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The reality of New Jersey accents and dialect boundaries

Devils and Flyers score hattrick - split New Jersey for 3rd time in 16 months

I'll have more on this, but it's been 3 times in the playoffs now in 16 months time. Wow.

First it was the Giants and Eagles in Jan. of 2009 and the NFL Playoffs.

Then, it was the Phillies and Yankees in the 2009 MLB World Series.

Now, it's the Philadelphia Flyers playing against the New Jersey Devils in the NHL playoffs. It's hockey, it's the 1st Round and thus . . . not as important to New Jerseyans, I'm suspecting.

But since hockey is my favorite sport, it's BIG for me. And I'm calling this: the tiebreaker.

More to come . . . I will be at Game 1 in Newark and Game 3 in Philly.

"Central Jersey" Deleted scenes

Actually, one of these clips made the final cut, but that was it:

Read a review of our film!

Click here to read a review of our film from TCNJ's newspaper, the Signal. Thanks to Pete Spall for writing!

Old clip: at TCNJ

Here is what we did at TCNJ in October.

My hometown, Ewing, North or South?

When asked, "Why did you start this project?" I have often cited that many people who grow up in Mercer County ask this question often.  For instance, there are many facebook groups dedicated to North and South Jersey and one of them debated "getting rid of Mercer" . . . . and did. 

It was feeling like we didn't fit in anywhere.

In Mercer, we really are our own entity. Princeton-Trenton is considered to be its own metropolitan area, even though the influences from New York and Philadelphia are both quite high. Well now, my hometown, Ewing, is in the spotlight.

Arguments for North:

-Residents get nearly all the New York news and sports' channels on basic cable with the exception of NBC 4 out of New York, though they do get it on HD.
-It is North of Trenton
-As of 2000, the county is considered to be part of the New York metropolitan area (if you ignore the smaller Trenton-Princeton metro area referenced above)
-No Wawas in the town, but there is a prominent 7-11 close to TCNJ (and I rarely, if ever, visited a Wawa when in High School  . . . except that dingy one near Princeton University).

Arguments for south:

-It is a "hoagie" here and "Pork Roll" . . and since Pork Roll was actually invented around this area, don't EVER call it Taylor Ham.
-Closer in miles and driving distance to Philadelphia
-Township borders the Delaware River
-Septa train line connects town with Philadelphia

Reasons for confusion:

-Both local newspapers cover Philadelphia AND New Jersey/ New York sports' teams; it was common to see teachers and students fighting at my High School over the Giants and Eagles.

-It is easy to get the NJ Transit train out of Trenton to go to New York or the SEPTA R7 to Philadelphia, also out of Trenton.

-In our documentary one girl summed up the feelings that many have in Mercer. When interviewing her on the campus of TCNJ, she told me that she was a Yankees' fan and grew up in Burlington County her entire life. She said that she was messed with by Philly fans often, but once she crossed into Mercer, she felt "it is now OK to be a Yankees fan." Certainly the Yankees don't dominate the area, as there are many Phillies' fans, but in Mercer, "It is now OK."

So Mercer County's slogan could be: "Mercer: the county where's it's OK to root for any sports' team and not get thrown out of the bar. . . . well unless you're a Dallas fan."  

Though you may say it's an argument for Central Jersey - try finding any other counties like this one.  It could be just my native pride - but there is no other place in Jersey like it.  But please vote above and we'll see if it's closer than the Asbury Park vote . . which turned out to be: 63% North to 36% South.

We're writing a book too!

Hey all, we've got some pretty cool things to still film, but for the most part we are in post-production right now. We're writing a book about the differences between North and South Jersey with New Jersey's "popular historian" John T. Cunningham and I just finished my chapter on where the divide of sports loyalties exists (e.g. - are you an Eagles or Giants' fan?).

We were in Hoboken today partying with many Rutgers' football fans, the biggest unifier of our state from what we've found. So I'm posting an old clip here to showcase the fun we've had. 2008 is the year our film will come out, (and hopefully the book too) so Happy New Year all! And cheers to a Rutgers' win!

With the Author of the Jersey Shore: Atlantic City to Cape May

Some time with Jen A. Miller, author of: The Jersey Shore: Atlantic City to Cape May in Collingswood, NJ - Camden County.

Take our survey . . .

Jon Bon Jovi from Sayreville is from North Jersey. Read this excerpt he gave in a Playboy magazine interview:

“The roadside diner right off the circle in Wall Township is a fabulous greasy spoon, one of the real silver-bullet diners. Taylor ham—a pork roll—is a Jersey fixture. Taylor ham with cheese on a hard roll is love. The big question is: ketchup or mustard? Everyone in north Jersey puts on mustard, everyone in the south, ketchup. I’m a mustard guy myself. A cherry Coke is wonderful with chipped ice. Diners are made for Sunday mornings or the day after when you need grease to soak up everything you did the night before. Then you order breakfast and lunch at the same time. That’s the greatest. It cures a hangover.”

It certainly challenges the Raritan River/ Driscoll Bridge theory . . which states that everything south of the Bridge is South Jersey. But Bon Jovi used both terms: Taylor Ham AND Pork Roll . . . but he used Taylor Ham twice. NORTH JERSEY!

Take our survery on whether you put ketchup or mustard on your Taylor Ham or Pork Roll.
Taylor Ham or Pork Roll?

Buzz . . .

We just filmed a driving competition between North and South Jersey girls. Who can parallel park better? Or better navigate one of NJ's infamous traffic circles?
Who won . . . South Jersey or North Jersey?

Well you'll have to see the film, but we may put a trailer up here soon.

Also, check out our write ups:

NJ Pols

NJ.com Blog

Our remaining filming schedule includes a couple festivals in the disputed territories of Mercer & Monmouth Counties, LBI's Chowderfest, a Giants-Eagles' game at Theo's Tavern in Hightstown, NJ , Rutgers football tailgating and the flooding of the cranberry fields.

Peace!

Get out your notebooks & maps

We were at TCNJ today and it was eye opening. I had to cut A LOT here just to trim it to 6 minutes (a long highlight for us). The centrally located town of Ewing provides the setting for the campus, which is perfect as you will see when the guy talks about how antennas had to be tilted certain ways to get Philly or New York channels years back.

Going to college in NJ is one of the first times students from this state run into the "culture shock" of North and South Jersey: you say where you're from and get judged by others who are from somewhere different. This is where the debate starts many times and thanks to TCNJ we were able to witness a lot: best friends saying completely different answers . . . people realizing that there are cultural differences among them, but they are most definitely united on campus about Wawa, though there is a 7-11 right down the street. We think we also got to the bottom of some counties in terms of North/ South. . . but you judge.

I editing all of these really fast, keep that in mind. I'm losing sleep but doing it because people are really watching now! We are definitely starting to gain a following.

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