Blogfinger

Firemen’s Park in Ocean Grove. July, 2020. Blogfinger photo. ©

A fence at Dachau. It means “Work makes you free.”

In Philadelphia, children can get closer to the Liberty Bell than those in Firemen’s Park can. Internet photo

We live in an age of being offended.  If someone is offended by anything in the public sphere, then authorities often have to fix it.  An example is taking down a statue of a Confederate hero because it might offend someone who doesn’t want to be reminded of slavery 150 years ago.

Or changing the name of a city such as New York, because York was an Englishman who had slaves.   And Stokes, who would not allow blacks, Jews and Catholics into town, could be viewed as being biased, and thus some might be offended by his statue on Ocean Pathway.

Sometimes responding to such a complaint seems justified, while others seem unreasonable and even harmful.

In OG’s Firemen’s Park is a symbol of liberty: It is a bell with an eagle on top. For some in the Grove it is a symbol of departed firemen. But whichever definition is embraced by Grovers,  neither meaning would likely offend anyone, and the bell would remain.

But the placement of the bell imprisoned  by an ominous black fence with sharp points facing upward and dangerous shrubs with needles protruding might remind some of being in captivity. It might even intimidate and frighten children.

The Nazis imprisoned innocent people  behind ominous black fences, and that included gypsies, Jews, gays, Adventists, mentally ill, Soviet POW’s and sick Poles. Those prisoners wound up being murdered.

So I find that fence to be offensive.  We should not celebrate public displays that might remind some of our friends and neighbors of such horrors.

Please Mr. Mayor—take it and those horrid bushes away, and open access to that liberty bell for all to enjoy and interpret in a positive way.  And surround it with flowers turning it into a welcoming happy  setting —an inoffensive symbol of liberty.

Paul Goldfinger, MD,  Editor@Blogfinger.net

BIRDY  “Not About Angels”  From a movie  The Fault in Our Stars

OG boards. It may be September, but it is 90 degrees today. in Ocean Grove.    9/20/22. Paul Goldfinger photo. See comment regarding this photo challenge.   Click once to see her face–lovely to look at!

BARRY WHITE:

Paul Goldfnger photo. Maian Avenue, Ocean Grove.     7/4/26.   Blogfinger.net

RAY CHARLES:

Paul Goldfinger photo as bagel family strolls across Main Street to Bagel Talk in W. Park Mall in Neptune, NJ. 7/5/26. They stopped traffic as this unusual family procession waddled along.    Then they made a U turn to head back to Main Avenue in the Grove.       Blogfinger.net. Click once to enlarge.

They must have come out from Wesley Lake.   Last year a swan was abandoned by its parents,  but it survived with tender care from bird lovers. Now it seems that orphan has returned to have its own family here on WL.

“Feed the Birds” from Mary Poppins,   Julie Andrews

All photos by Paul Goldfinger, taken from the YOU TUBE video 3/17/23

Paul Goldfinger.  Editor Blogfinger.net; and graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson U.

This is a remarkable sports story, and the FDU Knights can bask in this amazing victory: a 16 seed beats a 1 seed.    I found this on the Net:

POLITI:     “Fairleigh Dickinson’s first-round victory over No. 1 seeded Purdue is the biggest upset in NCAA Tournament history and maybe college basketball history. Go ahead and comb through the record books, if you must. What happened last night in Columbus, Ohio, between the tiny commuter school from Teaneck and the Big Ten powerhouse from Indiana is basically unparalleled.”

But for most colleges and universities, sports  is not the major preoccupation in students’  lives.  I was a student at FDU Teaneck in the 1960’s. I was a commuter as were most of the students. They had no football team, but there was a basketball team.

The undergrads tended to be older than most, and many were attending the business school which was quite eminent.     My OG neighbor graduated Harvard, took a corporate job and obtained his MBA at night from FDU.  He was impressed.

Many students had jobs and college classes.  College life wasn’t much, although I did belong to a secret frat.  Do you see the swan in the logo above?  Well my frat brothers stole a swan, temporarily from the pond on campus in Teaneck and created a minor incident.

And I had a part in Antigone and a girlfriend who was learning to speak Russian.   Music was my main interest there, playing sax  in a number of groups.  My own quintet played for the Spring Weekend, and on the bill were Carmen McCrea and Gene Krupa.

Here is link regarding that era:

https://wp.me/pqmj2-wd2

In Rutherford , NJ  they had no July 4 parade, but they did have a big Memorial Day parade, and the University recruited me to ride the float. The school originated in 1942 in Rutherford.

I’m in front with the crew cut and white mouthpiece.

Anyhow, basketball was an obscure preoccupation.  The team mostly played at the Rutherford Campus, so I paid little attention to it. It was, as far as I was concerned, small potatoes.

But then, I saw a headline in the campus newspaper about how the basketball coach was complaining that he needed more money for scholarships. I thought this was obnoxious because the school had a weak academic scholarship program, and not even the valedictorian at Teaneck High could get a full ride to attend school at FDU.  So I wrote a letter to the editor suggesting that they take the basketball money and do some academic recruitment for the school .I even suggested that they buy a few more famous professors to populate the library.

My letter created a minor uproar.  My frat buddies kidded me endlessly about how my “library professors” were doing.  And my English professor stopped me on campus to complement my writing and then suggesting that the basketball players should be paid to play for the school.

But it was a tempest in a teapot then, but now–wow!   FDU  broke a record for the NCAA tournament which has been run since 1939.

And boy, was I wrong about FDU sports.  I enjoyed watching the FDU coach be interviewed post game, and they played a video of his speech to the team before the Purdue game was to start, and he said that he sincerely believed that they could win the game. Impressive.

But, then again, the idea of paying college athletes is still a good one and an honest one. There still those who advocate that.

So Go Knights,    Could they win in Round Two?   Why not?  I am a fan now–better late than never.

The school cheer or school song?  I have no idea.

But here’s a song; I have no responsibility for the lyrics, but it’s called “The Girls of Fairleigh Dickinson”  by the Down Cows.

ADDENDUM:  I have just learned that college athletes will be able, starting soon, to make money capitalizing on their names, autographs and other means.  You can Google The NY Times article on this.

Kutztown,  Pa.  Click once.  Paul Goldfinger.

Connie Francis:

ALEXANDRE DESPLAT. Original movie soundtrack: The Twilight Saga. “New Moon (The Meadow)”

Paul Goldfinger photos. Blogfinger.net.July 4, 2026. Click once to enlarge.   All photos by Paul Goldfinger, MD.  Blogfinger.net editor.  Ocean Grove, NJ, USA

Finding shade was a challenge. As a photographer I was more interested in the watchers not the watched.

Green Realty shows off for the crowd Main Avenue in OG

Jack the boss…..The main man at the house of the Greens. 7/4 parade.

OG Independence Day Parade

Mt. Hermon Way folks found me, their neighbor, to be amusing. Ravi Koyen in red, often rides his bike past my porch and says, “Hi Dr. Goldfinger”  His younger brother Sai is often with him. Dad Jeff is left in blue shorts , and Mom Neena is lovely in stripes. Great neighbors enjoying the festivities.

Tanglewood Festival Chorus:

2020 boardwalk fun in Ocean Grove. Paul Goldfinger photo. Click once

Jessica Molaskey: