Isthmus: Dec 24, 2015 - Jan 6, 2016 by Isthmus

DECEMBER 24, 2015–JANUARY 6, 2016

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VOL. 40 NO. 51

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MADISON, WISCONSIN

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ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016

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■ CONTENTS

■ WHAT TO DO

4 SNAPSHOT

LUCK OF THE DRAW

Euchre fans gather at the Madison Labor Temple.

6-9 NEWS

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Finding permanent housing for people with mental illness.

10 TECH

THE INTERNET OF THINGS

MobileIgniter helps companies go high tech.

JERI CASPER

ISTHMUS.COM

BILL LUEDERS

CHEAP SHOTS THE FORMER ISTHMUS NEWS editor did not create Cheap Shots, but he owned it for most of its existence, compiling the annual list of notable misdeeds from 1988 until he left Isthmus in 2010. Now back as a freelancer, he has penned this year’s round of Cheap Shots. The genius of the feature, he says, is that it “admits to consisting of cheap shots and yet strives to be a fair year-end reckoning.” In other words, cheap but deserved.

IF YOU’VE RECENTLY TWEETED @isthmus, chances are you’ve heard back from Jeri Casper, who maintains our Twitter and Facebook accounts and our website at Isthmus.com. A lover of end-of-year lists as well as digital stats and analytics, she has combined these into a handful of online-only articles, highlighting the most-read stories of the year. Check them out on Isthmus.com starting Dec. 29.

11 ESSAY

WRECKING BALL

The razing of St. Paul’s signals the end of an era.

12 OPINION

LAWYERS, GUNS AND MONEY

Counting down the biggest stories of a very bad year.

AND THE LOSER IS...

We hand out our annual Cheap Shots.

21-28 FOOD & DRINK

CLASS OF 2015

Madison restaurant scene voted most popular.

HOPPY NEW YEAR! Our beer best-of list.

31 SPORTS

BIG SHOES

With Bo Ryan’s retirement, will Greg Gard get the top job?

CRITICS’ CHOICE

Our 2015 faves from Madison’s stages, venues and museums.

41-43 SCREENS

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND 11

ESSAY DAVID MUSKAT IS A SOFTware developer and lifelong Madison resident who enjoys researching and writing about his hometown. With St. Paul’s Chapel scheduled for demolition in February, he reflects on what it was like to attend the State Street church as a child in the 1970s. The church and its city, he writes, have changed quite a bit in four decades.

(What) To Do List Thurs., Dec. 24-?, anywhere, any time Smile, play with a kid, act like a kid, go to a local play, listen to a live band, be naughty, be nice, take a hike, spend some time alone, help out a friend, help out a stranger, go analog once in a while, kick up your heels, kiss someone passionately, build a snow fort, pick dandelions.

Signs of life Sun., Dec. 27, UW-Madison Arboretum Visitor Center, 1-2:30 pm

35 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

DAVID MUSKAT

PHILIP ASHBY

15 COVER STORY

New Star Wars more than meets expectations.

The afternoon nature walk is called “Embracing Winter” — and you might as well do just that. There’s no better place to get in touch with our natural surroundings than the magnificent Arb.

MUST-SEE TV

2015 is the year of original content on the telly.

Post-holiday hoopla

54 EMPHASIS

Mon., Dec. 28, Alliant Energy Center, 7 pm

HOW GLOW CAN YOU GO?

The Harlem Globetrotters’ 90th anniversary world tour includes a stop in Madison, where they’ll wow the crowd with their famous tricks and basketball artistry. Stay after the game for autographs, photos and high-fives with players.

Goodies for a dazzling New Year.

TO YOUR HEALTH

Community Pharmacy expands to Middleton.

IN EVERY ISSUE 8 MADISON MATRIX 8 WEEK IN REVIEW 12 THIS MODERN WORLD 13 FEEDBACK 13 OFF THE SQUARE

44 ISTHMUS PICKS 56 CLASSIFIEDS 57 P.S. MUELLER 57 CROSSWORD 58 SAVAGE LOVE

PUBLISHER Jeff Haupt ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Craig Bartlett BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Mark Tauscher EDITOR Judith Davidoff NEWS EDITOR Joe Tarr ASSOCIATE EDITOR Michana Buchman FEATURES EDITOR Linda Falkenstein ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Catherine Capellaro MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Jon Kjarsgaard STAFF WRITER Allison Geyer CALENDAR EDITOR Bob Koch ART DIRECTOR Carolyn Fath STAFF ARTISTS David Michael Miller, Tommy Washbush CONTRIBUTORS John W. Barker, Dylan Brogan, Kenneth Burns, Dave Cieslewicz, Nathan J. Comp, Aaron R. Conklin,

ISTHMUS is published weekly by Red Card Media, 100 State Street, Suite 301, Madison, WI 53703 • Edit@isthmus.com • Phone (608) 251-5627 • Fax (608) 251-2165 Periodicals postage paid at Madison, WI (ISSN 1081-4043) • POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 100 State Street, Suite 301, Madison, WI 53703 • © 2015 Red Card Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

Thurs., Dec. 24, through Sun., Jan. 3, Olin Park, 4:30-10 pm

Okay, you’ve driven by it for a month, but time’s running out on the Holiday Fantasy in Lights drive-through. New this year: an elf moving presents with a crane and Maynard Mallard on a zip-line. Donation gets you a candy cane!

Changes in latitudes Thurs, Dec. 24, through Thurs., Dec. 31 (closed Dec. 25), Olbrich Gardens, 10 am-4 daily

Another swell family tradition with a limited holiday shelf life is Olbrich’s Holiday Express, with model trains, lots of greenery and elaborate Lego constructions. Bonus: a mini-tropical vacation in the Bolz Conservatory.

FIND MORE ISTHMUS PICKS ON PAGE 44

DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

Ruth Conniff, André Darlington, Marc Eisen, Erik Gunn, Bob Jacobson, Seth Jovaag, Stu Levitan, Bill Lueders, Liz Merfeld, Andy Moore, Bruce Murphy, Kyle Nabilcy, Kate Newton, Jenny Peek, Michael Popke, Adam Powell, Katie Reiser, Jay Rath, Gwendolyn Rice, Dean Robbins, Robin Shepard, Sandy Tabachnick, Denise Thornton, Candice Wagener, Rosemary Zurlo-Cuva ADVERTISING PRODUCTION MANAGER Todd Hubler ADVERTISING MANAGER Chad Hopper ADVERTISING ASSISTANT Laura Miller ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES Lindsey Dieter, Peggy Elath, Amy Miller WEB ANALYST Jeri Casper CIRCULATION MANAGER Tom Dehlinger MARKETING DIRECTOR Chris Winterhack EVENT DIRECTORS Kathleen Andreoni, Courtney Lovas EVENT STAFF Sam Eifert EVENT INTERN Megan Muehlenbruch ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR Kathy A. Bailey OFFICE MANAGER Julie Butler SYSTEMS MANAGER Thom Jones ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Carla Dawkins

Get lit

n SNAPSHOT

All in the cards

Patty Roberts presides over Monday night euchre games at the Madison Labor Temple Bar.

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016

BY ANDRÉ DARLINGTON n PHOTO BY LAURA ZASTROW

When Pat Westby was living on a farm outside of McFarland more than 60 years ago, there were no easy entertainment options. “There wasn’t much to do in those days,” says Westby. “So we played euchre. We lived seven miles outside of town — too far to get to.” Now 82 years old, Westby no longer lives far from the action. But she’s still playing euchre. It’s a passion she shares with more than a dozen regulars on Monday nights at the Madison Labor Temple Bar on South Park Street. The bar can be a little difficult to find, facing a back parking lot. But once inside, there is plenty of cheer. Christmas lights adorn the ceiling, and a donation box for the striking workers at Kohler sits prominently in the corner — the strike was to end two days later. A long central bar divides the space ensuring regulars can talk across to each other while enjoying a Spotted Cow and a basket of fried walleye. And there are plenty of regulars, some waiting their turn to get in on the action at the three euchre tables along the windows. The

room is convivial but filled with an earnest, game-concentrated seriousness. Euchre requires four players, so if there’s an uneven number, or not quite enough players to make another table, the players rotate in and out. None of them seem to mind taking turns at barstools away from the action, chatting with gregarious bartender Torri Grow and occasionally heckling other players. “Sometimes I fill in,” says Grow. “They look at me with forlorn eyes, and I play. The rest just have to wait for their drinks between rounds.” Euchre was brought to the U.S. by German Immigrants as the Alsatian game Juckerspiel (or Uker, as it was called) and traces its origins back to the earliest European five-trick card games in the 1400s. Each player is dealt five cards in batches, and then a round of betting begins to establish who will determine the trump suit and attempt to win at least three tricks for the “point.” The highest card is the Jack of the trump suit, called the “bower” — from the German word for farmer, bauer.

The game can be played with partners, but at this euchre night each player is on his or her own, attempting to finish first at the end of eight rounds. The playing starts promptly at 5:30, and goes on for a couple of hours. The players are fairly evenly mixed between men and women. Grow also started playing the game young, while in school at Monona Grove. “We used to hide and play in the bathroom,” she says. “It’s such a great pastime for Wisconsin, and you meet such interesting people.” Patty Roberts presides over the games as an officiate and organizer, getting pencils sharpened, making sure the decks are ready and taking care of the players. She has a Christmas sweater with a tie that says in bold letters: “Define Good.” Frequently laughter breaks out, as well as some friendly ribbing. “Go to hell, Emily!” a player exclaims, cackling. “Merry Christmas,” says another as she reveals her high hand. When asked — considering her considerable experience playing the game — what makes a good euchre player, Pat Westby doesn’t hesitate: “It’s all in the cards.” n

Average attendance: 14 Years game has been played at the Labor Temple: 5 What cards are used for playing: 9-ACE Points awarded if a player gets all five tricks: 2

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n NEWS

A place called home Housing Initiatives launches $2 million campaign to shelter more homeless residents BY JOE TARR

Mark Adams doesn’t mince words when asked where he’d be without Housing Initiatives: “I’d be dead.” “My using wasn’t going to get any better. Where it was at, it was going to kill me,” Adams says. “I had hepatitis C too, and I would have died from that. Luckily, I just got treated for it, and I don’t have it anymore.” A U.S. Marine veteran, Adams had struggled for years with drug addiction related to post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2008, he finally sought help from the VA hospital to get his addiction under control. But when he emerged from treatment, he was faced with an equally daunting task: finding a clean, safe, affordable place to live.

About 95% of the organization’s tenants never again experience homelessness. That’s where Housing Initiatives came in. The 20-year-old organization specializes in providing housing for mentally ill people who are homeless. “There’s something wrong with homelessness in general, but there’s something more wrong with veterans who are homeless,” says Dean Loumos, the organization’s longtime executive director. The group houses about 50 veterans.

Housing Initiatives currently has 114 units scattered around Madison. About 95% of its clients never return to homelessness. The organization recently received a combined $1.1 million from Madison and Dane County, which it will use to buy two buildings from the Madison Development Corp. and two other yetto-be-identified buildings. Now, it’s hoping to raise $2 million more from private sources in order to acquire another 30 units — with the goal of putting veterans in 20 of those units. Unlike other efforts to provide affordable housing, Housing Initiatives intentionally focuses on smaller buildings. Rather than trying to build or buy a large apartment building, it looks for houses with four to six units. Because of that, Housing Initiatives doesn’t have to wait until the end of the campaign to start spending. “It’s quicker,” says Loumos, a member of the Madison school board. “We raise a little bit of money, then we’ll buy a house, so we acquire properties as we go.” “You don’t need big 60-unit buildings,” he adds. “You can spread [housing] all over the neighborhoods.” Housing Initiatives doesn’t provide support services for its tenants. But its staff understands what the residents are coping with, says Amanda White, capital campaign director. “The maintenance guys who are out in the field every day, they’re kind of like first responders,” she says. “They’re trained in what to look for. If they see someone might be having a rough patch, they’ll call and make sure they get connected.”

Mark Adams, a U.S. Marine veteran, found a home through Housing Initiatives after getting treatment for his addiction and health problems. He’s now on the organization’s board .

AMANDA WHITE

Some residents may become self-sufficient and work again. Tom Hasting is one them. A veteran who also suffered from PTSD, Hasting says he might have been able to find housing on his own after getting treatment through the VA Center. But he says it would have been extremely difficult.

“I wasn’t in an emotional spot where I was strong and could take rejection,” he says. “Housing Initiatives was there with an open heart. For me personally, it was more necessary than I wanted to admit.” Hasting now works at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art and has been able to repair his credit. He hopes to eventually have his own place. But many of Housing Initiative’s tenants will never be able to find their own housing again, Loumos says. Loumos calls Adams — who sits on Housing Initiative’s board — a high-functioning individual who once ran his own business and worked as a drug counselor. But when faced with his own illness, he still struggled with addiction. “The underlying issue of mental illness trumped all of that,” Loumos says. “It negated...his understanding of himself. The illness was so powerful it stopped everything he knew to do. Then an opportunity came and he took it, and he got back on track.” Adams says he sees folks who are in similar situations all the time on the streets of Madison. The solution isn’t that complicated. “[The city’s] got to provide more housing. There’s just not enough housing for homeless people,” he says. “There’s a lot of vets on the street, and it’s a shame. It’s one of those things people want to sweep under the rug.” n

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TWO LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU!

n WEEK IN REVIEW

tration is facing criticism for blocking public access to “transitory records,” two former members of the governor’s cabinet tell the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism that the administration had a policy of communicating through private channels.

FRIDAY, DEC. 18 n Lisa Mitchell, a black

transgender woman, is released from the Dane County Jail after being held there since May. The release comes after protests from the Young, Gifted and Black Coalition drew attention to her cause.

MONDAY, DEC. 21

Hesselbein (D-Middleton) and Terese Berceau (D-Madison) are co-sponsoring a bill to restore shared governance at the UW, reestablishing faculty, staff and students as “active participants” in setting university policy.

BIG CITY

POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS POLI CE Shoppers panic and East Towne Mall is evacuated after a 19-year-old man is shot in the leg during a fight between two groups of teens.

n The Wisconsin State Journal

reports that Hamilton Middle School discovered a time capsule buried in 1957 during a recent renovation.

PREDICTABLE

n Rep. Bob Gannon (R-Sling-

er) puts out a press release saying the shooting at East Towne Mall demonstrates the failure of “gun-free zones.” Gannon’s solution? Vigilantes. “Wisconsin does not have a death penalty law, but with significant practice and careful aim, law-abiding citizens can help clean our society of these scum bags.”

SURPRISING

Madison-Kipp Corp. is nearly done with a multi-year hazardous chemical cleanup, but neighborhood activists remain skeptical that the soil and groundwater are safe.

Watch us grow in the New Year!

Winter is coming!

Our expanded space will be open Spring 2016

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ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016

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Madison Police officer Andrew Pullum is arrested for allegedly stealing nearly $4,000 in bait money planted by federal agents.

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SATURDAY, DEC. 19 n An altercation between teens at East Towne Mall results in one getting shot in the leg, which leads to panic in the mall that a mass shooting is underway. Madison Police put the mall on lockdown before allowing it to reopen after a few hours.

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WEDNESDAY, DEC. 16 n Gov. Scott Walker signs into law bills dismantling the state’s Government Accountability Board and overhauling campaign finance rules. Unlike most bill signings, this one is done in private.

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n TECH

The “ugly bits” go high tech MobileIgniter connects unlikely devices to the Internet of Things BY ALLISON GEYER

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016

The smell of freshly brewed coffee wafts through the MobileIgniter offices on a Friday afternoon. It’s nothing remarkable for a workplace to have a pot of java going in the break room, but at MobileIgniter, this is research — they’re testing a prototype of a high-tech coffee maker that can be controlled remotely via smartphone. The Madison-based tech startup specializes in early stage research and development of devices for “the connected home of the future,” says Dominic DiMarco, who co-founded the company with Tim Nott four years ago. Known as the Internet of Things (IoT), these connected devices are part of a network of smart objects equipped with technology that allows them to collect and exchange data using wireless systems. IoT is a new moniker for an old concept, says Nott. Machine-to-machine (M2M) communication has existed in manufacturing and telecommunications for decades, allowing managers to monitor things like supply chains and warehouse logistics. IoT is the next iteration of that technology. “Internet has gotten so cheap and ubiquitous that we can now remotely do M2M,” Nott says. Nott and DiMarco met in Madison in 1994 and later worked together on early versions of madison.com for Capital Newspapers. DiMarco’s degree is in computer science, and Nott’s is in creative writing, but Nott caught the tech bug as a student while working at a UW-Madison campus computer center. Before founding MobileIgniter, both Nott and DiMarco were involved with Techstars — one of the top startup accelerators in the world. The pair had considered launching MobileIgniter through the Techstars program, but instead decided to take a chance on a brand-new accelerator

PAULIUS MUSTEIKIS

Dominic DiMarco, left, and Tim Nott founded MobileIgniter four years ago.

based in Madison and Milwaukee: gener8tor. The startup graduated from the inaugural gener8tor cohort in 2012. In its first version, MobileIgniter operated as a “build-your-own” mobile app developer for iPhone, Android and other platforms. The company started out strong, but struggled when competitors started to flood the market. At that point, DiMarco says, the founders told investors there were three options: “Run the company into the ground, stop and return the [seed] money, or go into consultation mode and figure out what comes next.” The investors chose option three — a move that DiMarco calls “a huge vote of confidence” for the fledgling company. Seeing opportunity

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in IoT innovation, the founders reinvented MobileIgniter two years ago and have been gaining clients ever since. “The [IoT] stuff everybody knows about is the Nest,” says DiMarco, referring to a sleek, Internet-connected thermostat recently purchased by Google for $3.2 billion. But not all IoT technology is sexy and futuristic. “We specialize in the ugly bits,” DiMarco says. “There’s a lot of ‘rusty iron’ companies that have been making the same things forever [that are now] saying ‘Okay, we need to do something differently.’” The company isn’t able to drop too many client or product names due to nondisclosure

agreements, but the technology they retrofit runs the gamut from large-scale agricultural implements to household appliances. With each prototype, MobileIgniter works to make the devices smaller, tighter and more responsive. “We have a three-step process,” DiMarco says. First they educate clients on the benefits of IoT; next they ideate, talking through how an IoT device can improve customer service and revenue opportunities; then they prototype, determining the appropriate hardware and software configuration to fit a client’s needs and budget. They’re working on a gun safe that uses a camera and other sensors to send a picture to the owner if someone gets too close. Other projects include a propane tank that uses a sensor to monitor fuel levels and sends a refill notification and a crawl space dehumidifier that tracks moisture levels and puts out an alert if things need attention. MobileIgniter is still mainly operating as a consulting firm, but Nott says the eventual goal is to “productize” its own IoT devices. Employees have already built a few, including an Internet doorbell. MobileIgniter’s success is a combination of hard work and “serendipity,” Nott says, adding that there’s an “ebb and flow” that goes along with any entrepreneurial venture. To counteract the volatility, he’s focused on reinvesting revenue in the company and building a team of innovators that combines technical skills and creativity. The company, which currently has four full-time employees, is poised to grow and is eagerly anticipating a move into the new StartingBlock Madison entrepreneurial hub when it opens next year. “Every time I finish something, I’m thinking about what’s next,” Nott says. “But I think this is the happiest I’ve ever been.” n

You gotta live it every day Isthmus.com

n ESSAY

Goodbye, St. Paul’s So long to a building — and an era BY DAVID MUSKAT

in my hand, saw a priest with a beard or attended a “folk Mass” with music played by real folk musicians. Music director Jerry Phillips (bearded, of course) and his wife, Mary, led the choir with wonderfully arranged ’70s music, and songs from Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar. The clergy, led by Father Henry G. McMurrough, was outstanding. A charismatic speaker, Father Mac was considered a voice of reason during those turbulent days of campus unrest, delivering enlightening homilies in his calm and soothing voice. St. Paul’s even had a female chaplain performing the duties of a deacon. That would never happen today. Our catechism classes were led by university students, like the married student couple who taught my fourth-grade class. We’d take a break by heading to the Memorial Union or the Elvehjem Museum to view an exhibit on the Dead Sea Scrolls, or meet at their campus apartment and include their friends from different religions and cultures. St. Paul’s spot on lower State Street put it at the forefront of the anti-war demonstrations in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Forums and debates about war, nonviolence, and social justice were held. Father Mac participated with clergy of all faiths in the local peace movement. Looking back on it now, St. Paul’s must have been doing something right. The church was never empty during Mass. Sure, the pews were partially filled with suburban refugees like my family, but there were plenty of university students filling them as well. For a kid like me, that made the place even more cool. The war ended, things quieted down, and Father Mac left St. Paul’s in June 1975, after eight years as pastor. He’d weathered some tough times and needed a break. He took a sabbatical and traveled out west to Montana. Tragically, he drowned in a canoeing accident on the Blackfoot River in May 1980. He had just turned 54 years old. Things are so different now. The Church swung back to conservative ways in the 1980s. A succession of bishops changed practices at St. Paul’s, with little resistance. Even the music is back to traditional hymns. Much like the Church itself, the old building hasn’t weathered time too well. I hate to see St. Paul’s razed. But why not? The St. Paul’s I knew hasn’t existed there for years. Thankfully they scaled down the design of the new church building from the ivory-tower-in-the-sky imagery of their original design. Maybe that new pope has more influence than I thought. n

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On Jan. 3, the last Mass will be said at the chapel at St. Paul’s University Catholic Center, before its scheduled demolition in February. Now considered outdated, the gray concrete 1968 modernist re-do of the original 1909 church will be replaced by a larger, more “traditional”looking building. It’s an icon of a bygone era. I remember when St. Paul’s was new. Back in 1970, my parents and some of their friends made the bold move to switch parishes, moving their families from Immaculate Heart of Mary in Monona to St. Paul’s at 723 State St. After years of frustration with the internal politics of the suburban parish, my parents were on a quest for a more positive message, and wanted to be served by a clergy that cared more about people. We found all of that at St. Paul’s. And my world was forever changed. It was certainly a different time, with rapid change occurring in both American society and the Church, all played out against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. St. Paul’s in 1970 was the epitome of change, resulting from the Second Vatican Council (aka Vatican II), and that was the draw for people like my parents. You could hardly classify my parents and their friends as radicals. My folks were fiscally conservative members of the World War II generation. But having lived to middle age under the pre-Vatican II church, they were ready for change. When the reforms came (no more Latin Mass, greater openness toward other religions, loosening the strictures on music and prayer, for instance), they embraced them. Of course no parish was left out of Vatican II, but some took on the spirit of the reforms more than others. And St. Paul’s was such a parish. Physically, it was different from any other church building I had ever visited. Some people dislike those concrete buildings, dismissing them as unstylish bunkers. But I was able to see the beauty there. Back then, I didn’t know it was designed by Madison architect Kenton Peters, but looking closely at its interior, I could tell somebody had put some thought into it. I can still smell the earthy concrete and the burlap scent of the gray carpet, which covered the seats of the concrete pews. Those smells went well with the earthenware chalice, the whole-wheat communion wafers and the 1970s-style floor-to-ceiling tapestries (minimalist imagery writ large, like stalks of wheat, or a single dove). St. Paul’s was the first Catholic Church where I received Communion

n OPINION

The big-impact stories of 2015 Dark money, education cuts, racial tension and more BY DAVE CIESLEWICZ Dave Cieslewicz is the former mayor of Madison. He blogs as Citizen Dave at Isthmus.com DAVID MICHAEL MILLER

It was a big, bad news year. Here, in reverse order of impact, are the local stories that I think will reverberate in 2016 and beyond. 11. Oscar Mayer’s wurst decision. If you view this from a historical perspective or if you’re one of those affected by the layoff of 1,000 employees, then this is probably the most important story of the year for you. But not so much for long-term impact. Oscar’s had already lost 75% of its workforce over the years, and hot dogs and other processed foods are just not the future of the industry. It will be a sad day when we close this chapter on Madison history, but industry trends and the plant’s configuration made it pretty much inevitable.

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016

10. Exact Sciences is in! No, it’s out! The dramatic saga of Madison’s big development project du jour took weird twists and turns this year, and yet we end up back at (Judge Doyle) square one. But did the story have a major impact? Not really. Something just fine will be built there, and the downtown is doing great with or without the biotech startup. But to get the best deal for taxpayers, the city needs to stop looking so desperate.

9. Ride on, Madison. The city ascended to rarefied heights when it became one of only five cities recognized nationally as a “Platinum”-level biking community by the League of American Bicyclists. As Joe Biden said of the Affordable Health Care Act, this is a “big [freaking] deal!” It puts the city on the map as a great place to live, start a business or maybe even ride a bike. 8. Don’t be homeless here...or there. Homeless residents in Madison started the year being told they could only congregate on the front porch of the City-County Building. Then they were told they had to leave there as well. Liberal, compassionate cities struggle with this problem, and Madison is no different. This year’s fumbling proved we don’t know what we’re doing. Okay. Lesson learned. Can we figure it out in 2016?

7. Tony Robinson shooting. The police-involved shooting of the young black man prompted months of protest in the middle of the mayoral election. The incident brought Madison into the national discussion on race, violence and policing, proving that even liberal bastions can’t duck the issue. Expect that discussion to continue throughout the new year. 6. Crash and burn. Then rape and pillage. Many liberals took comfort in Gov. Scott Walker’s spectacular belly flop in his presidential bid. But then he came home and got back to work being “big and bold.” Now he’s “reforming” the hell out of the civil service system and open government laws. Ya know, Governor, there’s still time to reconsider, and Iowa is only two hours away. 5. Say it ain’t so, Bo. It’s just a game, but UW athletics are a big part of Madison’s culture and economy, and few people have had a bigger impact than basketball coach Bo Ryan. His sudden departure was odd in more ways than one, and we might never really know the backstory. What we know for sure is that the future of one of the city’s biggest cultural institutions will be in doubt for a while.

and got nothing in return. This game is really simple. When you’re in the minority, your job is to stop being in the minority. 2. Doesn’t anybody work here anymore? News outlets continued to hemorrhage talent. Popular Wisconsin State Journal columnist Doug Moe was given the pink slip, and veteran Cap Times business reporter Mike Ivey took a buyout. Worse is probably coming as the notorious Gannett syndicate purchased what was left of the biggest newsroom in the state at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Gannett is famous for slashing editorial staff. This was among the biggest impact stories of the year because it means an already downsized press corps will have

THIS MODERN WORLD

even less firepower to keep our governments honest. 1. Welcome to Wisconsin, or maybe Illinois. We’re now open for corruption. What was left of Wisconsin’s clean government laws has been completely decimated by the Republican majority. Want to coordinate dark money with your campaign? Go right ahead. Want to avoid the kind of John Doe investigations that would apply to any ordinary citizen? If you’re a politician, you sure can. The spigot of special interest money is now turned wide open. For long-term impact, there’s nothing that happened in 2015 that was bigger...or worse for the state. n

BY TOM TOMORROW

4. We don’t need no education. The $250 million cut to the UW System hurt as much symbolically as it did literally. It tells the world that our state government just doesn’t understand how the modern economy works...or maybe it does but prefers to play the resentment card, splitting Madison and “intellectuals” off from the rest of the state. Someday, maybe, we’ll have a state government that wants to bring us back together. But that won’t be any time soon. 3. Can’t anybody here play this game? The quote attributed to a frustrated 1962 Mets manager Casey Stengel about his hapless ballclub could easily apply to state Democrats. The party is at low ebb. Given only two chances to play in the legislative game, the Dems dropped both balls that were thrown to them. They voted to give $400 million of taxpayer money to the billionaire owners of the Milwaukee Bucks for a new arena and to borrow another $350 million to build more roads. They bailed out the GOP

n FEEDBACK

Citizen Chad Enlightened ignorance

Progressive tax As a Badgers fan and Regent neighborhood resident, I read with interest your article on “The Bucky Economy” (12/10/2015). There seems to be one major difference between the local businesses and the nearby homeowners who profit from game-day festivities and traffic: The businesses are required to pay taxes on their heightened income, while my neighbors near Camp Randall do not. The tradition of parking on lawns represents a free exchange of goods and services and is not in and of itself problematic; however, I would expect a progressive voice like Isthmus to be more critical of the practice of wealthy homeowners earning thousands in unreported taxable income. Indeed, these famously self-proclaimed progressive neighborhoods should themselves be aware of the issue and more honest with themselves as well as with the IRS. Margaret Szczykutowicz (via email)

OFF THE SQUARE

Re Tell All: “My Co-worker Is a Christian!” (Isthmus.com, 12/20/2015): Imagine the same question with pretty much any belief system other than Christianity and there would be outrage, but the bigoted assumption that Christians are dumb is a-ok in Mad Town. The ignorance that parades itself as enlightenment around here is astonishing. Cathy Arndt (via Facebook) Lol. Oh Madison you are a very interesting place. Pooka Parks (via Facebook)

Matt Sloan, you’re a remarkable look-alike to the young Orson Welles (“Voice of Vader,” 12/17/2015). If the Vader business ever fades, you could do a touring tribute show to the iconic Orson. Just sayin’. Practice whispering “Rosebud.” Terry Farley (via email)

Corrections The sports photo on page 31 of last week’s issue was from the 2014 NCAA basketball tournament game between the Badgers and the Oregon Ducks, not the 2015 tournament. The correct name of the Star Wars production company, mentioned in last week’s cover story, is Lucasfilm, not LucasFilms.

Reader alert! There will be no paper next week so that the good people of Isthmus can take a break. However, we strongly urge you to check out Isthmus.com for your holiday reading pleasure.

Memory lane Sorry, Madison’s first trampoline park was Peppermint Park, just off the Beltline by the Big Sky drive-in (“Ups and Downs,” 12/10/2015). kmanner (via Comments)

Share comments with Isthmus via email, edit@isthmus.com, and via Forum.isthmus.com, Facebook and Twitter, or write letters to Isthmus, 100 State St., Suite 301, Madison WI 53703. All comments are subject to editing. The views expressed here are solely those of the contributors. These opinions do not necessarily represent those of Isthmus Publishing Company.

BY ALAN TALAGA & JON LYONS

DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

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n COVER STORY

Last call A year of shattered assumptions deserves a round of Cheap Shots BY BILL LUEDERS n ART BY DAVID MICHAEL MILLER

Some years back the novelist Jonathan Franzen released his great book The Corrections, about a family coming to terms with itself. That’s sort of what happened in Wisconsin this year; the veneer was stripped away, forcing a more honest assessment. Good thing? Bad thing? You decide. Gov. Scott Walker, seeking to turn his record of dividing Wisconsin into GOP presidential gold, went from frontrunner to failure in a few short months, his approval rating in tatters. “It is difficult to run your state and to run for president at the same time,” he reflected. Yup. Republicans in the Legislature alternated between shameful and shameless, enjoying their dominion over state government like that creepy omnipotent 6-year-old of Twilight Zone fame. They ignored advocates for victims of domestic violence to end the state’s 48-hour waiting period for handgun purchases. They ended the use of John Does to probe political misdeeds, demolished the nonpartisan agency charged with overseeing ethics and elections, and

opened the floodgates to new waves of campaign-related spending. They even tried (and still seek) to gut the state’s open records law. All because they can. Closer to home, events exposed Madison’s vulnerability to the coldblooded dictates of market capitalism, as Kraft Heinz prepared to shut down our Oscar Mayer plant. We were confronted with signs of low tolerance for the homeless and high tolerance for cops who shoot first, then shoot six more times, then are told they did everything right. Our high-minded notions of being a progressive community are harder than ever to sustain. Good thing? Bad thing? You decide. What’s clear is that it was a rich year for Cheap Shots, Isthmus’ annual dispensation of well-earned low blows.

Prevaricator of the Year:

Most Self-Sacrificing Candidate:

Hey, this is a classy publication; we don’t go around calling politicians “liars.” Besides, Walker is so much slicker than that. Here he is, in May 2012, on the cusp of his recall election, vowing to do “everything in my power” to oppose a ban on mandatory union membership or dues in private workplaces: “I have no interest in pursuing right-to-work legislation in this state.” Here he is, in September 2014, just before winning reelection to a second term: “I’m not pushing for it. I’m not supporting it in this session.” Here he is, in February 2015, just before signing a fast-tracked right-to-work bill passed by the Legislature: “I’ve never said that I didn’t think it was a good idea.” Here we are, trying to think of some way to describe this without using the L-word.

Not only did our gov call his bid for president “God’s plan for me,” he said he decided to abruptly quit the race a few weeks later not because his poll numbers hit rock bottom and his campaign was in fiscal crisis, but to serve the greater good: “Today, I believe that I am being called to lead by helping to clear the field in this race so that a positive conservative message can rise to the top of the field.” A grateful nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

SCOTT WALKER

DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

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n COVER STORY

“Thanks a Lot, Scott” Award:

Twisted Priorities Award:

We owe our governor so much: a divided state, lagging economy, national disrepute over runaway partisanship. But this year’s TaLS award goes to the lingering impact of Walker’s rejection of $810 million in federal funds for a high-speed rail line from Chicago to Madison. The state in August agreed to pay a train manufacturer nearly $10 million for ordered but neverdelivered trains, on top of $42 million already spent. So that’s a $52 million kick in the groin for rejecting this job-creating infrastructure bonanza, ostensibly due to worries about operating costs, projected at around $7 million a year. Thanks a lot, Scott.

Besides all the other kicks in the teeth that Walker and the Republican-led state Legislature seem to delight in giving the UW System, they decided to cut a quarter of a billion dollars from its funding in the current two-year budget. By happenstance (or was it?), this is the exact amount the Legislature gave the billionaire owners of the Milwaukee Bucks for a new sports arena, a switcheroo so brazen it drew a rebuke from a columnist at Forbes. Yikes.

TRAIN FIASCO

Throwback of the Year:

MATT ADAMCZYK

The Wisconsin state treasurer’s main claim to fame is wanting to eliminate his own job. For citizens interested in good government, that can’t happen soon enough. Adamczyk, elected in 2014, launched a bizarre crusade against Tia Nelson, executive secretary of the Wisconsin Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, scrutinizing her phone and travel records and seeking her termination for “theft.” What did she steal? Taxpayer-funded time, for accepting a 2007 request from then-Gov. Jim Doyle to serve on a state Global Warming Task Force. The board initially barred staff from talking about climate change, a key issue for public lands, later softened to a ban on at-work advocacy. Nelson sensibly resigned; Adamczyk continues to draw a salary. Thief.

“What a Guy!” Award:

GLENN GROTHMAN

This deeply conservative former state legislator, who now represents Wisconsin in Congress, told a representative of Planned Parenthood, during a witch hunt disguised as a congressional hearing, that its services weren’t needed because, “as a guy, I could go to many clinics locally that have all the machines that one would need.” Presumably, aides later explained to him, with the help of Ken and Barbie dolls, that some portion of the population is not, technically, guys.

Hero Worshipper of the Year:

RAY CROSS

In March, the newish president of the UW System won applause by vowing to resign if the Legislature did not substantially reduce Gov. Walker’s proposed $300 million funding cut and back off from plans to undermine tenure and shared governance. But when the Legislature approved a $250 million cut and proceeded to take an ax to tenure and shared governance, Cross decided that keeping his cushy job was way more important. He’s since vowed to...wait, who cares?

Meanspirited Boondoggle of the Year:

FOOD STAMP FRAUD CRACKDOWN

Wisconsin’s overpayment error rate (including a small share of fraud) for the federally funded food assistance program was just 2% in 2014, below the already low national average of 3%. Yet ferreting out fraud remains a GOP obsession, serving as an applause line during Walker’s presidential bid. The Assembly has passed bills to drug test recipients, further restrict what kinds of food they can buy, limit the number of times they can pay to get replacement cards if theirs are lost or stolen, and make them use photo IDs, at a huge cost to taxpayers. What about going after companies that fraudulently took millions of state job-creation dollars and then failed to create jobs? Or would that be picking on the little guy?

Extremist of the Year:

Exaggerator of the Year:

This newly elected GOP state Assemblyman from Kewaskum has emerged as a fount of far-right ideas, from seeking to bar transgender students from using bathrooms that match their gender identity, to pushing to allow concealed weapons on campuses, to cracking down on the poor. What’s it like to live in his world? Here’s what Kremer told The Capital Times, when explaining his objections to exempting victims of rape and incest from his proposed 20-week abortion ban: “[I don’t think] we should put carve-outs in this bill that would essentially double down on that awful situation and selectively decide which children should and should not be inhumanely tortured to death by tearing them apart, limb from limb.”

CINDY ARCHER ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016

Most Spineless Bureaucrat:

ALBERTA DARLING

Move over, God, who so loved the world he sent his only begotten son to die for its sins. Here’s how Darling, a Republican state senator from River Hills, described Walker’s decision to step down as chair of the failing, scandal-plagued Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.: “He loves Wisconsin so much that he felt that if some of the members on the board feel like the group would be better off if he would not be the chair...I’d say that’s leadership on his part.” Great Scott!

$250 MILLION STATE BUDGET SHUFFLE

No one doubts being the subject of a police raid is unpleasant. But this Walker administration official, whose Madison home was searched in 2011 as part of a John Doe probe that led to the criminal convictions of six others, made it sound like a terrorist attack, with police screaming in her face, threatening to put her in handcuffs and refusing her pleas to contact a lawyer. She was so outraged she sued over it, prompting investigators to release a recording of the event in which none of these things occur. Archer amended her suit to remove some falsehoods while still claiming to be a victim. Another victim in all this? The truth.

JESSE KREMER

Chutzpah Award:

DUEY STROEBEL In late October, this Republican state senator introduced a bill to limit the use of special elections by school districts, to prevent spending referendums from being put to voters in low-turnout elections. Some school officials predicted the change would be “catastrophic,” but Stroebel said the goal was to “inject more sincerity and honesty” into the process. He did not mention that he was first elected to the Legislature in a special election in 2011; another Senate co-sponsor, Chris Kapenga, was elected to the Senate in a special election in July.

Foul-Mouthed Bully of the Year:

JOHN NYGREN

Here’s how this Republican state rep spun his role in the failed caper to end public access to most records from state lawmakers: “In my view, there should be some privacy for constituents to contact my office. You guys don’t give a shit about that.” A few years back, Nygren withheld the names of “constituents” he said contacted him to back a change in state auto insurance law; but when the names were released, they showed that most of these contacts were from insurance agents or employees. That’s the kind of detail Nygren and others want to keep private.

Most Partisan Nonpartisan:

REBECCA BRADLEY

Shortly after being sworn in as Wisconsin’s newest Supreme Court justice, filling a sudden vacancy for a seat to which she is seeking election next spring, this former member of the Republican National Lawyers Association, a past donor to Gov. Walker and the Republican Party of Milwaukee County, assured Milwaukee TV newsman Mike Gousha, “When I became a judge I set aside all of my political inclinations.” A few days later, she attended a dinner event sponsored by the Milwaukee County GOP, at which she was toasted by Walker himself, who warned darkly that she faced partisan opposition in her quest to keep the seat. Gasp!

The O. Henry Irony Award: Open Government Opponent

ROBIN VOS

This July, when a public backlash forced state lawmakers to pull the plug on an attempt to gut the state’s open records law, no one wanted to take credit for this idea. In fact, it was Assembly Speaker Vos who asked for these changes and who later ordered the drafting of a bill to exempt the Legislature from the law. Both discoveries were made through records requests of the sort lawmakers could have simply ignored, had the changes Vos sought gone through. Cue Nelson from The Simpsons: “Ha ha!”

Accidental Honesty Award:

CHRIS KAPENGA

In Senate debate over his party’s successful revamping of state campaign finance laws to increase the flow of cash into the electoral process, this Republican state senator twice approvingly cited what he said was conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s sage advice on the topic: “The more money in politics, the better.” Kapenga even clucked that “nobody else is bringing up” this sage advice. Maybe that’s because he was imagining it. Scalia’s actual quote: “Thomas Jefferson would have said the more speech the better.” But clearly, Kapenga’s botched quote more accurately conveys his true view.

We Hardly Knew Ye Award:

EXACT SCIENCES

When this Madison-based medical-screening innovator said “Jump,” city of Madison officials had only one major question: “How high?” They planned a $200 million downtown redevelopment project around the notion that Exact Sciences would be an anchor tenant, only to be left anchorless when the company bailed, amid signs that its fortunes are falling. Ald. David Ahrens opposed the deal; his concerns were shrugged off but proved, er, exactly right.

Sore Loser of the Year:

ROBERT MORLINO

➡

DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

Madison’s bishop, who once said acceptance of gay marriage was rising because “Satan has a plan to destroy our country from within,” was characteristically churlish in reacting to the U.S. Supreme Court’s June ruling striking down state bans. He called the one-man, one-woman definition of marriage “an objective truth of the natural order,” not subject to judicial tinkering, and said his response to this ruling was to ordain six new seminarians as “warriors against evil.” No “Who am I to judge?” humility coming from this guy.

In memoriam

The “Get Off My Lawn!” Crotchety Old Man Award:

PAUL SOGLIN

Bob Kastenmeier: In 2002,

as the U.S. prepared to make a devastating foreign policy blunder, the Madison area’s Democratic rep in Congress had this to say: “Let me be very clear: I do not support the war against Iraq. I am appalled by President Bush’s obsession with it.” It was a position consistent with the World War II veteran’s early and ardent opposition to the U.S. war in Vietnam, and other strong, principled stands during his 32 years in Congress. When he died this March at age 91, he wife, Dorothy, told The New York Times that his passion was world peace “and I think the people will remember him for that.” That would be nice.

Madison’s recurring mayor once did battle with The Establishment. Now he’s become it. Besides getting into a Quixotic battle against granting a beer license to a Belgian-style fries restaurant, Soglin is on a mission to keep those unsightly homeless people out of sight. He sponsored an ordinance to impose a time limit on using public benches and forbid sitting or lying on public sidewalks, which the Common Council overwhelmingly rejected. He ordered city workers to remove sitting stones from a public area popular with the homeless. Yet, at year’s end, Madison still has visible homeless people and beer for sale. Blame it on the hippies.

Landlord From Hell Award:

RAY PETERSON

This owner of 48 city of Madison rental properties displays legendary contempt toward the people unlucky enough to rent from him, ringing up 1,400 building code violations in just the last five years and prompting a Dane County judge to wrest control of his properties away from him. But Peterson’s status as Lucifer’s lessor was cemented this spring, when he went after a tenant for back rent and the $1,192 cost of biological cleanup after police gunned down a man in one of his properties. Where his heart should be, Peterson has a sign: “Vacancy.”

Badasses of the Year:

MOUNT HOREB RESIDENTS

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016

This hillacious hamlet west of Madison, with its Scandinavian roots and trollish conceits, is often called “quaint.” Don’t believe it. These are people you do not want to cross. The local school board learned that this year when it balked at commemorating a donor to a new fitness center, because this would have violated a longstanding district policy. The citizenry responded by cutting the annual salary of the school board’s seven members from $2,500 to $0. The salaries were subsequently restored, but still.

Authoritarian of the Year:

MIKE KOVAL

Madison’s chief of police talks a good game about teaching officers to respect constitutional rights and blah, blah, blah. But in the aftermath of yet another fatal shooting by Madison police of an unarmed man, Koval was a rock of resistance in the face of calls for actual changes in training and procedure. He even pooh-poohed the advice of former Madison Police Chief David Couper, Koval’s one-time boss, to embrace less lethal responses. Couper’s way would make fatal shootings of unarmed suspects less likely; Koval just wants to make them less controversial.

Best Putdown:

GARY LEWIS

No, you’re not supposed to recognize who this person is. It’s just some random dude from the town of Brooklyn who penned a one-sentence letter to the editor to The Capital Times in October. It read, in full: “Dear Editor: Since Scott Walker wants to do away with civil service and seniority and go to performance-based job retention, when is he leaving?” Sign this guy up for Cheap Shots! n

Tony Robinson: If you’re thinking, this 19-year-old young Madison man didn’t do much with his life except get gunned down by a cop, you’ve actually hit on why he matters. All his potential…lost in a hail of bullets. It galvanized the city and spurred on the Young, Gifted and Black Coalition. People took sides over what caused his death, but no one worth paying attention to was not troubled by it. Patrick Crooks: On Sept. 21,

just days after announcing he would not seek reelection next spring, this Wisconsin Supreme Court justice died suddenly in the state Capitol. Half of his 77 years were spent as a judge, including 20 on the state’s high court, where he served with honor and distinction. In 2012, Crooks bravely called for the state to consider selecting justices based on merit, not in high-spending elections of the sort that have packed the court with ideological partisans. He was a jurist who could have passed a merit test.

Leon Varjian: A 1992 book on college pranks devoted an entire chapter to UW-Madison, with a special nod to the achievements of this former enrollee in what he remembered as “the graduate school of fun.” Varjian’s Pail & Shovel Party put pink flamingos on Bascom Hill, erected an apparently submerged Statue of Liberty poking through the ice of Lake Mendota, and led a boombox parade down State Street. He died in September at age 64 in Wood-Ridge, N.J., where he was a longtime mathematics teacher. Helen Vukelich: This beloved Madison presence, who died in October at age 86, deserves to be judged by the company she kept. She worked for many years for Congressman Kastenmeier, was married to the late, great writer George Vukelich, raised an impressive brood of gifted children, fought on the front lines for civil rights, and helped found the Friends of the South Madison Neighborhood Center. Said The Cap Times’ Dave Zweifel: “There was no one I knew who could match her sense of fairness and her strong belief that all people needed to be treated with respect. An enormously good life has come to an end.”

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FOOD & DRINK ■ SPORTS ■ ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT ■ SCREENS

Freiburg Gastropub

HopCat

SHARON VANORNY

Estrellón

Pasqual’s Cantina

PAULIUS MUSTEIKIS PHOTOS

How to be pretty and popular Madison’s 2015 restaurant scene was confident, convivial BY LINDA FALKENSTEIN

here (for Barolo, Julep and A-OK Coffee) are also thoughtfully done, beautiful but not flashy. Think Mary Ann, not Ginger. Estrellón, Tory Miller’s Spanish-inflected dining room on West Johnson, was the most “big city” of them all. The revamped Edgewater Hotel opened, creating several new downtown dining spaces, from the luxe Statehouse, with expansive Lake Mendota views, to the chummy dockside Boathouse. A somewhat hidden snack bar called the Icehouse may get more play during ice skating this winter. If we manage to get any ice this winter.

Taps, part one More places for comrades to convene arrived in the form of nanobreweries, brewpubs, gastropubs, taprooms and tap-centric beer bars: the Hop Garden in Paoli, the Parched Eagle in Westport, Octopi in Waunakee, Hop Haus in Verona, World of Beer in Middleton, two Mr. Brews Taphouses (downtown and Monona), HopCat downtown, Greenview on the east side, Waypoint Public House in Monona, and Freiburg Gastropub and Cafe Hollander on the west side. Yes, that is just from 2015. More are in the works.

The onslaught of tap lines — HopCat alone has 130 — is proof that craft brewers, statewide and nationally, recognize Madisonians as a savvy audience that knows its beer, and they want in. Metamorphoses The long vacant space at 1344 E. Washington Ave. (Fyfe’s Corner Bistro decamped in 2007) was nicely remodeled and is now home to a fourth Pasqual’s Cantina. The mysterious storefront at 819 S. Park St. that still proclaimed “I’m Here” long af-

CONTINUE D ON PAGE 2 3

➡

DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

More than a few pretty restaurants opened in Madison this year. Everybody wanted to hang out at Estrellón, Graft, Barolo, Julep, Tavernakaya, and Gib’s Bar. Notably, they provided gracious gathering spaces as much about comfort, conviviality and community as good food and drink. The outdoor patio at the heart of the Robinia Courtyard project at 829 E. Washington Ave., which opened in October, is the great outdoor space everyone wanted to be in — or at least, said they will want to be in come next summer. The interiors

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SEAFOOD

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Order your Live Maine Lobster today!

Get a 4 oz. cold water Lobster Tail AND a 6 oz. bacon-wrapped tenderloin fillet!

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5 lb. box of

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We also have Cold Water Canadian

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Bell & Evans Boneless, skinless

Pork $ 79 Pork Baby $ 00 Chicken $ 99 Back Ribs Chops lb. lb. Breasts lb. Jenifer St. Market Jenifer St. Market Summer Sausage Sticks $ 99 Snack Sticks $ 00

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ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016

Hard or Genoa Salami

7oz. pkg.

$ 89 Yucatan

3 3 2 2 3

$ 39

Atlantic Salmon $900 Smoked Salmon $1099

3 lb. bag

Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, Red Delicious, mix and match

lb.

GROCERY

Kristin Regalé $ 59 Sparkling Juice 25.4oz LaCroix $ 99 Sparkling Water asst flavors 12pk - 12oz Swanson 100% natural ¢ Chicken Broth 14.5oz Clif $ 19 Clif Bars asst flavors 2.4oz Healthy Choice $ 00 Soups asst flavors 10 for 15oz Nabisco $ 00 Snack Crackers 2 for 8-9.1oz Stacy’s $ 39 Pita Chips 18oz

3 3

Crunchmaster $ 99 Crackers gluten free 4.5oz Cock ‘n Bull $ 99 Ginger Beer 4pk Full Circle $ 00 Organic Broth 2 for 32oz San Pellegrino Italian Sparkling $ 99 Beverage asst flavors 6pk cans Back to Nature $ 29 Cookies 9.5-12oz Frontera $ 99 Tortilla Chips 10-12oz Ritz $ 00 Snack Crackers 2 for 12.9-13.7oz

1 3 3

Guacamole 16oz Sliced to order Atheno’s $ 00 lb. Hummus asst flavors 2 for 7oz A party “must-have” Lifeway lb. $ 39 32oz Shullsburg Sliced to order Kefir asst flavors Co-Jack or Pepperjack $ 69 Naked $ 29 Horn Cheese lb. Juice 15.2oz Great on cocktail rye $ 99 Simply Buffalo Chicken Dip lb. $ 59 1.75 ltr Wollersheim non-alcoholic $ 99 Alouette Crumbled $ 49 Orange Juice BAKERY Sparkling Wine 750ml Blue or Gorgonzola Cheese 4oz Baked fresh daily Chavrie FROZEN $ 00 $ 49 Goat Cheese Logs 2 for 4oz French Baguettes loaf Sassy Cow Campione lb.

3 5 2 5

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BELGIAN CHOCOLATE BARS

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since 1886 All natural ingredients. No high fructose corn syrup. No artificial flavors, colors or preservatives.

$ 99 12oz

5 lb. box

3 lb. bag of

lb.

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Size ranges between 1.5 to 3 lbs.

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1/2 gallon

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Experience the taste of premium Australian “Kobe-style” Wagyu beef (hand-cut)

ch or

We are proud to announce the marriage of Grapefruit and Orange! In celebration of this event we are squeezing a very special 50/50 blended juice. Sweet and tangy, this juice’s complexity appeals to the adult palate.

Orange and Grapefruit Juice $ 98

USDA Choice (hand-cut)

$1299 ea

PRODUCE

$ 99

$ 00

gallon

BEER

WINE

Ale Asylum $ 49

12 Deschutes $ 49 Brewing Co. 7 Founders $ 99 Brewing Co. 7 Brewing Co.

12pk cans

Korbel

Champagne

$ 99

Organic Brut, Extra Dry, Brut Rose

Bellafina

16oz

12oz pkg.

750ml

6 $ 99 Cristalino 7 Founders Raymond R/ Collection Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale $ 59 & Centennial IPA Field Blend 2014 8 All Day IPA $ 99 Menage A Trois $ 49 14 Prosecco 9 Oskar Blues $ 99 Brewing Co. 13 $ 49 Brut & Blanc De Noir 16 Pabst $ 99 $ 99 Blue Ribbon 17 Segura Vivdas Brut 6 6pk

6pk

Imported from Italy

Prosecco

$ 99

Jaume Serra

750ml

Sparkling Wine

750ml

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12pk cans 15pk cans

750ml

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12pk cans

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24pk - 16oz Tallboy cans

Dallmayr

Imported from Germany

COFFEE

750ml

$ 99

Decaf or Prodomo 17.6oz Arabica beans from the Ethiopian highlands form the basis for almost every variety of Dallmayr Coffee. Our experts buy only the coffee that has ripened slowly and fully in high regions with a favorable climate.

We reserve the right to limit quantities

n FOOD & DRINK

2015 Restaurant Scene ter that Vietnamese restaurant was not, in fact, there, finally got a new tenant: the El Rancho Mexican Grill. 1847 at the Stamm House was a thoughtful renovation and reimagining of that historic sandstone farmhouse on Century Avenue in Middleton, featuring James Beard award-nominated chef Nick Johnson. Max’s Farm Table moved into the space that had been built as a Blue Spoon Cafe at 2831 Parmenter St. in Middleton, empty since 2010. It’s a grass-fed beef burger and pizza restaurant run by Max Harn of Stella’s Bakery fame. The Dayton Street Grill in the Madison Concourse Hotel was redesigned and reopened as CIRC. The Graduate Madison Hotel, itself a transformation of the old Campus Inn at 601 Langdon, has two new eateries: Portage Pi, a lobby concession with homemade hand pies, and the small-plates restaurant and bar called the Madison Blind. The Avenue Bar was reborn as the Avenue Club and Bubble Up Bar. Tony Frank’s became the Badger Tavern after some updating, while keeping the classic neighborhood tavern feel. Joey’s Seafood became North and South Smokehouse — same owners, new name. Jeng’s Asian Kitchen took over the Salad Creations on Monona Drive. Takara 88 moved into the old Pasta Nuovo in Middleton. The Blue Marlin closed and Hamilton’s on the Square opened. Cosi on State Street closed, and the space remains empty, though there were an exciting few days in late May when a sign in the window announced a barbecue and orchestral strings joint to be called Porkestra. This, however, turned out to be

Barolo continued from 21

of Layla’s Persian Food, opened on South Park Street. Nani, Madison’s only dedicated dim sum spot, opened at 518 Grand Canyon. And SoHo Gourmet Cuisines became the only food cart to open a restaurant this year, serving salads, dumplings and Asian fusion rice plates at 2990 Cahill Main in Fitchburg.

a joke. We think this venue would be ideal for a Native Foods Cafe. Potential franchisees, anyone? That great street State Street became home to fast-casual restaurants like Colectivo Coffee, Mooyah, and Naf Naf Mediterranean Grill. Locally owned Forage Kitchen joined them — with a build-your-own-bowl concept and minimalist decor similar to many contemporary chains. Kung Fu Tea, a bubble tea chain with locations worldwide, moved into the old Dobra Tea. Diego’s closed and became Winedown. Near State Street, a highly regarded gourmet hot dog joint, the Wiener Shop, opened on West Gilman. Longtime favorite Amy’s Cafe became Mezze, with Mediterranean small plates and a focus on craft cocktails. (Thomas Paras, who once owned Amy’s, opened Freska Mediterranean Grill at Greenway Station in Middleton.) JD’s brick-and-mortar spot at 317. N. Bassett closed, though its late-night food cart can still be found on Frances at University. Madistan, offering Pakistani takeout, burgers and fried chicken, moved into the Bassett location.

Takara 88

Innovators The Green Life Cafe, which bills itself as “plant to plate,” opened on Monroe Street; Bowl of Heaven, serving fresh juices and acai bowls, opened at Hilldale; Supercharge! Juice Bar, featuring fresh wheatgrass shots, opened on East Washington Avenue. Noosh, a Middle Eastern/Israeli/ Jewish restaurant from Laila Borokhim

Taps, part two Kennedy Manor, the dining room that was unfortunately out-of-sight, out-of-mind in the historic Kennedy Manor apartments, closed. Built in 1929, it was a remnant of an earlier era, when a luxury apartment featured room service from its own dining room and bar. Another spot that suffered from an offbeat location, the Ironworks Cafe in the Goodman Center, closed. Eight Seasons Grille, on a beaten path (Bassett Street) but not in a restaurant quadrant, shut its doors. Also closed: Taco Bros., Cupcakes-AGo-Go, the venerable Friday fish fry at the East Side Club, the Prime Quarter Steak House, Old Chicago, Imperial GardenEast, A-Sakura-Fitchburg. Harold’s Chicken Shack on East Washington Avenue had the distinction of both opening and closing. The on-again, off-again Chimmie’s South American sub shop in Fitchburg reopened after having closed in 2014. But now it’s closed again. Years from now (or maybe even days from now), no one will remember 2015 as the year that Schlotzsky’s Deli on East Washington Ave., sparsely patronized for years (did you ever see anyone eating there? I didn’t), finally closed and was torn down. What took so long? n

PAULIUS MUSTEIKIS PHOTOS

Maharani INDIAN RESTAURANT LUNCH BUFFET 7 DAYS A WEEK 11:30am-3pm • Dinner 5-10pm

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7457 Elmwood Ave. Downtown Middleton

608.836.6614

www.sofrabistro.com

The neighborhood bar

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119 W. Main St. Madison • 608-256-2263 www.thenewparadiselounge.com

DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

www.MaharaniMadison.com

VINTAGE

n FOOD & DRINK

Best of

2015

A bitter for a sweet year

A look back at the best of 2015 BY ROBIN SHEPARD

Grainne’s SPECIAL BITTER

GREAT DANE PUB AND BREWERY

Vintage Ale

HOP HAUS

ALE ASYLUM

Magic Dragon BRENNER BREWING COMPANY

Maple Imperial Porter

VINTAGE BREWING

InAbsentia

Witchcraft Imperial Stout

LAKEFRONT BREWERY

Organic Barrel -Aged Barley Wine

BREWING COMPANY

PEARL STREET BREWERY

Commuter Kölsch

TODD HUBLER

It was a year of openings — breweries, pubs and taphouses. The Parched Eagle, a small brewery and taproom in the town of Westport, opened in April, and already owner and brewmaster Jim Goronson has set the standard for what nanobreweries can be. I’ve made almost monthly trips there since he opened and have had only great beers. House standards Parched Eagle Golden Ale and the double-dry-hopped Hop-Bearer IPA are both fine beers. However, it’s Grainne’s Special Bitter that was my favorite beer of 2015. Grainne’s Special Bitter has a rich bready and biscuit background from Maris Otter malt that makes it a smooth drinking experience. It stands up well next to English stalwarts like Fuller’s ESB. This beer will be coming back in February; watch for it as part of a tap takeover at the Malt House on Feb. 5, when Goronson celebrates his birthday with Malt House owner Bill Rogers. They plan to serve it on a beer engine, which is sure to take this experience to another level of pure beer enjoyment. My second favorite this year is Vintage Ale from the Great Dane Pub and Brewery. A vintage ale, as its name indicates, is sold by year. The Great Dane’s version is smooth and malty with a clean finish; it comes off lighter than you’d expect

Did you know Daisy...

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016

NEW YEAR’S EVE SPECIALS

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www.daisycafeandcupcakery.com

for a beer that has 9% ABV. It’s currently on tap and should remain so into January. Other favorites from the year were two hoppy brews, Velveteen Habit from Ale Asylum (I was smitten with its blend of Cascade and Citra hops) and Magic Dragon from the Hop Haus in Verona (with a combo of Citra, Mosaic, Columbus and Equinox hops). For winter, a recent brew that’s been on tap at Tyranena Brewing captured my attention: Maple Imperial Porter is an excellent winter warmer with its enticing sweetness from additions of Wisconsin maple syrup and bourbon-barrel aging. This beer has been on tap at a few bars around Madison, and a reserved batch is scheduled to be on tap at World of Beer in Middleton starting New Year’s Day. Some rarities I enjoyed in 2015 included InAbsentia from Vintage Brewing, which brewmaster Scott Manning pulled out from a cooler during January’s Isthmus Beer and Cheese Fest. This was a beer geek’s brew, made by combining a barley wine and a Belgian dubbel and aging it for six months in an absinthe barrel. The result offered layers of malt and spicy notes of licorice. Witchcraft Imperial Stout from Brenner Brewing Company of Milwaukee was a very limited release beer, made with locally roasted coffee, buckwheat honey, molasses and nine different malts; then it’s aged for a half-year with vanilla beans in oak barrels. It was released around Halloween; watch for it in 2016. Another robust brew was Organic Barrel-Aged Barley Wine from Lakefront Brewery, rich in malt with accents of oak and vanilla from rye whiskey barrels. Linalool from Pearl Street Brewery of La Crosse is made from a unique strain of local hops, “Northern Discovery,” which was found growing wild on the Sun Prairie farm of Paul Stang. This was the first year the crop was large enough to sell to a brewery; still, the supply of the beer is limited to the winter months. Brewmaster Joe Katchever believes that the high concentration of linalool will allow this beer to age well, something that hoppy beers don’t typically do because hop flavors diminish quickly after brewing. But you can’t drink a rarity every day. Commuter Kölsch from One Barrel has been on tap since the brewery opened. This year, owner Peter Gentry took this great light-bodied German style beer out of the nanobrewery setting and released it in six-packs. At 4.8% ABV, it’s ideal for kicking back and just enjoying — now, available anytime, anywhere. n

Dear Isthmus Re

aders, The Tip Top Tave rn family wishe s you love and happiness this ho liday season. 2015 has been a year to remembe r. The Tip Top was honore d by Isthmus as M ad ison’s favorite northside bar, Cuba is back on the map, the Tip Top Friday Friendly Fis h Fry was recognized as on e of Madison’s best, and Scott

Walker dropped out of his presidential run to pursue life as a standup comedian (although the response has been lukewarm at best). Looking ahead to 2016 there are many exciting things on the horizon. We are expanding our space to include the highly anticipated Tip Top Salon (patent pending). And a Cabaret and Breakfast Diner are joining us here at the corner of

ing season! ercial in the com North and Comm You are alin the New Year. u yo e se to pe We ho annual Funky us for the second in Jo e. om elc w e ways on New Year’s Ev MAS or stop by Xn ow Br es m Ja e forecast calls s tap takeover. Th for a Three Floyd owers. of champagne sh for a 100% chance everyone p Tavern wishes To p Ti e th n, ai Ag year! d a healthy new an s es in pp ha , love

Christmas Day (open at 5pm)

• Funky James Brown X-MAS with Santa, Wilma and DJ Trichrome • Grand Opening of the Tip Top Salon! • Special MobCraft Beer Release

• Brew Year’s Eve Party with Three Floyds Tap Domination!!! • Live music by Winning Ugly and DJ Special Sauce • Forecast predicts 100% chance of Champagne Showers • New Year’s Day Hangover Resolution Brunch 10-2

601 North St., Madison

• Friday’s Friendly Fish Fry • Sunday Brunch 9-2 & Open Mic 8-close • Live Music & Jazz • Romance Wednesday with Al of the Universe • Patio with Tree! • Damn Good Beer • Great People & Great Times

for every true lover of life

608-241-5515

Mon-Sat 11am - 2am, Sun 9am-2am

wwww.t hetiptoptavern.com

DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

New Year’s Eve

Tip Top Presents...

n FOOD & DRINK

A smash hit Cafe Hollander’s alluring cocktail menu

PAULIUS MUSTEIKIS

Montmartre — is the one serving the cocktails. Spaulding seems so well placed behind the bar that one wonders if he was planted first, and then Hollander was constructed around him. And sure, he knows the beer list — but you should ask him to make a drink.

— ANDRÉ DARLINGTON

ROBIN SHEPARD

Cafe Hollander is undoubtedly a place for beer. The main attraction is sampling through the 30 rotating taps with Low Countries-inspired fare like bitterballen and moules frites. But there are cocktails, too, as well as a number of specialty Bloody Mary’s (try the Milwaukeean, with Lakefront Fixed Gear and horseradish-infused Rehorst Vodka). There’s an inexpensive Old Fashioned that boasts the subtle addition of walnut bitters. That nuttiness seems apt this time of year, and provides a good local flavor twist. Additionally, there’s a dangerous, crowd-pleasing Spiced Pear Sangria (brandy, wine, pineapple juice), which seems optimally designed to encourage the order of a second round. But the standout drink is the Blackberry Smash, served with two large and luscious blackberries. It’s a balanced mix of Bulleit Rye, lemon juice and rhubarb shrub. It isn’t too sweet, just hefty enough to be taken seriously. It doesn’t hurt that bartender Craig Spaulding — former owner of Cafe

Campfire memories

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016

Threat Level: Midnight stout from Karben4

To make this variation on a milk stout, brewmaster Ryan Koga uses a lot of malt, more than he has ever before used to make a beer, along with rye wheat, toasted buckwheat, molasses and honey to create a hint of graham cracker. Imported cocoa nibs provide chocolate flavor. Koga also adds 17 pounds of marshmallow cream directly into the brew kettle, in addition to marshmallows that were actually roasted over a bonfire in the brewery’s back parking lot. This stout is really about suggestion, recalling the sensations associated with making s’mores around a campfire rather than re-creating them literally. The flavors are here, but subtle. It’s the sweet stout charac-

ter, with its toasted malt and rye, that carries the load. The beer just went on tap the weekend before Christmas. A few select taverns may get some of it; however, this beer was made primarily for the brewery’s taproom. It’s currently served both cold carbonated and on a nitrogen tap line. If you like sweet milk stouts, go to the brewery for the nitro version. The nitrogen tap really brings out the smooth sweetness of the malt, the bready rye and the toasted hints of marshmallow. The beer finishes stronger than most milk stouts at 8.1% ABV. It sells in the brewery’s taproom for $6/glass and $18/growler (refill).

— ROBIN SHEPARD

Robinia Courtyard’s

inaugural

201

NEW YEAR’S EVE DINNER T H U R S D AY, D E C E M B E R 3 1 u 3-course prix fixe dinner starting at 8pm u Complimentary champagne toast at midnight u Live entertainment $75 per person Reservations please call 608-257-4391

NEW YEAR’S EVE

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n FOOD & DRINK

A meek little mocha Chocolate and coffee from Red Elephant are better enjoyed separately The whole, as Aristotle once said, is often greater than the sum of its parts. That’s true for a lot of things, and particularly applicable from the perspective of a person who drinks beverages and writes about them. Espresso and steamed milk? Absolutely. Iced tea and lemonade? Oh lord, yes. Tequila and the salty tears of unrequited love? You get the idea. This is not the case with the chocolate coffee from Red Elephant, the boutique chocolate cafe and retail store that opened last winter at 119 State St. The concept is intriguingly obvious — a combination of

the shop’s excellent Black Diamond hot cocoa, made with Sassy Cow whole milk and pure dark chocolate shavings, and its signature Indonesian bold roast coffee. Hot chocolate is great, coffee is great, why not mix them together? The result, however, is a rather diminished version of both — the chocolate and the coffee flavors cancel each other out instead of complementing. It’s not bad by any means — the barista says it’s an employee favorite, and it could be a good option for someone seeking a not-toosweet cocoa flavor with a hint of caffeine. But it’s more or less a mocha on life support.

— ALLISON GEYER

STEPHANIE HOFMANN

Three good-luck foods to eat for the New Year

Eats events

Hoppin’ John

Zombie Christmas

That BBQ Joint, 901 Williamson St.

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016

Hoppin’ John, based on black-eyed peas, is the classic American New Year’s dish. That BBQ Joint cooks a worthy version. But the shop will be closed for the holidays, not reopening until Jan. 6. Then it will be a special for about a week. Need luck sooner? Any bean is said to do the trick. Try New Orleans Take-Out; red beans and rice is available plain, with sausage or with double sausage. That should tide you over.

Rosemary, grape and Doughnuts goat cheese galette Greenbush Bakery, Humble, 10 S. Allen St.

It’s a Spanish tradition to eat 12 grapes at midnight on New Year’s Eve for luck. It can’t hurt, although you’ll still be hungry. Solve that problem by downing this rustic tart that bridges the gap between sweet and savory.

1305 Regent St.

The ring shape represents the year coming full circle. So you could choose bagels or kringle or Cheerios, but we like an old-fashioned cake doughnut, like the blueberry maple from this near-west-side institution.

New Year’s eve DiNNer!

Celebrate the start to 2016 with our very special New Year’s Eve dinner menu. Reservations recommended. 6857 Paoli Rd, Paoli, WI 53508 Phone: (608) 848-6261

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Dec. 24, 11 am-5 pm, and Dec. 25, 5 pm–2:30 am

Escape from the family festivities at the Blue Moon Bar & Grill, 2535 University Ave., where they’ll be showing Bad Santa on the telly and dispensing Zombie Dust from 3 Floyds on tap in an event they call “A Very Merry Zombie Dustmas!”

Because people like to make salsa Dec. 29, 6:30 pm

This free class at Meadowridge Library, 5726 Raymond Rd., goes beyond the typical pico de gallo (not that there’s anything wrong with that). The good folks from El Grito Taqueria will demo salsas that use a combination of fresh and dried chilies and discuss other everyday Mexican food staples. Please RSVP at 608-288-6160.

No Huet? Yes Huet! Jan. 6, 6 pm

Heritage Tavern, 131 E. Mifflin St., will host a Domaine Huet wine pairing dinner, with such delicacies as smoked trout confit, fois gras, duck fat poached sturgeon, sweet and sour monkfish and a rabbit and lobster hash, all matched to wines from the longstanding Vouvray vintner. Dinner is $125; reservations at 608-283-9500.

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Changing of the Gard Will Bo Ryan’s longtime coaching assistant nab the top spot? this season, with one- or two-point home losses to UW-Milwaukee, Marquette and Western Illinois. Gard and his Badgers jump right If Greg Gard’s name didn’t ring a bell into the Big Ten schedule on Dec. 29 before Dec. 14, it probably does now. for another home game against Pur The 45-year-old, who loyally stood due. by the side of now former University “The route I took is a very uncomof Wisconsin men’s basketball coach mon route,” says Gard, who graduated Bo Ryan for 23 years as his longtime from UW-Platteville in 1995 with a de(and eventually top) assistant, is the gree in physical education and health, Badgers’ new interim head coach. and earned a master’s degree in coun Other opportunities have come selor education from the university in and gone while Gard followed Ryan 2007. “To be able to work my way from around the southern part of the junior high to freshmen to high school state, first as one of his assistants at to an unpaid volunteer at Division III UW-Platteville from 1993 to 1999, to a lightly paid coach in Division III to then spending two years with Ryan a full-time assistant in Division III and at UW-Milwaukee and finally followthen on to Division I — and do it all ing him to Madison in 2001. He rode in my state — is what makes this so the bench for the past 14 years, even unique and so unfathomable. I look at when head coaching opportunities at peers across the country and see how other universities bounced his way. nomadic they need to be. I was in the “I certainly contemplated them right place at the right time.” many times. But it always felt like it When Ryan announced in June his was the right thing to stay. Some of it intent to retire at the end of the 2015has been personal and some of it has 16 season, it again looked as if Gard been professional in terms of why I’ve was in the right place at the right time. chosen to do what I’ve done,” Gard Taking over a major Division I program tells Isthmus days before Ryan’s surhad been a longtime goal. Then, in Auprise Dec. 15 announcement that he gust, Ryan reneged and said he wasn’t would retire, effective immediately. sure about retiring. “Greg’s ready,” Ryan declared in During his official retirement anhis late-night press conference folnouncement last week, Ryan cited the lowing the Badgers’ 64-49 win over illness of Gard’s father, Glen, who was Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. “And I suffering from an aggressive form of feel really good about that. I told the brain cancer known as glioblastoma team that there are people who have BOB CAMPBELL/UW ATHLETICS multiforme earlier this year. received head coaching jobs who “Everybody knows, it’s no secret, were assistants at places without Greg Gard coaches former Badger Frank Kaminsky in a 2015 Big Ten Tournament game against Michigan. that every head coach would like their anywhere near the record that he top assistant to be the coach,” Ryan has — not even close. There’s nobody said. “There was no way, in June, while without ever envisioning it going this far,” says Wisconsin academically, socially and on the more prepared than him.” coach Gard was flying around the country to Gard, who is married with three kids between court, Gard has no previous head coaching In Gard’s 14 seasons with Ryan’s Badthe best cancer people...in the world and trythe ages of 7 and 14. “I was going to school experience — a fact some observers say could gers, UW has never finished lower than ing to figure out how he could do something in Platteville, and I took a job as a junior high doom his future with the Badgers, especially fourth in the Big Ten, posting a mark of to help his dad. So, therefore, we put [retirecoach. It just kind of grew from there.” considering athletic director Barry Alvarez 172-68 in conference play. He also won ment] on the backburner.” Gard’s history with Ryan can be traced back has shown a preference for hiring experienced three Division III national titles with Ryan at Glen Gard was diagnosed with cancer in to the mid-1980s, when the future Iowa-Grant head coaches. UW-Platteville, while the pair established an May and passed away in late October. High School basketball player — he was on the “My track record speaks for itself,” says impressive 161-13 record. “The more we learned, the more we Panthers’ 1989 team that went 26-1 but lost by Gard, recently heralded the fourth-best “X’s & “I am excited for coach Gard,” says Ben two points in the state semifinals — attended the knew it was going to be like combining O’s” assistant coach in college basketball by Brust, who played for the Badgers between Michigan State, Kentucky and Duke all into Steve Yoder summer basketball camp in Madicoachstat.net, based on votes from a panel of 2010 and 2014, spent some time in a Euroone. It was a big-time opponent that was son. Ryan was a camp assistant at the time. national college basketball media, scouts and pean league and now lives in Illinois. “He’s going to be extremely difficult to beat,” While in college, Gard also coached at Platcoaches. “My beliefs and philosophies are very had plenty of opportunities to lead a team, Gard says, explaining that there is no cure teville High School and Hazel Green’s Southwell entrenched. I know what I view as successbut he grinded it out at Wisconsin, and he’s for that type of cancer, only treatment. western High School, working summers as a ful basketball.” ready to take over the program.” “You think, as a coach, you’re invincible: counselor at Ryan’s camps in Platteville. “One When Dick Bennett retired three games ‘Someway, somehow, I can figure out a way summer, he came to me and said, ‘Hey, enough By all accounts, players seem to like Gard into the 2000-01 season after reaching the to beat Michigan State or Kentucky.’ But I of the high school stuff. You need to be with me Final Four earlier in the year, Brad Soderberg, and consider him an effective communicator just couldn’t find a way. I don’t think there full-time,’” Gard says. with a broad understanding of the game and a Bennett’s top assistant, took over as interim will ever be anything in coaching that will The rest is history. knack for scouting. He shares with Ryan similar head coach and led the Badgers to a 16-10 create more adversity than what I watched A new era in Badger basketball begins basketball philosophies if not on-court manseason. But Pat Richter, then Wisconsin’s over those last six months.” Wednesday, Dec. 23, with Wisconsin’s final nerisms. athletic director, opted to hire Ryan instead. That said, Gard now faces a challenge nonconference game against UW-Green Bay “As I was trying to figure out what I wanted Although he’s been part of one of the of a different sort — proving he deserves to at the Kohl Center. Bringing in a 7-5 record, the to do with my life, I pretty quickly figured out most consistent and stable programs in all have the “interim” dropped from his new young team that lost four seniors and one junior that coaching was going to be something that of Division I basketball for the past 15 years job title. n from last year’s Final Four squad is struggling I had to be a part of — someway, somehow — and understands what it takes to excel at BY MICHAEL POPKE AND MARK TAUSCHER

DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

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+ROLGD\ JLIWV for a better world

Quest at Qualcomm Badgers can counter USC in the Holiday Bowl BY MICHAEL POPKE

224 State St • 2701 Monroe St madisonstore@serrv.org

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Paul Chryst’s first season as head coach of the University of Wisconsin football team is wrapping up the same way the previous 13 Badgers seasons have ended: with a bowl game. Granted, the Holiday Bowl — in which UW will meet the University of Southern California at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium on Dec. 30 — isn’t as high-profile as one of the New Year’s Day bowl games, but it’s not the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit, either. Incidentally, the Badgers’ streak of 14 consecutive bowl games is best in the Big Ten and sixth best in the country. Wisconsin brings a 9-3 record into the matchup with 8-5 USC. All of the Badgers’ losses this season JEFF MILLER/UW ATHLETICS came at the hands of nationally To win in San Diego, QB Joel Stave needs to ranked teams (Alabama, Iowa and avoid interceptions. Northwestern), and the Hawkeyes and Wildcats won by a combined no means a sure thing — and a healthy Cototal of only 10 points. rey Clement returns to the running back po While USC landed in the last spot of the sition (after sitting out much of the season season’s final College Football Playoff rankwith a sports hernia and a disorderly conings at No. 25, the Trojans still will prove a duct charge), look for Wisconsin to embrace formidable opponent. In fact, they’re favored its underdog status and beat USC. (and the school’s campus is just 110 miles Fun fact: The last time UW and USC from Qualcomm Stadium). USC’s offense, met was nearly a half-century ago, on Sept. led by senior quarterback Cody Kessler, av24, 1966, when the Trojans stomped all eraged almost 450 total yards and 35 points over the Badgers, 38-3. per game this season, and twice scored UW has never before played in the more than 50 points. Holiday Bowl, but Chryst spent three years The Badgers can counter that offensive working at Qualcomm as tight ends coach attack with a defense anchored by senior outside linebacker Joe Schobert, who contin- for the NFL’s San Diego Chargers, from 1999 to 2001. So he’s familiar with the ues to rack up All-Big Ten and All-America environs, which otherwise shape up to be a honors. His season stats include 18.5 tackles home game for USC. for a loss (seventh in the country), 9.5 sacks But, as always, expect to see a large (11th) and five forced fumbles (second). contingent of fans clad in red and white in If quarterback Joel Stave can throw more the stands, too. n touchdown passes than interceptions — by

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JAMES DEVITA IN AN ILIAD

Catherine Capellaro Jon Kjarsgaard Gwendolyn Rice Laura Jones Tom Whitcomb John W. Barker Katie Reiser Brian Rieselman

Artists live and work in the realm

ZANE WILLIAMS

DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

of imagination, and 2015’s cultural landscape was rich in ideas and collaborations. We asked our critics to weigh in on what stood out on Madison’s stages, venues and museums this year.

n ARTS

I wasn’t the only one devastated by

CATHERINE CAPELLARO

Tracy Michelle Arnold’s portrayal of a scientist battling dementia in Forward Theater Company’s The Other Place. Having watched this disease destroy my father’s mind, I found it almost unbearable at times — yet ultimately redemptive. I didn’t think I needed to see Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive again, but I’m so glad I went to Madison Theatre Guild’s production. As a woman coming to terms with her uncle’s abuse, Liz Angle was fragile yet fierce, and Edric Johnson played Uncle Peck with an awkward vulnerability. It’s also been a great year for Mercury Players. Despite an overly didactic script, I really enjoyed the chemistry between real-life couple Whitney Derendinger and Deborah Hearst in Rapture, Blister, Burn. Encore Studio for the Arts also wowed me with Not Always a Parent, a brutally honest look at parenting and disabilities. My favorite Shakespeare of recent memory was A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a revelatory collaboration between Children’s Theater of Madison and Theatre LILA. This gorgeous, energetic production captured the

play’s visual and poetic magic and featured some extremely talented young performers in roles we usually see adults play. Broom Street Theater, under the direction of dynamo artistic director Heather Renken, has also produced some fine work this season, including the hauntingly gorgeous Held, by Meghan Rose and Kelly Maxwell. Overture Center for the Arts stepped up its Broadway game this year, too. I enjoyed the witty irreverence of Book of Mormon and the sparkly, guilty pleasures of Mamma Mia! And I found the acrobatic ballet choreography of Newsies mesmerizing. I was deeply affected by “20 Years of Freedom,” a concert with South African legends Hugh Masekela and Vusi Mahlasela at Wisconsin Union Theater. These “children of the townships” used powerful and danceable music to tell the story of how music and resistance have been intertwined in their home country. Another peak cultural experience was Inuk throat singer and electronic wizard Tanya Tagaq at the Fredric March Play Circle. Collaborating with a live percussionist and violinist, she howled and groaned and gyrated her way through the

1922 silent film Nanook of the North. If it sounds crazy, it was. Do not miss her the next time she comes around. I enjoyed seeing the UW’s First Wave scholars performing at the Wisconsin Book Festival’s “Passing the Mic” event, which celebrated 10 years of the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives. At the conclusion, hip-hop artist Baba Israel presented an excerpt from a piece about his late father, a radical Jewish theater/jazz artist from New York City. Then he asked the audience to list some ways the world is fucked up. He created a freestyle rap, including every single topic mentioned: police brutality, sexism, Milwaukee Public Schools and even Donald Trump. Speaking of the Wisconsin Book Festival...in November, a short-notice visit from actor/author Jesse Eisenberg packed Central Library. He delivered two pieces written for the Madison audience and read from his delightful new book of essays, Bream Gives Me Hiccups. His smart, self-deprecating humor had the audience in stitches.

THE OTHER PLACE

CRASHPREZ

NE WSIES

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JESSE EISENBERG NEWSIES: DEEN VAN MEER

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016

Wisconsin is home

to an emerging rap scene that includes talented emcees from Madison. Chief among them in 2015 was CRASHprez, aka Michael Penn II, a 21-year-old Maryland native and First Wave scholar who earned a journalism degree from UW in May. A few weeks prior to graduating, he headlined the local stage at the Revelry Music and Arts Festival, an event he’s played all three years of its existence. He also opened for touring acts like Kool Keith (at the Majestic Theatre) and PRhyme (at the High Noon Saloon). CRASHprez has built a loyal following thanks to his energetic stage presence and timely content that’s relatable to younger hip-hop fans — recurring themes include the search for identity and the value of black lives. A name to keep an eye out for in the new year is Trapo (aka Davon

TA N YA TAGA

Prather), a 17-year-old rapper, singer and songwriter from the south side of Madison whose precocity is garnering attention right now from prominent national music blogs and even BBC Radio 1. Two music venues made news in 2015, for opposite reasons. Inferno Nightclub closed in May after 19 years in Madison, leaving behind a legacy of alternative entertainment. The building that housed Inferno was demolished as part of a shopping center redevelopment on Sherman Avenue. Meanwhile, the historic Breese Stevens Field hosted a major music concert for the first time when the Avett Brothers played to a sold-out 7,500-person crowd in October. Among other renovations, the city invested in new artificial turf with the intent to open up the East Washington Avenue soccer field to more frequent and varied uses. We are expecting several concerts there in 2016.

JOHN HODGMAN

THE OTHER PLACE: ROSS ZENTNER, TANYA TAGAQ: IVAN OTIS, CRASHPREZ: STEVEN POTTER

Madison sees many touring acts come through town every year, and 2015 featured a varied musical slate that included Grammywinning art rocker St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark) at the Orpheum Theater, experimental hip-hop group Death Grips at the Majestic (my ears are still ringing from that raucous show) and a High Noon stop for Eagles of Death Metal, just a couple of months before the Paris terrorist attacks. A personal highlight for me this year was getting to interview humorist John Hodgman, who performed standup at the Barrymore Theatre for the second consecutive year. He spent an hour after the show signing autographs for Madison fans, a group that the author and Daily Show veteran clearly trusts. At both Barrymore appearances, Hodgman tested out some new material on the audience; last year’s bits morphed into this year’s “Vacationland” tour. Here’s hoping Hodgman uses Madison as his incubator once again.

JON KJARSGAARD

GWENDOLYN RICE As a devoted American Players Theatre

fan I’ve watched James DeVita’s excellent performances for the last two decades. But his turn in An Illiad, an unusual monologue adaptation of the classic work by Homer, left me astonished. I was swept away by the range of emotion, the raw passion and the breadth of storytelling technique; DeVita filled the Touchstone stage with an enormous cast of characters by adjusting his mannerisms and accents. Tour de force is a term that’s used too liberally, but DeVita truly earned it here. Sometimes you’re in the mood for a really good, over-the-top, frothy musical, and though I am usually suspicious of Broadway fare based on recent movies, the University Theatre production of Legally Blonde, directed by Pam Kriger, was a treat from beginning to end. Performing in the newly renovated Wisconsin Union Theater, the students filled the stage with energetic, challenging choreography, big voices and even bigger heart. It was polished, professional, full of pink — and delightful. Another musical that wowed audiences with exuberant performances, big chorus

numbers and strong voices was Bare: A Pop Musical. Continuing the tradition of successful collaborations between Mercury Players and OUT!Cast, the show celebrated teen angst, Catholic guilt, earnest searches for identity and struggles for love and acceptance, set to a modern score that echoes Rent. An additional APT standout was The Island, Athol Fugard’s raw story of a pair of apartheid-era political prisoners, featuring Chiké Johnson and LaShawn Banks. It was a study of strength, endurance and eloquence in the face of barbarism. The drama of Antigone’s allegiance to her own morality rather than the laws of the state has never been so powerful as when recounted by inmates performing in a prison talent show. The Music Lesson, Children’s Theater of Madison’s haunting, beautifully theatrical production was based on the true story of a pair of Bosnian music teachers who escaped the unrest in their homeland to begin again in America. Sorrow and music intertwined as Irina, stunningly portrayed by Colleen Madden, mourned the loss of her home and one of her most gifted piano students. Moving seamlessly from scenes of past horrors to present emptiness, Irina’s grief was accompanied by musicians who seemed to float above the action of the play, gorgeously illustrating the power of art to overcome hardship. In 2015, APT introduced a new staged reading series designed to give actors and audiences a taste of plays the artistic team may consider for future seasons. Packed into the Touchstone Theater on a snowy night in March, a large cast of company regulars (including many who had been in Chekhov’s The Seagull the previous summer) sat on folding chairs to read Aaron Posner’s clever adaptation of that tragic love story, Stupid F#ing Bird. I don’t know if it will ever make the main stage, but I was very glad to see this original and affecting version of The Seagull, complete with Mash, strumming her tales of woe on a ukulele.

LAURA JONES Composed of cool, crisp art that ar-

ranges the world into orderly plot points and right angles, the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art’s visual art exhibit Coordinates just made my OCD feel good. Coordinates featured artists like Claes Oldenburg, Donald Lipski and Sol LeWitt, and offered perspectives on how artists use numbers to count, measure and code our sometimes chaotic existence. Stepping into the gallery in the hot summer months was the aesthetic equivalent of a dip in the pool. My favorite

pieces were whimsical sculptures exploring the symmetry of African American hair as based on the Fibonacci Sequence by Sonya Y.S. Clark in her “Wig Series.” StageQ blended fun and history by staging the controversial play The Boys in the Band. Boys has been criticized for showcasing the worst of gay male stereotypes — the self-hating, promiscuous queer stranded between psychoanalysis and whiskey, with no hope of redemption. But I felt redeemed by StageQ’s production. The show featured strong performances, excellent staging and gave me the opportunity to think about how far we’ve come as gay people. But it also showed the community’s fabulousness, humor and fierce resilience. Forward Theater’s Silent Sky was so beautiful I’m inclined to say that you just had to be there. Starlight twinkling through all levels of the stage. A tender, intelligent script by a female playwright. A cast so engaging and funny you wanted to keep knowing them, even after the performance was through. On top of all that, Silent Sky provides a view into an often overlooked piece of history, a female astronomer whose contributions to the field enabled all future discoveries. What more can a reviewer ask for? I look forward to the other two shows by female playwrights the company promises to stage this season.

LEGALLY BLONDE

SILENT SKY

BARE: A POP MUSICAL

YS THE BOBA ND IN THE THE BOYS IN THE BAND, BARE: A POP MUSICAL: DAN MYERS, THE ISLAND: CARISSA DIXON, SILENT SKY: ROSS ZENTNER

DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

THE ISL AND

n ARTS

In 19th-century Vienna, wealthy

It’s no secret that Patton Oswalt is a

funny guy — his hyperactive Twitter account and constant TV and movie appearances have let pretty much everyone and their mother know that. So going into his Jan. 15 standup show at the Orpheum, I knew I was going to laugh — I just didn’t know how much. Oswalt tore through a set of anecdotal, observational jokes, each crafted with exquisite detail. My musical tastes have always trended toward the loud — punk, hardcore and metal. But as much as I love them, I’ll admit these three genres can get a little repetitive. Not so with Deafheaven, who offered a skull-cracking combination of black metal, post-rock and (as of late) ’90s guitar rock at the High Noon Saloon in October. The Bay Area crew tore through a set that featured their excellent 2015 album, New Bermuda, though the night’s highlight was a particularly spirited version of “From the Kettle Onto the Coil,” a non-album track that bridged New Bermuda and its 2013 predecessor, the equally excellent Sunbather. For punk fans, seeing a sparsely attended show in some cramped basement is better than seeing a show at, say, Madison Square Garden. Definitely fitting that bill was Restorations’ headlining set at the Dragonfly Lounge on Feb. 26, maxing out at maybe 30 people in the room. The Philadelphia rockers’ soaring, Americana-tinged punk more than

TOM WHITCOMB filled the small space — opener “Misprint,” all loud guitars and drums, was my introduction to the band (I was there to see the openers, Milwaukee punk hellions Direct Hit!), but I was sold within maybe half a song. In I Love You, Honeybear, Josh Tillman — the theatrical ironist better known as Father John Misty — crafted one of the year’s best albums, so it only makes sense that he brought a live show to match it when he played the Orpheum in September. Tillman has a command of the stage that few contemporary musicians can match — imagine a folk-rock David Bowie dancing around the stage with detached swagger. And his band can really bring it live — from the laid-back twang of “Strange Encounter” to the driving alt-rock of “The Ideal Husband,” they’re always at top of their game.

friends of Franz Schubert hosted soirees that became known as the “Schubertiade.” I’m thankful that the UW’s School of Music has taken up the tradition, and very much enjoyed the Jan. 30 celebration of the beauty and humanity of Schubert’s music at Mills Concert Hall, beautifully reimagined by pianists Bill Lutes, Martha Fischer and eight talented colleagues. It’s been a terrific year for the Madison Symphony Orchestra.Two concerts stand out in particular. In April, pianist Christopher Taylor offered two concertos — an anachronistic Bach and a flamboyant Liszt — while Maestro DeMain at last got around to one of the magnificent Bruckner symphonies, the glowing No. 7, powerfully played. And in October, MSO delivered a ripe Haydn symphony; the vivacious Scottish Fantasy of Max Bruch, handsomely played by violinist James Ehnes; and an absolutely smashing rendition of Rachmaninoff’s final orchestral masterpiece, the Symphonic Dances. In April at the First Unitarian Society, Madison Bach Musicians produced a vivaciously sung and semi-staged production of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s charming operaballet, Pygmalion, prefaced by excerpts from his larger opera Les Indes galantes. The cast included a period orchestra and talented local singers, effectively directed by David Ronis and stylishly conducted by Marc Vallon. Madison Chamber Choir welcomed spring with a new work by Cecil Effinger and the novel but sadly underappreciated and underperformed madrigal-comedy by Gian Carlo Menotti, The Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore, sung with wit and elegance and conducted by Albert Pinsonneault. And let’s hear it for the new kids on the block. Developed by some brilliant young string players, Willy Street Chamber Play-

JOHN W. BARKER ers performed four innovative concerts on summer Fridays at the east side’s Immanuel Lutheran Church. At the last event, they played Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 and a dazzling Mendelssohn octet. Another campus stunner was the University Opera’s production of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro at Music Hall. This was a beautifully apt production, with idiomatic singing and acting by young cast members, artfully directed by David Ronis and conducted by James Smith. Not to be outdone by the students, the Madison Opera assembled gorgeous costumes and sets for a memorable production of Puccini’s La Bohème, the beloved warhorse about romance among impoverished Parisian artists. Stage director David Lefkowich led a stellar cast, and John DeMain conducted the pit orchestra with fervor.

FATHER JOHN MIST Y SCHUBERTIA DE

PATTON OSWALT

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016

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A visual arts highlight in 2015 was

BRIAN RIESELMAN

“The Flowers Are Burning,” a watercolor exhibit by Helen Klebesadel and Mary Kay Neumann at the Playhouse Gallery of the Overture Center. The artists address the catastrophe of climate change with their luminous, colorsaturated collaborations, challenging us to take positive action to save the threatened natural world we love. The artists report that this traveling exhibit, now expanded to include over a dozen additional works, will run March 18-May 14, 2016, at the Center for Visual Art in Wausau. “David McLimans: Gone Wild” at the James Watrous Gallery was a stunning exhibit celebrating the work of a beloved Madisonbased artist and illustrator who, before his death in 2014, regularly contributed work to The

New York Times and other major publications. This show exulted in the breadth of his vision, including his sophisticated black-and-white editorial illustrations and the fiercely powerful animal imagery of his brilliant color collages. In February 2016, McLimans’ Caldecott Honorwinning children’s book, Gone Wild, will be republished by Bloomsbury. “Natasha Nicholson: The Artist in her Museum” at Madison Museum of Contemporary Art painstakingly transplanted Nicholson’s massive body of work from the four workrooms/ living spaces of her Madison home. Her cabinets of curiosities and stunning assemblages of found objects are collected and composed

JU X TA POS

on a mighty scale, and viewers were invited to find their own meanings in a world both beautiful and strange. What does 2016 hold for the acclaimed artist? “At this moment I am sitting in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in search of inspiration for my next body of work after the success and joy of ‘The Artist in Her Museum,’” Nicholson writes in an email. “I traveled to Boston and Cambridge in search of a muse, and the courtyard in Mrs. Gardner’s splendid palazzo has served me well. I have ideas that may lead to something, and if not, I have found that false steps are as important as successes.”

THE FLOWERS ARE BURNING

CINDERELLA

FACING HOME

DAVID MCLIMANS

In the world of dance, I particularly

sumptuous costumes, including glowing fireflies and glittering spider webs. Artistic director W. Earle Smith tapped into the beauty of Prokofiev’s dark score and gave the audience some stunning sequences. Shannon Quirk was an ideal Cinderella; she just keeps getting better as a technician and performer. Another standout was Annika Reikersdorfer as the Winter Fairy. Just a high school senior at the time, she has become bolder and more confident. This was clearly a big-budget production, and I hope the community will continue to support full-length ballets beyond the Nutcracker. Kanopy Dance continues to celebrate groundbreaking modern dance works from iconic choreographers alongside their own creations. They’ve presented Martha Graham’s Steps in the Streets and excerpts from Appalachian Spring. In their fall concert, Juxtaposed, the company performed “Lynchtown,” a 1936 work from Graham’s peer and former partner Charles Weidman. The piece still looks raw and revolutionary, underscoring the care that Kan-

opy takes in staging these masterworks. It also showed how well-trained Kanopy dancers are (Olivia Rivard was particularly good). Another solid offering was co-director Robert Cleary’s piece, “This Is Not America.” Sometimes taking in a performance from a visiting troupe like Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company is especially inspiring. As a bonus, excellent student dancers and musicians from UW-Madison joined the production of Play and Play: An Evening of Movement and Music. Some audience members were titillated and/or scandalized by the nudity in a signature work, “Continuous Replay,” but seeing all of these dancers’ bodies at work just added to my admiration (particularly for the sensational Jenna Riegel). The groundbreaking 1989 piece, “D-Man in the Waters,” a tribute to dancer Demian Acquavella, who was battling AIDS during the work’s creation, alternated between gentle compassion and high-flying feats of athleticism and daring — reminding me how exciting dance can be. n

KATIE REISER

DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

enjoyed Facing Home: Love & Redemption from UW Dance Department associate professor Chris Walker; it was the most personal and thoughtful work I’ve seen from him. This collaboration with Kevin Ormsby, a fellow Jamaican choreographer and director of Toronto’s KasheDance, explored the dichotomy between Bob Marley’s songs of love and redemption and the rampant, violent homophobia that exists in Jamaica and the West Indies. The concert was provocative and candid without being heavy-handed. Walker and Ormsby are both powerful performers who own the stage; UW freshman Kanyon Elton and Pierre Clark, a Chicago-based dancer, also gave noteworthy performances. I enjoyed seeing such diversity on the Lathrop Hall stage, something I don’t see that often in Madison theaters. Madison Ballet’s Cinderella was a fanciful confection with elaborate sets and

CINDERELLA: ANDREW WEEKS, DAVID MCLIMANS: JOSEPH BLOUGH, JUXTAPOSED: SHAWN HARPER, THE FLOWERS ARE BURNING: DAVID NEVALA, FACING HOME: KAT CAMERON

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PHILIP ASHBY

The best TV shows of 2015 It was a record-breaking year in television BY ALEX CLAIBORNE

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016

At the end of each year, just before presents start appearing under the tree, a critic must do the inevitable: a best-of list. While I love writing about my favorite television shows, it was agonizing to narrow my list to only 10. I saw a lot of great TV, but I wasn’t able to keep up with everything. After all, there were 409 original scripted programs this year on broadcast, cable and online services — a record high number that doesn’t even include late-night, daytime or reality programming. In arriving at my favorite programs of 2015, I evaluated content based on the last half of the 2014-15 season and the first half of the current season. Sometimes I might love one and hate the other, or land somewhere in between.

T-10. Grace and Frankie (Netflix) and Difficult People (Hulu) I couldn’t quite decide on the No. 10 spot because these two expert comedies were vying equally for my praise. They’re both tales of best friends with razor-sharp wits who interact with a variety of colorful characters. Grace and Frankie stars the dynamic duo of Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, and, boy, was it a treat to see them work together again. This show takes its unconventional premise and runs in the right direction. Difficult People also relies on the comedic strengths of the two leads, Billy Eichner and Julie Klausner, and their electric BFF chemistry. The snark is turned all the way up to 11 on this one, which can sometimes be a turn-off. But for Billy and Julie, it seems genuine to their conversations as real best friends. Both these shows will make you laugh until you cry, but consider your mood before watching: Grace and Frankie is a little heavier on the feels, while Difficult People is ruthless in its pursuit of speaking what everyone is thinking. 9. UnREAL (Lifetime) At a glance, many viewers might discount this drama simply because it’s on Lifetime — they associate the network with movies of

the week starring D-list actors. But UnREAL packs a genuine punch. It’s dark, funny and thoughtprovoking. It takes the genre of love-related reality TV like The Bachelor, flips it over and cuts it wide open. It’s fascinating to see the inner workings of a reality show, and the characters are twisted individuals with layers, different motivations and opinions. This was my show of the summer; every week I couldn’t wait to see the latest episode. What I love most about the program is its portrayal of mental illness, manipulation and the idea that there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to the glossy façade of television. In summary: I ate it up. 8. Mad Men (AMC) I wouldn’t say that season 7 part 2 was the strongest season of Mad Men, but it was pretty damn good. Creator Matt Weiner gave us what we wanted (a cathartic ending for Don) as well as what we didn’t even know we wanted (Peggy drunkenly roller-skating FTW). It was devastating to see Sterling Cooper and Partners stripped for parts, but Weiner wouldn’t dare let us get away without a little bit of sadness. He gave the actors — one of the strongest ensemble casts in the history of dramatic television — the opportunity to shine in their own final moments. I doubt we’ll ever see a show quite like Mad Men again. 7. The Goldbergs (ABC) This is the first network show appearing on the list, and it is hands-down the best family comedy on television. It follows the format of a singlecamera sitcom, but it has stellar jokes, and everything feels genuine. It perfectly embodies the ’80s in all their bedazzled jean jacket glory, but it has the soul of a critically acclaimed comedy. I’ve grown to look forward to Wednesday nights just to see what kind of shenanigans the Goldbergs are up to in 1980-something this week. Also, Wendi McLendon-Covey (Bridesmaids) is a revelation as the overly protective matriarch of the family. ABC allows her to say one bleeped Fword per episode, and I basically live for it. 6. Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central) 2015 was (finally) the year of Amy Schumer. She crushed everything she wrote and performed in, from Trainwreck to her HBO special to Inside Amy Schumer. Perhaps the best example of this

is the 12 Angry Men-inspired sketch she wrote for the latter, where she is on trial for not being “hot enough” to have her own TV show. It’s utter brilliance and should be required viewing for all. Another perfect sketch from this season was “Last F—kable Day” with Schumer and guest stars Tina Fey, Patricia Arquette and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. It tackles the intense pressure women in Hollywood face to stay gorgeous and young forever. 5. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) It’s been a hectic year, filled with tragic events and political conflict. John Oliver is fantastic at putting everything in perspective, educating viewers as well as entertaining them. Oliver has some serious street cred from his tenure on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show, and he knows his way around a well-written joke. Recently he’s broken down events like the FIFA World Cup, entities like Big Tobacco and even monetary topics like the value of pennies. I read the news online in the morning and watch the evening news during dinner, but I learn the most from Oliver. His attention to detail and commitment to justice is unparalleled in the comedy world. 4. The Good Wife (CBS) These are my ride-or-die characters. I truly love this drama, currently in its seventh season, because it is one of a tiny, elite group of shows that keeps making great TV year after year. Creators Robert and Michelle King raise the stakes each season and tackle interesting and unusual cases that trite law procedurals would never even think of. Plus, let’s not forget the amazing cast of characters — they keep the show great with their intellect, quirks and willpower. 3. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix) I love, love, love this show. It makes me feel positive, hopeful and, well, unbreakable! 30 Rock’s Tina Fey and Robert Carlock really developed a great comedy here, and we see instantly why we should care about these characters. The writing is absolutely hilarious, smart and endearing. Ellie Kemper is a delight as the title character, and though she may be wide-eyed and a bit naive, it’s charming and not annoying. Also, Tituss Burgess is God’s gift as Titus Andromedon. I died a little inside when he didn’t win an Emmy. The only reason this show isn’t even higher on my list is

because I feel like the first half of the season was really strong, while the last few episodes were simply very good. 2. Marvel’s Jessica Jones (Netflix) This freshman noir-style series is dark and brilliant. It shows deeply flawed and scared female characters confronting their problems. The title character is on a mission to confront the man who abused her and prevent him from doing the same to others — and oh yeah, she has super strength and he has mind control. I can’t imagine anyone other than Breaking Bad’s Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones. She’s able to show that Jones is not perfect by any means, but her heart is true, and she does the best that she knows how to help others. Dr. Who’s David Tennant plays Kilgrave, the aforementioned villain. He is wickedly excellent in this role and made the perfect sparring partner. This was easily my favorite drama series of the year. 1. Master of None (Netflix) There are so many elements of this series that I love, and as a whole, its impact on television is big. The writing is smart and fresh. The cast is diverse and talented (Aziz Ansari’s dad Shoukath gives a tour de force debut acting performance). The soundtrack is full of great music, and the 10 episodes are just enough to convey the narrative of Dev, an actor trying to figure out life. Most important, this show delves deep into topics like immigration, relationships and how men and women are treated differently in society. It’s tough to write about complex issues, but Ansari and co-creator Alan Yang do it in such a way that everything feels authentic. At times, episodes even feel like mini-movies or fantastic stand-alone narratives. There wasn’t one thing I didn’t like about Master of None. The series went above and beyond my already high expectations, and that’s why it’s my favorite show of 2015. Honorable mention: The Affair, The Americans, Black-ish, Broad City, Fargo, Game of Thrones, Jane the Virgin, Key and Peele, The Last Man on Earth, The Mindy Project, Mr. Robot, Transparent, You’re the Worst. n

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Like the original trilogy, the film taps into our sense of wonder at seeing new worlds.

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The saga continues Relax, Gen-Xers: The Force Awakens does not disappoint BY CRAIG JOHNSON

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In 1977, Star Wars was singular in every way possible. Still, critics had to judge it against earlier sci-fi movies, previous George Lucas movies and other movies released that year. In 2015, there are only six movies to compare Star Wars: Episode VII to — Star Wars I through VI. It doesn’t matter if it is the best movie, or even the best action movie of the year — it is not. The question is, does it do justice to the saga, or is it an embarrassment? Does it add to the work, or expose the flaws in the design? Those of us who grew up with the saga know from experience that if a Star Wars movie stinks, it creates a profound, existential pain. If there’s a bad Bond movie, fans just shake it off and wait two years for the next installment. If a Star Wars movie is bad, then something has gone wrong with the universe. Many members of Generation X remember 1999’s The Phantom Menace with the same level of scorn that baby boomers reserve for the Vietnam War. To say I walked into the theater on Friday with trepidation is putting it mildly. With a happy two-hour-long sigh, I can say I am satisfied. The Force Awakens is a fun, intelligent movie that adds to the Star Wars canon. It taps into our sense of wonder at seeing new worlds and the joy of seeing old friends (particularly Harrison Ford, sliding back into his first great role more successfully than he did in Indiana

Jones a few years back). It provides a healthy dose of mystery regarding what is afoot in this galaxy far, far away. The galaxy’s problems, it seems, weren’t magically whisked away with the deaths of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine some 30 years ago. The Galactic Senate is back in place, but regions are still controlled by the First Order, a faction of the old Empire, which is strong enough that the good guys still call themselves the Rebellion. Luke Skywalker, the only active Jedi knight, went on a spirit quest and never came back after his pupil, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) went Sith — like Darth Vader did so long ago. That “like Darth Vader” thing is key. Much of what makes the movie work is the balance of old and new. We meet another adorable droid carrying another important message on another desert planet saved by another teenager who is strong with the same old Force. There’s a charismatic and wise ancient being, a tavern full of thugs, and a hot-shot pilot (played with great swagger by Oscar Isaac). The Rebellion must destroy an enormous spherical superweapon. This might seem like a lack of creativity on the part of the creators, but just as George Lucas used ideas from westerns, fantasy, samurai and World War II movies, director J.J. Abrams uses parts of Star Wars to reinvigorate the old saga. Take the film’s teenage hero, Rey (Daisy Ridley). She is not a carbon copy of 1977-era Luke. First off, she’s a she. She is being chased by the Empire, not chasing it. She has little

desire to leave her dusty home, where she lives scavenging the wreckage of a battle that the Empire clearly lost. Scavenging pieces of a dying Empire to make a new life is an apt symbol for the movie. Abrams doesn’t start from scratch; he is working new hues into a color palette established four decades ago. The movie is not without flaws. The humor doesn’t always connect. A character presumed dead swoops back in a little too easily. John Boyega’s Finn — a storm trooper who goes rogue after suffering a crisis of conscience — is likeable, but his transformation from raised-from-birth soldier to civilian adventurer is a little too smooth, his speech too vernacular. These things are forgivable — a few islands of wrong in an ocean of right. The only truly obnoxious misstep is the design of Supreme Leader Snoke, who has replaced Emperor Palpatine as the top bad guy. The CGI monstrosity, played by Andy “Gollum” Serkis, looks entirely fake. Why not have Serkis play the part in his analog form? Palpatine was plenty scary in the lumpy flesh. That aside, I would say that in the Star Wars firmament, The Force Awakens belongs in the same company as the original trilogy. It triggered the receptors that were awakened in my brain when I was 4 years old in a Janesville movie theater. Lucas made movies for kids, and I was one of those kids. Abrams has made a movie for kids — and the kids who grew up on Star Wars. n

Transformation: Eddie Redmayne (right) as Lili Elbe in The Danish Girl.

The film list New releases

Recent releases

Concussion: Will Smith plays neuropathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu, who battled the NFL after he discovered a degenerative brain disease in former pro football players. This is Smith’s first performance that doesn’t feel like he’s playing a version of himself, and even if this weren’t a solidly entertaining medical procedural, what it has to say should make it a must-see.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip: The chipmunks run afoul of a buffoonish air marshal, who pursues them through the South as they make mischief and butcher songs with their trademark helium-pitched vocal aesthetic. It has sporadic laughs for the under-10 set and absolutely nothing for the poor parents sitting next to them.

Daddy’s Home: Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg are a dad and a stepdad engaged in a battle for the hearts and minds of two grade-schoolers. The film eventually discovers a smidge of heart in the vicinity of the right place, but it comes far too late to make up for the 90 minutes of crude dick-measuring — over children! — that has come before. The Danish Girl: Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne delivers another physically transformational performance as one of the first patients to undergo sexual reassignment surgery. The film’s compositions are lovely to look at, and the performances engaging. However, a sense of remoteness hangs over the project, as though we are watching characters through a pinhole diorama. The Hateful Eight: Quentin Tarantino’s gritty drama about several snowbound characters trying to survive treachery at a remote general store/ tavern in post-Civil War Wyoming feels more superficial than the director’s other work. Sure, Q’s got a few salient things to say about cleaning up the legacy of American racism; it’s just harder than usual to hear them this time through the Fbombs, gunfire blasts and howls of pain. Joy: Jennifer Lawrence is woefully miscast as entrepreneur Joy Mangano, who created a mop that can be wrung hands-free and went on to be a Home Shopping Channel superstar. Director David O. Russell pitches the cantankerous domestic environment as akin to a messy, lower-middle-class version of a glitzy fantasy soap opera. Point Break: A remake of the ’90s action flick; this time around the bank robbers infiltrated by an FBI mole are extreme athletes.

The Big Short: Director Adam McKay (Anchorman) plays out the stories of the investment banking insiders — including fund managers Michael Burry (Christian Bale) and Mark Baum (Steve Carell) — who were involved with the 2008 subprime mortgage collapse. McKay wants his audience to understand what went so horribly wrong, and he commits to that notion with puckish meta-humor. Sisters: Amy Poehler and Tina Fey star as siblings who head to Orlando to clear out their parents’ house. It’s a terrific premise, but it feels like a series of sketches rather than a cohesive movie.

More film events Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song: Preview screening of upcoming holiday episode. AMC Star Fitchburg, Dec. 28-29, 7:30 pm. Swing Time: A performer (Fred Astaire) trying to raise money to marry his fiancée gets entangled with an aspiring dancer (Ginger Rogers). Hawthorne Library, Dec. 26, 2 pm. There Will Be Blood: Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson’s period epic about a man (Daniel Day-Lewis) who won’t stop until he’s drained every drop of oil from the California desert. Central Library, Jan. 7, 6 pm.

GOLDEN GLOBE® AWARD NOMINATIONS

BEST PICTURE INCLUDING

The Wizard of Oz: The iconic 1939 adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s fantasy world, starring Judy Garland as Dorothy. Hawthorne Library, Dec. 26, noon.

Also in theaters Ant-Man

Inside Out

Creed

In the Heart of the Sea

The Good Dinosaur

The Intern

Hotel Transylvania 2

Krampus

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

Sicario

LUCKY BRAND • MICHAEL KORS • SUR LA TABLE • KATE SPADE NEW YORK • MADEWELL • SPERRY FREE GIFT WRAPPING & SANTA TOO!

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CHRISTMAS DAY

MADISON Sundance Cinemas Madison (608) 316-6900

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DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

SHOP HILLDALE FOR THE HOLIDAYS

SELECT ENGAGEMENT STARTS

picks

Liliana’s, Fitchburg: Cliff Frederiksen, free, 6:30 pm. Tip Top Tavern: DJ Trichrome, free, 9 pm.

S PEC I A L EV EN TS Free Christmas Meal: Noon-2 pm, 12/25, First United Methodist Church, with music by Cliff Frederiksen. 338-0320.

Wisconsin Hip-Hop Fest

sat dec 26

Thursday, Jan. 7, Majestic Theatre, 8 pm

CO MEDY

Some of Wisconsin’s best emcees, poets and musicians are coming together for this beats-, rhymes- and life-centric affair. It features headlining sets from four rappers — Milwaukee’s IshDARR (pictured) and Milo and Madison’s F.Stokes and CRASHprez — with support from locals Fringe Character, Lord of the Fly and Sincere Life. Rob DZ will handle hosting duties, with musical accompaniment from DJ Phil Money.

wed dec 23

Kevin Farley Saturday, Dec. 26, Comedy Club on State, 8 & 10:30 pm

Kevin Farley is a standup comic, actor and Madison native. He’s appeared in such films as Black Sheep and The Waterboy, as well as TV programs like That ’70s Show and Curb Your Enthusiasm. In 2015 Kevin was featured heavily in I Am Chris Farley, a documentary about the life and career of his late, great brother. With Gerrit Elzinga, Colin Bowden.

PICK OF THE WEEK

MU S I C Louisianne’s, Middleton: Lynnea Godfriaux & Brad Pregeant, 6 pm.

MUS I C THEATER & DANCE

Opus Lounge: Teddy Davenport, free, 9 pm. Up North Pub: MoonHouse, free, 8 pm. VFW-Cottage Grove Road: Jerry Stueber, free, 6 pm Wednesdays.

T HE ATER & DANCE

A Christmas Carol Eric Tessmer Band Wednesday, Dec. 23, High Noon Saloon, 8 pm

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016

The blues-rock pumped out by guitar wizard Eric Tessmer and his talented crew has propelled them to Summerfest, Montreal Jazz Fest and beyond. The award-winning band blends blues, punk and psychedelic rock in a raw and energetic style. A great way to shake off the holiday jitters. With Christopher Plowman.

1855 Saloon and Grill, Cottage Grove: Ken Wheaton, fingerstyle guitar, free, 6 pm Wednesdays. Brocach-Square: Irish Open Jam, 8 pm Wednesdays. Cardinal Bar: DJs Wyatt Agard, Dub Borski, 9 pm. Claddagh, Middleton: Michael Alexander, free, 6 pm.

Wednesday, Dec. 23, Capitol Theater, 2:30 pm

What would Christmas be today without Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol? The timeless tale put the phrase “Merry Christmas” on the map, reassociated the holiday with familial gatherings and reminded readers of the season’s true spirit. This year, John Pribyl reprises his role as Scrooge, and James Ridge directs CTM’s signature production and holiday classic. This is the final performance after a two-week run.

S PECTATOR SP ORTS UW Men’s Basketball: vs. UW-Green Bay, 8 pm, 12/23, Kohl Center. $41-$26. 262-1440.

The Nutcracker Thursday, Dec. 24, Overture Hall, 1 pm

While this ballet’s original production in 1892 was deemed unsuccessful, it certainly doesn’t need an introduction: Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker is now considered one of the most popular ballets of all time. Madison Ballet’s Nutcracker version is directed by maestro Andrew Sewell and choreographed by W. Earle Smith, and is sure to delight anyone feeling festive or in need of a little merriment. ALSO: Saturday and Sunday (2 pm), Dec. 26-27.

Genna’s Lounge: Open Mic, free, 9 pm Wednesdays.

Saturday, Dec. 26, The Frequency, 9 pm

Any show featuring the rapper F.Stokes (aka Rodney Lucas) is worth checking out — but when it’s the emcee’s annual day-after-Christmas bash, you have no excuse to miss it. Lucas will headline with DJ Radish, and the pair will get support from Selin, Synovia and Rich Robbins. A portion of the proceeds to will go to the East Madison Community Center. How’s that for a Boxing Day? Cardinal Bar: DJ Chamo, 10 pm. Come Back In: The Lower Fifth, free, 9 pm.

Essen Haus: Brian Erickson, free, 6:30 pm Tue.-Wed. The Frequency: DJ Pain 1, Aaron Meyer Foundation benefit, with comedy by Nate Craig, 8:30 pm.

F.Stokes + DJ Radish

thu dec 24

Heritage Tavern: Mal-O-Dua, French swing, 8:30 pm.

fri dec 25 M USIC

Ivory Room: Jim Ripp, piano, free, 9 pm.

MUS I C

Knuckle Down Saloon: Rock Jam, 8 pm Wednesdays.

Club Tavern, Middleton: DJ Robbie G, free, 9 pm.

Club Tavern, Middleton: DJ Robbie G, free, 8 pm.

Liliana’s Restaurant, Fitchburg: Cliff Frederiksen & Ken Kuehl, jazz, free, 5:30 pm Wednesdays.

Liliana’s, Fitchburg: Cliff Frederiksen, free, 5:30 pm.

The Frequency: Bi-Polar Bear, 9 pm.

Essen Haus: Steve Meisner, polka, free, 8:30 pm. High Noon Saloon: Phun (Phish tribute), New Speedway Players (Grateful Dead), 9:30 pm. Knuckle Down Saloon: Cool Front w/Jon French, 9 pm. Liliana’s Restaurant, Fitchburg: John Widdicombe & Cliff Frederiksen, jazz, free, 6:30 pm.

➡

WISCONSIN FESTS AT

THURSDAY

JAN 7

HIP-HOP FEST

JAN 8

FOLK FEST

CORY CHISEL | WE ARE THE WILLOWS JE SUNDE | CHRISTOPHER GOLD RACHEL HANSON SATURDAY

JAN 9

701 East Washington Ave. 608-661-8599

Open Tuesday-Saturday 4pm - close

STEEZ | THE BIG PAYBACK MEGAN BOBO & THE LUX | DJ PHIL MONEY THURSDAY

JAN 14

WED. DEC. 30.

8-10pm / $10 adv, $14 dos

Tim Whalen Quintet CD RELEASE PARTY THU. DEC. 31 .

9:00 pm-1:00 am / $12 adv, $15 dos

New Year’s Eve Celebrations Kyle Henderson’s Blues Invasion Fuzzy Side Up Dancing, party favors, champagne toast at midnight!

SAT. JAN. 2 .

8-11pm / $7

Caravan Gypsy Swing Ensemble www.thebrinklounge.com

POP FEST

GGOOLLDD | THE LIVING STATUES OH MY LOVE | MODERN MOD TARPAULIN FRIDAY

JAN 15

PUNK FEST

TENEMENT | THE HUSSY | ZEBRAS THE MOGULS | THE AMERICAN DEAD SATURDAY

JAN 16

BLUEGRASS FEST

DEAD HORSES | JOSEPH HUBER DIG DEEP | THEM COULEE BOYS 115 KING STREET, MADISON, WI GET TICKETS AND INFO AT MAJESTICMADISON.COM

WITH TACOS FROM

DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

Celebrate ringing in the new year with

FUNK FEST

ISTHMUSWELCOMES

YONDER MOUNTAIN

ISTHMUS

WISCONSIN FESTS

STRING BAND

ORPHEUM JAN. 23

n ISTHMUS PICKS : DEC 26 - 31 Mickey’s: Digibot, Moonwalks, Zinky Boys, 10 pm.

The Frequency: Nick Josephs, free, 8:30 pm.

Tempest: No Name String Band, free, 9:30 pm.

Ivory Room: Josh Dupont, free, 9 pm Tuesdays.

Tricia’s Country Corners: Universal Sound, 9 pm.

Liliana’s Restaurant, Fitchburg: John Vitale, Marilyn Fisher & Ken Kuehl, jazz, free, 5:30 pm Tuesdays.

UW Humanities Building-Mills Hall: Madison Marimba Quartet, free, 1 pm.

Louisianne’s: Johnny Chimes, 6 pm Tuesdays.

DANCING

Mason Lounge: Five Points Jazz Collective, free, 9 pm Tuesdays.

Wisconsin Tango Social: With DJ Marquis Childs, 7-10 pm, 12/26, Cardinal Bar. $3. 622-7697.

Natt Spil: The Real Jaguar, free, 10 pm.

sun dec 27 M USIC

Up North Pub: The Wang Show, free, 8 pm.

S PEC TATO R S PO RTS UW Men’s Basketball: vs. Purdue, 6 pm, 12/29, Kohl Center. $41-$26. 262-1440. Madison Capitols: vs. Dubuque, 7:05 pm, 12/29, Alliant Center-Coliseum. $20.50-$12.50. 267-3955.

Brocach Irish Pub-Square: An Blas, Irish, free, 5 pm. Frequency: gobbinjr, Dash Hounds, Cherry Cola, 8:30 pm.

MAJESTIC JAN. 7-9, 14-16

Luther Memorial Church: Third Day of Christmas, carol sing & organ concert, 7 pm. Natt Spil: DJ Landology, free, 10 pm. Olbrich Gardens: Fresco Opera Theatre, 2 pm.

wed dec 30 MUS I C

mon dec 28

RYAN BINGHAM MAJESTIC JAN. 27

OVERTURE JAN. 30

ISTHMUS FROSTIBALL

M USIC

JOSH RITTER BARRYMORE JAN. 28

O.A.R.

AFTER PARTY SHANNON HALL FEB. 2

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016

ORPHEUM FEB. 13

METRIC

Frequency: The Wells Division, Christopher Gold, Gabe Burdulis, Kiley Penn, Girl Up benefit, 8 pm. Mr. Robert’s: Open Jam, free, 9:30 pm Mondays. Up North Pub: Derek Ramnarace, free, 7 pm.

SP ECTATOR SP ORTS

Harlem Globetrotters Monday, Dec. 28, Alliant Energy Center Coliseum, 7 pm

Forget the Golden State Warriors’ recent win streak of 28 games — the Harlem Globetrotters haven’t lost a contest since 2006. The theatrical, traveling basketball troupe turns 90 years old in 2016. To celebrate, the Globetrotters are bringing their brand of acrobatic, hilarious hoops to over 300 courts in North America, including this Madison stop.

tue dec 29 M USIC

Tim Whalen Quintet Wednesday, Dec. 30, The Brink Lounge, 8 pm

Jazz pianist/composer/arranger Tim Whalen has kept very busy as both a sideman and bandleader since moving to Washington, D.C., in 2010. He returns to Madison to celebrate the release of his newest project, Oblivion: The Music of Bud Powell. Whalen has drawn together an all-star band from the local jazz scene, including Dave Cooper, Tom Gullion, Mark Urness and Dane Richeson. Cardinal Bar: DJ Foundation, 9 pm. Claddagh, Middleton: Ian Gould, free, 6 pm. The Frequency: The Fine Constant, Those Dirty Thieves, The Circuit Theory, Archives, metal, 9 pm. Heritage Tavern: Chris Wagoner, jazz, free, 8:30 pm. High Noon Saloon: Uzi Ferrari, Me Like Bees, Tin Can Diamonds, 8 pm. Ivory Room: Josh Dupont, piano, free, 9 pm. Natt Spil: DJ Evan Woodward, free, 10 pm. Up North Pub: MoonHouse, free, 8 pm.

BARRYMORE FEB. 20

thu dec 31 MUS I C

Tiny Band + Hirt Alpert Tuesday, Dec. 29, High Noon Saloon, 6 pm

CLOUD CULT WIN TICKETS ISTHMUS.COM/PROMOTIONS

Tiny Band (pictured) is just what it sounds like: Its members make music with wee instruments (ukelele, harmonicas, cocktail kit), creating originals and mini covers of the Velvet Underground, Calexico and more. This happy hour show is also the world premiere for Hirt Alpert, a tribute to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Al Hirt and other groovy ’60s-based trumpeters.

New Year’s Eve Bash Thursday, Dec. 31, High Noon Saloon, 8 pm

Party-goers seeking a hard edge to their New Year’s Eve should check out this six-act cover band bill, featuring tribute sets to classic acts including Bad Brains, Butthole Surfers, the Distillers, Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins. Alchemy Cafe: The Mustache, WORT benefit, 11 pm. Badger Bowl: Cherry Pie, 9:15 pm.

➡

Meet & Greet | Spirits Tasting | Product Expo

saturday

2–20–16 Edgewater Hotel

Tickets Available At:

A Celebration of American Distilling

WWW.DISTILLAMERICA.COM Star Liquor The Malt House Barriques (Monroe St.) Barriques (Fitchburg)

1001 Wisconsin Place

Madison, WI

Cannery Wine & Spirits

$55.00 | General 6 P.M. – 9 P.M.

Steves (University Av.)

$65.00 | VIP 5 P.M. – 9 P.M.

Riley’s Wines of the World

Steves (Junction rd.)

The umbrella

(Private meet & greet with master distillers)

becomes a clever symbol of the postprohibition era. inside the umbrella for

Partially sponsored by:

many wet days to come. -From Museum of the American Cocktail

Alcoholmanac Magazine

Proceeds Benefit the wisconsin distiller’s GUILD

DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

Ironically with rain

418 E. WILSON ST.

Venue

S aturday,December26:TangoSocialhostedby 608.257.BIRD MarquisChilds,7-10pm,free CARDINALBAR.COM Sports Bar · SpicySaturdays Bar & Grill · Event Venue SATURDAY 12/26 hosted by w/DJChamo,10pm(Seeimageattached) ELECTRONIC NIGHT - ENTER TO WIN MARQUIS CHILDS

Tango THU NOVSocial 12 . 9PM . $57-10PM • FREE Tuesday,December29&January5:JazzJam Featured DJs: Acideon, Sean Paul, Best Seat in the House Lane Alexander, Jogre the Ogre w/TheNewBreed,9pm,free(seeimage SPICY During Packer Games @ The Red Zone attached) Grand Prize: 2 Tickets SATURDAYS _______________

Thursday,December31:NYEPartyw/DJ with DJ CHAMO 10PM to Packers vs Vikings Chamo,freechampagnetoastatmidnite!8pm-

Lambeau Field Jan. 3

5am(Seeimageattached) w/DJChamoSat-Sun 10am-1pm Doors@8pm•Dancing9pm-5am! ZUMBA FITNESS Mon. 6:30-7:45 pm FreeCocktailBuffet10pm-2am ServiceIndustryFolksFREEafter2am Cover$12

BREAKFAST

Wed Night Karaoke with Happy Hour Prices! LEAGUE TRIVIA Thurs. 8 pm

CLOSED ALL DAY Christmas Eve . OPEN 7PM Christmas Day

1212 REGENT ST. 608-251-6766

THEREDZONEMADISON.COM

TUESDAY 12/29 & 1/5

n ISTHMUS PICKS : DEC 31 – JAN 1 Brink Lounge: Kyle Henderson’s Blues Invasion, Fuzzy Side Up, jazz, 9 pm. Cardinal Bar: DJ Chamo, 8 pm. Claddagh, Middleton: Slipjig, Celtic, free, 5 pm; Shekinah King, free, 9 pm. Club Tavern, Middleton: Kings of Radio, ‘80s, 9 pm. Crystal Corner Bar: Cash Box Kings, blues, 9:30 pm. DLUX: DJ Eugene Craven, 9 pm. The Frequency: Devil to Drag, Cowboy Winter, Bron Sage, Dogs of War, rock, 9 pm. Goodman Community Center: Lou & Peter Berryman, annual GCC fundraiser, 8 pm. Great Dane-Downtown: DJ Vilas Park Sniper, 10 pm.

with THE NEW BREED 9PM - FREE! THURSDAY 12/31 with DJ CHAMO Doors @ 8pm DANCING 9pm-5am! FREE COCKTAIL BUFFET 10pm-2am Cover $12 / Service industry folks FREE after 2am

MA DI S O N ’ S C L A S S IC DA N C E B A R

Great Dane-Hilldale: The Retro Specz, 9 pm. Harmony Bar: WheelHouse, 9:45 pm. Hody Bar, Middleton: Killer Cars, rock, free, 9 pm. Ivory Room: Josh Dupont, Peter Hernet, 9 pm. Knuckle Down Saloon: Mad City Funk, R&B, 9 pm. Lazy Oaf Lounge: Saturday Morning Cartel, 10 pm. Liquid: DJs Antics, Nick Magic, Ryet, 10 pm. Louisianne’s, Middleton: Johnny Chimes, Al Falaschi & LaCouir Yancey, free, 7:30 pm. Madison’s: DJ Brook, 9 pm. Majestic Theatre: DJs Nick Nice, Mike Carlson, 8 pm. Merchant: DJs Bruce Blaq, Phil Money, free, 11:15 pm. Mickey’s Tavern: The Flavor That Kills, France Camp, Fire Retarded, Wood Chickens, free, 10 pm. Mr. Robert’s: Double Dubbs, Flowpoetry, free, 10 pm. Natt Spil: Foshizzle Family DJs, free, 10 pm. Nau-Ti-Gal: Baby Rocket, free, 10 pm. One Barrel Brewing: Anna Elizabeth Laube, World’s Tallest Band, Corey Mathew Hart, free, 5:30 pm. Plan B: DJ Amos, ‘70s-’90s, 7 pm. Red Rock Saloon: Jacob Martin Band, country, 8 pm.

DORN 4 Madison Locations:

127 N. Broom St., Madison 256-0530 1348 S. Midvale Blvd., Madison 274-2511 131 W. Richards Rd., Oregon 835-5737 926 Windsor St., Sun Prairie 837-2110

w w w. d o r n h a r d w a r e . c o m

Rex’s Innkeeper, Waunakee: Universal Sound, 8:30 pm. Roxbury Tavern: SpareTime Bluegrass Band, 7 pm. Tempest Oyster Bar: Mike Cammilleri’s Hammond B Organ Trio, free, 9:30 pm. Tip Top Tavern: Winning Ugly, rockabilly, free, 10 pm. Tofflers, New Glarus: Eugene Smiles Project, 9 pm. Tricia’s Country Corners, McFarland: Midlife Crisis, classic rock, 9:30 pm. VFW Post 7591-Cottage Grove Road: Back 40, 8 pm. Watertower Chop House, Sun Prairie: Nine Thirty Standard, rock/country/blues, free, 9 pm.

T H EAT ER & DA N C E

Ball Drop Blitz 2 Thursday, Dec. 31, Bartell Theatre, 8 pm

For people weary of champagne toasts and countdowns, local thespians present a one-of-a-kind theatrical experience. On Dec. 30 at 8 p.m., a fearless group of actors, directors and writers from Mercury Players, Out!Cast and KnowBetter Productions will team up to draw writing prompts out of a hat. Over the next 24 hours, the teams will create a fresh New Year’s Eve production. $20 buys you a ticket to the resulting chaos.

S PEC I A L EV EN TS The Gold Party: Dressember benefit, 8 pm, 12/31, Gib’s, with DJs Beau, Lauden, snacks & champagne punch. $15 ($10 in gold attire). gibs.bar. New Year’s Eve Celebration: 5 pm-1 am, 12/31, Essen Haus & Come Back In, with music at 9 pm by Live at Nine (CBI) & David Austin (EH). $75 includes buffet/drinks. 258-8619. African Association of Madison New Year’s Eve Gala: 7 pm-1 am, 12/31, Sheraton Hotel, with dinner, dance with DJ Mos Dolly. $35. eventbrite. com/e/18807747479. 258-0261. Robinia Courtyard New Year’s: 8 pm, 12/31, at Julep, Barolo & A-OK, with music by Boo Bradley, No Name String Band, DJ Nate Zukas, food, drinks. $65 (ages 21+ only). RSVP: isthmustickets.com/events/30391215. Gravity Ball: 9 pm, 12/31, Edgewater Hotel-Sky Bar, with music by Bumpus & Hot Sauce Committee, appetizers, drinks. $95. RSVP: theedgewater.com.

DA N C I N G Dairyland Cowboys & Cowgirls: Open dance, 6-10 pm, 12/31, Five Nightclub, with potluck 7 pm. 255-9131. Madison Tango Society Milonga: 8:30 pm-12:30 am, 12/31, Madison Senior Center. $22. 238-2039.

fri jan 1 MUS I C

Woof’s: DJ John Murges, free, 8 pm.

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016

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Possessed by Paul James Friday, Jan. 1, The Frequency, 9 pm

Brooks Wheelan Thursday, Dec. 31, Comedy Club on State, 5:30, 8 & 10:30 pm

This Saturday Night Live alum recorded his debut album, This Is Cool, Right?, last year at the Comedy Club. He returns to ring in 2016 with three New Year’s Eve shows — so anyone worried about missing out on drunken midnight revelry has the option to go early. Trust us, he’ll be just as funny at all of them. With Russ Williamson, Antonio Aguilar. ALSO: Saturday, Jan. 2, 8 & 10:30 pm.

Possessed by Paul James is really Konrad Wert, a one-man Texas punk-roots band — his stage is a tribute to his late grandfather (Paul) and his father (James). As NPR noted last year, “those who have seen [Wert] perform would agree he seems possessed by something.” With Lou Shields, Feed the Dog. Badger Bowl: Josh Becker Electric, rock, 9:15 pm. Brocach-Square: The Currach, free, 5:30 pm. Chief’s Tavern: Frankie Lee, Chuck Bayuk & Tom Dehlinger, free, 6:30 pm. Great Dane-Hilldale: DJ Landology, 9 pm. High Noon Saloon: Future Stuff, Kerosene Kites, 7 pm.

➡

Ivory Room Piano Bar presents New Year’s Eve

MI DN I G HT M ASQ U ERA D E Thursday, December 31 at 8pm

OPEN BAR - CHAMPAGNE TOAST - VIP AVAILABLE - MASQUERADE CONTEST Join us for OPEN BAR - that’s right, our dazzling Ivory Room bartenders will pour beer and wine, and mix all of our signature cocktails all night!

Enjoy all-request Duelling Pianos, Party Favors, & Masquerade Costume Contest til 1:30am! A limited amount of Premium VIP seating is available for an additional fee. Email events@ivoryroompianobar.com for more details on VIP availability. Tickets at: isthmustickets.com

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HO-CHUNK GAMING WISCONSIN DELLS PRESENTS

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DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

ALL PROCEEDS DONATED TO BADGER HONOR FLIGHT

n ISTHMUS PICKS : JAN 1 – 7 Liquid: DJ Nick Magic, ‘90s/’00s, free, 3 am. Tempest Oyster Bar: Whodie Guthrie, free, 9:30 pm. H THURSDAYS H

Tate’s

BLUES JAM

SAT, DEC 26 H 9PM H FREE CUSTOMER APPRECIATION PARTY

Cool Front featuring

S POKEN WORD Madtown Poetry Open Mic: With Ron Czerwein, 8 pm, 1/1, Mother Fool’s Coffeehouse. 255-4730.

sat jan 2

Pundamonium: “Pun slam,” 7 pm, 1/4, High Noon Saloon. $6. 268-1122.

MUS I C

SP ECIAL INTERESTS Friendly Supper Club: Community dinner for all ages, 6:30 pm, 1/4, Northside Family Restaurant. 249-5979.

Jon French

An 8 Piece Funk/ Soul/Motown Dance Floor Packin’ Powerhouse!! FULL BUFFET CHAMPAGNE TOAST HATS, HORNS, FUN!

Jam

$2 OFF COVER w/ VALID COLLEGE ID ALL SHOWS 21+

2513 Seiferth Rd., Madison

222-7800

KnuckleDownSaloon.com

Eric Tessmer Band Christopher Plowman 8pm $8

Hippie X-mas

sat dec

GRATEFUL DEAD

sun dec

High Noon Packer Party!

tue dec

29 ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016

The New Speedway Players as

PHUN as PHISH 9:30pm $10

3pm FREE

Tiny Band Hirt Alpert 6pm $5

ROCKSTAR GOMEROKE live band karaoke 9pm FREE

Uzi Ferrari wed Me Like Bees dec 30 Tin Can Diamonds 8pm $7

High Noon New Year's Eve Bash! thu Paid To Cum as BAD BRAINS / Pee Pee The Sailor as BUTTHOLE dec SURFERS / Drain The Bleach as NIRVANA & THE DISTILLERS

The Smashing Pumpklings as THE SMASHING PUMPKINS Buena Buena as MORPHINE / Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Hotel as WILCO / DJ Sets by Easy Data / 8pm $10

fri jan

Future Stuff Kerosene Kites

7pm $5

High Noon Saloon: The Westies, Teddy Davenport & the Cushions, 7:30 pm. Ivory Room: Jim Ripp, piano, free, 9 pm.

FUN D RA I S ERS RSVP for I Have a Dream Banquet & Ball: 30th annual Women in Focus scholarship fundraiser, 6-11 pm, 1/16, Monona Terrace, with social hour, dinner, guest speaker Cachell Gaines, music by Kinfolk, DJ Ace. $80. RSVP by 1/6: womeninfocus.net. 271-5747.

thu jan 7 MUS I C

M USIC

Mead & Metal Fest Saturday, Jan. 2, High Noon Saloon, 2-7 pm

Who doesn’t want a little mead and Norse action on a Saturday afternoon? Bos Meadery will bring six flavors of their heady honey beverages, and encourage Viking- or heavy-metal-themed costumes as well. Metal music will be provided by Madison’s most Manowar-esque outfit, Lords of the Trident (pictured), and Milwaukee duo Galactic Helmet; the musical honey will be provided by Cribshitter, whose recent album, Acapulco, was dedicated to some seriously mellow beach rock. Badger Bowl: Denim ‘n Leather, rock, 9:15 pm.

701A E. Washington Ave. 268-1122 www.high-noon.com

Alchemy Cafe: Boo Bradley, blues, free, 10 pm.

tue jan 5

Alchemy Cafe: Sortin’ the Mail, bluegrass, free, 10 pm.

wed dec

The Frequency: Super Bob, Left of Reason, The Beast of Bray Road, Amberstein, 9 pm.

SP OKEN WORD

MAD CITY FUNK

M–

M USIC Up North Pub: Gin Mill Hollow, free, 7 pm.

NEW YEAR’S EVE H $15

Weds

mon jan 4

Bandung: Mideast by Midwest, free lesson, 7:30 pm. Brink Lounge: Caravan Gypsy Swing Ensemble, 8 pm. Club Tavern, Middleton: Pat McCurdy, free, 9 pm. Come Back In: John Masino, 9 pm. The Frequency: Sincere Life (album release), RED, 3rd Dimension, Charles Grant, DJ Pain 1, 11 pm. High Noon Saloon: Joe Marcinek Band, Soap, The Dawn, 9:30 pm. Inferno: DJs Mike Carlson, WhiteRabbit, Alistair Loveless, Leather & Lace, 9 pm. Liliana’s: John Widdicombe & Dan Barker, 6:30 pm. Liquid: DJ Nick Magic, EDM, 10 pm. Madison Children’s Museum: Atimevu, 2 pm.

Golden Donna Thursday, Jan. 7, High Noon Saloon, 9 pm

Wave Chapelle Tuesday, Jan. 5, The Frequency, 9 pm.

Wave Chapelle (aka Radontae Ashford II) cut his rapping chops in Milwaukee, but it wasn’t until he went off to college in Memphis that he caught his big break — studio time and a tour with Memphis staple Yo Gotti. Since then, the young MC has released tracks with Curren$y and fellow Milwaukee up-and-comer IshDARR.

Badger Bowl: Scott Wilcox, Kari Arnett, 8 pm.

Free House Pub, Middleton: The Westerlies, Irish, free, 7:30 pm Tuesdays.

Brink Lounge: Blues Jam with Bill Roberts, 8 pm.

High Noon Saloon: The Low Czars, classic rock, 5:30 pm; Gomeroke, free, 9 pm.

The Frequency: Drugs Delaney, 10 pm.

wed jan 6 M USIC

Natt Spil: DJ NeeHigh, free, 10 pm.

Tyranena, Lake Mills: Kristy Larson Trio, free, 7 pm.

Liliana’s: Cliff Frederiksen, free, 10:30 am Sundays. Natt Spil: DJ Foundation, free, 10 pm.

Majestic: Isthmus Wisconsin Hip-Hop Fest: IshDARR, F. Stokes, Milo, CrashPREZ, Fringe Character, Lord of the Fly, Sincere Life, Broadway, DJ Phil Money. See page 44. Overture Center-Overture Hall Lobby: Tony Castaneda Latin Jazz Sextet, free, 6 pm. Tip Top Tavern: Chloe Webster, folk, free, 10 pm.

Thursday, Jan. 7, Comedy Club on State, 8:30 pm

sun jan 3

Java Cat: Nick Matthews, free, 9:30 am Sundays; Jeff Larsen, fingerstyle guitar, free, 1 pm.

Ivory Room: Michael Massey, Josh Dupont, 9 pm.

Ms. Pat

Tempest Oyster Bar: Compact Deluxe, free, 9:30 pm.

Grace Episcopal Church: Madison Sacred Harp Singers, shape-note singing (all invited to sing), 3 pm.

Essen Haus: Big Wes Turner’s Trio, free, 9 pm.

CO MEDY

Ski’s Saloon, Sun Prairie: Josh Becker Band, free, 10 pm.

Brocach-Square: West Wind, Irish, free, 5 pm.

Alchemy Cafe: DJs Radish, Dr. Funkenstein, 10 pm.

Alchemy Cafe: DJs Jorts, Tank Top Troy, midnight.

Mezze: Charlie Painter & Friends, jazz, free, 9 pm.

MUS I C

Portland-by-way-of-Madison producer Joel Shanahan returns home for this stacked show that puts his slippery, synthed-out DJ act Golden Donna on stage alongside four stellar local electronic acts. Balancing density and danceability, Golden Donna creates texturally rich yet accessible beats, providing a laid-back feel that rewards deep listening. He’s joined by experimentalist Beau Devereaux’s shadowy Samantha Glass project, plus Lens, TV Dinner and Noxroy.

Alison Margaret Trio Wednesday, Jan. 6, Opus Lounge, 9 pm

The Opus cocktail lounge continues its Wednesday live music series with a set from Madison jazz vocalist/ composer Alison Margaret, accompanied by trio mates Paul Hastil on piano and John Christensen on bass.

By the time Indianapolis-based comedian Ms. Pat first performed on stage in 2003, she’d already lived a life’s worth of material: At 14 she had her first child, as a teenager she was a drug dealer and she spent her 20s raising six kids. Now more than 10 years into a fruitful standup career, Ms. Pat is a regular radio guest on The Bob and Tom Show, and her first book, Rabbit: A Memoir, is slated to come out in 2016. With AJ Finney. ALSO: Friday and Saturday (8 & 10:30 pm), Jan. 8-9.

SEARCH THE FULL CALENDAR OF EVENTS AT ISTHMUS.COM

NEW YEAR’S EVE AT THE featuring

2201 Atwood Ave. (608) 249-4333

THUR. DEC. 24 Closed at 7pm FRI-SAT, DEC. 25-26 Closed ____________________________________

Party Favors, Snacks & Champagne Toast at midnight! $15 cover Thur. Dec. 24 - Closed at 7pm Friday, Dec. 25 - Closed Come watch Bucky and the Pack on our 6 HD TVs! www.harmonybarandgrill.com

www.FontanaSports.com Westside Downtown 231 Junction 216 N. Henry St. M-S 10-8 www.FontanaSports.com Rd. M-S 10-9 608.833.9191 SUN 10-7 608.257.5043 SUN 11-6 Downtown 216 N. Henry St. M-S 10-8 608.257.5043 SUN 11-6

Westside

231 Junction Rd. 608.833.9191

M-S 10-9 SUN 10-7

Dane County’s East Side Homebrew Headquarters

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240 East Main Street | Sun Prairie, WI 53590 www.cannerywineandspirits.com 608.318.0595

DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

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Bring this ad in to get 10% OFF Wine, Beer & Cider Making Supplies & Ingredients!

CANDICE WAGONER PHOTOS

n EMPHASIS

Staffers at the new Community Pharmacy in Middleton include (from left): Jackie Nikolaus, Richard Kilmer, Flormaria Erazo Zurita, Ian Hamilton, and one of the original founders, Jane Greischar. They’ll help you figure out how best to use those bulk herbs.

Good for what ails ya Community Pharmacy expands to Middleton BY CANDICE WAGENER

Community Pharmacy has been a trailblazer, first on State Street and then Gorham Street, for the past 43 years. Now, thanks to the November opening of a second location in Middleton, suburban customers can take advantage of the pharmacy without the hassle of making a special trip or finding parking. “So many people come in and say they stopped shopping [with us] 10 years ago because of the parking,” says Jackie Nikolaus, who has worked for Community Pharmacy for 29 years. When the former Green Earth space on University Avenue became available,

Nikolaus says it was a unanimous decision to open Community Pharmacy-west. The business is a workers’ cooperative — all staff manage and run the store and share ownership in it. It’s always been politically active and intent on giving back to the community it serves. Started in 1972 by the Wisconsin Student Association to provide low-cost medicines, health and beauty items, Community Pharmacy now also carries vitamins and homeopathic remedies and maintains a full-time pharmacy. It was one of the first stores in the area to offer bulk herbs with trained staff to answer questions about drug interactions. Staffers pride themselves on their expertise

in this area, because there are many possible interactions between herbs and supplements. “People think if it’s an herb, it’s safe, but if you’re on lots of medications, you really need to be careful. You’re not just eating a salad,” says pharmacist Richard Kilmer. While both locations provide similar services and products, Community Pharmacy-west is still figuring out what will be in high demand in the new store. “Anything that’s downtown we can bring out here,” says Nikolaus. Stocked are a wealth of vitamins, supplements and herbs, as well as organic skin and body care products including lotion, moisturizer and hand soap from such brands as Burt’s Bees,

Dr. Bronner’s, Alaffia and EO. Natural makeup products from Mineral Fusion are available, as is a selection of men’s shaving products from Dr. Bronner’s, Badger and Kiss My Face, to name a few. And toothpaste — not only can you pick up organic brands like Tom’s of Maine, Nature’s Gate and Desert Essence, but Crest is here, too. An entire section is dedicated to mothers and children, with natural remedies for everything from difficult breastfeeding to teething to fevers and tummy aches. Again, there are also some “old standbys” here, like Motrin. With the store’s large selection of organic products shelved next to non-organic brands, “we have a foot in both worlds,” says Kilmer. n

COMMUNITY PHARMACY–WEST n 6333 University Ave., Middleton n Noon-7 pm Mon.-Fri., 10 am-5 pm Sat. n 608-310-5390

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 24–JANUARY 6, 2016

Let it glow, let it glow, let it glow

This New Year’s Eve, why be content with ordinary tableware? Almost everything you need to set the table at your party is available in glowing, lit and even flashing versions. Yes, from martini glasses to champagne glasses. And the ice cubes in them. Even those eyeglass frames shaped like the numerals 2016 light up and flash. Which should really help that first 2016 headache on New Year’s Day.

Ice cubes and martini glasses from LIGHTGOD.COM Glasses from GLOWSOURCE.COM

MADISON WISCONSIN INSTITUTES FOR THE HEALING OF RACISM, INC.

COMBATING RACIAL CONDITIONING with love, compassion, fearlessness, intervention, non-vindictiveness, forgiveness and action The mission of this series is to raise consciousness about the history and pathology of racism and help heal racism in individuals, communities, and institutions in Madison. In this series, we work cooperatively to educate ourselves about the disease of racism through facilitated and voluntary sharing.

PLEASE COME WITH AN OPEN MIND AND OPEN HEART

W I N T E R 20 1 6 S E R I E S