2007-07 Vital Source Mag – July 2007
Temporary Beauty
The phrase “art on wheels” conjures images of taxi billboards, tour vans with flaming skulls and purple ponies, fancy ice cream trucks with neon graffiti and occasionally even cleverly wrapped buses. But look a little further – specifically, further down – and these words might also encompass another, much more fleeting form – skateboard deck art. Primarily placed on the flip side of skateboard decks, these graphics are unnoticeable until the skater gives a peek of paint and sticker via a kickflip or railstand. Although it’s tough to appreciate a deck artistically while in motion, decks have still garnered appreciation for their intense graphics that are political, religious, gender-infused; smacking culture around with a flippant force that ranges from the shocking to the quirky and is seldom dull. For this reason, skateboard decks are becoming a focus for many an art gallery in the last few years, forcing them to stop rolling and stay put, fascinating many an art aficionado who might not otherwise encounter a seven-ply piece of North American maple on wheels. It’s authentic American art in its essence, with many of the artists being skaters themselves. Most involved in deck art start at an early age, while they are still learning how to drop onto a board and roll. Twenty-year-old Milwaukee skater and illustrator for Stuck Magazine, Huey Crowley, is a perfect example. “I started messing around with deck art when I was in 7th grade, and I made my first actual attempt for Black Market Skateboards when I was a junior in high,” he explains. “The deck was called ‘Fear of a Black Market Planet’ and had all the members of Public Enemy on it.” His art made it all the way to Japan to be mass-produced. A technical issue kept it from release, but it was enough to light Crowley’s fire. “From then on I was always making stuff for skateboard companies. Skater artists like Ed Templeton really psyched me up to do skateboard art. It’s nice to be able to go out and skate, and when you’re done you can come home and still keep the creativity flowing on a different scale.” Gene Evans of Luckystar Studio also started early in the mixing of skating and paint. “Skateboarding is just something we did in the trailer park I grew up in. I drew and painted on everything as a kid. I’ve always painted over existing artwork – something I still do to this day. I’ve been painting and trading painted decks since I was a kid [in the late 70s].” + Building a Better… Board Most young skaters start out on plain decks – or ‘blanks’ – because they cost less. “The more bland or boring decks (blanks too) are basically for people that just want to skate (or are poor like me),” Crowley explains. Mike ‘Beer’ of Beer City Skateboards owns a shop in Milwaukee that offers both decks with graphics and blanks. Beer said that his blank decks are about $15 – […]
Jul 1st, 2007 by Erin Wolf
Get ‘em while they’re interesting
The 2008 presidential election marks the first time in 80 years that there has been neither an incumbent presidential nor vice-presidential candidate. We at VITAL Source are celebrating Independence Day and the kick-off of the official campaign season with a collection of quotes from the Democratic and Republican candidates. We’ve spent days pouring over campaign speeches, reading debate transcripts and closely examining candidates’ websites to cull out a few small nuggets that articulate each candidate’s feelings about the current state of our country. Exactly what these nuggets are made of is up to you to decide… Senator Joseph Biden Look, freedom is an overwhelming American notion. The idea that we want to see the world, the peoples of the world, free is something that all of us subscribe to. Here at home, when Americans were standing in long lines to give blood after the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, we squandered an obvious opportunity to make service a noble cause again, and rekindle an American spirit of community. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton I’m sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and disagree with this administration, somehow you’re not patriotic. We need to stand up and say we’re Americans, and we have the right to debate and disagree with any administration. The American people are tired of liars and people who pretend to be something they’re not. Senator Christopher Dodd Entrenched bureaucracies are always opposed to fundamental changes. Every American deserves to live in freedom, to have his or her privacy respected and a chance to go as far as their ability and effort will take them – regardless of race, gender, ethnicity or economic circumstances. Former Senator John Edwards This is America, where everything is still possible. I have grown up in the bright light of America. Former Senator Mike Gravel We have become a nation ruled by fear. Since the end of the Second World War, various political leaders have fostered fear in the American people—fear of Communism, fear of terrorism, fear of immigrants, fear of people based on race and religion, fear of Gays and Lesbians in love who just want to get married, and fear of people who are somehow different. It is fear that allows political leaders to manipulate us all and distort our national priorities. It’s like going into the Senate. You know, the first time you get there, you’re all excited, “My God, how did I ever get here?” Then, about six months later, you say, “How the hell did the rest of them get here?” Representative Dennis Kucinich We have weapons of mass destruction we have to address here at home. Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction. Homelessness is a weapon of mass destruction. Unemployment is a weapon of mass destruction. This is a struggle for the soul of the Democratic Party, which in too many cases has become so corporate and identified with corporate interests that you can’t tell the difference between Democrats […]
Jul 1st, 2007 by Lucky Tomaszek
Forever young
photos by Kevin C. Groen Chip & Py’s 1340 W. Towne Square Road (I43 at Mequon Road) 262-241-9589 Longevity in the restaurant business is a rare, hard-earned reward. Yet Julie and Richard Staniszewski have made the journey to the 25th anniversary of Chip & Py’s seem practically effortless. From the day they opened their doors at their original location on 5th and National in Walker’s Point to the day they popped the silver champagne corks this May, they’ve delivered consistently excellent food, potables and entertainment with a spirit of warm bonhomie that makes every customer feel at home. A quarter of a century ago, Julie Betzhold and her brother, John Herschede, had a partnership interest in the first location’s building. They were forward-thinking, seeing it as a base for casual sophisticates in a neighborhood that had yet to be discovered. The greater real estate plan included loft living and an infrastructure that was 30 years ahead of its time. Back then nobody understood the concept. Their best prospective tenant wanted banjo music and turtle races on the bar. With no disrespect to Bela Fleck, that wasn’t what they had in mind. What did appeal to them was Mike & Anna’s, Tony Harvey’s Southside avant garde gourmet eatery, and its chef, Richard. So they lured him to their project. Richard, now chef/owner of Chip & Py’s, was an unlikely gourmand. Raised in what he calls a “deep blue collar” family near County Stadium, he grew up sneaking in to Braves games. His father was a machine repairman and his mother loved baseball but hated cooking. His first food memory is of thin pork chops his mother fried. Dropping one on the floor, she returned it to the frying pan, explaining to her son, “That one’ll be mine.” But her son was doubtful. “How did she know which one it was?” he wondered, thinking that there must be better food out there somewhere. His favorite treat was smoked chubs, prompting his longtime friend and fish monger, Tim Collins of St. Paul Fish Market, to ask him later, “And did you have shoes?” Upon graduating from Solomon Juneau High School, Staniszewski put in six months at a factory, hating it so much he turned to bartending at Cassidy’s, Barbieri’s and then for Tony Harvey’s Rent-a-Chef Catering, a big player in the North Shore. When Harvey opened Mike and Anna’s on 8th and Rodgers, Richard took the helm of a restaurant that would be Milwaukee’s first casual fine dining bistro. Due to the demands of the North Shore clientele from the catering business, they kicked up the carte with epicurean entrées, and the place took off. Responding to his market is a hallmark of Staniszewski’s business philosophy, coupled with a commitment to value that he took to his own business in 1982. “We talked to everyone we knew and asked what they’d like, gauged their response and put it on menu,” he says. “It was an exciting time – just prior to the downtown […]
Jul 1st, 2007 by Cate Miller
Kelly Willis
While an American Idol monopolizes the dial with a hit about mutilating a cheater’s automobile, Kelly Willis returns some integrity to crossover-country. This mother of four who took a five-year sabbatical since her last release to raise her children is proof that hip is possible without the need to be trashy or pseudo-political – a misconception common for her gender in the genre recently. More “gingham aprons and bad blood” than restraining order, each song as a slice of the Translated From Love pie is fully baked and plentifully spiced. The light, flaky “The More That I’m Around You” and “Sweet Surrender” are prime candidates for any romantic comedy soundtrack. “Too Much To Lose” brings a taste of Willis’s priorities to the plate: do not take love or life for granted. Lyrics cover everything expected – Texas towns, cheap thrills, head-over-heels affection. Unexpected is Willis’ offset of the nine originals (some co-written with her husband) with three surprising covers including Adam Green’s “Teddy Boys” and Iggy Pop’s “Success.” These tracks muddle up the album’s cohesiveness, but are amusing when heard in Willis’ made-for-country voice. Nevertheless, creating for the public is ideally the result of having something significant to say, and however sweet the melodies and able the supporting musicians, urgency is missing from this recipe. Much like the frustration shared in “Nobody Wants to Go to the Moon Anymore,” it’s a disposable, been-there-done-that world. Translated From Love has little material worth a double take, and as a whole pie, probably won’t do more than cool on the windowsill. VS
Jul 1st, 2007 by Amber Herzog
A Midsummer Night McGivern
One of the most popular people in local theatre, John McGivern has a huge following. Just to see the guy standing there onstage, the uninitiated could be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about. On the surface, McGivern seems like anyone else you might see walking around the East Side. Seeing him perform adds to the mystery of his success a bit at first. He’s a very talented storyteller, yes, but the autobiographical work he performs in his one man shows isn’t the kind of genius one would expect from a man who has reached McGivern’s level of success. It feels much more like the type of thing that might go over well at a comedy club somewhere. Why is it that he’s playing rooms as big as Vogel Hall? Somewhere in the rhythm of McGivern’s delivery, one begins to understand what makes him so popular: he’s a nice guy. His overall presence makes people feel at ease. He’s made this his profession. He’s made a career out of being professionally nice. McGivern isn’t professionally friendly in some synthetic customer service way. His amiability isn’t the kind you’d get out of a politician, a waitress or even that guy who tried to sell you insurance. McGivern has gotten to be as popular as he has because he has a genuine passion for being a nice person. And that friendliness translates extremely well to the stage in the parade of comedy and nostalgia that is his summer show: A Midsummer Night McGivern. The show features a number of stories and a couple of readings from McGivern’s childhood experiences growing up on Milwaukee’s East Side. Laid out generally in chronological order, the stories begin with McGivern’s memories of Memorial Days as a child and gradually work their way through to the end of the season. McGivern delivers these stories with a heartfelt enthusiasm that is so strong one gets the impression that he’d be telling these same stories to friends and family at some placid park somewhere if he weren’t onstage. McGivern’s stories run nostalgically through a greater Milwaukee County of several decades ago. Various bits of Americana are seen through the very specific eyes of a man who remembers his father taking him and his brothers to visit the graves of soldiers as fresh ones were being dug for those still returning from Viet Nam. There’s a bittersweet quality to some of McGivern’s stories, but the overall feeling here is one of comedy. McGivern’s specific kind of enthusiasm pairs exceedingly well with stories told from a childhood perspective. One of his more poignant bits involves him relating what it was like to be interviewed for the Weather Channel about life in Milwaukee as the seasons change. The set McGivern performs on was put together by longtime Milwaukee Rep fixture Edward Morgan. It’s a summery collection of items tastefully lounging around the stage to help set the mood. But McGivern could easily do this on a more or less empty […]
Jul 1st, 2007 by Russ Bickerstaff
