"Stacy's Mom" needs a new place to buy a lawn ornament...

Part of the reason New Jerseyans are a proud people is that we thrive on our minutiae. We love the obscure little things and places that you would only know by living and growing up here. (Though, the entrepreneurial spirit of Weird NJ has brought things like "Midgetville" and "Gravity Road" to the masses) The roots of this rant started when I was driving along Route 46 West on Tuesday, I passed Fountains of Wayne like I have on so many occasions. This time though, I couldn't help but feel sad. Now, why do I care that an institutions which for decades has sold the oddest and sometimes most hideous lawn ornaments on the planet? Why is such a store that I've never shopped at in my life important? Because it's part of our cultural fabric. It was the backdrop for a great Sopranos episode where Charles S. Dutton guest-starred. Hell, it even was the name of a band who sang about every adolescent's Cougar fantasy.

As Bill O'Reilly and other talking heads have done for many years in fighting their own "culture wars". (How can we forget John Gibson's "The War on Christmas"....and it wasn't about Washington crossing the Delaware either) I fight my own little war on a daily basis. It's a "culture war" of my own. It's the "I'm sick of seeing an Applebee's, Lowe's or Papa John's pop up on every street corner war". The "chaining of America" has always hit a nerve with me. I think much of it dates back to the fact I grew up watching how hard my parents worked owning and running a restaurant.

For those of you who don't know, much of my early formative hours were spent drinking "Shirley Temples" fixed by my father at the bar. My parents owned a great little restaurant/tavern in North Haledon known as "the Rathskeller". It's hereditary to despise the fact that a certain segment of the population thinks that assembly-line kitchens are the way to go.

I'll never forget the time that my grandfather took me to the Great Falls in Paterson (which this week was christened a national park) and we went for a hot dog afterwards at Libby's (one of those true institutions in New Jersey that have stood the test of time...and I bet you didn't know New Jersey is the true home of the "Texas Weiner" ). I find it hard to get that same feeling going to a Subway or somewhere else. There's a reason that places like Libby's, The Star Tavern, and Jersey Freeze are still around. The food is damn good. But also its because they connect us to those generations before us. Our grandparents took us there. Or we went there after little league games. Or maybe you took date there. (Libby's might not be your best choice then) So many of life's moments happen in these places

So my friends, when given the option, think about your local New Jersey institution next time you're out and about. The only way we can maintain the cultural fabric that binds us together and makes this state the best place to live in America is because we have places like this. I mean after all....and here's the new "Red Scare"...Imagine a world where you'd have to consider the Olive Garden a true Italian meal? (which is already the truth in many towns and cities in America)

Support your local pork store and bakery. Support your farmer's market. That's a true economic stimulus that will help ensure that future generations won't have to go to Casa Bonita to experience culture.