We're quoted in AC Weekly

Check it out here or click on the photo! 

Roller Derby anyone?

Not totally about New Jersey - but there was a great article in the NY Times Magazine about the resurgence of Roller Derby across the USA.  Of this, there are many New Jersey roller derby girl teams and we included the Jersey Shore Roller Derby Girls in our documentary.  

Here are the Jersey Shore Roller Girls explaining the flat-track game:

Here are many New Jersey teams that you should check out:

South Jersey Shore - Boardwalk Brawlers 

North Jersey Shore - Jersey Shore Roller Girls

South Jersey - South Jersey Derby Girls

Newark - Garden State Roller Girls

New Brunswick - New Jersey Dirty Dames

Morristown  - Morristown Madams 

Skylands - Sisters of Mayhem 

US Airways Magazine piece on South Jersey

We're quoted in it! Click on the pic to read the article.

The BIG DAY

After seeing the Arizona Cardinals shock the Carolina Panthers, I think it is safe to say this game today is for the Super Bowl. No disrespect to the Cardinals - I just think the Giants AND Eagles are both relieved to see the Panthers out of the way.

Anyway, enjoy the game today. I have to work later on - so I might be drinking coffee and not beer, but I may be up in Hightstown, Exit 8 off the turnpike, at the Tavern on the Lake (1o1 N. Main St.) for the first part of today's game. If you want to see a 50/50 divide of Eagles & Giants' fans - go there (though I think it will be more like 60%-40% Giants).

And finally, we were mentioned in the New York Daily News today and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Enjoy reading!

ABC Story on NJ Eagles-Giants Divide, etc.

Good story on the Eagles-Giants' divide, but they got the 195 thing wrong . . . though it is close. There are few Eagles' fans in Brick Township, for instance, which is well south of 195. But, they interviewed a friend, Mayor Ron Dancer, of Plumsted Twp. who is featured in our film.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/sports/pro/football&id=6592234

Also there is a good article in the Philly Inquirer today about Mulligan's in Hoboken - which is my neighborhood pub - where I watched most of the Eagles'games and the Phillies' World Series run as well.

Finally, I will be interviewing tomorrow morning around 7:30am on WJRZ 1001. FM

New Jersey divided between 2 NFL Football Teams

In North Jersey - they will be rooting for the New York Giants. And in South Jersey, they'll be pulling for the Philadelphia Eagles. However, there will be about 3 - 4 New Jersey counties in the "central areas" where you can see a 50/50 mix of Eagles & Giants' fans at the nearby tavern for next Sunday's NFL playoff game. However, each county distributes their sports loyalties differently.

VS

Warren County is pretty much Giants' territory now - except for some mixture in the southwestern river towns centering around Phillipsburg - but these days - it's all leaning Giants.

Hunterdon County is Mostly Giants - except there is a mixture along the river towns. In the southern part, there continues to be some Eagles' dominance.

Mercer County is pretty evenly split and it is the only county in NJ with no clear territory in any town. The northern towns lean toward the Giants & the southern towns lean toward the Eagles.

Ocean County has many of its municipalities leaning toward the Giants, though there is strong Eagles in the far south and in Plumsted Twp.  However, it is the only county that has all 4 types of loyalties  (Solid Giants, Leaning Giants, Solid Eagles & Leaning Eagles).

Middlesex & Somerset Counties are solid Giants' counties.

Monmouth County has the two townships in the panhandle that are a mixture, but there aren't many good taverns in those areas to compare here.

How the state divides HS athletics

OK, I know that we DO NOT acknowledge Central NJ for this documentary when it comes to our "dividing line."

But the state does in many of its classifications. In HS sports it does as well.

I am posting this because it calls into question those people in Somerset, Middlesex and Hunterdon Counties who claim to be from CENTRAL NJ. . . or the "so called" Raritan Valley. Well, for most of you - the state thinks you are NORTH.

The only two counties that fall completely in green (Central) are - Mercer & Monmouth.

The Snow Dividing Line

Looking at the snow map and getting some reports from friends on the ground, below is the snow line today in New Jersey. This was done at noon, so it already has changed an hour and 1/2 later. ANY town that was listed on http://www.weather.com/ as having: snow, wintry mix, sleet or freezing rain was included in the blue. If the weather was listed a just rain for the town in question, it was SOUTH of our snow day dividing. . . and for today - is SOUTH JERSEY.

Hoboken in the snow - 2:30pm

SNL busts on New Jersey . . . again

I have written on this blog how Saturday Night Live has busted on New Jersey before, and we even use a clip of Tina Fey from 2003 swiping a low blow at Atlantic City in our film.

But yesterday, during the last episode of 2008 for SNL, Fred Armisen, dressed up as New York Governor, David Patterson, swiped at New Jersey a couple times:

Now I don't know if this was as low as the previous times, because Paterson is legally blind, a fact SNL exploited during Amy Poehler's farewell:

Does this mean that SNL was actually defending New Jersey, citing that because Paterson is blind - he doesn't really know about the state?

Probably not, as you can see in rough clips from our film below, the only thing that seems to unite New Jerseyans is the disdain Philadelphians and New Yorkers seem to share of us:

Is it any coincidence that Fey is from a Philadelphia suburb and that Armisen is from Long Island? Hmmmmmm . . .

Well, we do give it back to our neighbors for 3 months in the summer time down the shore. I guess it's a symbiotic relationship . . . I guess.

Anyway, you can see more of what New Yorkers and Pennsylvanians think of New Jersey in our film . . . and it looks like the next showing will be in the New Brunswick area - as the voting above indicates!

Band feature: Mike Mullane & the Bayonne Bleeders

If you have read this blog before, chances are that you know about Bennys. Well, Mike Mullane (who is originally from Bayonne . . the "B" in B-E-N-N-Y") was an unlikely source to come up with the unofficial Benny Go Home (BGH) Anthem, I'm a Benny, but the tune has become a staple at the North Jersey Shore. His band, "the Bayonne Bleeders," are coined after the famous Jersey boxer, Chuck Wepner, who famously went all 15 rounds with Muhammad Ali, and even knocked him down in the 9th round (and was the insipration for Rocky). Here is a pic of the band with Wepner:

The band has more to offer than just "Benny" related songs, and one of my favorites is a catchy tune and nice ode to our friends, the Jersey Shore Roller Girls. You can listen to the songs here at their myspace site and Mike has recently re-located from Bayonne to the North Jersey Shore, making his lyrics in Benny's coda prophetic. Listen to the lyrics . . . very clever and funny if you've hung out in Manasquan, Belmar, or Seaside on the summer weekends. I definitely know a guy who got rid of his rear car seats to put in speakers and, yeah, he was a Benny.

Band profile: Lifeguard Nights

This was a fun band that I happened upon . . . party because of their name. Formerly known as the "South Jersey Seashore Lifeguard Convention Band" (SJSLCB) and now "Lifeguard Nights" the band describes themselves as such: "If Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention procreated with Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band and raised their child on Indie Rock, Lifeguard Nights would be that child."

I still have issues with what lead singer, Vincent Brue, considers to be South Jersey, but they have deep roots in the state and I'm glad I found them. We used an older song from theirs, "Sandbox" over our South Jersey montage in the film. I am working with the editor to even feature their new song, "Unrequited Love" in the credits which you can listen to here. Check out their website: http://www.thelifeguardband.com/ . . also look into their myspace site and facebook fan sites. Here are some notable videos; the bottom video parodies a very famous Van Halen music vid. I also hear they put on fun live shows . . . and you can see why below: