Isthmus: Dec 8-14, 2016 by Isthmus

DECEMBER 8-14, 2016

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VOL. 41 NO. 49

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MADISON, WISCONSIN

MAKING A SCENE

Johannes Wallmann spreads the gospel of jazz

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■ CONTENTS

■ WHAT TO DO

5 SNAPSHOT

A SONG FOR WINTER

Putting on the annual folk show to benefit Second Harvest is tougher than it looks.

6-10 NEWS

OPENING SALVO?

The 2019 mayor’s race may already be affecting city politics.

CRAIG JOHNSON

CHRIS ROBERTS

STAGE CHRIS ROBERTS is a full-time freelance artist who uses mixed media and found objects to, as he says, “create his visual nonsense.” He did the illustration for our interview with John Waters, who will be in Madison for his one-man Christmas show at the Barrymore. “John Waters is not a Santa Claus kind of guy,” says Roberts. “He’s most definitely a Krampus kind of guy. Not sure if I gave Waters more power by making him Krampus, or Krampus more power by making him Waters. Probably the latter.”

STAGE THE WAY CRAIG JOHNSON sees it, there are good days and there are great days. “A good day is when you get to interview John Waters regarding Christmas,” he says. A great day, he adds, is when you stump the legendary director about a strange Spanish Christmas tradition called “el caganer.” Not familiar with it either? Look it up.

SLEEPYTIME

Kids need rest, but delaying middle school bells would cost Madison big bucks.

12 TECH

HARVESTING FOOTSTEPS

Buildings may one day be powered by people walking over their floor panels.

14 OPINION

DIVIDED WE FALL

Support for voucher schools is a threat to community.

17 COVER STORY

Sound and vision

ALL THAT JAZZ

Johannes Wallmann expands the UW’s musical landscape.

Friday, Dec. 9, UW Discovery Building, 7:30 pm

25-27 FOOD & DRINK

WORK IN PROGRESS

Angkor Wat shows promise but tweaks are in order.

28 SPORTS

BADGER BEAT

Women’s volleyball soars, while women’s basketball, men’s hockey struggle.

It’s not surprising that scientists study and explore vision, but musicians? Learn more at December’s installment of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation’s SoundWaves series. “The Vision Thing: Putting It Into Perspective” will look at how our eyes and brains work together to interpret the world. Music on the theme is by pianist Christopher Taylor and series curator Daniel Grabois.

In harmony

23, 30 STAGE

JOHN WATERS XXX-MAS

The auteur shares his love for holiday kitsch.

JANE BURNS

COVER STORY JANE BURNS grew up around jazz and swing music. Her Uncle Bob was a saxophoneplaying big band leader (the Bob Burns Band) in southwest Wisconsin for decades, including, she says, when big band was a big deal. She was an “unremarkable” trumpet player herself in high school and college, but continued to be a jazz fan. In talking to fellow fans in recent years, one name always came up in conversation: Johannes Wallmann.

31 MUSIC

WARRIOR SONGS

A new album compiles stories and songs from U.S. vets.

32-33 SCREENS

TOUGH AS NAILS

Jessica Chastain plays a ruthless lobbyist in Miss Sloane.

40 EMPHASIS

NEW, NEW GLARUS

Hutch + Hide brings a different aesthetic to Swiss town.

MADISON MATRIX WEEK IN REVIEW THIS MODERN WORLD FEEDBACK OFF THE SQUARE

34 41 41 42 43

“Bar food, bar none” was the headline on the 1995 Isthmus restaurant review of Atwood Avenue’s storied Harmony Bar. Chef Phil Ladwig has been the man behind the tavern’s delectable specials for the last two decades, but has been unable to work recently due to health issues. A group of local musicians is throwing a benefit concert for Ladwig. The band includes Karen Hein and James Lutz — recently returned to Madison from Austin, Texas — with Frankie Lee and Kenny Koeppler, fronted by guest singers Chuck Bayuk, Kristy Larson, Shari Davis and Tony Kannen.

Looking south

IN EVERY ISSUE 9 9 14 15 15

Thursday, Dec. 8, Harmony Bar, 6 pm

ISTHMUS PICKS CLASSIFIEDS P.S. MUELLER CROSSWORD 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 STAFF WRITERS Dylan Brogan, Allison Geyer EDITORIAL INTERN Elisa Wiseman CALENDAR EDITOR Bob Koch ART DIRECTOR Carolyn Fath STAFF ARTISTS Todd Hubler, David Michael Miller, Tommy Washbush

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 • © 2016 Red Card Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

Madison College continues to refine both its facilities and programming, with a new west campus location opening on Excelsior Drive in January. The college board is also exploring expanded service for south Madison, and is hosting community forums to discuss the process. Learn more about plans for academic programs and student services, and let administrators know what programs and services are most needed as part of the South Campus expansion.

Santa buzz Friday, Dec. 9, Madison Children’s Museum, 6-10 pm

Adult Swim returns with “Craft on Tap,” an evening of local beers and wine, pizza and appetizers, and craft activities for ages 21 and up. Visit various craft stations, help create a giant piñta, learn to brew beer, shop a craft bazaar or just chill to music by No Name String Band and DJ Spin Cycle. Tickets are $15 at the door.

FIND MORE ISTHMUS PICKS ON PAGE 34

DECEMBER 8–14, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

CONTRIBUTORS John W. Barker, Kenneth Burns, Dave Cieslewicz, Nathan J. Comp, Aaron R. Conklin, Ruth Conniff, Michael Cummins, Marc Eisen, Erik Gunn, Mike Ivey, Bob Jacobson, Seth Jovaag, Stu Levitan, Bill Lueders, Liz Merfeld, Andy Moore, Bruce Murphy, Kyle Nabilcy, Kate Newton, Jenny Peek, Michael Popke, Steven Potter, Adam Powell, Katie Reiser, Jay Rath, Gwendolyn Rice, Dean Robbins, Robin Shepard, Sandy Tabachnick, Denise Thornton, Candice Wagener, Tom Whitcomb, Rosemary Zurlo-Cuva ADVERTISING PRODUCTION MANAGER Todd Hubler ADVERTISING MANAGER Chad Hopper ADVERTISING ASSISTANT Laura Miller ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES Lindsey Bushart, Peggy Elath, Lauren Isely WEB ANALYST Jeri Casper CIRCULATION MANAGER Tim Henrekin MARKETING DIRECTOR Chris Winterhack EVENT DIRECTORS Kathleen Andreoni, Courtney Lovas CONTROLLER Halle Mulford OFFICE MANAGER Julie Butler SYSTEMS MANAGER Thom Jones ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Carla Dawkins

Friday, Dec. 9, Urban League; Wednesday, Dec. 14, Latino Academy of Workforce Development; both 5:30 pm

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Folk family reunion BY ANDY MOORE n PHOTO BY BRETT STEPANIK Musicians in the show: “Who has an off-stage tunThe song mixes a total 28 er to bring?” of 10 lead vocalists inside “Who can help decorate at a structure of tempo shifts Tuning pedals on stage: 12:30?” and a brief, colossal key 5 Hands pop up around the change toward the end. Meals served, money circle, as Vogelzang checks The first try is rocky as cues raised in 2014: items off her massive list. The are missed and a cappella 30,252 MEALS, $10,010 circle is a who’s who of Madiphrases are soft and unson folkies. There’s songwriter certain. The key change is Meal served, money Nick Brown, who just got back navigated on bells by Otteraised in 2015: from the West Coast himself. son, who forgot his mallet 39,776 MEALS, $13,203 Corey Mathew Hart and Paul and uses a ballpoint pen to Mitch, aka Lost Lakes, who strike the notes. just released a new album recorded in this “Again,” says Vogelzang after the second practice space. Whitney Mann listens intent- try. There will be several more tries before ly. She’ll front her supergroup “Love High” the night is over. Saturday. And there’s also me, who will per- The nervous focus in the room is beform in the show and serve as emcee. cause the musicians have a lot of show to From out of nowhere someone slides a big perform with little time to spare. The audicardboard box in front of Vogelzang. “Oh — ence, as in year’s past, will feel the “flying there it is!” she says, plucking a strand of silver without a net” thrill when the show comes garland from a nest of colorful decorations. together Saturday. More instructions, pleas for help to set up Sat- “There are so, so many moving parts,” urday, and then finally, rehearsal begins. Vogelzang says after practice. “There are just The program’s centerpiece, a holiday so many plates in the air, so just having one opus penned by Vogelzang with collabora- fall is the fear. It’s not specific. It’s ‘the fear.’” tion from, among others, Faux Fawn’s Paul “The night of — and the nights after — Otteson, is the show’s birthname, “Winter- Wintersong always feel like the highest high,” song.” The song will start the show Saturday. she adds. “What is better than doing good It’s a tricky piece — as much a one-act play for your larger community while being suras a simple holiday tune. rounded by your immediate community?” n

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Anna Vogelzang is a talented folk musician, but she could have been a CEO. That is evident as she doles out instructions to 25 of her friends gathered for rehearsal Monday night. Just a couple days back in town from her new home in L.A., Vogelzang has already spent many hours on the West Coast preparing for the annual Second Harvest benefit called Wintersong. But this is show week, and there’s no substitute for organization on the spot, especially when it comes to managing nearly a dozen separate bands that will take the stage at the Barrymore the night of Dec. 10 to make music for meals. It’s more than volunteer work. It’s a folk family reunion. Many of the artists have been with the annual benefit from its start in 2012. Due to busy schedules, they don’t see much of one another all year. So, as people arrive to the rehearsal space, shouts and cheers ring through the old east-side warehouse even before an instrument is plugged in. But Vogelzang tries to keep them focused on the show. “If you have a pedal, bring a cable!” she yells while kneeling over her notes. “Bring your own cord!” Watching Vogelzang work the room, it’s clear she also could have made a hell of a middle school teacher. “Who has the small Christmas tree from last year?”

■ NEWS

Diversity drama Soglin and Cheeks spar over how to improve climate for city employees BY DYLAN BROGAN

During this year’s debate over the city budget, Ald. Maurice Cheeks blamed Mayor Paul Soglin for a lack of diversity among city staff. Cheeks pointed to a recent survey of employees that shows, five years into Soglin’s current tenure, “the culture still isn’t what it needs to be.” “I appreciate the position the mayor is in. It’s his job to be protective of the staff,” said Cheeks at the Nov. 15 budget meeting. “It’s not a comfortable thing to say our culture doesn’t work. Particularly when we know that culture starts from the top down in any organization.” The survey, conducted by the city’s Multicultural Affairs Committee and released in May, found that 60 percent of African American employees said they were treated differently by co-workers because of their race. Nearly a third of Hispanic employees also said race affected how they were treated. One employee described diversity at city hall this way: “We’ve got two kinds of city employees: German and Scandinavian.” Cheeks and Ald. Sara Eskrich offered an amendment to the $300 million operating bud-

get, cutting funding for a study on how the city can recruit and retain a diverse workerforce. This week, Soglin accused Cheeks — who is rumored to be considering a run for mayor — with playing politics and thwarting attempts to address disparities in axing his proposed $100,000 study. “We’ve seen once again that the 2019 mayor’s race and personal political ambition is more important for some people than real, substantive steps to fix a problem,” the mayor says. The funding Cheeks and Eskrich cut would have paid for an independent review of the city’s policies to improve diversity in recruiting and hiring practices as well as best practices in employee retention. The mayor credits the Madison Police Department with doing a “pretty good job” of recruiting a diverse workforce but says other city agencies lag. “I want to know if there are folks out there who have ideas on how we can do better. Better in terms of how we recruit. Better in terms of how we retain. This may mean looking at how we advertise but also how we write our job descriptions,” says Soglin. “We’ve been relying on our own talent for years in this area. I thought, given what’s at stake here, it was worth a one-time investment of $100,000.”

Mayor Soglin (le ) knocks Ald. Cheeks for being motivated by “political ambition,” but Cheeks says his actions have “nothing to do with politics.”

The council voted 12-6 to reduce funding for the review by $90,000 and change how it will be conducted. The remaining $10,000 will be used by staff to evaluate “current policies, and identification of national best practices that could be incorporated.” The amendment also calls for using the expertise of the Government Alliance on Racial Equity — a national network of local governments (including Madison) working toward racial equity — to give feedback on the internal review of the city’s human resources policies. Cheeks plans to introduce a resolution in January to clarify the objectives of the internal review of the city’s hiring process, with steps on moving forward. He calls the mayor’s proposal vague. “There frankly wasn’t clarity about what that $100,000 would be used for,” says Cheeks. “I hope that the mayor is willing to set aside political concerns and work together with me and the rest of the council.” The mayor says the “feedback” Cheeks is counting on from the Government Alli-

ance on Racial Equity is “total nonsense,” adding that the organization doesn’t have the capacity to do what Cheeks is asking. “They never talked to Julie Nelson,” says Soglin, referring to the director of the Government Alliance on Racial Equity. “This is not in [the organization’s] wheelhouse.” Nelson confirms that the Government Alliance on Racial Equity has not been contacted about this issue and would need to know more details about the request. But the organization has assisted other municipalities with internal reviews. Soglin says Cheeks and Eskrich’s amendment on his study proposal shows the “shallowness of their commitment to equity in hiring.” But Cheeks says it’s “not responsible” to call the issue political. Neither he nor Soglin will confirm or deny whether they are running for mayor in 2019. “This has nothing to do with politics,” says Cheeks. “This is about our responsibility to be responsive to the needs of our staff.” ■

Help Bodhi Beat Cancer Three-year-old Bodhi will spend part of the holiday season getting chemotherapy to treat his leukemia. You can help Madison-area kids like Bodhi by supporting UW’s campaign to end childhood cancer.

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n NEWS

Madison musician survives Oakland blaze Joel Shanahan, aka Golden Donna, cuts short West Coast tour after tragedy BY ALLISON GEYER

Madison musician Joel Shanahan had to “helplessly watch from across the street” as the Oakland, California, warehouse where he was supposed to be performing went up in flames Friday night. “I’m alive,” Shanahan told Isthmus reporter Allison Geyer in a Facebook message Saturday. “Far from okay.” Shanahan is Geyer’s roommate and close friend. Shanahan, 33, who goes by the stage name Golden Donna, had recently set out on a monthlong West Coast tour organized in part by his record label, 100% Silk. He was to perform at the warehouse, which doubled as an artists’ space called the Oakland Ghost Ship, along with labelmates Cherushii, Nackt and three other independent dance music artists. The location of the all-night concert was announced on Facebook hours before the party. Early media reports confirmed nine people had died in the fire, but dozens more were unaccounted for in the chaotic aftermath. According to CNN, most of the dead were on the second floor of the warehouse. The only way to descend was a “makeshift, rickety stair-

way made from pallets and other materials.” By Monday, the death toll had climbed to 36, and by Tuesday, all but one of the victims had been identified. Officials believe a refrigerator might have started the blaze, which is the nation’s deadliest building fire in more than a decade. Legal experts told the Los Angeles Times that criminal charges could be filed against the Ghost Ship property owner and the man who leased the building and allegedly sublet it to others. Members of the artists’ collective were living in the warehouse, in violation of city codes. Other potential lawsuit targets could include “any contractors, engineers and architects who worked on the site over the years; the city of Oakland; promoters of the musical event held the night of the fire and possibly even manufacturers of items inside the building that may have sparked or contributed to the blaze.” For Sarah Akawa, an independent Madison event promoter, news of the Ghost Ship fire came as a sobering shock. Akawa co-founded a series of dance parties for queer-identifying people and people of color. Though she often works with established venues, she prefers to plan and party in DIY spaces similar to the Ghost Ship — spaces that may be unregulated or unsanctioned for such

Joel Shanahan is a DJ and electronic musician who performs under the name Golden Donna.

gatherings. “This [fire] is a huge wake-up call for society,” she says. While some have cast blame on the Ghost Ship artists for choosing to live and work in an unsafe space and on partygoers for choosing to attend an underground music event, Akawa

says the real culprits are things like income inequality, scarce affordable housing and a lack of support for the arts. “[People] resort to [using underground spaces] because they don’t want to participate in capitalism and patriarchal structures,” she says. “We should be able to create these philosophical ‘safer spaces’ in a physically safe space.” Shanahan is a familiar face and beloved member of the Madison music scene, memorable for his large stature, signature driving cap and kindness. Originally from Stevens Point, he later moved to Madison, where he started making music as Golden Donna in 2009. He relocated to Portland, Oregon, about 18 months ago, but returned to Madison in September. For the last few months he has been DJing at places like Tavernakaya, Natt Spil, Liquid and Opus Lounge and preparing for his tour, which was to be his final as Golden Donna. He was looking forward to playing shows and visiting friends in the Bay Area and elsewhere, but after the Oakland tragedy, he’s cutting his tour short. “I’ll be home soon,” he said Saturday morning. “My heart is just broken.” n

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■ WEEK IN REVIEW

■ MADISON MATRIX

FRIDAY, DEC. 2

BIG CITY

■ A federal judge denies

a request from Donald Trump supporters to halt Wisconsin’s presidential election recount. A proTrump super PAC had filed a lawsuit arguing that the recount is unconstitutional and “may unjustifiably cast doubt upon the legitimacy of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s victory.”

MONDAY, DEC. 5 ■ The City-County Home-

less Issues Committee unanimously endorses a revised version of a controversial proposal to eliminate panhandling on medians and terraces of major streets. The proposal would apply to 85 of the area’s busiest streets, where the old version applied to all streets. ■ UW-Madison officials propose a plan to increase tuition for out-of-state students by $4,000 over the next two years and raise costs

Want to see the Wisconsin Badgers take on Western Michigan in the Cotton Bowl? Tickets are going for as little as $6 on sites like StubHub. Prices are likely low because No. 15 WMU, though undefeated, lacks the draw of a Power 5 conference team. But hey, it’s still a New Year’s Big Six bowl game. for professional schools by about 10 percent or more annually. The hike would raise $13.7 million in revenue, which the university would use to hire faculty, pay for classroom technology and offset state funding cuts.

■ The Madison Common

Council approves spending $1.57 million on a new permanent supportive housing project for the homeless. The $10.9 million project proposed by Chicago-based Heartland Housing for 1202 S. Park St. would provide 63 units to single homeless adults and couples.

TUESDAY, DEC. 6 ■ The UW-Madison Law

School notifies 1,213 former applicants from 2005-2006 that they could be at risk for identity theft after hackers accessed a university database last month. The breach happened around Nov. 3, and the UW Police Department has identified a potential hacker, who lives out of state.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 7 ■ The Wisconsin presi-

dential recount is turning out to be good news for Trump. Hillary Clinton gains 492 votes compared to Trump’s 410, but that’s just a tiny fraction of his 22,177-vote win. Also no reports of voter fraud or voting machine malfunction.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos takes a bumpy ride in an ambulance to illustrate just how bad Wisconsin roads have gotten amid GOP infighting on transportation funding. SURPRISING

PREDICTABLE

A team from UW-Madison is competing in Elon Musk’s SpaceX Hyperloop design competition. The Badgerloop crew has designed and built a pod that levitates its passengers through an above-ground vacuum tube at a speed of 200 mph. A fundraiser to help B-Side Records owner Steve Manley, who is sidelined after breaking multiple bones in a bicycling accident, raises more than $18,000 in just one day — three times the amount requested. Get well soon, Steve. SMALL TOWN

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Wake up! Kids need sleep but it will cost Madison a lot to delay middle school bells BY JENNY PEEK

For the past year and a half, school board member TJ Mertz has been urging the Madison school board to delay middle school start times beyond the current 7:35 a.m. After months of prodding, the issue finally made its way onto the board’s Dec. 5 agenda. Mertz and others argue that research shows children of middle school age need more sleep. In August 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a policy statement recognizing lack of sleep as a public health issue that significantly affects the safety and academic success of students in both middle and high school. The group urged that school start times be no earlier than 8:30 a.m., allowing for 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep. Complicating matters is that biological sleep patterns naturally begin shifting at that age, making it difficult for young teens to fall asleep before 11 p.m. Karen Kepler, chief of school operations, updated the board on the progress of a small team formed in September to explore the possibility, and plausibility, of changing middle school start times.

The team surveyed nearly 10,000 parents, students and staff, asking a range of questions to understand the impact the change would have. “We wanted to lead the charge on whether or not our community was ready for later start times,” Kepler told the board. “Our community is pretty ready for it.” Of the 10,000 people who responded to the survey, 78 percent of parents, 71 percent of staff and 75 percent of students believe later start times would have a positive or neutral impact on their morning routines. But the change would be costly. “Without changing elementary or high school start times, changing all middle schools to a later start time would require approximately 50 to 55 additional bus routes, which would be an increase of $2 million per year,” Kepler told the board. Madison schools reduce the cost of transportation by staggering early and late bus routes across middle and high schools. A later middle school start time would eliminate that ability. Kepler recommended the district do a pilot year with one middle school moving to a later start time to fully understand the logistics needed to go district-wide. But the board did not

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take any action after the informal discussion. It is scheduled to consider the matter again in March. The $2 million price tag surprised some of the board members. Mary Burke, board vice president, was unconvinced of the need. “I have to be honest, I am just incredibly skeptical that this is worth our time,” Burke said. “If we are anywhere close to a price tag of $2 million a year, it would be one of the lowest priorities I would have.” Burke urged the group to delay the pilot until it is able to indicate that later start times really do improve student health, and until it finds a way to make the program

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cost-neutral. “Unless we’re serious about this, I wouldn’t do it, because there’s no going back,” said Burke. Superintendent Jennifer Cheatham confirmed that research shows that early start times do affect student health, but noted the district has other initiatives and expenses to meet. “If it’s going to cost $2 million or whatever it ends up being, when you think of all of the things that we want to do, we have to think about what is the most important or what is at the top of the list,” Cheatham said. “But, I have a feeling that parents are going to say that if we can pull it off, we should do it.” n

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Foot power

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UW researchers develop floor panels that can generate electricity BY DOUG HANSMANN & DENISE THORNTON

While solar and wind power continue to make clean-energy inroads into fueling our electric grid, both rely on favorable weather conditions to make their contribution. Now, a UW research team is developing an electricitygenerating technology that could work rain or shine, breezy or calm. The simple act of people walking across floors embedded with treated wood fiber may one day make it possible for pedestrians to light their own walkway. Xudong Wang, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at UWMadison, his graduate student Chunhua Yao and his collaborator Zhiyong Can at the U.S. Forest Products Lab, neighboring the UW campus, are perfecting a way to turn tiny cellulose fibers in wood pulp into a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) that can harvest electricity from the environment. The process involves chemically treating wood pulp fibers and creating thin neighboring layers in flooring that have different electric charges.

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Wang’s team is at the cutting edge of a hot new green energy field, where waste energy is scavenged from human and manmade sources that exist all around us. Wang’s TENG technology makes an affordable connection between sites rich in human activity and his patented coated wood pulp nano fibers. Wang has been working on the environmental mechanical energy harvesting concept since graduate school. “This kind of research attracts SHEPHANIE PRECOURT / UW ENGINEERING many people because we all can see hallways in malls, transportation terminals and how our work can benefit humanity,” says Wang. stadiums. Right now, Wang says, his nanogenWang’s plans include placing an educationerators can produce a few milliwatts per step. A al prototype of his power floor in a high-traffic milliwatt is 1/1,000 of a watt. A typical laser point- campus location to demonstrate its effectiveness er outputs about five milliwatts of light power. and durability. “Used in the home, it might only power Lab tests have shown that the electricity-gena night light, but if we put a piece of this ma- erating reaction can perform for millions of cycles. terial in front of each seat in Camp Randall,” “We haven’t converted those numbers into years says Wang, “and everyone stood up to cheer, of service life for a floor yet,” says Wang, “but I that could power a hundred of the high-energy think with appropriate design, it can definitely outlights in the stadium.” last the lifespan of the floorboards themselves.” ■

MMoCA Nights Opening Reception reconfigured reality c o n t e m p o r a ry p h oto g r a p h y f r o m the permanent collection

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n OPINION

The greater good Progressives need to push back against cynical individualism BY RUTH CONNIFF Ruth Conniff is editor of The Progressive.

The overarching theme of politics in the Donald Trump era is live-and-let-die individualism versus community. And those of us who care about community are in for a hell of a fight. Not only did Trump divide and conquer working-class voters with an explicitly racist and misogynist campaign, his cabinet appointments so far are focused on tearing our country apart. Dismantling health care and education are two top priorities as the Trump administration takes shape. Phony “free-market” ideology is on the rise. It’s every man for himself. Get ready for “choice” among high-cost private health insurance bureaucracies, with less regulation and no protection when you get really sick. Despite the campaign hype about For progressives, the real challenge is to “draining the swamp” of Wall Street lobbyists push back against a vision of society that says in Washington, get ready for a Wall Street- kids should only get as much health care, friendly administration, with a Goldman Sachs education and opportunity as their parents November 24 alum in charge of the Treasury Department can afford. Nowhere is the tension between and billionaire “king of bankruptcy” Wilbur individualism and community more apparent Ross as the Commerce secretary. than on the issue of school vouchers. The potential for self-dealing by a presi- Vouchers are the special cause of Trump’s dent who appears ready to use his office to pick for secretary of Education, Betsy Deenhance his own private business empire is Vos. They siphon public money into private breathtaking. Even Trump’s much-touted schools and are the leading edge of the deinfrastructure plan turns out to be a scam struction of civil society. involving huge tax cuts for private compa- We know a thing or two about DeVos, and nies, as opposed to a big push for public about school vouchers, here in Wisconsin. investment. And buckle your seatbelt for a DeVos heads the group American Federanational push for the most outrageous rip- tion for Children, which has been a big supoff scheme of all — school vouchers. porter of Gov. Scott Walker, Republican legis There has been a lot of talk lately about lators, and the school voucher expansion in fractious left-wing “identity politics” and our state. whether being too “politically correct” cost Back in 2012, Dan Bice of the Milwaukee the election for Democrats. It’s true that Journal Sentinel got hold of the American Anticlastic forging in silver and gold progressives need to pull together. But an Federation for Children’s “Election Impact argument about “identity politics” is the last Report,” which featured charming photos of thing we need right now. LatinoWI kids, as 608.257.2627 though these kids 1306 Regentblack Street,and Madison, 53715 Let the right-wing talkers rail against were the beneficiaries of the group’s lobbying “political correctness” (get ready for “War work. Talk about “identity politics.” There was on Christmas” season). absolutely no connection between the wellbe-

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ing of those smiling kids and the right-wing, budget-slashing politicians American Federation for Children supports, who are busy eliminating funds for public schools and, at the December 1 dollars to privatesame time, redirecting tax school families. When former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson started the nation’s first privateschool voucher program in Milwaukee in 1990, the plan deliberately pitted African American parents who wanted to get their kids out of crumbling schools against teachers unions, civil libertarians and public-school advocates

who objected to sending tax money to private and religious schools. Nearly three decades later, vouchers have not proven to be a ticket out for poor kids of color. Voucher students in Milwaukee have lower test scores in reading and math than their public-school peers. Tax dollars are going to teach creationism in voucher-funded religious schools. Fly-by-night voucher schools have popped up in corner stores and rundown strip malls to take advantage of schoolvoucher money in Wisconsin. When the state expanded Milwaukee’s voucher program to the city of Racine, half of all new voucher recipients were students who had never attended public school at all. Forget the school privatizers’ misleading catchphrase, that school choice is “the civil rights issue of our time.” The real question is whether we will continue to have public schools, or a pay-as-you-go system that means you get the education you can afford. This educational dystopia is the plan DeVos would like to take nationwide. And it is part of a broader vision that is deeply destructive of our common interests. Trump is a huckster, and his administration is determined to enrich other hucksters at the public’s expense. It’s time to come together around our progressive vision of a better way of life, for our kids and for our country as a whole. n

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■ FEEDBACK

Drugs and war “Opiate addiction is so prevalent right now it is affecting every part of the criminal justice system,” says Michael Short in “County Expands Opioid Deferment Program,” (12/1/16). This and many other stories over the last several years suggest to me that there’s an opening for some in-depth, investigative journalism about the spread of opiates in America. Old-timers will recall how, during the Vietnam War, the flow of heroin (primarily to urban ghettoes) increased dramatically — CIA involvement was later proven, among other factors; as Vietnam ended and U.S. (covert) military interest shifted to Latin America, heroin supply decreased while cocaine became abundant, finally reaching its apotheosis in the crack storms of the inner cities and the powdered noses of the affluent. Now, we’re in a different sort of conflict — the war of the 1% against everyone else. Apart from Trump’s snake oil, hope is in short supply across a broad swath of the nation, from cities to farms. And lo and behold, heroin — and a slew of synthetic opioids — are swamping the market everywhere. You get the idea: Perhaps this everincreasing flood of opioids is serving someone’s purpose. As the heroin flood of the late ’60s helped flummox the Black Power movement, as the flood of coke from the ’70s on culminated in the near-destruction of a generation of inner-city youth by crack

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— well, you can guess what (and whose) purpose it might serve to pour a tide of addiction and oblivion on the restive masses. Government and corporate involvement have long since been shown in the ’60s heroin trade and the subsequent cocaine trade from Latin America. Global economic policies have enabled the Mexican (and other) narcocartels, while the pharmaceutical industry has busied itself producing synthetic opiates. The Sanders and Trump campaigns show the spread of rage against the existing order — I don’t think it’s just paranoid to suppose that said order would have deployed one of its proven tools of dividing and conquering in a slightly updated version. I do think that some “follow[ing] the money,” not to mention the drugs, would be quite revealing. Thomas Mackey (via email)

Corrections An article in the Dec. 1 issue of Isthmus, “Jackpot,” gave the incorrect first name of Madison Avenue’s CEO, Sara Rahn. The article also incorrectly stated the payment arrangement Human Head Studios had for creating the casino game, Danger Arena. The company does not receive a percentage of unit sales, but was paid on a work-for-hire basis. In Jay Rath’s story in the same issue, “Will the Bells Still Toll?” Steve Wagner’s title was incorrect. He is the communications director of UW Facilities Planning & Management.

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.

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■ COVER STORY

By Jane Burns

MAKING A SCENE

Johannes Wallmann spreads the gospel of jazz

ohannes Wallmann remembers the day he found his people. He was four hours from his home, a high school piano

player with a German accent on a bus in Vancouver filled with honors band students from all over the region. The province’s largest city had a jazz radio station, and the young musicians were transfixed. “Someone would say, ‘Is that Dexter Gordon? It sounds like Dexter Gordon,’” Wallmann recalls. “We’d try to guess who the different players were based on their sound, and then the announcer would come on and say, ‘That’s Dexter Gordon from One Flight Up,’ and you think, ‘Nobody at my high school would have known who that was.’ “But then you get to college, and the other kids who know, they are all there.” Decades later, sharing that sense of belonging is a big part of the mission for Wallmann, the dynamic director of jazz studies at UW-Madison. In the five years he’s been leading the rejuvenated jazz program at UW’s Mead Witter School of Music, Wallmann has been connecting jazz to the city and state while also bringing together those who play the music or just plain love it. in terms of the Wisconsin Idea, the way he’s reached out to the community,” says Susan Cook,

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HANNAH O L SO N

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n COVER STORY

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 8–14, 2016

Wallmann with Susan and Jonathan Lipp and 2016 jazz studies scholarship recipient Robert Medina (from left).

director of the School of Music. “He’s kept us honest about what we need to do to be a 21st-century school of music.” Wallman, 42, arrived on campus in 2012, tasked with reviving a dormant program. Under his watch, the university has joined most of the rest of the Big Ten in offering a jazz studies major. However, the impact of the German-born, Canada-raised pianist and composer goes beyond the concrete confines of the Mosse Humanities Building. He has helped create playing and teaching opportunities for Madison-area musicians and connected with high schools in the state. He serves on the board of the Greater Madison Jazz Consortium, performs locally, and sometimes is just a guy in the audience listening to jazz. He also pushes boundaries with his own music — his latest collaboration is with a local DJ. “Any place that has jazz, you’ll see him,” says Susan Lipp, co-owner of Full Compass Systems and a UW supporter who helped steward the $1 million gift that endowed Wallmann’s position. “We’re really lucky we got him. Really lucky.” Wallmann’s connections to the community go beyond music. He and his husband, Keith Borden, were one of the couples in the ACLU lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. And in his one big passion away from music, he’s a team captain in the Madison Gay Hockey Association. Making connections is just what Wallmann does, says his friend Patrick Farabaugh, who has known him for 15 years since they both lived in New York. “I don’t think his level of engagement is unique to Madison,” says Farabaugh, founder and publisher of Our Lives magazine and founder of the hockey league. “This is what he was like in New York, too.” By bringing more jazz to the university and beyond, Wallmann hopes to promote the notion that jazz isn’t just about the past,

with its storied history and legendary names. It’s now also about highly trained musicians pushing the boundaries of the genre. “Look up any end-of-the-year Top 10 list on NPR, Downbeat or The New York Times, and listen to what this generation of 20- and 30-somethings are up to, it’ll blow your mind,” Wallmann says. “We want to prepare our students to be part of that.”

ALLMANN STARTED PLAYING

piano at age 6 with a mild enthusiasm for his 30-minute lessons. When he was 12, his parents separated, and he moved with his mother from Germany to Vancouver Island. Shortly after, while waiting for a piano lesson, music coming from some college kids’ boombox caught his attention. It might have been the ’80s, but it wasn’t Wang Chung. “I’d never heard anything like it; it blew my mind,” Wallmann says. “I worked up the courage to ask what the music was, and one of the guys says, ‘Man, it’s Miles Davis.’” The next day, he asked his mom to drive him to the record store so he could look for a Miles Davis record. He bought two with cool covers, later moved on to John Coltrane and Charlie Parker and eventually to pianists McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk and Oscar Peterson, one of Canada’s most celebrated musicians. “Within a couple weeks I knew that was the music I wanted to play and that was what I wanted to do with my life if I had the chance,” he says. Thirty minutes of practice turned into three hours a day trying to figure out how that music worked. He formed a quartet after school and began writing music for it. “Pretty soon I was saying to the bass player, ‘Try this’ or saying, ‘Try this’ to the drummer,” he says. “I chuckle because I’m

Conducting the Johannes Wallmann Brasstet, Jazz at Five.

basically doing now what I was doing when I was 15. Now I’m better, and I get paid for it, but it’s pretty much the same thing.” He attended Boston’s Berklee School of Music on a music scholarship, followed by grad school at New York University. The draw for New York was to play in the city, but he soon caught the teaching bug. “I thought, ‘With music, I’m pushing myself to do it the best I can, and if I’m going to teach, I should approach it the same way,’” says Wallmann, whose mother, Katharina Rout, is a literature professor at Vancouver Island University. “So I worked at becoming a great teacher.”

ATCHING WALLMANN ON STAGE

provides a window into his teaching. During a recent performance of the UW Jazz Orchestra at the Fredric March Play Circle, he directed the band with a spring in his step and a smile on his face. When there was a burst of beautiful sound, his arms shot up into the air — more like a high-five than a conducting move. When it was time for a solo, he disappeared to the side of the stage to give the spotlight to a young musician. “Johannes makes it very comfortable; it’s not intimidating,” says pianist Sam Moffet, a junior in the jazz studies program. “The first time I had a conversation with him he said, ‘First of all, call me Johannes. If we ever have a gig together it would be weird if you called me ‘Professor.’” At rehearsals, Wallmann moves among the players, offering gentle guidance to individuals as the music plays. “He’s having fun because the kids are having fun,” says Scott Eckel, the band director at West High School and director of the school’s Jazz West ensemble. “He can get a concept across without the kids even knowing they just learned something.”

“If Johannes is playing a nightclub or is in front of 25 students, it’s the same,” Eckel adds. “He’s got them in his hand.” Before moving to Wisconsin, Wallmann taught at Cal State East Bay, south of Oakland, where he created a jazz studies program and honed his particular skill set: He is a world-class musician who succeeded in New York, and he also has an understanding of how to navigate academia, which can sometimes be as tricky as a tune in 7/4 time. “Johannes’ mother is an academic, and I think it shows,” Cook says. “He knows how this kind of goofy situation works.” Wallmann first set foot in Madison in 2011 for a friend’s wedding. His friends took him to Jazz at Five at the top of State Street, where the Tony Castañeda Latin Jazz Band was playing. At the time, he had no idea that visit would be his introduction to a community he’d be asked to join just a year later. Jazz had been taught at UW-Madison for decades, but stopped being an option for a major after pianist Joan Wildman retired in 2002. Afterward, there were faculty members with jazz pedigrees — such as legendary bassist Richard Davis and saxophonist Les Thimmig — as well as a jazz orchestra under the direction of Jim Doherty. But participating in these ensembles was considered an extracurricular activity. Top jazz players in the state gravitated toward jazz studies programs at UW-Eau Claire or Lawrence University if they stayed in state. Supporters of jazz and the UW wanted more for the state’s flagship music school. They saw Big Ten schools such as Indiana University, which began its jazz studies program in 1968, continually showing up alongside elite private music schools in ratings for top jazz programs in the U.S. One of the people advocating for more jazz at UW was Full Compass’ Lipp. “I said, ‘Our university is desperately lacking. We

V L ADIMIR BRIK

As team captain, Madison Gay Hockey Association. have one of the best music schools in the country, and we have no jazz program, and that’s pretty sad.’” Lipp and other critics argued that the UW, in emphasizing European classical composers, didn’t do justice to what some have called “America’s one true original art form.” Performance majors were not getting a thorough grounding in styles they could make a living playing, and music education majors were not getting enough exposure to jazz, which serves as a foundation for rock, hip-hop and funk — forms that are popular with young musicians. “It is a music admired and celebrated worldwide and ought to have a central place in all American music education,” Wallmann says. The John and Carolyn Peterson Chair in Jazz was established to change course. Wallmann, intrigued by the offer from a flagship university and impressed that Madison had a gay hockey league, got the job and set about building a program.

MMEDIATELY, WALLMANN MADE

Wallmann also began making connections with local schools and musicians, recruiting players, not unlike what a football or basketball coach would do. The Class of 2018 will be the first to have a jazz studies major for all four years, and the next incoming class will have eight members, on par with a goal of six or seven per year. The music school averages about 70 incoming undergraduates a year. Wallmann also reached out to the greater community, and the school hired a who’s who of local jazz players as instructors: Nick Moran on bass, Louka Patenaude on guitar, Keith Lienert on drums and Eric Siereveld on trumpet. They joined Wallmann and saxophone professor Les Thimming in breaking down the walls between the local music scene and the academic players. “It was like an official invitation to be on the payroll,” says Moran, a UW-Madison alum and Madison native. “And Johannes has been really good about asking for our input on a wide range of things like recruiting or curriculum.” These relationships helped establish an annual festival in partnership with the Madison schools, held in early December. Wallmann also founded the UW Honors Jazz Band, which will bring top high school musicians from the region to rehearse and perform in Madison in April. Two years ago, the guest artist and clinician for the festival with Madison schools was internationally acclaimed trumpet player Ingrid Jensen. She’s known Wallman since his days in New York, where she is still based, and was amazed by what he had accomplished so quickly in Madison. “I’ve seen him turn into a force,” Jensen says. “I was surprised when I was there to see how quickly he has rallied the community and the students and the school. That is how you create a scene.” Shortly after arriving in Madison, Wallmann played every Saturday night at the

Fountain on State Street. He wasn’t out to prove anything or trying to make money; he was doing a musician’s version of networking. “I never expected anyone to turn down a $350 corporate gig, or a wedding or festival to play with me,” Wallmann says. “So the personnel would change from week to week. I got to know a lot of musicians that way.”

ALLMANN HAS RELEASED SIX

records, including two in 2015. One, The Town Musicians by the Johannes Wallmann Quintet, was an Editors’ Pick in Downbeat magazine. The other, Always Something by Wallmann and the Sweet Minute Big Band, featured 16 of the top players in the Madison area. It’s melodic jazz; a snippet of a Wallmann tune can be an earworm that stays in your head all day. “To the degree people enjoy my music, it’s because the melodies speak to them,” he

Catch Wallmann in action at “Behind the Beat with the UW Jazz Orchestra,” Dec. 16 at 5 p.m. at The Sett, Union South, 1308 W. Dayton St. Free admission.

RATAJ-BERARD

With husband Keith Borden.

says. “But it’s jazz, and part of jazz today is that there is a high degree of complexity in the music. The melody is the thing that is going to communicate with people, and the complexity comes in as people think, ‘Wait, what’s going on here?’” In his compositions, Wallmann tries to create freedom for the players to connect with each other. “Typically on each tune I’ll have one soloist for a longer time rather than three for a short time,” he says. “I’d rather have one person have a deeper conversation with the rhythm section.” It’s a style musicians can recognize, Moran says. “You listen to a composer and think, ‘Oh yeah, that’s so-and-so,’” he says. “Johannes definitely has that. It doesn’t matter if it’s a combo or a big band. I can hear a sound that is his.”

N 2014, WALLMANN AND BORDEN,

who were married in Canada in 2007, were asked to be part of the ACLU lawsuit against the state of Wisconsin over its constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. The couples in the suit all had different legal situations; Wallmann and Borden had lived legally as a married couple in Canada and California, but lost that status upon moving to Wisconsin. The couple agreed, knowing they were already comfortable being in the public eye — Wallmann as a teacher and musician, Borden as a singer and yoga instructor. “We started getting calls from local and national news writers and stations asking for our opinions and sound bites,” Wallmann says. “I’m sure there were some people who had no idea I was part of this because I just kept performing, composing, teaching and living my life.” ➡

DECEMBER 8–14, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

changes. First, he added ensembles. There had been two: the big band Jazz Orchestra and the Black Music Ensemble, directed by Davis until he retired in 2016. Now the school also has a Contemporary Jazz Ensemble, the Blue Note Ensemble, dedicated to the artists from the famed jazz label; Afro-Cuban and jazz standards ensembles; as well as a jazz composers group. Musicians now get credit for performing in them, and more music majors are participating. The jazz program is also a popular draw for dual majors. Moffet is double majoring in jazz studies and biochemistry. Another student combined jazz and engineering and designed a new saxophone mouthpiece, and yet another majored in athletic training, focusing on the physical challenges faced by musicians.

With Our Lives publisher Patrick Farabaugh.

Discover hundreds of shops and restaurants, many locally-owned. Enjoy a free trolley and carolers on State Street and the Square, Saturdays through December 17. Stop by the Downtown Visitor Center on State Street or Overture Center Info Table for maps, directions, and shopping and dining suggestions.

The Naledi Collection has a beauty that goes far beyond what the eye can see. Ethically sourced diamonds and exceptional quality make a great gift for a loved one this holiday.

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Sweet and flowery gifts aren’t everyone’s cup of tea—that’s why we carry a selection of skin-soothing, scentful gifts for those of more rugged sensibilities. We feature Badger Body Care, American Provenance, Merkur Razors as well as Veriditas Essentail Oils.

Community Pharmacy On State Street & Gorham • 608-251-3242 www.communitypharmacy.coop

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ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 8–14, 2016

Unique gifts inspired by our love of fried fish, cheese, and the great outdoors! See the whole Real Wisconsin line of shirts and other products.

Wisconsin Historical Museum 30 N. Carroll St., Madison, WI 1-888-999-1669 Special Holiday Hours Nov. 25-Dec. 30: Tue.-Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 11am-4pm, Closed Dec. 24 – 26 & 31 Go to shop.wisconsinhistory.org or visit us on the Capitol Square.

WISCONSIN BADGER ELF Our little 9.5” elf will add some Wisconsin Badger spirit to your holiday season! He is mischievous and helps Santa with his list, so make sure you are on your best behavior.

University Book Store 711 State Street • uwbookstore.com

EIN PROSIT! Collect your favorite beers & breweries with the cap trap wall display. Choose from Wisconsin or U.S.A wooden maps, & create your personalized atlas of beer. The perfect gift for the beer lover in your life!

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DECEMBER 8–14, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

A Room of One’s Own

The attention waned when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal on the ruling that declared the state’s ban to be unconstitutional. “In the end, we were honored to play a small part in it,” Wallmann says. He has no gauge for how being gay might have affected his professional life because he came out early in his career. But by living his life openly, Wallmann hopes he’s been able to be a role model in jazz. And he says it’s time for jazz to shed its masculine image. “It’s bizarre because we play this music that is about beauty,” he says. “But at the same time there’s this macho tough-guy quality to it that doesn’t seem all that relevant anymore.” Says Cook: “He has gone out of his way to bring in female performers to be role models. Students, particularly high school students, can see women on saxophone, trumpet, piano or drums. That shows that jazz isn’t a male-only enclave.” Wallmann is also sensitive to the difficulty musicians have making a living in Madison’s market. He won’t teach private lessons away from the university and he turns down piano-playing gigs at weddings or corporate events in order to ensure those opportunities go to working musicians in town. Wallmann says he has a university salary, and his focus is on performing his own music. He’s currently shopping for a label for a new work, Love Wins, inspired by the marriage equality trials in Wisconsin and nationwide. It’s a collaboration with Madison hip-hop artist Rob Dz and is targeted for a spring release. “There are some tunes with lyrics and a vocalist; those are departures for me,” he says. “Fundamentally it’s a jazz album, but it pushes the boundaries a little.” Pushing boundaries has worked well for Wallmann in his short time at UW. “I think he walks above the water,” says Lipp. “That program he is creating has grown from nothing. He could have gotten a job anywhere: New York, Los Angeles, around the world. He has friends who want him everywhere, and we have him.” n

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FOOD & DRI NK ■ SPORTS ■ STAG E ■ MUSIC ■ SCREENS

Weird, wonderful Waters Isthmus asks John Waters, “Why Christmas?” BY CRAIG JOHNSON ■ ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS ROBERTS

It was only a matter of time until Waters turned his spotlight on Christmas, a holiday that mixes sweaters, elves and the Son of God — all smothered in gobs of kitsch. Waters is bringing his monologue, A John Waters Christmas, to the Barrymore Theatre for the second year running on Dec. 16. If you are worried that this is a hatchet job on Santa, then you don’t know John Waters; He adores the holiday. Isthmus spoke to Waters about holiday movies, Christmas curses and old-school Madison radicalism. John Waters: [Whenever I go to Madison], I always think of the Weathermen.

The Weathermen, as in the activists? Yes. Didn’t you have a very radical campus in the ’60s? Yes, we had one of the most radical campuses: “Berkeley East.” That’s what I’m talking about. Today, people don’t even know what that means. I had a movie called Multiple Maniacs — it got re-released this year — and there’s a scene where this girl says “This is a Weatherman,” and people will say to me, “What do you mean? He was on the news?” It was like saying “the Sportscaster.” It really made me laugh, because kids don’t know what that means. And that’s too bad because all radical groups to me have been interesting.

Let’s talk about Christmas. Some people are surprised to learn that you’re doing a Christmas show. Why? Because I’m never mean, and I celebrate a lot of things that people hate, and a lot of people hate Christmas or they fear it. Or they have to go home to dysfunctional families, and there are other people, like myself, who have great experiences at Christmas. You just can’t escape Christmas. It’s coming at you, and there’s nothing you can do to escape it, so you might as well seize it and decide how you’re going to handle it, and that’s kind of what my show is about.

CONTINUE D ON PAGE 30

➡

DECEMBER 8–14, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

For more than 40 years, filmmaker, author and wit John Waters has illuminated the stranger corners of American life. His movies, including Hairspray, Serial Mom and the notorious Pink Flamingos (still shocking after all these years), are parades of freaks and outsiders, who find themselves trapped in a surrealistic suburban existence. In his nonfiction books — Crackpot, Shock Value and Carsick — Waters expresses wonderment at all the weirdness this country has to offer. His ongoing fascination with the more twisted aspects of our lives has earned him the titles “The Pope of Trash” and “Prince of Perversion.”

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Holiday in Cambodia Angkor Wat is a family-run joint worth rooting for BY ALLISON GEYER

Before my first visit to Angkor Wat, the new Cambodian restaurant on South Park Street, I did a bit of online reconnaissance to prepare. I don’t rely on sites like Yelp for guidance when writing about a restaurant — you can’t believe everything you read on the internet! — but sometimes it’s helpful to get a feel for what people are saying about a place. Right away I noticed something interesting. “I think Angkor Wat ‘deserves’ two stars based on my experience today, but I’m rooting for them, so I’m bumping up to a [three],” one kindly Yelper wrote. Another sympathetic soul agreed. “[T]his is a modestly inflated [three] star rating as I really want this brand-new place to get better.” This unusual display of generosity made me curious. Would Angkor Wat prove to be an unpolished gem? The answer to that question depends on the day. In fact, the spectrum of experiences one can have at Angkor Wat is almost impressive in its broadness — some dishes are unforgivably bland, while others are quite good. Service can range from hilariously bad to knowledgeable and attentive. Angkor Wat opened in mid-October at 602 S. Park St. in the former home of Inka Heritage. The restaurant, which specializes in Khmer (Cambodian) and Thai cuisine, closed down for a week amid a staffing shakeup and reopened in early November. Owner Thao Nuon was born in Cambodia but relocated to Madison in 1977 after fleeing the Khmer Rouge regime. The atmosphere of the restaurant is nice enough — white linen tablecloths, cloth napkins, plenty of windows framed by light pink curtains. The menu is expansive — a dozen or so appetizers, a handful of soups, a few curries, several noodle dishes, some clay pot entrees and much more. The restaurant is billed as Cambodian, but most dishes are Thai, though the cuisines are similar.

We start with an order of Thai laab, a type of meat salad that actually originated in Laos. It’s delicious — tender bits of minced beef flavored with lime, fish sauce, cilantro and red chilis. The dish is served cool, but the seasoning makes it satisfyingly sour and fiery hot. I was thankful for the slices of cucumber provided as a chaser. A plate of eight crab rangoons (the apex of Americanized Asian guilty pleasures) is quite tasty but light on crab and served with molten-hot premade sweet-and-sour sauce. Fresh spring rolls are stuffed with shrimp and pork, but the only flavors present are thanks to fresh herbs — mint, basil and cilantro. A side of peanut sauce helps. We also order the fried quail (mostly to see what it looks like) and find that it’s basically a hard-to-eat chicken wing, glazed in a boring brown sauce. The soups are among the few Cambodian dishes on the menu. A CAROLYN FATH server recommended ba baw, a hot, Khmer-style fried noodles come topped fragrant bowl of chicken and rice with a perfectly runny fried egg. topped with bean sprouts, fried garlic and lime. It was tasty, but rather basic. A more interesting Cambodian dish is bahn none of the complexity that the dish is faxeo, which translates to “sizzling cake.” Two thin mous for, and the beef flank and meatballs rice pancakes, almost the color and consistency of were tough and gristly. But when I reheated an omelet, are stuffed with ground pork or chicken it at home and added a squeeze of lime and and served with a side of lettuce, bean sprouts, some hot sauce, it was much better. Pad mint, basil and peanut sauce. A server suggests Thai, usually my favorite, was the biggest eating it like a burrito, but the pancake was too disappointment of all — oily, oversauced, delicate — forks and knives were deployed. The devoid of peanuts or any hint of spice. meat was slightly dry, but the accoutrements Quite simply, Angkor Wat comes up helped immensely. short when compared to the established Khmer-style fried noodles came topped Indochinese restaurants in Madison. But, with a perfect runny-yolked fried egg, which like the nice people on Yelp, I found myself added to the richness of the dish, but the fish wanting the family-run business to succeed. sauce and lime flavor were underwhelming. A With a few menu tweaks and some server bowl of Vietnamese pho, though heroic in portraining it could be an excellent addition to tion, was similarly bland — its thin broth had the South Park Street corridor. n

ANGKOR WAT n 608-422-5666 n facebook.com/angkorwat608 n $5-$19 n 11 am-10 pm Sun.-Thurs., 11 am-11 pm Fri.-Sat.

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

Eats events

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A four-course dinner with beer pairing from 3rd Sign Brewery out of Waunakee. Menu: Slow braised pork shoulder; clove and molasses pork belly over root vegetable hash; seared pork tenderloin with risotto; and cranberry/apple crumble topped with 5-year aged cheddar. Tickets ($50) at tinyurl.com/ beerporkdinner. At Off Broadway Drafthouse, 5404 Raywood Rd.; doors open at 5:30 pm.

Sample more than three dozen gourmet chocolate bars and vote for best in show. From 11 am to 3 pm at Metcalfe’s Market Hilldale, 726 N Midvale Blvd., and West Towne, 7455 Mineral Point Rd. Free.

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Take the fam out to breakfast and meet Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Breakfast (by Yola’s Cafe) includes waffles with toppings, scrambled eggs, sausage links and fresh fruit. There will also be face painting and crafts. Tickets ($15) at tinyurl.com/waffleswsanta. At Dream Kitchens, 5117 Verona Rd.

Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 10 and Dec. 11

HENRY

Battle of the chocolates

Monday, Dec. 12

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Saturdays, Dec. 10 and Dec. 17

DECEMBER 8–14, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

Waffles with Santa

www.MaharaniMadison.com

■ FOOD & DRINK

The chocolate factory

Coming soon

William Marx roasts his own cacao beans for specialty bars BY HANNAH H. KIM

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 8–14, 2016

William Marx sees himself as an intepreter. “You have to pick beans that are good and just let them talk,” says Marx, owner of Wm. Chocolate. “It’s about knowing the beans and what will bring out their character the best, and processing to that.” Marx officially launched his single-origin, bean-to-bar chocolate business in January 2016. Marx creates chocolate directly from the cacao bean. It is a time- and labor-intensive process — it takes up to four days to create one batch. Currently, Marx shares commercial kitchen space with Underground Food Collective and produces 300 two-ounce bars a week as a solo operation. He prefers to work at night, beginning the production process at 7 p.m. and going as late (or early) as 2 a.m. Marx begins by sorting the beans, removing sticks and damaged beans. Next, he roasts the beans and cracks them in a mill to separate nibs from husks. The husks are removed by a gentle vacuum process called winnowing. Marx uses a granite grinder to create a paste from the nibs called chocolate liquor. He then adds cocoa butter and dried cane juice to the liquor before pouring the chocolate onto a stone slab for tempering. The cooling and heating process of tempering gives the chocolate snap. Last, the chocolate is poured into molds and chilled. As complicated as the process sounds, Marx describes making chocolate as one of the easier parts of running his business. During the day, he attends to sales, design, ad copy and hand-cutting compostable paper to package his bars. He hopes the taste of his product will entice consumers to learn more about singleorigin chocolate. High-quality cacao beans

Wm. Chocolate sells hot chocolate (below), which can be mixed with water or milk, along with its signature bars.

need rainforest conditions to grow, so more demand for the beans can help save rainforests. He gets his beans from John Nanci at Chocolate Alchemy, a specialty importer. Marx includes notecards with his chocolates with “tasting brackets” to help consumers understand different taste categories and choose their favorites. There’s also information about the cacao bean’s varietal and history — as with wine, the origin, climate and age of the ingredients have a lot to do with the final product. “As chocolate makers, we need to tell those stories. I think it’s the only way for the craft chocolate industry to survive in the long term,” says Marx. His chocolate bars are named after the bean’s origin. Ghana chocolate produces a bold taste with malt and coffee. Vietnam chocolate is fruity with vanilla. Wm. Chocolate products are available online and at eight locations in Madison, including Field Table, Fromagination, Table Wine and Chocolaterian. Prices range from $5.50 to $22. ■

Cafe Domestique, 1408 Williamson St., will be open any day now (it’s waiting on a routine health inspection). Just a quick jaunt from the Capital City bike path, the cafe will cater to the cycling crowd. The coffeehouse plans on hosting group bike rides as well as airing cycling races like the Tour de France. Morris Ramen, 106 King St., is set to open later this month in the former home of Red Sushi (which moved to West Washington Avenue). The traditional ramen shop is a venture of veteran Muramoto chef Matt Morris and his wife, former 43 North chef Francesca Hong.

Now open Porter, a new coffee and sandwich shop at 640 W. Washington Ave., is now open in the former historic Milwaukee Road Depot. It’s the first phase of the Washington Market project being spearheaded by Gil Altschul, owner of Grampa’s Pizzeria. He’s developing the taco restaurant Bandit in the baggage depot adjunct to Porter. There are also plans for a public market on the historic train station’s platform. Altschul hopes to have the project complete by the end of summer 2017. Salvatore’s Tomato Pies in Sun Prairie, has expanded to larger digs at 121 E. Main St., a 116-year-old brick building in the heart of downtown. Unlike the old location, there is a bar. The menu has also been totally revamped and now includes more entrees.

PATRICK DEPULA

Closed Porktropolis, 126 N. Bristol St. in Sun Prairie, closed on Nov. 30 after struggling financially at its new location. Chef-owner Todd Dukes wrote on Facebook, “Quite simply sales are slow and the debt is mounting; that with the added cost of moving we cannot continue.” The BBQ restaurant moved to a larger location in Sun Prairie just a few months ago.

Purchase an ornament at any Great Dane location or at Vintage Brewing Co.

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Potential flagship?

SATURDAY

Badger Club from Wisconsin Brewing Company Wisconsin Brewing Company of Verona tweaked the recipe of its Golden Amber lager this past summer to create Badger Club. Since the beer’s introduction last month in bottles, sales have soared, making it the brewery’s top-selling beer. It could theoretically become its flagship brew. Brewmaster Kirby Nelson altered the malts and changed the hops and yeast altogether. A dramatically different malt bill centers on Munich and caramel malts. (The prior amber showcased a bready malt called Moravian 37.) Nelson also changed the hops; Cascade now provides a crisp balance to the malt. This beer pairs well with fish fries, brats and burgers; in fact, it’s hard to imagine what it wouldn’t complement. Badger Club redefines what an amber lager can be. This is a flavorful beer with a lot of personality. Badger Club first started appearing in Madison on draft in mid-August. One of its first unveilings was at Great Taste of the

SUNDAY

DEC. 10

Sunday Brunch at Julep

Wilton’s Waffle Takeover at BLC

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Half-off Bottles of Wine

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Midwest. Bottles started turning up in October and now it can be found statewide. Badger Club finishes at 5.5 percent ABV and an estimated 28 IBUs (International Bitterness Units). It sells in six-packs for around $9. — ROBIN SHEPARD

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Winter constellations

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Wine Dinner SerieS December 21st - 23rd

A Delectable Seven-Course Menu paired with Rare Selections from L’Etoile’s Wine Cellar Guard a Chicken Man’s Henhouse on a cold winter day. CAROLYN FATH

and Campari, served on the rocks with an orange peel. A booze-forward drink, the sweet vermouth and bitter Campari cut through the whiskey and make for a warming and pleasant sipper on a damp, almost winter day.

— ERICA KRUG

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DECEMBER 8–14, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

When Star Bar, 756 E. Washington Ave., opened in the Constellation building in January 2014, it was one of the first businesses in the revitalizing East Washington corridor. Reclaimed wood, industrial lighting and ’80s memorabilia (think Rubik’s Cubes and Gizmo gremlin dolls) set the tone, though the bar does not seem to have quite found its identity. Is it a beer bar or a cocktail lounge, a neighborhood pub or a hipster hangout? Yet an evidently loyal customer base has found it a good place to get a beer or even a glass of bubbly and play a game of Connect 4. Star Bar rotates its cocktail list seasonally, and the latest iteration aims to have something for everyone. There’s a classic sidecar with Templeton Rye, limoncello and bitters. Granny Smith’s Dirty Secret has notes of fall with apple cider whiskey, pecan praline whiskey and Bailey’s salted caramel. The Christmas in Cancun is Star Bar’s version of a margarita, and Snow White’s Smudged Lipstick is a red apple martini. I opted for the Chicken Man’s Henhouse, a Manhattan made with Bulleit rye whiskey, vermouth

■ SPORTS First-year women’s basketball coach Jonathan Tsipis has a young team on his hands.

OPEN HOUSE SPECIAL

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DAVID STLUKA / UW ATHLETICS

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In other UW news... Women’s volleyball rules, but women’s basketball and men’s hockey struggle BY MICHAEL POPKE

This week at Capitol Centre Market

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As Badger Nation awaits kickoff at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, where No. 8 Wisconsin will meet No. 12 Western Michigan on Jan. 2, let’s turn our attention to the status of a few other UW teams. • The women’s volleyball team, for the first time since 2000, will host an NCAA regional. No. 3 seed Wisconsin will play Ohio State on Friday, Dec. 9, at the UW Field House in the first regional semifinal, and No. 6 seed Stanford will face Florida State later that afternoon. Semifinal winners advance to Saturday’s regional final, with the winner headed to the NCAA Championship semifinals at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on Dec. 15. The Badgers advanced to the Sweet Sixteen on Dec. 2 with a three-set sweep of Washington State, 25-18, 25-18 and 25-17. “I think our team just keeps getting better and better,” UW head coach Kelly Sheffield told UWBadgers.com after the win. • The UW women’s basketball team needs to get a lot better. Under first-year head coach Jonathan Tsipis, the first male to ever lead the program, the Badgers have

struggled to a 3-6 record. Their only win at the Kohl Center, a 60-55 victory over Butler on Nov. 20, is overshadowed by blowout losses to the likes of Charlotte, Dayton, Ole Miss and UW-Milwaukee. But a big 64-46 win at Illinois State on Dec. 4 could be the boost these Badgers need. With just three seniors and two juniors, this is a young Wisconsin team working through some growing pains. UW has three games remaining before tipping off the Big Ten schedule against Michigan on Jan. 1 at the Kohl Center. UW will host Mississippi Valley State on Friday, Dec. 6, and then Marquette on Sunday, Dec. 8. • Another group experiencing growing pains is the UW men’s hockey team. The 7-6-1 Badgers capped their nonconference schedule on Dec. 2-3 against Omaha at the Kohl Center with a 3-3 tie and a 4-7 loss. Giving up early goals has been a major issue for the Badgers, readily admits first-year head coach Tony Granato, a former Badgers hockey player who took over a once-powerful program that fell hard during the final two years of Mike Eaves’ reign. The Badgers face off at Michigan for a weekend series on Dec. 9-10 and then host Michigan State at the Kohl Center on Jan. 6-7. ■

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 8–14, 2016

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â&#x2013; STAGE

Dreamy magic

John Waters continued from 23

Big Fish dwells in the small moments

What tips do you have for people like me, who might not enjoy decking the halls? I like Christmas, but I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like decorating the house. Well, think of something you do like. Go through your old pictures and find the ugliest picture of each relative and put them on Christmas balls and hang them up. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be surprised what a peacemaker that is around the tree. Or if you have relatives you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like or are abusive in any way, when they are out of the room lick their furniture or the present youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re giving them and I promise you: Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a curse. It works.

BY AMELIA FONTELLA

The musical theater expertise of Four Seasons Theatre and the trademark innovation of Theatre LILA come together in a dreamy new collaboration: musical Big Fish. You might recognize the story from the 2003 film, or the novel itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s based on, which centers on the complicated relationship between a father and his grown son. The stories that make up the life of Edward Bloom (Scott Haden) spill out throughout the show: mini fairy tales full of witches, giants, mermaids and werewolves. His son, Will, struggles with the far-fetched stories as he tries to understand his dadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life. As Will Bloom, Stephen Scott Wormley offered an impeccable performance on opening night. He loves his father and wants a relationship, but questions how to believe an â&#x20AC;&#x153;I love youâ&#x20AC;? from someone who tells such incredibly tall tales. Back in Alabama for his wedding, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clear Will hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t lived in the South for a while. While his fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s accent is as thick as the mud in the river that runs through the family property, Will has lost his drawl. Wormleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vocal performances are stunning â&#x20AC;&#x201D; his crisp diction and clear tenor voice make him sound like the cross between a pop star and a Disney prince. At first glance, Haden seems too young to be cast as Edward, and I worried about the apparent lack of age difference between father and son. However, Big Fish is a show that allows suspension of disbelief. Heck, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about suspension of disbelief. So, I went with it and â&#x20AC;&#x201D; what do you know? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; it worked. While some characters have younger versions of themselves (thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a young Will, sweetly played by Madison sixth-grader

Young Will (Elijah E. Edwards) and Edward Bloom (Sco Haden).

Elijah E. Edwards, for instance), Edward and his wife, Sandra (Clare Arena Haden), are played by the same actors throughout the show, which weaves back and forth in time. This, too, works. The pair remain almost ageless, as if forever trapped in memory. Their wonderful onstage chemistry isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a surprise, as Scott Haden and Clare Arena Haden are married offstage as well. Big Fish is a show that bestows its attention on small moments as much as the overall plot. Daffodil petals fall from the sky. Actors sway with tiny, lit houses in their arms and duck under blankets to become boulders. Director Jessica Lanius is in her element here, infusing the show with winning dreaminess. Magic unfolds between characters, too. The second act finds Edward and Will at their most vulnerable, each admitting that he sees the other as â&#x20AC;&#x153;made of stone.â&#x20AC;? A physical space on the stage emphasizes their emotional distance. In one of the final scenes, Edward curls into Sandra, his larger-than-life persona cast aside as they face the reality that heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dying. In both scenes, I

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MIKE BROWN

saw quite a few audience members wiping their eyes. (I might have been one of them.) The biggest challenge of Big Fish is its score. Songs are hit or miss. There are a few good ones, such as Willâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s poignant solo â&#x20AC;&#x153;Strangerâ&#x20AC;? and the fun ditty â&#x20AC;&#x153;Little Lamb from Alabama.â&#x20AC;? However, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not going to leave the theater humming one of the songs from the show. Neither Theatre LILA nor Four Seasons is to blame, but I still wonder how this charming story would have fared without the music. However, the music doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop Big Fish from being a success. The full house offered an enthusiastic standing ovation on opening night, and as the cast took their bows, they beamed as if they, too, had been swept away by the magic of the show. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not a traditional holiday production, but the whimsy and warmth of Big Fish â&#x20AC;&#x201D; which runs through Dec. 11 at the Overture Center â&#x20AC;&#x201D; make it an excellent choice for this time of year. â&#x2013;

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 8â&#x20AC;&#x201C;14, 2016

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And youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re an old fan of [Chipmunks creator] Dave Seville arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t you? Oh, yes, are you kidding me? Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m a huge fan of Alvin. I was sexually attracted to Alvin. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how I got the job. I used the casting couch. â&#x2013;

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To tie this into movies, other than the traditional Christmas fare, A Christmas Story, Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a Wonderful Life, Elf and such, what Christmas movie do you wish got constant rotation during the holidays? Well, the one Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m in: Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Road Chip, their Christmas movie that came out last year. I have a whole scene with Alvin where he talks about Pink Flamingos, which is staggering when you think about it. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a G-rated movie. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shocking. It is shocking. I snuck in the theater proudly to see it. I said to the ticket woman, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m in this movie. Alvin is my friend.â&#x20AC;? She looked at me like I was insane and a child molester because what grown man goes to see the Alvin movie in the daytime on the day it opens? And children ran out and hugged me when they saw me, which is really odd.

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n MUSIC

Musical healing A new album shares veterans’ songs and stories BY ESTY DINUR

Four long years after he returned from the Iraq War, Jason Moon almost lost the battle. In veterans’ lingo that means he attempted suicide. He woke up in a VA Hospital and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. That’s when he started fighting his demons by writing songs about his experiences in the military. Two years later, in 2010, Moon released a full-length album, Trying to Find my Way Home. Veterans and their loved ones responded by email, letters and phone, telling him that the songs spoke to them and even helped prevent suicide. Moon started traveling around the country, performing, offering arts and music workshops to veterans and collecting their stories. If You Have to Ask…Warrior Songs Vol. 1 is a brand-new 14-track album telling these stories through music. Forty-two veterans contributed to it. “If you have to ask you weren’t there,” goes the saying, and the album is an attempt to help veterans know they’re not alone while letting civilians know what

it’s like to be in war. According to a Veterans Administration study, some 20 U.S. veterans commit suicide each day. Many veterans feel isolated, says Moon, because they carry the burdens all by themselves. Meticulously produced, the album includes some heavy hitters: musicians such as drummer Jerry Marotta, who plays with Peter Gabriel’s band, Orleans, and the Indigo Girls; the Mambo Surfers, who won the 2000 Wisconsin Area Music Industry Award for ethnic/world group of the year; and Sheila Shigley, whose band the Getaway Drivers has won several Madison Area Music Awards. The music flows from rock to folk, and includes the haunting ballad “Why Are We Here” by five-time Purple Heart recipient Todd Fahn. A soaring choir backs some of the tracks, while others are more stripped down, reminiscent of Pete Seeger. All lyrics were either written by veterans or based on their stories. “Hey ho, here we go/Load ’em up and watch them go/ Where they go nobody knows” sings Jacob George, the only contributor who won’t be around to share the music; he returned from three tours in Afghanistan with PTSD and eventually committed suicide.

Singer-songwriter Jason Moon collected material from 42 fellow veterans.

“Ying and the Yang” is the story of Marine Henry G., who was raped by his drill sergeant. “Brothers” tells the story of a Marine who killed two little boys who had been strapped with suicide bombs. “It continues to haunt you,” says Moon. Moon’s own song, “The Things We Carried,” emerged from an art retreat where veterans were asked what they carried literally and psychically during war. “In war we carry a lot of gear, but that’s the lightest thing when compared to what we carried inside: the horrors of war, the fear, losing friends,” he says. Iraq War veteran Melissa Doud, a Native American from northern Wisconsin, writes and sings about the jingle dress she made out of empty bullet casings. “My wounded spirit sings when I dance...dancing with the power of my mother the Earth. My Eagle Father.” Eight thousand copies of Moon’s first CD were given out free to veterans, and Warrior Songs Vol. 1 is also available free for vets. Proceeds from sales to non-vets fund future projects. Warrior Songs Vol. 2, slated for 2018, will be devoted to the experiences of female veterans. n

Home is where the bass is Ben Ferris releases a debut album BY BOB JACOBSON

Craft on tap Dust off your elf ears, because Santa’s workshop is about to get busy!

Friday, December 9

6 p.m. — 10 p.m.

Ages 21+ Tickets $12.75 advance; $15 day-of — five of which are by Ferris, two by Bartell and two by Dietrich — are well-crafted, harmonically rich and rhythmically diverse, finding space to explore while remaining anchored firmly within the bounds of mainstream contemporary jazz. Each member gets plenty of opportunities to shine, but you can kind of tell it’s Ferris’ baby. You need only hear his tasty bow work on “Good for Bees” and his plucked lead on the title track to recognize that this is not one of those bands where the bassist gets to stand in back and Snapchat while his mates carry the load. n

media partner: Play like a grown-up.

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DECEMBER 8–14, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

Ben Ferris is a busy cat. An educator by day, he teaches music at Winnequah Elementary School in Monona, runs the jazz program at Madison Memorial High School and gives private lessons. By night, he’s one of the hardest-working bassists in town. In addition to leading his own quintet and octet, Ferris holds down the bottom end for Edi Rey y Su Salsera, Nuggernaut, the Big Payback, the Gabe Burdulis Band, the Neophonic Jazz Orchestra and an ever-expanding list of other local ensembles that grows too fast to keep track of. Somehow Ferris has managed to squeeze some recording time into that ridiculous mix. On Dec. 16 at Crescendo Espresso Bar and Music Cafe, Ferris and company will celebrate the release of the Ben Ferris Quintet’s debut album, Home. The quintet features Paul Dietrich on trumpet; Nicholas Bartell on tenor sax; Miguel McQuade, who recently abandoned Madison for the Big Apple, on drums; and local piano mainstay Paul Hastil. Home is more than a showcase for Ferris’s considerable bass chops, honed at UW-Madison under the tutelage of bass master Richard Davis. The compositions

presents:

n SCREENS

Getting the job done Jessica Chastain shines in the gripping Miss Sloane BY MARYANN JOHANSON

Suggested alternate title for Miss Sloane: Bitches Get Shit Done. It would have been tough to market, sure...or maybe not: just sprinkle a few asterisks across the posters, a few bleeps across the TV ads. That title would have sold this tough, ballsy — eggsy? — movie with the hard, crude honesty it deserves. Miss Sloane is a thriller — a hugely gripping one — about politics and money and lobbying. It’s about the business of the government of the United States of America as a game of 12-dimensional chess played by smart, ruthless unelected people backed, for the most part, by the endless and enormous financial resources of multinational corporations. It is sharp and funny, and then depressing and dispiriting. It offers a grim object lesson for everyone feeling crushed by the state of the world at the moment: Are progressives and liberals gonna have to start fighting dirty, like Miss Sloane does? Can a good end ever justify less-than-savory means? Elizabeth Sloane, lobbyist, may not be the hero we want right now — or ever — but she might be a hero we need. Yes, she takes on the almost impossible, and woefully underfunded, job of campaigning on behalf of new gun-control legislation for stricter background checks for gun sales. But her previous job was lobbying to allow Indonesia to continue its slash-and-burn clearcutting for palm oil plantations, which is one of the most horrendous climate crimes happening today — not exactly progressive work. She may be apolitical, and only relishes the game itself. She is most definitely cold, calculating and efficient in pursuit of her goals. She loves a challenge, and defeating the

Chastain (center) stars as a driven and self-aware lobbyist advocating for stricter gun-control legislation.

NRA is a mighty one. The best we can say about her is that she does appear to have her own code of honor, such as it is. Jessica Chastain’s performance throughout is remarkably subtle as a woman who is unlike almost any we’ve seen onscreen before. (I’m not sure we’ve seen many male characters quite like this, actually.) She is both still waters and all surface, cool and deep, but not mysterious. She may lie, but never out of personal meanness, though that distinction is lost on those she hurts. But she never pretends. She is never anything other than what she actually is, and she is always utterly clear and aware of herself. Sloane is like many women in the real world who, you know, get stuff done, and whose competence and intelligence and dedication — whose exis-

tence — is rarely acknowledged onscreen, never mind placed front and center. Ah, but that bitter end is right there from the beginning, as well as a big question: Will Sloane, in fact, get this thing done, achieve a massive defeat of the seemingly all-powerful American gun lobby? The film opens with Sloane testifying at a contentious Senate hearing where she is being called to task over her work in a field that seems to run on open bribes and other illegalities. So why is she being singled out? (We have some pretty good guesses right off the bat: “She’s too good at her job and might actually win, which cannot be allowed” being the primary one.) The clever, suspenseful script — by first-time screenwriter Jonathan Perera — slowly builds an engaging portrait of Sloane: She’s

not nice, yet hardly evil, but this whatever-ittakes level of mastery and drive in a woman is never as acceptable as it is in a man. This may be a harder-hitting story than director John Madden is generally known for (the two recent Best Exotic Marigold Hotel movies; 1998’s Shakespeare in Love), but he plays it straightforward. He doesn’t need the tricks and tropes of a cheap thriller to create anxiety and tension. It’s all there, inherent in Sloane and in Chastain’s breathtakingly steadfast unapology for herself. And it’s all there in the questions about her that we cannot help but ask, ones that have nothing to do with her gender and everything to do with her methods, and how much those who share her goals should embrace her. n

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Film events CODE: Debugging the Gender Gap: Documentary about the lack of female/minority software engineers, with discussion following. Verona Library, Dec. 8, 6:30 pm. Meet the Patels: Ravi Patel, an Indian American actor, finds himself approaching 30 and unmarried — a matter of great concern to his traditional, first-generation immigrant parents. A collaboration with his sister, Geeta, the film documents his year-long search for a wife. Central Library, Dec. 8, 6:30 pm. The Cursed Ones: A West African child is accused of witchcraft, and a reporter and pastor team up to convince the community otherwise. UW Union South-Marquee, Dec. 8, 7 pm. Queen of Katwe: Biopic about a Ugandan girl whose life is changed by learning to play chess. UW Union South-Marquee, Dec. 9-10 (6 pm) and Dec. 11 (3 pm).

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Tickets $38 advance, $45 d.o.s. / Gold Circle VIP (includes early entry & preferred seating, and a post-show meet and greet with John) $115 advance Tickets at Sugar Shack, Star Liquor, MadCity Music, B-Side, Frugal Muse, T H E AT R E Strictly Discs, the Barrymore, online at barrymorelive.com or call & charge at (608) 241-8633. General Admission – All Seated Show 2090 Atwood Ave. (608) 241-8633 barrymorelive.com

Up to 6 rentals at a time One of each pair may be a new arrival

FOUR FOUR STAR STAR VIDEO VIDEO COOPERATIVE COOPERATIVE •• EXP. EXP. 12/22/16 9/29/16

SUMMER C FREE Every Thursday & Saturday from 6-8pm

American Honey: Writer-director Andrea Arnold’s tale of a teenager who runs away with a traveling magazine sales crew. UW Union SouthMarquee, Dec. 9-10 (8:30 pm) and Dec. 11 (6 pm). The Boys: The Sherman Brothers’ Story: Documentary about the fractious relationship of songwriters Robert and Richard Sherman. Hawthorne Library, Dec. 9, 7 pm. Spartacus: Kirk Douglas stars as the leader of a Roman slave rebellion in this epic from director Stanley Kubrick. UW Cinematheque, Dec. 9, 7 pm. Snow White: 1916 silent adaptation starring Wisconsin native Alice Washburn, with live piano accompaniment by David Drazin. Towne Cinema, Watertown, Dec. 10, 6:30 pm. Paris, Texas: A man (Harry Dean Stanton) wanders out of the desert and tries to put his life back together. UW Cinematheque, Dec. 10, 7 pm. Paths of Glory: UW Cinematheque: A colonel (Kirk Douglas) tries to stop a general from unnecessary sacrificing lives during World War I. Chazen Museum of Art, Dec. 11, 2 pm. Home Alone: Two robbers run afoul of bratty 8-year-old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin), accidentally left behind from a family trip. Majestic Theatre, Dec. 13, 8 pm. Nostalghia: A Russian poet traveling in Italy gets wrapped up in nostalgia and talks with an eccentric. Bos Meadery, Dec. 14, 7 pm. Gremlins: A gadget salesman (Hoyt Axton) seeking a special gift for his son finds one at a store in Chinatown; mayhem ensues. Majestic Theatre, Dec. 14, 8 pm. The Jungle Book: Disney’s beautiful and thrilling live-action/CGI/3-D (whew!) adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s timeless collection of fables about man-cub Mowgli and the furry denizens of his tropical habitat. Central Library, Dec. 15, 6 pm. New Year’s Evil: Midnight murders follow the time zones across the country toward an L.A. radio DJ who is warned of the plot. Central Library, Dec. 15, 6:30 pm.

EST. 1985, WORKER COOPERATIVE AS OF 2014

449 State St Suite D (on Broom St) Open 10am–Midnight • 608-255-1994

fourstarvideocoop.com

LIVE MUSIC

OPEN FOR LUNCH

Thur. Dec. 8

JOHN DUGGLEBY

Tue-Sat: 11am - 2:30pm Sunday: 10am - 2:30pm

Sat. Dec. 10

SERVING DINNER

KRAUSE FAMILY BAND

6857 Paoli Rd, Paoli, WI Phone: (608) 848-6261

paolischoolhouseshops.com

isthmus live sessions

Local & National Artists Perform in the Isthmus Office

performances by:

DIRECT HIT!

thu dec

Tribute to Otis Redding:

A Very Soulful Dance Party 8:30pm

WheelHouse The Jimmys 9pm

$12 adv, $15 dos

Madison Music Foundry's 11 Student Showcase

Packer Party

sun dec

ISTHMUS LIVE SESSIONS

mon dec

12 tue dec

wed Dec

ISTHMUS LIVE SESSIONS

at: isthmus.com/ils

Thursday, June 2nd

TRAPPER SCHO Saturday, June 4th

PAOLI SCHOOLHOUSE Shops & Ca

For full schedule visit paolischoolhouseshops.com • 608-848

14 thu Dec

3:30pm FREE

THE MOTH

Madison StorySLAM PRESENTS "RISK" 7:30PM

$10

Guitars For Vets Fundraiser The Sparks Band featuring Count Bop Mystery Achievers & The Jett Set / Jason Moon Guitars For Vets Student Performances 5:30Pm

NOW PL AYING MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

CC & DESCRIPTIVE NARRATION

Fri & Sat: (1:15, 4:05), 6:55, 9:45; Sun to Thu: (1:15, 4:05), 6:55

NOCTURNAL ANIMALS

CC & DESCRIPTIVE NARRATION

Fri: (1:45, 4:30), 7:05, 9:35; Sat: (11:10 AM, 1:45, 4:30), 7:05, 9:35; Sun: (11:10 AM, 1:45, 4:30), 7:05; Mon to Thu: (1:45, 4:30), 7:05

MISS SLOANE

CC & DESCRIPTIVE NARRATION

Fri: (1:40, 4:20), 7:00, 9:45; Sat: (11:00 AM, 1:40, 4:20), 7:00, 9:45; Sun: (11:00 AM, 1:40, 4:20), 7:00; Mon to Thu: (1:40, 4:20), 7:00

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM CC & DESCRIPTIVE NARRATION Fri: (1:35), (4:15), 6:55, 9:40;

Sat: (11:00 AM, 1:35, 4:15), 6:55, 9:40; Sun: (11:00 AM, 1:35, 4:15), 6:55; Mon to Thu: (1:35, 4:15), 6:55 CC & DESCRIPTIVE NARRATION Fri: (1:50, 4:20), 6:50, 9:25; Sat: (11:15 AM, 1:50, 4:20), 6:50, 9:25; Sun: (11:15 AM, 1:50, 4:20), 6:50; Mon to Wed: (1:50, 4:20), 6:50; Thu: (1:50, 4:20) LOVING CC & DESCRIPTIVE NARRATION Fri: (1:35, 4:10), 6:45, 9:20; Sat: (11:05 AM, 1:35, 4:10), 6:45, 9:20; Sun: (11:05 AM, 1:35, 4:10), 6:45; Mon to Wed: (1:35, 4:10), 6:45; Thu: (1:35, 4:10)

ARRIVAL

Amenity Fees Vary With Schedule - ( ) = Mats. www.sundancecinemas.com/choose LOCATED AT HILLDALE MALL 608.316.6900 www.sundancecinemas.com Gift Cards Available at Box Office

Showtimes subject to change. Visit website to confirm Closed captioning and descriptive narrative available for select films

Showtimes for December 8 - December 14

$15 sug. Don.

JOE MARCINEK BAND

FEAT. JOEY PORTER (OF THE MOTET) & TONY HALL (OF DUMPSTAPHUNK)

Better Yeti /

9PM $10 18+

HELMET "Dead To The World" US Tour

Local H 8pm

$25

18+

@IsthmusMadison follow for fun photos :)

DECEMBER 8–14, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

ISTHMUS LIVE SESSIONS

$10 adv, $15 dos

Girls Are Go! fri The Pine Dec Barrens 9

11 am

ISTHMUS LIVE SESSIONS

JOHN DUGGLEBY

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

5:30pm

UW Experimental Short Films: Experimental short film submissions from UW students, faculty and alumni. Marquee Theater, Dec. 15, 7 pm. Elf: The silly and surprisingly touching story of Buddy (Will Ferrell), who was raised among Santa’s elves but leaves the North Pole to search for his real father in New York City. Majestic Theatre, Dec. 15, 8 pm.

Thur-Sat: 5pm to 8pm

/videoheaven

PICK OF THE WEEK

picks thu dec 8

KRAL CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY

Wintersong Saturday, Dec. 10, Barrymore Theatre, 8 pm With humble beginnings as a small holiday concert in 2012, the annual Wintersong acoustic holiday show has grown each year while retaining its intimate feel and community-driven spirit. As in years prior, all proceeds from the evening will benefit the Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin. Nourishment for the soul will be provided by this year’s lineup of Madison indie-folk all-stars, which includes Wintersong organizer Anna Vogelzang, Lost Lakes, Love High, Seasaw, Faux Fawn, PHOX’s Monica Martin, the Backroom Harmony Band and a host of special guests.

MU S I C The Undertow: A grieving psychiatrist and troubled rock star try to recover in this play by Michael Tooher, 8 pm, 12/8-10, Broom Street Theater. $11. 244-8338.

Madison College Clay Club Winter Ceramic Sale: 10 am-6 pm on 12/8-9 and 8 am-1 pm, 12/10, Downtown Campus Atrium. smharrison2@madisoncollege.edu.

COM EDY

S PEC I A L EV EN TS Tudor Holiday Dinner Concert: Featuring the Philharmonic Chorus of Madison, 5:30 pm, 12/8 & 10-11, Union South-Varsity Hall. $58.50-$53.50. 265-2787.

Kyle Landstra Thursday, Dec. 8, Gates of Heaven, 7 pm

The Floozies Thursday, Dec. 8, Majestic Theatre, 9 pm

Formed in Lawrence, Kansas, that oasis of blue in an otherwise red sea, the Floozies were always destined to be a bit different. Brothers Mark and Matt Hill embrace their destiny, creating music that’s a melting pot of jazz, funk and electronica, all centered around a high-energy live show that’s seen them share stages with Umphrey’s McGee, STS9 and Big Gigantic, as well as playing pretty much every festival under the sun. With ProbCause, DJ Phil Money. ALSO: Friday, Dec. 9, 9 pm.

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 8–14, 2016

Tribute to Otis Redding

Thursday, Dec. 8, High Noon Saloon, 8 pm

Otis Redding may be a Georgia native, but when he met his fate in the icy waters of Lake Monona in 1967, the legendary soul singer became inextricably tied to Madison. So it makes sense that Hive has chosen Otis as the subject of its next dance party. A live band will play two sets, featuring both originals and covers Redding played during his career. Mod and Motown attire is encouraged, and dancing is mandatory.

Chicago synthesizer wizard Kyle Landstra will headline December’s installment of Tone Madison’s fantastic GateSound concert series, which brings boundary-pushing musicians to perform in the beautiful 153-year old Gates of Heaven synagogue in James Madison Park. As these GateSound concerts tend to do, expect this performance to lean into transcendence. Madison’s Page Campbell opens. Beth Israel Center: The Hunt Quartet, free, 7:30 pm. Buck and Honey’s, Sun Prairie: Robert J, free, 6:30 pm. Essen Haus: Bill Roberts Combo with Bob Corbit, 9 pm. First United Methodist Church: Isthmus Brass, Porchlight fundraiser, free/donations, 7:30 pm. Harmony Bar: Phil Ladwig benefit concert, 6 pm. Hop Haus Brewing, Verona: Mike’s Mud Music, 7 pm. Ivory Room: Vince Strong, Luke Hrovat-Staedter, 9 pm. Sconnie Bar: W%drow, Lindsay Everly, free. Tip Top Tavern: Sam Ness, folk, free, 9 pm. Up North Pub: Catfish Stephenson, free, 9 pm Thursdays.

T HE AT E R & DANCE It’s a Wonderful Life: Radio-style adaptation University Theatre, 7:30 pm 12/8-9 & 2 & 7:30 pm, 12/10-11, Vilas Hall-Mitchell Theatre. $20. 265-2787. Big Fish: Four Seasons Theatre and Theatre LILA co-production about a storytelling father and his fact-absorbed son, 7:30 pm, 12/8-10 and 2 pm, 12/11, Overture CenterPlayhouse. $35. 258-4141.

fri dec 9 MUS I C

Sklar Brothers Thursday, Dec. 8, Comedy Club on State, 8:30 pm

This twin standup duo always manages to sell out quickly, and with good reason. Their delivery is some of the quickest and most vocally layered, story-driven humor on the market today. Having two voices provides twice the laughs! If you haven’t heard their sports commentary or their sports podcast (Sklarbro Country), get ready for their hot takes on sports and families. They might make fun of the Packers, but don’t worry, they do actually know their stuff. Their Saturday matinee performance will be a podcast taping. With Daniel Van Kirk, David Sitrick. ALSO: Friday (8 & 10:30 pm) and Saturday (5:30, 8 & 10:30 pm), Dec. 9-10.

ART EXHIBITS & EV ENTS Madison College Portfolio Show: Graphic design & visual communications students, 4:30-7:30 pm, 12/8, Truax Campus-Room D1603B. facebook.com/ events/1168460529897746.

Coordinated Suicides EP release Friday, Dec. 9, Mickey’s Tavern, 10:30 pm

Madison trio Coordinated Suicides unveils the vinyl incarnation of its sludgy, grungy False Pleasure EP, which should sound even heavier on 7-inch. Also debuting is Twelves, a new noise/math quartet featuring members of Tyranny Is Tyranny, Bron Sage, And Illusions and Hat Party. The bill is rounded out with Twelves’ weekend tourmates Sex Scenes (Milwaukee) and local instrumental juggernaut CONTROL.

➡

Tickets Make Great Holiday Gifts!

THURSDAY JAN 12

FRIDAY JAN 13

PRESENTED BY

Big Thief Sam Evian Hoops Ian Sweet

Ceremony TENEMENT The Blind Shake Yoko Oh No’s

JAN 12

JAN 14

saturday JAN 14 MARCH 26 CAPITOL THEATER ON SALE THIS FRIDAY, DEC. 9

Noname theMIND Mic Kellogg Rich Robbins

TICKETS ON SALE NOW Single Day and Three Day passes available. FRZNFEST.COM

A T OV E R TU R E . O R G , 6 0 8 - 2 5 8 - 4 1 4 1 , A N D TH E O VE R TU R E C E N TE R B O X OF F I C E .

DAWES BARRYMORE THEATRE • FEB. 6

FRIDAY FEB 3

CAPITOL THEATER OVERTURECENTER.ORG 608-258-4141

WITH SPECIAL GUEST

CUDDLE MAGIC

MARCH 1

T I C K E T S AT O V E R T U R E C E N T E R . O R G .

SAT • APRIL 15 BARRYMORE THEATRE

ON SALE NOW AT BARRYMORE.COM

DECEMBER 8–14, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

CAPITOL THEATER

TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT BARRYMORELIVE.COM

418 E. WILSON ST. 608.257.BIRD CARDINALBAR.COM

2201 Atwood Ave.

FRIDAY 12/9

(608) 249-4333

SQUARE ONE

w/ CARRICK, LOVECRAFT, ASHOKA, GINJAHVITIZ & WANGZOOM 10PM

THE CARDINAL’S

42nd Anniversary party

9:45 $7

THE MATERIAL BOYS and FLOW POETRY ____________________________________

Champagne & Tappetizers 7-10PM • DJ FERNANDO 10PM

____________________

presents Ellington’s _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Nutcracker _ _ _ _ _ Suite 6pm $5

9:45 pm $7

Darren Sterud Orchestra JAZZ____________________ JAM w/ THE NEW BREED

WARM WET RAG

____________________________________

EVERY MONDAY 5:30-6:15 pm $3

9PM

WEDNESDAY 12/14 w/ DJ MECHVNIZE & FRIENDS 9PM ____________________

DUB PUB

The King of Kids Music

____________________________________

THUR. DEC. 15 8-10:15 pm $7 sugg. don.

COMING!

w/ The Backroom Harmony Band

Thur. 12/15

w/ special guest CRIS PLATA www.harmonybarandgrill.com

Sat. 12/17

GGOOLLDD Friday, Dec. 9, Frequency, 7 pm

TUESDAY 12/13

with special guests

Madison College Big Band 6-8pm

Grupo Candela Live! 10pm

www.harmonybarandgrill.com MA DI SO N ’ S C L A S S IC DA N C E B A R

THE BUDDIES ARE BACK!

presents

A RT EXH I B I TS & EV EN TS

SATURDAY 12/10

with special guests

David Landau

Matthew Hora: Discussing “Beyond the Skills Gap,” his new book, with Janet Batzli & Peter Dettmer (featured in the book), noon, 12/9, UW Education Building-Room 159. 263-4210.

LIVE HAPPY HOUR

5:30 PM

feat. Chuck Bayuk, Tony Kannan, Kristy Larsen, Shari Davis, Kenny Koeppler, James Lutz, Karen Heine , Frankie Lee, Jimmy Voegli, Mel Ford and Andy Linderman ____________________________________

SAT. DEC. 10

B O O KS / S PO K EN WO RD

ORGAN TRIO MIKE _CAMMILLERI ______________

THUR. DEC. 8 6 - 8:30pm Benefit for PHIL LADWIG

FRI. DEC. 9

■ ISTHMUS PICKS : DEC 9 - 10

Milwaukee electro-pop auteurs GGOOLLDD return to Madison to bring their infectious hooks to the Frequency. GGOOLLDD have been rightfully gaining buzz and taking wider and wider steps out of the Midwest as their success has grown. The show promises to be an energetic night of raw rock and slick pop, and a lot of fun. Cold nights are here — don’t miss this chance to hit the dance floor and heat things up. With fellow Milwaukeeans and raucous glam-rockers Tigernite.

Perfect Harmony Men’s Chorus Friday, Dec. 9, First United Methodist Church, 7:30 pm

Here’s a way to lift your spirits while celebrating our city’s inclusive culture: Check out Madison’s chorus of gay men and allies performing seasonal favorites such as “Let It Snow,” “Hallelujah” and “Let There Be Peace on Earth.” ALSO: Sunday, Dec. 11, 3 pm. Blackhawk Evangelical Church, Middleton: Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, annual “Messiah” concert, 7 pm. Brink Lounge: Best Practice, 9 pm. Cardinal Bar: Mike Cammilleri Organ Trio, jazz, free, 5:30 pm; DJs Ginjahvitiz, Ashoka, 9 pm. Club Tavern, Middleton: Cherry Pie, ‘80s rock, 9 pm. Frequency: Sweater Beats, Starro, Different Sleep, 10 pm. Harmony: Mudroom, Material Boys, Flowpoetry, 9:45 pm. High Noon Saloon: Girls Are Go, The Pine Barrens, 5:30 pm; WheelHouse, The Jimmys, 9 pm. Knuckle Down Saloon: Sweet Diezel Jenkins, 9 pm. Liquid: Infected Mushroom, 10 pm.

GUYS on ICE Book, Story, & Lyrics by

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 8–14, 2016

FRED ALLEY

Dec. 21-23 Dec. 26-Jan. 1 MON. DEC

7:30pm

TUE. DEC

7:30pm

Music & Story by

JAMES KAPLAN WED. DEC

7:30pm WED. DEC

7:30pm

THU. DEC

Starring everyone’s favorite Marvin & Lloyd

DOUG MANCHESKI & STEVE KOEHLER

7:30pm THU. DEC

7:30pm

FRI. DEC

7:30pm

Orpheum Theater: Steel Panther, 8 pm. Red Rock Saloon: Madison County, country, 10 pm. Stoughton Opera House: The Way Down Wanderers, Americana, 7:30 pm. Tandem Press: UW Jazz Composers Group, 5 pm. Tip Top: Tani Diakite & the Afrofunkstars, free, 10 pm. Up North Pub: Amanda Standalone, free, 8 pm. UW Humanities Building-Mills Hall: UW Choral Union with UW Chamber Orchestra, 8 pm. UW Union South-Sett: Busdriver, Lorde Freddee, 9 pm.

7:30pm

Middleton-Cross Plains Area Performing Arts Center: Madison Area Concert Handbells, “Bells of Christmas,” 7:30 pm. Also: 7:30 pm, 12/10, MPAC; and 3 pm, 12/11, St. Stephen’s Lutheran, Monona.

THEATER & DANCE

THEATRE

The 39 Steps: Fast-paced whodunit, 7 pm, 12/9-10, West High School. $10. eventbrite.com/o/868973531.

2090 Atwood Ave. (608) 241-8633 barrymorelive.com

SAT. DEC

2:30pm 7:30pm

SUN. JAN

New Year’s Day

4:30pm

All tickets are General Admission $29 on sale at Sugar Shack, Star Liquor, MadCity Music, B-Side, Frugal Muse, Strictly Discs, the Barrymore, online at barrymorelive.com or call & charge at (608) 241-8633. For Group Rates, please call the Barrymore Box Office at (608) 241-8633.

Beta Blockers: Generations: Left of Left Center, 7:30 pm, 12/9, Glass Nickel-Atwood; 2 pm, 12/10, Arts & Literature Laboratory. $10. leftofleftcenter.com. Last Week in December: Encore Studio for the Performing Arts holiday-themed comedy/drama, 12/217, Mary Dupont Wahlers Theatre, at 8 pm FridaysSaturdays, plus 2 pm, 12/11. $15. 255-0331.

Reconfigured Reality Friday, Dec. 9, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, 6-9 pm Somehow, MMoCA packs the history of contemporary photography into its tiny Henry Street Gallery. The powerful exhibit highlights techniques and styles from photographers, some lesser known and some with recognizable names: Cindy Sherman’s “Untitled Film Still #3,” where she poses as a battered wife, certainly packs a punch. And how often do you get to peek at Andy Warhol’s party Polaroids? Narayan Mahon’s haunting “Cemetery, Nagorno Karabakh” (2006) records a desecrated Muslim graveyard. The exhibit runs through Nov. 2017, but you’ll want to visit several times to get the full effect. Good Day Market: 25+ artisans/designers, 5-9 pm on 12/9 and 10 am-3 pm, 12/10, Octopi Brewing, Waunakee, with food & brews. oneonethousand.net. Leora Saposnik, Brenda Gratton, Alan Kalker: “Home Made: Art for and about the Home,” 10 am5 pm, 12/9-10, CraftOptics, 931 E. Main St. (reception 5-9 pm, 12/9). 888-444-7728. Chen Cheng-Po: “Across the Sea,” 12/9-2/20, UW Memorial Union-Class of 1925 Gallery (reception 6-8 pm, 12/9). 262-7592.

S PEC TATO R S PO RTS NCAA Volleyball Championship Regional Round: Badgers vs. Ohio State 1 pm, Stanford vs. Florida State 3:30 pm, 12/9; winners 5 pm, 12/10, UW Field House. $8/session ($14 all). 262-1440.

sat dec 10 MUS I C

Baroque Holiday Concert Saturday, Dec. 10, First Congregational Church, 7:15 pm lecture, 8 pm concert

The always-excellent Madison Bach Musicians present a cappella masterworks by Lassus and Josquin, a Christmas Cantata for soprano and strings by Alessandro Scarlatti, and J.S. Bach’s Cantata 122, among others. You’ll experience vocal perfection and period instruments in a great acoustical setting — a fine choice for holiday music. Get there early for the pre-show lecture by director Trevor Stephenson.

➡

SEARCH THE FULL CALENDAR OF EVENTS AT ISTHMUS.COM

UWBADGERS.COM

1.800.GO.BADGERS

VOLLEYBALL

Wrestling

Women's Basketball

UW FIELD HOUSE

UW Field House

Kohl Center

DECEMBER 09 + 10

DECEMBER 11

NCAA REGIONAL

FRIDAY

WISCONSIN vs OHIO STATE | 1:00pm STANFORD vs FLORIDA STATE | 3:30pm

SATURDAY

NORTHERN IOWA

MARQUETTE

SUNDAY

SCHEDULE POSTER GIVEAWAY

FAMILY FOUR PACK

NOON

WINNERS OF MATCHES 1 + 2 | 5:00pm TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

1:00 pm

(while supplies last)

courtesy of

presented by

Enjoy four tickets, four hot dogs, four sodas and coupons for frozen custard for just $28! (must be purchased in advance)

While you’re here check out our new UPCREJCV ƂNVGT

Holiday Tunes in the Terminal! What: More than 400 local students & community members performing!

When: December 19-23, 2016.

Check msnairport.com for daily performance schedule

4000 International Lane Madison, WI

Who: Everyone! Public is welcome! Questions? airinfo@msnairport.com

Ten years of holiday music happiness made possible by: www.heidmusic.com

DECEMBER 8–14, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

Where: Airport Main Terminal – South Lobby.

■ ISTHMUS PICKS : DEC 10 - 14 Alchemy Cafe: No Name String Band, free, 10 pm. Barrymore Theatre: Wintersong, 8 pm. Bos Meadery: Holven Fora, SHIKIMO, 7 pm. Brink Lounge: The Trailer Kings, rock, 9 pm. Club Tavern, Middleton: Ron Denson Band, 9 pm.

Art at the Depot: Open house by local artists, 10 am5 pm, 12/10, 931 E. Main St. hatsofancy6@gmail.com. Marissa Mackey: “Future Perfect,” photographs & short fiction in response, 12/8-1/7, Arts & Literature Laboratory (reception 7-9 pm, 12/10). 556-7415.

Come Back In: The Rascal Theory, rock, free, 9 pm.

S PEC TATO R S PO RTS

Farm Tavern: Northern Comfort, bluegrass, 7 pm.

Mad Rollin’ Dolls: Reservoir Dolls vs Vaudeville Vixens & Unholy Rollers vs. Quad Squad, 6 pm, 12/10, Alliant Energy Center-Exhibition Hall. $15 ($12 adv.; $6 ages 6-11). madrollindolls.com.

The Frequency: Weathered Heads, The Civil Engineers, The Sharrows, 9 pm. Harmony Bar: The Pine Travelers, Warm Wet Rag (Ween tribute), 9:45 pm. Immanuel Lutheran Church: Choral Arts Society Chorale, “Good Will to All!” concert, 7 pm. Knuckle Down Saloon: Xavi Lynn’s Julep, 9 pm. Lakeside Street Coffee House: The McDougals/Mississippi Flanagan, folk, 6:30 pm. Mickey’s: The Crosses, Die Kreuzen tribute, 10:30 pm. Mr. Robert’s: Cold Black River, Sons Of Kong, 10 pm. UW Humanities Building-Mills Hall: UW Symphony Orchestra, School of Music concert, free, 8 pm.

S PEC I A L EV EN TS Gingerbread Casas for CASA: Spectators welcome for gingerbread house decorating competition benefiting Dane County Court Appointed Special Advocates, 10 am-4 pm, 12/10, Madison Children’s Museum; completed displays 10 am-4 pm, 12/11. Free with museum admission ($8). 256-6445.

sun dec 11

UW Old Music Hall: World Percussion Ensemble, noon.

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 8–14, 2016

G I V E T H E G I F T O F OV E RT U R E ! SERIES PARTNER

Jersey Boys

JAN 10

CITIZEN: Reggie Wilson/ Fist and Heel Performance Group

JAN 12 FREE

MadCity Sessions: Oh My Love & Modern Mod

JAN 12

Patti LaBelle

JAN 14

Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Other Treasured Stories

JAN 25 – FEB 5

The Phantom of the Opera

FEB 12

Boyz II Men

FEB 18

Duck Soup Cinema: Safety Last

FEB 19

Elephant & Piggie’s We Are in a Play!

SPONSORED BY

SERIES SPONSOR

GET SOCIAL PRESENTED BY

GODFREY KAHN S.C.

FAMILY SERIES SPONSOR

COMMUNITY PARTNER

SERIES PARTNER

MUSIC SERIES SPONSOR

SPONSORED BY

The Burish Group of UBS Financial Services Inc.

RECOMMENDED WHEN USED FOR REPRODUCTIONS SMALLER THAN 2.25” WIDE.

A Christmas Carol

Trapo

There’s a reason why Children’s Theater of Madison brings back A Christmas Carol year after year: The Charles Dickens classic reminds us about what really matters. New this year: American Players Theatre’s David Daniel takes on the role of Ebenezer Scrooge. Some characters in this high-quality production might be a little scary for younger kids, but, hey, they’re going to grow up seeing someone a lot scarier in the White House. ALSO: Sunday, Dec. 11, 2:30 pm. Through Dec. 23. The Nutcracker: Madison Ballet’s holiday classic, 12/10-26, Overture Center-Overture Hall, at 2 & 7 pm Saturdays (1 pm only 12/24) and 2 pm Sundays, plus 2 pm on 12/23 & 26. $65-$16. 258-4141. Go Sing it on the Mountain: A Christmas story, 6 pm, 12/10, St. Albert the Great Catholic Church, Sun Prairie. Holiday dinner at 4:45 pm. Donations. 837-3798.

ART EXHIBITS & EV ENTS

Municipal

SERIES SPONSOR

Saturday, Dec. 10, Madison Municipal Building, 11 am-6 pm FAMILY SERIES SPONSOR

SPONSORED BY

OVERTURE.ORG | 608.258.4141

MUS I C

Saturday, Dec. 10, Overture CenterCapitol Theater, 2:30 pm

COMMUNITY PARTNER

JAN 3 – 8

THEATER & DANCE

The Madison Municipal Building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is undergoing renovation and will be closed until late 2018. There’s time for one last visit, however. The Bubbler at Madison Public Library has organized a day of visual and performance art, music and hands-on activities geared to the space in its pre-reconstruction form. Those who attended the “Bookless” party before the Central Library’s 2012 rebuilding project know that an artsplosion is a great way to say adios to a well-known public space.

Sunday, Dec. 11, Majestic Theatre, 8 pm

If you haven’t been keeping up with the buzz around 18-year-old Madison rapper/ singer Trapo, you might be surprised to hear that he’s already headlining one of the bigger venues in town. To those who have already heard his critically acclaimed debut album Shade Trees, which he and a live band will be performing in full, headliner status just seems logical for this rising star. With CRASHprez, Max Wonders, Ra’Shaun and Trebino.

The Special Consensus Sunday, Dec. 11, Brink Lounge, 7 pm

Four decades of tradition and innovation visit the Brink Lounge Sunday evening when the Special Consensus takes the stage. Led by co-founder/banjo player Greg Cahill, the band is at the forefront of bringing bluegrass to new settings and audiences (such as concerts with a symphony orchestra). The Krause Family Band opens this Southern Wisconsin Bluegrass Music Association concert. Cargo-East Washington: Jamie Guiscafre, 2 pm. First Congregational United Church of Christ: Madison Youth Choirs, “Shakespeare 400:” Girlchoirs 1:30 pm, boychoirs, 4 pm, high school ensembles 7 pm. The Frequency: Jake Jones, Nathan Walker, 8 pm. High Noon Saloon: MMF Student Showcase, 11 am. Olbrich Gardens: Suzuki Strings, 2 pm. Stoughton Opera House: Stoughton Festival Choir & City Band, Christmas concert, free/donations, 4 pm. UW Memorial Union-Shannon Hall: Ten Tenors, 8 pm. VFW-Cottage Grove Road: Kristi B, Midlife Crisis, The Corvettes, Wayne Road, Krause Family Band, Back 40, Toys for Tots benefit, donations/new unwrapped toys, 12:15 pm.

A RT EX H I B I TS & E VE N TS

tue dec 13 MUS I C

Manabu Ikeda Through Dec. 11, Chazen Museum of Art

Time grows short to view the recently completed large-scale fantasia on destruction and recovery by Chazen artist in residence Manabu Ikeda. After Sunday, the work will leave Madison for a traveling exhibition in Japan. Set aside some time to contemplate the art, and also to look for references to Madison landmarks such as the former Octopus Car Wash sign. Lisa Nelson: “Glowing Green,” 12/1-31, Mother Fool’s Coffeehouse (reception 7-9 pm, 12/11). 259-1301. Merry Madness: Local crafters/artists, noon-5 pm, 12/11, Plan B. 233-2646.

SP ECI A L EV EN TS RePlay: UW Center for Child and Family Well-Being event, 3-5 pm, 12/11, Nancy Nicholas Hall, with fashion show of sustainable clothes, educational crafts, play & food activities. Free. sohe.wisc.edu.

K IDS & FA MI LY Waisman Center Children’s Theater: Scenes from the Nutcracker ballet, 1 & 3 pm, 12/11, 1500 Highland Ave. $2 ($1 kids). 263-5837.

mon dec 12 MU SI C The Frequency: West View, Ashes of My Regrets, Feverwar, Portals, Bloodmoney, 8 pm.

Guitars for Vets Fundraiser Tuesday, Dec. 13, High Noon Saloon, 5:30 pm

Guitars for Vets has grown from its beginnings as a simple guitar lesson into a national nonprofit providing guitars and lessons for military veterans. This benefit show will feature a set by G4V participants; ’50s and ’60s rock ’n’ roll by the Sparks Band (pictured) with special guest Count Bop (of local legends Dr. Bop & the Headliners); and a set of Pretenders and Joan Jett tunes by the Mystery Achievers & the Jett Set (a supergroup featuring members of BingBong, German Art Students, the Fauxtons and Sigourney Weavers). Cardinal Bar: Darren Sterud Orchestra, jazz, 6:30 pm. Crystal Corner Bar: Josh Harty & the Big Tasty, 8 pm. The Frequency: Local Rhythm, 8:30 pm. Mickey’s Tavern: Blythe Gamble & the Rollin’ Dice, free, 5:30 pm; Em Jay, free, 10:30 pm. Up North Pub: Derek Ramnarace, free, 8 pm.

wed dec 14 MUS I C

Malt House: The Kissers, Irish, free, 7:30 pm. Up North Pub: The Wang Show, free, 7 pm.

T HE AT ER & DA N C E

Joe Marcinek Band Wednesday, Dec. 14, High Noon Saloon, 9 pm

TSTMRKT Monday, Dec. 12, Art In Gallery, 8 pm

Brink Lounge: Hannah Edlen, Sandy Eichel, Hanah Busse, Tara Martens, Jen Farley, Beth Kille, Erik Kjelland, 8 pm.

B OOKS / S P O K EN WORD

The Frequency: The Periodicals, Earthman, The Square Bombs, 8:30 pm.

The Moth Madison StorySLAM: Storytelling competition with “risk” theme, 7:30 pm, 12/12, High Noon Saloon. $10. 268-1122.

UW Humanities Building-Mills Hall: Wingra Wind Quintet, School of Music concert, free, 7:30 pm.

RESERVE YOUR BOMBERS ONLINE FOR A CHANCE TO WIN:

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DECEMBER 8–14, 2016 ISTHMUS.COM

“If you could get Brecht, Beckett, Cheech and Chong to have group sex, it would look like this,” proclaims the Facebook page of TSTMRKT, a Las Vegas-based performance art group that specializes in genre-bending, boundary-pushing experimental theater. Expect film and audio collage, absurdist comedy and possibly some nudity.

Indiana isn’t generally thought of as a hotbed of funk, but the Joe Marcinek Band might just help the Hoosier State redefine itself. The group, which plays a high-energy combination of improvised jazz and funk, has an ever-changing lineup that has included everyone from the late P-Funk and Talking Heads keyboardist Bernie Worrell to members of the String Cheese Incident, Umphrey’s McGee and Yonder Mountain String Band. With Better Yeti.

Released Dec. 9th at 3 pm Bombers available only at Wisconsin Brewing Company

■ EMPHASIS

Less cowbell Hutch + Hide brings new sophistication to New Glarus tractive, sturdy hooks on which to hang your hat, perhaps your Stormy Kromer (also sold here). Stormy Kromers, the iconic wool plaid ear-flapped hats, are made just over the Wisconsin border in Ironwood, Michigan. Hutch + Hide carries sizes for the whole family. Also on display are examples of the custom cabinetry and bars made from locally sourced reclaimed wood. Tory drafts the design after measuring your space; once a final design is determined, the pieces themselves are built in central Wisconsin with a turnaround time of six to eight weeks. The rear of the store is dedicated to a collection of baby items like super-soft rattles, burp cloths and swaddle blankets in adorable animal prints. There are vintage board books and classics like Alice in Wonderland, as well as clothes in infant to 4T sizes made in the United States by socially responsible brands like Tea, Go Gently Baby and MilkBarn. If you’re looking for a gift for someone under 5, this would be a good stop. The store also carries a full line of Minnetonka moccasins and slippers, perfectly cozy and smart-looking, too. Sizes are available for wee footsies on up. New Glarus is closer to Madison than most people think. If you haven’t been in a while, take the 30- to 40-minute drive southwest of Madison. You’ll find some lovely hidden treasures. ■

BY CANDICE WAGENER

New Glarus, known for its brewery and Swiss façades, is undergoing a bit of a renaissance these days. Although the main shopping street is still obviously connected to the town’s Swiss roots, the downtown is home to a growing number of stores geared to a 21st-century aesthetic (perhaps catering to Epic employees buying homes in the area). Hutch + Hide is a big part of that transformation. Hutch + Hide is a self-described “family store” that opened in April 2016. It combines goods for the home with an array of children’s items and grown-up comfort enhancers. Hutch + Hide also sells custom-designed, custom-made bars and cabinetry. It’s an unexpected twist, but it works. Owners Tory and Kelsy Hutchison met as teenagers in New Glarus, then attended UW-Whitewater together. Eventually the couple married and settled in New Glarus to raise a family. Kelsy’s parents own Madison’s Roughing It in Style furniture store, which started in New Glarus, and both had experience working there. The front of the store boasts rustic home elements. There are woodsy scented candles hand-poured into hammered metal containers from Aspen Bay Candles of Mississippi. Unique steel hardware pieces include state-shaped bottle openers and at-

HUTCH + HIDE 600 1st St., New Glarus 608-636-2300 hutchandhide.com 10 am-5 pm Sun.-Fri., 10 am-6 pm Sat.

The “family store” stocks (clockwise from top) locally sourced wood cabinets, steel hooks, baby items and Aspen Bay Candles.

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Jobs Now hiring: Dietary Aides, Resident Assistants, C.N.A.’s, LPN’s, and RN’s. Sign on bonuses for some positions. Apply today! www.oakwoodvillage.net

Caring People Needed! Energetic, dependable and fun people desired to assist the elderly in Madison. Nonmedical companionship and in-home care. Flexible hours. Home Instead Senior Care: (608) 663-2646. East side woman with a disability seeking a reliable & compassionate worker. Early morning shifts beginning at 5 AM and weekend shifts beginning at 7 AM. Pay is $11.66-$12.31/hr. Call (608) 204-9416. Volunteer with UNITED WAY Volunteer Center Call 246-4380 or visit volunteeryourtime.org to learn about opportunities This holiday season, your Henry Vilas Zoo will shine brighter than ever during the Zoo Lights event on Thurs-Sun evenings from Nov 25-Jan 1. Guests will enjoy a warm beverage as they take a stroll down candy cane lane and enjoy the festive sights and sounds. Zoo Lights Guest Service Crew volunteers will sell tickets, greet visitors, run the carousel, and help make sure everything goes smoothly.

For a list of other holiday volunteer opportunities, view The 2016 Holiday Wish list located on United Way’s website: https://www.unitedwaydanecounty.org/ 2016/11/united-ways-2016-holiday-wish-list/. If you are interested in obtaining a paper copy, contact the Volunteer Center.

The UW Department of Psychiatry is looking for 9-11 year girls to participate in a paid research study. Girls who are currently receiving treatment for anxiety or other emotional issues, or who have been treated for anxiety in the past are not eligible to participate. Girls who have braces are also not eligible to participate. Receive $200 for participation in 3 research sessions. Additional study visits over the next 3 years may yield a total payment of up to $950. Participation includes MRI brain scans, clinical assessment interviews, behavioral tasks, and questionnaires about health and mood. If you think your child fits these criteria, please visit our website at www.KnowYourEmotions.com for more information and a link to our screening survey. You can also contact the HealthEmotions Research Institute by phone at (608) 265-4380

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Are you someone who loves preparing and serving food? Bring healthy treats to holiday or special events held at Triangle Community Ministry. Make the residents feel special by providing healthy snacks, a main dish like lasagna, Christmas cookies or other homemade treats for holidays. Come and eat with residents too.

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RESIDENTIAL CLEANING SERVICES Fully insured. Monday through Saturday Excellent service. Flexible & efficient! Owner operated. Affordable pricing. We will clean your house faster than a Tornado! 608-873-1198 GARTH EWING PREGNANT? CONSIDERING ADOPTION? Call us first. Living expenses, housing, medical, and continued support afterwards. Choose adoptive family of your choice. Call 24/7. 877-362-2401

Antiques all 1920’s: Tiffany table lamp, massive, ornate glass front bookcase, Victrola, Chifferobe, 32 piece set of etched glassware. Call 5:30-10:30pm 608-274-1109 CHECK OUT THE FOUNDRY FOR MUSIC LESSONS & REHEARSAL STUDIOS & THE BLAST HOUSE STUDIO FOR RECORDING! 608-270-2660 www.madisonmusicfoundry.com CASH FOR CARS: Any Car/Truck 20002015. Running or Not! Top Dollar For Used/ Damaged. Free Nationwide Towing! Call Now: 1-888-420-3808 (AAN CAN)

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“Dracula” novelist Stoker Rapper ___ Flocka Flame Fundamental principle Brain division European auto brand Desist’s companion “Do you eat chocolate all day long? Ask your doctor if ___ is right for you.” 19 Address the crowd 20 Role-playing game in the “Elder Scrolls” series 21 “Do you say things that are self-contradictory? Ask your doctor if ___ is right for you.” 23 Agcy. under Elaine Chao, once 25 Concert boosters 26 Some butter 29 “The Mikado” costume element 31 Greetings from Hawaii

35 Albany-to-Buffalo canal 36 Important part of a news story that might get “buried” 38 Hearten 39 Fish and chips fish 40 “Do you watch movies on ancient technology? Ask your doctor if ___ is right for you.” 42 News and opinion website since 2014 43 Brando’s Nebraska birthplace 45 Word before clock or glass 46 “Match Game” emcee Rayburn 47 Dressing places? 49 Brunch drink orders, maybe 50 Small bills 51 Bouncy 53 Ancient road to Rome

55 “Do you sit there and watch your fish swim around? Ask your doctor if ___ is right for you.” 59 AL East athlete 63 Fool’s cap wearer 64 “Do you wish you lived on a massive rock at the southern tip of Europe? Ask your doctor if ___ is right for you.” 66 Mischievous pranks 67 “Garfield” drooler 68 Luxury rental 69 Packs (away) 70 Sloth and avarice, for two 71 “Raiders of the Lost Ark” creatures DOWN

1 2 3 4

Crunchy sandwiches Corner piece “Dear” advice columnist Place of ‘90s TV

5 Hypothetical spacetime shortcut 6 Abbr. on military mail 7 Gambling game played with 80 balls 8 Amazon Echo’s voice service 9 Riboflavin’s group 10 Deodorant option 11 Coal valley in Germany 12 Math ratio words 13 Out in public 18 Frozen water, in Wittenberg 22 1950s singing star ___ Sumac 24 Encourages a felon 26 Bill of cowboy legend 27 Appetite stimulant 28 Music streaming service since 2014 30 State with an upright panhandle 32 Place of refuge 33 Make up (for) 34 Palindromic pair 37 Eggplant or smiley, e.g. 40 Reputation hurter 41 Available, as retail goods 44 Gets angry against Bart Simpson’s wishes 46 Silverback, for one 48 ___ Lanka 52 Often-mocked cars of the 1980s 54 A goal of NOW 55 Throws in 56 Give up 57 Rescind 58 Skirt length 60 ___ Day and the Knights (“Animal House” band) 61 Item on a bedside table 62 First asteroid landed on by a NASA craft 65 Bulk foods container LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

■ SAVAGE LOVE

Husbandry I’m a 37-year-old gay man who just got out of an abusive relationship. We were together five years, moved to Portland together, got married three years ago, yada, yada, yada. He suffered a traumatic injury earlier this year, which led to PTSD, which led to a nervous breakdown, which led to our savings being depleted, which led him to leave me in October. He moved back to the other side of the country, and I’m broke and on my own in a strange city. I saw your dirty film festival when it played here, and it made me realize something: At my age, I should still be enjoying myself and evolving sexually. I was unhappy in my marriage for the last two years, but sexually I was unhappy for a long time. Recently, I had a decent onenight stand. It was a drunken, stoned hot mess, but it got the job done — and there was no guilt on my part, which to me signifies that it really is over with my ex. But I can’t help feeling like I’m starting over. Not just dating, but starting over with my sex life and my writing. My ex had me switch from LGBT media — which I am very good at — to copywriting, which sucks but is “steadier.” The

point is: I want so much sexually, because I’ve been starved physically and psychologically, but I don’t know where to begin. I feel like my marriage eviscerated me sexually. Not just the sex part of it, but the parts of my homosexuality that felt important to my personality, not just my turn-ons. Help. Grieving And Yearning Man Asking Nicely You’re not too old to enjoy yourself and evolve sexually, GAYMAN — you’re never too old to enjoy yourself or evolve, sexually or otherwise. But it takes time to bounce back after a committed LTR ends traumatically. So don’t rush yourself. But as soon as you can — sooner than perhaps it feels right — you’ll need to get out there. You’ll need to actively and intentionally reconnect to your homosexuality and the ways in which it shaped and continues to inform your personality, your perspective, and your joy. And now some random tips.... I’m not being look-ist or body-fascist here — this isn’t about having Instagrammable abs or the best torso on Grindr — but join a gym. Or take up a sport that kicks your ass, cardiowise. Forcing your body to outrun your brain is a good way to get back in touch with yourself physically, emotionally and sexually. And exercising — again, I’m not talking abs here — is good for us. It’s a natural antidepressant. It

JOE NEWTON

gets blood pumping into our extremities. (Your dick is an extremity.) And it gets us out of our heads. It also creates a social space, if you do it regularly, where you can make friends and connections without booze or drugs or the scourge of dance music. If the gym isn’t for you, ride a bike. If biking isn’t for you, run. If running isn’t for you, walk. Just get your ass moving. Go volunteer somewhere, anywhere. Like someone or other once said, it’s hard to feel sorry for yourself when you’re making yourself useful. Go volunteer at the ACLU or Planned

Parenthood, do some copywriting for an LGBT civil rights organization, find out what orgs are working with immigrants in your community and ask them what kind of help they need. Please don’t succumb to meth or any of the other stupid drugs. Pot and alcohol — in moderation — aren’t stupid drugs. Reach out to friends you lost touch with over the last five years, apologize for letting these relationships go, and ask if they’d like to reconnect. Not all will, some might be too angry to reconnect right now (you may hear from them later), some might not have any extra friendship bandwidth right now (ditto). Focus on friends who want to reconnect, and don’t be bitter about friends who don’t. Masturbate. A lot. And don’t use porn every single time — try using your imagination, flip through the ol’ solodex. Be open to new experiences. Ask yourself where you’ve always wanted to go. Pick a big gay event you’ve always wanted to attend — gay days at Disneyland, International Mr. Leather in Chicago, the World Series of Beer Pong in Las Vegas — and start setting money aside so you’ll have that trip to look forward to. Good luck, GAYMAN. ■ Email Dan at mail@savagelove.net or reach him on Twitter at @fakedansavage.

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