What To Do When Spring Catapults Into Summer

Tuesday, Apr 28, 2009 9:13am  |  COMMENTS (12)

The parking lot of Applegate’s was so crowded Sunday night, it looked like Memorial Day Weekend on the Garden State Parkway. Tom at Rita’s Ices in Bloomfield said he sold twice as many ices last Sunday as usual. Clearly, there’s a Pavlovian instinct that makes us gravitate toward quiescently frozen treats as soon as the mercury tops 90. Which brings us to one of our favorite topics.


My Ballot Box

What’s your favorite local place for ice cream?

Applegate Farm

Holsten’s

Rita’s Ices

Coldstone Creamery

One of the gelato places in town (tell us in comments)

Ice cream truck



View Results

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They Couldn’t Have Used Photoshop?

Monday, Apr 27, 2009 6:51pm  |  COMMENTS (138)

air force one.jpg
Holy smokes, who’s running the Defense Department these days, Orson Welles?
(Photoshopped Air Force One done in five minutes at no taxpayer expense and without setting off any panic.)
YouTube video of real panic after the jump.

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Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About “Mad Men”

Monday, Apr 27, 2009 3:50pm  |  COMMENTS (6)

10-26-08-with-weiner.jpg If you’re a regular reader of Baristanet, you’ve undoubtedly heard of Soprano Sue, Clifton-based chronicler of all things “Sopranos.” Now meet Roberta Lipp of Little Falls, the Soprano Sue of AMC’s “Mad Men,” who along with her sister Deborah Lipp runs “Basket of Kisses,” the biggest independent “Mad Men” fansite on the web.
Roberta Lipp (shown left, with Mad Men creator Matt Weiner and her sister Deborah) won’t give up any information about her website’s traffic, though she does say “we have credible numbers.” They also have the ear of Matt Weiner, who dropped by the site’s season finale party in New York last year. “We’ve gotten the most attention from the media, from Matt Weiner, and from the actors on the show,” says Roberta. “They have a lot of love for us. It’s crazy.”

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Meet the Muse

Monday, Apr 27, 2009 1:28pm  |  COMMENTS (5)

listen.jpgWe all know Montclair is an artsy place, brimming with writers, painters and musicians. This weekend, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair celebrates Arts Weekend with a two-day “Muse in Montclair” festival of talks, workshops and a big Saturday night bash.
Friday night kicks off the event with an event called “Invoke the Muse,” featuring fiction writer Alice Elliot Dark, jazz artist Oliver Lake and sculptor Tom Nussbaum. (Nussbaum’s 2008 sculpture “Listen” pictured at left).

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Free Audiobooks for TechnoGeeks

Monday, Apr 27, 2009 11:41am  |  COMMENTS (4)

When I saw the sign in the Glen Ridge Library with pictures of iPods on it, promising free new audiobook downloads through a service called ListenNJnw, I was pretty stoked. The service is available to all members of BCCLS, which now includes Glen Ridge, Montclair and Bloomfield as member libraries. Since then, however, I’ve lost several hours of my life to downloading purgatory, and Overdrive Media Explorer still can’t find my iPhone. I guess, despite all the hours I log on my Mac, I’m just not geek enough. Still, I can hear Haruki Murakami’s “A Wild Sheep Chase” if I want to listen at my desk, or burn it to CD. I’m interested in seeing if anybody out there in Baristaville has mastered the art of the ListenNJnw download to iPod. If so, tell us in comments and please pass on any practical tips.
If you’re looking for a good audiobook, by the way, I highly recommend Barack Obama’s “Dreams From My Father,” which I listened to during a 7-hour trip back from central Virginia late last year. Not only is Obama a gifted writer with an interesting story to tell, he reads the book himself and does all the voices.You can reserve through the library service, on iTunes for $14.95 or audible.com for $18.17.

Bring Wall-To-Wall Beauty To Your Walls

Monday, Apr 27, 2009 10:30am  |  COMMENTS (1)

What if you had a cute little oil painting of a terrier that you found at a yard sale for a dollar and you didn’t know what to do with it? Or maybe you’re just generally pondering what to do with your walls, and ways to get a great look without spending a whole lot. By Design Interiors still has a few spots open for a seminar, the second in a series, to help you do just that. The gathering takes place at ColorStoryHome on Valley Road, and it’s important to RSVP. They are asking everyone to bring an accessory from home that they love but don’t know what to do with. You’ll be able to “ask a designer” and get some great advice. Tonight, from 7-9, wine and cheese will be served. Free.

Swine Flu? Don’t Worry, New Jersey Has a Plan

Monday, Apr 27, 2009 9:01am  |  COMMENTS (23)

Eight cases of swine flu have been documented just 30 miles away and the US has declared a public health emergency. But don’t worry. The state of New Jersey has a complete grasp of the blindingly obvious.

If a new influenza virus were to begin spreading throughout the world, New Jersey would not be spared from its impact.

Well that’s a start. And there actually is a Statewide Pandemic Influenza Plan in place, with plans for healthcare staffing, triage protocols, quarantine policies and the ominously-titled “fatality management.” Of course, the last outbreak of swine flu in the US was in New Jersey, at Fort Dix, which turned out to be a dud, apocalyptically speaking, and the CDC’s management of that outbreak went down in public health history as a PR disaster, which cost the head of the agency his job. Mass innoculations were urged, then stopped when the shots appeared to increase the incident of Guillain-Barre syndrome.

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Expect Train Delays

Sunday, Apr 26, 2009 11:20pm  |  COMMENTS (14)

NJ Transit commuters, take note. Your commute this week just got iffy.

Customers on the Morris & Essex and Montclair-Boonton lines (including Midtown Direct and Gladstone Branch customers) should expect delays of 10-15 minutes during peak periods for the next several weeks due to damage caused by a fire on Saturday, April 25.

Lina Orfanos Sings Greek Songs Of Love And Passion

Sunday, Apr 26, 2009 8:52am  |  COMMENTS (2)

And baby, believe me, when a Greek sings songs of love and passion prepare for an emotional tsunami. Greek music is moving, powerful, haunting, elegant, and at times, downright compelling. You have a priceless opportunity to enjoy powerful Greek music at 6:30 pm over at the Montclair Art Museum. Lina Orfanos and the Poetica Ensemble will favor us with a concert and it would be a mistake to miss it. Lina’s songs of Agape will leave you agape.

It’s Not Too Late To Join The Susan J. Komen Race For The Cure!

Sunday, Apr 26, 2009 12:30am  |  COMMENTS (2)

…if you register right away and get over there by 8 am. But there’s lots of other fun stuff going on at Branchbrook park during the Walk/Run/Fun Run, so families with children might want to enjoy the children’s singer, soccer drills, face painting, Moon Bounce and the Infernos. Sounds like a great morning. It’s not too late!

Featured Comment

I was very glad to see this post. The running in the street around here drives me crazy, mostly because the the majority of the runners I've encountered (not every runner)seem to think that it's their right to take up half the street when what they are doing is in fact illegal. And let's not be silly. Yes, concrete is hard on the joints, but the pavement isn't that much better. It's not like the roads are made of track rubber.

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