Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Kittens at the Rutherford Animal Hospital



The Rutherford Animal Hospital has 3 cute-as-can-be kittens available for adoption. I played with two of them today and they are spirited but gentle (already learning to retract their claws when they swat at human flesh!). As someone who lives with an orange and white cat, I can attest that they're a wonderful mix of spunky and laptastic.

I'd guess they weigh about 2lbs and are proximately 4 weeks old. The RAHO can give you the exact specs. Alas, I did not get a picture of them, but they look a similar to Wyatt (picture above) but with a little more orange.

Rutherford Animal Hospital
755 Rutherford Ave
Tel: 201 933.4111

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Brrrrains!



WHAT? New Jersey Zombie Walk and Zombie Fest
WHERE? The Carousel House in Asbury Park, NJ (700 Ocean Ave.)
WHEN? Saturday, October 3rd.
TIME? Events begin at 11:00am, Walk begins at 5:00pm.
HOW? There's no sign up or registration. Just show up and grab a wristband.
WHO? It's open to everyone, zombies all ages and undead pets (on leashes).
COST? It's entirely free, although there’s cool merch available to purchase.
MAKEUP? You can do it at home, use our free makeup on-site or get a professional makeover for a $10 donation.
LATE? Just join the walk where ever it may be lurching in progress.
RAIN? We walk rain or shine. Hail and locusts are a maybe.

http://njzombiewalk.com/

Thursday, September 24, 2009

The Castle


Felician College has begun a 2-year, multi-milion dollar interior renovation of Iviswold Castle on the Rutherford campus. They began with an exterior renovation several years ago and have also been removing the additions, mostly made by Fairleigh Dickinson College over the years. In the process they've found some amazing historic details, including a whole chandelier and renaissance-style frieze!!

Iviswold was built as a private residence in 1869, when it was called Hill House. David Brinkerhoff Ivison bought it in 1887 and hired William H. Miller to expanded it. It was then renamed Iviswold. Felician College bought it from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1997.

A little but about Miller and Ivison: Miller was the first graduate of the architecture school at Cornell University. He is best known for his buildings in Ithaca and at Cornell. Ivison was the president of the American Book Company, an educational book company founded in 1890 when several other publishers, including Iveson, Blakeman and Co consolidated. Ivison was born in 1835 in Auburn, NY where his father was in the book business (binding and selling).


The Castle c1942

From the FDU website:
"The Castle," as it was known to Rutherford, underwent complete remodeling before its official opening as a college in September, 1942. It was built in 1886 of brownstone hauled to Rutherford by horsepower from the stone quarries in Belleville, New Jersey.. Modeled after the French chateaux, Chaummont and Amboise, it cost $350,000 to complete and had 25 rooms, two portecocheres, and five tennis courts. The estate had several owners after the Ivison family, and in 1911 a swimming pool was added. In the late 1920s the building housed the Union Club.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

An offering for the trees

Since Rutherford is the Borough of Trees, it seem particularly fitting to recognize that today is Mabon, the Autumnal Equinox. It is a time of balancing, rebirth, harvest, and of honoring the forests and "The Green Man." At this point in the year in many cultures we recognize the turning of the season (the Persephone story, passage of the Goddess into Crone, New Year, etc). I'll be enjoying the outdoors, eating the fruits of my neighbor's apple harvest (they went apple picking last weekend), and raising a glass of wine to the trees.

On this day when day and night are equal, may you all find balance, abundance, and fortitude for the coming season.


Some traditional offerings: honey, apples, wine, nuts, grapes.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Famous Rutherfordians: John Marin


No. 8 Winter c1930 by John Marin

Artists John Marin was born in Rutherford and grew up in Weehawken, NJ (as did I). He studied with Thomas Anshultz and William Merrit Chase at the venerable PA Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. He had his first exhibition at 291, Alfred Stieglitz's NYC gallery, in 1909 and Stieglitz continued to be a friend and mentor throughout his career.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Made in the Shade


The Rutherford Shade Tree Committee (who knew?) is working toward more stringent ordinances to protect old shade trees in town. The current ordinance protects trees on public property, such as parks, highways and streets. The proposed changes would protect some trees on private property as well. The committee is particularly interested in protecting trees that may be cut due to sidewalk damage. While this is sure to get folks up in arms ("not in my back yard!") I think it is wise to explore protecting our resources, particularly in an area where flooding and soil erosion are prevalent. I'll be watching this topic.

Monday, September 14, 2009

By the way, the Giants won


Photo: Barton Silverman/The New York Times

Osi Umenyiora after returning a fumble 37 yards for a touchdown that put the Giants ahead, 17-0. "I play a little running back in my dreams," he said.

Word to the Wise


Yesterday was the opening of both the Jets (at Cowboys) and Giants (home) football seasons and I made the mistake of going to the local supermarket. I know better and had even made a promise to myself to not go to the supermarket on Sundays during football season. Alas, I forgot it was the first day until it was too late - I had people coming to my house to watch the games. More to the point, they were coming to eat home-made buffalo wings and nachos and my fridge was bare. There are fun things about living one town away from Giants' stadium, where both the Giants and Jets play (LOTS of spirit), navigating the supermarket pre-game is not one of them.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Huntrest House


This is my favorite house in Rutherford. It is a very unique Craftsman Bungalow built in 1910 by Emma and Frank Beasley. Frank Beasley was the assistant postmaster for Rutherford and even mentioned in a 1903 article in the NY Times, but something must have gone wrong because the couple sold the house in 1917 to Uster Theodora and Cyprian Cyrail Hunt (you can't make those names up) who named it Huntrest.

It is on Gouverneur Ave one block from my house so I can see it whenever I like. When we first moved in the house looked something like the picture below, although in worse repair. My sweetie thought I was nuts for loving it. Since, a new owner has bought the house, restored it beautifully (at least from what I can see outside) and had it put on the Historic Register. THANK YOU!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Famous Rutherfordians: Charles Evered


Charles Evered and actor, Eric Stoltz,answering questions in Charles Evered's "Nuts and Bolts" workshop. Photo by Robert Pushkar.

Charles Evered is a playwright born in Passaic and raised in Rutherford. His undergrad degree is from Rutgers and he holds an MFA from Yale School of Drama. Recently his film "Adopt A Sailor," starring Bebe Neuwirth, Peter Coyote and Ethan Peck, was premiered at Williamstown Film Festival. His newest play, "Class," is scheduled to be performed at the Cape May Stage in 2010. More of us may know his work on the TV series "Monk."

Check out his website

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Famous Rutherfordians: John Dull

Next in my line-up of famous Rutherfordians: John Dull, folk music artist and promoter.

Excerpted from Dull's website...

A former high school and college football player and coach, John’s artistic perspective is straightforwardly unique. His fluency in the Russian language adds dimension to performance, as his repertoire includes traditional Russian folk tunes. He is known for sincerity and depth in presentation

As a performer, this singer/songwriter has appeared with all of the artists mentioned on the homepage, including Emmylou Harris; Pete Seeger; Tom Chapin; Tom Paxton; Odetta; and "Uncle Floyd" Vivino.

John’s originals are highlighted on Bob Sherman’s, “Woody’s Children”, the longest running folk radio show in the U.S. now airing on WFUV 90.7 fm NY. The artist is also a frequent performance guest on WFDU 89.1 fm folk radio, NJ.

Of John’s most current album, “Long Road to Home,” Tom Paxton wrote, “I listen to hundreds of albums each year. John’s stands out as one of the best. His songs find their way into your head and into your heart.”

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Landscape With The Fall of Icarus



William Carlos Williams was born September 17, 1883 in Rutherford, NJ. He wrote the poem "Landscape With The Fall of Icarus" after seeing Pieter Breughel's painting after which he named the poem (image above).

Landscape With The Fall of Icarus
by William Carlos Williams

According to Brueghel
when Icarus fell
it was spring

a farmer was ploughing
his field
the whole pageantry

of the year was
awake tingling
near

the edge of the sea
concerned
with itself

sweating in the sun
that melted
the wings' wax

unsignificantly
off the coast
there was

a splash quite unnoticed
this was
Icarus drowning
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