JJ Bittings Brew Pub-An Oasis on the North Jersey Coast Line

I've taken the North Jersey Coast Line train from NYC to the Jersey Shore hundreds of times in my life and most of my train time is spent reading a book or listening to my iPod, occasionally peeking out the hazy windows to take a gander at the outside world flying by at 50 or 60 miles an hour.But, there is one point it the trip where I behave like a child hearing the distant jingle of the ice-cream truck, and that's when we pull up to the Woodbridge, NJ, stop and I can see J.J. Bitting's Brew Pub. My mouth waters like that kid waiting for his ice-cream fix.

Established in 1997, J.J. Bitting Brewing Company was the first brewery to operate in Woodbridge Township, NJ, since the repeal of prohibition in 1933. It resides in a spacious, one-hundred year old building that once housed the J.J. Bitting Coal and Feed Depot. These days, the fuel of choice is hand crafted beer, and James Moss is the Brew Master behind the tanks.

J.J. Bitting's hired Moss, who is originally from the West Coast, to spice up their beer menu, and spice it up he has with favorites such as Victoria's Golden Ale, a light ale featuring a blend of pale malt and unmalted wheat. It's lightly hopped and fermented slightly cooler than most ales for a crisp finish. It pairs well with food menu items like the Acapulco Gold Quesa Dillas or Seafood Fra Diavlo.

If you like your beer hop heavy and bold in flavor, you can't go wrong with the Barely Legal Barley Wine, which is packed with hops, yet balanced by the malt. You may want to slowly savor this barley wine, which weighs in at 10.0% ABV (Alcohol By Volume). It pairs well with the Stuffed Pork Roast with Pear Sauce or the One Pound Prime Rib.

Other beers of note include the Raspberry Wheat Ale, Avenel Amber, Garden State IPA, and X-Duff Beer, for the Simpson's fans.

Bitting's also has impressive buffalo wings, excellent burgers, and very tasty baked pizza. Happy Hour is Monday-Friday from 3pm-7pm, featuring $2.50 pints and free food at the bar. Also ask about the Mug Club and Frequent Diner Specials. They also feature live music, Karaoke, and a Guitar Hero night.

Writing about all this is making me thirsty! I think I'll get off at the Woodbridge stop and raise a few pints.

What You're Missing (text, text,text...)

I've been living across the street from an old school that has been empty for about five years. Most mornings I would open my blinds and take a gander at the majestic old building that was erected in 1927. They recently started demolishing the building, and I have to say that it's a bittersweet experience.

Every morning around 8pm they warm up the big yellow wrecking machine as I put on a pot of coffee and get ready to sit at my window and watch old windows, desks, chairs and urinals tumble down in to the eagerly awaiting dumpsters. So far no one has been hurt in the process, but I did witness a close call. A very busy looking woman was walking in the street, texting-obviously oblivious to the awesome demolition project happening just feet away from her Blackberry. One of the workers yelled "Hey, you're too close! Cross to the other side of the street!" The woman looked up for a nanosecond, resumed texting and crossed the street-
without looking, of course.

This rather minor incident made me angry and sad at the same time. Besides the fact that she could have been killed, she didn't even take the time to stand back and witness, what in my opinion is a pretty awesome site. She couldn't stop texting for thirty seconds to at least pay attention to where the glass was flying?

And this my friends is the problem with our hyper-connected society. I've said it a million times and I'm sure many other pundits and bloggers have as well, but, my God, people, pay attention! While we are texting and calling and iConnecting, there are wonderful and horrible things happening in the world that we are missing because most of us refuse to live in the moment!

Put down your mobile device, for God's sakes, and see what you're missing!

The Influence of Les Paul.

On a Summer Monday, back in the early 90's, My cousin Pat, my buddy, Jimbo and I headed for Third Avenue in NYC to catch Les Paul at Fat Tuesdays. We were all in a band together at the time, and were big fans of Les Paul. As we squished into our tight fitting table, I said "Thank God we made it to see Les today. He's getting up there and who knows how much longer he'll be playing guitar." He went on to play for another 15 years or so, and I've had the pleasure of seeing him perform again after that night, and to shake his hand.

He played at Fat Tuesdays and then moved on to the Irridium. He told the story of how he originally got the Monday night gig at Fat Tuesday's. Les called the manager at the time and said "This is Les Paul and I want to play at your club on Monday nights." The manager then informed him that the club was colsed on Monday nights, but he would book him any other night he wanted to play. Les persisited, "I want to play on Monday nights." The manager again protested and Les finally said "You don't understand-I want to play for free on Monday nights." The manager then said "We are now open on Monday nights."

His shows were a mixture of great jazz and jokes, and he was known to make fun of the menu when he played, and it was always a great time, and so many great musicians played with him over the years including Bing Crosby, Chet Atkins, Mary Ford, Brian May and on and on.

Everyone knows about Les Paul's chops, and most know that he was one of the inventors of the modern electric guitar, but perhaps his greatest contribution to the recording industry was his invention of "multi-track" recording. Prior to his engineering work with multiple tracks it was only possible to record two tracks, at most. His invention changed music forever!

I'm sad that Les passed away, but he lived a good, long life and was an inspiration to many.
Les Paul and my Uncle Ren were two of my earliest inspirations when I first picked up the guitar. He will surely be missed.

Zeppelin Hall Restaurant & Biergarten, Jersey City

I'll admit that I don't remember much about my first trip to Zeppelin Hall Beer Garden, 88 Liberty View Drive, Jersey City, NJ, but I do remember the important things: the beer and food. The beer was excellent, the food good.

My friend and I wandered in to Zeppelin Hall about 4:30pm on a Friday afternoon, after getting lost among the new condo construction projects, and finally asking the owner of the Brownstone Diner, located a block West, for directions. The stress of our sojourn through "New Condo Land" made finally finding our beer oasis that much sweeter. We ordered a couple of brews inside the huge hall, and then wandered to the outside beer garden. I started with an old stand by-Smuuttynose IPA, a rich, cloudy, ale with a copper color, thick head, and a nice hoppy flavor. My friend had an Abita Purple Haze, a slightly sweet wheat beer, with a hint of raspberries. They are brewed in New Hampshire and New Orleans, respectively.

My cousins met us soon after and they ordered a Staropramen, an amber-gold pilsner with a hint of honey from the Czech Repuplic, and a Kira Belgian White, a straw colored brew with a hint of bananna, and a crisp, refreshing finish. As we sipped from our half-liter glasses, I remarked how crazy the people were who were drinking the liters. "Man, that guy is going to be tanked later", I said from my high horse (which was quickly losing it's footing). Little did I know that I would be "tanked" in a few hours myeslf (more on that later).

As the beer garden filled with thirsty happy hour fans we decided to order some food. I was very dissapointed that the "Sauerbraten", advertised on the web site, was not on the menu. In fact, I was told, it might not be for a while. So, I settled for buffalo wings (average) and the "Sausage Sampler", which includes three types of sausage from about a list of six. We went with Bratwurst, Kielbasa, and Andouille, which were all very good. The fries were cooked to the perfect crispness.

I washed down the meat massacre with a River Horse Double Wit, which has an almost orange tint, and a nice, frothy head. It had a clove spice to it and a nice peppery finish. And being in Jersey, I figured that I had to have at least one beer that is actually brewed in the Garden State.

The night pretty much deteriorated from that point on. I met an old work friend and met his friends and we had a grand old time at the huge wooden table by the window. By this point, the view of the brand spanking new condos was getting hazy and I knew it was time to go home, but I have a feeling I will be back to my new favorite Biergarten, and will hopefully be eating a big plate of Sauerbraten, and sipping on a nice Leffe Blonde Ale.

The Great Crash of June, 2009...

Well, it happened a few days ago. My almost brand new PC's hard drive completely froze up and I lost about two weeks worth of photos, essays, pics and bookmarks. I also lost a lot of freelance stuff I was working on, which I'm now frantically trying to patch together from the fragments of my disjointed mind. Don't worry, I'll live.

The thing that did strike me as odd on the morning of my first day without a computer, was how blue the sky was, how purple the pansies, and how yellow the sun. It was like a man emerging from a cave after a year-everything burned with new significance.

But in all seriousness, what really bothered me was the fact that I have become so dependent on my computer, the internet-technology in general. I'm not one of those people who walks around almost being hit by a bus because he's texting on his Blackberry, and I consider myself a responsible, courteous, citizen. I like to think that I control my life, but sadly, to some degree, The Technology god rules.

In any case, it was actually kind of nice not being a slave to my computer for a couple of days-
I just whipped out my iPod, texted my agent, and rode off into the sunset...

Tivo As Time Machine.

I have a bad habit of recording shows on my DVR and then not watching them for weeks, months, or even a year. I recently went through the list of recordings (half of them shows that I would never watch anyway) and I came across a documentary on Howard Hughes that I taped exactly a year ago. The documentary was fascinating and I learned a lot of things about a subject that I thought I was somewhat of an expert on. But, that's not what I want to talk about today. There was another more disturbing facet of my little screening - the commercials.

It seems that almost every car commercial these days comes with a disclaimer that says something like "If you lose your job, we make the payments for at least nine months", or "Lose your income and we'll take the car back, no questions asked." Most commercials are quite depressing and almost morose these days, but a year ago you would hear pitches like "Indulge yourself-buy a new Hummer-you deserve it." There was one car ad from last year where a guy is in a black BMW or Mercedes with three supermodel type women where he goes out to some really expensive looking club. Now, they show a guy looking sad, but sitting down to a budget family dinner, or they don't show people at all.

Now we have some pretty sad and dire ads sandwiched in between shows that have had their budget cut, at least somewhat, from last year. The saddest commercial of all is the Progressive Insurance spot where the guy had to sell his watch because he's so broke.

I'm not trying to depress anybody, just making an observation, and I hope that I won't be selling my watch a few months from now.

Kids on Leashes!?

I think it was Mark Twain who said, "Children should be kept in a box with air holes until they are 18 years of age." While I always chuckle at that tongue in cheek quote, one thing I most certainly don't approve of is putting children on leases. Now, I know what you're thinking: "What the hell does Nick know? He doesn't even have any kids!" Very true, but I do have 3 wonderful nephews and a niece, who are all very curious and active. True, sometimes I can't keep up with them, and I have to chase them, but I don't think putting them on a leash is the answer.
Besides, somehow the leash would end up comically wrapped around my neck and arms, or in a tree, or something along those lines.

The leash thing seems pretty extreme to me, but then there's the other end of the spectrum: Parents who are too busy texting or chatting to notice that their kids are about to fall down the stairs or run into traffic. A few years back I grabbed a little kid by the collar as he was about to run into traffic in Manhattan. The mother, who was on her cell phone and not paying attention thought I had just grabbed her son for now reason. The guy standing next to me explained to her that I had most likely just saved her son's life. She was a bit nicer to me after that.

Parents, you probably don't want parenting advice from a confirmed bachelor, but I'm offering it anyway-Keep and eye on your kids, and the leashes on the cats or dogs.