Busta Rhymes

He’s never been particularly OG, but Busta Rhymes has always been a little wily. The dude’s arms (and connections) are big enough to keep this humble paper from dissin’ the code, but we’ve got to say that the psycho, rubber-face routine can be a little hard to read at times. Like, did the guy really expect the world to end in 2000? It’s never clear to what degree he’s got his tongue in cheek—like on his new oil-bling track “Arab Money” where he raps about security on camelback and gambling with Arafat—and that’s precisely why he’s remained one of the coolest figures in hip-hop. He’s playing only a handful of dates before his new album Back on My B.S. drops in May, but he’ll be gettin’ rowdy wit Clifton Park.

The Flipmode Squad’s going to get some 518-love for this one too, with local rappers Sev Statik, Dezmatic, Shyste, Awar, Rick Whispers, and Pigz joining the bill.

Busta Rhymes comes to Northern Lights (1208 Route 146, Clifton Park) tomorrow (March 20) at 8 PM. Tickets are $35. Call 371-0012.

Catherine Sullivan with Sean Griffin

Sean Griffin’s current residency at RPI’s Experimental Media & Performing Arts Center will be highlighted by three video installations created in collaboration with Catherine Sullivan, and exhibited in Studio 1. And they’re all critiques about how we relate to one another.

The Chittendens, which features 16 actors making stylized movements and sounds suggesting 19th- and 20th-century society, is “highly structured, beyond catharsis and full of embedded cultural critique.” Triangle of Need imagines a fractured narrative about a Neanderthal society, complete with e-mail and figure skating. D-Pattern grew out of a live performance with actor-dancers performing “repetitive movements that embody and effuse certain attitudes.”

The installation by Catherine Sullivan with Sean Griffin opens tomorrow (Friday, March 20) from 7 to 10 PM at EMPAC (Studio 1: Goodman, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy) and continues through March 29. The exhibit is free and open to the public. For gallery hours, visit empac.rpi.edu.

Craig Ferguson

Perhaps you stay up late enough to know him as the Emmy-Award-winning host of CBS’s Late Late Show. Or maybe you remember his stint as the insufferable Nigel Wick on The Drew Carey Show.

Less likely, you may recall the Scottish comedian-writer-actor-director’s stint on his Scottish archeology series Dirt Detectives, or his “Bing Hitler” routine on the UK’s underground comedy circuit. Or (least likely) perhaps you’re right now playing a cassette recording by his early ’80s punk band the Bastards From Hell (later known, after a subtle image shift, as the Dreamboys).

The guy has been around. But whyever you may know his name, you probably know he’s a damn funny bloke. This weekend, he’s bringing all his Scottish charm and humor to Schenectady. Times are tough; he’ll make you laugh at it all. And from what we’ve heard, laughter is a dern good medicine.

As Ferguson himself would say, “Relax, you’re among friends now. The long hard day is over and the roly-poly funny man is before you.”

Craig Ferguson doles out his wry Scottish wit at Proctors Theatre (432 State St., Schenectady) at 8 PM on Saturday (March 21). Tickets range from $20 to $35. For more info, or to purchase tickets, call 346-6204.