1. the canton tea garden (journal square staple and jersey city landmark, now becoming a bally's)

2. ko-shing (great gourmet chinese food on montgomery across from the projects)

3. mullally's (newark at five corners, used to be a great lunch spot when i worked in the courthouse.)

4. diblazi's pizza (used to be on beacon at baldwin, best pizza in the heights until they closed in the early 90's)

5. the flamingo (i know it's still open, but they lost their overnight waitress and now the vibe is even worse than the horrible office style lights. they are renovating soon, so bye bye they go.)

6. pura vida (i know it's not a restuarant, but i really miss this place a lot.)

7. fresh tortilla's grill (journal square, not downtown)

i'm sure i can think of more if i drove around and realized something else was missing...

union cycle center stocks the dahon...the name slipped my mind. nice folding bike.

i was up at my dad's friends bike store (union cycle center on bergenline and i think 44th or so) yesterday. he's got a few folding bikes there...one i know was a giant, the other was another brand, a bit lighter, with higher end components on it (shifters/crankset/vbrakes)

Quote:

i've seen marshalls carts in all of the little mini supermarkets in jersey city (supremo on palisade being one of them, and a few others towards mcginley square and bergen lafayette)

there is a van that goes around picking up stray shopping carts here in the heights, i'd imagine they do this elsewhere too. i know a manager from marshalls on 440, and she herself even complains about the carts disappearing, but they don't put the locking device on them. i did mention to her what pathmark does, how you have to put a quarter in the cart to unlock it and when you return the cart you get your quarter back. it's a shame we have to resort to such stupid things to keep people from being lazy and taking carts home without returning them, or people just flat out stealing them...

i love the white star's bartenders because they come and visit me a lot....now when i get a few days off i can go visit them and return the favor.......i'll have to try the margherita bar pie, but i hear their burgers are pretty good too.

i'll have to check it out :) i went to grammar school and highschool with these great gals.

the bartending schools use food colored water to emulate the real liquor, so it's just water and colored soda water for everything. they even make fake milk, it's interesting though, because you learn the colors and consistancy that things should be without having to taste them. when i nailed my first job through them i got free reign of tasting everything through buying people random shots. mix em up was a lot of fun and 3 years later and i haven't been jobless since.

i was a server at applebee's in clifton for 4 years and they still would not put me on their bar. i went to the school, and transferred to a different applebee's a few months later. they threw me on the bar immediately.

there are far too many bartenders, but if you can stand out, you will get hired. think of it like an acting job, because you really need to have a personality to work in some places. you also need to be fast if it's a dining establishment because the service bar can be demanding and take away from your bar guests experience.

there are some bars that run ads every week on craigslist. i've been called in for interviews and have been hired, asking that i serve for 6 months prior to learn their restaurant's menu, after coming in for a bartending position. be weary of these types. why not advertise servers wanted if you need servers?

pick up the book bartending for dummies also, it's got a lot of great information in it, aside from drink recipes. it covers the history of all of your basic liquors, beers, and even non alcoholic beverages.

if anything, i've always been able to find a job. try to show up in person to apply, or make an appointment to do that. sending email resumes doesn't work well in the bartending world apparently.

ok, i am going to try to help you out here.... everyone i know that has gone to authentic, abc, the scam at exchange place etc, has given up on their job search no more than 2 years out of the schools. i am not sure if any of them give placement or not. a lot of jobs will frown upon bartending schools in general because these employers are using the preconceived notion that these schools do not teach you how to be a good bartender, and only teach you recipes.

i'll be honest here. i went to mix em up in linden, nj. they also have one in verona and another in flemington. it was 375 for the course (395, but i got a coupon from a graduate) and in two weeks, five weeks(saturdays only), or one week (as long as you complete 40 hours) you get access to their job bank. it is recommended that you use the job bank immediately after in order to get experience. at least the jobs in the bank know that you are a recent student, and are still trainable.

my experience with it was terrific. i did the two week program. our instructor's name was braxton, and he had a lot of experience in california and new york as a bartender. each class starts and ends with opening the bar, practicing drinks, filling ice sinks, having people call random drinks at you, then you get an hour to two of liquor information and history, lessons on dealing with drunk guests, underage, abc, cash handling, etc. you end by speed drills (helps tremendously for service bar!) and then breaking down the bar.

honestly, i always find that i set up and break down a bar a lot cleaner than most people who were not bar school and in house trained. i have about all 105 drinks they taught me still memorized, and i've learned far many more along the way.

after mix em up, i nailed a few jobs out of their job bank to get some experience. once i had some experience behind me i started working all over. i worked at the corkscrew, applebee's east hanover, caruso's cafe bar, a few private party gigs (always buy a party kit, you never know!) and now beret's simple cafe.

i hope this reply was of some help, feel free to ask anything you want to know about it. i went way back in 2005 or 2006, but i've been bartending since then. the more motivated you are, the better you will do and the more fun you will have with it.

also, with mix em up, they let you go back to practice and refresh anytime, so even if you stop bartending for a period of time and need to refresh your memory or just practice handing the bottles and glassware, you can call up before a class and ask to sit in and/or practice at the end of the bar.

anyhow, their site is www.mixemup.com

and here is a link to my jersey journal article 2 weeks ago

http://www.nj.com/jjournal/stories/in ... 10227932141470.xml&coll=3

i hate to say this, but there had to be something else going on with this situation for them to search people, their wallets, their cell phones, or their vehicle.

Quote:

the trash can. we have a clip of the guy throwing the whole can into the truck, him turning on the compactor, and then the truck driving away. i believe it was reported but nothing was done about it.

i'd be very weary of any area without checking it out at night. just for an example, i have been looking at apartments in essex county, and one of them looked great on craigslist and was very nice in person during the day. i decided to take a drive out there at 2am, and we got chased twice by some screaming and yelling woman. every porch was full of thugs and there were a lot of shady people hanging out on the street corners. i am glad i made that trip before making a decision on that place. it's a shame when there are beautiful apartments and houses, but filled with people who are inconsiderate towards life in general.

"waiting for snow in havana" - carlos eire

loved it!

$5 meals on wednesdays? i think i know where i'm going for dinner :)

Quote:


actually, i went to st dominic academy, down the block. my brother was a product of hudson catholic... the all girl or all boy thing isn't as bad as one may think. it keeps your focus on growing as an individual. after school, the hudson boys would be waiting at our front steps as we would rush over to hudson catholic and take the bus from their stop. everyone still got to mingle with each other, but at an appropriate time. the level of education was far more focused and there is a certain tradition that gets carried on throughout your life from these schools. to have that tradition robbed away, it could be heartbreaking. if st. doms ever closes, i will probably be very upset. it was an amazing school, and hardly anyone ever looks back and said they hated hudson catholic or any of these non-co ed catholic schools here unless you're on the outside looking in...just like i would never bash a public school because i've never been able to experience a public school where i felt at home.

as for caritas academy, i didn't know they were folding already...seems like they just went from sacred heart and st. als to caritas to save the school. and holy family....looks like doms will have a huge enrollment until people can no longer afford the schools.

i used to stop in the ale house as a teenager for takeout food when i was having band practice on coles... man those chicken fingers with the really white honey mustard were great... the last time i stopped in was about two years ago and i had those wonderful chicken fingers again, but i'm curious...do they still have the same menu or items from the menu or is it all changed over since the new owner? some of the dinner specials were pretty good back then, and the vibe was always cozy and family friendly as we had a decent after party for my friends senior recital at njcu in 2006.i haven't had a chance to check it out since.

Quote:

thanks, a few of the bartenders at white star have come in and hung out for a few hours after their shift and made my night a little more at ease...you know how it goes, two bartenders can chat each other's ears off, and on a slow night, just a little positive energy can change everything :)

i also thought it was interesting that white star also has a Lara. that was the 3rd time in my entire life that i ever met someone with my name... so i will be stopping in on her shift too at some point.

when i was still in grammar school someone decided to steal one of our trash cans...mind you we have those big blue hard plastic oil drums that my dad turned into trash barrels, so the handles were hand cut into the barrels and our address was spraypainted on them. about five years later, i found our trash can, still with our address painted on it, three blocks away in someones front yard. of course i took it back. i think it was just a prank of some sort, but a kind of annoying prank....it's really no fun putting the bags out on the ground and having cats and raccoons rip them apart all over the sidewalk while waiting for the garbage trucks to show up. back then the trucks would show up anytime between 6am and 9am, so you would almost always have some sort of garbage trail on the sidewalk if you had no can.

a few months ago we caught the garbage men on our surveillance camera throwing our can into the garbage truck, only to never be seen again. that could have happened to you too...

best of luck to you...

the white star is a nice stop... a lot of folks i know hang there and agree that the food is good. i have met some of the bartenders both there and at my job and they are all very cool.

another problem they seem to have with these vans is that the companies that run them are often spotty, having no legit owner for the company (vanessa express, sphinx, etc... you know the names on the sides of the busses) and with that, they have no insurance for the drivers or the business. i read somewhere about the city trying to crack down on the owner of the bus companies, but there seems to be nobody to contact and a constant change of hands.

if anyone's ever been to atlantic city, they have a jitney service which is recognized by their city with organized stops. these busses run nearly as frequent as our commuter vans, but they are at least insured and have to run on an organized schedule and have to make the required stops.

i don't take the commuter vans often, unless i have to run to the city and don't feel like driving over. there have been times where i've gotten on the bus and the driver would tell me he's not going to journal square or grove street or was making some bizarre route when the sign on the van clearly says journal square. of course, i just go back to the bus stop and wait again, but i have never dealt with that on a new jersey transit bus. usually, before i have to take a bus, i'll go on nj transits site and look at what time the 84, 86, or 87 come by (i a few doors down from palisade.) if they aren't scheduled to come within the next few minutes, then i'll hop on a van. i find that the nj transit busses seem to get me to my destination a little bit quicker, and their drivers seem a bit more focused on following a time chart. the only problems i've had with nj transit busses have been the occasional breakdown, or the bus being completely filled and having to wait for another one (87 line after schools let out in mcginley square back in the late 90's)

since then, i have hardly ever been on a crowded nj transit bus. i almost always get a double seat to myself, and the ride is much smoother. i don't mind the vans when i'm in a rush and can't take the car somewhere in the cold, but i also don't like the fact that if the van is involved in an accident and i get hurt, i'm pretty much on my own.

cracking down on insuring these drivers is a good idea. it will inconvenience a lot of people, but keep safety in mind over convenience. if they can come to some sort of agreement on legalizing these vans and their routes, the transportation will improve dramatically.

i know of people who have them for nerve damage and things that aren't extremely noticeable. i try to not judge someone for parking in a handicapped spot unless they clearly do not have a tag or plates and are the kind of people that just lurk in the spot while their friend or relative shops. i've got quite a few paraplegic friends who are now driving again in modified vehicles, but often complain about more fortunate people tying up the parking spaces at their schools or shopping areas when they are clearly in need of the designated spots. in that sense, it is a shame, and it makes the readjustment to almost normal life a little bit more of a hassle.

the "expecting mothers" spots at shop rite are a joke. 9 out of 10 times you will not see expecting mothers parking there, but all sorts of people. i agree with the person who said that these special spots are a discriminatory act. i'll be honest though, i tend to park farther away from other cars because i hate having scratches and dings in my car. i'd rather walk an extra 50 feet than have to touch up another scratch from someone being careless with a shopping cart or having kids open their doors into the side of my car.

i'm going nuts without aim right now! argh...

i have not been in it since the change, but i'll be sure to update when i do...

i used to park my car by st. anthony's at night when making a short trip to the mall until my old 1987 chevy nova(corolla) was broken into and a $5 hibachi grill from walgreens that was hidden in my trunk was stolen.... it was a total pain replacing a $128 window for something i bought for almost nothing to use once and throw away at the beach... now i park in the deck. i wish i knew about the $1 off for residents because i've always been paying the full price.

i can totally agree, i get stuck behind them almost every night coming home from work, but in a way, i'd rather be tied down on my way home from work than on my way to school at 8 or 9am and then have to wait 45 minutes into my class while i find parking in the deck at njcu... it's a hassle because of the noise at night, yet convenient in the morning because i can get to school or work on time. i guess it helps us yet hurts us at the same time.

every year since those clocks were put up we've had this problem... they'll get around to it....someday lol

i really need to stop in and get some grub from there...it's been 5 years since i worked at the courthouse and had sava's potato pancakes every tuesday. i'm glad they reopened somewhere else.

While these might actually be really good shows, unfortunately the ASC has nothing to do with student talent or even benefiting the Music/Dance/Theater students. The
"black box" theater that the ASC will be using was taken from the students to make yet another quick buck and to recuperate from bad spending in a previous semester.

Some NJCU students and alumni will be putting on a presentation of Paul Rudnick's "I Hate Hamlet" possibly in response to NJCU's decision to hire outside talent. The show will be on February 23rd at 7PM and February 24th at 3PM in Ingalls Recital Hall in Rossey Hall Room 101. The show is free.

Something that is a shame, I have seen some great musicals at NJCU, and I have even performed in some choirs and ensembles there, and the shows were never even half full. There is a lot of talent out there, and the shows are super cheap, sometimes even free!

this happens all over jersey city, it's not just the heights.

i've been here for almost 26 years now, it's gotten so much better than when i was growing up here... i've had so many people try to jump and mug me as a kid walking home from school or from the park in daylight.....now, you can at least walk around in daylight without worrying about someone telling you to run your pockets on the avenue or near christ hospital. sure, there's a lot of crime around, but i see a lot less gang members hanging out on franklin and palisades ave now than i did 10 years ago. when i worked at the corkscrew on congress & webster, i met so many new jersey city residents, almost all working class and "yuppies" who had just moved in around 2006... it was really cool finding out people were coming from all over the united states to live in our area because of the cheaper rents and convenience to manhattan and hoboken.

the popular bus routes that were cancelled (minus the 99s) were really not good bus lines to begin with. i've gotten offered crack and pot as a teenager on the central avenue bus line at 3pm in the afternoon. central avenue really doesn't have many quality stores to shop at, so the bus line was kind of useless. the only people riding it were the people who actually used it to get to place to place (usually not many since that line dropped you off in the not so nice parts of jersey city after journal square), old ladies going to the avenue for 99 cent shopping or shady people who were either homeless or did their drug runs on it. it was probably costing the bus company more money to run it than they were making....also, a lot of the people who have moved in seem to have their own vehicles for their recreation/shopping, so that might be something good despite the parking problems. 10 years ago, none of my neighbors drove, most of them were fairly poor and to be quite honest, most of them were dealing drugs on our corner. now that everything has gone condo, we're seeing more working class folks and families moving in.


and the view from the park on palisade is awesome!