Baristanet | Coffee With

Baristanet Profile: Don Katz

BY Debbie Galant | Wednesday, Jan 25, 2012 12:15pm | COMMENTS (7)

Name: Don Katz
Town: Montclair
When did you move there? 1989
How do you make a living? Founder & CEO Audible.com, Newark NJ
Coffee, tea or …. ? Tequila – preferably reposados. Into good tequila for a decade.
What’s your idea of a perfect Saturday? Working less than most of the day to start; playing hockey; catching up with far flung kids; reading versus glancing at the Times; dinner with friends.
What’s your favorite local restaurant? Too hard because there are so many – Satish Palace, Blu, Beyond Pita, Egans (when it’s not too jammed).
What’s on your nightstand? A Kindle Fire (reading Art of Fielding); and old world physical books too: The Stuff of Thought (Steven Pinker); A History of Reading (Alberto Manguel). Continue Reading

Baristanet Profile: Kit Schackner

BY Debbie Galant | Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 11:00am | COMMENTS (18)

Kit Schackner self-portrait

Name: Kit Schackner

Town: Glen Ridge, N J

When did you move there? 1987!! This makes my husband, Kelly, and me the oldest ones in our immediate neighborhood. It doesn’t confer venerability, but I think we do add an avuncular comfort to the street.

How do you make a living? Co-owner of an architectural woodworking company (fancy cabinetmaking) with my husband. Now in our 35th year.

Coffee, tea or … ? Coffee. And after 5:00, a glass of wine. And after 9:00 PM, a Black Russian.

What’s your idea of a perfect Saturday? In the morning, silence & good coffee with two newspapers. Then gardening and making bad art, uninterrupted … Sunday too.

What’s your favorite local restaurant? This one’s hard for me. I’m not a foodie, though I travel in foodie circles. I’d be as happy with a food pill as a molecular gastronomic meal, so long as 1) I could see the menu
In the dim lights, 2) I could hear my dinner companions over the ambient noise, 3) either we brought a good bottle of wine or they have a liquor license, and 4) either they salted the dish or put salt on the table. 5) It should have a component of something fresh I’ve never tasted before. But I’ll settle for Wendys or McDonalds. Continue Reading

Coffee With … John Schreiber of NJPAC

BY Tara Williams | Tuesday, Jan 10, 2012 9:00am | COMMENTS (0)

In July 2011, John Schreiber joined NJPAC as president and CEO after “putting the spinach in the popcorn” as executive vice president of social action and advocacy for Participant Media, the global entertainment company that brought us Waiting for Superman, Food, Inc., The Cove, Charlie Wilson’s War and other socially-relevant movies.

As a student at Haverford College, Schreiber got his first taste of show business when he coordinated music events at the school. Shortly after graduating, he was hired by George Wein, the creator of the Newport Jazz and Folks Festivals, and worked for him almost 20 years. Since then, he has produced films, and created, curated and produced a multitude of events including the KOOL and JVC Jazz Festivals, Hard Rock Live (VH-1), the Emmy and Tony Awarding-winning show, Elaine Stritch At Liberty, The President’s Summit for America’s Future, the Kennedy Center’s Open House multi-cultural festival, George C. Wolfe’s Harlem Song and Carnegie Hall’s American Popular Song celebration.

Tara Williams sat down with Schreiber to talk about his programming plans for the sixth largest performing arts center in the U.S. (Hint: Grammy Award-winning bassist and Baristaville resident Christian McBride will be involved), creating social action campaigns and working with George Wein and Elaine Stritch. Continue Reading

Coffee With … Fred Guterl

BY Christina Gillham | Friday, Jan 06, 2012 9:00am | COMMENTS (31)

If you live in Baristaville, you may have seen Fred Guterl writing on his laptop at the recently departed Café Eclectic or playing trumpet with the Montclair Community Band. But the Montclair dad of two also has a day job as the Executive Editor of Scientific American, which last year won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence.

In June, Guterl’s first book, “Fate of the Species,” will be released by Bloomsbury USA. An engaging look at the threats that face humankind, the book examines the end-of-the-world scenarios that worry scientists, and offers solutions to how our species can survive (hint: switching your light bulbs is nice, but it’s not going to solve our problems).

Montclair’s Warren Zanes: Performer and Professor of Rock and Roll

BY Tara Williams | Tuesday, Dec 20, 2011 2:45pm | COMMENTS (0)

Last week as I was chauffeuring my almost nine-year-old son home from piano lessons I heard Billy Joel’s Piano Man on the radio. I belted out the lyrics (isn’t the song one big sing-along?), while tears streamed down my face because I haven’t heard the song in such a long time. Welcome to 40. Music from the proms and parties I attended in the 1980s are now being played on the oldies station. So, when my editor asked me to interview Warren Zanes (http://www.warren-zanes.com/), former guitarist for the Del Fuegos, a rock and roll band that got some airplay in the 80s on MTV—the touchstone to my youth—I jumped at the chance.

This New Year’s Eve, Zanes, 46, of Montclair, will “mix up a buffet table” of songs from his three solo CDs, I Want To Move Out In The Daylight (“my divorce album”); People That I’m Wrong For; and Memory Girls, (possibly) songs from the del Fuego albums (he has invited brother Dan Zanes, the Grammy Award-winning musician/songwriter of children’s music and former front man for the Del Fuegos), along with “real rock and roll band stuff” at First Night Montclair 2012. He has also invited Montclair residents producer/performer Don Fleming and musician/song writer and WFMU radio host Michael Shelley to join the line-up.

“I don’t play a lot of shows because I’ve got my job, my writing; I’ve got my kids (two elementary school-aged sons, Lucian and Piero),” says Zanes, sitting at his dining room table. “I love doing it — I’ve done just a few solo shows recently — but I don’t do it a lot. But I’ve really been wanting to do it in Montclair. I was very happy when they brought the idea to me.” Continue Reading

Baristanet Profile: John Farrell, AKA “Iceman”

BY Debbie Galant | Tuesday, Nov 29, 2011 11:30am | COMMENTS (31)

Name: John L. Farrell
Town: Denville
When did you move there? 2007, from Caldwell
How do you make a living? Client Project Manager at AT&T
Coffee, Tea or … ? English Breakfast Tea
What’s your idea of a perfect Saturday? Yard work in the morning…sports in the afternoon…dinner out with wife.
What’s your favorite local restaurant? Stamna, Bloomfield
What’s on your nightstand? Flags of our Father by James Brady and a James Patterson Novel
Your iPod? How Stuff Works podcast is my fav
Your TIVO? Boardwalk Empire, Weeds and Homeland
What do you hope they say about you at your funeral? I hope I’m recognized for being a good husband to my wife Dale Marie, and loyal to my family and friends.

John Farrell, known to Baristanet readers as Iceman, is a longtime commenter and a frequenter of Baristanet parties. He came to Boooristanet as part of the 1%.

An Interview with Horace Ashenfelter

BY Ted Bongiovanni | Wednesday, Nov 23, 2011 9:42am | COMMENTS (4)

Ashenfelter, in white, competing with his arch-rival, Vladimir Kazantsev of Russia.

If you’ve been seeing the traffic sawhorses around Glen Ridge, that’s because the Ashenfelter 8K is tomorrow. (Race starts at 9 a.m. Map here.) This story originally ran in the Essex Running Club Newsletter, December 2008 and also appeared on Bongiovanni’s blog, Wise Contradictions.

One of the most pleasant surprises about living in Glen Ridge is that it’s home to some serious runners–including one Horace Ashenfelter, who won the gold medal at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952. Dan Murphy–another serious runner–took over the organization of the town’s Thanksgiving Day “turkey trot” and renamed it in Ashenfelter’s honor. Ever since I first did the race in 2006, I wondered about Ashenfelter–where does he live? Does he still run? What was it like to compete in the Olympics? I asked around–and got some answers. Ashenfelter was still running strong and is friendly. After being encouraged by some fellow Essex Running Club members, I wrote him a note and pitched a story. I got the impression that Ashenfelter was accustomed to answering questions from curious runners and was honored that he granted the interview. When he competed in the Olympics he was an FBI agent and defeated Vladimir Kazantsev, from the USSR when the Cold War was going hot. Have you had a chance to meet someone you deeply admire? How did it go? I’m glad I had a list of questions and that I recorded the conversation. I have to say, running a steeplecase sounds like fun. It’s great to have folks share their stories.

On Thanksgiving Day at the Ashenfelters, four children and twelve grandchildren don their sneakers and run an eight-kilometer race before sitting down to dinner. The 1952 gold medal winner, Horace Ashenfelter, for whom the race is named, is still going strong and inspiring runners of all ages.

Can Fur Make a Comeback With the PC Crowd?

BY Gwen Orel | Wednesday, Nov 16, 2011 12:49pm | COMMENTS (40)

Ashley Schultz

I’m not the girl you’d think would ever want a fur coat. I love animals. I have two rescue cats; it used to be three but one died of cancer last year after we spent thousands and thousands to try to cure her.

And… I want a fur coat. Jacket, really, a reversible sheared mink taffeta.

I don’t approve of me.

Tap Dancing on One Leg

BY Margot Galant Levinson | Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 10:00am | COMMENTS (4)

This past Saturday, Montclair State University musical theatre major Evan Ruggiero posted a video on YouTube of himself tap dancing. By Tuesday night, almost 6,000 people had viewed it. No wonder. Ruggiero, a 21-year-old bone cancer survivor who had his leg amputated last year, had taped himself tap dancing with his one remaining leg — and a peg leg.

Two years after his diagnosis and a year after his amputation, Ruggiero is in remission, cancer-free and ready to share his story. “I initially made the video for myself. The night it was made I took about 10 videos of myself tapping to track my progress. I came back to my apartment and showed my roommate and she said, ‘This is going on YouTube right now!’” Within 12 hours, Ruggiero had started receiving messages from fans all over the world. Yesterday, musical theater producer Jason Robert Brown even sent him a message on Twitter: “@EvanRuggiero Kick ass, dude!”

Baristanet Profile: Carl Bergmanson

BY Debbie Galant | Tuesday, Nov 08, 2011 9:42am | COMMENTS (13)

Name: Carl Bergmanson
Town: Glen Ridge
When did you move there? 1988
How do you make a living? Computer consulting
Coffee, tea or … ? Coca-Cola (no ice, no straw, just coke in a glass)
What’s your idea of a perfect Saturday? Lazy day at home with Ruby (wife) & Cubes (cat)
What’s your favorite local restaurant? Fitzgerald’s 1928
What’s on your nightstand? A clock and a lamp
Your iPod? Oldies (mostly ’63-’72) with just a dab of Lady Gaga
Your TiVO? Jeopardy, Amazing Race, Good Wife (gotta love that Kalinda!) & Castle – also Boardwalk Empire, Dexter & Mad Men “OnDemand”
What’s the worst-kept secret about your town? That it’s not just beautiful, but also a great place to live.
What do you hope they say about you at your funeral? “I’m glad that they respected great-great-great-grandpa’s wishes and put him in his Vikings jersey & Mets jacket.”

Carl Bergmanson, an original co-founder of Baristanet, ran against Jon Corzine in the 2009 gubernatorial primary and recently appeared in two community theater productions.