Columns
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•July 6, 2021
My Apologies, Ming, on Behalf of All Humanity; Eel’s Meaty Appeal Belies the Toxins Within
Welcome to the jungle days on Long Beach Island, ushered in by July 4th.
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•July 1, 2021
Fitness and Non-Fitness on LBI; Torpedo Boys Win; Fun Foam Event; Fired Up for the Fourth
Has anyone else had the thought that the Island is split into two very different camps?
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•June 30, 2021
Buried Treasure of the Liquid Kind
When we hear the term “buried treasure,” we at once envision pirates and sailing ships, but 100 years ago this summer newspapers across the country carried the news of treasure being buried in…
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•June 26, 2021
Excitement for Summer, Longest Days of the Year, Plenty of Swell
Does anyone else feel that when they hit the “Unsubscribe” button on an email, enter their email address and then slam a check down in the box that says “Don’t send me any more emails,” you are…
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•June 25, 2021
Just When You Think You Know the Oceans; White Shark Makes a Thresher Day Greater
I have a new leader for my annual “Who Woulda Thunk It?!” award. I’ll introduce it by boldly ordering the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Arctic oceans to move the hell over and make way for – ta-da! –…
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•June 23, 2021
World War I Over at Last
Newsreels exist of the celebrations following the announcement of peace being declared and ending World War II and the signing on the battleship USS Missouri of Japan’s surrender. But the official…
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•June 17, 2021
There Is No Stinkin’ Bonnicut Bridge and Bay: Muffed Up Lyrics Diss the Essential Jersey Shore
Let’s begin with some bee-bop, transistorized, LBI beach trivia fun, by taking a dive into the deepest end of our Island trivia pool. In doing so, I will nobly risk my heavy metal membership card by…
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•June 16, 2021
Summer Problems: Good Problems to Have; Sand Creativity and Clean Little Surf on the Way
As I was driving up North Barnegat Avenue on Sunday morning to go surf, I had a familiar feeling. There was a man in front of me navigating the streets of Surf City on a bicycle worth quite a bit…
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•June 16, 2021
Finally Ending World War I
This July 4th weekend marks the 100th anniversary of a key moment in American history, but since it took place in New Jersey, it is all but forgotten or ignored.
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•June 10, 2021
Perfect Island to Search for UFWTFs; Blue Holes Can Suck Life Out of You
We’ve accelerated into quite the summer feel, thanks to the purest form of solar power, though the official season start is still a couple weeks away – after which the days immediately begin getting…
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•June 10, 2021
Local Employers Getting Plenty Creative in Their Hiring; Waves Could Be Better
“Can I take those out of the way for you?” the busboy asked in a squeaky voice.
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•June 9, 2021
Taking Lighthouse to the Top
Today, Barnegat Lighthouse still stands at the northern tip of Long Beach Island, a symbol of hope and strength. But 100 years ago it was becoming a pawn in the battle between sentiment and progress.
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•June 9, 2021
June Highlights Diverse Musical Offerings, Innovative Legends, Record Store Day
After 16 months of building tensions with little opportunity for release, emerging from pandemic prohibition was like riding a social wave through the floodgates. Music and laughter can be heard from…
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•June 3, 2021
Rain Dancers Might Have Overdone It; Your Assignment Is to Collect Meteorites
Well, somebody’s rain dance had an impact on the heavens, to the delight of farmers, forest fire fighters and frogs.
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•June 2, 2021
Senator Calls in Big Guns
As you stand at the base of LBI’s Barnegat Lighthouse it’s easy to visualize the danger it faced from advancing tides and storms. What you don’t see is the battle of wills that took place to keep the…
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•June 2, 2021
Remembering an LBI Rap Concert 20 Years Ago As We Sat Inside for the Memorial Maelstrom
Well, that was a Memorial Day Weekend we’ll remember forever.
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•May 27, 2021
Reasons to Feel Good and Many Other Topics of Land and Sea Into the Big Weekend
So much to talk about. There’s a summer on the way in and a pandemic on the way out. We hit 93 degrees on Sunday and 53 on Monday. We just had a bombing Tropical Storm Ana swell, it’s barely rained…
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•May 26, 2021
America in Wind War with Sleeping Giant; T-Storms Are Only Hope for Thirsty Tadpoles
DON’T READ THIS SEGMENT, SANCHO: Fighting windmills is seemingly a long-held tradition. Just ask that other hallucinatory Don, namely Don Quixote.
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•May 26, 2021
Barnegat Lighthouse on Shaky Ground
As 1921 began, the historic Barnegat Lighthouse was under siege by two forces: First, from the relentless erosion of the ground on which it stood, and second, from the federal government, which…
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•May 22, 2021
Planning the Potential Post-Pandemic Party
For the folks out there who love statistics, let’s take a look at some of the good news numbers we’re looking at.
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•May 20, 2021
Wildfire Draws Admirably Huge Firefighting Crowd; Pine Barrens Tree Frog Most Handsome in Nation
I was in the vicinity of Sunday’s wildfire along Stage Road in Little Egg Harbor. Talk about a madhouse, though in the finest of ways. There were mustered firetrucks of every shape, size and purpose…
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•May 19, 2021
Airships Coming to Lakehurst
Throughout the spring of 1921, the citizens of Ocean County had fought a losing battle with the U.S. Army, attempting to prevent the Lakehurst Chemical Warfare installation from moving to Maryland.…
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•May 13, 2021
Seeking Oceanic Siren Warning System; Fluke Offer Chance to Think Zero Waste
Over the weekend, I spent a ton of time outside looking skyward, donning my Yogi Berra catcher’s mitt, hoping to secure a bit of falling Chinese rocket debris. Hey, I couldn’t do any worse than the…
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•May 13, 2021
Dropspins, Flabjacks and Other Pickleball Terms; Decent Surf, Wind Talk, Events on Horizon
“On Sunday morning, I returned a dropspin with a flabjack, right past the kitchen on a rally, and we pickled ’em good.”
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•May 12, 2021
Ocean County Gets Bad News
For Ocean County, N.J., the year 1921 was one of disappointment and what-ifs.
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•May 6, 2021
Trading in Real Intelligence for Artificial; Getting Creative With Plastic Pollution
There’s no longer a plant I cannot identify, be it your garden variety orange monarch snow crocus or, going far afield, a Pinelands rarity, like a linear-leaved ludwigia.
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•May 5, 2021
National Woman’s Party Moves On
February 1921 marked a historic crossroads for the National Woman’s Party and feminism in general. For the past eight years, the party, led by its president Alice Paul of Burlington County, had been…
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•May 4, 2021
Arctic Lightning Not a Flash in the Pan; A Crash Course in Driving Killer Route 539
As our season of thunderboomers gets ready to rumble, there are dedicated bolt counters out there, geared to tabulate the exact number of air-to-ground electrical discharges across the nation and…
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•May 1, 2021
Pajamas in Public; Hurricane Season Perspective; Closing in on 50-Degree Surf
First things first. From February to June, Liquid Lines devotes an awful lot of space to being cranky about seasonal weather – winter’s never-ending grip on our barrier island, frigid water and raw…
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•April 28, 2021
Where to Go From Here?
The 1848 Seneca Falls Convention on women’s rights is cited by many as the launching point for the drive to enfranchise women. Less known is the 1921 Washington, D.C. convention called by Burlington…
