2007-02 Vital Source Mag – February 2007
Living the dream
By Amy Elliott + Photo by Kate Engeriser “Everybody knows about these people,” the boy mutters. “It’s been drummed into their heads about 15,000 times.” He is a young student with a simple assignment: write a two-page essay about an African-American hero. But he is plagued by a classical academic anxiety: hasn’t it all been said before? Crushed by the pressure of history against his attempts to think and work creatively, he resigns and hangs his head. And then he is visited by the spectre of Harriet Tubman leading a chorus of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” The boy’s encounter with the legendary abolitionist is only the first in a long parade of dreamers, leaders, thinkers and changers. This is We Are The Dream, the story of history revisited and myths refreshed. The performance is the work of the African-American Children’s Theater (AACT), a nonprofit organization that has been providing arts education and mounting productions in the community since 1989. This is the first year that AACT has been able to expand its activities to include a resident company of eight to fourteen-year-old actors with exceptional talent, drive and commitment. The company members focus on perfecting their stagecraft in major collaborative roles both on and off the stage. For We Are The Dream, the small company researched, wrote and directed the play together. “I learned about people I never heard of before,” says resident Jakayla Dills. “Everybody knows about Martin Luther King, but I never learned anything about Barbara Jordan.” Jakayla plays Jordan, a former Texas state senator and the first southern black woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Jakayla also appears as writer and civil rights activist Mary Church, one of the first black women to earn a college degree. When she is not in front of the audience, she is behind the scenes, mastering the skills of stage manager. Mahdi Gransbury, who stars as the plagued schoolboy, doubles as the assistant director for the play. “We work within our group,” says Constance Clark, founder and executive director of AACT, who is helping Mahdi learn about technical theater in hopes that he will be able to take over light, sound and stage design soon. “Ultimately,” she says, “he plans to take over everything.” Mahdi smirks and deviously laces his fingers. AACT’s team spirit befits the group’s goals, which extend far beyond the desire to put on a good show. Theater is a discipline; it enhances confidence, sharpens listening skills, fosters active participation and encourages healthy expression. Before each rehearsal, the kids spend some time talking to each other, sharing their ideas and anxieties. Then they channel their energy into their craft. “Art expresses all your feelings,” says resident Ashante Alfred. “If you’re having a bad day, it just makes you feel happier.” Working through a play can be rigorous, but when the curtain falls, the children go home with a certain artistic wisdom better learned by practice than by books. Some of the actors find that the challenge […]
Feb 1st, 2007 by Amy Elliott
The Bird and the Bee
One can’t help but feel like the self-titled debut from L.A. duo The Bird and the Bee answers the question that’s burned in the minds of music aficionados for years: What would it sound like if Jewel and Stereolab grew up on Martin Denny and Herb Alpert records? The opening track (and first single), “Again and Again,” immediately calls all three touch points to mind, as it’s the perfect declaration of what the duo’s all about: providing the soundtrack to cocktail parties on Mars. The entire album speaks to a fascination for merging past with future. The exotic flavor of “Again and Again” is augmented by a thick, fuzzy synth, adding some space-age low end. “I’m a Broken Heart” ups the stakes with some ‘50s R&B/Doo-Wap stylings – if the girls were wearing vinyl and tinfoil and performing on one of those moon bases artistically rendered in atomic-age In the Year 2000 picture books. And the absence of nearly any real drums in favor of machines and sequencers brings the “yesterday’s music tomorrow” vibe home. The duo doesn’t skimp on the hooks, either – “Broken Heart” is instantly hummable, as is the fantastic chorus to “I Hate Camera” and, really, most any of the tracks on the CD. All the singing is done by the female member of the duo, Inara George (a name that is too awesome to be real), and her ability to harmonize with herself is to be envied; her background vocals move the melodies in some very interesting, attention-demanding directions. The Bird and The Bee make party music for people who like to party without raising their voices while sipping their martinis. Throw it into the disc changer at your next formal. VS
Feb 1st, 2007 by DJ Hostettler
Your last/next month
By Matt Wild Your last month has been rife with unexpected changes, moments of self-loathing and at least one severe car accident. The New Year – still so new! – has left you reeling. It would be easy, therefore, for us to look back and catalog your last month, to dredge up and analyze its highs and its lows. But let’s be honest; the past is for suckers. Instead, let’s pretend your last month is your next month; let’s rewind the Cassingle? of your life all the way back to the first yawning minutes of 2007. There you are – bleary-eyed, drunk and hopeful – kissing the strange/familiar boy/girl next to you, blissfully unaware of what will happen over the course of the next 31 days. This, in fact, is what will happen: You will make a trek back to your hometown to spend time with your family. You will go bowling, smoke some shitty cigarettes and drink an alarming amount of alcohol. One night – while rocking out to William Shatner’s version of “Common People” – you also manage to rear-end another driver, nearly totaling your girlfriend’s car. In the ensuing 48 hours, you will learn a series of valuable lessons: 1). Never give a fake name, number and address to the 17-year-old girl you just hit. 2). Never assume, in a town of barely 5,000 people, that the cops won’t somehow track you down and impound your car at 5 in the morning. 3). Never drive a vehicle off a tow lot – even if it’s your own – without politely asking first. By the end of the weekend you will become small town gossip fodder and rack up nearly $3,000 in damages and fines. Nevertheless, you’re thankful no one was hurt and that your arresting officer graduated high school with your younger brother. Back in Milwaukee, you will decide to keep your nose clean and your head down, your chin turned away in anticipation of the next blow. You will attend any number of dreadful events: hipster dance parties, adult spelling bees, trivia nights. You will make a vow to forever avoid any event prefaced by the word “adult” (kickball, dodge ball, lawn darts). You will start taking more cab rides and keep feeling bad about your girlfriend’s car. Your long-time East Side neighborhood continues down the fast track to becoming a condo-littered strip mall, leaving you bitter and disenchanted. You fall out of love with your city and consider hopping on the “We’re moving to Portland!” bandwagon popularized by that one Dead Milkmen song. You will go out and see some rock shows (the excellent Candliers prove to be a revelation), smoke some shitty cigarettes and drink an alarming amount of alcohol. In spite of all this (or perhaps because of this), you feel bad for yourself a great deal, and often contemplate running yourself through with a 10-inch railroad spike. A concerned friend will eventually calm you down and tell you that trying to off […]
Feb 1st, 2007 by Vital Archives
The Apples in Stereo
As any negative nabob can tell you (and in fact is telling you right now), it’s extremely difficult to favor the pop – or pop!, onomatopoeically speaking – in pop-rock without coming across as a chirpy Pollyanna. Even the Apples in Stereo, for all their honest effervescence, have periodically seemed like the token frown-upside-down representatives inside the Elephant 6 collective. Apples leader Robert Schneider has often overcome such perceptions with pure conviction. And New Magnetic Wonder, the band’s first full-length since 2002’s The Velocity of Sound, layers a considerable amount of ambition atop Schneider’s foundation of belief. Actually, New Magnetic Wonder layers a lot of layers: the opening two tracks, “Can You Feel It?” and “Skyway,” quite un-ironically recall the massive, colorful edifices once erected by ELO and Queen. (There are even a few guitar figures reminiscent of Brian May’s overheated parts on the Flash Gordon soundtrack.) Various effects and exotic and/or vintage instruments reinforce the hugeness. Yet Schneider’s ever-youthful voice and childlike romanticism temper the grandeur, and a song like “Sun Is Out” is as charmingly ramshackle as one of The Beatles’ looser offerings. A generous handful of light interludes, including Mellotron samples and the accurately titled “Vocoder Ba Ba” also help to erase the threat of grandiloquence. The only sad thing about this album is that it marks longtime member Hilarie Sidney’s departure to devote full attention to her band, The High Water Marks, although her positive glow shines with “Sunndal Song” and “Sunday Sounds.” Otherwise, New Magnetic Wonder brims with joy. While it’s playing, the world actually looks brighter. VS
Feb 1st, 2007 by Jon Gilbertson
Liberty and injustice for all
By Cole J. White If there is ever to be equality in this country, surely it must begin in our courts of law. If we are to believe all men are created equal, then shouldn’t they be judged equally as well? –Thurgood Marshall It has been 43 years since the passage of the Civil Rights Amendment, and still we have crushing poverty, humiliating discrimination, demoralizing racism and a legal system that sees color as an indictable offense. Every night on the news, we hear about another “brown” person committing another crime, another arrest, another conviction, another… another… another. Why? Because the civil rights movement of the 1960s didn’t create a utopian melting pot, where justice is even-handed and equality is equal. Because, in America, if you’re black you have a greater than 1 in 4 chance of going to prison; you have a higher likelihood of being the victim of violence (sometimes, believe it or not, at the hands of the police) and nearly a 40 percent probability that you will live your entire life in poverty. The sheer lack of options makes an “average American life” little more than a fairytale for many “urban” kids. For them, slangin’ and gangin’ have become a means of survival, of pride, of identity. This puts many of these at-risk children on a disastrous collision course with a criminal justice system that has been co-opted by legislative hypocrisy and duplicative agenda-setting. Retired judge Phillip Seymour said, “Playing politics with the law is a dangerous, dangerous thing to do. And every time I hear a politician talk about getting tough on crime, I know someone’s getting screwed.” The class-A rodgering begins with the draconian Mandatory Minimum Sentencing (MMS) guidelines. Trickle-down sentencing Ostensibly, mandatory minimum sentences were designed to target “kingpins” and high-level dealers – a trickle-down drug policy. But these laws almost never nab kingpins. More times than not, addicts and – worse still – innocent people are the ones who wind up in prison. And those people are mostly black. Why? Because mandatory minimums disproportionately target minorities, a claim substantiated by the FBI, which reports that 60 percent of those prosecuted (and convicted) for drug crimes are black; while most drug users – some 74 percent – are white. Intentional or not, these laws are racist. The racial divide is highlighted by the crack and powder cocaine guidelines. A majority of crack users are black. A majority of powder cocaine users are white. Five grams of crack will get you five years. It takes 100 times as much – 500 grams of powder cocaine – for a five-year sentence, effectively creating a generation of young black men who will spend the rest of their lives on the wrong side of the law. Despite the obvious problems with sentencing laws and the objections of the legal and civil rights communities, some members of Congress, like Rep. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, have fought to make mandatory minimums even more stringent – all to appear “tough […]
Feb 1st, 2007 by Vital Archives
Chicken pox party
By Lucky Tomaszek I called my friend Jesi one evening in early December to see if she wanted do a little Christmas shopping, but she told me she already had plans. “We’re headed out to Watertown for a chicken pox party; I won’t be home for a couple of hours.” That’s right, she said “chicken pox party,” and parents all over the country are searching them out as a way to expose their children to what’s been dubbed by the medical community as “wild chicken pox.” In spite of the existence of the chicken pox vaccine (available in the U.S. since 1995), many families still believe in the superior protection provided by contracting the actual disease over the immunization. As luck would have it, Jesi’s kids contracted the pox at the party. She brought it back to her West Allis home, where she has graciously shared it with several other families who had been looking for a local case, including mine. During the last couple of months, we’ve all done a fair bit of research to learn how to make our quest for chicken pox as successful as possible. We’re currently waiting with our fingers crossed to see if any of my kids break out. The earlier, the better Chicken pox is most contagious in the 24 hours before the pox appear and for the first 24 hours after you start seeing spots. If you have friends and family members who want to be exposed, it’s best to do so as soon as possible. As the pox start to heal up and crust over (after four or five days), the possibility of spreading the virus diminishes. Once all the pox are crusted over, there is no more risk of contagion and children are usually able to return to school or daycare. The virus that causes chicken pox is varicella-zoster virus (VZV) and it’s the same virus that causes shingles in about 10 percent of adults over 40 years old. It’s possible for a child to contract chicken pox after being exposed to an adult with shingles, but it’s not possible for the child to contract shingles from exposure to shingles. Hosting your own party According to www.askdrsears.com, “[Chicken pox] is passed through the saliva, coughing secretions and direct touch. In general, you must either be living in the same house or play indoors in close face-to-face contact for more than 5 minutes, or have close face-to-face or physical contact outdoors in order to catch the illness.” If your goal is to expose your child, there are several tried and true methods that have been around for generations. Gathering a group of children and visiting a friend with chicken pox is the first step. Once everyone is together, have the children share treats like lollypops, ice cream cones and popsicles. If any of the children are too little to eat those kinds of food, passing around a communal sippy-cup is also effective. Allow the children to play together for at least […]
Feb 1st, 2007 by Lucky Tomaszek
Cortney Tidwell
By Nikki Butgereit Cortney Tidwell’s Don’t Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up is an imaginative blend of subtle vocals and electronic sounds that is altogether unexpected from an artist touted for her relationship to the Nashville music scene. Echo effects enhance the delicate, breathy quality of Tidwell’s voice. On the album’s title track, she sounds like vintage Björk, with her combination of quiet enunciation and powerful yodels. Each song is layered with multiple instruments and vocal tracks, which lends an experimental feel to the record. Most songs meander along without verse or chorus, creating an emotional experience rather than something to which you can sing along. “Illegal” is a creative cacophony, with buzzing, whirring and crowd noise alongside keyboard beats and chords. Upbeat synthesizers and stronger vocals on “Missing Link” add another facet to the otherwise down-tempo album. This song is much more frenetic than the others and shows off Tidwell’s underlying versatility. Cortney Tidwell’s music is not pushy or jarring – each track sort of dissolves into the next. Headphones really highlight the intricate craftsmanship – in the car or on a home stereo, the music tends to create a mellow hum, and you can almost forget it’s on, save for the relaxing mood it elicits and the occasional abrupt upswing in volume and tempo. Tidwell has created an enjoyably mellow listening experience built on layers of experimental sound. Don’t Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up manages to be low-key and exciting all at once. VS
Feb 1st, 2007 by Vital Archives
Everything for everybody
By Vital Staff Let’s face it; this is the time of year when most peoples’ energy ebbs low while commitments proceed at their regularly-scheduled breakneck speed. There was that mental break from the day-to-day world over the holidays (often taking the form of surreal flashes of family, food and lots of driving), immediately followed by a fiery re-entry to work and school life. Yuck. Just thinking about it makes you want to crawl under the covers and not come out until spring. Sadly, that’s not an option for most of us, and if we’re truthful few of us could stay buried for very long before we got real twitchy from lack of stimulus. So what’s a hard-working person to do? We at VITAL decided to hit the road for a weekend, with the following guidelines: must be within reasonable driving distance, yet far enough away so that you won’t run back home for a forgotten item; must be comfortable and, above all, must be a place where you can hear yourself think. Even breathe. Six of us went out and six came back with stories to tell about… mostly nothing, unless relaxation still counts for something in this crazy world. We recommend you try it soon. The Whistling Swan 4192 Main Stret, Door County 920-868-3442 www.whistlingswan.com September 2001 was the last time I took a vacation from work. I had almost forgotten how it feels not to work for a couple of days; to take a break from the daily drudgery. Having too long ignored a need for at least a break from it all, I ventured off to Fish Creek in Door County for a weekend. After a peaceful two and a half hour drive I arrived at The Whistling Swan Inn, Door Peninsula’s oldest operating inn, on a balmy Saturday afternoon. Interesting historic footnote: this beautiful late 19th century Victorian inn was moved across frozen Green Bay in 1907 to its current location. Fish Creek is small, its main stretch spanning roughly seven by three city blocks and housing small shops, galleries, bar and grills, inns and the very well-known Potters Wheel pottery workshop. If you are a people person and love summer activities, Door County, with its small resort towns and abundance of hiking, boating, shopping and dining, is the place to come in warm weather months. Rates won’t be as pocket-friendly but are worth every penny. October’s also a very busy month, with many fall festivals to suit every fancy. This winter, due to virtually no snow and the subsequent absence of winter activities, the area has experienced a decline in tourism. This, however, benefits those who prefer solitude and more reasonable lodging rates. I took off on foot to explore this little town’s offerings. I landed at a local pub to enjoy a nice glass of good scotch and engage in the great activity of people watching. I found a mix of locals and outside visitors, with conversations varying from local gossip to tourists planning […]
Feb 1st, 2007 by Lucky Tomaszek
February 2007
By Erin Wolf February 6 The Apples in Stereo New Magnetic Wonder Simian/Redeye The Backyard Fire Vagabonds and Hooligans OIE/Redeye Bloc Party A Weekend in the City Dim Mak/Vice/Atlantic Fall Out Boy Infinity on High Island/Fueled By Ramen Patty Griffin Children Running Through ATO/RCA Rickie Lee Jones The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard New West Belinda Carlisle Voila Rykodisc The Dexateens Hardwire Healing Skybucket The End Elementary Relapse Sondre Lerche Phantom Punch Astralwerks Lonely, Dear Lonely, Noir Sub Pop Eleni Mandell Miracle of Five Zedtone Lee Ann Womack Finding My Way Back Home Mercury Nashville Mnemic Passenger Nuclear Blast Yoko Ono Yes, I’m a Witch Astralwerks Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter Like, Love, Lust & The Open Halls of the Soul Barsuk The Used Berth Reprise February 13 Anais Mitchell The Brightness Michael Chorney Young Dubliners With All Due Respect: The Irish Sessions 429/Savoy Label Group Seafood Paper Crown King Cooking Vinyl The Infamous Stringdusters Fork in the Road Sugar Hill Lucinda Williams West Lost Highway February 20 The Ataris Welcome the Night Isola Recordings/Sanctuary Jill Cunniff City Beach Streetwise Lullabies/The Militia Group Dolly Varden The Panic Bell Undertow Explosions in the Sky All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone Temporary Residence Ltd. The Frames The Cost Anti-/Epitaph Fu Manchu We Must Obey Century Media Kittie Funeral for Yesterday Kiss of Infamy The Magic Numbers Those the Brokes Heavenly/Capitol Reel Big Fish and Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer Duet All Night Long ReIgnition The Nein Luxury Sonic Unyon Trans Am Sex Change Thrill Jockey Trouble Simple Mind Condition Escapi February 27 Dean & Britta Back Numbers Zoe/Rounder Dr. Dog We All Belong Park the Van Kaiser Chiefs Yours Truly, Angry Mob U.K.-Universal Jesse Malin Glitter in the Gutter Adeline/Warner
Feb 1st, 2007 by Vital Archives
Hat Trick – Third time’s a charm for Al and Susie Brkich
By Catherine McGarry Miller + Photos by Kevin C. Groen Cranky Al’s Bakery, Coffee & Pizza 6901 W. North Avenue 414-258-5282 Hey, Mikey, I got your pizza ready,” Cranky Al Brkich hails a customer. “I only dropped it twice!” Mikey shrugs his shoulders and smirks, “That’s better ‘n last time.” There’s a round of giggles from patrons steaming up the windows at Cranky Al’s this winter night with animated conversations over pizzas and garlic bread. I’m not one to go around outing people, but the truth is Cranky Al is a phony. He’s about as cranky as Rachel Ray accepting applause for yet another miracle recipe. A small warning sign on the door hints at Al’s true nature. It reads, “All unattended children will be given two shots of espresso and a free puppy.” Al is loath to admit it, but “cranky” actually references the hand-cranked donuts he turns out every morning for lines of neighborhood enthusiasts. For owners Susie and Al Brkich, this bakery and pizzeria is a hat trick. They’ve had two other successful eateries. The first was Crabby Al’s, a seafood shack that lit up the dark skies of the Menomonee Valley and then tumbled into a dissolved partnership. Second was Mrs. Java and Company, just four doors down from the new Cranky Al’s, which died last year when the building was sold to another restaurateur who wanted the space for a bistro. The news was sudden and devastating to the couple, who had hoped to buy the building themselves. “We didn’t know if our customers would come back,” Susie says with her chin crumbling and eyes moist with deep appreciation for the support of the community. It took the Brkichs the better part of a year – and every penny of their resources – to relocate, gut the property and install a kitchen in two storefronts that had formerly housed a used auto parts and a vacuum cleaner store. It was a stressful time for the Brkichs, not knowing if their new enterprise would fly. But just a few months into it, this place has all the signs of being yet another success for the hard-working restaurateurs. High windows fill the spacious room with light, the dark woodwork, molded ceilings and pews from Pius X Church – which serve as bench seating – all lend an air of comfortable charm, as do the smells of fresh-brewed coffee and handmade donuts and pastries. This, as everything in their lives, is a joint venture. After two decades of marriage, Al and Susie are still thick as thieves. Al insisted that Susie be there for our interview and every time Al got up during our chat to attend to the business, Susie gushed about him. For their opening in December, she bought him his first chef’s coat. “Same old Cranky with a new coat on,” he boasts. “That’s right, kid, I’m fancy now.” Al, who grew up near State Fair Park and attended Solomon Juneau High School, met Chicago […]
Feb 1st, 2007 by Cate Miller
Puzzles and Games
By Puzzle Answers Page 1 Puzzle Answers Page 2 Puzzle Answers Page 3
Feb 1st, 2007 by Vital Archives
