A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol at a time when there was a new focus on our growing human family and the plight of the poor. It was also a time when the urban Christmas tradition had started to lose meaning. Although a century or so has passed, A Christmas Carol still reminds us of the importance of charity and love for humanity that’s especially pertinent this time of year.
Dec 6th, 2007 by Vital Archives
Last Days of the Pfister & Vogel Tannery
Last Days of the Pfister & Vogel Tannery Originally uploaded by compujeramey I updated my Flickr set of photos of the Pfister & Vogel Tannery decontruction/The North End construction. They’re older images, and I still have more to add, but they’re a start for those of you that can’t see it in person. In case you’re wondering the tannery is now more or less gone (there is rubble left). Once the deconstruction workers get done pulling apart all the pieces to be recycled construction will start. I’m going to try and swing by today to get some pictures of their latest progress.
Dec 6th, 2007 by Jeramey Jannene
Zoning Committee Hears the Northwest Side Area Comprehensive Plan
The Northwest Side Area Comprehensive Plan, resolution 070933, was presented to the ZND committee seeking approved but it faced multiple criticisms that needed addressing. First Alderman Bauman explained that the northwest side has significant rail infrastructure and because of this there is “tremendous potential on the Northwest side” for transit oriented development, improved mass transit and enhanced mobility. Unfortunately the plan didn’t include any reference to this infrastructure so Alderman Bob Bauman suggested that the plan “go back to the drawing board.” Secondly, Timmerman Airport came up as multiple committee members expressed the likely hood of the site being redeveloped in the future and that the plan only lightly touched upon the topic. Finally Alderman Jim Bohl promoted suburban style development by expressing his concerns for DCD’s desire to encourage through streets and discourage cul–da-sacks. Due to these issues, the plan was held to allow DCD to incorporate more of these topics into the plan. Resolution 070609 was seeking approval of the Grede Foundry site for redevelopment which required a change in zoning from Industrial-Heavy to General Planned Development. Although some parts of the plan such as multistory buildings fronting the street and parking to be located behind the buildings were appropriate the design also left 65% of the 5 1/4 acres dedicated to surface parking. The committee compared the design to a “suburban office park” and concluded it was not appropriate for a near downtown site. And although Alderman Murphy suggested holding the file, the developer pressed forward prompting Alderman Bauman to make a motion placing it on file which prevailed 5-0 and essentially stopped this project. Resolution 071131 was seeking approval of the sale of the city owned lot located at 1027 N. Edison St to Edison Green, LLC. As was recently reported this eight-story mixed-use development will be located near the eastern terminus of the Highland Ave. pedestrian bridge and will include 25 residential units, first floor retail, office space and a banquet hall. The northern portion of the site will remain green space allowing access for the condos to the north and as part of the developments attempt to gain LEED certification. Further that portion of land also contains MMSD sewer infrastructure and police lines which would make development prohibitively expensive. The building will have five shared Prius cars, mopeds and a community boat allowing residents to go without owning a car or boat. Further the green roof will have hot tubs heated by solar panels and possibly small wind turbines on the roof. In general the neighboring condominium association appeared supportive of the proposal with their remaining concern being access to the green space to access their riverfront yards. The projects innovative and green approach was appreciated by the committee. Alderman Michael Murphy commented that this project is a “very thoughtful idea” but Alderman Wade expressed his appreciation strongest by stating “I got one thing to say Wow!” The resolution was approved with the understanding that the solution to the access issue will be agreed […]
Dec 6th, 2007 by Dave Reid
Milwaukee in Miami? Hotcakes takes us there
Hotcakes will be bringing art from Milwaukee to Miami for the Aqua Art Miami art fair and international market from December 5 through December 9, since most of us aren’t fortunate enough to go there ourselves this chilly time of year. The exhibition will be at the Aqua Hotel, a classic South Beach resort which has become a favorite gathering spot to relax and socialize during Art Basel week. The event is located within walking distance of Art Basel, and an Aqua shuttle will run in a continual loop between the hotel and Art Basel Miami Beach each day during regular event hours. Hotcakes will be showing the following artists at Aqua Art Miami: Annie Aube, John Balsley, John Will Balsley, Joseph Bolstad, Rory Burke, Peter Carlson, Melissa Dorn Richards, Meredith Dittmar, Bill Dunlap, Gregory Euclide, Noah Friedman, George Jirasek, Gary John Gresl, Ariana Huggett, Jeremiah Ketner, Mayuko Kono, Matthew Kirk, Paul Kjelland, Tara Klamrowski, John Loscuito, Miel Margarita-Paredes, kathryn e. martin, Colin Matthes, Kevin J. Miyazaki, Ashley Morgan, Christopher Niver, Micaela O’Herlihy, Josie Osborne, Nate Page, Kristopher Pollard, Michelle Sherkow, Robert Smith, Roy Staab, Ric Stultz, Sonja Thomson, Heimo Wallner, Betsy Walton, Dan Wilson. We’re happy to be there in spirit, if not in body. We hope our art gets a good tan and has a nice couple of drinks on the beach.
Dec 4th, 2007 by Vital Archives
VITAL’s predictions for 2008
Formulating predictions for a new year can be ironic -- they usually revolve around the roadblocks we couldn't bust through in the previous year. What license are we issued to move the immovable just by the setting and rising of the sun one more time, one more bout of shuteye, one more flip of a shiny but flimsy paper calendar?
Dec 4th, 2007 by Vital Archives
Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society’s Production of A Chr
By Jill Gilmer From the moment you are greeted by the white-haired ladies at the entrance to the playhouse, it’s apparent that this will be no ordinary night at the theatre: this is the Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society. This very amateur acting troupe attempts to perform Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol with comic results, ranging from falling sets to missed lines to an apparent no-show by the actress who plays Scrooge, forcing the company’s director to try to solicit a replacement from the audience at the start of the play. Farndale Avenue is a series of 11 plays-within-plays produced by the society ladies’ drama guild, including their attempts to perform Macbeth, a murder mystery and a French farce. Theatre-goers expecting A Christmas Carol may be disappointed. The seasonal favorite is really just a backdrop to showcase a host of theatrical mishaps and odd divergences from the original script. At the end of the play, the cast abandons the story altogether and leads the audience in a game of charades. The clever script by David McGillvray and Walter Zerlin Jr. is packed with classic British humor, and the challenge for any American theatre company is to capture the play’s wit without degenerating into silliness. Unfortunately, the company has only limited success in this endeavor. The audience laughed throughout the show but at a level far more restrained than might be expected. In many scenes, the ensemble appears to be trying too hard. This production misses the sharp wit of the parody, which requires a much higher degree of subtlety in both its acting and its direction. Bright spots include an excellent performance by Beverly Sargent, whose character inches across the stage wearing a neck brace she acquired in a supermarket accident. Elizabeth Keefe brings a sweet innocence and natural humor to her characters, especially her portrayal of a snowman in the opening scene. Matthew Patten, the only male member of the women’s drama guild, plays the role of a clueless cast member with just the right level of happy-go-lucky confusion. Farndale Avenue continues through December 31 at the Sunset Playhouse in Elm Grove. For tickets or more information, contact the box office at (262) 782-4430 or visit www.sunsetplayhouse.com.
Dec 4th, 2007 by Vital Archives
The Bronze Fonz Debacle
Mike Brenner, owner of Hotcakes Gallery and big-time mover and shaker in Milwaukee’s art community, sends a seething, vitriolic letter to every major media outlet and art informer in Southeastern Wisconsin vowing to shut Hotcakes’ doors and leave the city for good should a life-size statue of the Fonz be erected in our fair downtown. It registered like Old Testament prophecy, with Brenner’s foot-stomping, foaming-at-the-mouth, head-turning-360-degrees registering somewhere on a scale between “Shut up” and “What a creep.” You know, the kind of crazed clarion that always comes to devastating fruition in the end. The project bears very little exposition here: Visit Milwaukee, formerly the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, is quite close to its goal of raising $85,000 in private funds to put a statue of Henry Winkler as Arthur Fonzarelli of Happy Days somewhere along the Riverwalk. In the old days, people used to construct monuments of people of influence or historical importance — leaders, war heroes, city founders, martyrs, saints, and every once in a while the visage of a crazed dictator longing for a gigantic, oxidizing, bird-shat-upon place in history (many of those statues, appropriately, have since been torn down). On a southward stroll down Prospect Avenue, you will come upon three of these statues in a row, first of Scottish bard Robert Burns, then of viking Leif Erickson, and finally of fur-trader and Milwaukee father Solomon Juneau, his musket poised. On the back of my ankle I have a tattoo of an iconic Detroit image, the 1950s Marshall Fredericks’ statue The Spirit of Detroit, a big shirtless bronze man, seated, holding aloft a small family in one hand and a bright golden sun in another, emanating the impervious, ineffable rays of God. But the canned responses that Dave Fantle of Visit Milwaukee’s PR team has CC’d to everyone from Mike Brenner to the intelligent, considered team of experts at Susceptible to Images to Milwaukee Art Museum CEO David Gordon, arguably the heaviest weight in Milwaukee’s rather little art world, makes it clear that the Bronze Fonz isn’t like those “other” statues. Yes, we hear you, Visit Milwaukee. We know all about Chicago’s Bob Newhart, Minneapolis’ Mary Tyler Moore, Manhattan’s Ralph Kramden (all of which were pitched and placed in a promotional project by the TV Land network). You have only reminded us that they exist every SINGLE time someone wonders why on EARTH we would put a Bronze Fonz on the Riverwalk. We know that you are casting the statue locally and employing a “local” artist (he’s from Lake Mills — a full 55 miles from Milwaukee — not such a great distance, but a stretch when it is considered just how many hundreds of artists live in the city of Milwaukee, proper, or even in the county, or the next county over). You keep trying to tell us that this is “pop” art, not “high” art, the art equivalent of burgers and custard. The hidden message here is that this is not an art project, […]
Dec 4th, 2007 by Amy Elliott
A Cudahy Caroler Christmas
Bringing back that “old Cudahy Caroler magic” is Stasch Zielinski’s mission in A Cudahy Caroler Christmas, In Tandem Theatre’s co-presentation with the Marcus Center and a Milwaukee holiday favorite. Returning to Vogel Hall in the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts Thanksgiving weekend, this production features both new and returning cast members.
Dec 4th, 2007 by Peggy Sue Dunigan
Portland To Have “Sunday Parkways”, Can Milwaukee Join The Party?
Powells Originally uploaded by compujeramey Portland, Oregon is getting on-board with a program I would love to see Milwaukee jump on in the near future. Slated to happen on June 22 (in conjunction with the International Carfree Conference), Sunday Parkways will offer Portlanders a chance to stroll, pedal, and play on a six-mile loop of streets that will be closed to motor vehicle traffic from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm…. reports BikePortland.org They’re linking the route up with parks and live entertainers, to offer a little more than a unique place to ride your bike. As far as Milwaukee goes, it would be amazing to have a loop available on a Saturday or Sunday during the summer for people to just play in the absence of dangerous cars everywhere. Linking up with parks for entertainment value I think is huge, along with having a view of the lake. A potential route starting at Cathedral Square Park might include heading north on Van Buren Street, east on Brady Street, south on Prospect Ave, and west on Wells or Kilbourn to come back to the starting point. This is really a tool the Third Ward, East Town and West Association’s could use to market their neighborhoods as safe places for both fun and work by drawing people in from other areas who are otherwise intimidated by the speed and noise of the cars on city streets. I would imagine businesses would be behind this and traffic on Saturday or Sunday mornings is next to nonexistent anyway, so it would bring business in, not chase it away. The only thing that I can think of that compares on a scale basis is the Bastille Days Run through downtown with Jazz in the Park going on afterward. Milwaukee needs to convert that to an open day-time event for everyone to enjoy in a non-competitive environment. Any thoughts? Support? Yays or nays? Special thanks to the Streetsblog for pointping the Portland event out to me. I can’t find anything, but I think they have something like this in Manhattan too.
Dec 3rd, 2007 by Jeramey Jannene
Carrying A Knife In To The Gunfight
His real name is Edmund Makowski, but around town he’s known as poet Eddie Kilowatt. It suits him to a tee: his persona is electric indeed, and it shines through in his slender new book of poetry, Carrying A Knife In To The Gunfight.
Dec 1st, 2007 by Judith Ann Moriarty
Blue wings and hearing loss
Without warning, he fires, and my left ear – only inches away from his gun – explodes. The ex-duck has barely hit the water before I realize something has gone very, very wrong.
Dec 1st, 2007 by Matt Wild
