City Belt

LEGALIZED CORRUPTION

Jersey City Council rejects Redevelopment Pay-to-Play ordinance
By Veronica M. Perez

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Last Wednesday, the sounds of anger and disapproval rang throughout the Jersey City Council chambers. The Redevelopment Pay to Play Campaign Reform ordinance that many Jersey City residents had worked so hard to get passed was voted down. Only Councilmembers Steven Fulop (Ward E) and Viola Richardson (Ward F) voted yes while six others voted no -- Council President Mariano Vega abstained.

"Development is the big Jersey City topic," said Dan Levin, President of Civic JC, a non-partisan community based organization that promotes good municipal government practices. This was apparent -- not only from the crowd's shouts of dissaproval, but from Councilmembers' personal attacks against each other in the weeks prior to the vote. Even Mayor Jerramiah Healy got in on the act by writing a scathing letter to the Jersey Journal denouncing the ordinance as undemocratic.

STEWPOT: TACO BE COLI

By Emma Pollin

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Taco Bell probably should have seen God’s wrath coming when it foisted Fourth Meal (“The Meal Between Dinner and Breakfast!”) on an obese nation. Vengeance came in the form of a deadly bacteria called E. coli 0157:H7. And it came, alas, to New Jersey. The South Plainfield Taco Bell was the epicenter of last month’s outbreak of E. coli poisoning. The restaurant was forced to close temporarily, as were many other franchises across the Northeast.

And guess who had a phenomenal fourth quarter? McDonald’s. Apparently "Inside the Bun" sounds like a nice, safe place to be these days.

 

COMMON GOALS, UNCOMMON TONES

Damian Catera and Bryan Beninghove are among the diverse musical talents coming together for The MusicFest for the Homeless.
By Vincent Berrini

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In the past, Damian Catera has joked that as an experimental composer/musician and media artist, he works in a genre which often appears to have more participants than audience members.

So it is fascinating, for both performer and audience, that Catera -- who over the years has worked with everyone from Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore to jazz composer Anthony Braxton -- has found himself on a benefit bill on January 31, at MusicFest for the Homeless at Victory Hall in Jersey City, surrounded by a disparate group of performers from all genres, and likely in front of an atypical auduence.

Bryan Beninghove, who is also on the bill, in some ways represents the opposite side of the coin. As a jazz musician, Beninghove has performed in front of everyone and anyone for quite some time. In addition to his regular weekly gigs at the Iron Monkey in Jersey City, where he holds court every Thursday with his organ trio, he has performed in situations as diverse as "big-time weddings" and corporate functions, and an occasional odd outdoor gig such as the one he performed at the Journal Square PATH station interpreting holiday standards. As a performer, Benninghove is both a people-pleaser and a jazz cat with serious chops and an unquenchable thirst for musical creativity and expression.

HELPING HUDSON'S HOMELESS

By Will Connor

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Last week the cold crept in overnight, dropping a full twenty degrees. For those without heat, it must have been a cold week. For those without homes it must be hell. Due to rampant development and a rising cost of living, Hudson County's homeless population has grown in the past few years. While a solid statistic is difficult to obtain, officials agree that it is an ever-increasing problem. Without immediate action, the death rate for the homeless residents in our neighborhoods could rise to an unprecedented level.

As a result of dwindling support from governmental agencies, and an all-time low for interest in public support programs, local groups and individuals have had to kick in support for the homeless, in the form of blanket drives and benefit concerts. One such benefit, MusicFest for the Homeless, aims to provide both monetary support and warmth.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: STOLEN FLASH

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I've always sucked at concert photography -- of course, I've always kind of sucked at photography in general, so it's really no big surprise that my concert shots would be any different. I think that may have ingrained an unrealized bias against concert photography throughout the years. But I really liked Andrew Chien's shot of emo faves Roses Are Red at The School of Rock in South Hackensack, whether the stolen flash was planned or, more likely, a happy accident.

To be featured as Photo of the Week, tag your Flickr photos with CityBelt -- or you can just e-mail them to us.

On the Web:
Andrew's Flickr page
City Belt's Flickr page

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POEM: AS THE PRESIDENT SPOKE

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Someone hung dolls from the chandelier and
a nun fingered an abacus in her mind.

Prisoners giggled in their cells, watching
a pederast pass cigarettes between the bars.

Grandpa wiped his glasses with a dishrag while
a sophomore solved equations with a cheese-slicer.

An amputee said he "didn't see it coming," and
a mother of three said, "Who uses a car as a weapon?"

An estimated two million illegals flushed toilets while
an emergency-room janitor mopped up blood.

It began to pour, and
citizens ran for shelter.

-- Michael Gates

MORE POETRY

ALL EARS: AMERICAN WATERCOLOR MOVEMENT

Photo by Tone

American Watercolor Movement
It Takes Fifteen To Tango In My Book, What Book Do You Read?
By Vincent Berrini 

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Editors' note: Yeah, we're a little late with this one, considering it came out a little over three months ago. But better late than never, right? We're also happy to welcome yet another writer to the mix today, and also to refocus the All Ears column to reviews of New Jersey artists. If you're interested in contributing reviews, or want your CD/DVD/smoke signal reviewed, shoot us an e-mail.

There's a groove, and American Watercolor Movement is working it.

It's akin to the groove Sonic Youth worked on Bad Moon Rising with which Kim Gordon called on us to use the word fuck. It's akin to the one John Lydon and Jah Wobble worked with Public Image Ltd on Metal Box. It is a groove which is frightening and calming all at once -- it is a strange groove, because it somehow inspires both movement and paralysis. Movement because the rhythm is so intoxicating, and paralysis because of the feeling that some major shit is going down and all you can do is stand back and watch.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

For full calendar listings, check The Agenda. To have your event listed, please e-mail the editors.

FRIDAY | 1.26.07

Concert(s). After a little while of relative quiet, with shows seemingly scattered here and there, the Roadside Graves are gearing up for a new album release in April. They've got an EP, What Happened to Him Could Happen to Anyone, coming out Tuesday, and they're playing on two fantastic bills this weekend in New Brunswick. Tonight, they're playing a show put on by 90.3 FM at the Court Tavern, along with Where's Alaska?, Know Think,  and the Carpetbaggers -- New Brunswick bands, one and all. It all starts around 9/9:30 or so. Tomorrow night, they're part of a fantastic basement show at The Parlor, aka 233 Hamilton St. -- also on the bill are some of central Jersey's most interesting bands: Fun Machine, Calamity Menagerie, and Thunder Kids. This one starts up 'round 6/6:30. So you've got your pick -- Friday's bill is a little more straightforward indie rock, possibly a little mellower too (with the exception of the Carpetbaggers); Saturday's is artier, weirder, and will most definitely involve more analog synthesizers. It just goes to show how robust the indie scene in the Hub City and surrounding areas is these days.

DAY JOB: JOHN RANGO OF ECHOFISSION

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For almost six years now, Echofission has been an exemplary Jersey workhorse band -- playing out a ton, recording, and gradually growing what has become a substantial fan base. 30-year-old John Rango plays guitar and provides some vocal duties in the Bergen County-based band, who's newest EP, Amplify The Sun, ranges from upbeat harmonic modern rock songs to funkier interludes.

MOTUS IMAGO: TEARS OF THE BLACK TIGER

Thai Technicolor Dreaming
By Nightdreamer

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Is it just a splatter movie? No, it’s more than that.

Is it just a Thai spaghetti-western style movie? No, it’s more than that.

Is it a heartbreaking love story in all its magnitude? No, it’s more than that.

Is it a very clever directed parody of older Thai melodramatic films? Don't you get it? I said no -- it’s more than that.

Then what is it about? It’s about tears. And when these tears come from a "black tiger," they are very valuable for us as spectators.

THE PEACH PIT: A TALE OF TWO DOCUMENTARIES

An Inconvenient Truth and Who Killed the Electric Car? take different approaches to documenting environmental woes -- and placing blame.
By Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg

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So, I finally saw An Inconvenient Truth. I also recently watched Who Killed the Electric Car? -- I guess I’ve been on an enviro-doc kick lately. (Oh, didn’t catch that? Get with the lingo, gramps!) Plus, in early January we had shorts weather, so it just seemed appropriate.

Who Killed the Electric Car? was everything An Inconvenient Truth wasn’t. Who Killed? indicted big business, California leaders and the federal government – and it named names. It would happily make any GM executive squirm. (However, my favorite segments were definitely interviews with the electric car loving Mel Gibson! Oy! He loves electric cars! Who knew? I didn’t see that in the minutes of the last Jews Run the World Conference. Tova Gladbergsteingreen – I didn’t make you secretary to sit on your hands!)

AUTHENTICITY AND ART MAKING

Guest Viewpoint
By Trish Szymanski
Photo: Andre Watts

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I am an artist, and my life is my greatest piece. I am also, for lack of a better description, a spiritual atheist. Art is the closest thing I have to religion, but with fewer rules (whew!). It makes such a difference to give something a name.

To clarify, by atheist, I mean I think the god/God concept is a human construction. Absolutely no offense to anyone for their beliefs, but telling stories is what we humans do. Language is a biological directive in homo sapiens sapiens – that’s us – and our cerebral cortex allows us to experience things in only that certain human kind of way. It drives us to description, by which we survive and thrive, as did our ancestors. Now, ironically, I think that beautiful human brain can do a lot more than we usually let it do, and a lot less than we usually think it does, meaning that I think we tend to underestimate and overestimate ourselves at the same time. Following me so far?

SEX OFFENDERS? NOT IN MY BACKYARD!

Residency restrictions for sex offenders like the one recently enacted in Jersey City may mean well, but are they really ‘protecting the most vulnerable'?
By Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg

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Using only one of the criteria that now dictates where sex offenders are allowed to live in Jersey City (proximity to a school), City Belt created this rough map that shows an offender's possible housing options in the downtown area in red. The "red zone" includes a PSEG substation, PATH railroad tracks, the Jersey City Cemetery, and one tiny area next to Old Colony Shopping Center with a small amount of housing. When the other criteria are included, that pocket would evaporate, due to sports fields at nearby Ferris High School, among other factors.

Thanks to an ordinance passed late last year, sex offenders can’t live anywhere in Jersey City, save for, maybe, about one street.

The ordinance, which passed the Jersey City Council 8-0 (with Councilman Lipski absent), dictates that any person over the age of eighteen who has to register with authorities under Megan’s Law cannot live within 2500 feet of:

1.    Any public or private school
2.    Any daycare center
3.    Any day camp
4.    Any city, county or state park, including the so-called “pocket parks” within individual neighborhoods
5.    Any public or commercial recreation facility clearly designed to attract children as a “playground”
6.    Any commercial recreation facilities frequented by young people, including theaters, bowling alleys, sports fields, exercise or sporting facilities; or
7.    Any convenience store
8.    Any public library

Sex offenders who are currently living in Jersey City are grandfathered in and can stay in their homes. However, that does not extend to people in prison who previously lived in Jersey City.

BUT I DIGEST ... NORTH JERSEY VIETNAMESE SHOWDOWN

In this corner: Bing Duong (Bloomfield)
By Kimberly Kaye

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By February I’m usually exhausted with typically heavy winter fare. Roasts, cream-based soups and sauces, potatoes, turnips, parsnips, stews – you can’t help but feel like a glorified paperweight after two solid months of cold-weather cookery. So to counteract the sluggish effects of the present snow-food movement, I’d like to warm things up by announcing City Belt's first culinary showdown, a no-holds-barred battle in which several restaurants will compete for the title of best restaurant in a specific cuisine. With the cold weather (well ... as cold as it’s going to get until the current administration discovers there’s no place left to go skiing and starts panicking), the seasonal prevalence of root vegetables on every menu, and the aesthetic monotony of leafless trees and dead shrubs, we’re feeling that the winter needs a little kick – think warm, colorful, exotic, fresh ... think Vietnamese.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: LIVES LIVED OUTDOORS

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As we endure our first cold snap of the year, it's worth remembering people who are homeless. Pat Marella clearly took this shot before the weather took a turn for the worse, and we hope that this man, and other folks who live on our streets have found a warm place to be. If you're looking for an easy (and fun) way to help the homeless, consider checking out "MusicFest for the Homeless," which will be Jan. 31, from 7-11 pm, at Victory Hall in Jersey City. There will be live music and a raffle, and all proceeds will benefit the Hudson Alliance to End Homelessness in Hudson County. For more, visit BrightMoment Meetup.

To be featured as Photo of the Week, tag your Flickr photos with CityBelt -- or you can just e-mail them to us.

On the Web:
Pat Marella's Flickr page
City Belt's Flickr page

MORE PHOTO OF THE WEEK

ARTSEEN: 'BRING ME THE RECEIPTS,' RED SAW GALLERY

By Shay Shaked

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For more photos of "Bring Me The Receipts," click to see a slideshow.

When Jim Prez was asked to curate an art exhibition for Newark's Red Saw Gallery last summer, he didn't really know where to start. As a Newark Museum veteran, he knew some artists already and had a good idea of what to aim for, but designing a show at the young contemporary-arts gallery on Broad Street was a bit of a challenge. 

POEM: POLITICAL POEM

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Heavy eyes, crawling
over pavement cracking,
broken sweat,
breaking back,
sunk shoulders,
chin to chest,
inwardly ferocious.

What of your politics,
what of your inciting,
what do you penetrate
flinging your fecal forms?

People, listen!
Conversationally inept,
jittering jaw,
abraded breath,
nasal, hurried
healthless.

Should all your tenured priests howl,
preaching in unison under the full moon,
the darkness will lift not,
from the age that thee begot.

-- Lee W. Jenson

MORE POETRY

Lee W. Jenson is a graduate student at Rutgers Business School. Besides writing poetry, he also contributes articles under a pseudonym for www.wsws.org, a Trotskyist online newspaper.

DAY JOB: ED MCGRATH OF AMERICAN LANDSCAPES

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Ed McGrath has been around the New Brunswick music scene for a while, first with The Purpose, which begat Trashtalk in the Kingdom, which has now begat the sonically dense and complex American Landscapes. Their songs seem to sprawl out and wind around courtesy of mathematical algorhithms filled with jazzy dissonance. (Snappy!)

HOW THEY VOTED: LESSENING THE HIGHER-ED BURDEN

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The Bill: H.R. 5
Date Passed: Jan. 17, 2007; 5:35 pm
About: This bill would drop the interest rate on federally-subsidized student loans from 6.8 to 3.4 percent over five years. At a time when tuition costs continue to rise, and student reliance on loans grows, this is a welcome piece of legislation, and, like many of the bill's supporters, we hope that it is one part of a larger body of legislation to help Americans afford undergraduate education, at the very least.

In the 2003-04 school year, the average amount borrowed by undergraduate students was $5,800, according to the National Center for Education Statistics -- that's a $23,200 total if the student is lucky enough to finish in four years. And that's only for an undergraduate education. As graduate studies become more necessary to gain an edge in a hostile job market, many students are coming out saddled with student loan debt upward of 50, 60, or even 75 thousand dollars. And what for? If you go for something "useful," like engineering, finance or law, you'll likely command a high salary. But what about the people I know -- the philosophy, social work, journalism, or sociology grad students? You're looking at a lot of work, a low salary, and a difficult time paying back that loan debt. 

SHAP TALK: IS IT TIME FOR A FULL-TIME LEGISLATURE?

By Michael M. Shapiro

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Double-dipping, pension-padding, and conflicts of interest have become routine in the New Jersey State Legislature as officeholders juggle multiple jobs, some public and some private, and some with interests before the Legislature.  While our legislators do need to financially support themselves and their families, the practices in which many of them engage compromise the integrity of the Legislature and legislative decision-making.  As a result, public trust in our government and in our elected officials continues to plummet.

YOUR FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS: TIM FITE'S OVER THE COUNTER CULTURE

By Tris McCall

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From: Back in the early 00s, when Tim Fite was known as Little T, one frequent criticism he heard was that his work was “suburban.” It sure didn’t help that he was very obviously a college student at the time, or that he rapped about his hometown in West Jersey, but at least he was keeping it real. Tim Fite has long since moved to the city, and he’s absorbed some of that hipster-yokel schtick that’s so popular around Brooklyn these days. But there’s still something very Jersey about Fite’s writing: he’s more inclined to reference the Wal-Mart than the Mini-Mall, and more familiar with the cloverleaf exchange and the convenience store than the L train and the corner bodega. “Sycamore,” the most candid track from Fome Is Dape, the first Little T & One Track Mike album, was an expression of his alienation from the culture he grew up in. Suburban at heart he may be, but he’s never been comfortable with that; in fact, you can see Gone Ain’t Gone, the first Tim Fite album released by Anti- last year, as a deliberate attempt to reorient him away from his Jersey roots. Over The Counter Culture, then, is better understood as an extension of “Sycamore” than a follow-up to Gone Ain’t Gone -- and not just because Fite is rapping again.       

SPLENDID MARBLES: THE LEGACY FURNACE

by greg strid

ON THE WEB:
Splendid Marbles

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THE PEACH PIT: GOLDEN GLOBES

By Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg

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So I have a dilemma: the Golden Globes are on tonight. Every year I tell myself not to watch but I always do. The middle-class girl in me always hopes merit will be recognized but it rarely, if ever, is.

It’s a night that pretends to reward talent but really just rewards the prettiest and often youngest women. I know what you’re probably thinking: It’s Hollywood! Duhburgerfriesketchupplease! (Smith, Shane; ©2006)

But what really bothers me is the legitimacy it seems to give actresses once they win. Like, Angelina Jolie isn’t just a globe-trotting, UN Goodwill Ambassador (shame on you, UN, shame!), baby-shopper, she’s a legitimate ack-tress. Jolie won a Golden Globe and Oscar for Girl, Interrupted. Nothing like the cliché of a troubled, beautiful lass to scream awards gold!

MLK DAY REFLECTIONS

Editors' note: We thought that, in the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the day honoring him, we'd point you to a few of our stories from the archives that show the fight for racial justice is far from over in the US.

King is known less in the mainstream press for his strident antiwar views than for his message of racial justice and equality -- but he was a leader in the antiwar movement in the 60s, and if alive, would certainly be one today as well. One soldier's personal history of the Iraq War gives new meaning to King's famed quote: "Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows."

High-speed police chases are all too common in urban areas -- one in East Orange claimed the life of 13-year-old Dennis Howard.

Mehmet Ibis lost his brother on 9/11, but that was just the beginning.

Larry Peterson spent 17 years in prison before DNA evidence proved his innocence.

New Jersey is filled with improperly cared for toxic sites, many in poor neighborhoods.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: HOLIDAYS ARE OVER

Indeed they are. The question remains: Was this someone's Christmas setup, gone to waste, or simply a new & improved way to dispose of those pesky trees? This photo was taken by Kayt Hester.

To be featured as Photo of the Week, tag your Flickr photos with CityBelt -- or you can just e-mail them to us.

ON THE WEB:
Kayt's Flickr page
City Belt's Flickr page

MORE PHOTO OF THE WEEK
 

E-mail the editors

POEM: UNTIL ENCORES ERASE

Surprise with an unrehearsed split
After so much razing and rising
Like a predictable phoenix
This time, though
Retire your name
And let the ashes gather

Start in 1995 in Madison, Wisconsin
As uncomfortable bellwethers
Armed with instruments and intelligence
Scavenging below earth, sediment, clay
To develop a loamy new sound
Just three letters long

Follow the midwest, join the coast
Lose some authority and move on
A titular sovereign still trusted
Beneath a dyed, damaged crown
Roots recover and hues strengthen
Both return, improved, once more

End and begin without fumbling
Play songs older than any set list
The first ones now relearned
So that you get through, unruffled
Until encores erase too soon
The reason we kept cheering

-- Daniel Morris

MORE POETRY

IMPEACHMENT ON TABLE?

"How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" - John Kerry, April 23, 1971

Editors's note: The papers are reporting today that 159 National Guard soldiers from New Jersey will have their assignments in Iraq extended, as a direct result of the President's escalation of this war. All of these men and women now stand the chance of indeed being that "last man." As the administration prepares to send more Americans to kill and be killed, we hope that Congress will stand and fight.

Of course, the administration went on record a few days ago, in the form of Tony Snow, saying that Congressional opposition, even in the form of Kennedy or McGovern's proposals to block funding, may not matter: "The President has the ability to exercise his own authority if he thinks Congress has voted the wrong way."

With that all in mind, impeachment looks more necessary with every passing day.
 
Guest Commentary
By David Swanson

There is a decent chance that within the next month or two the New Mexico State Legislature will ask the U.S. House of Representatives to begin impeachment proceedings against President Bush and Vice President Cheney. And there is the definite possibility that a Congressmember from New Mexico will take up the matter when it gets to Washington. The Jefferson Manual, rules used by the U.S. House, allows for impeachment to be begun in this manner. It only takes one state legislature. No governor is needed. One Congressmember, from the same state or any other, is needed to essentially acknowledge receipt of the state's petition. Then impeachment begins.

STOP 'WHEELING' OR DISCLOSE IT!

ShapTalk: Guest Commentary
By Michael M. Shapiro

New Jersey has a vast array of campaign finance laws. The compliance book provided to candidates for public office and others is complicated and filled with nomenclature that few outside the Legislature, the Republican and Democratic Parties, and some election lawyers understand. Despite all the laws on the books including “Pay to Play” reform on the State level and in many municipalities, influence peddling achieved through campaign contributions continues largely unabated.

Why? Because of the skirting of campaign finance laws through a process known as “wheeling.”

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER (WILL BE BACK SOON)

We know, we know -- it''s been a while since the last Executive Order. It's not that there haven't been great shows, films, and cultural events going on around New Jersey. The problem has been that our old calendar hosting service decided to go all high-class and charge $100/month, so we spent the past month or so testing out new services -- we even tried, in vain, to build one ourselves. And we're almost done. We decided to go with the lovely computing behemoth known as Google. While we're still in the process of working out any kinks and loading up the rest of the listings, there's definitely some stuff to check out this week, including a couple of shows at the Iron Monkey in JC (Friday and Sunday), a film program and discussion on this summer's bombardment of Lebanon, also in JC (Saturday), a great art show opening at the Puffin Cultural Forum in Teaneck (Sunday), and countless other shows, films, and art events. So be sure to check The Agenda, and we'll be back in full force with the Executive Order next week, if all goes according to plan.

HOW THEY VOTED: PROGRESS ON WAGES, BUT IS IT ENOUGH?

The Bill: H.R. 2
Date Passed: Jan. 10, 2007; 5:10 pm
About: The newly Democratically-controlled House passed a gradual increase in the federal minimum wage, currently at a paltry $5.15/hour, where it has been stuck since September 1, 1997. 

The bill calls for a raise to $5.85/hour to go into effect 60 days after President Bush signs it, then up to $6.55 in a year and all the way to $7.25/hour in two years. (Golly, mister, thanks!)

You may remember that the Republicans successfully blocked this meager raise by attaching it to an increased exemption for the estate tax last year. If not, we can refresh your memory.

DAY JOB: JOHN PIATKOWSKI OF FUN MACHINE

John Piatkowski is better known as Johnny Tronny in the band Fun Machine, where the 22-year-old plays keyboards, sings, and is apparently the designated driver and booker of shows as well. These guys from central Jersey play a mathy progadelia (making up new genre words is fun!) that brings to mind moments from a Soft Machine or early Genesis record.

THE PEACH PIT: THE APPRENTICE: LA

Editors' note: It's a day of both high and low culture ... another new column being introduced today at City Belt is "The Peach Pit," which will focus on TV and DVDs. Again, enjoy.

By Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg

So Trump did it for ratings. I know that. 

For all you philistines, The Apprentice: LA premiered Sunday night. After several lackluster seasons Trump moved his disciples to LA and introduced a few twists. Some were welcome: Ivanka Trump is now a judge, alongside her dad – her best asset being her smug self-entitlement, as if her dad didn’t get her into Wharton (his alma mater), or secure her job (er, at Trump.) As my dad used to joke about Tori Spelling on 90210: “You know how she got the job? Her mom slept with the boss.” 

When I was little I was always relieved that my parents didn’t hold any high-powered positions to get me anywhere. Wouldn’t those kids always wonder – gee, do I deserve this? Well, at the age of 27 and after meeting many of those kids I’ve learned most carry a sense of entitlement -- without a sliver of self-consciousness.

MOTUS IMAGO: RAY OF LIGHT

Editors' note: We're happy to introduce the newest regular City Belt column today, "Motus Imago," which will focus on independent film. Or, as a cranky detractor put it, "movies with subtitles you have to hire a babysitter and go to New York to see." Anyway, enjoy.

MoMA remembers a great cinematographer
By Nightdreamer

The cinematographer is the person whose profession is motion-picture photography; the person who is responsible for all operations concerning camera work and lighting during the production of a film. If there was a site similar to God Among Directors for cinematographers, Sven Vilhelm Nykvist would feel very lonely on the peak. 

SUPPORT PAY TO PLAY REFORM IN JC

Guest Viewpoint
By Daniel Levin

“In Jersey City, the dirt ran deep. Corruption was so ingrained over the decades that adults thought as I did, that every place was the same and that you couldn’t escape it ..."
-- Helen Stapinski, Five Finger Discount

Let’s face it: Jersey City has an image problem. Years of indictments and scandals have taken their toll. There’s no getting around it.  Jersey City is virtually synonymous with political corruption.  Even a recent laudatory article in New York magazine pointed out that Jersey City is “known for its string of ethically flexible mayors who eventually wound up in jail.”

Was this reputation undeserved, we could simply let it bounce off our already thick skins. (For who of us hasn’t on occasion been met with and incredulous “you live in Jersey City?”)  But, as we all know, there’s more than a kernel of truth to some of the bad press. Jersey City really has had more than its share of corruption.

3000 DEAD IN IRAQ

How many more of these have to be flown home?

Marking yet another grim Iraq War milestone with a marathon vigil in Highland Park
By Leigh Davis

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“Hot enough for you?” was on the lips of many this past weekend, almost overshadowing the sad fact that in Iraq, the number of American soldiers killed had reached 3000 during the previous week.

When I first said I’d do the overnight shift for Central Jersey Coalition Against Endless War’s marathon vigil marking the occasion, the first thing on my agenda was to locate a generator and radiant heater to try and keep warm. After all, we were expecting the number to hit sometime in January. Little did we know that we’d actually reach that number by New Year’s Day, or that on January 7, Donaldson Park in Highland Park would be filled with rollerbladers, bicycles, people in shirt sleeves, and at least one person fishing in the pond.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: REPRESENTING SOUND

What I really love about this photo of American Watercolor Movement's New Years Eve performance at 58 Coles in Jersey City, taken by Eric Harvey Brown, is the convergence of AWM's sound and the look and feel of this photo. If you've heard the band, it just makes sense. If not, and you like things slightly blurry and a little dark, maybe you want to check 'em out.

To be featured as Photo of the Week, tag your Flickr photos with CityBelt -- or you can just e-mail them to us.

On the Web:
Eric's Flickr page
City Belt's Flickr page (Boy, we've got to start taking some photos again, eh?)
American Watercolor Movement

MORE PHOTO OF THE WEEK
 

 

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POEM: COUNTERFEIT CAB FARE

The pattern woven
was loneliness
on boredom
stitched with the finest
silks of greed and want
for a quilt called a
Calling.

DAY JOB: KEVIN SPYKER

Kevin Spyker has been a big part of the Jersey City music scene for the past few years. Chances are, if you've done the Studio Tour or a JC Fridays, you've heard him play -- or at least seen his name. The 29-year-old guitarist plays a sort of ambient acoustic style that's very dreamy. But at the same time, his guitar propels the songs towards their eventual ends: this isn't K-hole ambience. Spyker will be on hand tonight at Victory Hall for the latest installment of Art House Productions, and he's also got a regular Thursday night thing going (but not this Thursday) at Bar Majestic.

WHY OPEN-MICS SUCK

"Working musician" Mike Kovacs gets creative
By Matt Hunger

It's dark, but it's Minneapolis and it's winter, so really the window of opportunity for the When of this story is pretty broad. It happens to be night, the temperature in the single digits, and Mike Kovacs -- musician, composer, guitar teacher, worker of odd-end jobs -- is in town to visit a friend. But having brought his guitar, and seeing an opportunity to play for a new audience, he has decided to spend an extra night in freezing Minnesota. Nights in comfort and warmth at home with friends come and nights in comfort and warmth at home with friends go, but the opportunity for an open-mic in the Midwest? Not even a question.

2006: THE YEAR IN REVIEW (POLITICS & OTHER MISCELLANY)

Also be sure to check out The Year in Review (Culture).

A NEW JERSEY POLITICAL FIVE-SPOT

TOP FIVE REPUBLICANS I'M GOING TO MISS

TOP FIVE LIFE-AFFIRMING FILMS, NEWLY-COINED PHRASES, THUG LOVE DUETS, POLITICAL TIDAL WAVES OR FARM ANIMALS

FIVE WISHES FOR 2007

TOP FIVE REASONS TO GET POLITICALLY ACTIVE

REFLECTIONS ON ENDING THE OLD YEAR

TOP CITY BELT MOMENTS

2006: THE YEAR IN REVIEW (CULTURE)

From the editors: Today marks the first day of 2007. As people's schedules get back to normal, and the post-holiday winter sets in, we thought we'd give some of our writers a space to reflect on 2006. Today, it's The Year in Review for Culture. So, enjoy -- tomorrow, we'll have The Year in Review for Politics.

THE MEALS IN REVIEW: BEST (AND WORST)

TOP FIVE -- OK, SIX -- SONGS BY LOCAL ARTISTS

FIVE MOST CRUSHWORTHY DAY JOBBERS 

TOP FIVE FILMS 

FIVE BEST AND WORST TV MOMENTS 

THE THREE BEST ROCK SHOWS I SAW

TOP REASONS TO BECOME A LUDDITE IN 2007 

TOP FIVE ROCK SHOWS