2003-10 Vital Source Mag – October 2003
In Search of An Agenda
By John Hughes Early next year, The City of Milwaukee will elect a new mayor, to preside over this city during what promises to be an era of accelerating change. With leadership crucial during the next few years, the agenda set during this election, which will frame the debate among voters, is still emerging. In our September issue, Vital Source put four questions to four mayoral candidates: Tom Barrett, Sandy Folaron, Martin Matson, and John Pitta. We believe the candidates’ answers to these questions reflect some of the leadership style which they would exhibit if elected. Already, the landscape is shifting. Pedro Colon is out. Rumors abound that the big money is hiding in the wings until David Clarke decides whether or not he will run. Others are rumored to be shopping their potential amongst the fundraising set. We shall see what the coming months bring. For this issue, we contacted candidates Frank Cumberbatch and Tom Nardelli. Marvin Pratt and Vincent Bobot are expected to reply for the November issue of Vital Source. Frank Cumberbatch has been Project Manager for the Waukesha County Department of Information Systems, Milwaukee Director of Service Delivery for Kedestra, a real estate e-commerce company, President of the Board of Directors of the Latino Community Center, and Executive Secretary of the Community Brainstorming Conference, among numerous other professional and community service achievements. Tom Nardelli has served Milwaukee for 16 years as a member of the Common Council as Alderman for the 15th District. He currently chairs the Common Council’s Public Safety Committee and serves as a member of the Economic Development and the Steering and Rules Committees. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Wisconsin Center District; owners and operators of the Midwest Express Center, U. S. Cellular Arena and the soon to be renovated Milwaukee Auditorium. He chairs the District’s Project Development Committee. He is a member of the board for the Milwaukee Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and a member of the MEDC Land Committee. 1. VITAL SOURCE: What specific steps will you take to make the police chief more accountable to the people of Milwaukee? Frank Cumberbatch: I will ask the police chief to submit a detailed plan for improving the relationship between the police department and city neighborhoods, especially high crime areas. I will also ask constituents, through surveys, to grade the performance of the police department in the following categories: crime prevention; response to calls; building trust; treatment of witnesses, suspects and victims; visibility and race relations. The survey results and the effectiveness of the plan will count heavily toward the chief’s overall job performance evaluation. Tom Nardelli: It will be my intent to have a good working relationship with whomever is selected to be the new police chief. State law gives the Chief considerable independent power from those who would attempt to politically persuade him/her to do their bidding. Under that State law, the Chief is solely responsible to ensure the public safety. I do believe that […]
Oct 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
Milwaukee’s Philosopher Magician
By John Hughes Meet ‘Professor Oops’ On the Sunday afternoon of the Harley-Davidson centenary, with motorcycles thundering all over town, I found a quiet spot in the side yard of Sky Schultz, known to audiences as Professor Oops. At his Riverwest home tucked into an out-of-the-way cranny, the yard is a thing of wonder — enchanted by the presence of well over 100 potted plants, a dozen birdhouses, a small statue and a tree swing. With trees draping their green canopy over us, and Sky speaking in a hushed, thoughtful tone, peace and quiet made their shy return. Sky Schultz, 62, has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. He says of his training, “They never told us we’re all insane. They never taught us to sit down and watch how our own minds work. Mark Twain said, ‘When you realize we’re all mad, then everything stands explained.’ This was not acknowledged in school.” He continues to speak in a voice guided by humor and kindness. His presence is an oasis to me of civility and sweetness. He peppers his conversation with quotes from Goethe, Nietzsche, Emily Dickinson and John Ruskin. I ask him about the genesis of his performance art alter ego, Professor Oops. “In 1986 I said to my self, ‘Self, you have made more mistakes than any other living organism.'” He laughs at himself. “And I thought that I ought to make something useful out of those mistakes. A mistake is an experience from which you can learn, and a failure is a success you don’t like very much. So I brought Professor Oops into being. George Bernard Shaw said, and this is my motto, ‘Try to find the most important thing to say, and then say it with the utmost levity.’ That’s what Professor Oops is all about.” According to Schultz, Oops “teaches creativity, science and ecology, in schools and nursing homes and other places. My audience age range is kindergarten through death.” AN Explorer of the Mind. He continues. “I am an explorer who stayed at home. I stayed here to discover amazing things about us. I study the mind, and it puts me in a constant state of awe. So I try to translate that into magic in my Professor Oops shows. The magic shows us that we’re always being fooled; that’s what I love about all magic. “I try to be the world’s greatest appreciator in my personal life, and I try to bring that awareness into my shows. But, of course, like everyone, I am an unfinished animal.” He smiles. Sky has a loving relationship with Lily, a child approaching her sixth birthday. Lily is “a wonderful radiant being.” She was born in the US of Mexican descent, and is, according to Sky, “the adopted daughter of my ex. Barbara adopted Lily, and Lily adopted me. Lily adopted me.” He spends time with Lily nearly every day. Just that week he had driven her to the Circus World Museum in Baraboo and to a […]
Oct 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
Milwaukee’s Best New Building is Invisible
By Raymond Johnson One of the best new buildings in Milwaukee was completed last month, but you can’t see much of it from the street. In fact, if you go to 1990 N. Commerce St., there doesn’t seem to be a building there at all — just a small urban square with a lookout over the Milwaukee River and a one-store concrete and Plexon tower. Being invisible is just one of many architectural surprises the new Milwaukee Rowing Club (MRC) boathouse, designed by Vetter Denk Architects, has in store. Vetter Denk has been doing some of the cleanest modern work in the city in recent years. Much of it has been right next door to the MRC on the Beerline ‘B’ Trail in the River Homes project. The boathouse was designed principally by Sebastian Schmalling and Brian Johnson, who have since moved on to start their own firm, JPS Studio, with Adam Pearson. Two Concrete Planes The building consists of two concrete planes, one at city level and one at river level. Between the two planes, a translucent Plexon façade encloses the boathouse, while sliding wood doors provide access to a staging area to the northeast. The enclosure has a strong horizontal reading that, when combined with the two planes, suggest the movement of sculls in the water, and the river itself flowing through the city. The translucent panels give almost no suggestion to the sculls that lie within. But, from inside, one sees the echoes of the river that once was; the heavy brick factories across the river are presented as in an impressionist painting, their own future ghosts. Inside the space is a raw concrete open room, lit by dappled daylight and a few fluorescent lights. On top of the city plane, a small urban square was created. It is surrounded by a concrete walkway, which is connected to the sidewalk on the northwest corner and adorned with a simple industrial railing and eight bollard lights. The plane has been planted with grass seed, and one imagines that this will become a sunbathing mecca for city dwellers during the summer months. Hopefully, it will also become something more — perhaps a place where these residents go to protest something? Anything? (Like the lack of parking?) Although it seems a little sparse, this small piece of public space will likely do what all decent urban squares do, bring people together. Underneath the city plane, the morning sunlight reflects from the water to its underside. Here you are thankful the architects gave you this raw chunk of concrete to reflect the morning light. Building as Landscape In addition to its positive formal qualities, the MRC boathouse explores a number of contemporary architectural trajectories. The first is building as landscape. Originally popularized early last century by Wisconsin’s own Frank Lloyd Wright, this idea has been investigated again in recent years. Peter Eisenman’s competition entry for the Musee d’Ethnographie in Paris and Foreign Office Architects’ Yokahama Terminal in Japan are recent examples. […]
Oct 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
Thinking holistically about menopause.
By Jeffrey Langlois Recently, one of my clients came to me seeking relief from the myriad discomforts of menopause. Like most women, she had questions about how to best manage her symptoms as her body goes through this most important change of life. I work with women to help them understand the options available to them, along with the risks and benefits of each option. Many women complain about hot flashes, headaches, insomnia, irritability, and forgetfulness. There is also concern about preventing osteoporosis. My client was very familiar with the conventional medical treatment of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). While indisputably very effective for the relief of hot flashes, HRT isn’t effective for much else. She did not know that a large study of the benefits of conventional HRT had to be stopped, due to concern over an increase in breast cancer rates, or that Premarin (one form of HRT) is made from Pregnant Mare (horse) Urine. Proper nutrition is the first step. We then discussed designing a diet that was optimal for her lifestyle. Improving diet is always the first step in any treatment program. Nutritional supplements can be very helpful. I recommended starting with a very high quality multi-vitamin w/minerals (not Centrum or One a Day). I also suggested extra Vitamin E, which has been shown to be helpful for hot flashes. By talking with her, I was able to determine which foods she was eating too much of and which foods were deficient in her diet. We adjusted her diet to include more lean protein and vegetables, and to eliminate all hydrogenated fats and oils, as these are destructive to hormonal balance. I also advised her to make sure she is drinking 8 glasses of clean water daily. I mentioned that there are good studies indicating that soy products have positive estrogen-like effects on the body, without any of the negative effects of HRT. Black Cohosh can help. Many different herbs are used in the treatment of hot flashes but the one with the greatest clinical research has been Black Cohosh. Black Cohosh was widely used by the American Indians, and later by American colonists, for the relief of menstrual cramps and menopause. Nine European clinical studies supported its ability to relieve hot flashes, depression and vaginal atrophy. No contraindications were found, and less than 10�f patients reported mild stomach upset. Exercise keeps you cool. For a woman experiencing the symptoms of menopause (including fatigue) exercise may be the last thing on her mind. But a study in Sweden with over 900 patients clearly demonstrated that spending 30 minutes each day walking, gardening, riding a bicycle or swimming decreased the frequency and severity of hot flashes. My client agreed to implement as many of the suggestions I made as possible, and within four weeks was feeling much better. By 8 weeks she experienced complete relief of her hot flashes. Menopause isn’t the end of feeling young; it’s the beginning of a powerful new time in a woman’s life! […]
Oct 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
Slanted Soapboxes of Media
By Paul McLeary Healthy Debate or Disheartening Trend? For years, and some might say decades, conservatives had been up in arms about what they perceived as the media establishment’s liberal bias — and not completely without cause. But a funny thing happened in the early 1990s to change all that. Rush Limbaugh broke into the American consciousness through the snooze and clutter of AM talk radio, and with his ascension, station managers discovered an untapped reservoir of rage bubbling up in the country that needed to be marketed to. They quickly moved to flood the airwaves with fire-breathing right-wing evangelists. Pouncing on the bandwagon, FOX quickly moved in to cash in on the lack of a truly conservative presence in television news, much to the chagrin of the left. With this, the world of televised political punditry moved beyond what can now be seen as the gentler time of MacNeil/Lehrer and The Capital Gang, and jumped into the bare-knuckle street fight techniques practiced by attack dogs like Chris Matthews, Joe Scarborough, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and their ilk. In a much-publicized failure, lefty Phil Donahue threw his hat into the ring earlier this year to try and inject some left-wing thought into television punditry, but met with what at best can be described as a collective yawn, at worst a debacle of major proportions. More recently, liberals in general have started to wake up to their supposed lack of radio and prime time television spots, and this past year we saw wealthy Chicago couple Sheldon and Anita Drobny announce their plans to invest $10 million in a liberal radio network, and Al Gore try to raise funds for a liberal news channel. Forums for partisan sniping — oh my. With this, the American media effectively took one giant step through the looking glass. No longer considered objective purveyors of the truth, newspapers, radio programs, magazines, websites and blogs have become outlets for highly partisan sniping that purport to offer a claim to objective truth by bashing the other side’s every proposal as being something just short of complete insanity. Liberals and conservatives alike feed this machine with equal doses of venom, although both sides rather arrogantly hold themselves above the fray. American media seem to have entered a state of perpetual backlash, with the right railing against the “liberal media” and the left taking up arms against the media gains the far right has made. On the face of things, this looks to be great news for the concept of a truly deliberative democracy, where all parties have a voice in the great debates of the age. Unfortunately, while both sides are getting their airtime, more often than not they’re simply preaching to the choir. Take a trip to conservative blog Lucianne.com and you’ll find that the message board trolls don’t trust the AP, Reuters and UPI newswires because of their “liberal” slant. Likewise, there are a whole host of liberal blogs like “What Liberal Media” author Eric Alterman’s “Altercation” […]
Oct 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
John Hughes Knocks on Heaven’s Door
By John Hughes I was a bleak geek living in a house where the only art was a pair of framed oil portraits of Presidents Washington and Lincoln, and the only music came from my sisters plinking away dispiritedly on an upright piano, because they had to, for piano lessons. There were no plants in my house, there was no poetry, and we watched the television a lot. Knowing no better, I was reasonably happy; but I just knew there had to be something more to life than television, school and the Green Bay Packers. I was 14 years old, living in Brookfield in 1971, surrounded by “Nixon’s the One” bumper stickers and sentiments, lonely in a world which seemed cold and rough — until Bob Dylan tapped me on the shoulder. I bought a Dylan cassette because I liked the cover. I hiked up to the department store (Treasure Island, on Capitol Drive) with my paper boy money, and bought the cassette with the coolest cover. I liked the blue light swirling around Dylan’s curly head on his Greatest Hits, Volume 2 album. I had no idea who he was. I had no idea that he was an icon, a voice for millions of disaffected youth. When I bought that cassette, I was doubling my music collection but increasing my musical knowledge tenfold. The other cassette I owned was James Taylor’s Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon. I plugged in to Dylan and turned on, sitting there at my desk, eating Cheetos, covered in pimples, a revolution occurring in my inner core. I had no idea that this was happening all over the world with other people. I loved Dylan mostly because of his voice. It had so many contours and hollows, I was endlessly fascinated. And he said, “I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it.” I’ve never gotten over that image. He said, “There’s beauty in that silver singing river, there’s beauty in that rainbow in the sky, but none of these and nothing else can touch the beauty that I remember in my own true love’s eye.” He said, “Down here next to me in this lonely crowd, there’s a man who swears he’s not to blame. All day long I hear him cry so loud, calling out that he’s been framed.” He made me feel something I’d never felt before, something to do with the mystery of the heart. It seemed essentially good in Dylan’s hands. This was pivotal for a young person with an emerging sexuality and political consciousness, both of which were at odds with my milieu. I would come home from middle- or high school, traumatized by the day’s events, lie down in the middle of my bedroom floor, stare at the ceiling, and listen to Dylan. I loved him deeply. The net effect of his work was like, in the middle of a chorus of voices, this one voice was whispering to me: “You know how, when you’re […]
Oct 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
Warren Zevon
By John Hughes WARREN ZEVON The Wind Artemis Records www.warrenzevon.com Before Warren Zevon died in early September, he assembled an all-star cast of friends to help him craft his own epitaph — a final CD recorded in the aftershock of his fatal diagnosis. A songwriter’s songwriter, he maintained great integrity throughout his career, no matter what the prevailing fashion. May he rest in peace. We are treated to much more than a parting novelty. In The Wind, Zevon takes us on a tour of American music. He sings like Woody Guthrie on the opening cut. From there he tours us through a Springsteen-esque rocker, hyper-charged by Bruce himself; and the Dylan classic “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” done with a touch of gospel. He gives us a blues romp and songs sung like Jackson Browne and Willie Nelson. “Prison Grove,” a standout effort that could have been pulled from the Lomax field recordings songbook, is highlighted by a chain-gang chorus of Springsteen, Browne, Jordan Zevon, Jorge Calderon, T Bone Burnett and Billy Bob Thornton. There are also two sensitive, lovely ballads, written and played straight, sung just like Warren Zevon. He deploys his friends — especially Ry Cooder, Emmylou Harris, Springsteen and Calderon — with maximum efficiency. It all adds up beautifully, for ten songs. But all this is just so much clearing of the throat as Zevon prepares us for song 11, the dramatic finale. In the final song of his life, Zevon blesses us with an extraordinary moment — a dying man bids adieu. He wrote the song for his two children, but sings it for everyone. He taps deep emotion without being maudlin. He stands tall in his deathbed. His last request? “Keep me in your heart for awhile.” Yes, Warren. Will do.
Oct 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
Halloween Costumes
By Lucky Tomaszek I have always loved Halloween. As a girl, I remember that the costumes in our family were consistently fun and well thought-out. We lived in a small town, so the treats from Beggar’s Night were tasty and plentiful. In addition to timeless favorites like Bit O’ Honeys and mini candy bars, lots of families prepared (and we were allowed to eat) caramel apples, popcorn balls and cookies. And, as my birthday falls the day before Halloween, we typically had a fun party that revolved around costumes and Trick or Treating. My mother has a long history with the theater (and drama of all sorts). She would spend lots of time with us helping put together great costumes. There was never a lot of money to spend on those things, but it seemed like she whipped up creative, even amazing characters for us out of scraps, cheap makeup and determination. It always made me feel so good to show up at the school Halloween party with the best costume. My love of Halloween has continued into my adult life, and now I get to share it with my kids. Following in my mother’s footsteps, I look forward every year to helping my children create one of a kind costumes. Kids love to dress up, and with a little effort, you can take store-bought costumes, street clothes, or footie pajamas and make them feel like they are the best dressed Trick or Treater on the block. And when you do it yourself, you’re only limited by imagination. In addition to traditional fabric stores, places like Drew’s in Wauwatosa, Michael’s and even Wal Mart sell craft materials like fabric, feathers, beads, paint and felt. Grease paint makeup can be had at any Walgreen’s, Target, or other discount store. And if you need at least one major prop, head for a Bartz’s, Toys R Us, or one of the many Halloween specialty stores that crop up this time of year. Personally, I like American Science and Surplus. They have strange and wonderful junk all year, and there are lots of things available that make a kid’s costume truly unique, from squeaking dinosaur tails to glow sticks and dry ice packets. It’s amazing how cheaply you can sew (or glue) some felt onto a sweat suit and end up with a warm and original costume that will thrill your children and dazzle your neighbors. To allow your kids to be able to Trick or Treat without covering their costume with a coat, buy everything a little big and wear lots of layers underneath. My kids have gone out with two pairs of tights, leggings, a t-shirt, a turtleneck, socks and mittens underneath their costumes on extra cold Halloween nights, and have fared very well. Kids feel good when they look spooky or scary or beautiful. And they feel even better when they and their parents take the time and the effort to create a truly unique costume. There are plenty of good […]
Oct 1st, 2003 by Lucky Tomaszek
