I just posted a new video on my YouTube channel! It’s an audio slideshow of my recent trip to IKEA. It might not be perfect, but I’m proud of it all the same. So if you want to see pictures of the Armpit of America’s favorite Swedish home furnishings store (or if you just want hear what my voice sounds like), check it out!
My Trip to IKEA – The Slideshow
Posted May 3, 2010 by armpitnjCategories: Armpit Adventures, Videos
Tags: Food, IKEA, Jersey Turnpike, Newark Liberty Airport, videos
Rutgers Day / Ag Field Day
Posted April 29, 2010 by armpitnjCategories: Rutgers
Tags: cockroaches, insects, New Brunswick, Rutgers, Rutgers Day
This past Saturday was a very special day for Rutgers University students and alumni alike. To those who weren’t privileged enough to attend the State University of New Jersey (although about half of the state did go there), I’m talking about Ag Field Day…or is it Rutgers Day? Whatever you wanna call it, it’s a day full of food, fun, and farmy stuff.
Rutgers: the official university of the Armpit of America
The reason for the confusion in the name? Well, it’s probably even more confusing to explain. Ag Field Day (the Ag part standing for Agricultural) had been held each year since 1906. For much of that time, it took place on the Cook Campus of Rutgers University. Starting last year, the powers that be decided to make the event a university-wide festival called Rutgers Day. But over 100 years of history doesn’t just get absorbed, so the day is still referred to by its original name. Read the rest of this post »
What’s Worse Than Flying to Afghanistan?
Posted April 25, 2010 by armpitnjCategories: Driving in New Jersey, Random
Tags: Afganistan, Jersey Turnpike, travel
The other day, CNN.com posted a fascinating story about a guy who traveled the world using the most dangerous methods of transportation possible. Carl Hoffman went out of his way to fly on airlines with questionable safety records, like Cubana and Ariana (the national airlines of Cuba and Afghanistan, respectively). He also went on crowded ferries in Asia, where the complimentary meal was a fish tail, and sat in crowded buses speeding around cliffs in South America.
Though Hoffman may sound like a daredevil, his reason for going on these death-defying journeys wasn’t for the thrill or the adrenaline rush. His mission was to experience how people all over the world get from place to place. Though we may wonder why anyone would want to ride on a crowded bus for 28 hours, for some people, that’s their only way to get around.
As interesting as this may be, you’re probably wondering why I would include such a story on a blog about New Jersey. Well, that’s because of one of the answers Hoffman gave to CNN in his interview. When asked how he felt flying with an airline with poor safety records, Hoffman responded as such:
“Even on really bad — statistically bad — airlines, the death rate is really much lower than, say, driving on the New Jersey Turnpike.”
Someone who made it his mission to travel the world in the most dangerous ways possible still had something bad to say about the Turnpike. I would think that after experiencing the transportation methods of the third world, one would have a much better appreciation for the Turnpike. Apparently, the opposite is true. The national airline of Afghanistan is safer than the highways of the Armpit of America.
A Touch of Sweden on the Turnpike
Posted April 20, 2010 by armpitnjCategories: Armpit Adventures
Tags: Food, IKEA, Jersey Turnpike, lingonberries, meatballs, Newark Liberty Airport
It’s been said before, particularly by me, but the New Jersey Turnpike is horrible. Traffic. Cops. Tolls. Refineries. Litter. These are just a few of the nasty things you’ll see on that road. Among all of these horrible sights, though, is perhaps the one bright spot on the Turnpike: an IKEA! That’s right. Just off of Exit 13A in the shithole town of Elizabeth is the IKEA, which serves as a Swedish oasis in the otherwise barren landscape of the Armpit of America.
Upon exiting off the Turnpike, you’ll follow signs to get to the Swedish superstore. You’ll know you’re there when you see three giant poles bearing the flags of the United States, Sweden, and the greatest nation of all, New Jersey. Once you walk past the flagpoles and into the store, you’re welcomed by a sign advertising the store’s famous Swedish meatballs. Because when you need to go shopping for new furniture, you logically want to buy meatballs at the same time.
If you see this much blue and gold and it's too early for Chanukah, you're probably at an IKEA.
For the three people out there who have never been to an IKEA, it is a huge home furnishings store selling a whole bunch of stuff for your house (like meatballs). All of their goods are supposedly made in Sweden…or made to resemble stuff in Sweden? I don’t really know. But, based on the crowds of people that swarm in on the store each day, I guess that if it’s Swedish, it’s good. Read the rest of this post »
The Best of NJ: WPRB 103.3 FM
Posted April 15, 2010 by armpitnjCategories: Best of NJ, Music
Tags: Music, Princeton, Princeton University, WPRB
That stands for "We Play Reallygoodmusic, Bitch!"
A few years ago, I got a job in Princeton, NJ and spent about two and a half years working there. One of the highlights of that job was my hour-long commute. For reals. You see, though I was by myself in the car, I wasn’t alone. I had the radio to keep me company. And I kept that radio tuned to WPRB 103.3 FM – the radio station of Princeton University.
Though I would originally listen to Q104.3, the classic rock station based in New York, it would often break up as I traveled west towards Princeton. Each day, I would do my usual search for a new station; every time the seek button brought me to a new one, I would either hear a commercial or static. One day, though, I landed at 103.3. I heard this really weird song that sounded like it was being sung by Lisa Simpson, and I was hooked. (I would later find out that the song was Only Skin by Joanna Newsom.)
I kept the radio on 103.3 for the rest of my commute, and I kept hearing all these unusual songs. They were like nothing I had ever heard. Upon getting home, I looked up 103.3 to find out what it was all about. I learned that it is the student-run radio station of Princeton University, known as WPRB. As I had been so accustomed to conventional radio, where I would often hear the same songs over and over, this new (to me) station was a real awakening.
For the remainder of my time working in Princeton, I would listen to WPRB whenever possible. I was exposed to all different kinds of music, as delivered by the station’s many different deejays. You see, they have a different set of deejays and different programming each day. On top of that, every deejay is only on for like two hours. Although I was only able to listen to the station from 8 AM to 9 AM and from 5 PM to 6 PM (meaning I would hear the same shows each week), I still got a good sampling of music I had never heard before. Read the rest of this post »
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