Who knew what a difference a make-over can make, or maybe it’s just that Hamilton Park was on hiatus and now it is back and our enthusiasm for the public green space is fresh and strong, greatly renewed. The Hamilton Park Festival was a lively affair, far livelier than pre-renovation. I never remember it being this crowded. It was just a flea market, basically a stoop sale for residents without a stoop. It is still that, the core inception remains effectively in effect. But I never remember bands, which they had all day. I didn’t catch their names but I caught two decent cover bands, at least the set I heard was solely covers. The first concentrated on Johnny Cash and Sun Records classics, with a stand up bass—I love the stand up bass—played by a very energetic and pretty blonde cowgirl. The other band went classic rock, The Who, The Stones, man. But nice and loud. The songs were competently played and their hearts were sincere. The flea market concept was on steroids. Augmenting our friends and neighbors trying to sell their stuff were purveyors of a semi-professional sort. One gentleman had a blanket of Christmas items for sale, and they looked new. Who in their right mind buys Christmas decorations in June? Oh that’s right, my deceased aunt. It’s a large world. Another difference between 2010 and H.P. flea markets of yore I never bought anything. I’m not a big vintage shopper. Oh, once in a blue moon I’ll buy a cheap paper back, but I never did the used clothing scene. I keep thinking where have these shoes been, I could never buy a pair—what right do I have to walk in the shoes of a stranger. It’s just not me. A lot of people though, and it seems to be particularly popular with the new edition of 20-somethings now making their mark on our society, like to buy used, liked to sell use. Has flea marketing become more than a hobby, is it now a lifestyle? So, this one gentlemen was selling LPs and DVDs and such, some of the DVDs were used and refreshingly obscure—a concert featuring Pere Ubu a famous 70s Ohio Punk Rock footnote. I think it was the friends of Devo show. Anyway, I did buy a pristine copy of a screener copy of this rediscovered Japanese Horror film from 1977. It made the festival circuit or something earlier this year, had an intriguing write up in the New York Times. This was a quasi legal item, but it is not yet available through mainstream sources. It was pretty cool. Never saw bootleg Japanese Horror films for sale at the flea markets held in the pre-renovated Hamilton Park. What also I think was new were tables by local community groups, such as our fair city’s underground theater group, J CITY Theater. I spoke with its director, Sandy Cockerel about their upcoming show, Gun Shy. I wrote about them in September. How underground are they? Their theater is in the basement of Saint Michael’s Church, which borders the North side of the park. I also spoke with the Liberty Humane Society. I am thinking about replacing my beloved Cat. They had a puppy in a cage and some snooty dog person comes by real snippy, almost shouting at the young women, who are volunteers, “That dog needs to take a pee.” Yes, he was accusing the humane society of being inhumane. That’s right: our local ASPCA is cruel to animals. I call that the downside of Jersey attitude. Or maybe more to the point, he's a douche bag. What a surprise, and in Jersey City no less! Parks can be renovated and flea markets upgraded to festivals, but some people prove to be a bit harder to improve.
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