All posts by bfiggefox

Kate Newell: NJ Film Festival

Dance and the other arts, , , ,

Randy Now, a Cranbury mailman by day and a musician/DJ by night,
“seems to have brilliantly blundered into his role as promoter, persuading emerging bands to stop in Trenton en route between New York and Philadelphia.”

2015 1 29 riot on the dance floorKate Newell retells the story in this week’s U.S. 1 Newspaper when she reports on the New Jersey Film Festival, which opens Saturday, January 31. In the film, “Riot on the Dance Floor: The Story of Randy Now and City Gardens,” she recounts, “director Steve Tozzi reopens the doors of the legendary City Gardens in Trenton, letting out all the grit and glory trucked in by the remarkable club promoter Randy Now.”  Click here for her story. Also here’s an interview with former City Gardens bartender Jon Stewart

Randy Now now presents musicians at his new venue, the Man Cave in Bordentown.

Treasures in Your Button Box: next Monday

Around Town, Dance and the other arts, ,

enamel man in hat $195 - CopyLarge 1 7/8 inch Battersea Pewter Racecar - face shank - FSBS 2004 $65coralene glass

Many of my friends know I collect buttons, and often they say “I have my mother’s buttons in a jar — would you look at them/” Now is your chance. Along with members of the New Jersey State Button Society, I will host a talk and hands-on demonstration, “Treasures in Your Button Box,” on Monday, January 19, 1 to 3 p.m., at Princeton United Methodist Church, Nassau Street at Vandeventer Avenue.

If you can attend, please tell me, so I can save you a seat! You may comment below or call 609-921-2774 or email duncanesque@yahoo.com. For parking information, go to http://www.PrincetonUMC.org. There will be a donation box.

You’ll see 19th century buttons made from china, shell and ivory, and also those made recently from modern materials — including rubber, plastic, celluloid, glass, and metal.  You will learn how to find and care for buttons that cost 25 cents, $25, or $250. If you bring your button box, the NJSBS collectors will tell you about them. And everyone will go home with new treasures.

 

Edgy (live) dance & film at the Garden Theatre

Dance and Dancers, Dance and the other arts, Faith and Social Justice, , , ,

Something I did NOT expect: The Garden Theatre presents a LIVE dance-theater performance by DV8 Physical Theatre on Wednesday, January 14, at 7:30 p.m., repeating Sunday, January 25, 12:30 p.m. This National Theatre production is billed as for adults, read about it here.

Current films at the Garden are Selma, which I saw in company with some youthful demonstrators at another theater on Saturday . Loved the script and the acting, and (though I am squeamish about it) the onscreen violence was handled well.

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Also the movie about Alan Turing.  Thanks to Princeton University Press who sent the Very Big Book that inspires the film. Spouse is plowing through it, likes it, and promises to provide a mini-review. Turing was surely a hero to my late cousin Ann.

 

Chaplains on the Medical Team

Faith and Social Justice, , , ,

 

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For most of us the bookends of our lives – birth and death – take place with the support of a medical team outside the home. Chaplain Tedford J. Taylor, director of pastoral care & training at RWJ University Hospital Hamilton, will speak at a breakfast on Sunday, January 11, on how chaplains and others can offer pastoral companionship and support during these critical times.

The delicious hot breakfast, served by the United Methodist Men at Princeton United Methodist Church,  begins at 8 AM, followed by the program at 8:30.  A $5 donation for the meal is requested. Everyone is welcome!

 

 

Capstone for a Career, Strategy for the Next One

Around Town, Business, Healthcare, Technology & Innovation, , , , ,

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Jane Tervooren has had multi-layered careers,  chronicled  in U.S. 1, most recently in a December 10 cover story by Diccon Hyatt. Tervooren’s departure from one fulfilling job to invest in an exciting new company was occasioned by a health event. As Hyatt describes, “surviving cancer is what led her to put a capstone on an 18-year career.”

Being diagnosed with a fatal disease, no matter what the outcome, inspires change.

Tervooren’s advice is appropriate for the New Year: “it’s never too late to re-invent yourself. Don’t settle if you’re unhappy in a relationship or a job. have the guts to make a change. If you are stuck, it’s because you feel stuck. People have options.

It’s a Good Story

Faith and Social Justice, , , ,

Cornerstone Community Kitchen,  a partnership between Princeton United Methodist Church and the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, has been in the news. On January 3 the Times of Trenton printed a photo essay by Martin Griff.  The previous week, West Windsor-Plainsboro News featured some volunteers from West Windsor on the front page. The Princeton Packet and Town Topics have also provided excellent coverage.

When I thank editors who run this story, I often get the same answer: “It’s a good story…”

 

NJ makes “worst 10” list

Business, , ,

According to this survey by 24/7 Wall St. New Jersey ranks 43 out of 50 on the bad list. What does this mean for Governor Christie’s presidential ambitions?

And I quote:

43. New Jersey
> Debt per capita: $7,287 (5th highest)
> Credit Rating (S&P/Moody’s): A+/A1
> 2013 unemployment rate: 8.2% (10th highest)
> Median household income: $70,165 (3rd highest)
> Poverty rate: 11.4% (8th lowest)

New Jersey is one of only a handful of states where debt exceeded the state’s fiscal 2012 revenues. The state reported $7,287 in debt per capita in fiscal 2012, among the highest figures nationwide. Due to its difficulties in maintaining a balanced state budget, Moody’s awarded New Jersey among the lowest ratings of any state, as well as a negative outlook. On the other hand, New Jersey residents are among the nation’s wealthiest. A typical household earned more than $70,000 in 2013, higher than the median household income in all but two other states. A typical New Jersey home was also worth well over $300,000 in 2013, versus the national median home value of $173,900. However, residents may not be as well off as they seem as the cost of living in New Jersey was 14% higher than the rest of the country in 2012, the third highest cost of living nationwide.

The reporters were  , , and   on 24/7 Wall St. 

Only Georgia,  Arizona, Kentucky, Rhode Island, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Illinois ranked lower than NJ, and  Pennsylvania was  #36.

 

Some white people admit to having privilege, some don’t. For both, here is a list of white privilege stories, personal histories.

Amidst the demonstrations of  “black lives matter” and “hands up don’t shoot” some of us who belong to Not in Our Town Princeton believe we should be educating  ourselves, then others, one by one. Until attitudes change, nothing will change.

 

 

Finance guru  William J. B. “Bill” Brady III  will speak Tuesday, December 9, 4:30 p.m. at the Friend Center. He is vice chairman, Credit Suisse Chairman, Global Technology Group. This Beckwith lecture is co-sponsored by the Bendheim Center and the Keller Center. A reception follows.

Brady was a hockey star at Princeton (Class of ’87). He has a low social media profile but was in the news for paying $26 million for two condos in the West Village. In that pink-colored building, Palazzo Chupi,  Richard Gere had been an owner.  Pink? Some say the building is red.

 

We received a notice from the Princeton Health Department regarding reports of increased gastrointestinal illness, with Novovirus the suspected cause.

Among the prevention tips from the department’s Jeffrey C. Grosser:

Don’t touch your face or put your hand near your mouth

Use soap, not sanitizer, when washing your hands. “Hand sanitizers are not effective against most GI causing organisms, including norovirus.”

I didn’t know that.

For more information on norovirus  visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.