Jefe's Next Chapter

Nice work day, a little bit short because I had worked extra hours the days before

Took off for a walk, being pay day, thought I’d get some things for the kitchen, and being Friday night, that I would also get my beard and mustache trimmed before going out.  I don’t mind doing it myself, but frankly am so lightly provisioned that I don’t even have a scissors.

The 6 block walk from my apartment to the C train passes something like ½ dozen beauty shops, salons and barber-shops. The whole culture of barber shops in the black community is well illustrated in the Ice Cube film “Barbershop”, but I hadn’t really experienced it before living in a black neighborhood.

Seattle only has 3 or 4 (really, only 2 that I know of for sure) barber shops that do straight razor shaves, but around here all the barbers do, so when I asked for a “clean-up of my beard and mustache, he asked if I also wanted the “lines straightened out, and a trim around my ears. I couldn’t say no. So, I’m in the chair and he puts oils and ointments and hot towels, and all that on me, and I’m noticing that everyone is paying cash, this isn’t a credit card business. Now, it is payday, but I haven’t been to the bank yet, and all I’ve got in my wallet is a $20. For a trim and a shave. In Seattle straight razor shaves have ranged from expensive and amazing Capelli’s Gentlemen’s Barbershop, and the Colman Building Barber Shop to pretty poor and still not cheap (Rudy’s on Phinney). From what I understand, all of the competition around here drives up the quality of service, and drives down the prices. I had a wonderful experience, Mr. Kelly did a great job, and when we were done, asked me for $10.00, I gave him a 50% tip!

I still had a couple hours before going out tonight. I had made arrangements to meet K and give her a ride. We’d met about a month ago at the South Brooklyn Munch and then gone out to dinner together, for some great local BBQ. She has a guy in her life that she is enjoying exploring with. I’m pleased to be a friend, a resource, a “sounding board” and if it turns into more than that, I’m thrilled, if not, I’m super happy to have a friend. K was very late due to some subway issues, but there isn’t a firm start time for the munch, people sort of wander in at their own pace.

The ride was nice because instead of taking the Parkway I took Utica straight down, I like doing that because the Parkway is sort of isolated from the city, and being on surface streets gives me a better flavor of the neighborhoods, and how everything connects, and where things are in relation to one another. It helps me get around without the GPS (my electronic crutch).

Oh, My, GOODNESS, the smells of roasting meats, sizzling in street carts and in storefronts, the Jamaican and East Indian spices as we passed the “Jerk Shops” filled my lungs and I had gotten a trim and shave instead of eating lunch.

When we arrived there were about 15 people there, and we were not last to arrive. The food is adequate, and the room is shared with other patrons. With so many other munches around Brooklyn, and the rest of New York, the reason to trek down to this one is the really great people who show up. Nice, friendly, open and engaging. Also, though the food is nothing special, the portions are immense, and it is a good value for the food. This event promoted a costume contest for October, and I really didn’t make time to prepare, and hadn’t brought any dress-up stuff with me when I moved to the East Coast, and trying to bring a costume on the bike was a dis-incentive.  In any case, when they finally did the contest, most people hadn’t put much effort into the costume, so “Hot-Biker Couple” ended up winning the costume contest. I though Mario was a better costume, but hot women almost always beat guys in costume contests, so I got to ride on coat-tails, for the win.

Costume Contest Winners

With the first runner up, Mario!

Switching up the costumes, just having a silly good time

After the Munch, it was home for the night, and then on Saturday, the Restoration Rocks Music Festival 2014, which is a street party in Bedford-Stuyvesant, hosted by Bed-Stuy native Gbenga Akinnagbe,

who played  Chris Partlow on The Wire (he was Snoop’s partner, as enforcers/hit men). Partlow, according to Wikipedia, commits more on- and off-screen murders than any other character. But, this was not about murder, it was about food and music. The headliners were Doug E Fresh, and Slick Rick, but <grumble> my camera had crapped out on me by then, so I didn’t get any pictures. It has since been sent to San Antonio for warranty service, which involved more trips to Fed-Ex than should have been necessary.

What I did see was a produce vendor wearing a Seattle Seahawks jersey selling amazing Jamaican hit peppers (I think that they are Scotch Bonnets, but there are so many varieties), and the ubiquitous/Notorious B.I.G. on the back of a jacket. Biggie grew up in Bed-Stuy and is something of a local totem around here, you see his face on walls, clothing, and posters in windows in the same way that you’d have seen Hendrix or Bob Marley around the Haight in San Francisco in the late 70’s and into the 80’s.

And the food was AMAZING, lots of local shops cater to the West Indian and Caribbean origins of many of the residents, it is easy to find Callaloo not only in the cafeteria style restaurants, but it is very common in the canned food aisle of local grocers.  There are also many shops, and even folks who just set up a grill on the street corner and sell jerk chicken. I went for a Goat Stew, that had a wonderful blend of spicy and a little bit fruity, which had simmered 3+ hours and was falling off the bone tender, served with a slaw of onions and peppers with a slight vinegar dressing.