After trying unsuccessfully to post this on the Watercooler (come now, you really didn't think this would fly, did you?) Baristanet reader Bill asked us to run the following poll:

April 30, 2006 in The Sunday Barista Poll | Permalink | Comments (154)

It was a very interesting evening in Montclair -- including where we went after our visit to Red Cheetah. More on that later -- meanwhile, Baristanet was shocked to hear what happened to our beloved Katie and Mark. Seems like someone really may have to spank the Cheetah.

We called up this afternoon to see if birkenstocks for men were okay and they said yes. Then we showed up and they said we couldn't come in with Mark wearing them. That was a great waste of my time.

Posted by: katie | Apr 29, 2006 10:24:43 PM

Katie: What are you surprised at this gross display of snobbishness? If Mark wore Birkenstocks to The Great Notch Inn, Egan's or Tierney's, this would not be an issue, trust me.

Posted by: Miss Martta | Apr 29, 2006 10:39:01 PM

What=Why

Posted by: Miss Martta | Apr 29, 2006 10:39:47 PM

I'm just angry I spent time getting ready for those assholes to tell us we couldn't come in with stupid sandals on.

Posted by: katie | Apr 29, 2006 10:49:12 PM

I would be angry, too. I mean, women wear open-toed shoes so why can't men? Are they afraid his little toesie-woesies will affect their bottom line? GMAB!

Posted by: Miss Martta | Apr 29, 2006 10:51:53 PM

I can't understand if they thought we'd offend the other baristanet readers with him wearing $100 sandals.

Posted by: katie | Apr 29, 2006 10:55:51 PM

I want someone to organize another meeting of the baristanet people so I can meet the people at a place that lets us wear sandals.

Posted by: katie | Apr 29, 2006 11:11:54 PM

April 30, 2006 in Buzz | Permalink | Comments (60)

Tune in tonight, as ABC reports on Internet safety and uses Baristaville as an example. Montclair Public Schools will be part of the program; as a crew taped a March 16th school workshop focusing on strategies and techniques for protecting kids online. The show, "Protecting Our Children: Learning Who's Dangerous," airs tonight at 7 pm.

April 29, 2006 in Television | Permalink | Comments (1)

Two separate "tipsters" altered us to this article on the "whacking" of New Jersey from City Journal.

But today Jersey is a cautionary example of how to cripple a thriving state. Increasingly muscular public-sector unions have won billions in outlandish benefits and wages from compliant officeholders. A powerful public education cartel has driven school spending skyward, making Jersey among the nation’s biggest education spenders, even as student achievement lags. Inept, often corrupt, politicians have squandered yet more billions wrung from suburban taxpayers, supposedly to uplift the poor in the state’s troubled cities, which have nevertheless continued to crumble despite the record spending. To fund this extravagance, the state has relentlessly raised taxes on both residents and businesses, while localities have jacked up property taxes furiously. Jersey’s cost advantage over its free-spending neighbors has vanished: it is now among the nation’s most heavily taxed places. And despite the extra levies, new governor Jon Corzine faces a $4.5 billion deficit and a stagnant economy during a national boom.

Montclair also gets a mention. Check it out and weigh in here. Chat is open...

April 29, 2006 in The Daily Chat | Permalink | Comments (31)

Twenty-something Jackal ISO home run, bed & pillow in Baristaville, in exchange for inside baseball scoop, pitching a few balls, and guaranteed access to VIP baseball events.

Really? Families providing a bunk to minor league baseball players has become a tradition across the country, says NJ Jackals Director of Sales Brooke Kenna.  Last year, about 10 Baristaville families gave Jackals a room in their home for the summer season. This year the team would like another 20 baseball-loving families to host a Jackal from May 10 – August 31.  The ball players come from all over the country, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.  No feeding the athletes, though. All they’re looking for is a good night's sleep.

The look on your little leaguer’s face when a pro baseball player shows up at your home? Priceless.  Other benefits?  Two season passes to all the games, VIP parking, and invites to special Jackals events during the year, including the opening Hall of Fame Bash.  If you're interested in giving a Jackal a good home, call Pierson Van Raalte 973-655-8009.

April 29, 2006 in Sports | Permalink | Comments (3)

Get out and help clean Bloomfield Baristaville this weekend. Today, it's 10-3 at Watsessing Park...

Please join us at the corners of Glenwood and Maolis for our annual Spring Cleanup of Watsessing Park.  Initiated by the WHNA and now sponsored by the WPC (Watsessing Park Conservancy) this year marks our 9th Spring Cleanup!

It's supposed to be a beautiful day on Saturday, so turn off the cartoons, drag the kids out and make it a family outing!  Refreshments provided for all volunteers.

Also today, a cleanup effort at Toney's Creek, which runs through Montclair and Glen Ridge:

Toney’s Brook Clean-up at Glenfield Park (Woodland Avenue and Pierson Place, follow signs to Toney’s Brook)

Be a part of clean Ocean Action’s semi-annual effort to clean up our waterways! We will work in teams of 2 or 3 to clean up the brook and document the types of debris found. This information will be put in to a national database to help identify and eliminate the sources of water pollution.

Then, tomorrow, Sunday, from 11 am - 2 pm, it's the 11th annual Clark's Pond Nature Preserve Clean-Up

Meet at our sign-in table near the footpath behind the Bloomfield Middle School (You can walk down the footpath from Bessida St0. Once again, we hope for a great turnout, to clear out trash to make the pond and river a little nicer for the people and wildlife there. (Three years ago a volunteer rescued a duckling that was entangled in a piece of plastic garbage!) There’s plenty to do, so come on out! We'll provide gloves and bags and tools.

We maintain an inventory of the pond’s flora and wildlife, monitor the water quality, and  have nature walks and other educational activities.  Come to learn and have fun!

If you are not able to donate your time, but would still like to support the park, please be advised that the WPC is a 501c3 [non-profit] organization.  All donations are tax deductible and greatly appreciated.  Donations can be sent to WPC, PO Box 1783, Bloomfield, NJ  07003. Watsessing Heights Neighborhood Association, Inc. 973-680-WHNA (9462)

April 29, 2006 in Civic Virtue | Permalink | Comments (5)

George Musser, Jr.  asked us this stirring question, and now we put the cafe controversy out to you...

Have you ever blogged on the scarcity of cafes in Montclair? San Francisco neighborhood of equal size would have 10 times as many cafes. Montclair has two and a half -- Eclectic and the 1 1/2 Starbucks.  In SF I wouldn't have been caught dead is a Starbucks! Here I have little choice. And the situation is getting worse, not better, with the loss of Remedy and Coffee Club. What's up? Why are East Coast people so antediluvian?

Antediluvian? We don't think so, George,  and there are other places to get a good coffee buzz... Ok, that'll be a double cappucino with my daily chat....

April 28, 2006 in The Daily Chat | Permalink | Comments (42)

Art Inspires Music: The Pictures 2006 Concert is a New Jersey Arts Collective (NJAC) program that explores the intersection of visual art and music. Montclair Art Museum & Red Bank's Two River Theater host the World Premiere of musical compositions inspired by the work of Newark-born visual artist Willie Cole. Using Cole’s Man Spirit Mask as their inspiration, New Jersey high school and college students created original piano compositions that translate the emotions, composition, structure, and tone of the work into music. The Composition Contest was modeled in the spirit of Modest Mussorgsky's 1874 composition, Pictures at an Exhibition.  Anthony de Mare is the featured pianist. Saturday, April 29, 8 p.m. Montclair Art Museum & Sunday, April 30 at 3 p.m. Two River Theater.
Concerts will be preceded by a free "Meet the Composers" Panel, 7:15 Saturday, 2:15 Sunday. A reception will follow each performance. Saturday, go early to view Anxious Objects: Willie Cole's Favorite Brands. Galleries open 5:30 – 7 pm. Admission: $15/adults, $10/students with I.D., at the door on the day of the event. For information: Montclair Art Museum: (973) 746-5555, ext. 253. Two River Theater at (732) 345-1400.

JAN LEBENSTEIN Works on paper from Dr. Albert Grokoest Collection. May 2-26. Jan Lebenstein (1930-1999),  is one of the most famous contemporary Polish painters, printmakers, and illustrators. At JKK FINE ARTS The Mews of Upper Montclair, 594 Valley Rd. Montclair.   (973) 744 0111.
Opening Reception Friday, May 5th, 2006, 6-9pm. Read the review.

Latin Blues Icon: Hear Joe Taino & The Blue Flames, live in concert, 8pm, Tuesday, May 2nd. FREE admission. Lateral Wine Bar and Grill, 547 Franklin Ave, Nutley. 973-562-9500

Put some drama in your weekend:

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, thru May 13. 8pm Thurs/Sat., 3 pm Sunday. Opening night two-fer special tonight, 4/28.  Studio Playhouse, 14 Alvin Place, Montclair. $15/$12, 973-744-9752.
Close Shave, April 28 & 29, May 5,6,12,13. 7:30 p.m. Tierney's Tavern 136 Valley Road. $15/$10.Read the Baristanet review.
Arsenic and Old Lace,  April 28 & 29, 7 pm -Immaculate Conception High School Gymnasium, 33 Cottage Place, Montclair. Tickets $5 at the door.
The Whipping Man, previews tonight, 4/28. Opens April 29 through May 21. Luna Stage, 695 Bloomfield Ave. Montclair. Tickets $20-$30. 973-744-3309.
A Midsummer Night's Dream, through May 21, Paper Mill Playhouse, Millburn. $19 -$68. 973-378-7754.

Adventures Across the River:

Here are two good reasons to go to TriBeCa this weekend: Start with TOAST: The TriBeCa Open Art Studio Tour, Free, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday,1-6 pm. 212-479-7317. Then catch a flick at The TriBeCa Film Festival 212-321-7400.

April 28, 2006 in Happenings | Permalink | Comments (7)

The annual Art in the Park festival, sponsored by Montclair Co-operative School, is conspicuously absent from the spring calendar of events this year. And apparently MCS's phone has been ringing off the hook about it.  MCS parent Josh Jablons sent Baristanet this announcement:

On behalf of the Montclair Cooperative School and as a favor to all the people who are calling the school – and all those that might in the coming days – asking about when the annual Art in the Park event will be held, Bruce Kanze (Head of School) wants to explain. Because of the renovation of Anderson Park by Essex County, the Montclair Cooperative School will hold its 38th annual Art in the Park event on October 7 (rain date October 8). As soon as possible, the event will again be held in the Spring, during the month of May, but the obvious condition of the Park this year made it impossible for this Spring.

But MCS is a sponsor of fun & family entertainment this weekend: Dan Zanes and Friends In Concert.

Dan Zane and Friends will play in concert at the MSU amphitheatre on Sunday April 30^th at 2PM .  Come early: starting at 1PM there will be an “Outdoor Block Party/BBQ” with games, prizes, and eats for sale from Whole Foods, Applegate Farms, and more.

Extra tickets for the sold-out concert will be available at the door at noon on Sunday. The prediction for good weather has moved the concert outdoors, Jablons said. However, if rain does fall, the concert will move back inside the Kasser Theatre and only advance ticket holders will be admitted. $20/adults,  $15/children 13 + under. Call 973-655-5112 for more information.

April 28, 2006 in Happenings | Permalink | Comments (12)

A reader writes...

Hello Barista,

There's no way to contact/email the Duryea house petition organizers on your website, so I was hoping you might pass along some advice to them.

My neighbors and I were talking about this important issue, and the lack of publicity for the petition. With no article in the current Montclair Times about their petition, and nothing posted on the montclair watercooler (unless we all missed it), they are missing big opportunities to spread the word and get more signatures. Perhaps they should extend their may 4th deadline, press the Montclair Times for coverage next week, and definitely send an email to the Montclair Watercooler too (1800 members!!).

Love your website-

thank you and keep up the great work!

Meanwhile, if you are sick of wondering what 4 Duryea Road looks like on the inside, here are some more pictures of the home (click to enlarge), including an office with pocket doors that I'd kill for...

April 28, 2006 in Buzz | Permalink | Comments (19)