New Jersey and You: Perfect Together - Pick a Slogan Already!

“New Jersey and You: Perfect Together" was Tom Kean's brainchild, and a good one at that. Christine Todd Whitman's was "What a Difference a State Makes." I'm reasonably intelligent and I still haven't figured that one out. A difference in what to whom? "Head out by way of the nearest bridge, tunnel, or ferry and see what a difference getting out of Jersey makes?" Positive, we need something positive!

The new state slogan, "New Jersey: We’ll Win You Over" was rejected as too negative a connotation for the Garden State by acting Governor Richard Codey. It only cost the overburdened taxpayers of the state $260,000 to have that one thought up and then ultimately rejected with days to go before the kick off of the new slogan campaign.

I see the new one he allowed as having the same negative vibe, "New Jersey, Come See for Yourself." See what? That on a clear day you can see forever, and you can see right across the landfill and the polluted river to NY City? See that is doesn't all stink like rotting garbage or chemical waste by-products? Come see for yourself is a defensive statement, it implies that we do have to prove we have something positive to offer vacationers. It is the same as "We'll Win You Over" in that sense. Dang, I wish someone paid me 260 k to tell Mr. Codey that.

Culled from the internet and former Jersey Natives who write to me at the pork roll site, the following suggestions were made:

"New Jersey: The Pork Roll State" - okay, that one was mine and I submitted it to WeirdNJ.com. And it is about to be printed on tee shirts hawking, you guessed it, my site, and TPR. Have I mentioned lately that I love Weird NJ?"

"The Ocean, The Motion, The Magic"
"Jersey: We got your slogan right here"
"New Jersey: You Got a Problem With That?"
"Kiss Her Where It Smells: New Jersey"
"NJ: How You Doin’?"
"Jersey: Most of Our Elected Officials Have Not Been Indicted."
"Ol' Blue Eyes, the Boss and the Bada Bing."
"From Ol’ Blue Eyes to the Boss: Jersey Is Singing Your Song."
"NJ -Born to Fun"
“Bada Bing! Choose New Jersey”
“New Jersey: It Always Smells Like This,”
“New Jersey: Come Glow With Us”
"The New New Jersey: "Now with 10% less toxic waste!"
"New Jersey: "Shoot squealers, not bears."

Jimmy Buff's - Simply the Best

I had to have a Jimmy Buff's today. They have a website! West Orange, Irvington, East Hanover, and Scotch Plains, NJ. The original one in Newark is gone now, but the name and flavor live on.

Yep, health food fanatic I am not. If I were to leave Jersey forever, it would be a single sausage Jimmy Buff's sandwich I'd be pining for. Not White Castle, not Tastykakes, I'd have to have someone ship me a Buff once in awhile.

I stopped at the one in Scotch Plains today, and asked about the guy who worked in the one in Irvington I went to on a regular basis in the 70's. It is still there on Springfield Avenue, and so is HE!

We, the girls of Walsh, thought he looked like Al Pacino back then. I wonder what 30 years later looks like now. I'm not sure if his name was Junior or Sonny, but he was the nicest guy and we all thought he was hot looking.

Now that I think about it, I used to hear I looked like Valerie Bertinelli and Sally Field, and I look more like Roseanne Barr now. Maybe Sonny/Junior, whatever, is best left forever young and Pacino-like in my memory.

I dribbled the "juice," otherwise known as orange grease, down my shirt as I a gobbled down the sandwich on my way to peddle pork. It is hard to handle a paper wrapped Buff and remain stainless. I don't advocate eating one while wearing formal attire.

The point is, Jimmy Buff's in mid-winter is as good as sausage on the boardwalk in Seaside or Wildwood in the summer. Go there!