Coffee with the Chef: Christine Nunn of Picnic on the Square

Christine Nunn wasn’t always on course to work in the kitchen — the 50-year-old chef and co-owner of Picnic on the Square in Ridgewood was once a journalist, and worked for the Ridgewood News after graduating with an English degree from Montclair State University in 1986.

By 2001, the Fair Lawn resident was working in Manhattan doing technical writing, but after 9/11, she decided that life was "too short to not do" exactly what she wanted to do.

She enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America in January 2002 and even lived in the dorms for a semester at age 37 (which was "horrifying"). She graduated in December 2003 and created the catering company Picnic. In 2005, she opened a storefront in Emerson, where she stayed for five years before opening Picnic, The Restaurant in Fair Lawn, which garnered rave reviews. After 2 1/2 years, Picnic served its last meal on New Year’s Eve 2012.

In 2013, Nunn published "The Preppy Cookbook" and worked as executive chef at Grange restaurant in Westwood. Three months ago, she opened Picnic on the Square in Ridgewood. The lovely, brick-walled 34-seat New American restaurant received 2 1/2 stars from The Record last month.

Here, she talks about the technique home cooks should master and the best way to cook fish.

Favorite dish to cook: The Parisienne gnocchi ($14), which is served with a wild-mushroom sherry cream sauce — even though it’s a pain to make, and it takes a while to do. People flip over it.

The one technique home cooks should master: A good braise. And if I’m braising, I specifically make [the butcher] leave a little fat on top of the meat — if you used trimmed meat and try to braise it, it’s going to be dry. So if I do short ribs, I do it fat-side up … so the fat goes into the meat.

What home cooks should make at home but don’t: People are afraid to cook fish, afraid they’re going to overcook or undercook it. But fish, while it’s not forgiving, is quick to cook and it’s not hard. Give it a quick sauté first and finish it in just a little white wine, chicken stock and lemon juice, so the fish tastes moist — it’s much more forgiving that way. Don’t do just white wine and lemon, because it’s too acidic. You have to cut it with chicken stock or even water.

What diners would be surprised to learn about chefs: We love when other people cook for us. Most people are afraid to. We’re thrilled if someone makes us a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Food fad I hate: Ancient grains, like quinoa or freekeh. They’re kind of boring. They don’t have much flavor, and there’s not much you can do with them.

Favorite local restaurant: Axia Taverna in Tenafly [whose owner is also part-owner of Picnic]. Chef Alex Gorant makes chicken like nobody’s business. I love Greek food, and it’s a nice, lemony, Greek-y chicken.

My favorite cheese shop: The cheese department at Fairway, or at Super Cellars in Ridgewood on Broad Street because they have such variety. I’m a big cheese snob; of course, I adore Stilton [blue cheese], but when I can get my hands on it I like Oxford blue, also from England. And I enjoy Affindelice au Chablis, which is a strong cheese similar to an Époisses. And of course, the terrific golden bits of doodle dust that grace the bottom of a bag of Cheez Doodles.

My feelings about having a BYO: Who wouldn’t love a liquor license? But at 34 seats, it would take an awful long time to pay for a liquor license at New Jersey prices. But we have a very nice wine store down the street.

Most valuable tool in my kitchen: Any fish turner; everyone should have one. I use it as a whisk, I use it as a spatula, I use it to stir sauce if I’m in a rush — and it picks up fish beautifully.

Three herbs and spices every home kitchen should have: Dried herbes de Provence — it’s such a nice blend of French herbs, and it gives everything a really nice flavor; white pepper — it’s got a little more bite than black pepper; and tarragon — it pairs with so many things, it’s great with any mushroom sauce, tomato sauce.

More info: Picnic on the Square, 26 Wilsey Square, Ridgewood, 201-444-4001; picniconthesquare.com. Appetizers: $8 to $20; entrées: $21 to $36.

— Steve Janoski

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Coffee with the Chef: Pastry chef Vicki Wells of L'artre della Pasticceria in Ramsey

Vicki Wells, pastry chef and partner at L'arte della Pasticceria in Ramsey, was inspired to cook at a young age by her grandmother, who grew up on a farm in Italy and loved to spend her days in the kitchen. The 56-year-old Hoboken resident studied under the famous Madeleine Kamman in Massachusetts on and off for two years, and also at La Varenne in Paris.

Back in America, she worked at Sarabeth's Kitchen and later became Bobby Flay's executive pastry chef, a position she held for nearly a decade. She was also executive pastry chef for Buddakan in New York before coming to L'arte as the executive pastry chef in January 2014.

Wells has taught at three cooking schools: the French Culinary Institute (now the International Culinary Center); the Institute of Culinary Education; and City University of New York (Brooklyn). She still makes an annual trip to Italy in the fall to teach a class in desserts at a small school in Umbria called Cucina della Terra, which caters to those taking culinary vacations.

Here, she talks about her love for bread pudding, what makes a good baker and why she refuses to work with rolled fondant.

What makes someone a good baker: Everyone always says pastry chefs and bakers have to be very precise and measure things exactly — and that's kind of true. But you've also got to have an instinct for making things taste good … and playing with flavor to get the most out of your ingredients.

The most difficult pastry to make: Making a menu of plated desserts is difficult; it has to have a wide range of texture and flavor, and it has to be very visual. I create all my own recipes and I've been doing that for quite a while; they're all difficult.

Pastry I wish I created: Pavlova. It's one of my favorite desserts. I don't make the classic version, but I really like the combination of meringue, whipped cream and fruit.

Best tip for home bakers: Don't be a slave to the recipe. You have to be flexible. Don't be afraid to make a mistake. We're not doing brain surgery here.

Best shortcut baking trick: There are no shortcuts. Making pastries is very labor-intensive. So just enjoy the process.

My favorite dessert: Bread pudding. I just love it. If it's on a menu, I almost always order it.

Favorite cookbook: I love any cookbook by Alice Medrich. She has the same philosophy that I do: focus on flavor, it's not about making things real sweet, so cut down on the sugar and bring out the flavor. Her recipes are beautiful. There's one called "Bittersweet" that I like.

What will replace the cupcake craze: Doughnuts. And I love doughnuts. I like exotic flavors like passion fruit. … I like citrus.

Favorite food movie: "Chocolat."

Best-selling item in the shop: A crumb-cake called torte sbrisolona, which is like a classic Italian crumb-cake filled with chocolate and ricotta cheese ($3.50 per slice, $28 for an 8-inch).

Worst ingredient to bake with: Rolled fondant. It's popular because you can mold it into anything, but every time someone comes in and I say, "I don't actually use that," they say, "I hate the way it tastes anyway." I'm focused on flavor. … We don't do a cake that looks like a Ferrari here.

More info: L'Arte della Pasticceria, 109 E Main St., Ramsey; 201-934-3211; larte.biz.

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Chef Carlos Valdez of Oceanaire in Hackensack on cooking lobster and ramen noodles

Carlos Valdez, the newly crowned Ultimate Chef Bergen County, started cooking for himself around middle school — his mom was always good at it, he says, but he was very "particular" about how the meals were prepared.

"I wanted certain things a certain way," says the 37-year-old executive chef of the Oceanaire Seafood Room in The Shops at Riverside in Hackensack. He'd question his mother if, say, the lasagna tasted a little different on a given day.

The Hawthorne native started his career at Houston's (in the same Hack- ensack mall) as a bartender part-time for four years while completing his bachelor's degree in culinary arts at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. After graduation, he completed the management training program at the Hillstone Restaurant Group (Houston's parent company) and was transferred to the Rutherford Grill in Napa Valley, Calif., where he was the assistant kitchen manager (similar to a sous chef). A year later he was transferred to the Hillstone Restaurant in New York City, where he was also assistant kitchen manager, before leaving the company in 2006 for the executive chef position at Halcyon Brasserie, a fine-dining spot in Montclair.

He worked there for a year before opening his own restaurant, the Red Hen Bistro in Wood-Ridge but sold the 35-seat French-American bistro three years later and became executive chef at the Oceanaire Seafood Room in September 2013.

Here, he talks about how to cook seafood, the key to a perfect lobster, and why he loves ramen noodles.

The secret to cooking seafood: Realizing that what you are cooking is very delicate. You have to approach it with medium heat and less [cook time], and when you pair it with flavors, be careful not to mask the essence of the fish. I try never to make fish with pasta dishes that have very robust, tomato sauces; it's like you're eating two different things.

Favorite fish: Skate wing. The taste is very buttery, almost steak-like. That with some dark winter greens is just phenomenal.

Toughest dish to cook at my restaurant: The hash browns. You have to have good technique to flip them over. Not everybody can pull it off.

Key to cooking a perfect lobster: Knowing the weight of the lobster tail, because that's going to tell you how many minutes it goes in the steamer or pot — it's about a minute per ounce. A 1 1/4-pound lobster usually has a six-ounce tail, so you want to go six to seven minutes.

Guilty pleasure: In college, my wife put me onto cheap, packaged, really spicy ramen noodles. One of those and an egg cracked into it, I'm in heaven. It's great.

Simplest tip to improve home cooking: It's always fine to start with high flame to warm up your pan, but the minute the protein or vegetables hit the pan, you should lower it to medium. Even when you want to sear something: If you leave it on high, you'll over-caramelize the surface, and the inside probably won't yet be cooked.

What diners would be surprised to learn about chefs: That we are a lot less intense when we're out to eat. I just want to eat something and enjoy it – I don't want to take it apart.

Favorite local restaurant: Café Matisse in Rutherford. Chef Peter Loria has a way of being playful with flavors … I can almost close my eyes and point [at the menu], it's always great.

How I know I'm being ripped off in a restaurant: When you get a luxury item at a price that's too good to be true, you have to wonder, because good food is expensive. It happens a lot unfortunately with scallops.

My culinary hero: My executive sous-chef Justin Manzi. Working with him is a pleasure — as soon as we start talking about food, it's energizing, and it creates such a good energy. And that's necessary to work in a kitchen.

More info: The Oceanaire Seafood Room, The Shops at Riverside, 390 Hackensack Ave.; 201-343-8862; the oceanaire.com. Appetizers: $6 to $37; entrées: $22 to $60.

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TV reality star Rosie Pope teams with Valley Health System

Call Rosie Pope a pregnancy "expert," and she'd politely disagree.

"It's a dodgy title," said the 35-year-old London native, who recently moved to Ridgewood with her four children and husband. Yes, she may have been the star of Bravo's TV reality show, "Pregnant in Heels," in which she helped expectant New York City moms with most everything from choosing nannies and names to nursery décor. And, yes, she may have published "Mommy IQ: The Complete Guide to Pregnancy" — touted on Amazon as "the ultimate girlfriend's guide to pregnancy" — and launched "Conversations with Rosie Pope," a series of YouTube vignettes on a variety of subjects, from how to ban the pacifier to sex after pregnancy. And, yes, she may have two maternity and kids clothing-and-accessory lines — Rosie Pope Maternity and Rosie Pope Baby — and three stores (two in New York City and one in Santa Monica, Calif.) to sell the stuff.

But an expert?

"I'm more of a friend, or translator," Pope said, adding: "You know what I'm an expert at? Being honest, and talking about my problems. That helps people sort through their problems. I have no filter."

Thin, blond and unpretentious, Pope, who uses her hands a lot when talking, has a talent for taking what could be serious points about the nerve-wracking pressures of raising a child and turning them into animated, laughter-inducing snippets — like when she throws herself around to simulate a mother's guilt about buying a kid the wrong sweat pants ("Oh my God, he's going to be so unhappy at school and everyone is going to tease him!") or riffs in her rapid-fire way about celebrity moms that spout "kooky" theories about parenting ("I'm going to chew my food up and spit it into my baby's mouth!" "I'm going to eat my placenta!")

That unabashed frankness and easygoing humor are the reasons for her appeal, said Danielle King, an executive producer for Bravo TV who became close with Pope while she was filming "Pregnant in Heels."

"She gives mothers permission to be themselves — flaws and all," King said. "And you feel safe asking her all those crazy questions you might not feel comfortable asking anyone else — she provides a wealth of knowledge and absolutely no judgment."

Pope's husband Daron — they married in 2006 — worked for Lehman Brothers on Wall Street before becoming president and CEO of his wife's company. He attributes his wife's success to the fact that, he said, "she's mindful that every parent's experience and every household equation is different, and yet she's also very real — she opens up, and allows people to understand that she, too, is not perfect."

This is exactly what attracted the Ridgewood-based Valley Health System to collaborate with Pope on a new campaign that launched in January to promote pregnancy health and wellness, said Maureen Curran Kleinman, Valley's media relations and social media coordinator.

"Rosie's philosophy is very non-judgmental, informative and entertaining," she said, "which is very much in mind with our programs."

As part of that collaboration, Pope will provide educational information and personal posts on Valley's Fertility Center and Center for Childbirth Facebook pages, and be the keynote speaker at three events hosted by Thrive!, Valley's free membership program for women. Although she'll touch on a variety of subjects, Pope's message to moms tends to be uniform: have confidence in your decisions, and understand that you're going to make mistakes — and that's OK.

"It's the one thing you'll do that you want to do better than anything else, so you get nervous — it's like taking the biggest exam of your life," Pope said. "But I tell people that's a good thing, because it's a sign you care. They're going to do some things wrong, but that doesn't mean you're a bad parent."

Pope, an only child, always knew she wanted a big family. She came to America at age 18 for her "gap year" between high school and college, and never went home — she spent the next four years modeling and ballet dancing in New York City before "realizing I needed an education" and enrolling in Columbia University at age 22. Four years later, she graduated with an undergraduate degree in neuroscience, but six months of research work convinced her that the lab wasn't for her.

"I liked it, I just didn't see myself doing it forever," she said.

So she got a job at A Pea in the Pod, a chain that sells trendy maternity clothes, and used her time on the sales floor to explore whether or not there'd be a market for the new, fashionable maternity line she wanted to start. Using the skills she learned from her grandmother, who taught her to make clothes, she began designing dresses, one at a time, for pregnant women attending galas or balls, and later got a small group of investors together to fund the creation of Rosie Pope Maternity in 2008. Two years later she launched MomPrep, a roster of classes and workshops on pregnancy and parenting taught out of the stores, and Rosie Pope Baby followed in 2014.

Major career changes seem to be a family trait — her father was a successful geophysicist who, at age 36, became a professional dancer before going into construction in his late 40s, and her mother, a trained dentist, is a consultant in complex healthcare systems.

"It didn't seem strange to me to go from studying science at Columbia to making maternity clothes … [my parents] really taught me that if you believe in something, do it."

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Cholesterol might not be the villain we've been told it is

For decades, cholesterol has been considered one of the great evils of the dietary world. It's a major factor in heart disease, we were told, and the higher your levels, the higher your risk. So eat the egg whites but throw out that cholesterol-laden yolk, and don't you dare go near that lobster or shrimp unless you want to turn your arteries into little cement-filled tubes.

But with the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee's declaration that cholesterol is "not considered a nutrient of concern for over-consumption," that advice might be thrown in the garbage itself.

The statement worked its way into a December draft report issued by the committee, which provides recommendations for the federal Dietary Guidelines for Americans that are issued jointly by the secretaries of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture and updated every five years.

The final 2015 report hasn't been issued yet — it's expected to be released in a few weeks — but even the advisory committee's preliminary statement might be enough to make even the most health-conscientious Americans throw their hands up in frustration. The last time the guidelines were updated in 2010, they considered consuming less dietary cholesterol a "major goal" for Americans, and advised less than 300 mg per day (an egg has about 186 mg).

So why the turnaround?

Recent (and not-so-recent) medical research. Studies are showing that cholesterol might not be the culprit we've been told it was for the past 40 years. For instance, a national study issued in 2009 by UCLA found that nearly 75 percent of patients hospitalized by a heart attack had cholesterol levels "that would indicate they were not at high risk for a cardiovascular event," and close to half had LDL ("bad" cholesterol) levels classified as "optimal."

One article, published in 2010 in Current Atherosclerosis Reports, noted that recent studies documented the "lack of effect of dietary cholesterol on [cardiovascular heart disease] risk, suggesting that guidelines for dietary cholesterol should be revisited." Another study, published in 2013, "suggests that egg consumption is not associated with the risk of CVD and cardiac mortality in the general population."

Jennifer Haythe, M.D., assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology, Center for Advanced Cardiac Care at Columbia University Medical Center, said that this research is showing that "maybe cholesterol isn't the bad guy."

Nate E. Lebowitz, M.D., a cardiologist with the Advanced Cardiology Institute at Hackensack University Medical Center Cardiovascular Partners Plus, said cholesterol itself doesn't cause disease — after all, our livers produce about 75 percent of the cholesterol in our bodies, and we need that waxy, fat-like substance because it helps our bodies make vitamin D, hormones and the substances that help digest foods.

What actually creates problems for the heart are the lipoproteins, which are the particles that shuttle cholesterol through the bloodstream, Lebowitz said. For many years, though, there wasn't a good way to break down lipoprotein counts in the doctor's office, and so the cholesterol test was used as a sort of general indicator. This led to the concept of "good" cholesterol (high-density lipoproteins, or HDL) and "bad" cholesterol (low-density lipoproteins, or LDL), and the utterly simplified story that went something like this: LDL particles collect in the arteries, and HDL particles "scrub" them off. So you want more HDL cholesterol because it keeps your arteries clear, and the better your ratio of HDL-to-LDL is, the safer you are.

But, Lebowitz said, the standard cholesterol blood test was "a very poor attempt" to represent what was going on, because there's actually different types of LDL particles — the small, dense kind that worm their way into artery walls and cause plaque buildup, and the larger, less dangerous types that are less likely to do that.

So even though higher LDL numbers aren't particularly good — the more total LDL floating around, the higher the likelihood that some will be the more threatening type — treatment should depend on what type of particle is present, he said.

For instance, two brothers could have the exact same LDL count, Lebowitz said, but depending on the type of LDL particle, one could be at "incredibly high-risk" while the other, not so much — but on the old test, you'd never know which brother had which type. Newer tests are now readily available, however, and they'll break down what types of lipoprotein particles are present, leading to more individualized treatment, he said.

Jeffrey Matican, M.D., chief of cardiology and medical staff president at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, added that overall cholesterol counts are the "least important" of the numbers given to patients, and traditional factors like age, weight, or an individual's history of smoking or diabetes, as well as the type of LDLs present, are better for assessing risk.

"There's a disconnect quite often — someone can have very good LDL cholesterol, but their particle numbers are very high, and they have a lot of small, dense particles ... And I've had people with reasonably high LDL cholesterol, but their lipoprotein particles are very low. And those people you don't really have to treat, because the things that are invading the [artery] walls are the lipoprotein particles — not the cholesterol."

So is it time to change your diet once more?

First, understand that your genes play a much greater role in your cholesterol level than your diet.

"Whether what you're eating actually changes the blood concentration [of cholesterol] seems to be what's called into question here," Haythe said. "It may be more genetically geared."

"I don't think that dietary cholesterol is much of an issue at all," said Lebowitz with the Advanced Cardiology Institute at Hackensack University Medical Center. Genetics, he said, are a better predictor of cholesterol levels than how many eggs one has for breakfast.

So, if you've been avoiding eggs and shrimp like the plague for heart health, then yes, you can relax on that (unless you're diabetic, in which case experts advise to keep avoiding cholesterol). But, like every dietary dictum, this one comes with the caveat that moderation is best, because overindulging in high-cholesterol foods carries its own risks. You may be hypersensitive to dietary cholesterol (which means that what you eat actually does affect the cholesterol levels in your blood), and many high-cholesterol foods like steak, cheese, onion rings, and ice cream, are also loaded with saturated fat — still (as of now) a dietary no-no.

And the real villains — experts say — are simple carbohydrates like sugar, white bread, pasta and corn syrup, which, they note, while low in cholesterol and fat, have led to increases in obesity, diabetes, and blood pressure, and cause inflammation in the arteries.

Matican said that those who eat a low-carbohydrate diet will likely have less to worry about than those who eat a higher-carbohydrate diet.

Dr. Roger Blumenthal, director of the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease and co-chairman of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Prevention Guidelines Committee, said that the best advice is the same advice that doctors and nutritionists have been repeating for generations: Eat a well-balanced diet heavy on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats found in things like fish, nuts and olive oil, while limiting red meat, fried foods and sugary desserts.

"A vegetarian diet is best, but probably not practical for most Americans," Blumenthal said. "But doing things in moderation — that's more practical."

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Here's looking at YouTube; video-sharing site turns 10

Psy's video for "Gangnam Style" spread wildly on YouTube

Valentine's Day marks the 10th anniversary of YouTube — that's right, it's a decade old — and in that time, the revolutionary video-sharing site has morphed from a place you'd find slow-loading music videos and blurry clips of snowboarding accidents to the wildly popular central hub of all online video sharing.

And although "viral videos" were nothing new when the site went live (before YouTube, they spread via the now-ancient "email chain"), it became far easier to upload a video and share it with an audience of millions. This led to a fundamental change in how we viewed things online, and created stars that might not have shined otherwise.

Here are five stars who owe some (or all) of their success to YouTube, and five viral videos it helped launch.


The people:

Justin Bieber

Yes, we have YouTube to thank for Justin Bieber — the Canadian-born singer/songwriter was discovered by manager Scooter Braun through his YouTube videos in 2008, and Braun put Bieber in touch with Usher. The rest, as they say, is history. Five chart-topping albums later, and the 20-year-old has sold millions of records, been nominated for two Grammys, and is nearly impossible to avoid. Thanks YouTube. Thanks a lot.

Susan Boyle

The 47-year-old Scottish singer didn't look like much when she took the stage for "Britain's Got Talent" in 2009, but when she sang her heart-stopping rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" from "Les Misérables," eyes widened and jaws dropped. Tens of millions of viewers on both sides of the pond watched the clip, and although Boyle didn't win the competition (she came in second), her appearance led to a record deal, two Grammy nominations and several tours. To date, the YouTube clip of Boyle singing "I Dreamed a Dream" has nearly 165 million hits.

Psy

Psy was already a pop icon in South Korea when the video for his irresistibly catchy single "Gangnam Style" exploded onto Western computer screens in August 2012. The flashy-yet-humorous video was punctuated by Psy's now-legendary dancing, and it became the first on YouTube to break 1 billion total views. Now, Gangnam Style has more than twice that — it's at 2,235,839,131 — and its success forced YouTube to upgrade its view counter, which previously topped out at around 2.1 billion.

Carly Rae Jepsen

It might not be brilliant — far from it, in fact — but it's hard to deny the poppy, light-hearted appeal of Carly Rae Jepsen's hit "Call Me Maybe." It was released as a single in Canada in September 2011 but didn't get international attention until Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, who heard it on a Canadian radio station while on vacation, tweeted about it four months later. The song immediately exploded — as did the video — and in the time since, it's gotten 640 million views.

Judy Travis

What started with a 2008 hair tutorial by then-college student Judy Travis on how to get "beachy waves w/ a flat iron" has turned into Its JudyTime, a series in which Travis explains the finer points of such crucial subjects as hair, makeup and skin care in hundreds of easily digestible lessons. Seven years after her first clip, over a million users subscribe to her several YouTube channels, and she has 350 million total views — a bona-fide YouTube celebrity.


The moments:

Miss South Carolina

Maybe it was the wrong thing to ask at a beauty pageant, but watching 2007's Miss South Carolina Teen USA Caitlin Upton stumble through a rambling, cringe-worthy response to the question of why a fifth of Americans can't locate the United States on a world map left many stunned. Her painful soliloquy, which incorporated Iraq, South Africa and something about a lack of maps, has been viewed well over 74 million times and inspired countless parody videos and internet memes.

Charlie Sheen

When Charlie Sheen sat down with ABC's Andrea Canning in 2011, he seemed intent on proving that he had, in fact, given up drugs. By the time the interview was over, his scattered answers and manic demeanor convinced the world of the exact opposite — not to mention giving us new phrases like "bi-winning" and "tiger blood." The YouTube videos (there are several) got millions of views as Sheen's apparent breakdown dominated headlines for months.

'Thriller' in the prison yard

When prison supervisor Byron Garcia uploaded the video of about 1,500 inmates at the maximum-security Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in the Philippines doing a flawless imitation of the zombie dancing from Michael Jackson's "Thriller," he probably didn't think it would become quite as popular as it has. But at its peak, the 2007 video was one of the most popular on the Internet; it's gotten 54 million total views to date.

'Pants on the Ground'

When "General" Larry Platt sang his song "Pants on the Ground" at a 2010 "American Idol" audition, the eternally surly judge Simon Cowell said he had "a horrible feeling that song could be a hit." Cowell nailed it: Since that audition, the YouTube video has received 9 1/2 million hits, and for a brief while, it seemed everyone was singing Platt's tune, which relied mostly on the simple lyrics of — you guessed it — "pants on the ground."

The Rickroll

It's a classic bait-and-switch prank that began on the Internet bulletin board 4Chan in 2007 but slowly took over the Web: Post a link to a video of something someone might want to see, like a movie preview or news clip, but actually link it to Rick Astley's 1987 single "Never Gonna Give You Up." Known as "Rickrolling," it became so prevalent that on April Fools' Day 2008, YouTube Rickrolled its own users by making all of the videos on its homepage link to the song. The prank breathed new life into a long dead song, and reminded us of just how bad '80s pop really could be.

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Are superfoods actually super?

First it was blueberries, spinach and salmon. Then it was wheatgrass, green tea and any kind of nut. Now it's kale, quinoa and pumpkin seeds. Next week — who knows?

If you're confounded by the number of foods that have been named "superfoods" over the years, you're not alone. It seems that every six months, some obscure vegetable or oddly colored drink is pushed as the cure-all for everything that ails us, all the while promising to prevent Alzheimer's, ward off cancer and keep us living well into our eighth or ninth decade.

And it's worked — for the vendors, at least. According to the market research firm Global Industry Analysts, the worldwide market for superfoods, which is fueled primarily by baby boomers with disposable income and a desire to stay healthy and live long, is expected to reach $130 billion in 2015.

But are the foods all they're cracked up to be? Or is it just a ploy to keep us searching the shelves at our supermarkets for the next big thing?

The European Union took a definitive stance in 2007 when it banned use of the term "superfood" on packaging unless the claim could be supported by scientific evidence. The United States has no such ban, however, and while there's general consensus as to what the word refers to — a food that's rich in vitamins, antioxidants or other nutrients — it's still "purely a marketing term," said Dr. Ilya Raskin, a professor at Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.

"In some cases, what is touted as a superfood may have some advantages over conventional foods — you will not hear that term associated with what we know is bad for you, like fat-loaded junk food," Raskin said. "But I do think it has a misleading ring to it."

Superfoods have been bestowed with "mythological" powers, he said, and although some of these are science-based and quantifiable (blueberries, often placed in the superfood category, have demonstrated benefits for those with such health conditions as metabolic syndrome, but apparently so do strawberries and cranberries), they don't take into account a person's individual needs.

For instance, grapes and watermelon may be packed with nutrients and antioxidants, but they're also high in sugar. That might not be a problem for the average person, but for those with diabetes, it can present a "clear danger," he said.

Green tea is a similar case. Numerous Internet articles claim that the drink can prevent cancer, lower blood pressure and fight off everything from diabetes to tooth decay. But while there is some evidence to support certain claims (such as a 2014 study that found that green tea may benefit cognitive function), other studies have had mixed results, and the Food and Drug Administration won't allow labels to say the drink can reduce risk of heart disease or cancer.

Furthermore, there is evidence that the concentrated doses of green tea extract found in some supplements could actually do harm to the liver.

But still, no one will say that drinking a normal amount of green tea is bad for you, and that might be the biggest benefit of the superfood craze: Instead of being bombarded with marketing from companies that are trying to make unhealthy things sound healthy, superfoods actually are healthy — even if it's not in the overblown way advertisers want us to believe.

Janet Brancato, a registered dietitian and community educator at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, pointed out that a little good publicity for things like broccoli or cauliflower isn't necessarily a bad thing. "[It's] a marketing term for healthy food, and I think it's helped to make it more popular and trendy," she said.

But potential problems can arise when consumers either eat too much of one thing (for some, blueberries can cause serious gastrointestinal distress, and too much kale may cause or exacerbate hypothyroidism), or ignore fruits and vegetables that haven't received that label; blueberries are marketed as superfood, even though there's no evidence that they're any more "super" than strawberries, apples or blood oranges.

Susan Kraus, a clinical dietitian with the Hackensack University Medical Center, said that diversity in food selection is more important than focusing on any individual item.

"People will label anything as a superfood … but we need a good 50-plus nutrients a day, so it's not just one food that we want to hone in on," she said.

And Dr. Patricia Murphy, a cardiologist at Westwood Cardiology, said no one food holds a monopoly over heart health, which comes more from eating a wide variety of colorful fruits and vegetables.

"The benefit [of superfoods] are exaggerated, but it's good for people to think about what they're eating and make healthy choices," she said. "I still think that the advice from [author] Michael Pollan is the best: 'Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.' "

So will washing down a steady diet of kale and quinoa with gallons of green tea keep us disease-free? No, probably not. Raskin said that for the best results, the old advice is still the best: Talk to a physician or nutritionist about what diet best suits you. And ignore the next round of articles on "must-eat" foods.

"I try to eat healthy according to the recommendations of dietitians and physicians, and maintain a healthy diet emphasizing sufficient servings of fruits and vegetables," he said. "And that kind of basic nutritional advice will trump any specific superfood at any time."

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The dos and don'ts of gym etiquette

It's the first month of the new year, and that means your gym is loaded with new faces.

That's not bad, of course, but it does mean that there will be people who don't know the unwritten rules that many (but, alas, not all) gym-goers live by. So consider this a crash-course in how not to drive fellow weightlifters and cardio addicts insane, good for both gym newbies and gym rats who might have forgotten a thing or two.

Photo by Steve Janoski

* Wipe down your equipment when you're done with it. Use an antibacterial wipe if you can (many gyms provide them) or a towel if you can't. Because if there's one thing that drives everyone crazy, it's sitting down to use a machine only to find that someone else has left sweat — or worse — all over it.

Geoffrey Small, a retired 74-year-old from Fair Lawn, recently was at Gold's Gym in Paramus when he saw someone "sneeze all over" a machine and then walk away.

"You're spreading germs, especially at this time of year," he said.

Brenda Eickmeyer, an accountant from Ridgewood, said she goes to the gym after lunchtime specifically because it's slower — fewer people means fewer machines sullied. "Everything should be clean," she said.

* Re-rack your weights when done. Don't leave dumbbells on the floor, or stacks of 45 pound plates heaped on machines. People want to do their own workout — not clean up after yours.

Jaroslav Waznee, a 64-year-old professional trainer from Suffern, N.Y., said that no matter where he goes — he's worked out in gyms from Bergen County to San Diego — this is always a problem.

"They'll leave weights and other pieces of equipment laying around on the floor where you can trip over them," he said. "They become a hazard. And men will leave heavy plates on a leg press machine, and then women will have trouble taking them off. It's really rude and inconvenient."

* Don't use your cellphone. Do everyone a favor and leave it in the locker room.

Eric Thomas, 37-year-old owner/operator of Snap Fitness in Mahwah, called this his biggest pet peeve. "It distracts other people, and I think it's inconsiderate," he said. You're here to work out — do your workout. No one wants to be walking on a treadmill and hear someone yelling about what they had for dinner last night on a cellphone next to them."

* Use perfume and cologne sparingly. People who wear too much cologne or perfume can make it unpleasant for others, although Waznee said that some people, especially those who come right from work, might not notice how much they're wearing.

"When they perspire, it becomes even stronger, and some people are allergic to those smells," he said. "It gets obnoxious."

Joe Nici, a 58-year-old businessman from Bridgewater, added that taking deep breaths around perfume abusers "can really kill you," he said.

"It's usually the kind that you buy at the five-and-dime in the big bottles."

* Don't slam barbells or dumbbells on the floor. Slamming, Chris Reyes, a 42-year-old retired police officer, "is ridiculous. Even with headphones, it just scares you."

When asked if he was guilty of any offenses himself, he smiled sheepishly.

"I sing," he said. "You can't hear yourself! And then people look at you and you say, 'Oops … that was loud.' "

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"Why are cocktails so expensive?" and other mystifying questions about restaurants finally answered

Eating at restaurants might be familiar territory, but how they function business-wise — and the

impact that has on their prices — is foreign to many of us. Here, we deconstruct the menu to show how restaurateurs and chefs arrive at those prices, and why their menu looks the way it does.


How much of a profit do restaurants make?

Like any business, a restaurant must balance revenues and expenses. Revenues come from customers buying food and/or alcohol. At a restaurant with a liquor license, 35 to 40 percent of the profits tend to come from liquor sales; at a BYOB, all profit comes from selling meals, which is why food prices are sometimes higher.

About a third of the profits goes straight towards food costs, and another third pays for labor. About 15 to 20 percent goes towards fixed costs like rent, insurance and something called the "Q factor": the things a restaurant must buy but doesn't actually sell, such as salt, pepper, napkins, plastic wrap, bathroom supplies, tablecloths … "That has to be worked into your menu price," said Michael Ventura, co-executive chef of The Plum & The Pear in Wyckoff. "Otherwise you're giving that money away. And it could be another 5 percent on your menu prices."

Christine Nunn, chef/owner of Picnic on the Square in Ridgewood, said that her Q factor includes Riedel wineglasses, each costing around $30. Break one, she said, and she's already lost money on your table. Nunn also spends between $800 and $1,000 a month renting napkins (15 cents each) and tablecloths ($6 each) from a linen delivery service.

A restaurant's profit margin is likely to be between 8 percent and 15 percent — and if it's at the higher end, it's doing well.


Is there seasonality for meat?

Yes, but it relies more on customers' tastes than availability. In the depths of winter, heavy dishes featuring venison, lamb and braised meats will rule, but as snow melts and temperatures warm, you're more likely to see lighter dishes like brisket, flank steak, chopped meat and pork.

"I can get anything at any time of year, but do you really want to sit down with a nice steaming bowl of beef stew when it's a 100-degree day?" asked Kevin Portscher, owner/chef of Village Green in Ridgewood. "Probably not. You'd rather have a grilled chicken breast with a salad."

Why are mixed drinks so costly?

Liquor is often viewed as the most profitable thing a restaurant can sell, and that's because it's easy to prepare and tremendously marked up — sometimes as much as 400 percent.

But when it comes to cocktails, other factors are involved, said Andrew McIntosh, resident mixologist at the Park West Tavern in Ridgewood. There are ingredients to pay for, and some, like small-batch bourbons and ryes, aren't procurable by the average consumer and are more expensive than what's found on liquor store shelves. And although anyone can pour a draft beer or glass of wine, not everyone can mix a good drink — that, McIntosh said, is a skill all its own.

"It's not something we're just throwing together willy-nilly — we're putting our time and effort into it," he said.


Why do restaurants serve pre-made desserts?

Ideally, all restaurants would serve fresh desserts made in-house, but two factors get in the way: space and cost. Ventura of The Plum & The Pear (who has, he reported, a talented salad chef prepare his desserts) said that pastries and desserts need their own space away from the line in order to prevent cross-contamination, and it can be difficult to cross-train a chef working the grill or salad station.

The money also isn't there. Kevin Kohler, chef/owner of Ramsey's Café Panache, said that if a restaurant sells 25 desserts at $8 each, the resulting $200 in profit must cover both the ingredient cost and the labor.

"It's a losing proposition financially," he said. "Restaurants choose to go to an outside bakery, or get frozen desserts, because that's their only solution to selling desserts and profiting."


What happened to the bread basket?

In Europe, bread and napkin/tablecloth charges are often tacked onto the bill automatically, but in America, we expect them for free. But it's not free … for the restaurant; Nunn said she gives out about $100 worth of bread each weekend. Still…

"I'm not going to say to someone, 'I don't mind that you're paying $38 for the lamb, but if you want bread it's another two bucks,' " she said. "You can't do it."

Portscher has his waiters deliver one piece per diner (they can always request more) — and not offer a bread basket. Therefore, at the end of the night, he doesn't have to throw out uneaten bread.

Kohler said he'd "like to smack" the first person who gave free bread because it's "the most filling item on the planet."

"A restaurant gives you an array of breads, a hunk of butter, and they start you off with that … and then when [customers] order, they don't order much, because they're full of bread."


Why is pasta on every menu?

Simple: It sells well, and restaurants make money off it. The profit margin on things like steak or other proteins is slim, but pasta sales offset that — if a steak costs a restaurant $20, many will charge $40. However, a plate of pasta that sells for $20 might have cost the restaurant $5 or less.

Plus, everyone is comfortable with it — Kohler said that many customers who find themselves bewildered by the intricate menus and unfamiliar terminology used at upscale restaurants can always fall back on a pasta dish and know they'll be full by meal's end.


Why are there so many red-sauce restaurants in Bergen County?

Blame our Italian ancestors. New Jersey has one of the highest concentrations of people of Italian descent in the country, and even those who aren't Italian have grown comfortable with red-sauce meals because it makes it easier to feed a larger number of people, said Peter Loria, owner/chef of Café Matisse in Rutherford.

"Italian-style food was a cheaper way to raise a family," Loria said.

Kohler agrees, but added customers are comfortable with red-sauce meals — especially those who aren't familiar with refined-yet-limited menus. At a red-sauce restaurant, any customer will know everything listed. "It's about comfort. They want a great big pile of food that they'll never eat in a million years, a menu with more than 30 items on it, none of it can be fresh … that's the general public."


How does a BYOB make any money?

It's not easy. Nunn of Picnic on the Square said that alcohol-serving restaurants are "making more on a bottle of Kendall Jackson chardonnay than I'm making on a plate of food." Controlling labor costs, reducing waste and counting pennies becomes crucial, and Ventura said that selling enough profitable items like homemade soups and pasta is even more important. So is customer service: Replacing a diner's overcooked steak might cost money, but it's the best way to ensure they come back, Portscher said.


Why do restaurants have prix-fixe menus?

Not all restaurants offer an a la carte menu — some favor a "prix-fixe" setup that promises several courses and a dessert, all for one price. Loria's restaurant has functioned this way since 2000, and he said the benefits are two-fold: It helps track inventory more accurately, and keeps out customers who might only want to buy one course and skip more profitable items.

"There's less guessing," he said. "Overall, it's better for the bottom line for ordering, and not [having to] throw away product and make the garbage can your friend."


Is buying wine by the bottle a better deal than by the glass?

Given the high markup on wine, yes.

"If two people are sitting down and drinking the same wine, they might have two glasses each — you're drinking a bottle right there," McIntosh said. House wines aren't typically the highest quality, either, because the restaurant is trying to satisfy all palates, and they're sometimes left open overnight.

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The 'Fighting Grandmas': These women over 50 punch, kick and defend themselves

Rodlyn Park isn't the least bit intimidating. She's short — only 5 feet, 3 inches — and weighs just 107 pounds. She's not exactly young, either: she turns 70 in February. But don't be fooled by the Wyckoff resident's small stature or the number of candles on her birthday cake; the blond-haired mother of three and grandmother of four can kick butt with the best of them.

From left: Suzanne Lippe, Rodlyn Park and Maritza Echevarria 

She can hit so hard, in fact, that new classmates at Krav Maga NJ in Ramsey, where she trains three times a week in the hard-core Israeli self-defense art, are shocked at how adept she is, said owner/instructor Tony Racciatti.

"You would have never thought that anybody could talk her into defending herself — but now she'll punch. And it hurts, 'cause she's bony," he said with a laugh.

But Park is not the only woman of a certain age who can hold her own. She's part of what Racciatti calls his "fighting grandmas," a group of women over 50 who train in Krav Maga, which was developed for the famously well-trained Israeli military and combines techniques from boxing, wrestling and a variety of other martial arts with a focus on real-world applications.

"It's not just physical exercise — it's a mental thing for me," Park said, moments after her hourlong class ended on a Tuesday night. "For women, when you get older, your comfort zone starts to shrink. And I don't want my life defined by my comfort zone. I can't stop the physical aging, but I can stop the mental aging."

Suzanne Lippe, an art teacher from Mahwah in her mid-50s, has three daughters and a granddaughter, and began studying martial arts after she was attacked in New York City about 15 years ago. She didn't know how to react, she said, so she panicked and froze. After six years in Krav, she believes it would be different if it happened again.

"At least with Krav Maga, I have a game plan," she said. "You learn to react very quickly and very decisively. And it keeps you completely aware of your surroundings — scanning your environment, making sure no one is following you."

Many women, both young and old, have difficulty with Krav because of the inherent brutality in the techniques — Racciatti often yells things like "Jam your fingers in his eyes!" or "Grab his hair, and then flatten out his nose a little bit!" — but that's what his students are here to learn, he said. (They don't sacrifice safety — all men and women must wear cups at all times, Racciatti said, and many of the most dangerous moves, like eye pokes, are simulated — but the intent is there.)

"The hardest thing for me was learning to actually punch somebody or kick them in the groin," Park said. "For the first couple months Tony would be yelling, 'Rodlyn, kick him in the groin! You can't do the move unless you kick him in the groin!'"

But Racciatti also teaches his students to head off problems before they begin through de-escalation and avoidance by, for instance, quickly getting away from those who invade their personal space.

"Any time you get into a confrontation there's a chance of getting hurt. So we try to avoid them at all costs," he said. "Older women have been around longer, they've seen the stuff that can happen. They don't want bad stuff happening to them, because they know they're a little more vulnerable."

These techniques might have helped Rockland County resident Maritza Echevarria, 54, a mother of two with three grandchildren, when she was kidnapped in the Bronx about 15 years ago. She survived unharmed — the kidnappers meant to snag someone else, she said — but it left quite an impression. She's been doing Krav Maga for the last nine months.

"I was dealing with a man who had a knife," she said. "Knowing what I know today I would have felt much more secure."

As for Park, she's found another benefit: She can share war stories with her 10-year-old grandson, who does tae kwon do.

"Every time I see my grandson, the first thing he says to me is, 'Hey Nana, did you learn any new moves at Krav Maga?" she said. "That's our link now."

Email: janoski@northjersey.com

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Cardinals' defense makes sure that they can be seen, heard and mostimportantly felt

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2011
BY STEVE JANOSKI

If you're standing on the field, you can hear it. Sometimes the sound travels to the stands, but you certainly can't catch it from the press box. If you're on that field, though, if you're on those sidelines… you'll hear it.

It can take on a few different incarnations. Now, it sounds like shotgun shell going off; later on, it's a dull thud, as if one were hitting a tree with a Louisville slugger. Other times, it sounds like just what it is: a body being violently cast to the ground, over, and over, and over.

This has become the soundtrack for the brutal unit known as the Pompton Lakes Cardinals defense, which, with its savage hitting and propensity to generate turnover after turnover, has left opposing coaches and quarterbacks shaking their heads as they walk off the field.

Most defenses gel as the season goes on; this one has turned into poured concrete.

Their ultimate test, however, lay on the windblown turf of Metlife Stadium on Friday night where they faced off against the Glen Rock Panthers for the North 1, Group 1 championship.

As might be expected, they didn't disappoint, and as the clock ticked off its final minute and the Cardinals offense went into its victory formation, every defensive player could look on the scoreboard with the satisfaction that they'd earned by pitching a 20-0 shutout under the brightest of North Jersey's lights.

Simply put, the Cardinals were everywhere. When a Glen Rock pass was completed, linebackers and safeties flew to the ball carrier, often dishing punishing hits that made every completion a Pyrrhic victory.

When a handoff was taken, Glen Rock running backs would watch their blocking scheme crumble in front of them, crushed under the relentless assault from a line that would not give an inch.

In the end, Glen Rock would muster just 184 yards of total offense against the quagmire of a defense, which has been undeniably led by the same two players all year: defensive end Jack Baumgaertel and defensive tackle Andrew Grosser.

Together, they've managed to bring a fire into the Pompton Lakes squad that has not been seen in some time, a fire that's been forged, Baumgaertel said, by suffering through last year's losing season.

They had taken another hit earlier this year, when August's Hurricane Irene brought drenching rains that flooded hundreds of homes and sunk the team's home field under seven feet of water.

The team remembered that, he said, every time they stepped onto the field, every time they got tired, and every time they got frustrated.

"We're not just doing it for ourselves, we're doing it for the whole town… and that's what was in our hearts and minds: our town, and Pompton pride," he said.

They displayed that pride in historic fashion.

Early on in the first half, they bent but didn't break as Glen Rock sustained a drive here and there before eventually falling apart, while the Cardinals offense would supply two touchdowns and a 14-0 lead by halftime.

As the second half opened, however, the defense truly came out.

Glen Rock's first drive would be ended by a Nieko Torres interception, and its second would end in the hands of cornerback Larry Gelok.

The third would be put to sleep by Pompton's biggest hitter: Grosser, the 6 foot 2 inch, 275 lb. behemoth, who would sack Miller on a second and 12 from the Glen Rock 35 yard line.

The 11 yard loss effectively killed the drive, and Glen Rock punted soon after.

After another Pompton Lakes touchdown on the following drive, Glen Rock would mount what was possibly their best shot at scoring in the game, taking a 13 play drive from their own 21 to the Cardinal 31 yard line.

This too would end badly, however, when a Mike O'Neill pass sailed into the middle of the endzone and into the waiting hands of free safety Daniel Foote, who quickly downed the ball.

Foote would repeat that trick on the next drive, intercepting another pass and making a return that, if not for a holding call on Pompton, would have resulted in his running the length of the field for a score.

Baumgaertel attributed this lights-out play to a coaching staff that did their due diligence in drilling the players on the various misdirection plays and reverses that they knew they'd see coming at them.

"We knew that they were going to do a lot of trick plays, and we knew they were going to run to the outside, but the coaches taught us well and we prepared for it," he said.

Coach Scott Mahoney echoed this, and said that Glen Rock "tried just about everything we saw on film," but his defense was able to adapt and keep up.

It was something of a chess match for Mahoney. Glen Rock likes to run sweeps and traps, he said, and therefore, those had to be cut off. If they were, he anticipated that they would try to start throwing the ball.

With enough pressure, however, and the addition of another defensive back, Pompton could make them throw on the run, which could force them to commit turnovers.

That turnover margin, which ended up being four to one in Pompton's favor, leads directly to the winner's circle, he said.

"We were plus 22 for the year — we had 34 takeaways and 12 giveaways — and when you do that, you're gonna' win, bottom line," Mahoney said.

The philosophy worked, and the Pompton fans that packed the stands by the hundreds could see that checkmate was called by the end of the third quarter.

As for the hitting? Mahoney said that came from practice.

"The kids wanted to hit, they wanted to be physical, and every practice was physical," he said. "We hit right down to Wednesday, we were tackling and poppin' people."

That environment fosters aggressiveness, and Mahoney said that as one big hit begets another, the attitude became contagious.

"One guy sees a big hit, and everyone gets excited, and then they want to make the big hit…that's how you win here," he said.

Apparently, that's how you win at the Meadowlands as well.

E-mail: janoski@northjersey.com



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Pequannock braces for the worst

SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2011  

BY STEVE JANOSKI

STAFF WRITER

When Mayor Rich Phelan took office on the afternoon of Jan. 1, there was no way for him to predict that within eight months, the township would see three major floods, one noticeable earthquake, and possibly a massive hurricane that could lead to even more flooding.

Tall cranes rose up near the Pompton Lake Dam on Friday, Aug. 26, as work to clean and clear the dam progressed ahead of the pending storm.

Now, somehow, what was once the extraordinary is becoming the routine, and Phelan said on Thursday afternoon that he's "seen this movie three times" and he's getting tired of it.

The script could take a dark turn, however, if Hurricane Irene slams into New Jersey at Category 3 strength, and brings the temperamental Pompton River back into the streets of Pequannock.

A native of Bound Brook, Phelan is no stranger to flooding, and he's anticipating that Irene will dwarf 1999's Hurricane Floyd, and be the worst storm to hit the area since 1984...or maybe even further back.

"If we get 11 inches of rain, you're looking at a hundred-year plus flood," he said.

The township will be employing all sorts of measures to keep citizens alert as the storm intensifies, from updating the website to reverse 911 calls to firemen and police knocking on doors, and officials stress that when authorities tell them to leave, that means it's time to go.

"We believe that the waters are going to rise very quickly once the heavy rains start to come," he said. "Some people want to ride these things out, but this could be different; it could be very ugly....we may not be able to get back in later."

Phelan said on Friday afternoon that on Governor Christie's order, the Pompton Lakes Dam was opened at 12 p.m. in order to drain the lake's water level by three feet and provide some storage, an unprecedented move that many municipalities below the dam have been calling for over the last two years.

Christie had a conference call with Phelan and three other area mayors - Katie Cole of Pompton Lakes, Chris Vergano of Wayne, and Mike DeFrancisci of Little Falls - where he said that he would "take a leap of faith" with them and open the gates.

"At least they're trying to do something," Phelan said. "It took us writing letters and going on TV to get him to react, but he did react."

When asked if he thought opening the gates would truly help, Phelan replied that "anything would help at this moment...anything."

1903...or 1821...all over again?

Dave Robinson, the NJ Climatologist at Rutgers University, said that preparing for the worst might not be a bad idea.

"The potential is there for one of the more destructive storms on record for this state - but we're talking about potential," he said.

Although the storm has been vacillating between a Category 2 and Category 3, Robinson said that it's likely that it will be Category 1 by the time it hits New Jersey, although it might be possible for the storm to maintain it's power until it hits the Jersey Shore if it stays over the Atlantic long enough.

Robinson said that gusts may reach the 75 mph range on the ridge tops, but it would be unlikely for hurricane force winds to be sustained in the North Jersey area.

Unfortunately, it's the rains that will bring the troubles, and Robinson said that with the full reservoirs and a foot of rain, it would be possible to conceive of a scenario that mirrors the 1903 floods, which had the wettest storm on record and caused floods two feet above even the 1984 levels.

There are still many scenarios that could occur that end with Pequannock not getting pummeled, but if the storm continues on its course and the eye comes close to the Jersey Shore it would be a climatological anomaly.

If Irene comes ashore and moves inland as a hurricane, it would be just the third time that's happened, Robinson said, with the others occurring in 1821 and 1903.

This storm would mirror 1821 more, he said, because the 1903 storm came inland at Atlantic City and moved westward towards Trenton; the 1821 version "kind of came up the parkway."

"It's rare, but it's happened before," he said.

A new set of hazards

Regardless of what historical storm Irene ends up resembling, local officials are taking no chances.

Township Manager Dave Hollberg said that Irene's winds may lead to more problems than normal because of its potential for knocking down trees and destroying power lines.

"The combination of flooding with the potential for wind damage, power outages, and perhaps live electrical lines in flooded roads can be deadly if people are not paying attention," he said.

The township has been posting a "Weather Advisory Statement" on the Pequannock website, Peqtwp.org, that is being updated every three to six hours.

Evacuations may come early, and Hollberg said that if it looks like flooding is imminent, the town will be moving people out of the way while the roads are still dry.

"Be prepared," he advised residents. "Have a plan, have a kit, pay attention the weather reports, and if advised to evacuate, evacuate - don't wait."

Bobbi Jo Murphy, the Director of the township's Office of Emergency Management, said that the emergency shelter is in place, and will likely be at Pequannock Valley Middle School on the Newark-Pompton Turnpike.

A state of emergency has been declared by Governor Christie, and Murphy said that the First Aid Squad, Department of Public Works, Police Department and fire companies are on standby.

"The good thing is that we've been through so many floods that residents know what to expect, but I think this is going to be a whole new ballgame," she said.

Murphy expects more citizens at the emergency shelters as extended power outages occur, and people who don't normally see water end up flooded.

Greg Renna, chief of the Pequannock First Aid and Rescue Squad, said that this will be an "all hands on deck" situation for his 50 member crew, which will be ready to respond to medical emergencies that occur during the evacuation process.

The FAS will be mobilized from 7 p.m. Friday night to 7 p.m. Tuesday night, he said, but he's hoping that the storm weakening as it comes up the coast.

"A significant amount of rain could be quite devastating to this township...and its residents," he said.

David James, Chief of Engine Co. No. 1, said that the fire company is storing enough food for about four days in order to feed the 56-man crew while they're standing by or responding.

He reiterated the need for residents to leave when they're told, and was greatly concerned about the potential for downed power lines in the water, which could cut evacuation efforts off if severe enough.

"It adds a whole new danger to our job," he said. "We don't want to say no, but at some point during the storm we're going to have to say no; I can't jeopardize my men's safety because people didn't want to listen to the warnings and get out."

The biggest difference between this storm and previous floods, James said, is that this time, Pequannockis on its own.

The chief had conversations with Morris County's fire officials, and they informed him that there will be no mutual aid coming, no cavalry from Whippany or Boonton riding in to ease the burden on the township's weary firemen.

"They're having the same problems this time as we do," he said. "We're like John Wayne this time, we'll do what we have to do."

On top of this, many state resources that were previously available in March will be pushed further south towards the Shore areas in order to help those communities cope.

James is also concerned that if a major evacuation of New York City occurs, people will be coming this way looking for shelter in hotels that also might have to be eventually evacuated, such as the Best Western/Regency House on Route 23 north.

Bill Pereira, head of the Pequannock Department of Public Works, said that the storm drains are all clear, and the DPW is preparing for trees to come down and barricades to be put up.

"The guys have been through this drill before, so we try to move a little bit ahead of things by putting up barricades where we know they're going to be necessary," he said.

The township's wellhouses and sewer pump stations have also been checked and secured, but Periera said that the possibility of them failing due is "remote."

"That type of thing is not very likely unless we get something that's way off the charts...but the pumps do have to keep running throughout the storm, and it's something that we keep an eye on," he said.

Email: janoski@northjersey.com

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Protest organizers speak on Vick appearance in Butler

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2011

BY STEVE JANOSKI
STAFF WRITER

Plans continue to take shape for the protest that's scheduled to coincide with Michael Vick's appearance at Main Street's Butler Sports Cards, with animal rights activists vowing to send the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback "a clear message" that he's not wanted in Butler.
The signing will take place on Sunday, June 19, and store owner Jeff Robbins expects that it will draw somewhere around 200 people, all of whom will be paying for the chance to procure the resurgent quarterback's signature.

The event has also drawn the attention of local animal rights activists, many of whom are planning to take to the street to let Vick know that they haven't forgotten his past sins.

Tracey Bradshaw, 36, is a Rockaway native and one of the organizers of the protest. She said that the activists have "no respect for Vick" and are "offended by the fact that he's coming around our area."

Bradshaw said that even though laws aren't as stringent for killers of dogs as they are for killers of humans, "a murderer is a murderer," and Vick coming to Butler is akin to any other murderer "coming to town and signing autographs."

Another of the protest's organizers, Maria Fortunato, 42, of Wayne, said that it was "vile" that he was able to continue on with his career by "doing a little bit of time, saying, 'I'm sorry,' and moving on."

Fortunato said that the goal of the protest is to keep Vick's name in the public eye and remind people of his crimes.

"The dogs don't have a voice," she said. "We need to be their voices and remind people of what he actually did."

Bradshaw said that she hopes that the protest is seen as a cry for stricter laws on animal abuse and reaches the ears of legislators.

"We want to make our point known that we need stricter laws and penalties," she said.

Candace Bright, founder of the foster service Gentle Giants Inc. of Wayne, works with giant breed dogs, many of which have been used as bait dogs in dogfighting operations.

She said that she wants to help remind the American public that animal rights people don't support Vick, and that he is not someone to be idolized even though he is a star athlete.

"I think that he is not a good figure for kids to look up to," she said.

None of the women are content with the 18-month jail sentence that Vick served. Fortunato said he should be in prison for life for what he did, and Bradshaw said that when a "human murders another human intentionally, they spend a lot longer in jail than a year and a half."

Roughly 100 people are expected to show up for the protest, which will start around noon and take place in a cordoned-off section of parking spots across the street from the card shop.

Many of those involved, including Bradshaw and Fortunato, are involved in animal rescue in one way or another and have called their impromptu group "Justice for the Vicktory Dogs."

They will carry signs and posters as well as a Vick piñata that, instead of being bashed open, will serve as a fund-raising tool. Different sums of money will be inserted through various holes cut into the dummy.

At the end of the rally, the money will be sent to the organization "Dogs Deserve Better," which is seeking to buy the Virginia property that once housed Vick's now infamous "Bad Newz Kennels."

Their plan, Bradshaw said, is to turn it into an animal sanctuary.

There is also word that a counter-protest is being planned against the animal rights people, and Bradshaw said they've "gotten quite aggressive" toward her group. Capt. Ciro Chimento, spokesman for the ButlerPolice Department, said that there will be a law-enforcement presence in the area to accommodate the protestors and counter-protestors, should they show up.

However, the loose organizational structure of the protests has given police problems in calculating exactly how many people to expect.

"We do have some traffic diversions scheduled in the event that it gets to those (higher) numbers of people, but we really don't know," he said.

Butler police are working closely with the Morris County Prosecutor's Office and surrounding jurisdictions to gather intelligence and plan for the day, said Chimento.

"We're not expecting any real problems at this point," he said. "We're planning for the worst and hoping for the best… But we're hoping for a very peaceful assembly.

An unredeemable crime?

It may be possible that in some people's eyes, the quarterback will never be forgiven for what he's done, even though he continues to speak at various schools about the evils of dogfighting as part of his community service program.

Recently, he spoke out against an app for Android phones called "Dog Wars," which reportedly allowed users to train and fight virtual dogs against each other. The app has since been pulled.

Fortunato said that maybe she would believe he changed if he takes on a proactive stance toward saving animals after his probation period is over, such as setting up a foundation or injecting money into local shelters in Philadelphia. Even then, she's not sure.

"I don't know if there's anything he could ever do," she said. "But certainly walking the walk instead of just talking out of his piehole would be a start. I wouldn't want him living next to me, just like I wouldn't want a pedophile or murderer living next to me."

Bradshaw said that he "hasn't shown one ounce of remorse" for the crimes, while Bright said that he would have to continue his public speaking and anti-dogfighting awareness campaign.

"He would have to make some major, major amends before I said, 'OK, he's rehabilitated,'" she said.

The organizers are aware of what people are saying— Bright said she has been called a racist and a Nazi, and they've all been subject to various threats over the past weeks in one way or another.

They're willing to take it though.

"A lot of people think that we're just crazy, to just let him be," said Fortunato. "But I don't know how people can just bypass the extreme way he did things."

E-mail: janoski@northjersey.com

Fairlamb fights for more than just a title

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

BY STEVE JANOSKI

In the last "Rocky" movie, Sylvester Stallone gives a monologue to his struggling son that ends with a phrase that speaks to far more than fighting: "It ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit, and keep movin' forward, how much you can take, and keep movin' forward."

If Butler's Scott Fairlamb hadn't already learned that lesson over his years in the ring, he's well aware of it now.


The 33-year-old, like most fighters, has a direct manner of speaking and doesn't sugarcoat things. He swears and laughs frequently, and doesn't seem like a man staring death in the face.

Standing at an imposing 6 feet 4 inches and weighing in somewhere north of 205, he played on Butler High School's 1994 state championship football team, and later became a two-time All-American linebacker at Jersey City State.

After football, he took up boxing, and he won at that too; he racked up a 5-0-1 record as a heavyweight southpaw before a series of devastating hand injuries ended his run.

But apparently once fighting is in your blood, it's there for good.

Fairlamb soon became involved in the rising sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), and began training at AMA Fight Club in Whippany. He received sponsorships that allowed him to train full time, and last May, he left his job with the carpenters' union to pursue his next career.

His first pro fight was on Sept. 24 in Atlantic City. Although he lost the match, he wryly notes that he got his shots in.

"I heard the guy got like 14 stitches…I went home, he went to the hospital," he said with a laugh.

Over the years, Fairlamb's become accustomed to winning. He's become accustomed to dishing out the beatings.

But, as old boxing trainers always say, it's the punch you don't see coming that knocks you out – and there was no way in the world that Fairlamb, a lifelong athlete, could have seen this one.

'I thought I was having a heart attack'

He has memorized the date: October 10, 2010.

It was a Sunday morning. His roommate had gone to a funeral, and Fairlamb was home alone when things began to go wrong.

"My arms went numb, I got hot and lightheaded…I had a tightness in my chest and I couldn't breathe," he said. "I thought I was having a heart attack."

He took a cold shower, but that didn't help. Still sweating, he put his head under the sink and doused himself in cold water when his sister called.

"She was talking to me, and told me that I wasn't making any sense," he said. "She told me to call our mother, and when I did, my mother said, 'You need to call 911.'"

After a battery of tests at Chilton Hospital, doctors said that Fairlamb looked to be in great shape – until his blood work came back.

His white blood cell count – which is supposed to be around 7,000 for a typical adult – was 54,000. Fairlamb had Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML).

Just months later, the sponsorships are gone. He must take the chemotherapy pill Gleevec every day for the rest of his life — but he doesn't have medical insurance.

Although he's responded well to the pills, they don't come cheap: about $2,000 for 30.

A series of fund-raisers have been organized by friends in the past months to help with the bills, and Fairlamb said that he's truly grateful for everything that's being done.

"I couldn't mention just one person, because there's been so many, and that's the one thing that's gotten me the most: the overwhelming support from everyone….it's really humbling," he said.

Returning to the fight

The resolve of some people might fade in the face of such overwhelming adversity, but Fairlamb's spirit never flags — not for a second. He's seen leukemia take those close to him already; his friend, Brian DePascale of Butler, died in 2002 at just 22 due to the disease.

He's also witnessed the struggle of Delaney Brown, the 4-year-old daughter of former BHS teammate Bobby Brown, who has neuroblastoma, a type of cancer that attacks children's nervous systems.

"Seeing her, and how she's able to overcome everything, is an inspiration," he said.

Fairlamb sees his own fight as payback, a kick in the teeth to a disease that causes so much misery, and continually says that there are many who have it worse than he does.

"I want to embarrass cancer for everyone who has passed away from it… I've seen it take too many people, and I owe it a beating," he said. "It's another challenge for me."

And while there might not be much work for the unemployed carpenter, there is one final respite for Fairlamb, the one thing that he's always had: the fight itself.

Even though everyone around him thinks he's crazy for doing it, he's planning a return to MMA's octagon on April 22. He sparred for the first time in months last week.

"I lost my sponsorships, but I'll get 'em back," he said. "People think I'm crazy, but I don't give a f--- what they say."

His trainer, AMA owner/operator Mike Constantino, is hardly surprised.

"He's got a great attitude and he's been a fighter his whole life," said Constantino. "He picked up like he never left off; he's a strong kid mentally and physically."

Constantino said that he'd like to see Fairlamb get back to the point where he's training for two hours a day, five days a week, in preparation for the April bout.

If you talk to Fairlamb, though, he's already there.

After months of treatment, his white blood cell counts are beginning to approach the normal range, and the relentless exhaustion and joint pain is lessening. He takes the Gleevec at night now, so he sleeps through the worst of the nausea that the medication brings.

Fight training isn't easy in the first place; it's even harder when you feel, as Fairlamb said, "like your heart is in a vacuum seal."

"There's times that I feel like I can't breathe, like 10 people are standing on my chest," he said.

But there's also times when he feels like his old self, and that's what he's aiming for.

"I'm not the kind of guy that's going to sit on the couch and whine about getting cancer. It's just another fight and I'm going to come out on top," he said. "I don't know how to lose."

But the concept of "winning" has taken on a whole new meaning for Butler's native son — it's no longer just a mark under the "W" column.

Now, his very life depends on it.

E-mail: janoski@northjersey.com

 

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Pequannock resident preparing to take on Golden Gloves tournament

Sunday, January 16, 2011

BY STEVE JANOSKI

Most early mornings start the same for Mike DeLade Jr. since he began boxing: a 5 a.m. rising followed by a 45-minute run that takes him through the streets of Pequannock before most of the people have stirred from slumber.

The Benjamin Place resident then works during the day doing construction and contracting work before driving down to Whippany's Final Round Boxing gym.



There, DeLade finishes off his day by lacing on the gloves and lighting up the bags in somber preparation for February's NJ Golden Gloves tournament, which has pitted the best amateur fighters against each other every year since 1923.

It's been a long road to the boxing gym for the 23-year-old DeLade, who graduated from Pequannock Township High School in 2005 and has worked a variety of blue-collar jobs since, ranging from air conditioning and heating, to masonry and snow plowing.

The grind of the blue-collar world led to boredom and sometimes trouble for DeLade, who's had a few "scuffles" on a few nights that didn't end early enough.

"I had always wanted to fight, but I always seemed to like fighting in bars more," he said with a laugh.

He began playing flag football to break the monotony, but that wasn't enough, and one sport continued to draw him in: boxing.

"My uncles always liked watching boxing, and after watching the fights, I wanted to learn the art of it," he said, noting that a cousin of his had also been a Golden Gloves fighter.

Although he didn't necessarily receive support from his mother ("She said, 'I don't want your face to get busted up.'") or his friends ("They said, 'People train their whole lives for that tournament.'"), he pushed on and eventually found a home at Final Round Boxing.

"I told them that even if I don't (win), at least I can say that I tried," he said. "And my father is psyched about it too. He thinks I could do good in there."

So, for the past two months, DeLade has been training under the watchful eye of Final Round's boxing coach, former heavyweight fighter Lou Esa of Wayne.

"When I joined, Lou asked if I wanted to fight amateur or not, so we did a couple sessions to see if I was good enough," DeLade said.

After those sessions, Esa agreed to train him for the tournament.

"He said I hit hard and that all the other things will come together," he said.

Esa, 59, is a giant of a man with bear paws for hands who once fought on Muhammad Ali's undercards during his pro career. He's not one to mince words, but said that the kid's getting better, and quickly.

"He's used to street fighting and all, so he's not afraid to get hit, but when I get him sparring more I'll be able to better judge (his ability)," Esa said. "But the way things are going now, I think he'll breeze right through the (Golden) Gloves."

Esa joked that DeLade still has the "white man's disease"— a term he coined for having little rhythm and slow feet (similar to "Rocky").

However, one thing the 6-foot-1, 225-pound DeLade has that makes Esa grin is a big right hand that he thinks could devastate opponents.

"That right hand," Esa said, "is going to put somebody on Queer Street if he hits 'em with it."

On top of his natural power, DeLade has exhibited a ceaseless work ethic that Esa admires.

"He goes right into his workout, he doesn't play, and that impresses the hell out of me," he said. "He wants this so bad."

DeLade said that he can't wait to get in the ring for what would be his first amateur fights when the Golden Gloves tournament starts in the first week of February.

"(Boxing) isn't a team thing. I played football my whole life, but this, the whole weight is on you. It's between you and the other fighter," he said. "It's 'Let's see what you got, let's see how much you want it.'"

Grueling workouts… daily

Those who have boxed might attest to the punishing nature of the sport's training.

An hour's worth of running every morning, and later on, after laboring all day, it's another hour or two of training a variety of skill work, from shadowboxing and jumping rope to speed and heavy bag work, all with one goal: to be able to hurt another man so badly that he can't continue fighting.

At the start, it can be discouraging as fighters engage muscles they've never used before and find out that it's not as easy as it looks.

"It's pretty hard, especially in the beginning," DeLade said. "The first time I hit a speed bag, I thought, 'I'm never gonna be able to get this.'

"It takes a while, and you've got to do little things like shadowbox at home in front of a mirror, and when you're getting tired, you have to go right through it," he said.

The practice, however, is paying off in a big way.

"The other day he hit the bag with a 1-2-1-2," said Esa, "And that thing went flying… The whole gym noticed. I told (DeLade) that that's what I want. He's been doing fantastic."

Coincidentally, working the heavy bag happens to be DeLade's favorite hobby.

"I get some frustration out, and if you do the right combo or hit it right, you can tell right away," he said.

The close relationship between trainer and fighter is already beginning to form even though they haven't been working together long, and DeLade trusts Esa's every word.

"He knows everything about boxing and he tells it how it is. He doesn't sugarcoat things," DeLade said. "Whatever Lou says, I do."

With the tournament looming ever closer, the training becomes more and more crucial for what will be the first test of DeLade's skills in the squared circle.

"I think my chances are really good since I'm training hard, and I'm really serious about it… (Winning) it would probably be the biggest accomplishment of my life," he said. "I've got the conditioning and I've got the confidence. I can't wait."

E-mail: janoski@northjersey.com