Committee Approves Travel Spending
Committee approves funding for travel to National League of Cities’ Board of Directors and International Council events.
Dec 8th, 2008 by Dave Reid
Marcus Aurelius Redux
The first blog I wrote for VS was way back in April of ’08. Titled “Marcus Aurelius Online,” I’ve revived it with new answers to old questions. While ruling Rome, Marcus Aurelius Antonius wrote Meditations, setting down rules for living written in Greek. Stoic to the end (his end came in AD 180), Marcus Aurelius wrote them to himself, and in many ways his twelve books pre-figured the blogs of today. Book 1: “the certainty to ignore the dice of fortune…” Bones: Those who bought tickets on the ill-fated Titanic. Relive the grisly event at our Public Museum with a ticket bearing the name of an original traveler. At journey’s end you get to discover if that traveler survived or died….a gruesome roll of the dice from the world of marketing. Book 2: “Now the flesh you should disdain….blood, bones, a mere fabric and network of nerve, veins, and artifacts. Bones: Okay, cut yourself some slack and disdain the Bronze Fonz, too. Book 3: “Do not waste the remaining part of your life in thoughts about other people, when you are not thinking with reference to some aspect of the common good.” Bones: Advice to sour grapes Republicans and in particular, Mr. William Jefferson Clinton. Book 4: “Remove the judgment and you have removed the thought, ‘I am hurt,’ and the hurt itself is removed.” Bones: Rejects from the 2008 Mary Nohl Fellowship thing. Writers who didn’t make the Cream City Review. Book 5: “If on the other hand harm is done to the city, you should not be angry, but demonstrate to the doer of this harm what he himself has failed to see.” Bones: Developers who insist we need more condos. Book 6: “Some things are hurrying to come into being, others are hurrying to be gone, and part of that which is being born is already extinguished.” Bones: Art galleries, blogs, White House staffers, daily newspapers. Book 7: “The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing, in that it stands ready for what comes and is not thrown by the unforeseen.” Bones: Broad Vocabulary, Milwaukee Shakespeare, Milwaukee Fashion Week, etc., etc. Book 8: “Everything has come into being for a purpose….a horse, say, or a vine. Does this surprise you?” Bones: Well yeah. What pray tell, is the purpose of bailouts? Book 9: “Enough of this miserable way of life, enough of grumbling and aping.” Bones: Get on with the plan. Print more money. Book 10: “The healthy eye must look at all there is to be seen, and not say ‘I only want pale colors’….this is a symptom of disease.” Bones: All arts organizations that deem themselves deciders of what goes where. Book 11: “No nature is inferior to art, in fact the arts imitate the variety of natures. If that is so, then the most perfect and comprehensive of all natures could not be surpassed by any artistic invention.” Bones: Museums and galleries will ignore this advice. Book 12: “Practice even what you […]
Dec 8th, 2008 by Stella Cretek
The Show
Reminding Milwaukee once again that the “Yuletide has a dark side,” In Tandem Theatre Company reintroduces parodies and sketch comedy in The Show. The fourteen sketches, written and performed by local actors Karen Estrada, Matthew Huebsch, Doug Jarecki, Andrea Moser and Jason Powell, combine new and old material that provide a counterpoint to the sentimental overload during of the holiday season. This two-hour production would make any Christmas Scrooge grin and these performers bring an inventive sense of comic timing to the stage. The Show is full of intelligent, witty and hilarious dialogue and lyrics, which are recommended for those over the age of thirteen. The entire evening evokes the retro feel of a 70s television variety program with contemporary updates. Each sketch showcases these talented actors. A favoritepresentation could only be chosen with considerable difficulty because the cast works together through each number as a team, interchanging roles and costumes flawlessly. Several highlights include “Past, Present, and Future Tense” which portrays the ghosts of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol ruminating on helping Ebenezer. Also excellent is the musical rendition of “Beer Goggles” that recalls the impaired judgment of a New Year’s Eve party in which an inebriated couple recites a love song to one another. You can also watch Mary and Joseph struggle through “Couple’s Therapy” which provides a bit of human insight to the marriage consummated after the immaculate conception of Jesus. The finale, “Wrap It Up,” concludes the evening on a high note of rhyme with St. Nick rapping together with his back-up dancing elves. The only concern for this delightfully irreverent show became the performer’s attire. Throughout the evening, especially when out of the minimal costumes, their appearance might have been a bit more formal, all black or elegantly casual. This could have heightened the parody while creating a wonderful complement to the sparse stage adding an element of holiday pizzazz. Kudos to In Tandem and these five performers who provide an alternative to overdosing on sugary themes with satiric spice. Honoring the tradition of sketch comedy The Show will enlighten any December weekend with comical, but slightly deviant seasonal cheer. VS In Tandem Theatre Company presents The Show at the Tenth Street Theatre through December 20. For tickets: 414-271-1371.
Dec 8th, 2008 by Peggy Sue Dunigan
Weekly Bookmarks – Monday, 08. December 2008
Milwaukee Talkie: What’s Wrong With Local Competition? Postal Service Gains Approval for 858,000 SF Veterans Housing planned for south side – BizTimes Affordable housing project planned for south side – BizTimes Oak Creek council approves plan for new postal center – BizTimes MilwaukeeWorld: WISDOT A NO-SHOW AT COUNTY COMMITTEE Rezoning clears way for Postal center – The Business Journal of Milwaukee: ACLU tries to kill I-94 widening Regional transit authority runs into resistance – JSOnline Taste of progress at The Brewery – JSOnline Milwaukee – 2008 US Cities Sustainability Ranking by SustainLane.com SEED School receives $2 million pledge – The Business Journal of Milwaukee: Transit backers’ quest for financing may get results soon – JSOnline
Dec 8th, 2008 by Dave Reid
Celebrate the freedom to celebrate
Today is Repeal Day! From repealday.org: “Conveniently located halfway between Thanksgiving and Christmas — at a time when most Americans are probably not spending time with family — Repeal Day presents a wonderful occasion to get together with friends and pay tribute to our constitutional rights. [And] unlike St. Patrick’s Day or Cinco de Mayo, Repeal Day is a day that all Americans have a part in observing, because it’s written in our Constitution. No other holiday celebrates the laws that guarantee our rights.” Wisconsin’s convivial culture has come under scrutiny in recent months; the Journal Sentinel‘s Wasted in Wisconsin series, which is more about the human toll of drunken driving than it is about the state’s “drinking culture” as the blog purports, was highlighted in a recent New York Times feature about Wisconsin’s lenient drinking laws and out-of-control (in some eyes) binge drinking. And right here in Milwaukee, people in Wauwatosa are apparently dismayed, shocked and alarmed that boutique and gallery owners have the gall to serve a glass or two of wine at their establishments, and their complaints have led to a crackdown. It’s a frightening time to be a bon vivant, but lovers of the good life can at least rejoice today that, for 75 gloriously uninterrupted years, alcohol has been constitutionally permitted. I’ll probably be celebrating with a bloody mary, which also celebrated the big 7-5 this week. The Iron Horse throws a big repeal party at their bar Branded that features a ceremonial tapping of a keg of Lakefront beer at 7 pm and shuttles to and from Great Lakes Distillery, the first distillery to open in the state since 1933. Support picked-on wine-serving local galleries tonight at The Armoury as they open Milwaukee’s Own, a show featuring local artists Harvey Opgenorth, kathryn e. martin, Colin T. Dickson and Mary DiBiasio. Or, you know, drink anywhere. Milwaukee still boasts the greatest number of bars and taverns per capita. Buy a friend, or a stranger, a shot. I’ll tip one back for my dapper grandfather, who was arrested in Detroit for running sugar to speakeasies.
Dec 5th, 2008 by Amy Elliott
Friday Photos Friday, 05. December 2008
Convent Hill Demolition The North End The Edge 1824 E. Park Place Educators Credit Union
Dec 4th, 2008 by Dave Reid
Committee Quickly Approves Road Projects
Although this meeting finished in record time due to Alderman Robert Bauman's auctioneer style meetings, there were a couple of items of interest.
Dec 4th, 2008 by Dave Reid
RTA Meets the Milwaukee County Board – Meeting Recap
The Milwaukee County Board's Transportation, Public Works, and Transit Committee, chaired by Supervisor Michael Mayo, held a meeting on Wednesday morning to discuss the recommendations approved by the Southeast Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority. Julia Taylor, the Governor's Appointee on the RTA, was on hand to answer questions along with Carl Mueller, the RTA's PR consultant, and Ken Yunker, who has worked closely with the RTA in his role at SEWRPC.
Dec 4th, 2008 by Jeramey Jannene
New Land Enterprises’ Kenilworth Apartment Development Informational Meeting
A meeting was held to discuss New Land Enterprises proposed apartment building for the corner of Kenilworth and Farwell.
Dec 3rd, 2008 by Dave Reid
Masters of the Universe
The CEOs of the Big Three American automakers are returning to Capitol Hill clearly chastened by the lashing they took two weeks ago. Back then, they apparently expected easy access to a mere fraction of the $700 billion Congress has authorized to rescue the nation’s economy during this financial crisis. One can understand their reasoning. After all, the collapse of their companies would put not only their own employees out of work but would have a devastating effect on their suppliers and thousands of other businesses. Yet their failure to appreciate Congress’s distaste for bailing them out and their inability to predict the public relations disaster that would result from arriving in separate corporate jets make you wonder if these guys should be trusted running a car dealership in Sheboygan. Nobody wants to see more people out of work. And I certainly don’t want to see labor contracts that provided job security and health and pension benefits held up as the whipping horse responsible for the Big Three’s downfall. The idea behind those labor agreements, despite the need for some common sense reforms, should serve as models rather than dismissed as a symptom of poor management. Experts tell us that the immediate challenge facing our economy, including the carmakers, is the sudden evaporation of credit and the Big Three certainly have assets that can be used as collateral for the loans they seek. But the image problem facing the bozos in charge on Wall Street and Detroit cannot be so easily addressed. Once again the curtain has been pulled to reveal these so-called “Masters of the Universe” who earn millions of dollars a year while driving their businesses into the ground. Do you remember “Bonfire of the Vanities,” the Tom Wolfe novel that poked fun at the go-go economy of the 1980s. The book was made into a not-so-well-received movie featuring Bruce Willis, Tom Hanks and Melanie Griffith in 1990 and many may feel that the story hasn’t aged well. Well I’ve got news for you. The powerful message of the book, just as relevant as ever, is that the American Dream isn’t about working hard and living within your means. That’s for chumps who can get laid off without warning or justification. The American Dream is about making a killing, either through luck, like with a lottery ticket or at the casino, or, more venally, by manipulating the system like the Michael Millkens, Jeffrey Skillings and Ken Lays of recent memory. Of course, the trick is to avoid having one’s cover blown, either through government investigation, scandal or coincidence. Because there’s nothing the public enjoys more than watching one of the privileged few get their comeuppance. That’s the power of the Fourth Estate. It can be noble and lead to the unveiling of corruption and other crimes or it can be petty and exploitative, like watching a celebrity go through the humiliation of a perp walk. So enjoy the bread and circuses as the mighty are held accountable. Hopefully, […]
Dec 3rd, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
Apparently I Look Like Richard Gere (and Other Reasons Why I Hate Him)
This weekend, while at a party at one Mike Shank’s pad, a young woman with whom i had spoken earlier in the night walked up to me while i was in a circle talking with Tea Krulos, J. Jason Groschopf and Mr. Dave Clay (names dropped to convey just how scene this party was. Yes indeed, i was hobnobbing with movers and shakers–as far as i’m concerned, anyway). She wanted to let me know that she thought i looked like Richard Gere in Pretty Woman, but without all the gray in the hair. Now, i realize that this was meant as a sincere compliment, but i was unable to hide my obvious discomfort at this comparison. I managed to say “really?” instead of “Oh my fucking god i HATE Richard Gere with the passion of a thousand suns OMGWTFGROSS,” but when she looked at the other guys and said, “doesn’t he?” she caught me mouthing “NO” at them. “What, isn’t that a compliment?” “No, i mean, it is! Thank you!” I stammered, but she had realized that she had unwittingly insulted me, and walked away. I felt bad. Whenever a young lady implies that you are attractive, you should say thank you, no matter how perplexed you are by her optical prescription. But two points: 1) I’m pretty sure i’ve hated every movie Richard Gere has ever been in. At least, i know for sure that i hated that streak he went on in the 1990s where he was always cast as the dashing, distinguished older leading man making crazy with the love scenes with whatever hot starlet was the “It Girl” of the day, despite the fact that he comes off like a smarmy douchenozzle. From my perspective, it started with the execrable Pretty Woman and continued with Sommersby, Intersection (where he was paired with TWO trendy starlets, for fuck’s sake), and the most offensive of the bunch, Dr. T and the Women. Now, before you start wondering why the hell a straight man is watching these abominable chick flicks, let the record show that of all of these, i have only seen Pretty Woman. Once. On VHS. Because i think my mom taped it off Showtime or something. No, my vitriol is based solely in the trailers for these movies, all of which showed Douchey Dick in the throes of passion with his leading lady, as if to say “yes, i will be in your movie, but it’s in my contract that i be naked with the leading lady, and that my love scenes get as much exposure as humanly possible. In fact, i will only do Letterman and Leno if you ensure that they’ll ask me about faux-fucking these gorgeous broads.” I mean, dig this bullshit right here: Not only do we get a little bit of nakey Richard a mere 30 seconds in, but he’s got a fresh-off Silence of the Lambs Jodie Foster tenderly shaving his face and declaring with a straight face, “Ah nevah […]
Dec 3rd, 2008 by DJ Hostettler
Stella, Old Broad
I found this image on the AIG website. Posted in the portfolio of former Shepherd Express designer, James Klobier, is a “Portrait of Stella.” I don’t remember wearing pearls, but hey, I’ll take what I can get, old puss and all. Kloiber left for NYC recently to pursue more design opportunities. When first we met, he was working with INFO magazine. In my cabinet drawer is a framed drawing of Stella (by Kloiber). Years ago (well maybe not so many) he designed images for a kiosk on North Avenue, and yeah, once again he included Stella Old Broad. Stella has also been memorialized in a black/white photograph taken by none other than the great departed Jim Herrington who also fled eastward this year. What this means is unclear.
Dec 3rd, 2008 by Stella Cretek
