Chilltown Blues

Chilltown Blues

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On taking some of the "chill" from Chilltown
By The Chilltown Blues
Jan 31
A Chilltown Blues comic: State of the art
On culture with one foot in Chilltown, a nickname for JC ... where that nickname's peculiar roots are increasingly appropriated/romanticized. Other…
Jan 23
Make way for "Queen of da South" in MC MADuum ShonTé Renae's debut mixtape
"The majority (of people) confuse confidence as something that’s supposed to be loud and obnoxious ..."
Jan 15
Most Popular
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Dual exhibits at NJCU Visual Arts Gallery reflect on 80 years since atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Sep 27, 2025
On crowdfunding "Dreams on a Pillow": Award-winning Palestinian game developer of "Liyla ..." talks motivations, challenges, and influences
Dec 17, 2024
The problem with being "one of the good ones"
Jul 22, 2025
JC intuitive consultant on where empathy can run deepest
Oct 23, 2024
Norwegian game developer offers new spin on pawn vs. queen in “RPG Chess”
May 11, 2025
From "N(J)oisy City," an interview with noise pollution expert Dr. Arline Bronzaft
Oct 4, 2024

Recent posts

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In this winter of discontent, skunks are surviving in Chilltown
How and why they're probably here to stay
Jan 8
In memoriam: Arline Bronzaft, anti-noise pollution advocate
"... If people were civil, if people were respectful, if people were kind, we'd have a different world, wouldn't we?” - Arline Bronzaft
Jan 2
Chilltown Blues Photo Gallery 2025
Thank you for reading and supporting Chilltown Blues.
Dec 31, 2025
When Chilltown was the city of Steel
Before Ms. Marvel, comic book writer Priest's run featured Steel trying to make a difference in wearying Jersey City
Dec 24, 2025
Missing pieces
And a small music mix as 2025 winds down
Dec 16, 2025
Chilltown rapper Constant Flow explores "The Price of Paradise" with new album
“Paradise.” What does it take to be there, and what does it take from you?
Dec 9, 2025
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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When Chilltown was the city of Steel
Before Ms. Marvel, comic book writer Priest's run featured Steel trying to make a difference in wearying Jersey City
Dec 24, 2025
The "Super-" writer whose Icon a SCOTUS justice may have quoted -- sans context
On Dwayne McDuffie
Oct 10, 2025
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, 2025
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, 2025
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

music

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Make way for "Queen of da South" in MC MADuum ShonTé Renae's debut mixtape
"The majority (of people) confuse confidence as something that’s supposed to be loud and obnoxious ..."
Jan 15
Chilltown rapper Constant Flow explores "The Price of Paradise" with new album
“Paradise.” What does it take to be there, and what does it take from you?
Dec 9, 2025
"Chino's Book": Chilltown rapper Constant Flow's latest is ode to hip hop's Puerto Rican Superhero
Toed line between Jersey and NYC
Oct 30, 2025
Virtuoso guitarist Vumbi Dekula leads Dekula Band on "Slavery is Crime" EP
Gives translation of title Congolese rumba track
Sep 10, 2025
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…
Sep 3, 2025

film

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What horror series speaks most to being vulnerable to decaying infrastructure?
It's also entertaining
Nov 8, 2025
On superheroes and meaning -- inspiration or distraction -- with YouTubers Hayley and Kayli
"Wokeness" intrinsic to genre?
Jul 12, 2025
Context makes for the most singular mural in Chilltown
And why this is just a glimpse
May 4, 2025
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, 2025
YouTubers Hayley and Kayli on the horror!
Genre, that is, but also IRL
Mar 12, 2025

health

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Where you can find local food pantries
Chilltown and otherwise
Nov 4, 2025
Hudson Pride Center, Partners in Prevention launch first harm reduction kiosk in Union City
Initiative to prevent opioid overdose deaths
Sep 18, 2025
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, 2025
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, 2025
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, 2025

quality of life

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On taking some of the "chill" from Chilltown
By The Chilltown Blues
Jan 31
In memoriam: Arline Bronzaft, anti-noise pollution advocate
"... If people were civil, if people were respectful, if people were kind, we'd have a different world, wouldn't we?” - Arline Bronzaft
Jan 2
When Chilltown was the city of Steel
Before Ms. Marvel, comic book writer Priest's run featured Steel trying to make a difference in wearying Jersey City
Dec 24, 2025
Missing pieces
And a small music mix as 2025 winds down
Dec 16, 2025
Who wins in JC mayoral runoff?
Mamdani’s policies and charm offensive are meant in some part to chip away at the very things that have given people like Mamdani himself a leg up in a…
Nov 24, 2025

canvas

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Chilltown Blues Photo Gallery 2025
Thank you for reading and supporting Chilltown Blues.
Dec 31, 2025
Photographer Rita Aida explores healing dynamic of nature in "Tree Therapy" show
Gallery show on Nov. 21 in Asbury Park
Nov 16, 2025
A ghost story and more via Newark's Index Art Center
Group art show, open by appointment, runs to Nov. 15
Oct 14, 2025
Dual exhibits at NJCU Visual Arts Gallery reflect on 80 years since atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
On "Take it home, for (__) shall not repeat the error" and "Atomic Cowboy: The Daze After"
Sep 27, 2025
Throwback to a front page ...
This was the calling card image for a comic ...
Jun 26, 2025

smorgasbord

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In this winter of discontent, skunks are surviving in Chilltown
How and why they're probably here to stay
Jan 8
On who/what informed the junk on our holiday wishlists
Reagan's deregulating opened up the floodgates for that too
Dec 1, 2025
"Superhero League of Hoboken" may be definitive videogame featuring NJ-NYC metropolitan area
Game centers NJ in worldwide dystopia
May 18, 2025
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, 2025
The capital in unnecessary capitalization
By itself, you almost never need to capitalize president.
Jan 7, 2025
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