By Anthony J. Machcinski After noticing that his son had been faking it on the bass guitar, playing just one string and earning the moniker, “One String Ron,” Ron Penque Sr. gave his son a few lessons. One day, Penque Sr., an accomplished bass player for 20 years, saw his son [...]

  By Anthony J. Machcinski HARRISON – Harrison High School will turn back the back the clocks a dozen years when the school’s Drama Club will present “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” at the end of the month. “It’s a hysterical comedy on topics that everyone can relate to,” said [...]

  By Jeff Bahr To love someone and to somehow lose that love is a sad circumstance nearly as common to the human existence as our very need to breathe. This divine heartache, as it has often been described by romantics, can attack without warning and it cares not whom it thrashes in the process. [...]

  By Anthony J. Machcinski NEWARK– Years of decay and decomposition plagued one former Portuguese watering hole on on Ferry St. in Newark. The once glorious Ironbound icon Roque and Rebelo had become a shell of its former self, with the building showing more years than it had been in existence. Since May 2011, Carlos [...]

    By Anthony J. Machcinski ‘Bloomfield’s restaurant scene is labeled one of the best kept secrets in New Jersey. I stand here today to say that it will no longer be a secret.” These words, spoken by Essex County Freeholder Brendan Gill, signify the goal of Bloomfield Restaurant Week; to expose the diversity of [...]

  By Anthony J. Machcinski As time has gone by and music has evolved, many establishments have done away with hosting original bands, giving in to the bands that play the music of an era gone by. Donegal Saloon in Kearny isn’t one of those places, which allowed the crowd to be wowed by the [...]

  By Anthony J. Machcinski As AMC’s “The Walking Dead” continues through the second half of its second season, one huge issue has risen. “The Walking Dead,” based on the graphic novel series of the same name, follows a group of zombie apocalypse survivors in their endless quest to fight the odds and survive. At [...]

    By Anthony J. Machcinski While country music can’t be listed as one of the more popular music genres today, a resurgence in country music, led by artists like Toby Keith, the Zac Brown Band, and Lady Antebellum is creeping onto radio airwaves. A country band from an unconventional Northern home hopes for this [...]

  By Anthony J. Machcinski As music continues to constantly evolve as years go by, one Bergen County band hopes to keep pace with that trend with their so-called electro-funkadelic hip-rock. FiKus, a group of five 20-somethings, is one of the up-and-coming bands in North Jersey. Formed while the group was still at Pascack Valley [...]

  Anthony J. Machcinski America has been called the land of opportunity, a place where people can make a name for themselves irrespective of their race, gender, or social status. Kearny High School is doing its part to keep that idea alive. As part of the High School Art Exhibition, twelve Kearny High School art [...]