I had a photography teacher who, in a course called “Finding Your Visual Voice,” told the class that if you look through your finder and see an image that you have done before, just walk away and find something else. But he was wrong. Many artists paint or photograph the same scene or model over and over again, because it is never the same.
There are certain places I like to photograph in all seasons, all year. One is the Faith Baptist Church on Wickipecko Road. For the last year there was a car parked in the lot, and it spoiled the view for me, but now the car is gone, and I look at that place every day to see if it feels just right for a photograph.
Another such place is the Deal Lake branch, also on Wickipecko Road where Ocean Township and Asbury Park meet. It is especially beautiful in the fall. Here are two views from two days ago, one above and one below.
Image courtesy of Ted Bell’s book “Images of America–Ocean Grove.” This 1878 view is of the OG side of Wesley Lake. Two ferry boats carried people to and fro.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger Re-post now from April, 2013.
We have reported on a recent north-south clash where the Asbury Park Council would not initially support the Ocean Grove bid for a FEMA appeal to help pay for the Grove’s oceanfront renewal following the Sandy destruction . Later the Council changed its mind, but some lingering bitterness exists on both sides of the Casino, especially after a councilman called Ocean Grovers “riff raff.”
However, this clash has provided a small opportunity to consider the relationship between the two towns and it provoked some debate by Blogfinger commenters. The basics are that the two towns are geographically neighbors, but are not “sister cities” in the true sense of the word. Instead, the two towns are as opposite as you can get. Maybe “complimentary” would be a good adjective, but there is much at stake in this relationship, which we will cover later.
Ocean Grove, founded in 1869 by Methodist ministers from the Holiness movement, developed as a summer religious community. Asbury Park, founded in 1871, by James A Bradley, named their town after a Methodist bishop, but went on to become a very secular place with a gay community going back to 1950 and a popular summer boardwalk and music scene going back to the turn of the 20th century.
In 1888, James Bradley, recognizing the growing population in AP, entered into an agreement with the OG Camp Meeting Association to provide a way for large numbers of summer visitors to cross Wesley Lake and get to the campgrounds. Up to that point, there were ferries and boats which would carry people back and forth for one cent per ride.
The two towns agreed that two iron bridges would be constructed. One at the foot of New Jersey Avenue and the other at the foot of Pilgrim Pathway. Little toll houses at the OG side would collect the one cent toll, and a policeman would be stationed there. AP borrowed $10,000 from the CMA to help build the bridges, and the two communities shared the income. Interestingly, both sides agreed to post signs that said, “This bridge is private property and is not dedicated to the public.” The reason for that proviso is unclear. Maybe it is to justify the toll.
Two iron bridges were built in 1888. This is the view from the AP side. Click left for larger view. Courtesy Ted Bell.
In 1899, a group of Ocean Grove residents and business owners petitioned the CMA to construct a “drive bridge” across Wesley Lake and Fletcher Lake as a way to help the commercial interests in town drive their wagons back and forth. The goal was to have these bridges near the ocean. In retrospect, the CMA saved the day when they would not allow those bridges to be built—for religious reasons.
In 1932, the iron foot bridges were replaced by the two concrete structures that we see today. The bridges across Wesely Lake have provided a way to get across the water from one town to the other and have benefitted both sides for nearly 125 years. Asbury Park has especially enjoyed these bridges because their boardwalk scene has been hugely popular for years. In the late 1800’s, about 600,000 people visited AP each summer. Of course it went into decline for many years and is now making an impressive comeback.
About 15 years ago, a decision was made to lock those bridges on the OG side at midnight each evening as a crime-fighting measure. That is done at midnight by the Neptune Twp. Police Department. It was a big success in that regard, but some controversy has now surfaced regarding the continued locking practices. In Part II we will talk amongst ourselves about this issue. Stay tuned.
March, 2013. view of Wesley Lake from the OG side. By Moe Demby, Blogfinger.net. Click for larger view
SOUNDTRACK “THE BRIDGES OF MONMOUTH COUNTY.” Oh, sorry, The Bridges of Madison County. It’s Johnny Hartman whose voice is deeper than the water in Wesley Lake. Clint Eastwood did a fabulous job with the jazz soundtrack for that movie which starred Clint and Meryl. By the way, Clint and Meryl will be at the Blogfinger Film Festival, so get your tickets. Here is Johnny with “It Was Almost Like a Song.” (Is this about Springsteen?)
CREDITS:
WAYNE T. BELL (“TED”) gave us permission to publish the two top images from his book , one of the Images of America series, Ocean Grove. This is a wonderful history of the Grove which everyone who lives here should own. It is full of terrific photographs, magazine images, postcards, and documents. Ted’s book is still in print and can be purchased on line or at the Historical Society of Ocean Grove for $19.99. Ted also wrote a similar book with vintage postcards of the Grove—also available at the HSOG.
GIBBONS : History of Ocean Grove 1869-1939
MICHAEL GOLDFINGER, photographer: Lives in Tampa, but he used to live in the Grove and he visits here often. (He looks in on his parents in case he has to drive us to the home.) Michael is a former staff photographer at the Asbury Park Press. We have occasionally published his photos on BF (the family business.)
By Paul Goldfinger MD, Editor @ Blogfinger.net. Re-posted.
Barry Levinson (b. 1942) is a film director known for his work featuring the city of Baltimore. I’ve always loved his movies, especially “Diner” and “Avalon. ” He also directed “Good Morning Vietnam” and “Rain Man.”
In 1987 he made the third in his Baltimore series—“Tin Men” starring Danny DeVito (a Jersey guy born in Neptune Township,) Richard Dreyfuss, and Barbara Hershey.
The film, set in 1962, is about the con-men who sell aluminum siding door-to-door in Baltimore. The characters and dialogue are wonderful including several scenes with the guys sitting in a diner discussing television, gambling, women, money and their adventures as tin men. It features a soundtrack from the 1960’s including our song below by the Nat King Cole Trio, recorded in 1940.
“Sweet Lorraine” is a jazz classic written in 1928. There have been several hit versions, and the Cole Trio rendition is the one featured in “Tin Men.”
Here it is:
I think that “Sweet Lorraine” is one of the best musical tributes written as a paean to a woman with a particular name. I found a list of 200 songs that contain a woman’s name in the title. These are the ones that have Sweet——: Lorraine, Mary, Melissa, Annette, Caroline, Virginia and Adeline.
But here is my list of favorite songs with a woman’s name in the title: (feel free to add your favorites:)
1. Judy is a Punk
2. Jennie From the Block
3. Wake Up Little Susie
4. Song for Myla Goldberg
5. Patricia the Stripper
6. Help Me Rhonda
7. Long Tall Sally
8. Lonesome Suzie
9. Christine Sixteen
10. Believe Me, Natalie
11.Run Around Sue
12. Donna and Blitzen
13. Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter
14. And finally my favorite: Don’t Walk Away Eileen
The tourists are looking southeast at the Champ de Mars, a grassy park which extends past the Eiffel Tower until you reach the École Militaire (Military School) which is faintly visible in this photo. The Champ de Mars has a terrific party each year for Bastille Day (July 14.) You can take an elevator to the top of the Tower and get a great view of the city.
This song was featured in the movie “Saving Private Ryan” when, toward the end, Captain Miller’s men are waiting for the Germans to attack their position guarding a critical bridge in a bombed out French town near Normandy. They find some old records and play them. The music echoes down the abandoned avenues. It is a moment of peaceful beauty for these GI’s who are about to have their world turned upside down.
EDITH PIAF from the album The White Cliffs of Dover—-“La Vie en Rose.” (tr. life through rose colored glasses)
Food trucks arrive. Channel District. Tampa, Florida. By Paul Goldfinger, 2012
By Paul Goldfinger, MD, FACC
Some of you may recall this post from January, but I had nothing medical to say about the subject of dietary fats. However, a recent study about egg consumption raises some important issues.
The egg question has bounced around for some time, and the scientific information has been scrambled. Some of the data is soft boiled, but a recent trial of thousands of patients requires that we re-visit eggs (known to the French as oeufs) as a subject of discussion. Scroll down to find our latest oeufs post. Or click on this link:
I might add, regarding foie gras, it is pure liver, usually duck or goose, and it is loaded with saturated fat. Yet it is a delicacy, so it’s best to eat no more than 2 ounces at any one time. We went to a restaurant in France where the menu scared me. Everything there contained foie gras. But, if you have never tried it, it is almost addictive, and you need to pay attention because what do I look like? Chopped liver perhaps?
Chopped liver? Boardwalk Pavilion April 4, 2019.
CAMILLE. A French singer of Parisian street songs recorded “Le Festin” (tr: the feast) for the Disney film “Ratatouille”
Here is a partial translation:
“Dreams are to lovers as wine is to friends
Carried through lifetimes, (and) spilled now and then
