Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas (2017) – a musical documentary
December 18th, 2021 by Mr. C
This documentary was a fun take on how Jewish Americans have taken a tradition not their own & created something they can call their own encapsulated with song, dance, & chinese food!? I’m not Jewish but I have some friends who are (sounds like a racist intro) and if I shine a bright light in their face and interrogate them with questions including where were you on the night of December 25th Christmas Day most would probably tell me that they went to the movies during the day & at night they went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner! Hell (pardon the bad timing and usage of the word) that kinda describes my Christmas Day as a Chinese American!
Jews have a more important connection to Christmas in songs with familiar lyrics known to everyone such as chestnuts roasting in an open fire, let it snow, I’ll be home for Christmas, walking in the winter wonderland, Rudolph the red nose reindeer, white Christmas, & many many more songs that were written by Jewish composers! Jews were not considered & treated as white nor black, but were regarded more as orientals when they landed in New York harbor in the 18th century and started creating a new life in the tenements of the lower east side of Manhattan. The New York Jews were outsiders & foreigners initially because of language barriers so they created a tradition of their own! The children of these immigrants wanted to write a narrative or song (pun intended!) of their own.
When the Jewish wrote Christmas songs they weren’t writing them as an experience of being a Jew but as an outlet for being American. The songs created national unity, freedom of expression, and ultimately a way to provide food for their family while being true to themselves.
Some of the most entertaining parts of the film were when the workers of the Chinese restaurant started breaking out in song & dance with Christmas songs! Hey, this might make a great Broadway musical!
The Jewish & Chinese immigrant experience living in NYC probably has more parallels & similarities than differences especially when it’s Christmas Day. It was fun to see these two groups that are the same but different – mesh on this holy day! There’s definitely a superficial & commercial glow to Christmas but in the end it’s still a day to try & make people happy and feel that they belong. These Christmas songs provide a wonderful mood & soundtrack to this. Salute to Irving Berlin, Mel Tormé, Jay Livingston, Ray Evans, Gloria Shayne Baker, Johnny Marks & others I missed for these tunes!
What I gathered from the film was that Jewish Americans who created these instant classics were actually creating tunes of their heritage and experience as a Jew living in America for example “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” was really about accepting me as who I am regardless of how I look. There were hardships living in America as an immigrant so these songs & lyrics helped fuel a sense of belonging. The film elaborates on the importance of this song & the message behind it.
There’s no denying the power in these Christmas songs and we owe it all to these Jewish American composers! The lyrics are often melancholy & sad but still uplifting and provides a sight line for being hopeful & compassionate. Christmas is a day for inclusion regardless of ethnicity. It’s the American way!
Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas is quintessentially a reality of living the American dream. Recommended viewing especially for the holidays!
Tags: documentary, dreaming of a jewish christmas, jewish composers, les, new york city
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The Band From Glen Rock High reunion concert + Uncle Floyd
December 5th, 2021 by Mr. C
A talented bunch of musical misfits who were all graduates of Glen Rock High School from the early 1970s including a funny & the most outspoken one of them all, Floyd Vivino (Glen Rock High graduate 1969) otherwise known as Uncle Floyd gathered together for a reunion concert billed as The Band from Glen Rock High. This one night only event took place at the Glen Rock High School auditorium and some of the concert footage will be used for the upcoming documentary called “The Band From Glen Rock High”. The Band mostly played jazz influenced tunes and even sported out some funk-tastic ones as well! For a second I thought the Funk Brothers were in the house or even the contemporary likes of the Budos Band and similar ilks! Of course some classic concerto pieces from the symphony master Jim Feeney on the upright bass with his wife on the violin were magical and fun! We couldn’t leave out Uncle Floyd with his shaving cream routine and standup comedy bit are always a crowd favorite creating instant chuckles! A highlight for me and forgive me as I forget her name but it will come to me eventually was Cissy Houston’s piano player that records with Cissy from time to time. She really thumped those keys with soul, gospel, & gusto onto that piano solo she had. The Band backed her up like they have played together for years! We gave her a standing ovation after her performance! Another bone chilling vocal performance was from Donna Vivino. She’s the daughter of Jerry Vivino and she is one incredible Broadway singer! She has been acting & singing on Broadway since she was 8 yrs old! Donna sang an uplifting song from her breakthrough appearance from Les Miserable! The finale of the night went to Lee Shapiro on the keyboards and his contribution to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons with “Oh What a Night”. And oh what a night it was!
During the early 1970s, Glen Rock High School students Lee Shapiro, Jerry Vivino, John Feeney, Frank Pagano, Jimmy Vivino, Doug Romoff, and Uncle Floyd Vivino all discovered each other through the love of music & friendships. Of course the Vivino family seemed to all possess the musical gene but Glen Rock High School & their music program led by Joseph Silsky seemed to breed professional musicians! Since graduating from Glen Rock High, the band members all went on to have very successful music recording careers. Lee Shapiro made his name & success playing with Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons. Jerry (Clarinet & sax) & Jimmy Vivino (guitar) are very accomplished jazz & blues musicians recording with the likes of Paquito & Cissy Houston. John Feeney, a virtuoso on the upright bass plays with the NY Philharmonic. And we all know how successful Uncle Floyd became!
Well for one night on December 2, 2021 – the Band from Glen Rock High gathered together for a reunion and once again created beautiful music together! They all honored their High School music mentor Mr. Silsky and gave him a lifetime achievement award! Mr Silsky was called on the stage and played the sax like a boss and would even make Clarence Clemons raise the roof from heaven!
The director of the film who is also a Glen Rock High School alumni announced that they will have a screening of “The Band from Glen Rock High” at Glen Rock High School so stay tuned!
a paquito influenced piece!
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New York Ninja (1984) & re-enter the New York Ninja in 2021!
November 29th, 2021 by Mr. C
I was familiar with John Liu from his work in Secret Rivals & Secret Rivals 2 aka Northern Fists – Southern Kicks which was considered a second rate / second tier produced old school Kung Fu film as opposed to films from high budget movie studios like Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest. That being said John Liu and his opposing counterpart villain in most of his films, the venerable Hwang Jang Lee aka Silver Fox always had great fight scenes together! So when I learned about this lost movie, NEW YORK NINJA which John Liu starred & directed in his only American production, I was like whaat!? And that the movie was based in a 1980s New York City, I was like whaat!? How come we never heard of it? New York Ninja was filmed entirely on 35mm in 1984, but the project was aborted during production and over time, all the original sound that accompanied the film was lost.
35 years later in 2019, enters Vinegar Syndrome and so re-enter New York Ninja! They found & acquired the negative footage of New York Ninja untouched in a film lab and lying dormant for decades. The film was never edited, had no rolling credits, no audio, no soundtrack, no script, and no clues about who the cast members of the film & film crew were. To make an interesting long story short, the Vinegar Syndrome team did some research and eventually found John Liu the original director & actor in the film, at least 2 of the original cast members, & a few of the film crew. John Liu gave his blessings & good luck to Vinegar Syndrome with finishing the film! He wanted no part of his film anymore! Ok, where to start with no audio from the film and therefore no idea of what the story, plot, & inspiration was? Answer: write a script, score it, find voice overs, edit film – easy right!? Thank you Vinegar Syndrome for saving this film! I think you did John Liu some serious justice in digging out & fine tuning this hidden gem and awarding us fans with the prize! You can find more details of the behind the scenes of re-enter the New York Ninja on the release of this film on Blu Ray available now on Vinegar Syndrome’s website and hopefully a release to theaters soon near you as well! Note: As of this second on 11/30/2021, it looks like Vinegar Syndrome stopped the website sales temporarily because of the special Black Friday sales. Website orders will be back online in January I’m told! This movie is worth the wait, trust me!
New York Ninja (1984) couldn’t come at a better time with the current situation we have here in the dirty NYC in 2021! We need a throwback comic book like superhero fighting crime with his martial arts with vigilante spirit in a setting from early 1980s NYC. John Liu displayed some pretty impressive fight scenes & choreography including the scene with the villain performing a drunken sword segment & John Liu himself displaying some old school Jackie Chan like comedic kicking routines! The movie also provides a lot of campy, fun cheesy WTF moments as well as having the flare for the dramatic! John Liu’s character begins his NYC nightmare with his wife getting brutally murdered just for witnessing a kidnapping. Our hero tries to get help from NYPD but soon finds that they are no help so our efforts turn to the masked ninja dressed in white – fighting crime on the streets of NYC encountering all types of bad intentions from muggers, pickpockets, rapists, gang members, & some high class thug known as the plutonium killer! Is that the same guy stealing catalytic converters on our block in 2021? Wait, no – that would be the platinum killer!
New York Ninja no doubt possessed the midnight movie vibes deserving of an old times square screening from those Maniac times!
My favorite parts of the film had our hero vigilante fighting on NYC rooftops, chasing scallywags on those iconic water towers, running around deserted dumbo warehouses, scampering in graffiti ladened subways, and fighting stick up kids in the alleyways of NYC! Did I mention a Ninja on roller skates, too!? How about a Chinese ninja dangling from a helicopter!? The production of the film looked along the lines of Miami Connection but in a more gritty & frightening Charles Bronson Death Wish type of way. Some familiar voice overs in the film by Cynthia Rothrock and Don The Dragon Wilson authenticates those 1980 & 1990s martial art vibes! The soundtrack of the film was scored by Voyag3r. The tunes added edgy period correct 80s synth to the action & suspense! It complimented the movie very well! You can get the soundtrack & other merch by Voyag3r on their website. Listen to the “Battle on the Rooftop” by Voyag3r below!
If you love martial arts or vigilante films and/or are nostalgic for 1980s New York City, you have to watch New York Ninja! Go buy it at Vinegar Syndrome and watch the bonus extras as well! I couldn’t tell you when the last time I remembered having so much fun watching a movie! I heart NY NINJA! Hooray for NY Ninja! Find your white ninja suit and get some popcorn! By the way, the cover art for the Blu Ray release of New York Ninja is done by Kung Fu Bob O’Brien. The artwork is rad and jumps off the cover! Bob is a great artist and veteran of poster art and DVD/Blu Ray martial art movie covers. He’s also a real knowlegeable dude in films and martial art films in particular. You can buy his artwork and T-shirt designs here: https://www.36styles.com/kungfubobsart/
Tags: john liu, martial arts movie, new york city, new york ninja, vinegar syndrome
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November 21, 1776 – British Invasion/American Retreat at the New Bridge in River Edge at the Hackensack River
November 22nd, 2021 by Mr. C
We retraced the steps and witnessed the reenactment of the American Retreat of our Continental Army troops of the 3rd Regiment of N. Jersey on November 21, 1776 during these trying times of the British Invasion!
We retraced the steps and witnessed the reenactment of the American Retreat of our Continental Army troops of the 3rd Regiment of N. Jersey on November 21, 1776 during these trying times of the British Invasion!
On the prior day of November 20, 1776 – our troops in Fort Lee had intelligence that the British took over Fort Washington NY just across the Hudson from Fort Lee thanks to an alerted officer who found out that five thousand British and Loyalist troops, under the command of Lt. General Cornwallis, scaled the Palisades at Lower Closter Dock and foaming at the mouth with seizing Fort Lee.
Hearing and acting on this – our Continental Troops retreated from Fort Lee and headed towards the Hackensack River and crossed over the New Bridge in River Edge where a firefight ensued in order to try to gain foothold of the bridge!
Enter November 21, 2021 and our friends at the Bergen County Historical Society are recreating/re-enacting this battle and fire fight at the bridge! The retreating troops will engage in a skirmish vs the British troops and ultimately forced the Continental Army away from the area and captured this vital crossing point over the Hackensack River.
We live to fight another day!
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Tags: 1776, american history, american retreat, british invasion, hackensack river, historic new bridge landing, new bridge, retreat to victory
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Retreat Weekend at Fort Lee, NJ – British Invasion of 1776
November 20th, 2021 by Mr. C
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This weekend was the 245th Commemoration of the British Invasion of
New Jersey and the beginning of the Continental Army’s strategic
“Retreat to Victory” in 1776 . The annual retreat weekend was again held at the Fort Lee Historic Park, part of the the Palisades Interstate Park in NJ. This retreat weekend in Fort Lee Historic park is usually held close to the actual date of the British Invasion of NJ and this year happens to be on the exact date of that occurrence on November 20. This re-enactment event in Fort Lee today featured artillery demonstrations, a cookout, music, and a skirmish. There will be a skirmish set for tomorrow as well in Hackensack at the Historic New Bridge Crossing not far from the Riverside Square Mall and even closer to the Home Depot. We couldn’t stay for the skirmish but did capture some video & photos of the artillery demonstration and just the vibe of our soldiers in full dressup at the camp at Fort Lee atop the Palisades!
If you haven’t been to this park then you should make a visit soon!
The Fort Lee Historic Park is a cliff-side park area with scenic overlooks,
& has a reconstructed Revolutionary War encampment. This park has great
views of the George Washington Bridge, nice views of the Hudson area, & Upper Manhattan. I love coming here during the fall and winter months because of the unobstructed views during these seasons. Enjoy some of the photos and videos below!
Tags: 1776, american history, american retreat, british invasion, fort lee
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Fanny: The Right to Rock at DOC NYC film festival
November 18th, 2021 by Mr. C
Fanny: The right to rock is an inspiring look at an unsung all female rock band from the late 60s who were not a household name but should of been.
Fanny paved the path for the future of lady female rockers to come. They were the first all female rock band to release an LP on a major label and by 1975 they had released 5 albums! Bands during that time certainly knew who they were such as the Go Gos, The Runaways, Bangles, David Bowie, Bonnie Raitt, Steely Dan, & Joe Elliott from Def Leppard! Fanny had many barriers to deal with including race, gender, & sexuality. Their music seemed to have been erased from memory banks and lost in time.
Fanny was certainly swimming & fighting against the music industry currents having 2 filipina americans in the band along with having lesbian musicians as well. A talking head on the show mentioned they couldn’t have made it any more difficult for themselves being women of color & having gay band members at that particular time!
Forever linked with David Bowie as he discovered Fanny from the legendary Troubadour. Bowie said people need to know who Fanny are but unfortunately the band never really got the recognition they deserved until recently.
Lookout for those Fanny albums while digging in those crates and finger flipping those vinyls at your favorite record store! Joe Elliott mentions his favorite 45 record that he practically wore down playing it so much is
Fanny’s single called Blind Alley!
Fanny: The Right to Rock screened in person earlier at the DOC NYC film festival with a performance by some of the band members but unfortunately we missed it! You still have time to watch it online though at DOC NYC here or you can go directly to the Fanny band website to catch their future screenings! or here at Fanny The Movie website!
Tags: doc nyc film festival, documentary, fanny, fanny the band, music, rock and roll
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Biopic film on HK Cantopop star Anita Mui Yim Fong: ANITA (2021)
November 14th, 2021 by Mr. C
Anita Mui is one of the most celebrated figures & icons in Hong Kong. Her pride & passion in music is a straight by product of her environment, her fragrant city. Her rise to stardom is almost as intriguing and sad as her final goodbye.
I was very curious about how this biopic of Anita would tell her story. And to be honest I felt the story-line & timeline rushed through her rise to stardom from her adolescent years all the way to her decline in health. We all know it’s not an easy task in any form to give a 2 hr moving image summation of her life especially regarding the subject matter of such an iconic figure & boisterous personality. I was wanting a little more backstory from every little segment in her life for example her relationship with her sister and Anita’s friendship with Leslie Cheung as well as her love interest with the Japanese singer. I just felt so many scenes were not elaborate enough while some sequences were dragged out longer than needed such as the Thailand run. Performance wise, Wang Dan Ni who played Anita Mui Yim Fong did a great job in emulating the spirit of Anita and Louis Koo was fabulous in his role as the fashionista. I thought the actor who portrayed Leslie Cheung was a little underwhelming. Leslie Cheung is a subject matter well deserving of his own biopic no doubt.
I’m thinking Anita would of been served with more justice if it was made into 2 films. The 1st film should cover the early years and the second should focus the last several years of her life. I did enjoy the real Anita Mui video & concert footage inserted into the film as well as the Anita Mui Yim Fong sonics! Overall, I do recommend the film as a 1st pass intro into the world of Anita Mui as it captured her love for her family, friends, and passion for music but the script left me wanting more substance in many aspects of her life.
Tags: anita, anita mui, biopic, cantopop, hong kong, hong kong films, music
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USS Ling – World War II sub in Hackensack
November 6th, 2021 by Mr. C
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I was driving around town the other day to see what the status was on the historic WWII submarine – the USS Ling. The Ling has been docked on the Hackensack River in Hackensack since 1973 and remain opened as a Naval Museum. She was donated to the Submarine Memorial Association and petitioned for the Navy to bring her to the Hackensack shore. The Ling has been renovated to her WW2 glory to be served in her retirement years at the New Jersey Naval Museum in Hackensack. Unfortunately, when Hurricane Sandy hit our shores on October of 2012, the flooding caused tremendous damage to the submarine and she was never to recover leaving her in this deteriorated state since. Sadly, city & state funding to repair the USS Ling never materialized.
Several years back, the Bergen Record reported that the Louisville Naval Museum was interested in bringing the USS Ling back to Kentucky but logistics and damage to the ship made it impossible for the Ling to make it to Kentucky. The sludge and dredge the sub is buried in along with the low-line waters and the Ling being unable to float is a huge issue. Hopefully, the Louisville Naval Museum will come up with a solution soon. It’s a travesty & a shame to have a piece of American History rotting away on the Hackensack.
The USS Ling is a Balao-Class submarine of the US Navy which spent a little over a year in commission between 1945 and 1946. In 1960, the Ling was towed to the Brooklyn Navy Yard and converted into a training ship until being brought over to Hackensack in 1973.
Tags: hackensack, uss ling, wwii submarine
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Back to the grill again! – ONE ALL THE WAY – Jersey, Texas Weiners, & the Silk City!
November 1st, 2021 by Mr. C
When people discuss the heart & soul of NJ, the conversation will eventually
teeter over to the topic of NJ style hot dogs otherwise known as the texas
weiner and reminiscing about Paterson! One All The Way is a short film that packs a lot of punch. It compacts the passion of Jersey hot dogs with a trio of friends that go on hot dog crawls along with combining the story of how great Paterson once was with its flourishing industry & the multi-cultured personalities that make up the vibrant city. The story of the Texas Weiner in ONE ALL THE WAY is really the story of 83 yr old Harry and the love for his hometown of Paterson & his obsession with New Jersey deep fried hot dogs with mustard, onions, & chili sauce otherwise known as one all the way!
The deterioration of the city over the years with factories being shut down as the manufacturing industry moved elsewhere including overseas led to unemployment issues, poverty, drug problems, homelessness, & crime really took a toll in Paterson.
A little bit of history of the Silk City – Alexander Hamilton founded Paterson as the first manufacturing city in the US that would eliminate our need of manufacturing dependence on Great Britain. The Great Falls & its powerful 77 foot waterfalls would be the catalyst & natural backbone resource to help Paterson become the first great City in our nation to produce textile goods, silk, firearms, & locomotives! Hot dog joints like Libby’s, Falls View, & The Original were created to feed these hard working factory workers in Paterson!
The main protagonist of the film really fantasizes and reminisces about his old Paterson and One All the Way! He even proposed to his wife at the defunct FALLS VIEW (now a Burger King) in Paterson over one All the Way and a frenchie! Also to bring things to a happier note, Paterson is on the rise again! Hopefully, we can call it a renaissance of sorts as little improvements to the City will become bigger steps in quality of life to the residents. The Great Falls and Hinchliffe Stadium are examples of Historic sites that are being renovated to its greatness! On a bad note, NJ Hot dog joints serving Texas Weiners have been vastly declining over the years. The pandemic really put a nail in the coffin for some of these old establishments. There’s a graphic of a hot dog tree below taken from the film that outlines some of the notable Texas Weiner restaurants in North Jersey in its heyday and current times. ONE ALL THE WAY would serve as a great introduction to the Garden State especially to those not familiar with NJ and even to those who did grow up here, who have lost touch with what NJ is all about and the chili with no beans sauce that runs through our veins! We encourage you to visit some of the Texas Weiner joints mentioned in the film. Our favorites are Hot Grill, River View East, and not mentioned in the film – Hirams in Fort Lee. Rutt’s Hutt is also a great place for Jersey Style hot dogs but not necessarily for it’s chili. Rutt’s is known more for their homemade relish! Maybe we’ll see you around the Great Falls with One All The Way in your grasp or maybe even double fisted! That’s exactly how I’ll remember Libby’s! We ordered a few hot dogs to go from Libby’s on their last weekend before they closed forever – walked across the street to the Great Falls and enjoyed the view and some Texas Weiners! This is NJ served on a hot dog roll!
Tags: documentary, hot dogs, new jersey, one all the way, paterson
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American River at 2021 Montclair Film Festival
October 26th, 2021 by Mr. C
American River was a wonderful eye opening film that documented the journey of Mary Bruno & guide Carl Alderson on a 4 day, 80 mile kayak through the pristine humble beginning flow of pureness & serenity of the Passaic River in Mendham, NJ to the very end when the Passaic river erects to form a chemical kaiju monster in Newark, NJ. The film is based on Mary Bruno’s 2012 book, An American River: From Paradise to Superfund. This would be Mary Bruno’s 2nd time navigating the Passaic River from beginning to end – only 10 years later from her first adventure. Her Kayak journey with Carl will reveal alot about the health of our river (and ultimately us humans) and in turn will educate and entertain us viewers just as much. On this 2nd journey and also based on the Q/A after the film, it seemed as if Mary came to grips & somewhat closure about the Passaic river that she grew up being afraid of while living in North Arlington, NJ.
So many thoughts flashed in my mind after watching American River
with opposite ends of the feel spectrum regarding the good of humanity
and the reckless abandon of humans in the way we treat our environment & each other for that matter. I’m not going to get into the details about
what lurks at the end of the Passaic river that causes it to be one of the most toxic if not THE undisputed belt holder of Superfund cleanup sites in our country. It is quite maddening that our nation and most of humanity would place money and industry first before our own health and well being. That being said, like our protagonists in the film say – what is done is done. We have to educate ourselves and learn from the past. And first and foremost, we have to put all our efforts to cleanup the mess or at least minimize it as much as possible.
I have to say that the kayak journey that Mary & Carl takes us on is so much fun & entertaining as much as it was scary & terrifying finding out what has
become of our river due to industry and greed. The banter between the two while kayaking and adventures on land was so enjoyable! I was excited to see areas of the Passaic river that I had never seen like in Mendham, Chatham, Summit, & even Berkeley Heights. This upper part of the river looks nothing like the area I’m familiar with. The section known as the lower 17 miles of the river like in Newark, Kearny, North Arlington, Garfield, Paterson, Elmwood Park, & Rutherford is the part that is closer to home to us. Unfortunately this lower 17 is also the most polluted part of the river. It was nice to learn about the Dundee Dam & the Little Falls Dam which is nearby to us but I had never known about. It was great to see familiar destinations in the film as well like the Great Falls of Paterson and them having lunch at Libby’s Lunch! The interactions Mary & Carl come across while talking to locals from every town they stop at was the key in learning about peoples experiences & different sections of the Passaic River.
There are so many things that I learned about our River and why we should preserve this powerful natural resource. For one, water is life. Why would I want to pollute it?
For those that do not live in NJ and are not familiar with the Passaic River, the issues on the Passaic is not unique – sad to say. Industrialization, business, ignorance, pollution, & selfishness applies to any person USA in any River USA.
I most definitely recommend watching AMERICAN RIVER and to read Mary Bruno’s book – An American River: From Paradise to Superfund .
Let’s do our part to keep our waters clean! Pete Seeger would approve!
Tags: documentary, mary bruno, passaic river
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Dionne Warwick : Don’t Make Me Over at 2021 Montclair Film Festival
October 25th, 2021 by Mr. C
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Dionne Warwick finally got a spotlight shining down on her for her contributions to the music industry as well as recognition for her stellar humanitarian efforts in 1985 with her fight against AIDS lending her voice literally & sonically – recording her version of the song “That’s what friends are for” with a bunch of her friends! This record made millions and continues to draw revenue to this day, all being donated to AMFAR, an organization to help bring awareness and fight to HIV & AIDS. Miss Warwick is a dignitary of the highest order! She sees something, she does something!
The documentary film “Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over” chronicled her life starting from her humble beginnings in a diverse East Orange, NJ along with her religious family who were deeply rooted in the choir and gospel. Miss Dionne is the sister of Cissy Houston and Whitney Houston’s Aunt in case you didn’t know! Now that is what I call a talented family!
Stephen Colbert along with Dionne Warwick and director Dave Wooley
The film reminded us of how important Dionne was in bridging the gap between pop & r&b and maybe more
importantly with breaking down color & culture barriers. She also had to overcome the stigma of being a sellout because of this crossing. Dionne was caught in between not being black enough or being too white in the music industry. What I love about Miss Warwick was that she was an outlaw and she did what she wanted to do and not try to please others. She speaks her mind! It also showed us how tenacious she was in dealing with a racist & segregrated Jim Crow south when she toured with Sam Cooke in the 1960s. Her boisterous fight continued on to the 1980s & 90s when she said enough is enough with gangster rap and the outlandish language they used in portraying young ladies in their rap songs. Miss Warwick called in a meeting at her mansion to the OG’s of Gangster rap like Suge Knight, Snoop Dog, 2Pac and who knows what other G’s to address these issues!
This documentary was a nice reconnection & refresher to Dionne Warwick who was and is a very influential slice of pop culture and social influence that is often overlooked in my opinion! It was wonderful that we got a chance to celebrate her in this film and to give her roses for just being herself.
Stephen Colbert moderated a Q/A with Dionne and the director of the documentary after the viewing of the movie at the Wellmont Theatre / 2021 Montclair Film Festival. Colbert was really impressed with Dionne being on the Johnny Carson show over 10 times.
Tags: dionne warwick, documentary
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Summer Streets NYC 2021
August 14th, 2021 by Mr. C
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It felt great finally to get out to an organized public outdoor event and experience some sort of normalcy. I have to admit I still feel skittish going out in the public especially in confined spaces with crowd gatherings but summer streets is not that! For those who have followed us for a little while know that Summer Streets which is when NYC shuts down vehicular traffic for 7 miles for folks to run, bike, walk, talk, and basically do what they please short of committing a crime without having to worry about cars or any caged battering ram running amuck on the street! From Brooklyn Bridge/Supreme Court/Foley Square via Lafayette Street all the way to 72nd Street Central Park via Park ave was a Highway of bliss for pedestrians & bicyclists! For me it was amazing just to drive into the city, find a good parking spot, take out the bicycle, and just pedal into oblivion and to infinity! You know, just free the mind from the grind! It reminds me to not take things for granted and appreciate the simple things in life! These photos will look very familiar as we have ridden Summer Streets countless times since creation of this gathering but I can tell you everything felt like new again! We hope everyone is kind to themselves and kind to each other. Take care and see you on the streets!
Tags: Bicycle tour, summer streets
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