Who Needs Jurassic Park? We’ve Got Field Station: Dinosaurs!

Without owning a time-traveling DeLorean, taking a trip to Field Station: Dinosaurs is the easiest way to go back to the Mesozoic Period. I think it’s safe to say that most of us were fascinated by dinosaurs at one time in our lives and many of us still are, including myself. When I read about a new dinosaur-themed park opening up in Secaucus, NJ, I couldn’t wait to go and mingle with my old pals Hadrosaurus and T-Rex.
You already know T-Rex, but you may not know that Hadrosaurus is the official dinosaur of New Jersey. Haddy roamed around Jersey during the late Cretaceous period and has made his return to the Garden State at Field Station Dinosaur. In addition to Haddy, the attraction boasts over 30 life sized roaring dinosaurs, including the largest animatronic dinosaur ever made, the Argentinosaurus which is 90 feet long! It’s quite a site to see.

Field Station Dinosaurs

Last weekend I scooped up my niece and nephew and headed to Field Station. We all had a fun time and the kids waltzed right into workshops and got involved in the various little activities going on. The kids both sat front and center and interacted in a seminar about avian dinosaurs and my niece also got a dinosaur tattoo. Aside from the towering animatronic dinosaurs, Field Station offers dinosaur meet and greets, fossil digs, shows and games. With all that stuff it’s easy to forget your kids are actually doing something educational.

Field Station is closest thing we’ll have to Jurassic Park in New Jersey. It’s very cool concept and it’s awesome that it’s so close to home. At some point I’d like to see the park expand to include a dark ride and possibly other theme park attractions. According to their website, the park closes down on November 11th and these additions would keep them open through the winter months. I’d really hate to see this park go extinct.

If you have kids and live in the NY/NJ/PA area I highly recommend making a day of Field Station. The walk through park isn’t anywhere near as scary as the Dinosaur! ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, so the kids won’t be petrified. Plus, you can even go on a rainy summer day and avoid crowds because the park is still open and free ponchos are provided.
Their official websites offers discounted admission:
Laurel Hill Park, One Dinosaur Way
Secaucus, NJ 07094

America’s Got Taint…ed Rest Stops

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New Jersey might be known for Bruce, Bon Jovi, and MTV’s Jersey Shore, but there was actually a time that the King of All Media himself and the newest judge on America’s Got Talent, Howard Stern, was also the talk of the state. Many years after Howard hosted his own late night TV show in the ’80s on Secaucus NJ’s WWOR channel 9, Howard popped up in another part of Jersey, but in a quite different capacity. Although Howard will forever be associated with New York radio, he’s also etched in the history of a New Jersey rest stop.

While on the air speaking with then-candidate for Governor of NJ, Christie Todd Whitman, Howard half jokingly said he’d endorse her campaign if she dedicated a rest stop to him in Jersey. Whitman wound up getting elected in 1994, and on March 19th, 1995, there indeed was a plaque installed at the rest stop on I-295 in honor of Stern. On the plaque was a cartoonish picture of Stern popping his head out of an outhouse in the Burlington, NJ rest stop. It was stolen merely days later. Just finding a picture of the infamous plaque on the Internet proved to be quite a challenge. (I finally found it thanks to The Jersey Shore Mom!)

The shock jock’s rest stop quickly became seedy. Stern named the rest stop after a segment on his show, the “Show Us Your Tits Scenic Overlook.” Motorists were using the bathrooms at the rest area for sex and who knows what else. Gee, what a surprise! In 2003, Governor McGreevy ordered the rest area to be shut down to save up to $1 Million dollars in operating costs. But it was most likely because of the backlash of people who thought the sexual escapades going on there were indecent. McGreevy later came out of the closet and actually admitted to engaging in sex acts at rest stops in New Jersey.

Since then the area was locked up and all toilets were removed from the premises. As the years passed the rest stop became neglected and started to decay, but it hasn’t been forgotten.

As of 2010, when this AP article was published on NJ.com, rumors were flying that the state was thinking of selling the naming rights of all of our rest stops to large companies. This revenue could add up to over a $1 million dollars a year or more.

NJ T-Shirt Tuesday 76: Charlie’s Corner

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The online t-shirt shop Shirts With Balls has gone exclusively eBay in order for the owner to pursue their political thrash metal band…sounds like the next pilot to tank on ABC. The store once carried vintage style t-shirts from random bars in New Jersey. And, because I am a total weirdo, I saved a t-shirt pic from their site back when it was on sale. This one is from Charlie’s Corner, a bar in Secaucus that has been raked over the coals on the Internet. I’ve never drank at Charlie’s Corner and I don’t think I will anytime soon, but it was still amusing reading up on the place.
Here is what some sites and reviews have said about Charlie’s Corner: 
*Beware these aren’t from Peter Travers:
“The beer selection is white trash approved, the staff are a bunch of skanks…” 
– tluv80 at city search
“If you saw the kitchen area you’d just as soon eat out of the toilet and cut to the chase.” 
– tluv80 at city search
“The waitresses are practically hookers” – clubplanet.com
“…Good parking…” – liltbones at city search

eXXXotica 2009 at The NJ Expo Hall in Edison, NJ

In case you weren’t able to be at Exxxotica this year I’ve captured my experience and edited it into a montage for you. Much of the footage was taken hours before the place became mobbed.

The 2nd annual Exxxotica convention took place on Friday September 25th and The Sexy Armpit was lucky enough to be there sandwiched between all the vibrators, ceramic dongs, and of course tons of adult film stars! It was my first Exxxotica convention and I was honestly impressed with the reverence it paid to an industry constantly faced with adversity. Censorship in the United States relegates anything, even semi explicit material, into the taboo category. You could imagaine the crusade that it took the organizers of the Exxxotica convention to actually bring it to the public. After getting ousted from Secaucus, New Jersey, whether they liked it or not, Edison, New Jersey became home to Exxxotica 2009. Now for my blow by blow account.

Whether you’re into Comic Books, Star Wars, Buffy, or even Twilight, there’s an expo hall somewhere in the country hosting a convention for your pastime. If your pastime is sex and adult films, don’t you feel left out? It’s not so bad if you live on the west coast, especially Los Angeles and Vegas since running into a porn star is way more likely there. Exxxotica also brings their show to Miami so it’s only logical to hold another leg of the convention only miles away from New York City. It’s about damn time that a sexpo not just for industry folk came to the Northeast. The opportunity to rub implants or elbows with girls (or guys) you’ve only fantasized about on the computer or in magazines is pretty special regardless your views on sex. If people can dress up as a Klingon, go to a Trek convention, and stand on line for Nimoys autograph, then why the hell not have a sex convention where you meet tons of your favorite porn stars and have the chance to preview and purchase the latest sex products?

You don’t have to be a sex addict to enjoy this convention. The NJ Expo Hall transformed into a pink playground of sexual fantasies. The eye candy sent me into overload. Girls dressed in sexy pink and black lingerie roamed the floor posing for pictures and flirting with the attendees. It was no different than taking pictures with a guy in a Captain America costume at the Marvel comics kiosk at the NY Comic Con. When I wasn’t distracted by all the hot ass, I was scoping out the scene for my favorite porn stars. From Jenna Haze to the girls from Burning Angel, everyone was at Exxxotica.

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Next year make sure you get 2 tickets, and bring your boyfriend or girlfriend. It’s the best time you’ll ever have in Edison, New Jersey.

The Beastie Boys: From White Castle to the Nile? Scratch That. New Jersey!

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Have you ever wondered what the correlation is between The Beastie Boys, South Orange, Slyders, and Secaucus? No? Well, I’m going to explain it anyway!

Aside from White Castle references that make Harold and Kumar feel inadequate, The Beastie Boys are also associated with NJ. Not only was Adam Horovitz a.k.a King Adrock born in South Orange NJ, but the Beastie Boys also refer to the NJ town of Secaucus in 2 of their songs:
“We’re from Manhattan, You’re from Secaucus”
Rock Hard
“You’re From Secaucus – I’m from Manhattan”
The New Style
In addition to geographical name drops, sprinkled throughout the lyrics of the album, the Beasties make their lust for the mini burgers abundantly clear. It’s unbelievable how many people from around the world first heard of White Castle through listening to The Beastie Boys’ debut album License to Ill. Just type it in a Google search and you’ll see what I mean! Plateoftheday.com, a food blog, claims that “White Castle burgers if you don’t know, were first made popular by a Beastie Boys song back in the ’80s.” All I can say is…wow. If giving each person in the world the power to go on the Internet means granting them permission to spew such innacurate and outrageous comments, then I say people like that need a License to Internet
BTW, Even though they were founded in 1921, NJ is one of only 11 states that have White Castle restaurants. Such a pity for the other 39 states! Now If you’ll excuse me, I’m about to grab two girlies and a beer that’s cold…