No really, do Roy Rogers restaurants exist anywhere else besides the Jersey Turnpike and I-95 rest stops? I swear I haven’t seen one in years.
Archive for the 'New Jersey' Category
OK, so yes I know that was a really lame title.
But I wanted to share one other cool thing that happened this weekend. The manager of the club where I was working, Steve Trevelise, has a sports talk radio show on WIP 610 AM in Philadelphia. During the weekend, we got to talking about my love for the Eagles and the Happy/Sad Eagles Chronicles here at You’re Welcome, and he invited me to be a regular guest throughout the remainder of the season. Cool, huh? Steve is a Giants fan and so I don’t think it’s really fair that he gets to be on sports talk radio in Philly ;) but I’m excited about the show. It comes on Friday overnites, so hopefully if things pan out and I don’t embarrass myself too badly, I’ll post some of the clips here or on the main site. We’ll talk about Eagles football and comedy, and why I’m not working any clubs in Philly… (This last agenda item was suggested by me and as yet, has not been signed off on by Steve ;)
Oh and Steve also gave me this amazing reference book/collector’s item:
It lists every player and chronicles every season from the beginning of the franchise thru our 2004 Superbowl season. I know, right… THANKS STEVE!
K, I’m tired so I’m gonna grab a quick nap and rest up for the NYG/Philly game tonite. Talk soon, –E
So I was in Jersey this past weekend working at the Catch a Rising Star comedy club in Princeton. Princeton is about 20 minutes away from where I grew up so it was amazing to be home. I get nostalgic for Jersey a lot because there’s stuff you can get there that you just can’t get south of the Mason-Dixon — like an authentic bagel shop bagel w/ cream cheese and lox in the morning, a good thin greasy pizzeria pie… and Puerto Ricans. I really miss those things. Puerto Ricans most of all ;)
I was closing the shows this weekend, which was exciting and scary at the same time. I hesitate to say that I was headlining, because until I really get the hang of the closing spot, I’m not a headliner. I’m just up last. I never feel prepared to close, but I also know that there’s no other way to figure out the art and pacing of closing a show other than to do it. There were 4 shows this weekend and I’d say that 2.5 of them went really well. It definitely helped that I was close to home and had a bunch of friends come out!
Nothing makes you rethink your material like your former Sunday School teacher sitting in the front row ;) But I knew Mrs. Winfrey could handle it. She was like the “Scared Straight” version of a Sunday School teacher. Heart her forever.
If it’s possible to have two sets of parents who you absolutely, positively love to pieces, then this is my second set — Charles and Ada Martin a.k.a. Jersey Ma & Pop. Through every mistake and triumph I’ve made in my entire life they’ve been there to support me. From sliding me money when I was broke and building me a computer when I couldn’t afford to buy one, to cheering on all my successes and helping to put my setbacks into perspective, I couldn’t ask for two better people in my life. I mean, other than the fact that they’re diehard Jets fans, I’d be hard pressed to come up with one negative thing about them ;) And even then, they still root for the Green & White ;) If you’re a fan of the martial arts — karate in particular — you might be familiar with Pop. He was featured in the martial arts documentary Fighting Black Kings and he is a Shuseki Shihan in Seido Karate — which is the highest honor a student can achieve. He’s in the Martial Arts Hall of Fame and he’s like a rock star in pretty much every country in the world. So don’t mess with him… Or me… cause he’s still got it ;) Continue reading ‘Homecoming and ‘headlining’’
“This is MY dance space. This is YOUR dance space. I don’t go into yours, you don’t go into mine. You’ve got to hold the frame.”
This scene where Johnny says this to Baby is the No. 1 reason why Dirty Dancing is my favorite movie of all time.
Followed by these other gems:
“You just put your pickle on everybody’s plate college boy and leave the hard stuff to me.”
“I didn’t spend all summer long toasting bagels just to bail out some little chick who probably balled every guy in the place.”
“I carried a watermelon.”
“It’s not on the one. It’s not the mambo. It’s a feeling… a heartbeat.”
“Me? I’m scared of everything. I’m scared of what I saw, I’m scared of what I did, of who I am, and most of all I’m scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I’m with you.”
Yeah… I know what you’re thinking… and I agree.
I remember the first time I saw this cinematic masterpiece. I was in 4th grade. It was a sleepover at Alissa Horn’s house, and we TOTALLY weren’t supposed to be watching it — what with all the ‘adult content’. But we were sneaky, and late at night Alissa woke us all up and popped the tape into the VCR.
It was a life-changing moment. I fell in heart with Patrick Swazye (P. Sway is what I call him) in the MOST inappropriate way. And then he had the nerve to go and make Ghost – I was sure he was the love of my life. So blinded was I that I sat thru films such as Roadhouse and To Wong Foo with absolutely zero judgement for my man.
My heart still flutters every time I hear ‘Hungry Eyes’.
I may never love like this again I know. Here’s to you P Sway.
Stop laughing. These jeans are one of my most prized posessions. Size 10 Levis 900 series stonewashed (to death) with original art by one of my favorite girlfriends from middle/high school Tamika Harris (where ARE you, girl?) Any one of my girls from Jersey will absolutely remember these jeans. They were my pride and joy, y’all. People sweated me (yes, I said it) so hard whenever I wore these.
You may be thinking, “With so many colors what did you wear with those jeans, EJ?” The answer? Whatever the heck I wanted to. Everything matched … or didn’t match. Just think Bernie Mac on Def Jam (y’all KNOW you know what I’m talking about). Let me break down for you what is really going on here:
On the front side: You’ve got Donald (or some other) Duck going down the left leg, and on the right leg, you have my name (I was ‘E-Jay’ back then - plain old initials were for suckas). Look closely, it’s a little difficult to read but you’ll see it in a second.
On the back side: You have a Black Minnie and Mickey Mouse playing with alphabet blocks. Why? Who cares? It was dope. It was the late 80’s (or early 90’s I guess) and I was soooooooooo fly. Continue reading ‘When life was good’
“We gotta hold on to what we got. Doesn’t make a difference if we’re naked or not.”
When I was a kid, that’s what I thought Bon Jovi was saying in Livin on a Prayer. I heard it this morning on my iPod and I started cracking up, remembering the day–many, many years after the song came out–that one of my friends called me out on my rendition. Sure the lyrics I was singing didn’t make sense but like they say on Def Jam, I just thought “these white folks is crazy.”
Any of y’all have any crazy song lyric misinterpretations, comment and let me know. It always makes me feel better to hear what someone else got wrong. Well yeah, i thought he said “naked or not” but at least I knew…
Go head, leave a message.
I do. In a way that perhaps a 29 year old Black woman shouldn’t. Why am I writing about this now? Because I was listening to my iPod on random this morning and ‘We Are the World’ came on. Don’t you dare judge me. Anyway there’s the gong, the trumpets… Lionel Richie, Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers, Billy Joel (yeah, yeah, yeah) … but then in the second verse Bruce’s beautiful, raspy, voice comes in “We are the World, We are the children…” Game over. Bruce is killing y’all.
And it just reminded me #1 - I need to get more Springsteen on my iPod (right now I’ve only got Born to Run), and #2 - It’s time to reignite my adoration of this man.
Growing up in Jersey in the 80’s and 90’s, I had no choice but to love him — and by extension his band. Big Man Clarence Clemons (I saw you working it out on The Wire last season), Stevie Van Zandt (I still remember thinking wth is he doing on The Sopranos?), his ‘Red Headed Woman’, Patti. Love ‘em all. To this day, my mother still buys every single thing he puts out, buys his concert videos, and we love him just the same as we always did. Real blue collar (or no collar) music for real people.
And I mean, The Boss. What an awesome nickname. Not too many recording artists have them. In the rock/paper/scissors game of entertainer nicknames, Bruce trumps all y’all ho’s. Plus, Springsteen barely opens his mouth when he sings. How the hell does he do it? I swear, I don’t even know. And I don’t need to know. He is perfection in every sense of the word. Remember the cut off flannel shirts. The headband. HWWWHAAAT? (in my best Dave Chappelle imitating Lil’ Jon voice). He is so awesome. And I know that this may sound a little patronizing and you may be wondering whether I’m mocking or if I’m serious. Well please believe that I am serious. I love Bruce. I love Bon Jovi. I love Redman, Queen Latifah. Lauryn Hill (yes, still), and even Naughty by Nature. I have an unhealthy devotion to any and all artists from New Jersey — even though as you can see my musical tastes changed over the years. I was definitely white in the 80’s, but as you can see I ‘found myself’ in the 90’s. (BTW, I think that if there is an award for most parenthetical notes in a blog entry, this one should be the champ.) Out.
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