Main Street Makeover Contest

The news was much needed for this small beach town, Sea Bright, which my wife and I called our home for 10 years prior to the landfall of Hurricane Sandy. The storm surge devastated the town and the downtown business district.

Now, the road to rebuilding the downtown can finally begin with the announcement that Sea Bright won the “Main Street Matters” contest sponsored by New Jersey based paint manufacturer, Benjamin Moore.

The contest awarded 20 different towns nationwide with a free makeover of a two or three block section of their downtown paid for by Benjamin Moore. This contest was an on-line based competition, which Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long was very involved with drumming up support via Twitter and social media.

Slow Rebuilding

I was so excited at the news of the contest victory for Sea Bright because the rebuilding process has been very slow in the months since Sandy ravaged this small town nestled between the Shrewsbury River and the Atlantic Ocean.

The federal aid money has been distributed at a very slow pace, as the saying goes that I have heard recently, Sandy victims are paying for “the sins of Katrina” referring to the rampant misuse and abuse of federal funds following that disaster.

This contest provides a shot in the arm to Sea Bright, which desperately needs one at this point. Benjamin Moore will provide the necessary quantity of paint, stain, and supplies for the exterior buildings of the two to three block area selected by the respective winning town. Their color experts will assist in the color selection and a group of professional painters will provide the service of doing the actual work on the building exteriors.

Social Media and the Victory

Sea Bright was very active in social media to gather support for the participation needed to win this on-line competition, which displays the changed society in which we live in. The town created a separate Facebook page named “All About Sea Bright”  https://www.facebook.com/groups/AllAboutSeaBright/

This page became integral to the community gathering the votes necessary to win the contest. The campaign for social media was very effective. Personally, I received a Twitter message every day to vote for the contest.

Benjamin Moore deserves some credit here too, many corporations have made donations of funds to the relief efforts of Hurricane Sandy, but this contest takes the rebuilding effort directly to the community in need. This donation of needed paint and supplies covers the cost that Sea Bright would have had to wait a long period of time to get these supplies through other resources.

The Future

I have seen Sea Bright at its lowest point just following the horrible events of Hurricane Sandy where the town was decimated. I saw destruction on a scale I had never seen before, and I was not sure if the town would ever make it back.

The future will entail a lot of work to rebuild Sea Bright, but the people in the community are united and believe in that cause very strongly. The Benjamin Moore contest brings new meaning to “Main Street Matters” in the case of Sea Bright it matters a great deal. It is a symbolic gesture toward rebuilding the place that we all remember as a wonderful town with incredible natural beauty that is part of the fabric of the New Jersey Shore.

The New York Knicks have acquired forward Andrea Bargnani from the Toronto Raptors in a trade in exchange for Marcus Camby, Steve Novak, a future first round draft pick, and two second round draft picks (www.espn.com).

The trade will not be official until July 10^th and because the trade had been announced and had not yet cleared league approval, the trade has been revised. On July 1^st the new salary cap and salary contract years began in the NBA, so Bargnani had an increase in salary and Camby and Novak both had their salaries decrease according to New York Newsday. In that same report on July 1^st, it was explained that Quentin Richardson would be added to the trade because the salary numbers in the NBA have to match up on both sides of a proposed trade.

Bargnani – Talent in need of a change

Andrea Bargnani is a very talented player who was drafted 1^st overall in the 2006 NBA Draft (www.nba.com). He is 27 years old and will turn 28 on October 26, and I think he still has some good years left in his career. It is not like you are getting a guy that is 30+ years old.

Bargnani had an elbow injury and missed 47 games last season, and when he did play it lead to questions from the fans in Toronto as well as the executives throughout the league about how much he really wanted to play. According to scouting reports, he looked at points like he no longer cared, but that could also be due to the fact that Toronto is a terrible team.

In the end, Bargnani finished last season averaging 12.7 points per game on 40% shooting, and his career numbers are 15.3 points per game on 43.7% shooting (www.espn.com).

This move was also made based on timing, the Knicks need another front court player, particularly with the teams’ announcement of the minutes restrictions on Amare Stoudemire. The financial side of the deal is important too from a business and salary cap perspective. According to ESPN, Bargnani is owed $23 million on the last two years of his contract, which means he will be a free agent heading into the same summer as fellow Knicks players Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler, and Stoudemire.

All of these large contracts coming off the books at the same time is going to create a situation where the Knicks will have an incredible amount of salary cap flexibility. The Knicks could essentially re-sign Carmelo Anthony if they choose and then revamp the entire roster around him adding 2 or 3 star “max contract” type players to the roster.

In the meantime, Bargnani will help this team. I also believe that he needs a change of scenery. Some athletes do, and sports fans have seen that happen with other star athletes in the past, across every major sport. I think he was tired of the Raptors never competing or having even a chance at the playoffs, and the fan base in Toronto was tired of him. I think New York will be a fresh start, and for an Italian born player it does not get much better than playing and living in New York City.

Bargnani’s contribution – a tactical perspective

Andrea Bargnani brings to the Knicks a unique skill set in that he is a big front court player (7 feet tall) but he has a good outside shot. He can shoot 3 point field goals, but he can also put the ball on the floor and drive to the basket. His outside shooting is such a threat that he will help space the floor for Carmelo Anthony and the recently re-signed J.R. Smith to slash and drive the ball to the hoop.

I think he is a very good fit for the Knicks and will fill an important role for them in the front court. Bargnani does not rebound the ball well, he needs to work on his defense, and his passing skills are average. However, I think Coach Woodson and the Knicks coaching staff is very good at helping players and that they will foster improvement in some of these deficient areas, especially on the defensive end.

The trade was a good one, in my view as a fan of the Knicks, mostly because they got a player I always thought was a talented player stuck on a bad team. The Knicks gave up a potentially valuable 1^st round pick but the other players all had issues meshing into the Knicks system. Marcus Camby was a bad contract for the Knicks too because he still has 2 years left on the deal and he is pushing 40 years old.

I read some other reports in the media that Camby was very upset with the trade and the Raptors are trying to trade him to a contending team. His contract may make that a difficult move at this point. Steve Novak, for those who have read my blog, you know I am not and never have been a Novak fan. I thought he was overpaid and had a limited skill set.

I can’t shoot an NBA three pointer as consistently as he can, the issue is that is all Novak can do. His defense is average and he was not a good rebounder for a 6 foot 10 inch guy. Quentin Richardson was a late addition to the team and barely played last season, so they are not giving up much there either, though his veteran presence and his great personality will help the Raptors locker room.

The Knicks now can move past the J.R. Smith deal, now that it is done, and focus on rounding out the roster with signing Pablo Prigioni, and either Elton Brand or Kenyon Martin. Though other sports reporters on social media have told me that the Knicks front office has something else potentially big they are working on. That translates into: Knicks fans stay tuned.

The process of compiling poetry collections, or anthologies, as they are known in the writing world, can be an overwhelming task for a young or new writer. I know the challenges that accompany this task because I have arranged several poetry anthologies over the course of the past 15 years. This article will serve as a guide to the young and new writers out there in order to help overcome the initial hurdles in compiling an interesting and comprehensive poetry anthology.

The first steps of developing an anthology, the importance of theme selection, common mistakes, and proper format will all be detailed in this guide for young and new writers. The most common questions I had during the process will be answered and I will provide some other tips as well.

Starting Out

The initial steps for young or new writers in order to develop a cohesive anthology to give as a gift to your parents or another relative is to make sure you have enough of your own original material. I have very frequently seen anthologies put together that have a few original poems and then are supplemented with work from the classic poets.

This type of an approach has a few problems: it can seem too thin in content, it can read like a reprint of a classic poetry book, and it can disrupt the continuity and flow of the whole collection. I also must add, even though it may seem obvious, that if you are developing an anthology that does not entirely consist of your own original content, then you must take all the proper steps to credit the original poet.

If you plan to submit a collection of poetry for publication, I suggest that it should not contain any unoriginal work, such as quoting an entire poem by Walt Whitman. It will most likely get rejected, even if you take the appropriate steps to cite the source material. I also want to touch on excerpts, if you take short pieces or excerpts of a poem; that in some collections is permissible.

However, you must obtain the proper permissions or citations to use the material. The most frequent use of the excerpt is to introduce a completely original work of your own poetry. So please keep all that in mind as you begin the process of gathering a collection of poetry together. I personally never liked excerpting from other work, even the classics; I prefer to use my own material.

Theme Selection – A critical step

The selection of the theme for your poetry anthology is critical. The theme is central to how most poets will select the poems they want included in the anthology. The theme also could serve as the inspiration for completely new works of poetry that you develop specifically for that collection.

In my personal experience, I have done both, I have developed anthologies based on all new material and I have also compiled anthologies with some new and some older poems that fit the theme of the collection. That is very important though, any older poems you use must fit the theme of the anthology.

The theme of the anthology also will set the selection process for the title of the entire anthology. I have come up with some creative titles in the past, and some other titles which looking back, could have been stronger. The title really sets the tone for the anthology, and I usually also write a poem within the collection that is based on the main title of the collection.

Some common themes are: nature, love, seasons (winter, summer), family, sports, school, or hobbies. I have dabbled with a few of these common theme categories in my experience. The theme of love is a good one if you are writing the anthology as a gift for a boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, or significant other.

The nature theme is also one where you have many different directions you can take the collection, so that can be liberating. However, it must have some sort of direction to be successful and to have strong continuity.

Proper Format

The proper format for the anthology is to have the following elements present:

Title, introduction, main poems, and epilogue

Now, it is also permissible after the main poems to include either a work of prose or a short story of about 300 to 500 words, and then finish with the epilogue.

The introduction, as obvious as it might sound, must present the anthology and explain the title and theme selection. In my experience, I explain the background behind my selection of the title, and then I usually provide an explanation of the poems and why they were selected.

The main poetry section must have order, flow, and continuity. In my experience I usually start with a very short but intense poem and then use the longer poems such as sonnets or long rhyming verse poems in the middle of the anthology.

I often will break up the intensity by inserting some funny poems or lighter poems that tie in with the theme of the collection. Then, I usually save the poem I think best sums up the thought process behind the anthology for the end.

I have also on many occasions used a short story in the anthology. I have given it as a gift to my wife or relative, and in those cases I feel like the short story can explain the entire idea behind an anthology without the constraints of the poetic form used. It is totally optional though, and does not work well for other writers I know.

Common Mistakes

Some common mistakes in creating a poetry anthology are: continuity lapses, drift from theme, poor overall flow, and an ending that lacks punch or emotion.

The continuity is very important: think of the poems all working together to tell a story. In a story you have a beginning, middle, and end. The continuity of the anthology is the same concept, the poems all need to build toward the end of the collection where the ideas presented will be resolved.

The drift from the theme is a very common mistake in young or new writers in putting together an anthology. Once a commitment to a theme is made, then the creative process must flow from that theme. The poems must all relate to that theme in some capacity. I have read anthologies that tie the theme back to very abstract concepts, but it still relates to the theme.

In the beginning, new writers can drift from the theme and include some other poems they have done which they feel are better than the work they can put in the collection. Please resist the urge to do that and stick with the theme.

Poor flow is another common mistake of a young or new writer in developing poetry collections. This happens for much of the same way the drift from theme occurs. The poor flow is usually caused by a writer not having enough original work to develop a well rounded anthology. I suggest creating all new material if you must, but the flow of the anthology is very important to the reader, and if you are attempting to publish, it is critical.

The final mistake that is very prevalent in the creation of poetry anthologies is an ending that lacks “punch” or emotion. I know this full well because I have made this mistake in an early anthology that was a gift for my wife.

When I was recently pouring through my old material looking for some ideas, I found the notes, the outline, and the storyboard for the collection. I saw that my ending was really flat compared to the rest of the anthology.

The ending poem or if you end on a work of short prose or a short story type of “flash fiction” piece, it must create emotion for the reader or provide what I call “punch”. The lack of a strong ending will leave the reader wanting more, or leave the reader feeling flat, which is not the goal of any good poet. Any good poet or writer wants the reader to be blown away, wants to leave the reader inspired. The rest of my early anthology to my wife was my own work and it was pretty strong and emotionally charged, but the end was flat, and that is what I remember about that piece of work.

Know Your Audience

In summing up the article, it is important to know your audience. I wrote earlier that if you are developing an anthology of poetry to send to a publisher, you must research that publisher. If you are writing it for a friend or relative, know their preferences for how they comprehend information.

It is important to have a very strong and well written, yet concise introduction. That will set the tone for the rest of the anthology, and if it is not done well, it could be all the editor will read before discarding your work.

The sequence of the poems must also be correct, that is crucial to the success of developing an anthology. I mentioned earlier if the sequence or the flow is off balance then the reader will know, and the anthology will not be as well received as you would have intended it to be initially.

Finally, a good solid epilogue is a nice way to tie everything together. I have used the epilogue and have seen it done by other poets where they explain where their lives are now in contrast to when they wrote the collection. That may be relevant material to the reader to understand the full creative picture. The epilogue can also be used to reinforce the overall theme of the collection and to tie together any loose ends that may be left.

I wish all the young and new writers and poets out there the best of luck as you collectively tackle the task of assembling an anthology. It is my sincere hope that this article will guide you through the process to a successful finished product.

I was speaking with some people recently who have been checking my website and this blog for samples of my work, and it brought about a conversation about my other published writing. The synopsis of those conversations being that instead of having to go to multiple websites to find my other published articles it should be a more streamlined process.

So I came up with an idea: rather than cut and paste all of those articles into multiple posts on this blog site, or copy and paste a few links to the material at one time and feature them on my website at www.frankjmaduri.com I have opted to paste the links into this post.

Therefore it is one post on this blog, which is linked to my website and it provides a “one stop shopping” approach to providing the links to some of my other published work. The one issue with it is that a lot of this writing does not mesh with the themes of this blog, most of it is news stories on Hurricane Sandy and other local or national events. However, it is a part of who I am and what I have done and I am proud of the work ; as I wrote when I started this blog that I had to choose several themes because no single theme defines who I am. So this post is being executed with that thought process supporting it.

I will provide the link to the content below with a brief synopsis of what the article pertains to:

http://voices.yahoo.com/royal-visit-prince-harry-jersey-shore-12152145.html

The above link is to a story I wrote for Yahoo! regarding the recent visit of Prince Harry to the NJ Shore to see the areas affected by Hurricane Sandy. I then tied the event to a memory I had of meeting a British royal family member, Prince Andrew, 15 years ago.

http://rumson.patch.com/blog_posts/reflecting-back-meeting-senator-frank-Lautenberg

The above link is a reflection on meeting the late Senator Frank Lautenberg

http://voices.yahoo.com/rebuilding-post-sandy-health-menace-mold-12152166.html

The link above is to an article I did for Yahoo! on the horrible effects mold can cause in flooded homes or work places.

http://voices.yahoo.com/rebuilding-boardwalks-jersey-shore-12111853.html

A story I did for Yahoo! on the boardwalk rebuilding process in NJ after Hurricane Sandy

http://rumson.patch.com/blog_posts/rebuilding-boardwalks-of-the-new-jersey-shore-part-2

The conclusion of that story on the boardwalks

http://link.patch.com/5166f2821e240a9c3f6405be5198b1a77332c11b1d000106/UZWPX8JSH8g1FPRhA686a

Patch article on AP records intrusion

http://holmdel-hazlet.patch.com/blog_posts/slow-cleanup-from-sandy-the-next-big-issue-mold

The above article is to a Patch story on clean up Post- storm Sandy

http://voices.yahoo.com/vertigo-amazing-u2-concert-experience-12127516.html

The above article is on a U2 concert I attended in New York City

http://middletown-nj.patch.com/blog_posts/coming-home-without-a-home-the-va-mortgage-crisis

The above link will take you to an article on the issues of getting war veterans a VA mortgage approved.

That is enough for now, I hope you enjoy all of this work and it raises your awareness to the issues of the day. Thank you for reading!

Copyright 2013 – Frank J. Maduri – all rights reserved no reprinting or redistribution without written consent of the author.

My thoughts are with those who have lost a family member, spouse, sibling, or other relative or close friend while that person was serving our nation in the military. I think of all of those who have died in combat, and those who are currently serving in our military throughout the world on Memorial Day.

My father, my uncle, two of my brothers-in-law, my father in law, and both my grandfathers have served in the military and in the case of my brothers-in-law are still serving in the military. I think of them every year at Memorial Day too and appreciate their willingness to serve in the armed forces.

My father always instilled that love of our country in me as a boy. He would put out and bring in the American flag every day, it hung on a pole next to our front porch growing up. He always told me that Memorial Day was not about barbecues, going to the movies, or watching a baseball game. It was about those who served and gave their lives so that we could live in freedom.

That has resonated with me for the rest of my life. I always try to thank a military service member for their service when I see them in public. I know that without their service, both past and present, the world would be a much darker and different place.

I am a student of history, so I know that our country has faced some difficult wars with huge consequences for the entire world.  We were faced with the threat of dictators and tyrants in our history. We have helped to defend the rights of those throughout the world and advance freedom and liberty to those who were living in horrible conditions.

So as I wind down the week, and have other assignments to complete, I just wanted to take a moment and write this post. When you are out this weekend, please take some time to think about the sacrifice of our military men and women both past and present. Our lives would be dramatically different without their service and for some the sacrifice of the their lives to secure freedom for future generations.

The New York Knicks saw their season come to a sudden and disappointing conclusion on Saturday night with a loss in Indiana to the Pacers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals. Instead of writing an article about an exciting, decisive Game 7 tonight; I am writing about the end of this season and will look ahead to next season.

Game 6 – A Loss and Disappointment

The Knicks, their fans, and everyone involved in the organization cannot be happy with the way this series and this season ended. In Game 6, the Knicks dug themselves too deep a hole to climb out of, and when they did mount the 13 point comeback in the 3^rd Quarter, it went steadily downhill from that point.

I know some fans want to blame Carmelo Anthony, and I really do not think that you can place all the blame on him. I find it hard to put the blame on a player that scored so many points in a close out game on the road, even though I know he disappeared again down the stretch in the 4^th Quarter (2-7 shooting).

I think the entire team fell short in many different ways in this series. The Pacers are a very good defensive team, and the Knicks really struggled to score points, and that was the one major difference in the series.

We all thought this team would be in the Conference Finals against the Heat. I was really looking forward to that series, and I know my fellow Knicks fans were as well.

The Turning Point: Hibbert blocks Carmelo

The turning point in this game was the play where Roy Hibbert blocked the layup by Carmelo Anthony. The Knicks were not the same team from that point forward down the stretch in the 4^th quarter.

You have to hand it to the Pacers for having a good solid game plan for how they would match up against the Knicks, and they executed it on both sides of the ball. You could also make the case that the Knicks lost this series by losing Game 1 because had that game gone in the Knicks favor, they would have held a 2 games to 0 advantage when the series shifted to Indianapolis, and it is a very different series at that point.

However, the Knicks did not win this series, and it is time to look ahead to next season. The Pacers will move forward to face the Miami Heat, which is going to be a tall order for the Pacers at this point.

What now? Offseason questions

The Knicks have several questions looming ahead this offseason. The team does not have much room under the salary cap for next year, and they have to make a decision on J.R. Smith (it is widely assumed he is going to decline the option on his contract and test free agency) or he could decide to negotiate a longer term deal with the Knicks.

I think the Knicks need to re-sign Smith because they will be hard pressed to find a free agent secondary scoring player like him on the open market with their current salary cap space.

The Knicks front office also has to make free agency decisions on Chris Copeland, Prigioni, and decide what to do with point guard Jason Kidd. The team has many key questions which will be answered in the months to come. It will be interesting.

One Perspective: My own

I have several opinions of what the Knicks need to do or should do in the offseason, as a fan of this team for many years. I think that they should bring back J.R. Smith, that they should use Amare more extensively either on the front line or as the primary scorer on the second unit, and that they need another big front court player.

Now, I know that front court player is going to be difficult to add given the variables I stated earlier in this post, but I think they should add someone and it is not Kenyon Martin. If they do not buy out Marcus Camby, then that role could conceivably be filled by him if they had no other options.

Furthermore, I think that the Knicks can bring back Prigioni and Copeland without an issue, and that they need to add a player or two to get a little bit younger.

In the end, the Knicks are going to return much the same team as the version we saw this year. My fear, and I think Knicks fans will agree, is that it will not be enough to compete with a revamped Eastern Conference featuring a fully healthy Chicago Bulls team, the ever present Heat, and some other improving teams. In that case, it will be another season where any progression in the playoffs for the Knicks could be a very difficult task.

The New York Knicks wrapped up a big victory on their home floor in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference Semi-Final Series against the Indiana Pacers. It was a much needed victory which pushes the series to a Game 6 tomorrow night in Indianapolis. In my previous posts on this series for “Frank’s Forum” we looked at many aspects of the preparation by both teams for this game. In particular, the Knicks being in such a big hole in the series, I detailed some of the adjustments they needed to make in order to win against the Pacers in Game 5.

This article will review the Knicks performance in Game 5 and a look ahead to Game 6, and what they will need to do to force a decisive Game 7.  The home crowd was treated to a big win last night; the Knicks made a number of key adjustments and made better shot selection in this game.

Adjustments made: A Solid Game Plan

I have to credit Coach Woodson and Knicks coaching staff for implementing a very good game plan complete with several adjustments which allowed them to perform much better in Game 5. The players deserve the credit for executing that game plan and pushing the series longer against a Pacers team which historically has trouble with closing out opponents in the playoffs.

The pressure in a lot of ways is still on the Pacers in this series because they had a 3 games to 1 advantage, and they are playing Game 6 on their home court.  The Knicks are coming in with a win in Game 5, and then they have to play a Game 6 on the road where they can come out flying to take the Pacers home crowd out of the game.

My previous blog post detailed the adjustments that the Knicks needed to make in order to win Game 5 and here is my feedback on those adjustments:

1. Rebounds: the Knicks hit the boards last night especially in critical points of the game when the Pacers were trying to slice into their lead. That was critical to let the Pacers know that they could not push the Knicks around and dominate this series.
2. Shot selection: the Knicks tightened up their shot selection and then using crisper passing to open up clean, high quality shots. J.R. Smith looked more efficient last night, and Carmelo Anthony had a workmanlike 20+ point performance.
3. Rotation: I liked the rotation changes that Woodson made last night. He utilized Prigioni and Copeland well, and he utilized good substitutions to match up against the Pacers lineup changes. The floor spacing was pretty good overall last night, and it helped by having other perimeter shooters to open up lanes for Anthony and Smith to drive to the rim.
4. Ball Movement: The ball movement was crisp and well executed for the most part last night. The Knicks moved the ball around the perimeter well and got the ball into the post when they needed to effectively. I think the rest of my fellow Knicks fans would agree on this point.
5. Aggressive play: the Knicks were much more aggressive last night in driving the ball to the rim, and also in taking the ball away from the Pacers and catching them flat going the other way in transition. They used some other elements of their offense which opened up clean shots such as the pick and roll and some ball screens as well.
6. Less isolation plays: the Knicks still used a good amount of isolation plays but I guess that large portion of their offense is difficult to pull out in the middle of a series. Smith was given some freedom to find his own shot, and Anthony is left in isolation every game at multiple points.
7. The Indiana Pacers perimeter shooting: I think the Knicks did a great job of denying the Pacers and their perimeter shooting. They worked hard on the defensive end and constantly switched other defenders onto a shooter to deny the open 3 point shot at many points last night.

Game 6 Preview- Formula for a Knicks Win

In order for the Knicks to win in Game 6 out in Indiana, it is important for them to remain composed in a tough road environment. I also believe that in Game 5 it was a very positive development that they had a lead in this game and did not have to play from behind.

It is very important for the Knicks to stay out of foul trouble in order to keep their best players on the floor. They can deny the Pacers the 3 point attempts and then stay aggressive, and I think they can keep this game close. If they can get big performances from Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith, I think that the Knicks have made great adjustments and have to stick with that plan.

Ultimately, the Knicks could win this game on the road if they play smart, select their shots well, and balance the floor. I hope we get to see a decisive Game 7 at the Garden on Monday. Only time will tell.