Margaret Garner

Vital choices in a new opera
Friday, September 7, 2007

By EVELYN SHIH
STAFF WRITER

Mezzo-sopranos are used to playing second fiddle. With a range between soprano and contralto, these singers are underappreciated: always a bridesmaid -- and sometimes an evil witch -- never a bride.

[Richard Danielpour, pictured left. Courtesy of schirmir.com]

But American composer Richard Danielpour knew that Margaret Garner, whose story inspired Toni Morrison's "Beloved," could be nothing other than a mezzo.

"I had a sort of instinct; call it a hunch if you will," he said.

Working with Morrison as his librettist, Danielpour created the mezzo character of Margaret Garner, a pre-Civil War slave who escaped with her children but killed them rather than let them be taken back into enslavement. The opera "Margaret Garner" debuted in 2005 and comes to New York City Opera in a new production beginning Tuesday.

In a way, the role carries on the tradition of mezzo leads, said Danielpour. George Bizet's "Carmen" was another story of a strong woman in hopeless circumstances.

"The whole opera revolves around Carmen's ability to choose," said Danielpour. "Once she makes a choice, her power is played out. With Margaret, the only choice that she has left to her is in what she does to her children.

"She must have been aware that without the power to choose, there is no power at all."

Danielpour also chose the mezzo-soprano range because he had his heart set on the diva whose voice would carry the role: "Carmen" veteran Denyce Graves. "I just knew she would be the person that should first sing it," he said. "She was at the height of her career, and just entering her prime."

But Tracie Luck, the singer who will be playing the role for the New York debut, has a unique connection to the piece in its earliest form. It was Luck, not Graves, who worked on the role with the composer in its embryonic stages.

[Tracie Luck, pictured left. Courtesy of skidmore.edu]

"It was like preseason training," joked Luck about her intense work with Danielpour and Morrison before the world premiere. "I knew they relied on my suggestions. And that in itself was really an honor, to be digesting the music and expressing how I felt about them.

"It's so rare where you can talk to the composer and call him your friend."

"What is really worth mentioning about her is that she has grown as 'Margaret Garner' has grown," said Danielpour. "This is her moment. She's come full circle with me."

Luck and Danielpour have been on tour all year, visiting colleges and high schools across the nation to talk about the historical background of the opera and introduce youth to it. The New York City Opera production is the culmination of this series, dubbed "The Year of Margaret Garner." Tenafly High School was one of the stops on the circuit.

"People ask, 'Haven't we had enough about slavery?' " said Danielpour. "Well, maybe we have. But this is not just about slavery. This is about remembering that we are all a part of one family: the family of the human race. Terrible things happen when we forget this."

Margaret Garner, her children, her husband and other slaves were not considered entirely human in her time. Garner was put on trial for "destruction of property" instead of murder when she killed her own children.

But worth, explained Danielpour, is relative. Slaveowner "Edward Gaines is a free man, but in a way becomes enslaved to his attachments," he said. "Whereas Margaret is born as an enslaved person, but becomes free in her ability to make a choice."

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Copyright © 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

Bergen's Artists Meet the Public

Bergen festival highlights local artists
Friday, September 7, 2007

By EVELYN SHIH
STAFF WRITER

The Bergen Museum's sixth annual Music & Art Festival rolls into town Sunday at the Bergen Mall. A celebration of local artists and craftsmen, the festival also features live music, a vintage car show, food and face painting.


[painting above by William C. Sturm. Courtesy of thebergenmuseum.com]

"The festival was begun by the museum to celebrate the arts and to give local and regional artists an opportunity to sell their work and to be seen," said museum President Peter Knipe. "Unlike many other music and art festivals, the museum's festival does not consist of exhibitors that sell mass-produced or manufactured items, or non-original art or craft items."

Ten best-in-show awards are given to artists and five more to crafters each year. Winners' works are showcased in a curated exhibition the following year.

Lisa Peters, a sculptor and ceramic jewelry maker, spoke recently about her experience at the festival. She belongs to the group Salute to Women in the Arts and has been a best-in-show winner two out of the three years she's participated.

Q. Is art your profession?

I was a professional photographer for 10 years, and I had my own studio. I closed it in the late '90s and decided to change mediums. ... I started out with fiber arts and moved to ceramics. I now have a very large online business selling ceramic buttons and jewelry. I also exhibit sculpture and mixed-media work in different galleries.

Q. What's the difference between selling pieces online and selling at the festival?

It gives me a chance to interact with people in person. It's not to say I don't have conversation with people on the Internet. But when people get to pick up something in their hands, that's entirely different. They have to see it in real time as opposed to just seeing it on a computer screen.

Q. Did you enjoy yourself at the festival?

I did, because I was surrounded by women in my organization. We all had our own booths, so that was fun. I liked to talk to people in the community, and they said they had never seen art like that. And it was nice that it was in Bergen County.

In general, people say [they] wish they knew more about it, and they have always expressed to me that they wished places like the Bergen Museum would make more outdoor festivals. They get very excited when they see things like that.

Some people are very intimidated to just take it upon themselves to go into a gallery, or think they need to make a day of a gallery trip. To have a festival that incorporates a whole experience with music, and things for the kids to do ... there's something for the whole family.

Q. Is there a lot of art in North Jersey that remains hidden to the general public?

There're a lot of organizations that I don't believe people know about. [Salute to Women in the Arts] has been around since 1974.

All these organizations need places to exhibit their work. It's important [for] businesses or galleries -- or any place with walls -- to be available for art. Artists are always looking for any place with walls.

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Copyright © 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

"News" Story

Sun, sand, surf combine for a fine end to season
Sunday, September 2, 2007

By RICHARD COWEN and EVELYN SHIH
STAFF WRITERS

Some came to catch just one more wave, others to wave goodbye to the Summer of 2007.

Whatever the reason, hundreds of thousands of summer's faithful visited the Jersey Shore on Saturday, jamming the beaches, boardwalks and bars for the final big bash of the season.

In a summer where business has been just so-so, Mother Nature did her part and saved the best weather for the unofficial end. Bright blue skies, low humidity and a cool northern breeze that hinted of fall made for a great beach day to start the Labor Day weekend.

Amid all that sunshine, there was just a touch of blue in Russell Rabadeau's voice as he walked the beach at Belmar with his girlfriend, Cassie Gordon.

"We came here every other weekend this summer, and it was gorgeous," the Hoboken resident said. "But this will probably be it. This whole weekend feels like the end of summer, with people packing up their stuff and coming down for one last weekend. It's like the last hurrah."

The last hurrah also was going strong at Martell's Tiki Bar in Point Pleasant on Saturday afternoon, where beachgoers bellied up to the bar. Among the folks spotted at the bar was New York Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey, bidding adieu to summer before the NFL season gets under way next week.

Christiana Barbaro, 17, the hostess at Martell's, didn't want summer to end.

"This has been a very fun-filled summer," she said. "Lots of celebrities," she added, dropping the names of Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, singer Southside Johnny and actor Danny DeVito as faces she's recognized in the crowds at Martell's. "And I heard a rumor that Justin Timberlake was here."

Some shore businesses say they could have used a little star power. Overall, the weather has been pretty good this summer, with only one or two rainy weekends, but business has been flat. Tourism experts say the Shore is evolving into less of a vacation destination and more of a weekend getaway. That brings a different kind of crowd -- one that generally doesn't spend as much.

"It's the economy," said Barbara Steele, director of Ocean County Public Affairs and Tourism. "Discretionary money isn't there, and people aren't spending.

"I'm hearing that they're doing very well on weekends, but midweek is a growing problem. It used to be that moms didn't work, and they stayed here with the kids. Now they are usually working, and it's more and more challenging to get that full week's stay."

Still, by the looks of things on Saturday, New Jerseyans remain in love with their shore, even if it is a bit tacky in some places and a bit too crowded in others. Many say they go to the Jersey Shore simply because there wouldn't be summer without it.

"My parents met at the Shore," Danielle Labonia of Montville said between bites of pizza on the boardwalk at Belmar. "My parents used to come down to the same places that I go to now: D'Jais and Bar A. Every time I come down the shore, it's a special thing for them. My mom tells me where I have to go."

Perhaps a tradition was born Saturday for Alex Chan of Wayne and his girlfriend, Sabrina Lee, who were making their first trip to the Jersey Shore. They stopped into 3 Brothers and Santoros Pizzeria/Italian Deli for a bite to eat.

"That's the nice thing about it," Lee said. "It's close enough to come down just for the day."

Inside, owner David DiLorenzo was scrambling to keep his business going.

"We're shorthanded today," he said. "All the college kids are gone by Labor Day weekend. This is when you call your friends."

While Labor Day generally spells the end of the tourist season, it does bring some good news for visitors. After Monday, most of the beaches will be free -- with some great weather still ahead.

"Anyone who lives down here knows that September and October are the best months of the year," said Tony Giordano, owner of the Ocean Hut Surf Shop in Lavallette. "Around Halloween, the water starts to cool off into the 60s, and by Thanksgiving it will be in the 50s. We'll be open every day till Christmas."

Staff Writer Kevin G. Demarrais contributed to this article.

Copyright © 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

Viva la Old Tech

Sticking to tried and true
Tuesday, September 4, 2007

By EVELYN SHIH
STAFF WRITER

Forget about the generation gap in technology. In the current rat race of constantly updated contraptions, you're behind your own peers if you don't know the development of the week.

Still, there are those among us who refuse to download the siren song of progress. People who say thanks, but no thanks to newfangled gizmos. People who are perfectly happy being low-tech. . They live among us as neighbors and relatives.

In our brave and daily new world, are they anachronistic -- or do they have a point?

Typewriter

"There are just as many things that we do on a computer that are simply better done by hand," said Joe Fontanazza of Wyckoff, owner of Ridgewood Typewriters.

For example: typing the address on an envelope, or filling out a multiple-part form.

"Give me a 12-year-old kid on a typewriter, and by the time you fill out this form, the kid'll beat you," said Fontanazza.

A second business of his, Trademark Office Products, sells computer products. But Fontanazza says the typewriter isn't going anywhere soon. Municipal offices and schools, veritable paperwork factories, are constant clients. Creative writers who have worked on typewriters for decades continue coming to Fontanazza for help with maintenance.

"I've been mentioned in bibliography of books because I kept their machines running," said Fontanazza proudly. "Believe it or not, there's a segment of people who work better with a typewriter than on the computer."

And just recently, Fontanazza serviced a 1940s upright Underwood typewriter to keep it up and running. "There are people who love their machines," he said.

Still, it was a bittersweet moment recently when a mother brought in her children to buy stationery, and the boy asked, looking at a displayed typewriter: "Mommy, what is that?"

Vinyl

Michael Fremer of Wyckoff has become the unofficial standard bearer of vinyl records in a world of CDs and MP3s. He started writing for Stereophile magazine in the 1980s as a columnist, turning out a feature titled "Analog Corner." Since then, he's become an editor at large.

"You used to buy a record, you sat and you listened," Fremer said. "You didn't read a book or talk to your friends -- you paid attention. Kids don't do that anymore. They play music while they're doing something else. It's become a secondary activity because it's no longer compelling."

A baby boomer at age 60, Fremer is excited about a vinyl comeback after a drought in the 1990s. "What saved the vinyl business was the DJ business," he said, "but this no longer has anything to do with DJs."

He points to the fact that even Circuit City, a mainstream electronics retail store, provides 10,000 vinyl selections. Virgin Megastore has recently begun offering a great variety. And young bands are pressing LPs in tandem with CD and iTunes releases.

Funny thing is, Fremer owns an iPod. He purchased the latest Arcade Fire album on iTunes before he bought it on vinyl. "I think the iPod is the greatest technology for bringing the access of music to people," he said.

Then he showed his true colors. "If you can get a kid with an iPod to plug it into a hi-fi system, it'll sound great."

Film cameras

Like most other hobby and freelance photographers, Bruce Albert of Ramsey owns both film and digital cameras. But "if I were given a doomsday scenario, I would grab my film cameras," he said. "As long as there's light, the photochemical process will always be there, and it only takes a spring to make the exposure."

Film, he explains, has become mostly relegated to fine art prints. Dark room work requires time and patience. Even if the finished product is more beautiful than a digital image, there are few clients who would wait for a photographer to do the work. Color film, in particular, has become more difficult to work with because companies that process the film into slides or prints have been going out of business.

A member of the Ridgewood Photography Club since 1975, Albert still uses a Hasselblad camera with 2¼-inch-square film for his fine art black and white exposures. The state-of-the-art camera company now manufactures digital versions of the same camera, but they go for a cool $12,000.

But today, even professionals who demand high quality are turning coat.

Michael Yamashita, a photographer for National Geographic who grew up in Montclair, switched over to a digital camera last year. "Two years ago, 90 percent of National Geographic photographers were shooting film, and 10 percent were shooting digital," he said. "Last year, it switched to 10 percent film, 90 percent digital."

Simple phone

The new iPhone made a splash this summer, widely advertising features like easy Web browsing, YouTube videos in your pocket, and touch-screen navigation. Critics pointed out that some of those functions were already covered by other smart phones and Blackberries. In fact, so many people can now stream video on their phones that media companies are investing in mobile content departments to fill those tiny screens.

But when Emmerson Johnson of Clifton gets a new phone, he won't be looking for bells and whistles.

"Even if I upgrade, I will ask for a basic phone," said the business owner. His current phone does not take pictures or video. Nor does it do Internet and e-mail; and don't even talk to him about text messaging.

"Basic telephones are usually smaller," explained Johnson. "If you have a camera, it's going to be bigger." Bulky antennas needed for Internet access, faster battery depletion, and fragility are more reasons he gives for his simple mobile style. "It's cheaper to have a basic phone."

That's not to say Johnson doesn't like the cellphone, which someday may also be consigned to the scrap heap as a technological relic. On the contrary, he thinks it a great improvement over a landline phone, which is itself a dying species, as growing numbers of consumers choose cellphones as their primary means of communication.

"The advantage is you always have a phone by you or beside you, whether or not you're at home," he explained. "I never turn it down."

Sometimes, a little technology can be a good thing.

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Copyright © 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

Eat Well!

Rice noodle pancakes with tofu and eggplant
Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Vegetarian recipes from recently released cookbooks:

"The Eat Well Cookbook," by Jan Purser and Kathy Snowball (Allen and Unwin, 2007)

From a naturopathic nutritional consultant and a food writer comes this little book on healthy eating. Purser and Snowball don't stop at providing healthy recipes. They lay out full plans of action for those who want to lose weight or change their diets for the better. To help people with food allergies, they've also made all their recipes gluten- and dairy-free. Veggie options are generous.

-- Evelyn Shih
* * *




Rice noodle pancakes with tofu and eggplant

* 1¾ ounces rice vermicelli noodles
* ½ sheet nori seaweed
* 5 fluid ounces light coconut milk
* ¼ cup rice flour
* 2 egg whites
* Grapeseed oil
* 6 baby eggplants, halved lengthwise
* Sea salt
* 6½ ounces firm tofu, drained, chopped into ¾-inch pieces
* Fresh coriander leaves
* Avocado and mango salsa (see note)

To make rice noodle pancakes, soak noodles in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain well, pat dry with paper towel and chop coarsely. Dip nori briefly in hot water, then drain and chop. Combine coconut milk and rice flour in a bowl and mix well. Stir in noodles and nori and generously season to taste. Whisk egg whites until soft peaks form, then fold into noodle mixture in two batches.

Heat a little oil in a non-stick frying pan and cook scant ¼ cupfuls of mixture in batches until golden, then turn and cook other side. Drain on paper towel.

Brush eggplant with oil, sprinkle with sea salt, place on an oven tray and grill (broil) until golden, then turn and grill the other side, if necessary. Brush tofu with oil, sprinkle with sea salt and stir-fry in a non-stick frying pan in batches until golden.

Serve pancakes topped with eggplant, tofu, salsa and coriander leaves.

Servings: 4.

Note: To make avocado and mango salsa, combine 1 small avocado, chopped; ½ mango, finely chopped; ¼ small red onion, finely chopped; 1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander; 1 small tomato, seeded, finely chopped; 1 small fresh red chili, finely chopped; 1 tablespoon lime juice; and 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil. Season to taste.

Copyright © 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

Super What? Super WHY.

Taking reading to new heights
Monday, September 3, 2007

By EVELYN SHIH
STAFF WRITER

Starting this morning at 9, Princess Pea, Whyatt Beanstalk, Red and Littlest Pig will take to the airwaves on PBS' newest children's show, "Super Why." These four superhero tykes magically turn into Princess Presto, Super Why, Wonder Red and Alpha Pig whenever they fly into a book, finding solutions to a variety of problems.
[Picture, above, courtesy of northjersey.com. Photographer: Thomas Franklin.]

Created by Harrington Park native Angela Santomero and Hillsdale native Samantha Freeman -- the same pair who made Nickelodeon's "Blue's Clues" must-see TV among the playground set -- "Super Why" will teach basic reading skills such as spelling, letter recognition and theme comprehension to school-age children.

"Literacy is a national problem, and it's a hot topic at the moment," says Santomero. The new show was specifically designed for kids ages 3 to 6, she adds.

Many busy parents probably wonder whether their children can actually learn to read from watching a TV show. That's a tall order for a television program, and even executive producer Freeman admits that "Super Why's" mission is to "tip children in the right direction."

But if there's anything Santomero and Freeman are sure of, it's that the formula that made "Blue's Clues" a decade-plus success works. Their award-winning educational show has become one of the gold standards in children's television over the past 11 years, largely because of its dedication to research -- research that led Santomero and Freeman to create "Super Why."

Doing a test run

It's a busy day at summer camp, but at the Kew Forest School in Queens, camp counselors are taking a break in the library. Their preschool-age charges are being treated to a very special story time.

"Wands up!" says researcher Alice Walters, seated on the floor next to shelves of children's books.

Finn Latici-McAvey, Matthew Gelpi and Mia Kurta obediently sit forward on their beanbags and raise their tiny fists as if grasping thin sticks. They stare at the colorful, letter-sized printout where a princess in a purple gown points her own glowing instrument at a cluttered ballroom.

"Let's write the letter 'C,' " Walters says.

They go on to spell the word "clean." When the task is complete, Walters puts the page facedown on the ground to reveal another sheet with the same scene, tidied. The word "clean" floats above the ballroom like a physical spell.

"Ta-da!"

The graphics are less than earth-shattering. But the storyboard Finn, Matthew and Mia are seeing today is a glimpse of what many kids will eventually get to see. They can now tell their friends in pre-school and kindergarten that they saw it first.

The research process

After testing an illustrated storyboard version of an episode, researchers in Walters' team work with Santomero's writers to modify the script. The animators create a rough version, called an animatic, and another group of kids watches the episode. Writers then make minor modifications, and animators apply the final touches before the last group watches the pre-air version.

About 25 children see the episode at each of these three stages. Since PBS ordered 65 episodes (roughly three years' worth) of "Super Why" from Santomero and Freeman's Out of the Blue production company, the pair have had their hands full.

Santomero made sure that episodes of "Super Why" would be shown three times to kids in the tri-state area. Her own erstwhile elementary school in Harrington Park was one of the research sites.

When Santomero and Walters began working together on "Blue's Clues" research more than a decade ago, the only intensively researched children's show they could look up to was perennial favorite "Sesame Street," which had carried on a tradition of educational television for about 30 years.

"We carved money out of the production budget for the research," said Santomero of her work at Nickelodeon on "Blue's Clues." That dedication was a point of pride for her and the entire creative team.

Rosemarie Truglio, vice president of education and research for "Sesame Street," taught a class at Teachers College, attended by both Santomero and Walters. "Angela felt strongly that she wanted to adapt what we do at 'Sesame Street' to her creation," she remembers.

Although Santomero and Freeman are no longer working within a deep-pocketed network, they want to make sure "Super Why" has the same quality of research to back up its educational curriculum.

"This show is designed to be education, whereas some shows use research more for appeal," explains Freeman. "Appeal is also part of our goal; but it's there to help them learn."

Levels of difficulty

Back at the Kew Forest School, Santomero sits behind the children, scribbling notes on a copy of the script as they respond to the story. The plot is roughly based on Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper": A prince living in a castle and a pauper living in a cottage switch places; chaos ensues.

Santomero watches intently as Mia, Finn and Matthew choose words from a cupboard to form the prince's meager meal and find bright red "Super Letters" in the scenery. Whenever she sees a twitching leg or wandering eye, she makes a mark.

"Studies show that attention equals comprehension," she explains.

It's hard to write for kids from age 3 to 6 because of all the different reading and development levels. To accommodate a wide audience, Out of the Blue tries to layer levels of difficulty into each episode.

On the base level, kids can find the red Super Letters hidden in scenes throughout the episode as a kind of scavenger hunt. Understanding the story is an added plus that makes the show enjoyable. Kids with more reading skills can solve puzzles, read words and spell.

The hardest level to crack is thematic understanding. For this episode, the message is about finding where you truly belong. Plugged into the "Super Computer," the Super Letters spell "home."

Mia, barely 4, gets the idea first and wonders why the pauper is still in the castle, not his own home in the cottage.

"We have to change the sentence first," says Walters gently.

A magical switcheroo of the words "castle" and "cottage" -- perhaps "farm" in later versions for easier understanding -- and the characters are back where they belong.

"Should we put this story on television?" Walters asks them at the end.

"Yes!" they say in chorus.

The creators of 'Super Why'

Angela Santomero
Hometown: Harrington Park
Background: Teachers College, Columbia University

Samantha Freeman
Hometown: Hillsdale
Background: MBA, Harvard University

How they met: Santomero and Freeman met while working on Nickelodeon's hit show "Blue's Clues." Santomero came from a child-development research background, earning a master's in developmental psychology. Freeman brought her marketing and branding experience to the table. The two realized that they were both Bergen natives and found an instant connection. Together, they launched production company Out of the Blue two years ago, when their Nickelodeon contracts expired.

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Copyright © 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

Top 10, baby! (7th down)

Top features stories of the summer
Sunday, September 2, 2007
STAFF REPORT

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.