Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie.

Long overdue answers to Twenty Questions

It has come to my attention that I never provided the answers to the May 15 Twenty Questions. Here they are (in bold):

1. My favorite band/artist is:
a.) Bob Dylan; b.) Bruce Springsteen; c.) The Beatles; d.) Lou Reed; e.) none of the above

c. — though it is pretty close

2. Which presidential candidate did I not vote for?
a.) Bill Clinton; b.) Michael Dukakis; c.) Al Gore; d.) John Kerry; e.) none of the above

c. — I voted for the other Democrats (Clinton in 1992, but not in 1996), but voted for Nader in 2000.

3. Name the three colleges/universities that I attended:

Penn. State, Middlesex County, Rutgers University

4. I majored in English, but minored in what subject?

American Studies

5. True or false:
I scored higher on the math portion of the SATs than on the verbal portion.

True. I scored a 720 on math and 550 on verbal

6. Which job have I not held?
a.) Movie theater usher; b.) lighting rod installer; c.) mall security guard; d.) short-order cook; e.) none of the above

c. — I did work as a guard, but only for one day at the John C. Dolph chemical plant on New Road in Monmouth Junction.

7. True or false:
I attended the game at which the Knicks retired Earl Monroe’s number.

True. The team stunk and may have lost (I can’t remember), but The Pearl was honored making it worth the trip.

8. True of false:
My wife Annie and I will be together 25 years next month.

True. We started dating June 2, 1982 at the tender age of 19. We will be married 18 years in August.

9. Which of the following novelists do I not like?
a.) E.L. Doctorow; b.) Don Delillo; c.) Stephen King; d.) Joan Didion; e.) James Ellroy

c. — anyone detecting a pattern?

10. Am I a dog person or a cat person?

Dog.

11. Which magazine do I subscribe to?
a.) Time; b.) Newsweek; c.) The New Republic; d.) The Nation; e.) none of the above

d. — I’ve been a subscriber for about 17 years.

12. My all-time favorite baseball player is:
a.) Felix Millan; b.) Darryl Strawberry; c.) Tommie Agee; d.) Tom Seaver; e.) Willie Mays

c. — I have a picture of him on my bulletin board at work.

13. My reporting beats have included which of the following:
a.) South Brunswick; b.) Cranbury; c.) Hillsborough; d.) Plainsboro; e.) Allentown; f.) Edison; g.) Princeton Borough; h.) Monroe

a., c., d., g., though I edit a paper that covers both Cranbury and Monroe.

14. My favorite newspaper columnist is:
a.) Bob Herbert; b.) Frank Rich; c.) Paul Krugman; d.) James Carroll; e.) George Will; f.) E.J. Dionne Jr.

b., though it changes on a week-to-week basis. The only one on this list I don’t read regularly is the unreadable Mr. Will.

15. True or false:
I supported the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

False — and the terrorists have now won

16. True or false:
I opposed the first Gulf War.

True — proving that I am just a Saddam lover, I guess

17. Who is not among my favorite film actors:
a.) Humphrey Bogart; b.) James Dean; c.) Jerry Lewis; d.) Frank Sinatra; e.) Robert DeNiro

c. — “Hey, lady!”

18. True or false:
I prefer the Who to the Rolling Stones.

False.

19. Which of these bands/artists have I not seen more than once?
a.) R.E.M.; b.) Steve Winwood; c.) Wilco; d.) Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes; e.) Bob Dylan

c. — though that will change on June 22 when I get to see the band at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank.

20. My favorite poet is: (fill in the blank)

William Carlos Williams.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
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Runner’s diary, Monday

Monday is always my toughest run of the week. Coming after a couple of off days — I rarely run on the weekends — my legs are rusty and my motivation tends to be at its lowest. Plus, and this would seem counterintuitive, I have more aches and joint pain on Monday than on any other day of the week.

But, like all committed runners (committed in the sense that I probably belong in Marlboro), I lace up the shoes and hit the road. (The shoes, by the way, have way too many miles on them. It’s probably been 18 months since I last bought running shoes. I think it’s time to make the investment.)

Today: Four miles in 37:54, a 9:28.5 pace. Not so hot, I guess, but I was out there. Music was a mix (including warmup):

  1. Nancy Sinatra, How Does That Grab You Darling?
  2. Wilco, What Light
  3. Fountains of Wayne, Somebody to Love
  4. Immaculate Machine, Jarhand
  5. The Kooks, Ooh La
  6. The Beach Boys, Don’t Worry Baby
  7. Desi Arnaz, Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps
  8. Boz Scaggs, Lowdown
  9. Elvis Presley, Burning Love
  10. Tom Jones, It’s Not Unusual
  11. The Beach Boys, Fun, Fun, Fun
  12. Wilco, Impossible Germany
  13. R.E.M., Walk Unafraid

I start this week, by the way, with 284 miles for the year, significantly below where I should be if I am to reach my goal of 800 miles for the year. To reach 800, I should be doing about 15-16 miles a week — or about 354 miles to date.

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Runner’s diary, Friday

Left early today and took a midday run. Generally, I prefer mornings — especially on a day like today when the heat is on, as they say.

I was going to do three miles outdoors, until I walked a few hundred yards and found myself sweating. So back inside to the treadmill, where I decided to push it. Result: Five miles in 44:10 — about an 8:50 pace. Music was a mix.

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Tepid ban a product of politics

I tend not to agree too often with The Asbury Park Press, but I have to say the editors are on to something in their criticism of the dual-office-holding ban that is likely to become law.

The bill being advanced — which would allow current members of the state Legislature to continue holding other offices, but ban future members — is hypocritical and a sop to a handful of legislators who are deemed important allies on other issues.

Corzine and Panter both said the amended bill is the best they can get. In truth, it’s the best they are willing to fight for. For Corzine, the issue apparently isn’t important enough to risk losing support on other issues from the hypocrites in the Statehouse who say dual officeholding is wrong for future lawmakers but not for themselves.

And it assumes that a full ban would not have enough votes — a notion that only holds true if you exclude Republicans from the tally. My suspicion — and I’m not in Trenton counting the votes — is that there would be enough support from members of both parties for a full ban, but that the Democrats do not want a war within their caucus. Perhaps this is good politics, but it is bad policy for New Jersey.

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A bad budget alternativefrom state GOP

Tom Moran explains what’s wrong with the alternative budget offered by the GOP:

Republicans tend to get defensive when they are accused of favoring the rich over the poor. That’s class warfare, we are told. And it’s just not American.

Which makes it difficult to be polite while discussing the latest Republican moves on the state budget. Because the GOP plan is crowded with efforts to take money from poor cities and shift it to wealthier suburbs.

Not that the Democrats are not doing the same thing in reverse, as Moran acknowledges, but the GOP plan is less of a serious budget than a campaign blueprint:

(O)n the whole, this plan misses the mark. It’s designed to score political points, not to offer a realistic alternative to Corzine’s proposed budget.

As if the state didn’t have enough fiscal problems.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
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E-mail me by clicking here

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.