It is common knowledge that you pretty much stumble over writers and editors during any random five-minute walk in Baristaville. But less known might be the dense population of astonishingly talented artists. The good news is, Baristaville is stacked with talented, skilled and capable artists who look forward to sharing their expertise with you. Just check out these two randomly selected individuals and the staggering bounty of artistic guidance they are at the ready to share.
Jay Seldin has been photographing the Mermaid Parade on Coney Island for years (and by the way, he also taught me how to use Photoshop.) This year, he’ll take you with him.

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Don’t blame the homeowners who bought into a bogus mortgage scheme for the worldwide recession – look at the Wall Street gamesters. Montclair resident Les Leopold has just written a new book dissecting the current financial crisis: The Looting of America: How Wall Street’s Game of Fantasy Finance destroyed our Jobs, Pensions and Prosperity, and What we can do about it. (Chelsea Green Publishing), now available on Amazon.

For the past several years, before the crash, I had been watching these “opaque and exotic” financial instruments that everyone said were too complicated to understand. So I thought I’d try to understand them….. and then the economy crashed under their weight. As I started to put the book together I realized how much this economic meltdown had to do with the rising income gap between the super rich and the rest of us, and the distended profits and compensations packages on Wall Street. Helping others understand this mess became a mission. I honestly believe the book will help you understand more about the meltdown and that it will provoke your thinking about what should be done. This is a very important time in our history. I never thought our economy would teeter on the edge of another Great Depression. But here we are. I hope this book will make a small contribution to developing a safer, greener and saner economic world.

You can hear Les rant on line here.

A fire at “The Pit” in Bloomfield means customers may have to go to “plan B” if they were counting on the take-out restaurant for Memorial Day picnic fixin’s. From The Star Ledger:

Barbecue fans will mourn the temporary loss of The Pit restaurant on Broad Street, where a fire destroyed the kitchen and a greater part of the dining area this morning.
Officials are still investigating the cause of the fire that broke out around 2 a.m. inside the kitchen walls of The Pit, fire official Tommy Peleia said.
Peleia said firefighters responded to a 911 call and found smoke emanating from the walls. Firefighters evacuated the three apartment buildings above The Pit, but nobody was inside the restaurant at the time.
The fire was extinguished in just more than an hour, Peleia said, but not before causing smoke damage to the kitchen and dining area of the restaurant. Though the three apartment buildings were left intact, Peleia said the restaurant is uninhabitable.

And in other restaurant news, the Munchmobile’s tour of Cajun eateries included a stop at Montclair’s Saveur Creole.

Congratulations to five Bloomfield High students who were chosen to be interviewed for a segment on CBS News-EARLY SHOW Saturday Edition.
This week CBS news has been broadcasting a special report “Children of The Recession” that explores how the recession is affecting children. Today, Early Show anchor Chris Wragge came to Bloomfield High School and spoke for over an hour with seniors Jessica Camacho, Akeem Marriott, Samuel Vargas, Gino Silvera, and Jennifer Briones. These students are all participating in the school’s Cooperative Education program. The filming stirred up some excitement at the school, as broadcast crew turned the business tech office into a TV studio.
The buzz at school is the kids were insightful and articulate. They shined in front of the cameras representing their school, district and town as they spoke about our nation’s economic woes. You won’t want to miss this program of the Saturday Early Show, airing tomorrow morning, May 23 beginning at 7 am. If you are away this Memorial Day weekend, remember to set your DVR or visit the cbsnews.com.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! These past two days of gorgeous weather have really got me in the mood for fun. I can’t remember the last time Memorial Day came this early…It’s like getting an extra week of summer!
Hanging out with friends around the barbie? Heading to the beach, or taking your first dunk in the pool? This weekend is the unofficial beginning of our own summer games, and if tennis is your thing, check out the Freeman Tennis Memorial Day Weekend BBQ in Glen Ridge. They’ll feed you and let you play tennis on their awesome clay courts for free all weekend!
Freeman Tennis Courts are located on Woodland Avenue just past the Glen Ridge border in Montclair. For information call the courts 973-509-5362. Check out our Calendar for other happenings, and tell us what you’ve got going on!

Kai Anderson, age 5, was recently diagnosed with leukemia and must have a bone marrow transplant within three months. His father has incurable lymphoma. Can you even imagine? One Montclair mom is doing everything she can to help. She’s organizing a drive in Montclair on May 30. Read more at Barista Kids.

I’m one of the lucky ones, who by the grace of the music gods, got a hold of tickets to see the Boss’s outstanding performance last night at the Izod Center. Talk about music karma – the call came at 7:15 p.m. from my husband: “we have an extra ticket, wanna go?” (Dumb question!)
It’s been 21 years since I last saw Bruce perform on stage in Madrid – I felt transported, young again (a night without the kids helped too). Springsteen, biceps bulging out of his skin-tight black tee was going on all cylinders performing with the energy of an 18-year-old, belting out hit after hit, running, piano hopping, and inviting a lot of bodily contact with adoring fans who scored a front row on the floor. “It’s great to be back in the beautiful swamps of New Jersey! We’re going to rock the house!” he screamed. The E Street band of course, was stellar – jamming tight, tight, tight. Stevie Van Zandt got a lot of love, Nils Lofgren looking hobbit-like super riffed, but the extraordinary 18-year-old drummer Jay Weinberg almost stole the show, sitting in for his dad Max.

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Montclair’s BOE is close to selecting a candidate to fill the shoes of outgoing high school principal Judith Weiss. “Yes, it’s possible the BOE will have an announcement by the June 1 meeting; if not, by the June 15th meeting” says Montclair BOE spokesperson Laura Federico.
The BOE received 130 applicants for the job. The top 11 candidates were first interviewed by district parents, community members and MHS staff. The two panels (one consisting of parents and community members, the other of staff) independently chose the same 4 candidates to advance. Right now those 4 candidates are being interviewed by senior staff.
Federico did not reveal who is on the interview committee. More information about Principal Search 2009 is on the BOE website.