Chilltown Blues

Chilltown Blues

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On People Under the Stairs' "The Effects of Climate Change on Densely Populated Areas"
The hip-hop duo People Under the Stairs is comprised of the late Michael “Double K” Turner and Christopher “Thes One” Portugal, whom capped off a…
21 hrs ago
Jackie Simons reflects on her self-titled debut
And song "Jersey City" on previous album
Aug 27
Getting bitten by the travel bug won't make someone super
(Not inherently) As U.S. travel season winds down ...
Aug 20
1
Most Popular
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On crowdfunding "Dreams on a Pillow": Award-winning Palestinian game developer of "Liyla ..." talks motivations, challenges, and influences
Dec 17, 2024
2
JC intuitive consultant on where empathy can run deepest
Oct 23, 2024
2
1
The problem with being "one of the good ones"
Jul 22
2
Norwegian game developer offers new spin on pawn vs. queen in “RPG Chess”
May 11
1
Comedian and NYC-native Mario Benitez on the overlooked common struggle of poverty
Jan 16
1
Did you spot the Chilltown actor in AMC's "Interview with the Vampire"?
Oct 10, 2024
1

Recent posts

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On Marcus Aurelius' "Meditations" from a high place
Where would lovers of dynasties be without the Roman Empire? Or, you know, perenially digging it up and slapping an English accent on it for extra…
Aug 12
What's on the agenda?
Why, seems to go one way of thinking, is inequality and inequity always notable if it’s always a part of life? Like air.
Aug 5
1
Gabriel Amérios Quartet's "Toca Percu" is Afro-Peruvian jazz played in legendary Brazilian studio
From a composer you should know about
Jul 25
The problem with being "one of the good ones"
White supremacy, as a term, makes some people bristle.
Jul 22
2
Dontique's new album "Cymatics" maintains high bar whole way through
Chilltown rapper's album is versatile, polished
Jul 18
On superheroes and meaning -- inspiration or distraction -- with YouTubers Hayley and Kayli
Wokeness intrinsic to genre?
Jul 12
1
Chilltown Blues
Chilltown Blues
On culture with one foot in Chilltown, a nickname for Jersey City ... where that nickname's peculiar roots are increasingly appropriated/romanticized. Other foot's wherever else people also try to live right next to purported centers of the world.

books

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Three poems by Hakim Hasan: "The Fires Before Climate Change," "In Memory of The Sycamore Tree Outside My Window" and "Apocalypse For Hal…
The Fires Before Climate Change: He died/last winter/in an arson-fire/(an amenity/at his apartment building)/carrying loneliness ...
Apr 12
Three poems by RAW: "War," "Love," and "All is Nothing"
"War": I sing the folk song “Cherni Voron”/I sing it for the dead/For no one thinks of the dead/As they die/For the entertainment/Of the well fed.
Mar 26
1
Excerpt from novel MAGIC FLASK, published from Ciudad de Jersey
Just in time for your book buying haul for the holidays, an excerpt from MAGIC FLASK by Fennel Steuert: “Hurray,” said Brendan. “Yes, ex-f----g-cactly…
Nov 29, 2024
Decade-plus of Blaxpoitation cinema: Author of book exploring it on how use of n-word changed
Author, JC native Odie Henderson talks changing Black use of the term
Oct 31, 2024
Did you spot the Chilltown actor in AMC's "Interview with the Vampire"?
Rachel Handler, who plays "Peg Leg Doris," talks working on the show and disability rep
Oct 10, 2024
1

music

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On People Under the Stairs' "The Effects of Climate Change on Densely Populated Areas"
The hip-hop duo People Under the Stairs is comprised of the late Michael “Double K” Turner and Christopher “Thes One” Portugal, whom capped off a…
21 hrs ago
Jackie Simons reflects on her self-titled debut
And song "Jersey City" on previous album
Aug 27
Gabriel Amérios Quartet's "Toca Percu" is Afro-Peruvian jazz played in legendary Brazilian studio
From a composer you should know about
Jul 25
Dontique's new album "Cymatics" maintains high bar whole way through
Chilltown rapper's album is versatile, polished
Jul 18
Sofia Carrasco's "Alma Escondida" a soundtrack of evolving jazz/introspection
NJCU jazz performance grad's album is top tier
Jul 2

film

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On superheroes and meaning -- inspiration or distraction -- with YouTubers Hayley and Kayli
Wokeness intrinsic to genre?
Jul 12
1
What's this particularly cult cult-film shot in Chilltown?
80-minute film stops on Route 440
May 25
Context makes for the most singular mural in Chilltown
And why this is just a glimpse
May 4
As spring reveals seemingly perma-litter of Chilltown, what's a not so obvious cause?
And what does the original "Toxic Avenger" film have to do with anything?
Mar 22
YouTubers Hayley and Kayli on the horror!
Genre, that is, but also IRL
Mar 12

health

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ARREN hopes new single "Broken" makes that state feel a lot less solitary than it should
"We'll be singing 'la's," he sings
May 1
Noise roundup: Singer curbs fireworks for dog; noise "makes for angry birds, stunts their growth, masks crime"
Whenever there’s this much anxiety in the air for even the upper middle class, things that affect the most vulnerable people in American society seem…
Apr 1
MaskBlocJC founder on masking as COVID remains firmly with us, thoughts on bird flu
“We lived through the beginning of 2020, and we had the information. Nothing changed. The only difference is, we got tired of masking, and collectively…
Feb 4
A Chilltown Blues comic: "Rea's Remix"
Or that time Reagan's administration showed love for noise
Jan 30
Therapist on how to navigate brutal world of online dating
As, pre-holidays, people sign up for dating apps the most, according to data
Nov 18, 2024

quality of life

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Getting bitten by the travel bug won't make someone super
(Not inherently) As U.S. travel season winds down ...
Aug 20
1
What's on the agenda?
Why, seems to go one way of thinking, is inequality and inequity always notable if it’s always a part of life? Like air.
Aug 5
1
Is Chilltown as more than modern NYC-lite anchored in its poorest wards?
And if not, what is?
Jun 23
Residents in Newport building start petition to remove pickleball courts
By Chilltown Blues
Jun 7
MaskBlocJC founder on masking as COVID remains firmly with us, thoughts on bird flu
“We lived through the beginning of 2020, and we had the information. Nothing changed. The only difference is, we got tired of masking, and collectively…
Feb 4

canvas

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Throwback to a front page ...
This was the calling card image for a comic ...
Jun 26
Hector Martinez's art emotes at Curate NJ Gallery's "Say Less" group show
Show opens March 1
Mar 1
1
Chilltown Blues Photo Gallery 2024
The blues as a musical genre is about taking what's hard/oppressive and wielding that into something that takes away some of the power of those things…
Jan 1
Tomorrow Girls Troop’s feminist art delving into East Asian cultures has first solo U.S. platform at NJCU gallery
Group’s founder explains how hard it’s been to get a U.S. platform
Nov 27, 2024
1
Photos: Going somewhere in Newark via gallery's showing of local artist's "Going Nowhere" paintings
By Chilltown Blues
Nov 26, 2024

smorgasbord

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"Superhero League of Hoboken" may be definitive videogame featuring NJ-NYC metropolitan area
Game centers NJ in worldwide dystopia
May 18
Norwegian game developer offers new spin on pawn vs. queen in “RPG Chess”
An angle Norwegian game developer Oskar Aleksander Melbye takes in the annoucement trailer for “RPG Chess,” his game coming via Steam, is as striking as…
May 11
1
The capital in unnecessary capitalization
By itself, you almost never need to capitalize president.
Jan 7
"Sign" of the times: "A Jersey City Where Success Is a Requirement"?
If you’ve been traveling by PATH train into Manhattan lately, you may have seen the above ad for the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation ...
Oct 17, 2024
From "N(J)oisy City," an interview with noise pollution expert Dr. Arline Bronzaft
Noise pollution reflects how far the world is from golden rule, says expert. But people can't stop there.
Oct 4, 2024
3
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