatiable substance abuser from his early teens. When he died at the early age of 33, the doctor’s report from the emergency room estimated his body to be that of a 65-year-old. Drug addiction was a phenomenon that spread like a plague among jazz musicians of that seminal bebop era and Bird was the poster child.

There have not been many verbal Parker quotes. I only heard him speak once on an old cinemascope of The Ed Sullivan Show where Bird and his quintet were given a few brief minutes to “perform.” Bird, eager to counter the low-life image bebop musicians, had introduced the members of his group with an affected, vaguely British accent, which must have had the Ed Sullivan crowd scratching their heads in disbe-

lief. The quintet then exploded into a few choruses of an original Parker tune, “Scrapple from the Apple,” a complex musical experiment that clearly eluded nine-tenths of the people listening.

One story I love about Charlie Parker recounts a brief conversation he allegedly had with a fellow jazz musician/addict as they were driving downtown to 52nd Street to score some cocaine. Charlie got in the car and immediately switched the radio to a country music station. In disbelief, his too-hip-for-the-room companion asked, “Hey, Bird, why you listenin’ to that dopey cowboy music?”

Bird smiled and without hesitation, replied, “It’s not the music, man. It’s the stories.” And he was right, of course.

Country and western music has always been all about great “stories.”

Unlike Parker, who was born in poverty, Cole Porter was born rich and became richer, at first through inheritances and a rather lucrative marriage, and later through the success of his own unmatched musical accomplishments for both theatre and film. He had sumptuous homes and cottages in every glamorous locale in the world: Paris, Venice, Beverly Hills, the Berkshires, Newport and, of course, a penthouse in midtown Manhattan. He socialized with high society matrons, movie stars, famed classical musicians and literati.

His prodigious output of great standards continues to be a rich resource for jazz musicians who keep finding new ideas and ways to interpret Porter’s chord changes for songs like “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “Love for Sale,” “Begin the Beguine” and dozens of others.

There’s no record of Bird and Cole Porter ever having met in person. Their vastly different lifestyles would have made that highly unlikely. But what a fascinating conversation between two such uniquely original musical minds that might have been.

Good morning.

Bob Mariani and his brother, John, have published a memoir, Almost Golden, about growing up in the North Bronx in the fifties. Available at www.bbotw.com or on Amazon.com.

Calendar

by Christina Evon

Kosher Sandwiches Corned Beef

April

Hot Pastrami Reuben

music | performance | social happenings | galleries | learn | sports

DON’T MISS THIS MONTH:

485 Angell St. • 331-1031 • Wayland Square

10 events at the top of our list

Chanteuse, a showcase for female musical talent, April 30 at Firehouse 13. www.thejespowersproject.com.

1

Byron Stripling and a Tribute to Louis Armstrong, April 2 at VMA Arts and Cultural Centers. www.vmari.com

2

Newport Restaurant Week, through April 3. www.gonewportrestaurantweek.com.

3

Pawsox Opening Night Celebration, April 7 at McCoy Stadium, Pawtucket. www.pawsox.com.

1860 Broad Street • Cranston www.thecupcakerie.net • 467-2601 Kristin@thecupcakerie.net

4

JUMP! Dance Company’s JUMP! Into Spring annual concert, April 9-10 at Carriage House Theater. www.jumpdancecompany.org.

5

MUSIC arena & club | classical ARENA & CLUB AS220 Apr 1: Zenith Arc, Interplay, and Sonic Sandbox. Apr 8: Benefit show for Lynn Staria Silvia, featuring Brain Shivers, Woozy, Gila Monster, and more. Apr 17: Sunset Overbrooke, WERD, Unibrows, and Matt Hannigan. See website for additional April shows. 115 Empire Street. 831-9327, www.as220.org.

BLACKSTONE RIVER THEATRE Apr 3: The Bee Eaters. Apr 10: Archie Fisher and Garnet Rogers. Apr 15: Tempest. Apr 16: Atwater-Donnelly Trio.

Apr 23: Marjorie Thompson and Toby Walker. Visit website for additional April shows. 549 Broad Street, Cumberland.

725-9212, www.riverfolk.org.

Daffodil Days floral display, April 9–May 1 at Blithewold Mansion, Bristol. www. blithewold.org.

6

BROWN UNIVERSITY Apr 10: The Jasper Quartet performs works by Beethoven and Brahms. A benefit for resumed education students, sponsored by Women & Men of Brown. John Carter Brown Library, 94 George Street. 863-3477.

CHAN’S Apr 1: Joe Lewis Walker. Apr 9: Johnny Hoy & the Bluefish. Apr 22: John Hammond. Apr 29: Jeff Pitchell. Visit website for additional April concerts. 267 Main Street, Woonsocket. 765-1900, www.chanseggrollsandjazz.com.

Steel Magnolias, April 15 - May 15 at Trinity Rep. www.trinityrep.com.

7

Party for the Planet, a weeklong conservation event, April 17-22 at Roger Willi ams Park Zoo. www.rwpzoo.org.

8

Ghanaian Drumming and Dancing Concert, April 27 at Brown University’s Grant Recital Hall. www.brown.edu.

9

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, April 28-May 1 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. www.dunkindonutscenter.com.

FIREHOUSE 13 Apr 2: Slapshot. Apr 30: Chanteuse. 41 Central Street, Providence. 270-1801, www.thejespowersproject.com.

10

FOXWOODS Apr 2: Duran Duran. Apr 22: Harry

See general event listings for additional contact details.

Pilates one-on-one training Pilates Mat Classes Functional Fitness Training Pilates Reformer Duets & Trios Bosu Classes, Yoga Classes Therapeutic Massage Chair Massage

www.pilatesjen.com (401) 475 - 0084

A Friendly Visitor Pet Sitting and Boarding Services

Providing high quality pet services: - Walks/Home Visits - Unique in home boarding services with up to 3 dogs at once for individual attention For more information call Sharon at 401.301.1712

April 2011 East Side Monthly

47

Calendar

continued...

Con nick Jr. MGM Grand, 240 MGM Grand Drive, Mashantucket, CT. 866646-0609, www.mgmatfoxwoods.com.

LADDER 133 Apr 2: Take 3. Apr 29: The Criminals. 33 Douglas Avenue, Providence. 272-7427. www.ladder133.com

Household Goods, Fine Furnishings, Art & Antiques, Records Storage

MET Apr 2: The Cave Singers and Lia Ices.

Apr 9: The Dirty Heads and New Politics.

Apr 12: Senses Fail, The Ghost Inside, Man Overboard, Transit and Sleep City.

Apr 13: Black Lips and Vivian Girls. Hope Artiste Village, 1005 Main Street, Pawtucket. www.lupos.com.

Moving & Storage Warehouses

since 1892

Expert Local & Long Distance Moving

421-0081

59 Central Street, Providence www.rimover.com

LUPOS Apr 15: Badfish and Scotty Don’t. Apr 19: Bassnectar. Apr 28: Alkaline Trio, Biffy Clyro, and An Horse. 79 Washington Street. 331-5876, www.lupos.com.

"One of the finest Warehouses in New England"

All credit cArds Accepted

Nurturing Care and Attention for your Little Angel An extraordinary place for small hands to discover imagine see feel smell tumble stack build sort paint interact sing dance learn with confidence. Purposeful play meets intuitive learning.

Open House Saturday, April 30, 10am-12:30pm Programs for Ages 2-5 years

MOHEGAN SUN Apr 8-9: Kenny Chesney, Billy Currington, and Uncle Kracker. Apr 17: Ricky Martin. Apr 10: Trans-Siberian Orchestra in Beethoven’s Last Night 2011 Tour. Apr 29: Alan Jackson and Sunny Sweeney.

Mohegan Sun Boulevard, Uncasville, CT. 800-477-6849, www.mohegansun.com.

OLIVES Apr 30: Take 3. 108 North Main Street, Providence. 751-1200. www.olivesrocks.com RI-RA Apr 8: Take 3. 50 Exchange Terrace. 2721953, www.rira.com.

IMS • AMS • IMC • DCYF

www.AngelCareMontessori.com

RISD MUSEUM Apr 8: Soulshot. Chace Center, 29 North

Tel: 401.273.5151 150 Waterman Street, Providence

see the popular choral blockbuster LIVE at RI’s finest concert hall

day ! r u t Sa

and music by Nancy Galbraith • Robert Page, guest conductor

April 9, 7pm • Veterans Memorial Auditorium

Tickets & Details: ProvidenceSingers.org • 401.421.ARTS 48

East Side Monthly April 2011

Yanni

Main Street. 454-6793.

RYAN CENTER AT URI Apr 7: Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller. 1 Lincoln Almond Plaza, Kingston. 800-7453000, www.ticketmaster.com.

STADIUM THEATRE Apr 2: Rat Pack – a Tribute to Frank, Dean and Sammy. Apr 6: Liberace - A Tribute to the Legendary Showman. Apr 9: Johnny Cash – The Ultimate Tribute. Apr 30: Rubber Soul Live, a Beatles’ Tribute.

28 Monument Square, Woonsocket. 7624545, www.stadiumtheatre.com.

STONE SOUP COFFEEHOUSE Apr 2: The Pousette-Dart Band. Apr 9: Lenny Solomon Band. Apr 16: Claudia Russell and Bruce Kaplan. Apr 30: Antje Duvecot and Chasing June. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 50 Park Place, Pawtucket. 921-5115, www.stonesoupcoffeehouse.com.

TWIN RIVER Apr 22: Boyz II Men. 100 Twin River Road, Lincoln. 475-8346, www.twinriver.com.

CLASSICAL & SUCH BROWN UNIVERSITY Apr 30: Brown Chorus Concert. Sayles Hall Auditorium. 863-3234 www.brown.edu.

OPERA PROVIDENCE Apr 15: Opera and Broadway Theatre: Tenors vs. Divas. At Edward King House, Newport. 331-6060, www.operaprovidence.org.

PROVIDENCE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Apr 5: Yanni. 220 Weybosset Street.

421-ARTS, www.ppacri.org.

Mount Pleasant Street. 456-8000, www.ric.edu.

PROVIDENCE SINGERS Apr 9: Providence Singers Presents Orff: Camina Burana. VMA, 83 Park Street, Providence. www.vmari.com.

RI COLLEGE Apr 3: Pianist Awadagin Pratt. Nazarian Center, 600 Mount Pleasant Street. 4568000, www.ric.edu.

STATE BALLET OF RI Apr 16: Project Ballet Coffee Hour, where you can get an inside view of how a ballet is created, the training of a dancer and what inspires a choreographer. Reservation required. 52 Sherman Avenue, Lincoln. 334-2560, www.stateballet.com.

RI PHILHARMONIC Apr 16: The Philharmonic presents Kim, Tchaikovsky and Lutosloawski. VMA, 1 Avenue of the Arts. 222-1467, www.vmari.com.

TURN IT UP DANCE CHALLENGE Apr 15-17: Dance competition for dancers of all levels. RI Convention Center, 1 Sabin Street. www.turnitupdance.com.

VMA Apr 2: Byron Stripling and a Tribute to Louis Armstrong. 83 Park Street, Providence. www.vmari.com.

THEATRE 2ND STORY THEATRE Apr 29-May 15: In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play. Preview shows April 29 thru May 1. 28 Market Street, Warren.

247-4200, www.2ndstorytheatre.com.

Jump! Dance Company

PERFORMANCE comedy | dance | theatre COMEDY CATCH A RISING STAR Apr 1-2: Colin Kane. Apr 8-9: Corey Rodrigues. Apr 15-16: Rich Aronovitch.

Apr 22-23: Tig Notaro. Apr 29-30: Ace Aceto. Thursdays: Catch a New Rising Star talent competition. Fridays: Comic Hypnotist Frank Santos Jr. Twin River, 100 Twin River Road, Lincoln. 723-3200, www.twinriver.com.

COMEDY CONNECTION Apr 1-2: James “The Glow” Goff. Apr 8-9: Pete Correale. Apr 14: John Witherspoon.

Apr 15-16: Mike Petit. Apr 21: Comic Hypnotist Frank Santos Jr. Apr 22-23: Tom Dustin. Apr 29-30: Joe Klocek. 39 Warren Avenue, East Providence. 438-8383,

www.ricomedyconnection.com.

FOXWOODS & MGM GRAND Apr 8: Jay Mohr. Apr 22: Ralphie May. Apr 30: The Anti Social Network, featuring headliners Jim Norton, Dave Attell, Jim Breuer and Bill Burr. 39 Norwich Westerly Road, Mashantucket, CT. (866) 646-0609, www.mgmatfoxwoods.com.

Hart. 220 Weybosset Street. 421-ARTS, www.ppacri.org.

DANCE BROWN UNIVERSITY Apr 27: Ghanaian Drumming and Dancing Concert. Grant Recital Hall. 863-3234 www.brown.edu.

MOHEGAN SUN Apr 2: Jeffrey Ross, with special guest Sara Tiana. Apr 9: Joey Kola, featuring Leighann Lord and John Iavarone. Apr 16: Billy Garan, featuring Vincent McElhone and Joe Bronzi. Apr 23: Richie Byrne, featuring Bruce Fine and Nick Cobb.

Mohegan Sun Boulevard, Uncasville, CT. 800-477-6849, www.mohegansun.com.

FUSIONWORKS Apr 29: Spring dance event at Tsetse Gallery, 51 Empire Street. 334-3091, www.fusionworksdance.org.

PROVIDENCE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Apr 21: Comedy Nite Starring Kevin

RI COLLEGE Apr 27: Azure Barton & Artists dance company. Nazarian Center, 600

Live in the Square!

Studios,One, Two & Three Bedroom Apartments All Utilities & Parking Included

24 Hour Fitness Center 24 Hour Concierge 24 Hour Emergency Service Restaurant on site Tailor Shop on Site Salon on site

JUMP! DANCE COMPANY Apr 9-10: JUMP! Into Spring annual spring concert. Carriage House Theater, 7 Duncan Avenue. www.jumpdancecompany.org.

COMMUNITY PLAYERS Apr 1-17: Curtains! by Kander & Ebb. Jenks Auditorium, Division Street (across from McCoy Stadium), Pawtucket. 7266860, www.thecommunityplayers.org.

GAMM THEATRE Thru Apr 17: Paul. 172 Exchange Street, Pawtucket. 723-4266, www.gammtheatre.org.

PERISHABLE THEATRE sh_ad_2011_v3.1:Layout 1

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BROWN UNIVERSITY THEATRE Apr 8-10: Gilbert and Sullivan’s Princess Ida! Alumnae Hall Auditorium, 194-200 Meeting Street. www.brown.edu.

Invest in you . . .

Steven M. Kane, Ph.D. Cafes & Boutiques right outside your door

BLACK BOX THEATRE Thru Apr 10: Museum. 50 Rolfe Square, Cranston. 490-9475, www.artistsexchange.org.

Inquiries invited

DEL IV E R S

SMALL LUNCH • BIG LUNCH

401-272-2590 1253 N M A I N S T R E E T • P ROVI DE NC E • RI

W W W. T H E S A N D W I C H H U T. C O M

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Just the love.

April 2011 East Side Monthly

49

6:17

Still the Best Breakfast in Providence

Calendar

continued...

Apr 15-May 7: 1:23. 95 Empire Street.

331-2695, www.perishable.org.

PROVIDENCE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Apr 15-17: Monty Python’s SPAMalot. Apr 26-May 1: West Side Story. 220 Weybosset Street. 421-ARTS, www.ppacri. org.

234 Wickenden Street 751.2477

STADIUM THEATRE Apr 8: Hamlet. Apr 15: Jesus Christ Superstar. Apr 22: Defending the Caveman. 28 Monument Square, Woonsocket. 762-4545, www.stadiumtheatre.com.

Custom slipCovers

TRINITY REP Thru Apr 3: Yellowman. Apr 15-May 15: Steel Magnolias. 201 Washington Street.

351-4242, www.trinityrep.com.

brickwayonwickenden.com

Sofas, Chairs, Cushions & more * Save 1/2 of designer prices * You purchase fabric anywhere * Deal with 3rd generation Seamstress directly

Linda Toti

(508) 695-2474

The besT meaTs on The easT side

VARIETY MOHEGAN SUN Apr 24: It’s Magic!, featuring internationally recognized, award-winning magicians.

Mohegan Sun Boulevard, Uncasville, CT. 800-477-6849, www.mohegansun.com.

PERISHABLE THEATRE Apr 1: Live Bait, a monthly open mic night where attendees can share stories on the evening’s theme topic. Thursdays and Saturdays: Improv Jones comedy troupe. 95 Empire Street. 331-2695, www.perishable.org.

D at lower prices D

Mon - Sat 8am-7pm Sun 8am-1pm

SOCIAL HAPPENINGS expos | fundraisers | seasonal

Federal insPecTion Usda 638 daily

Central Meat Market

113 Gano street, Providence • 751-6935

The Pets’ Home Companion

Dog Walking, Pet Sitting & Pet Parenting Advice 401-274-0907 P out our helpful links

google us at: www.activesurface.com/petshomecompanion

Bonded & insured 50

East Side Monthly April 2011

EXPOS & EXHIBITIONS DISCOVERYOU HOLISTIC & WELLNESS EXPO Apr 3: The DiscoverYou expo features 100 exhibitors, speakers and demonstrations that include a gong ensemble, drummers and more. Twin River Event Center, 100 Twin River Road, Lincoln. 769-1325 x 11, www.discoveryouexpo.com.

RI HOME SHOW Thru Apr 3: Get close to the newest technologies and trends in decorating, home building and improvement. RI Convention Center, 1 Sabin Street. www. riconvention.com.

ORIGINAL WEDDING EXPO Apr 10: Plan your wedding and honeymoon with the help of 100 local bridal vendors. 100 Twin River Road, Lincoln.

723-3200, www.twinriver.com.

Yellowman at Trinity Rep

for foodies BLUE GROTTO’S WOMEN OF WINE Apr 27: A women’s only event, featuring four wines paired with four customized dishes. 210 Atwells Avenue. 272-9030, www.bluegrottorestaurant.com.

NEWPORT RESTAURANT WEEK: SPRING Thru Apr 3: Newport County restaurants offer prix fixe menus; lunch is $16, and dinner is $30. www.gonewportrestaurantweek.com.

WINE TASTING Apr 7: Taste five different wines and learn how to pair with food. Stay for dinner and receive a $10 gift certificate for your meal. Pane e Vino, 365 Atwells Avenue. 223-2230, www.panevino.net.

FUNDRAISERS CELEBRATE SPRING BRUNCH Apr 10: Brunch with special guest Rory Raven, mentalist and mindbender.

Fundraiser for Hamilton House. 276 Angell Street. 831-1800.

IMAGINE WALK AND FAMILY FUN DAY FOR AUTISM Apr 10: Ninth annual walk benefiting the Autism Project. Goddard State Park, 1095 Ives Road, Warwick. www.theautismproject.org.

WALK MS Apr 10: Walks taking place in Bristol (starting at Mount Hope High School), Providence (starting at the RI Convention Center) and Narragansett (starting at Narragansett Pier School). 738-8383, www.nationalmssociety.org.

SEASONAL

DAFFODIL DAYS Apr 9-May 1: A spectacular display of more than 50,000 daffodils. Blithewold Mansion, 101 Ferry Road, Bristol. 2532707, www.blithewold.org.

GALLERIES BANK RI GALLERIES Turks Head Gallery, One Turks Head Place – Apr 7-May 4: Paintings by Michael Guy. 456-5015 x 1330, www. bankri.com.

BANNISTER GALLERY Apr 7-27: Now and Then and When exhibit. Roberts Hall, 600 Mount Pleasant Avenue. 456-8000, www.ric.edu/ bannister.

BELL GALLERY AT BROWN Thru May 29: Tradition, Trauma, Transformation: Representations of Women

by Chitra Ganesh, Nalini Malani, and Nilima Sheikh. List Art Center, 64 College Street. 863-2932, www.brown.edu.

CHAZAN GALLERY AT WHEELER Thru Apr 9: Works by Caroline Woolard and Mary Paula Hunter. 228 Angell Street.

421-9230, www.chazangallery.org.

GALLERY NIGHT Apr 21: Featuring more than 20 galleries, live music, refreshments, celebrity guides and free Art Buses. Central Art Bus depot and info booth at One Regency Plaza. www.gallerynight.info.

GALLERY Z Apr 7-May 7: Alan Metnick: A Delicate Karma; Recent Thoughts and Conversations. 259 Atwells Avenue. www.galleryzprov.com.

PAWTUCKET ARTS COLLABORATIVE

PROVIDENCE ART CLUB Thru Apr 8: Richard Harrington in Dodge House Gallery and Annual Juried Exhibition in Maxwell Mays Gallery. Apr 10-29: Barnet Fain and Elizabeth Zimmerman in Dodge House Gallery; and Marjory Dalenius, Eileen Horwitz and Marcia Newren in Maxwell Mays Gallery. 11 Thomas Street.

331-1114, www.providenceartclub.org.

RISD MUSEUM Thru Apr 17: Prints for the Japanese New Year. Thru Jun 5: From Dover to Penzance: Watercolor Views of the English Channel and Changing Poses: The Artist’s Model. 224 Benefit Street. 4546674, www.risdmuseum.org.

URI FEINSTEIN PROVIDENCE CAMPUS Apr 4-29: Raised by Wolves: Rev. Bill Comeau, A Life Journey Inward/Outward, a retrospective exhibit of intellectual, spiritual, and physical life journeys.

80 Washington Street. 277-5206, www.uri.edu/prov.

KIDS + FAMILY

8-18. Apr 29: Stuart Little. 28 Monument Square, Woonsocket. 762-4545, www. stadiumtheatre.com.

LEARN discussion | instruction | tour DISCUSSION PROVIDENCE ATHENAEUM Apr 1: Everett Dance Theatre discusses their work-in-progress, Brain Storm. Apr 8: Jean McGarry on her short story collection, Ocean State. Apr 15: Stephen Thorne on his play, The Completely Fictional – Utterly True – Final Strange Tale of Edgar Allan Poe. Apr 21: A read-aloud of Poe’s The Raven and Melville’s Bartleby the Scrivener. Apr 22: Ray Huling on his book, The Complicated Life of the Quahaugger. All part of the SALON series. Apr 29: Thirteenth annual Philbrick Poetry Project Reading. 251 Benefit Street. 421-6970, www.providenceathenaeum.org.

RI HISTORICAL SOCIETY Apr 13: Italian-Americans and Civil Rights.

At the RIHS Library, 121 Hope Street. 2738107 x 12, www.rihs.org.

PERISHABLE THEATRE Weekly course schedule: Apr 25-Jun 20: Introduction to Acting; and Scene Study with Mark Peckham. Apr 26-Jun 20: Playwriting for Everyone with David Eliet; and Improv Comedy Performance, Level 1, with Melissa Bowler. Sundays: Intermediate Ballet, and American Tribal Belly Dance. Wednesdays: Intermediate/ Advanced Modern Dance. Thursdays: Hop to the Beat Hip Hop classes. Saturdays: Belly Dance. 95 Empire Street.

331-2695, www.perishable.org.

SPORTS BOXING AT MOHEGAN SUN Apr 2: Bellator Fighting Championships, featuring the Lightweight World Championship between Champion Eddie Alvarez and Pat Curran. Mohegan Sun Boulevard, Uncasville, CT. 800-4776849, www.mohegansun.com.

PAWSOX April home opponents: Apr 7-8: Rochester Red Wings. Apr 16-18: Buffalo Bisons. Apr 19-21: Syracuse Chiefs. Apr 30-May 3: Toledo Mud Hens. McCoy Stadium, 1 Columbus Avenue, Pawtucket. www.pawsox.com.

INSTRUCTION MEN’S A CAPPELLA SINGING LIFE DRAWING CLASS Tuesdays: Bring your drawing utensils and paper and sketch from a live model.

AS220, 115 Empire Street. 831-9327, www.as220.org.

PROVIDENCE BRUINS April home opponents: Apr 1: CT Whale. Apr 3: Worcester Sharks. Apr 8: Portland Pirates. Apr 10: Manchester Monarchs. Dunkin’ Donuts Center, 1 Lasalle Square. 331-0700, www.dunkindonutscenter.com.

PROVIDENCE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Apr 8-10: Madagascar Live. 220 Weybosset Street. 421-ARTS, www.ppacri.org.

MEN’S A CAPPELLA SINGING Thursdays: Open rehearsals with the Narragansett Bay Chorus. Open to men who like to sing a cappella. Knights of Columbus Hall, 15 Bassett Street, North Providence. www.singnbc.com.

To have your listing included in the East Side Monthly Calendar, please send press releases or event information to Christina Evon at esm@providenceonline.com. Please send submissions at least one month prior to event date.

residential • commercial

401-751-6363 www.dci-ri.com Providence, ri 02906 registration #1324 Painting • restoration

Piggy Burger: Pulled pork, cheddar cheese, cole slaw & Chipotle mayo served w/ hand cut fries.

Tuesday-Sunday 11:30am - close

Weekend Brunch 10:00am - 2:00pm

727 East Ave. Pawtucket 401.305.5255 • LJsBBQ.com

p With Your Gard d Hel e en? e N

ROGER WILLIAMS PARK ZOO Apr 17-22: Party for the Planet, a weeklong conservation event, featuring environmental displays and games. Apr 18-22: Spring ZooCamp, a week of learning activities, crafts, animal encounters and more. 1000 Elmwood Avenue. 7853510, www.rwpzoo.org.

STADIUM THEATRE Apr 3: Improvisational Skills workshop for ages 7-18. Apr 20: Character Acting and Stage Presence workshop for ages

Design / Build Fine renovation general contractors

YES!

PROVIDENCE CHILDREN’S MUSEUM Apr 2-3: Worm World, a weekend dedicated to worms. Apr 18: Fleecy Friends – kids meet llamas, alpacas, rabbits and lambs, and try spinning their fleece into yarn. Apr 20: Pumpernickel Puppets. 100 South Street. 273-5437, www.childrenmuseum.org.

RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY CIRCUS Apr 28-May 1: Fully Charged, the 2011 edition of the world-famous circus.

Dunkin Donuts Center, 1 Lasalle Square.

331-2211, www.dunkindonutscenter.com.

Design contractors inc.

additions • built-in cabinetry

Apr 3-29: Pawtucket School Arts Show.

PAC Gallery, 175 Main Street, Pawtucket. www.pawtucketartscollaborative.org.

Water damage reconstruction

Kitchens • bathrooms

Angela Deller R.I. Licensed Arborist #120 R.I. Certified Horticulturist

Professional Landscape Gardening PawSox

212- 0669

angela.gardencare@cox.net

April 2011 East Side Monthly

51

Classifieds

To place your classified ad, please call 732-3100.

HOUSECLEANER Available Crystal Clean, a quality housecleaning service. We don’t cut corners.

Weekly or bi-weekly. We use environmentally friendly products.

Bethany 265-0960.

KIND CARE ~ SENIORS Appointments, errands, shopping, cleaning & maint. Well being & home checks. Refs. Ins. 270-3682.

A+ INTERIOR PAINTING Fine interiors. 20+ yrs. experience.

Highest quality work. Many references. Fully insured. Based on the East Side. (RI Reg. #19226). Call Patrick, 226-8332.

AUDIO/VIDEO HELP If you need some help with your TV, home theater or stereo, call me at 401-383-4102. Jon Bell, Simply Sight & Sound. Reasonable rates.

25 years of experience.

BUYING OLD PHOTOGRAPHY Also art, fine books, collectibles, etc.

Call 401-421-2628. jcvp@cox.net

CHRIS’ LAMP REPAIR We Make House Calls!!! âœŻ Repairing all types of Lamps âœŻ Vintage Lighting Specialist âœŻ Chandelier Repairs âœŻ Serving the East Side for over 15 years âœŻ Fully Insured

(401) 831-8693 www.chrislamprepair.com

DOG WALKER/PET SITTER Trained to administer medications.

Reliable, bonded, references available. Home visits. Call Susan 5273914. Loves animals.

DOROTHY’S CLEANING We clean your home as our own!

References & free estimates. Call 401-274-7871 or 401-524-7453.

EAST SIDE HANDYMAN 34 years. Repairs, upgrades & renovations. References. Insured. Reg. #3052. Call 270-3682.

52

East Side Monthly April 2011

ELDER CARE AVAILABLE Very kind, patient, mature woman seeks position with elderly person.

Intelligent, cheerful, reliable with 20 years experience, including several long-term positions. Impeccable references. Please call 781-3392 or 497-3392.

ELECTRICAL SERVICES All types. New circuits. RI #A3338.

MA #16083A. Insured. Larry 5292087. Also, small handyman jobs.

ET’s PROFESSIONAL CLEANING SERVICE Cleaning homes & offices. Over 15 years experience. Insured. Free estimates. Call 272-0334.

HOUSE CLEANING Experienced. Local references. Free estimates. Call Lilly, 401-419-2933.

You Dream It... We Do It!

Spring Cleanups!

New Lawns â? Soil Analysis â? Organic Care Programs Complete Lawn & Garden Maintenance Landscape Design, Installation & Maintenance

Mae 450-2070

Richard 477-9773

All Concrete Services Specializing in all Masonry Repairs Decorative Stamp Concrete No Job Too Small

Chimney Repair

Reg. # 12299

Classifieds JUNK THAT AUTO We Purchase Junk Vehicles and Repairable Vehicles For Recycling at Premium Prices. High Mileage, Emission Problems, Accident Damage or Junk Vehicles Call Paul @ 401-639-9425 or visit us @ www.JunkThatAuto.com

LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE Spring & Fall Cleanups Bushes Trimmed â?Š Tree Removal Pine Bark Mulch

Landscape Construction Parking Lot Cleaning Handyman â?Š 26 Years Experience

MG Landscaping 644-7417 â?Š 831-5109 MALIN PAINTING Most ceiling & wall repairs, wallpaper removal, oil-based and latex finishes, staining, varnishing. Fully insured, many local references. Safe, secure, fast service. Call 226-8332.

Reg. #19226.

MASTER ELECTRICIAN Install, service, repair. Expert troubleshooting. Free detailed computerized estimate. Deal direct with owner. Lic. #AC 004110 & insured. Small jobs done promptly.

All work guaranteed. Save $$$.

Family owned & operated. Local resident. Calls returned immediately. 401-258-4793, John.

PLANTING SERVICE And Landscape Construction Lawns, trees, shrubs, annuals, perennials and rototilling. Call 5236649 or 333-9741.

To place your classified ad, please call 732-3100.

PRESERVE YOUR MEMORIES Photos, slides and papers saved to CD or DVD. Comen Co., 7516200. Email: hcomen@cox.net

PROPERTY MANAGER AVAILABLE 24/7 on call. Rent collection. Rentals, evictions. Call 421-0092.

PROACTIVE Computer Services Home or office. Computer repairs, data recovery. Fully equipped mobile service. Service calls $40/hr.

Call 647-7702. www.pcsllcri.com

SUPERB HOUSEPAINTING High end workmanship. Small jobs a specialty. Call Ron 751-3242.

Reg. #18128.

TAROT CONSULTATIONS 7 days by appointment. Wayland Square location. 401-285-0179. www.karenbentleytarot.com

USED MUSIC WANTED! Round Again Records needs your used CDs and records. Cash paid.

Call 351-6292.

Vinny’s Landscaping

& BOBCAT SERVICES

T & T PAINTING

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“Counselor on the Debris of Life�

April 2011 East Side Monthly

53

East of Elmgrove

by Elizabeth Rau | illustration by Jessica Pollak

Young Chef, Good Eats The firstborn is second in command of this kitchen Not long ago,

my son Peder walked down to the neighborhood convenience store with a buck-fifty in his pocket to buy candy. Instead of taking a right at the corner, he went straight, past the mailbox and bank, and ended up at an upscale market that sells premium meat and fish, as well as pastrami sandwiches.

He’d been in the shop before, usually for a breakfast of Belgian waffles, but this time he strolled up to the meat counter and directed his queries to a butcher, bedecked in a white apron tastefully stained with, well, whatever.

“Got any scallops?’’ Peder asked.

The butcher seemed surprised.

Maybe he didn’t hear right. It’s not every day that a kid walks into your shop and asks for scallops. A bag of chips, sure – but raw shellfish? The butcher plopped a few slimy chunks into a plastic container and weighed them. The cost was far more than Peder could afford.

“All I have is a dollar-fifty,’’ said Peder.

“What are you?’’ said the butcher.

“A comedian.’’

First: Let me apologize to the butcher. My 11-year-old was not mocking you. He spoke the truth.

On that brisk afternoon in February, his pockets were not deep.

Second: His desire for scallops was as sincere as his desire to play middle infield for the UCLA Bruins.

He is not a comic. He is a cook. Actually, he is the sous chef, a fancy way of saying that he’s second in command in our kitchen, my husband being the executive chef. I am noticeably absent from the lineup.

I have the same relationship with cooking as I do with the makeup counter at Nordstrom. I know I should go there for a short tutorial, but I’m not going to do it. I can’t muster the interest.

Cooking skills are inherited, passed down through the gene pool. They also have a visual component. If you grew up seeing a parent stir the pot, chances are you’ll do the same. My mother didn’t like to cook and neither did her mother, so it’s no surprise I turned out the way I did.

I make no apologies and neither does my mom.

Peggy spent a lot of time at home with her six kids, but she was not domestic. She mixed whites and colors and dusted with a wet paper towel now and then.

We still joke about how I walked down the street to

54

East Side Monthly April 2011

ask Mrs. Doxsie to sew a button on my shirt.

My husband was fully aware of my ineptness in the kitchen when we got married. Thankfully, he is a great cook and took over those duties, especially after the birth of Peder and his younger brother, Henry.

A typical evening in the baby years: I’m upstairs trying to put Henry to sleep while Peder and his dad are in the kitchen preparing a feast. One of my favor-

ite childhood photos is of Peder, then three, standing on a chair with a plump black olive stuck on the tip of his pointer finger.

Peder would toss greens and peel potatoes and gab with his dad about this and that – how to get to the heart of an artichoke, the rising price of fuel oil, Tonka fire trucks – unaware that a passion for cooking was taking root while the pork chops festooned with capers sizzled in the frying pan.

One thing led to another and pretty soon Peder’s birthday list included can openers and wooden spoons and cookbooks, which he happily devoured, including the latest, the 397-page Good Eats by celebrity chef Alton Brown, who hosts a TV show by the same name.

I am thrilled Peder has assumed the number two spot. When my husband has to work late, I simply cede the kitchen to my firstborn, who specializes in whipping up meals with what’s available in the fridge and pantry. No need to rush out for ginger root.

During meal preparation, Peder is a whirling dervish, spinning from stove to cutting board, measuring, slicing, stirring, tasting and stopping every so

often at Good Eats yawning on the table.

“Why do you like to cook?” I asked one day.

“When people eat my food they’re happy,’’ Peder said. “I like making people happy.’’

Earlier this month, with my husband absent, Peder planned the meal. At first, he selected cheeseburgers and fries, but scrapped that after inspecting the meat, which had been sitting in the freezer too long and had the gray pallor of the ailing tubercular.

“This meat is horrible,’’ he said, dragging out the horrrr, as he removed the ground beef from the cellophane. He quickly switched gears, this time to stir fry: carrots, celery, snap peas, and chicken sautéed in two cups of soy sauce. The meal was salty, but delicious. Henry and I asked for seconds.

On his birthday Peder made cornbread and while it did not rise to the occasion – literally – it still had a unique consistency and buttery flavor that proved to be the perfect chaperone for our main course of roast. Plenty of bread was left over for breakfast.

Peder takes his cooking seriously. He’s browsing the internet for a wok. He is also assuming some responsibility for grocery shopping. Good cooks know their way around the produce aisle and fruit stand. You need to smell the cantaloupe and so on.

That trip for scallops taught Peder that good food comes at a price. When he returned home that day empty-handed, I reached into my tin can and gave him a fin. He went right back to the shop and put in a respectable order.

“The first butcher was very engrossed in some other activity so I got another butcher,’’ Peder recalled. “He asked me what I was using the scallops for. I said I was going to sauté them for the Super Bowl.’’

That evening, we set a buffet of chili, nachos, artisan bread and a scallop dish Peder retrieved off the internet: Randall’s Ordinary Scallops. There was nothing ordinary, however, about the dish, an unexpected complexity of scallions, garlic, paprika and salt.

Our guests gobbled it up.

Well done, kid. The wok is in the mail.

Elizabeth Rau is an East Side resident who can be reached at erau1@verizon.net.

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April 2011 East Side Monthly

55

E a s t

s i d E

P r o P E r t i E s

Elmgrove. Spectacular Tudor with exceptional details!

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Barnes. Late 1800’s stylistic blend combines period detail galore with updated kitchen and baths. Original stained glass, woodwork, mantles. Patio/garden. 7 bedrooms, 3 full baths, 1 half bath. Short walk to schools, colleges and everything else! $889,000.

Brook. Stunning architectural details in every room of the National Register Property. 1st floor is perfect for entertaining: many fireplaces, large dining room w/French doors to covered patio. Beautiful formal and informal rooms. Master suite w/sitting room and private bath. $825,000.

Pratt. Enjoy Capital views from this Jim Estes designed Townhouse on Pratt Hill. 3 bedroom Condo with great open floor plan, fireplace, 2 decks, 2 car parking and low fees. Great location in established association. $510,000.

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