City Belt

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: 1 JERSEY AVE.

This photo was taken at, um 1 Jersey Ave. (you know, that part before you walk the plank to LSP?) in Jersey City by Flickr's Lugo Lounge.

Remember, folks -- you gotta be in it to win it! To be featured as Photo of the Week, and in our constantly updating Flickr badge in the right sidebar, tag your Flickr photos with CityBelt -- or you can just e-mail them to us.

MORE PHOTO OF THE WEEK

MOTUS IMAGO: THE FILM USER'S GUIDE

The weekly rundown: by Shane Smith

don't miss: 

Volver  I'm not a big fan of Almodovar or Penelope, but this is a good one. Landmark Sunshine (NYC)

 

don't bother:

Music and Lyrics  Hugh and Drew compete for Most Cloying Performance of the Year. cute soundtrack, though

POEM: ITINERARY

I consult a weathervane
But the wind disappears
Just a fallen arrow now

I open unsuspecting jars
And unleash my tongue
Lids stay sticky anyhow

I hail all rocks on water
That skip longer for less
Descent climbs offshore

Morning I steal for love
Afternoon I know is iffy
Night I see once on tour

-- Daniel Morris

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY & WOMEN IN POLITICS

ShapTalk: Guest Commentary
By Michael M. Shapiro

Fifty years ago, women would typically vote for the candidates their husbands voted for or would not vote at all. Times have thankfully changed and women now have a significant role in campaigns and elections. Whether it be the "soccer moms" of the 90s or the "security moms" post-9/11, the role of women in politics has taken on greater importance, especially in the last decade. As a significant voting block, women have become critical to the election hopes of any politician. However, the number of women serving in elected office continues to be dwarfed by the number of men who serve. In New Jersey, on the Republican side of the aisle, something is being done to address this problem: the Christine Todd Whitman Excellence in Public Service Series. Unfortunately, the Democratic Party currently has no comparable program.

YOUR FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS: THE ROADSIDE GRAVES' NO ONE WILL KNOW WHERE YOU'VE BEEN

By Tris McCall

From: The Graves still live in Metuchen, and I believe Mister John Gleason teaches primary school somewhere around there. But their new label – Kill Buffalo – is based in Brooklyn. Perhaps because of this, the Roadside Graves have come untethered from the Turnpike. These guys have always sung about the West; for the first time, they sound like the West. And they do it without falling into any of the Will Oldham clichés that are currently wrecking contemporary folk-rock.

DISPATCH FROM 'THE PEOPLE'S RALLY'

The People's Rally For Peace & Justice brings activists together
By Erik-Anders Nilsson

On the relative eve of the Congress voting on (and almost assuredly passing) an additional $120 billion dollars to continue the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, the People’s Rally For Peace & Justice was held this past Saturday in Newark to counter the miss-appropriation of our tax dollars -- and to bring the troops home now!

Held by the Peace and Justice Coalition, a group of over 124 endorsing peace and justice organizations (including City Belt) and led mainly by the People’s Organization For Progress (POP), the event at Essex County College was attended by more than 600 activists. The four-hour speak-out and rally was a follow-up to the People’s Peace Conference held this past January.

TOXIC NJ: MORE INCONVENIENT TRUTHS

By Leigh Davis

In his Academy Award-winning film, An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore -- discussing why so many in the corporate world have resisted the obvious about climate change -- quotes Upton Sinclair: “You can't make somebody understand something if their salary depends upon them not understanding it.” 

Case in point: The continuing story of the ubiquitous hormone-disrupting chemical BPA, which is found in consumer products from baby bottles to dental sealants, to microwave-ware, refillable water bottles and the inside of food cans, and implicated in such modern maladies as precocious puberty, obesity and diabetes, low sperm counts, miscarriages and breast cancer. (We reported on the problems with BPA in the second installment of Toxic New Jersey: Dimilin and its Dangers.)

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: CRANES

But where is the crane wife? Ah, yes, bad jokes abound when the Decemberists come through town. But this photo has nothing to do with this week's mega-indie show at the Loew's. But as a crane enthusiast myself, I really dig this photo, taken by Flickr's Ciel_Rouge with a Holga. It's gotta be Bayonne! (They need to make that their city slogan, it's got a nice ring to it, and I can definitely picture it on T-shirts.)

Remember, folks -- you gotta be in it to win it! To be featured as Photo of the Week, and in our constantly updating Flickr badge in the right sidebar, tag your Flickr photos with CityBelt -- or you can just e-mail them to us.

MORE PHOTO OF THE WEEK

POEM: POOR RECEPTION

Picture an apartment with
a rusty fire escape in a city called
"Somewhere, New Jersey."

A man in a black T-shirt sits
smoking and chewing, watching
George W. in a blizzard of static.

"What now?"
the man asks a sleeping
dog at his feet.

The mutt growls and
twitches, the channel flips to
a woman eating a spider. "Hell."

The man runs down three flights
to the street, stops to watch
the moon rise over roofs,

its bewildered face a mirror of his own.

- Michael Gates

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MORE POETRY

MOTUS IMAGO: THE FILM USER'S GUIDE

Editors' note: A new feature today at City Belt is Shane Smith's weekly rundown of what's playing in the theaters around our area. Short & sweet, it's our weekly film user's guide.

don't miss
The Queen: the film is awesome, Helen Mirren is better CC Village East (NYC)
Volver: I'm not a big fan of Almodovar or Penelope, but this is a good one Landmark Sunshine (NYC)

don't bother
Babel: really speaks to you if you happen to be experiencing culture shock when you see it, otherwise it's pretty flat
Music and Lyrics: Hugh and Drew try to outdo each other for Most Cloying Performance of the Year. cute soundtrack, though