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Sunday, September 2, 2007
Boot Camp workout
Gary Duncan smiled when Staff Writer Mike Kerwick stepped into his Teaneck gym. Then he beat him up by sending him through a Boot Camp workout that included curls, bench presses and push-ups. After an hour, Kerwick struggled to pry his aching muscles off the blue gym mat. (June 26)
Crazy for coasters
Roller coaster nuts are like surfers – always looking for the ultimate wave. That's why a group called Thrillcoaster Tours LLC now offers to take hard-core fans on two-, three-, even four-week coaster "safaris" all over the U.S. and Canada, where they can test their nerves – and stomachs – on as many as 120 coasters in succession. Twelve-year-old Brian Pupel of Mahwah was one of a bunch of kids starting out the first leg of their tour at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson. Yaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!! (Jim Beckerman, June 28)
Moonachie's gondolier
The Meadowlands are hardly the Venetian Lagoon, but don't tell that to 69-year-old Mike Novack, a Moonachie business owner who, for the past decade, has been moonlighting as a gondolier, giving tours of the reedy Hackensack River as if it were the Grand Canal. Clifton native Novack says, "With the gondolas, there's just so much to them, you fall in love with the boats. You really do." (Virginia Rohan, July 1)
Minigolf grows up
Remember the old obstacle courses where you'd try to putt through, say, the moving arms of a windmill? Well, you won't find too many around anymore. Minigolf has grown up. Today's courses are more likely to have PGA-like greens, with undulations, water hazards, rocks -- and fountains. "They call it adventure golf," says Bob Detwiler, president of the U.S. ProMiniGolf Association, which sanctions the annual Masters National ProMiniGolf Championship. This year's event (Oct. 18 to 20) is expected to draw 80 competitors from around the world. (Virginia Rohan, July 19)
Filmed in New Jersey
"The Sopranos" may be gone, but New Jersey, the birthplace of the movies, is still a hub of production. This summer and throughout the fall, a number of film projects will hit theaters that were filmed (at least partly) or set in North Jersey. The Record may even make a cameo in one of them, "Dan in Real Life," which casts Steve Carell as a New Jersey newspaper columnist. (Virginia Rohan, July 29)
Chefs' guilty pleasures
What culinary delights do the best chefs indulge in after a long day in the kitchen? Food Editor Bill Pitcher took a peek inside some of North Jersey's top restaurants and discovered not-so-haute cravings for Ben & Jerry's and White Castle. "You're tired of looking at your own stuff all day," said Peter Angelakos of Bacari Grill in Washington Township. "It's better to eat that Big Mac in front of my TV in my pajamas than have something from my own kitchen." (July 30)
Herbal remedies
Got a cold that just won't go away? Dealing with the side effects of chemo or simply a seasonal lethargy? Maybe it's time to look for an alternative remedy. Here's the lowdown on Chinese herbal medicine, an ancient medical system that's starting to catch on in North Jersey. In "1994 when I first started, 10 percent of our business was non-Chinese," said Thomas Leung, an herbal pharmacist living in Englewood Cliffs. "Now it's the other way around." (Evelyn Shih, July 31)
'Mr. Mitzvah' to the rescue
Ivan Wilzig's grandmother was sent to the gas chamber. His grandfather was beaten to death. All told, Wilzig lost 59 relatives in the Holocaust. Earlier this summer the former Clifton resident honored their memories by playing "Mr. Mitzvah," a Jewish superhero, on the Sci-Fi Channel show "Who Wants to be a Superhero?" Alas, he was eliminated just three episodes into the season. (Mike Kerwick, Aug. 1)
The boomer gap
When "Woodstock" conjures memories of a life-altering music-and-love-fest for some and a cute little yellow bird friend of Snoopy to others, you've gotta wonder if there's a generation gap within the baby boomer ranks. Members of the generation -- traditionally defined as those born between 1946 and 1964 -- are so widely divergent that there's a secessionist movement gaining momentum that would break off younger boomers into a completely different group known as Generation Jones (from the slang term "jonesin'," which means an intense craving). If you haven't heard the term yet, stay tuned. The issue is getting more attention, thanks to Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, who has positioned himself as the anti-boomer candidate -- even though he was born in 1962. (Virginia Rohan, Aug. 5)
Elvis evermore
Who knew that Elvis Presley, dead, would have a longer career than Elvis Presley, living? Not Mahwah's Tony Destro – who remembers thinking, on hearing the news of the rocker's death in August 1977, that his days as a pioneering Elvis impersonator were over. Little did he know. This August, on the 30th anniversary of Elvis' passing, he did what he has done since 1975 – put on his white jumpsuit and become the living embodiment of the King. "I've been doing Elvis longer than he did Elvis," Destro says. (Jim Beckerman, Aug. 15)
Copyright © 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.
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