Spring Lake. Storm expected. 5 pm. June 22, 2023. Paul Goldfinger photo. Blogfinger.net
MAUDE MAGGART SINGS IRVING BERLIN
“The Song is Ended”
Seaside Heights. October 12, 2015. By Paul Goldfinger ©. Blogfinger.net. Click to improve your chances.
GEORGE JONES
Posted in Jersey shore, Jersey Shore gallery, Photograph by Paul Goldfinger, Photographic Gallery: New Jersey | Tagged George Jones on Blogfinger, Getting lucky on Blogfinger, Photo: Seaside Heights | Leave a Comment »
Eileen Goldfinger is one of our editors. Here she tried to interview a Parisienne chef, and he actually spoke to her. We try to allow a variety of voices to be heard on Blogfinger.net.
It’s easier to fly into Ocean Grove than to park.
By ChatGPT (AI). presented by Paul Goldfinger, MD. Editor, Blogfinger.net, Ocean Grove, NJ, USA. You can comment with the “comment” button below or by email: Blogfinger@verizon.net
a. BF was founded and run by local residents (not a major media company), which gives it a grassroots, neighborhood voice.
b. People read BF to stay informed about hyperlocal issues; for a mix news, nostalgia, and commentary.
c. Blogfinger. is a hybrid, but it leans out heavily towards opinion-driven community journalism, with a noticeable strain of local activism.
d, Surfaces stories that larger outlets ignore.
e. Journalism is there, but it’s grassroots and uneven, not institutional.
f. Defining trait: Strong editorial voice-posts often interest events, not just report them.
g Reader experience: You’re not just told what happened—-you’re told what it means.
h Verdict: This is the core identity of the the site
i. Activism: around zoning, historic preservation, and local policy. Activism is intermittent but influential, especially on contentious local issues.
j. It’s best understood not as a neutral news outlet, but as a community voice with a point of view that also reports news.
k People don’t read Blogfinger in a neutral vacuum—they interpret it through their own priorities about what Ocean Grove and Asbury Park should be. That leads to some very different takeaways.
l. BF is a defender of community character and tradition. It is where the real issues get discussed—“No one else is asking these questions. It covers hyper-local stories that others miss.”
There is much more especially analysis of what the locals say about Blogfinger: It runs in a variety of directions.
I am satisfied with this analysis. Blogfinger tries to fulfill most of what readers say about it. I don’t know the Chat GPT’s sources.
Disappointed: No mention of our multimedia approach: Music and original photography. ….
But 5 million hits says something about our readers. The foreign hits come from many nations, but I don’t know exactly why.
If you click on “About” at the top of our home page, a viewing of comments is revealing.
MICK JAGGER AND DAVID BOWIE:
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Eileen. By Paul Goldfinger ©
CABARET:
Posted in Photography by Paul Goldfinger, Portraits of Eileen | Tagged A portrait of Eileen, Sidney Bechet plays on Blogfinger | 2 Comments »
Hotel Cecil. Los Angeles. Paul Goldfinger 3/21. Click to enlarge. This is a Blogfinger movie still taken from streaming.
ROBERT AND JOHNNY…
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Storm clouds over Jersey fats. By Paul Goldfinger
By Paul Goldfinger, MD, FACC. Editor Blogfinger.net
We all have heard that there is an epidemic of fat people in this country: 1/3 of the adult population is obese, and 1/3 is overweight. 18% of children are obese. This trend has been rising since 1980 and continues to go up. Obesity causes chronic diseases such as hypertension, heart disease, sleep apnea, and diabetes. These conditions in turn result in death and disability from a variety of complications such as heart attack, stroke and cancer.
Anatomically modern Homo sapiens appeared about 200,000 years ago. During most of that history, food was scarce. At first, modern man would forage for food, but later, farming was invented which created a more predictable food supply.
Around 1970, in the US, government subsidies and scientific advances created a huge increase in production by our farms. The end result has been an oversupply of cheap food. We eat too many calories, too often, and in too many places.* The caloric intake of Americans has gone up along with our weight. Now, obesity has become a norm in our society, and the image of obesity seems to be acceptable. This phenomenon of excess food intake is, according to experts, new in human history, and our species has so far adjusted poorly.
The food industry has been making huge profits by marketing foods that are high in sugar, salt and fat. These cheap foods contain excess calories and are tempting because they stimulate centers in the brain which release chemicals such as dopamine which reward the pleasure receptors that make us want more. We tend to underestimate our caloric intake and we eat more than our bodies require for normal function. And now we know that over-processed foods can add to the risks of eating poorly.
This topic is very complicated, but here are some factoids that represent the latest knowledge in the field:
—Weight gain and weight loss are usually slow processes. If you reduce your caloric intake by perhaps 200 calories a day, you will lose some weight, but it can take a year or more.
—Our agriculture industry is producing massive amounts of corn and soy beans. These are used to feed cows instead of hay, oats and alfalfa. Cheap animal food results in inexpensive fatty meats. Processed foods contain huge amounts of corn derived sugar, in the form of high fructose corn syrup. Such carbohydrates are concealed in foods such as cereals, yogurt, and peanut butter.
—Cheap sugary drinks are sold to kids in 64 ounce cups of soda which contain 800 calories. Many other foods are now sold in bigger portions including cookies and bagels. Portion sizes, in general, at home and in restaurants, have become larger than ever before. The ready availability of inexpensive and highly profitable high calorie foods has enabled the omnipresent and generally unhealthy fast food industry.
—25% of Americans get no exercise at all. Our jobs and life styles are sedentary. This is a change which continues to get worse, as we burn less calories. This is one of many modern trends which have come together to produce the obesity epidemic.
–There is little profit in growing fruits and vegetables. The agriculture industry is not interested in this kind of farming. There are no federal subsidies for growing apples or spinach.
–How to combat the epidemic? Mostly it’s a question of knowledge and self control. Government policies can help, especially in the area of subsidies. Parents need to get serious about this issue for their kids.
References:
“Weight of the Nation,” HBO documentary , May 2012
“A Mathematical Challenge to Obesity,” NY Times, May 15, 2012
“Calories are everywhere, yet Hard to Track,” NY Times.
Blogfinger articles (links):
Looking for food in all the wrong places. *
“Prevention Does Work: A Guide to a Healthy Heart” (2011) by Paul Goldfinger, MD and Eileen Goldfinger, BA. Available at the Comfort Zone, Amazon.com, iUniverse.com and BarnesandNoble. com.
Posted in Medical topics | Tagged MEDICAL: Too many fat people. Why? | 14 Comments »
Lakes Park Farmers Market. Dec. 2020. Ft. Myers, Fla. Paul Goldfinger photo. ©
THE CLOVERS:
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Paul Goldfinger still photo from the movie “The Deer Hunter.”
In the powerful film The Deer Hunter, 3 men return to Pennsylvania from Viet Nam. They are scarred by their experiences. There are many soul-searching themes in the film.
The cast includes Robert DeNiro and Christopher Walken. It won 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture.
And here is a link to another “still” image from The Deer Hunter posted on Blogfinger.
CAVATINA from the 1978 film The Deer Hunter; by Craig Ogden, Australian classical guitarist.
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Ocean Grove south side where Fletcher Lake flows towards the Ocean. Paul Goldfinger. 10/12/26. Blogfinger.net. Will the Heck Avenue witches fly by soon?
Don Julian and the Meadowlarks:
“Heaven and Paradise.”
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El Guacamole is on Main Street in Asbury Park. Paul Goldfinger photo. 10/17/26. Click once to enlarge the fajitas. Make mine mixed with beef, shrimp and chicken. I expect superlative guacamole.
By Paul Goldfinger. Editor Blogfinger.net, Ocean Grove, NJ, USA.
I’ve been watching this Main Street, Asbury Park restaurant for some time waiting for a space to open in front for an unobstructed frontal color photograph. It happened today.
Main Street in A. Park reminds me of a street in Guadalajara with so many Mexican eateries. Sometimes it’s hard to choose in A. Park much less than the home of the mariachis.
Selena. Tu´, Solo, Tu´
In Mexico the mariachis followed us around wherever we went.
Eileen and I plan to go there soon for dinner because it has received glowing reviews for the menu, food quality, friendly staff and comfortable pricing. I wish I could go there and find a live mariachi band inside. You may have to go to Mexico for that.
I also like to photograph inside down-home places like this. It is a block south of the old firehouse on the same side.
Here’s a link to a photo essay of mine in 2025 inside La Tapatia.
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Ocean Grove. By Paul Goldfinger, MD, Editor. © Re-post. Click once to enlarge.
I heard a talk by a National Geographic photographer, a famous artist , who was discussing how he makes his photos come alive. He was referring to the fact that when he found a photogenic scene, it usually wasn’t enough.
He needed life–he needed “magic,” usually involving the addition of a person or people. So he would wait, sometimes for quite awhile until something happened, and then he would trip the shutter.
Today I was photographing the “White House” owned by Charlotte and Tom Pritchard at 93 Main, where Charlotte had created a fun Halloween display. I was looking for magic and I found some in the form of inquisitive squirrels as well as tweeting birds (real tweets—not the digital kind).
So I made a couple of video clips to catch the sounds, but suddenly I was aware that a couple was approaching, walking towards my location from the east. Magic perhaps?
I was standing in the street, next to the curb, so they didn’t see me at first. As they came by, I fired my iPhone a few times. But the best was when the young woman turned my way, saw me with my camera, and reacted instantly. The photo above was the only frame that captured this “decisive moment.”
I told her that she would be on Blogfinger, and she was happy to hear that. As for me, magic and a pretty girl—that’s the best!
–By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
Al Green: “Sha-La-La Make Me Happy.”
Posted in Ocean Grove photographs, Photography by Paul Goldfinger, Photography: Jersey Shore Gallery | Tagged Halloween Ocean Grove, This magic moment in Ocean Grove | Leave a Comment »
Firemen’s Park. August 24, 2021. Paul Goldfinger © Ocean Grove, NJ Click once to enlarge.
Paul Goldfinger, Editor Blogfinger.net
Some years ago, every Choir Festival Day, the vocalists arrived early for rehearsals. Many had a ritual of setting up picnics in Firemen’s Park. It was a sort of tradition, and we, across the street, enjoyed it too. Sometimes they did a bit of rehearsing or reviewing the music.
Then, it abruptly stopped. We guessed that the CMA decided to feed them.
This park has wonderful trees, many of which were donated by the neighbors. We also donated the boards for the benches.
The picnic above was set beneath a stately Shademaster locust tree which we planted about ten years ago with the help of the Neptune DPW. It grows 2-feet each year. It reaches 50- 75 feet tall. It’s too bad that they don’t prune those trees.
This park attracts so many dog walkers–it is a subculture in the Grove, and many of them are newcomers who have bought homes or are renting to escape the troubles in the Big Apple. Someday there will be a dog park in town.
This image looks like a family affair, and in recent years there has been an influx of young families, and that is terrific. The park is used for Wiffle ball games, catch with Dad, kids, 2 mitts, and a hardball, little kids learning how to skateboard along the cement paths, tree climbers, strollers, beach goers, bench sitters, and bikers taking the shortest distance between 2 points, and, yes picnics. Moms with toddlers love to enter the park.
I wish more musicians would come to the park as well as some cultural events such as story telling, poetry reading, and art shows.
And maybe some firemen might take down that disgraceful, ugly, locked iron fence with dangerous shrubs surrounding the bell. File this post under “Ocean Grove life-styles”
The movie Picnic starred William Holden and Kim Novak. It is from 1955 and is set in a little Kansas town over the Labor Day holiday.
THE McGUIRE SISTERS: “Theme from Picnic.”
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From the NYC Street Series: “Broadway Baby.” Summer in the City. Paul Goldfinger photo. Blogfinger.net
SOUNDTRACK: From an original Broadway guy: Stephen Sondheim’s Follies. Jayne Houdyshell in the New Follies cast album from 2011.
Posted in Music from the Broadway stage., Photographic Gallery, Black and White | Tagged Photo: Broadway Baby, Stephen Sondheim's Follies | 1 Comment »