Spring 2008 WEED OUT!

Milwaukee has taken its time warming up for spring. But instead of snow, parks throughout the county are now blanketed with a new seasoned enemy: the garlic mustard, the dames rocks and the burdock, just to name a few. These are the worst of the worst, the most appalling agriculture on this side of town. So with that said, IT’S TIME TO GET THE WEED OUT! For the 2008 season, the Park People are soliciting volunteers to remove those nasty, persistent, and just plain pesky plants that unfortunately take root throughout Milwaukee. Obviously this is not a one-man (or woman) weed job; each year hundreds of volunteers assist in removing these invasive plants from our high quality parks. So, with a good pair of gloves and a few other tools of the trade, join persistent pullers and put your green thumb to good use! For more information on specific dates, times, and locations, please call (414)73-7275.

A Vital Bike-in on May 16th

A VITAL Bike-in! (Bikes optional) FRIDAY, MAY 16: 5:30 – 7:30 pm @ Wicked Hop’s Jackalope Lounj, 345 N. Broadway -Meet up for cheap Lakefront taps and $5 Van Gogh martinis, plus amazing appetizer specials! -Win a sweet set of wheels from Sun Ringlé and Hayes Bicycle! -“Trail Mix” by DJ Madhatter! At 7 or so, we’ll fittingly finish Bike to Work Week with a group ride to the Bike Federation’s first Bike-In Movie of the summer (Klunkerz, the fast-moving documentary tracing the global rise of mountain biking, 8 pm sharp at the Media Garden, 1758 N. Water under the Holton St. viaduct). Don’t bike? Just come for the party!

Eye of the Beholder

When it comes to art, we’re all experts. To paraphrase a wise Supreme Court justice, good art is difficult to define but we know it when we see it. Here in Milwaukee, where we have an inferiority complex about so many things, nothing seems to incite a contentious debate more than the subject of public art. The most recent example of the incendiary nature of this topic is, of course, the Bronze Fonz. For those of you who don’t remember or weren’t paying attention, Visit Milwaukee, the quasi-public entity formally known as the Greater Milwaukee Convention and Visitors Bureau, has raised private funds to commission a life-sized sculpture of the Arthur Fonzarelli character from the Happy Days television show to be placed along the city’s Riverwalk. This ignited a firestorm of controversy throughout the Milwaukee art community. Some arts advocates were outraged that the project circumvented the formal approval process for public art in support of something politely described as schlock. Dave Fantle, the Visit Milwaukee impresario behind this undertaking, brushed aside these concerns and insisted that the intent of the sculpture was not to create art but to add an attraction that would draw tourists and other visitors who fondly remember the iconic Fonzie and might want to have their picture taken next to it. My unremarkable reaction to this debate, apparently consistent with my Libran nature, was to sympathize with both sides. What struck me as odd about the proposed sculpture was that it seemed to conflict with Visit Milwaukee’s oft-stated commitment to convince the world that our city had evolved beyond its “Laverne and Shirley” image. Both Fantle and Dean Amhaus, his colleague at Spirit of Milwaukee, another organization dedicated to promoting the city’s image, stressed upon me this goal when I first met them two or three years ago. I like Dave and Dean but I never felt that the image associated with the television show was entirely negative. If, however, you want to disassociate the city from its past, then it is best not to refer to it at all. I was amazed that at nearly every ribbon cutting or news conference announcing some forward looking endeavor, some official would proudly declare that the event proved that Milwaukee “had moved beyond its Laverne and Shirley image.” So that quote would invariably show up in the media coverage serving to keep the connection alive. I love nostalgia and it’s only a television comedy which, you gotta remember, almost always have goofball characters who don’t necessarily represent the essence of the city the show is set in. Do Joey of Friends or George, Elaine or Kramer of Seinfeld make you think that all New Yorkers are shallow and stupid? Or Horshack of Welcome Back, Kotter? Or Ralph and Norton of The Honeymooners? Come on! Fantle’s reaction is that the Fonz represents cool while Laverne and Shirley and their buddies Lennie and Squiggy are square and lame. Whatever. Milwaukee, of course, has been through debates about public art […]

Fan Belt Milwaukee

Three Signs

I am superstitious, so I’m wondering what’s coming our way based on three signs I was given this morning. 1. A practically mythical turtle, whose singularly rare appearance is supposed to portend a major event, has been found by Cleveland Metroparks Zoo researchers in a lake in Vietnam. 2. An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale shook southern Illinois early this morning. Its epicenter was 38 miles northwest of Evansville and the quake was felt as far away as Florida. 3. I hit 92% of the notes in AFL’s “Miss Murder” on Guitar Hero 3. I was playing on medium, but 4 stars is 4 stars, and unprecedented. As recently as last night I could only hit 79%, but this morning I passed 90% twice. What does it all mean?

Walking on air

This is the best time of year. The best. Someone I used to know called it “that summer feeling.” It’s not summer yet, not by a longshot — there aren’t even leaves on the trees — but you can FEEL it coming. You can smell meat grilling and grass getting heavy, see hot sun on bare shoulders. You can let yourself wear shoes without socks or leave your sweater in the car. It’s enough to make you delirious. Every little beautiful thing becomes monumental. Walking to the Public Market for lunch. Buying flowers. The trains passing, the bells on the drawbridges ringing as the bridges raise for cargo boats. Driving with the window down and turning up the radio a little louder. The wind sucks a yellow curtain through an open window and it blows out there all day like a greeting to the passengers on the Amtrak. The barista you love surprises you by knowing your name! Isn’t that something! The egg salad sandwich you order for lunch (from What’s Fresh, perhaps) is delicious! God almighty! The moon is out and it illuminates the hem of the clouds! It’s a miracle! Walking north in Riverwest a few days ago, I hallucinated the lake on the horizon. It was early morning, the sun was fresh and every blue thing in eyeshot (in this case, a far-off warehouse) took on a grandeur that could only be explained as lake-ness. Perhaps I’m disoriented, I thought. Maybe I’m headed east. Perhaps the lake has always been in this direction. Of course, feeling like a gleeful tourist in my own life really calls into question the stability of any relationship I have with my emotional world. If all it takes to turn around the bone-dry melancholy of the late winter is a warm breeze, a little luck and a lot of sunshine, how did I understand anything that happened between January and March in a genuine way? Is it possible that this sense I have of majesty, affirmation and the fundamental rightness of the universe, despite all reports that would lead me to believe otherwise, is just a whim? A function — nay, side-effect — of some fairly routine meteorological phenomena? Probably. But I don’t care. Tonight my inside man at the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (to protect his professional integrity, I won’t say who, though you can probably guess) wrangled me a fabulous seat for Music Director Designate Edo De Waart‘s debut engagement, conducting Gustav Holst’s The Planets. Due to some serious dawdling on my part, I missed my hand-off and was provided with further instructions to look for my ticket in the grating under the first tree to the left of the stage door. Surreptitiously I snapped up the goods (the triumphant absurdity! picking up a ticket to THE SYMPHONY off of THE GROUND, like some lucky accident!) and hustled into the Marcus Center, feeling windswept, sweaty and a little conspicuous in beat-up black boots and big fur-hooded vest in a cocktail-hour, nice-cologne […]

Be a Friend of Milwaukee’s Rivers at the 13th Annual Spring Cleanup!!!

It’s that time of year again-the winter snow has melted away, and spring is here! In an effort to curb the degradation of Milwaukee’s three rivers and connect people to their water resources, Friends of Milwaukee’s Rivers is organizing its 13th annual Spring River Cleanup. The cleanup will take place on Saturday, April 19 at 36 locations throughout the Milwaukee area, stretching from Milwaukee’s South Side to West Bend. Volunteers will work from 9 am until noon, pulling tires, shopping carts, bottles, cans and other trash out of the rivers and adjacent parkways. Last year over two thousand volunteers turned out to clean the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic Rivers. Many schools, community groups and organizations will collaborate with Friends of Milwaukee’s Rivers to participate in the cleanup. Partners include Alverno College, Brewer Company, CH2M Hill, Eastbrook Church, Friends of Hank Aaron State Trail, Groth Design Group, Menomonee Valley Partners, Milwaukee County Parks, Public Allies, Sixteenth Street Community Health Center, Trout Unlimited, Unitarian Universalist Church West, University School of Milwaukee, UW-Milwaukee Service Learning Department and Urban Ecology Center. Visit milwaukeerivercleanup.org for site map and other information.

In Praise of Mike Gousha

We are a polarized society on so many things but there is at least one thing that people of all political stripes can agree on; local television news is a vast wasteland. Chicago attorney Newton Minow used that term in reference to all of television way back during the Kennedy administration when he served as the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Much has changed in the nearly half century since Minow chastised the broadcasters who were responsible for the thin gruel then beamed into America’s living rooms. We’ve seen highs and lows in most everything including network news, children’s programming, prime time comedy, drama, game shows, so-called reality shows, etc., etc. But when it comes to local news, broadcast television has been a remarkable disappointment, failing to live up to its potential to contribute to an informed, involved population so overwhelmingly and completely that there is really no argument. Let’s look at the evidence… Almost every day the average local news broadcast proves worthy of the phrase that critics use to demean and dismiss the field; “If it bleeds, it leads.” Correspondents and camera crews stand ready to respond anytime a local resident falls victim to violence leading to the obligatory live standup with the breathless reporter on the scene in front of the obligatory yellow police tape. That is, unless a weather event threatens to affect rush hour traffic, in which case the usually attractive “talent” (at least that’s how industry professionals refer to the folks who go in front of the camera) get to stand bundled up against the elements, often with affected traffic visible behind them. But let’s face it, coverage of crime and potentially serious weather events are dwarfed by the true raison d’etre of local television news here in Milwaukee and that’s keeping track of the Green Bay Packers. It’s probably unfair to refer to the extensive coverage of Brett Favre to describe this phenomenon since there is something truly extraordinary about his relationship with Wisconsin. The former Packer quarterback, and it pains even me to refer to him in the past tense, is like royalty and arguably many, probably most, of the viewing population in the Milwaukee media market feel a deep, personal connection with Favre that is something like family. “All Brett, All the Time” came to an apocalyptic crescendo recently when Favre announced that he would indeed retire. It happened to come on the day that cycling superstar and cancer advocate Lance Armstrong was traveling across Wisconsin with Gov. Doyle to support the proposed legislation to ban smoking in all workplaces including bars. Before Favre’s statement was released, inviting Armstrong seemed to be a stroke of brilliance. The biking icon’s popularity is quite high and his commitment to fighting cancer and promoting health issues is sincere and, well, strong. Not only were his personal appearances guaranteed to attract press attention but his appeal to male sports fans would draw the attention of a demographic not always sympathetic to health promotion issues. […]

Celebrate 7 Years of STRIPWAX at the Hi-Fi!

Come see one of VITAL’s own amazing artists this May at Hi-Fi. You won’t want to miss it!

Ben and Jerry made me think of more than ice cream- a lesson in responsible consumerism

Journal Sentinel Capable of Good Journalism

When the Pulitzer Prizes were announced on Monday and it was revealed that Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Dave Umhoefer had won the Big Enchilada for local reporting, I was happy for Umhoefer and the rest of the Journal Sentinel staff who worked on this investigation of yet another excessive manipulation of the county pension system to grossly benefit county retirees. I have tremendous respect for the Pulitzer Prize and I know that this award should not be taken lightly. If you don’t remember this story from last July, it’s worth a read. It’s well-researched and well-written. The bottom line is that county leaders rigged the system to allow certain workers to pay for the privilege of extending their length of service in order to qualify for substantially greater annual benefits. More than 350 workers paid nearly $3 million in order to convert past summer jobs, internships and other seasonal work, normally ineligible to count towards pension benefits, in order to qualify for additional benefits totalling more than $50 million, in violation of federal tax code and county ordinances. As a result of the story, the county turned itself into the IRS in order to avoid a potential audit. This was a new wrinkle on the pension scandal that had first been broken by Bruce Murphy and posted on the milwaukeeworld.com web site back in 2001. When Murphy called attention to how the county had implemented new and extraordinarily generous benefits for thousands of county workers, it was seen as a black eye for the Journal Sentinel which not only had missed the story but apparently hadn’t even been sending reporters to cover the meetings where the “pension sweeteners” were discussed. Some critics, including Michael Horne who now writes for milwaukeeworld.com, fault the Journal Sentinel for not crediting Murphy and his original story with leading to this Pulitzer. Horne scoffs that JS editor Marty Kaiser claims this is the type of reporting that only a newspaper can do. Kaiser’s gratuitous boast appears disingenuous, if not totally dishonest, given how Murphy broke his story in 2001 writing for a web site. The competition between old-fashioned newspapers, printed on paper and distributed to front doors and driveways, and their online brethren, capable of being updated 24/7 is becoming increasingly moot. All providers of news need to realize that the internet represents the future. Newspapers, magazines, cable and broadcast television, etc. are simply content producers and consumers want to receive that product in the most convenient version possible. As traditional circulation drops, newspapers are struggling to figure out how to generate revenue online, not such an easy proposition, given that most people expect access to web sites to be free. Plus, Craigslist and other online classified sites have gutted one of the greatest sources of revenue for newspapers. This is not unique to the news industry, of course. The music business has been radically transformed by downloading and the iPod and that’s only one example. All news organizations are facing this challenge and resorting […]

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