Buccino rings in new year at poetry marathon in Montclair

The Montclair Monthly Poetry Series, coordinated by Laura Boss and Maria Mazziotti Gillan, is presenting a New Year Poetry Marathon Reading on Thursday, January 8. 

This free event is from 7 p.m. to - 9 p.m. at the Montclair Public Library (auditorium), 50 South Fullerton Ave., Montclair, New Jersey.

Local poets will read a few poems each during the Marathon portion of the evening. An open reading will follow. 

Poets include: Susan Amsterdam, Susan Lembo Balik, Ron Bremner, Anthony Buccino, Linda Cronin, Gail Fishman Gerwin, Martin Golan, Jim Gwyn, Elizabeth Marchitti, Marilyn Mohr, Frank Niccoletti, Ken Ronkowitz, Bob Rosenbloom, Rachel Parker, Janet Kolstein, Elissa Gordon and D. M. Dutcher.

Buccino has published seven poetry collections.

• American Boy: Pushing Sixty
• CANNED - Booted, bumped, down-sized, fired, forced out, hated, hired, jobless, laid off, let go, out of work, out-sourced, pink-slipped, terminated, sacked, unemployed
• One Morning In Jersey City
• Retrieving Labrador Days dog tales in prose and verse
• Sixteen Inches On Center
• Sometimes I Swear In Italian
• Voices on the Bus train, subway, sidewalk and in my head
• Yountakah Country - A Poetic View of Nutley, Old and New

He created the New Jersey Poets and Poetry site and posted a short A Buccino Poem A Day series.

Jersey Shore Envy

This whole beach thing, changing, badges, outside shower,

was alien to me. I might as well have been from Wisconsin

for all the time this Jersey boy had spent down the shore.

When my childhood friend regaled me with tempting tales of sun, sand and surf at the Jersey Shore, and all the good times I missed, he planted the seed for a chronic case of Jersey Shore envy.

Joey, another childhood buddy, had told me of his family taking bus trips to Seaside Heights, and all the grown-ups from his old Montclair home were singing, "Hail, hail, the gang's all here, what the hell do we care now!"

So, there we were, two very white guys about to fry on the beach, or die of windburn from the sand showers that washed over us. The water was way too cold to go in. The penguins were tussling with polar bears for the last blocks of ice. Lou and I could take a hint. 

The two of us North Jersey kids just stretched out on a towel in the late spring sun and enjoyed the privacy of having the entire Seaside Heights beach to ourselves.

Continue reading Jersey Shore Envy

Breakfast at Raymond's

We wanted some place different for breakfast on Saturday. Doc Bu suggested Raymond's in Montclair.

The last time we were there, we ate on the sidewalk. That is, sidewalk dining, not standing up in the street. That last time I met Steve my ad salesman from our Modern Food Service magazine days which ended abruptly one February morning in Hackensack in 1999.



So, we didn't run into him. But we could have. I wondered whether I'd run into someone from MEWS since we were in the heart of Baristaville. If not the heart, then the side street or appendix.

I figured before I left, I'd meet someone I know from someplace else.

The food was really good. So was the coffee. And the service was just swell.

Having never been inside the building, I was taken by the old style cafeteria feel of the place. It was like the restaurant has been there a million years. Can you imagine all the chits and chats that took place inside these walls over the decades?



The place was nearly empty when we got there, they had just opened. We didn't exactly know when they opened, but we got one of the last parking places (What, a quarter for a half-hour? More than that?) on the street and strolled the empty early morning street. Church Street in Montclair makes you feel you are far away from the city, even though you are smack dab on its left elbow.



Well, if I ate any more fresh fruit, or drank anymore coffee, I'm sure I would have exploded. But the dining area is so far from today, and the sun light finagled its way through the front window and lit up the pretty bottles on the shelves.

Across the way from where we sat you could read the movie body count from some classic horror movies. I guess we're not too far from one or the other of the old movie or live theaters around this place.

So sure we would meet someone, I looked up before we left and lo and behold, there was that fellow from the Write Group, you know who he is, you've seen him at the readings. Yup, it's him. Carl Selinger, the author and all-around nice guy. So before you know it, I'm standing there yaking with Carl about poetry and upcoming open mics and my ladies have headed out for the yoga store down the block.

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Copyright © 2009 by Anthony Buccino, all rights reserved. Photos and content may not be used for commercial purposes without written permission.

Prime Prine at the Wellmont in Montclair

Folk singer John Prine rocked the house with nearly forty years worth of songs Friday night at the recently renovated Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, N.J.

This SOUVENIR can't be boughten

Well-known for talking between songs about the songs, the narrative was kept to a minimun at the show, however, his story about his father driving the scenic route to their vacations gives a new slant to "Bottomless Lake".

Prine sang for more than 90 minutes to the devoted crowd, showing the 60-plus year-old singer has the stamina of a much, much younger man. Of course, we could have listened to him sing every song he ever wrote through to a blue Monday and still not had enough.

John Prine, well into his 1 1/2 hour show

There were the old favorites, including "Donald and Lydia," "Storm Windows" and "Picture Show" as well as his favorites, "Sam Stone," "Lake Marie" and "Six O'Clock News" as well as our favorite "Hello in There."

Heck, he even gave a shout out to our 4th row (Row C, go figure) which was as far back into the audience as he could see in the dark. But you know, he could hear all the applause from as far back as the last row in the house!

And, it rocked along with his version of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus."

You go, John.

Got the t-shirt

The opening act held our interest. Singer-song writer Chip Taylor took it slow and easy and pleasant enough ... however he surprised us with a rendition of his 60s hit Angel of the Morning, and later with another really big hit of his, that song Wild Thing.

Other Prine posts and links

John Prine.net

John Prine Shrine

Prine - Wikipedia

John Prine My Space

Chip Taylor

Kendel

LastFM Event

Montclair Gets Its Own Rock House
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Copyright © 2008 by Anthony Buccino, all rights reserved. Photos and content may not be used for commercial purposes without written permission.

Katie Reider, folk singer

500,000 hits in 365 Days
For singer songwriter Katie Reider

It's quite simple, really, just go to the above site, download nine of her songs for a buck and you can help remember a young woman taken too soon, and support her cause. Or, if you're current in reading this post, try to get to the benefit show later this month.

500Kin365.org, was created with the help of Katie Reider's loyal fans to reconnect and introduce 500,000 people to Katie Reider, her music and her story over the next year.

Help us continue to spread her music over the next year by downloading "katie's Voice" (9 original songs written and performed by Katie Reider over the last 10 years) for a $1.00 donation to her cause and linking up ONE other person to www.500Kin365.org.

August 24, 2008 Benefit

The story of Katie Reider

Keeping Katie Reider's voice alive

Katie's Myspace

Katie Reider's Web Site

Katie's Blog

Cincy Groove Magazine interview

Heaven Above, Earth Below

That song from the 1960s said we make our own heaven and hell right here on earth.

Copyright © 2008 by Anthony Buccino, all rights reserved. Content may not be used for commercial purposes without written permission.