Issue 176 by Second Supper

FREE Volume 9 Issue 175 August 20, 2009

The

e s s o r C La

Leading off

Sand on the Riverfront August 14-16 Riverside Park

"At the Movies"

photos by El Jefe

Serving La Crosse, Onalska, Holmen, Barre Mills, Stoddard WI La Crescent, Hokah, Winona MN Second Supper Newspaper, LLC 614 Main St. La Crosse, WI 54601 Phone: 608.782.7001 Email: editor@secondsupper.com Advertising: advertising@secondsupper.com Online: www.secondsupper.com Publisher Mike Keith mike.keith@secondsupper.com

Editorial Editor: Adam Bissen adam.bissen@secondsupper.com Student Editor: Ben Clark benjamin.clark@secondsupper.com Graphic Design: Matt Schmidt matt.schmidt@secondsupper.com Columnists: Amber Miller amber.miller@secondsupper.com Brett Emerson brett.emerson@secondsupper.com Shuggypop shuggypop.jackson@secondsupper.com Contributors: Jacob Bielanski, Erich Boldt, Nicholas Cabreza, Andrew Colston, Ashly Conrad, Emily Faeth, Brandon Fahey, El Jefe, Emma Mayview, Briana Rupel, Noah Singer, Bob Treu, Nate Willer

Marketing/Sales Blake Auler-Murphy blake.auler-murphy.@secondsupper.com 608.797.6370 Tim Althaus tim.althaus@secondsupper.com 608.385.9681 Second Supper is a community weekly published 48 times per year on Thursdays. All content is property of Second Supper Newspaper, LLC and may not be reprinted or re-transmitted in whole or in part without the expressed written consent of Second Supper Newspaper, LLC.

Treasures On Main 722 Main St. / 608.785.0234 / Mon-Sat 10am - 5pm

Furniture ~~ Antiques Housewares ~~ Linens Primitives ~~ Garden Jewelry ~~ Collectibles With 3 stories of treasures, it makes it the largest consignment shop in La Crosse. Stop in and check out our selection and shop in support of local animal rescues.

Printed with soy-based ink on partially recycled paper

Second Supper vol. 9, issue 176

Leditor

Do This

United States congressmen are rarely worthy of our pity, but they way they’ve been treated in these recent health care town halls is just abominable. Perhaps you’ve seen the news clips. They usually feature packed houses, screaming citizens, glum politicians and a complete absence of logic — yet for some reason cable news networks air it ad nauseum and exalt the footage as some kind of paradigm of democratic debate. Not hardly! This is like Chicken Little in a Red Scare after watching Logan’s Run. Look — health coverage is good for some Americans and terrible for others. The debate rests upon those in the middle, the ones who have typically seen their premiums rise and their coverage altered as private companies scrimp to cover an aging populace. When it comes to matters of the heart (literally), you can’t blame people for fearing change. But this entire debate has been co-opted to such a base level that insults, demagoguery and death threats to grandma seem to be the entire breadth of public discourse. Beginning this week, La Crosse residents can chose a rational alternative when Rep. Ron Kind hosts a series of listening sessions around the 3rd District. I’m not sure why he’s holding them so far from La Crosse, but Kind will be in Tomah on Thursday, Whitehall on Friday and Darlington next Tuesday night.A part of me wants to make the drive out to those rural high schools and community centers for the action, but I think that side is more sadistic than democratic. I should feel too young to be completely jaded by this charade, but this whole health care debate seems out of my hands. I’m sorry, but when approximately zero of my peers find their health coverage adequate while Medicare pays every bill for folks over 65, I can’t help but see inequality.Americans over the age of 50 cast 40 percent of the votes in the 2008 election, and they're also the ones screaming on CNN.Young people have cause for an honest debate on health care. When can it start?

— Adam Bissen

Table of Contents

This page ................................................3 Ouisconsing Red Ale........................... 4 Y Marks the Spot .................................5 Reader survey ..................................... 6 Pride ....................,,,,...............................7 Rating La Crosse ............................... 8 Pert' Near Q&A .................................. 9 Reviews ................................................. 10 Crossword .......................................... 11 Community Service .......................... 12-13 Rock Out! ........................................... 14 ..........

August 20, 2009

the top Things that look good on Brett Favre 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Green Wrangler Boot Cuts An OxyContin smile Cameron Diaz Super Bowl XXXI ring Stubble Aaron Kampman

Signs you have bad health insurance 1. You've been treated in the back of a van. 2. Your spare kidney can be used as a copayment. 3. You immigrate to Mexico for the benefits. 4. You know a Second Supper writer. 5. Dr. Nick is on your HMO. 6. You're half-circumcised. 7. You don't have a job.

WHAT: Seasame Street Live: 1-2-3 Imagine! with Elmo & Friends! WHERE: La Crosse Center WHEN: Thurs-Sun, Aug. 20-23 Kids of all ages (I always wanted to say that), are you ready for this little event that's about to touch down at the La Crosse Center? For my money, Jim Henson is one of the most influential humans to walk the globe in my lifetime, and if 8-foot versions of his Muppet creations are going to sing and dance for your entertainment, I say get thee to thy La Crosse Center! According to their press release, you can expect the following: "This high-enegry musical will transport audiences to far away places as Ernie captains the high seas, Elmo dances to the rhythm of the African rainforest and Bert meets an octopus who has the blues." A sad octopus? I'm in! You can also expect to see appearances from Big Bird and Abby Cadabby, and I'm assuming other favorites will be there as well. Just be sure that if you are going to the Sunday performances, you get out of Dodge before the Hinder/Papa Roach crowd shows up to rock out at 7. — Shuggypop Jackson

NAME AND AGE: Avery Ridolfo, 23

Social Networking

WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Santa Cruz, CA CURRENT JOB: Construction DREAM JOB: I'd like to be a zoo keeper and feed monkeys and stuff. LAST THING YOU GOOGLED: Why is my poop green IF YOU COULD LIVE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, WHERE WOULD IT BE? Somewhere I can surf, snowboard and skateboard... soo California.

TELL US A JOKE Your mother's so fat, when she goes to a restaurant she doesn't get a menu, she gets an estimate. IF A GENIE GRANTED YOU ONE WISH, WHAT WOULD YOU ASK FOR? 3 more FIRST CONCERT YOU WENT TO: Kenny Wayne Sheppard, I think.

WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE? Have a kid

WHAT'S THE LAST THING YOU BOUGHT? I just bought a Frapp at the Sip and Surf.

Alternatives to mowing your lawn

WHAT IS YOUR BEVERAGE OF CHOICE? Budweiser

WHAT'S IN YOUR POCKETS RIGHT NOW? My keys and my phone

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

CELEBRITY CRUSH: Christina Ricci, wooooooo

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF SECOND SUPPER? I love everything about it, but if I only have a min. to read it I'll read the top 7, or the social networking part.

Buy a goat. Cover it with Slip 'n Slides. Astroturf Napalm Buy that thing Billy Mays sold. Host polo matches. Stop caring.

WHAT BOOK ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING? On the Road, Jack Kerouac TELL US YOUR GUILTIEST PLEASURE: An aftermeal smoke

HOW DO YOU KNOW ROBERT? I met Rob through skateboarding, and very glad I did. He's a great friend.

Freshening up Kickapoo Kenya Less than a week ago, I bought a pound of Kickapoo Coffee Roaster’s Kenya from the Kangocho Cooperative, which came in a spectacular re-usable, recyclable steel can that is a work of art even before you taste the coffee. That coffee is gone already, which was a good indication that I should review it. Kenya is known for its very high standards, both in cupping and in trading. Intense competition drives this market, which is supported by tireless research and development projects and meticulous quality control standards. The co-ops are made up of thousands of small farms who pride themselves on their knowledge of their topnotch agricultural systems.Kenyan coffees are known for their unique acidity that pulls off bright and avoids sour.The Kangocho Cooperative produces one of the most highly sought after coffees in the world, and with good reason. It’s made up of various heirloom varieties, including the coveted SL-28 variety. This variety has been grown in Kenya since the early 1900s and is responsible for the beautiful characteristics associated with Kenyan coffees. The Kangocho coffees are grown at very high altitudes, 6,000 feet or more, which contributes to its very complex flavor profile and unique acidity. How about a little science to

help us understand why Kenyan coffees, especially the SL-28 variety, taste so good? The highland soils of Kenya contain phosphoric acid, which has the zip of an acid, but not the sourness. Strains like SL-28 “fix” the phosphoric acid and incorporate it into the bean, thus the fantastic acidity in the cup. As a bit of a side note, there is another stain of Kenyan coffee that is widely considered inferior to the SL28 called the Ruiru 11 strain. The difference between these strains is that the Ruiru 11 can’t fix phosphoric acid and ends up with a high concentration of citric acid instead, which is the sourest acid of them all. Neat. The roasters from Kickapoo roast this one pretty light to preserve its myriad flavors, and for those who are used to dark roasts, this can be quite the turnaround. With a sweet grapefruit acidity and subtle berry notes, this coffee is hard to put down. The most satisfying characteristic of this sophisticated coffee for me was its incredibly sumptuous mouthfeel, smooth and velvety like melted chocolate. I try not to buy the same coffee twice in a row, but I might just break the rules for this one.

— Amber Miller

BEER

Ouisconsing Red Ale Central Waters Brewing Company Amherst, Wisconsin

Review

Thanks to beer, I seem to learn something new every week. Just today, for example, I discovered that Ouisconsing is the Algonquin term for the Wisconsin River (excellent) and that this red ale was one of the first beers brewed by Central Waters when it was founded back in 1996. That makes it a pretty good choice in beer names: Not only does it provide an interesting lesson in geography, it also relives the burden of being named the “Wisconsin” beer — a brand that would be in much contention in this sud-soaked state. Still, this Central Waters lager boasts a lot of the attributes that make the Wisconsin brewing tradition so strong. Depending on semantics, you could either label this a “workingman’s” beer or a “lawnmower beer,” but the taste is quality throughout. The Ouisconsing pours a rusty orangebrown color, and it’s a lot more hazy than your typical “red.” After a hard pour the tan and fluffy head bubbles three fingers high, but it fades to an even lace. Like any quality lager, the Ouisconsing has a strong malt aroma. However nutty and earthy scents seem to domi-

nate the nose, which is a nice approximation of Appearance 8 the Wisconsin wilderness. The flavor comes Aroma: 7 on a bit more hoppy than I expected, and al- Taste: 6 though there is a smidgen of malt sweetness, Mouthfeel: 8 the flavor isn’t particularly pronounced. It’s a Drinkability: 6 bit like the Wisconsin accent that way. Still, it has a full mouthfeel and Total: 35 a pretty crisp finish for a complex lager. I doubt this will become a regular part of my drinking rotation, but a six-pack would improve any summer or autumn barbeque. By no means is this Wisconsin’s finest beer, but what’s average in Wisconsin is well-made and unshowy, the traits that flows through our state like a river.

— Adam Bissen

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after 9pm and drink for FREE! [Make sure you bring some friends with you!] Second Supper vol. 9, issue 176

Y Marks the Spot The 8-Bit Halcyon By Brett Emerson

brett.emerson@secondsupper.com

The moment was as close to that old ‘50s fantasy of having pipe, slippers and newspaper ready when coming home from work as I am likely to experience. It was a Friday evening, and my porch was full of ska players as I walked in the living room door. What I saw then stopped me in my tracks and dropped my jaw.The heavy box TV was on, and shining on its screen was Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!! Bless their hearts; the ska kids had found my Nintendo, and they put in one of its most impossible games. All other thoughts disappeared, and into the game I went. One can find old school video games available for piracy anywhere on the Internet. What once filled a brick of plastic can now occupy a single compact disc by the thousands. A simple emulator program can put a system’s entire catalog within easy grasp, but playing these games on a computer is not the same. The constant and obsessive improvements in technology serve to expose its constant and obsessive flaws. Instead of running old tech at optimum levels, new technology often renders it wholly unusable. Blu-Ray discs are replacing DVDs with crisper picture and better sound, whereas the old discs which worked well for so many years now look horrid on next-generation televisions. Almost any video in the world can be viewed on the Internet, but loading them can be a pain and the picture is often pixilated, especially on YouTube. New video game systems, their prices increasing with every generation, obliterate the old in a half-decade’s time. Computers now run at gigabytes of memory, but their operations seem to take as much time as more inferior computers had taken, years ago. There may come a time of stabilization, somewhere down the line, when our machines won’t have to keep up with the Joneses, when they will carry and offer every convenience and entertainment we desire, running without a hitch. Then again, what will we think of next? What new high-tech obsessions will streak across the sky and perpetuate our incompleteness? My own half-finished tech status came in the form of a small flatscreen television, purchased in the Wal-Mart dead of night. Having moved out of a communal situation and not owning a television of my own, a flatscreen seemed like a fine thing to obtain. I could play my library of movies and games, and best of all I wouldn’t have to lug around a heavy box TV. Unfortunately, I soon realized the rub. When not connected to a top of the line, five plug, high definition machine, the television was junk. The three plug Playstation 2 which served as my DVD player ran its visuals slightly out of sync with its sounds, only fixed when I blew 20 bucks on HD cables. A worse diagnosis arrived

August 20, 2009

for the systems which connected via screw-in RF cables. My Nintendo and Super Nintendo suffered massive lag between controller and screen. Being that they often demanded mach 5 reflexes from the player, these machines were useless. If I had a VCR, I may have thrown it out the window. High Definition was officially crap. Cheap consolation came in the form of computer emulation, allowing me incomplete glimpses of the old school. For days, I played Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!!, needling my way to the lispy, ear-biting head cheese. Playing on a keyboard, my skills were average. Were it not for use-anytime save states — dodge, punch, save, die, load, dodge, punch, save — I couldn’t have won. When victory came, it felt godlike and hollow. I remembered these mediocre games and expected no greatness as I pressed start on that recent Friday. But something was different. With a real life controller in my hand, I was on fire. Every challenger fell to my fists, and when Mike Tyson entered my ring, I was undefeated. For the first minute and a half he threw his uppercuts of death, a moment which finishes off most challengers. I made it through, falling to the mat only once. He would eventually fake me out and take me down, but I tried again, then again. Soon I beat him, honestly. The floodgates opened. Every old, historic game became new, and as I blasted and jumped though these familiar worlds, I felt a long-forgotten sense of safety. It’s strange how much of my conception of innocence is tied in with the video games of my youth — especially since these games often involved shooting robots, stabbing monsters, stomping on turtles, and turtles stabbing robotic monsters. I wonder what the newborns of today will someday cling to in the same way as I cling to Mega Man and Final Fantasy. Someone in the world finds Halo, The O.C., or the Numa Numa guy emblematic of simpler times, even if I don’t. Then again, all times are simpler when they’re not now. The following Sunday, I found myself reliving another lost experience — the community of the arcade. In a public place, I casually mentioned my triumph over Mike Tyson. I was met with disbelief, and soon, a challenge. Surrounded by spectators, I took Tyson down on the first try. The crowd gasped in amazement, and the challenger told me that I had changed his life. I made a profit, but that wasn’t the point. Get through the first minute and a half, and if you know what you’re doing, you can make it. Like many things.

Second Supper reader survey How often do you read Second Supper? ☐ Every week ☐ Occasionally ☐ Hardly ever ☐ Never Where do you pick up Second Supper? ☐ Grocery store ☐ Coffee shop ☐ Convenience store ☐ Campus ☐ Bar ☐ Restaurant ☐ Other _______________ How old are you? ☐ Under 21 ☐ 22-35 ☐ 36-50 ☐ Over 50 What sex are you? ☐ Male ☐ Female How often do you do our crossword puzzle?

☐ Every week ☐ Occasionally ☐ Hardly ever ☐ Never How often do you read Social Networking?

☐ Every week ☐ Occasionally ☐ Hardly ever ☐ Never

How often do you read the drink and food specials? ☐ Every week ☐ Occasionally ☐ Hardly ever ☐ Never How often do you read the Entertainment Directory? ☐ Every week ☐ Occasionally ☐ Hardly ever ☐ Never How often do you read our comics? ☐ Every week ☐ Occasionally ☐ Hardly ever ☐ Never How often do you read the beer review? ☐ Every week ☐ Occasionally ☐ Hardly ever ☐ Never How often do you read the coffee review? ☐ Every week ☐ Occasionally ☐ Hardly ever ☐ Never How often do you read the movie reviews?

☐ Every week ☐ Occasionally ☐ Hardly ever ☐ Never

How often do you read the music reviews?

☐ Every week ☐ Occasionally ☐ Hardly ever ☐ Never Which reviews (check only three) should be top priority for Second Supper? ☐ Coffee reviews ☐ Music reviews (new releases) ☐ Music review (live acts) ☐ Movie reviews (new releases) ☐ Movie reviews (alternative film) ☐ Game reviews ☐ Arts reviews ☐ Beer reviews

Please rank these types of stories in importance to you: ☐ Campus features ☐ Community features ☐ Arts & entertainment information ☐ Reviews ☐ Columns ☐ Local news issues and politics ☐ Things to do How would you describe the quality of writing in Second Supper? ☐ Excellent ☐ Good ☐ Average ☐ Poor

How often do you read the column Tinfoil + Raccoon (Rochelle Hartman)? ☐ Every week ☐ Occasionally ☐ Hardly ever ☐ Never

How important is the Second Supper name in determining whether you read the publication? ☐ Very important ☐ Somewhat important ☐ Not at all important

How often do you read Mommy Madness (Amber Miller)? ☐ Every week ☐ Occasionally ☐ Hardly ever ☐ Never

Would you be willing to talk to an editor about the newspaper? ☐ Yes ☐ No

How often do you read Y Marks the Spot (Brett Emerson)? ☐ Every week ☐ Occasionally ☐ Hardly ever ☐ Never

General comments or suggestions:

Please send or drop off surveys at 614 Main St., La Crosse,WI 54601.

Second Supper vol. 9, issue 176

Culture

La Crosse Pride 2009 Wisconsin adopted domestic partnerships and our GLBT community hosts an annaul bash, but does La Crosse accept its gay culture — or just tolerate it? By Rochelle Hartman

rochelle.hartman@secondsupper.com In February, Gov. Jim Doyle announced that he would introduce legislation that would allow same-sex couples to register as domestic partners, giving them limited legal protections, including the ability to inherit from a partner and medical visitation rights. Doyle signed the legislation into law on June 29. On July 23, Wisconsin Family Action, a Madison-based group, filed a petition with the Wisconsin Supreme Court asking that the registry be declared unconstitutional. Nevertheless, the legislation took effect Aug. 3. That same day, I received an e-mail from my friend Joseph, a gay man in his 60s, who lives in Madison. It contained a link to a newspaper article in which he was interviewed as he and his partner, Gordon, stood in line to be one of the first couples in Dane County to take advantage of the registry. People started lining up at 5 a.m. at the Dane County courthouse, and volunteers were on hand to offer hugs and cheers. By day's end, 50 couples had registered. The article concluded with a quote from Joseph: "I think it’s more symbolic than practical for us. But hopefully it’s the beginning of something larger for young folks coming down the road.” On Aug. 4, the La Crosse Tribune ran a story about local response to the registry. Despite anticipating a large turnout, county employees and volunteers from the Seven Rivers LGBT Resource Center waited for more than two hours before they registered the first couple. By the end of the day, only four couples had applied in La Crosse County. Most surrounding counties reported no registrations. The juxtaposition of the vastly different effects of this act on two cities left me won-

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Mark Rauchwarter dering about the climate for GLBT people in the La Crosse area. From what I've observed, La Crosse seems to be a mostly live-and-letlive sort of place. There's evidence of intolerance and extremism in the comments attached to stories in the online Tribune, but I figure that's attributable to the same six or seven cranks who can't get anyone to listen to them otherwise. I know that a majority of La Crosse residents (59 percent) voted against the constitutional amendment making it illegal for same-sex couples to marry in 2006. It appears that the community is tolerant enough to support an annual Pride event at the Oktoberfest grounds (Aug. 22, sandwiched between Irish Fest and Oktoberfest). In 2006, UW-La Crosse was designated as one of the top 100 campuses for GLBT students by The Advocate. And I'm aware of the 7 Rivers LGBT Resource Center, which offers support, programs, outreach and a safe space for LGBT teens. Compared to where I lived before, though, the GLBT community here seems less defined, less visible. With the recently passed domestic partner registry and the upcoming Pride Fest, it seemed like a good time to go in search of GLBT La Crosse. After doing a Google search on glbt la crosse, the Web site La Crosse Area GLBT Events came up first. I browsed the site, which has a calendar, forums and a form where anyone can submit an event. I found little content aside from events at Players bar and a handful of forum posts, all by the administrator. The "welcome" post reads: "My name is Mark, and I am the moderator for the forums as well as the creator of the website. I have lived in La Crosse for 2 years and am a local business owner. My intent for starting this site is to provide everyone in the La Crosse area GLBTQ community a location to know what events the community is sponsoring/hosting and to provide an open forum for idea sharing and networking." I emailed Mark to see if he would be willing to talk about his experiences. Mark Rauchwarter, 24, moved to La Crosse after graduating from St. Mary's University in Winona. Even though he considered moving to the Twin Cities, where he would have more career options, he decided to stay with his partner, who he met while at St. Mary's and who is one of the owners of Players bar. When asked about the difference in GLBT culture between Winona and La Crosse, he didn't hesitate before saying there is "definitely a GLBT presence in La Crosse," and that it was a "nice and refreshing" change from his experience across the river. In Winona, there were neither identifiable gay friendly spaces nor a

visible GLBT community. He was especially frustrated by his attempts to build a GLBT student organization on campus. Few students, he said, were comfortable being out on a Catholic campus.Two years after he graduated, his name was still listed as the contact person on the organization's Web site, leading Rauchwarter to conclude that no one had stepped in to continue the work he had started. Rauchwarter was initially hesitant to talk to me, because he and others had perceived Second Supper as less than GLBT friendly. Of the community in general, he said that La Crosse is "tolerant, which is not necessarily the same as accepting." As a young gay man, his social life is centered around the bar scene. According to him, there are three bars that are identified as gay bars and a few more that are gay friendly. He said that "a lot of people think that the bar scene is about drinking," but "that's not the focus," he emphasized, volunteering that, more often than not, he sticks to Diet Pepsi when he's out. People go to the bars because they are guaranteed safe and comfortable spaces, he said. While most of his friends stick to their home bars, he knows of people who, after a drag show, have gone out, still in drag, to bars not specifically identified as friendly and have not been harassed. We talked about the Web site he launched in May, another attempt to build community that seems to be at a standstill. As someone who works in the IT field, he said he put a lot of thought and effort into the project, including building and marketing the site himself. He's not entirely sure why it hasn't taken off. He spent a significant amount of his own money on magnets and other promotional pieces and distributed them to the bars and the Resource Center. He's at a loss to explain the lack of participation, thus far, in the free, easy-to-use online interface. When I asked him how people learned about events, he said it was a lot of word-of-mouth. There are also two free newspapers distributed in La Crosse: Quest, which is targeted at GLBT people in Wisconsin, and Lavender, which focuses on the Twin Cities community. This led me to ask if he thought there was a homogeneous GLBT community. "Not really," he replied. As with any community — a city, a grade school, a neighborhood — despite a shared something, there are cliques, factions, loners, rogue elements, he said. There is diversity. Rauchwarter, taking care to be certain I knew that this was just his viewpoint and not one necessarily shared by others, said that he sees the La Crosse GLBT community as having three major sub-communities, his being the bar

La Crosse Pride "Your Rights, Our Rights, Human Rights" WHEN: Sat.Aug. 22, noon to 11 p.m., WHERE: South Side Festgrounds COST: $5 in advance, $7 at the gate ENTERTAINMENT: Food and drinks all day, Pride Ride, euchre tourney, karaoke/DJ, live music, Galaxy Talent Show and free kids' games FYI: lacrossepride.us crowd. Another is the group anchored by the Resource Center and its volunteers.This group is the major force behind the annual Pride event and tends to be more activist. The third group is the Homebodies — people who are a little older, likely partnered and maybe raising families. Although all these groups fly the rainbow flag, sometimes that's where the similarity ends. When I got to the issue that initiated this story, the domestic partner registry, Rauchwarter gave an apologetic "I got nothin'" shrug. Among his peers, the issue was barely on the radar. He said that he doesn't know anyone who has applied or plans to apply. Basically the registry is "not beneficial" to his social circle, which is comprised largely of younger men, many whom are just dating and/or not helped by the specific benefits offered via the registry. Ultimately, it doesn't go far enough. "It's a nice first step ... but nowhere near equality," he said. I asked him if he had ever participated in any sort of activism, such as the Fair Wisconsin effort against the gay marriage ban. Clearly more pragmatist than idealist, Rauchwarter has applied his experiences in customer service to this issue. You don't get very far with customers by berating them or yelling at them. "Holding a sign and yelling just makes people angry," he said. "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar." I asked Rauchwarter if, after over two years in La Crosse, he had any regrets about moving here rather than heading north to the Cities where there is a much larger and more visible gay community. "I'm not someone who has regrets," he said, adding that he had weighed his options and made a well thoughtout choice. "I've made a lot of wonderful friends here."

Home, sweet home

Rating La Crosse U.S. News thinks rather highly of us, but when the author prepares to move in, he wonders what makes a city a home By Jacob Bielanski

jacob.bielanski@secondsupper.com In June of 2009, La Crosse made the U.S. News and World Report's list of the ten best places to live in the U.S. This revelation seems to align with a new post-economic recession view on “best,” which includes a strong economy, reasonable home prices and an American public that is changing homes the least since 1948. As Luke Mullins, author of the rankings list puts it, “In selecting our Best Places to Live for 2009, U.S. News took a thrift-conscious approach.” Essentially, Mullins is suggesting that La Crosse is top among the bargain bin of the American landscape. This isn’t necessarily a damning assessment — La Crosse does, after all, maintain an enviable selection of diverse and solid industries (health care and post-secondary education top among them), a decent amount of fun things to do within 30 miles and a median home price that sits at a comfortable $113,000. So when the decision came for this author’s family to pack up and take our pick of lease options throughout the area, La Crosse seemed like the obvious choice.

A city is not, however, a collection of home prices and state parks. A city is a dense collection of communities that change drastically in climate from one block to the next. Many area residents — whom have chosen to live in the general area, if not La Crosse itself — seem to respond to the U.S. News findings with a raised eyebrow. In trying to decide if La Crosse is the right decision, one delves deeply into a murky pool of what makes a city “good” or “bad,” “worst” or “best.” The problem with defining La Crosse via sweeping statistical assessments is that the city itself contains multiple cultures. Driving from the far north side of La Crosse (loosely defined as the I-90 exit #3 onto Highway 53) to the far south (where Highway 35 meets Highway 61) is just over eight miles. Someone living in a rural area will have to drive over 8 miles to reach all the necessary amenities — let’s define them as banks, utilities, grocery stores, retailers, employment and spiritual facilities (be it be a Christian God or a good cup of coffee, we all need an opportunity to connect

with our neighbors via a higher power). In La Crosse and other urban clusters, residents will be presented with all of these things multiple times before they exit the city limits. Though unified by one municipal organization, one could contend that far North (Highway 53 to Monitor Street), Downtown (from Seventh to Front streets, Monitor to Jackson), far South (south of Jackson) and “Collegeland” (the rest) are separate towns. These clusters are defined, albeit loosely, due to their containment of the aforementioned amenities; residents do not, theoretically, have to venture outside of these areas to get everything they need in a modern life. Within these microcosms of La Crosse’s culture, 1,000s of opinions are rendered on the fair city. The U.S. News and World Report article exemplifies this contention, logging two user comments registered within days of each other offering disparate views. “Jeff,” on June 11, sings the praises of La Crosse’s lively music scene, great food, Northern League Baseball team (the Loggers) and, interestingly, a spiritual diversity which “…is prominent in a vast array of denominations.” Meanwhile on June 16, “Paul” laments La Crosse’s lack of well-paying blue collar jobs, the atrociously high property taxes and, in his words, “…there's the winter climate.” That seems to be the problem — over 51,000 people, with over 51,000 perspectives. Jeff celebrates La Crosse for its spiritual diversity, forgetting that the town is home to a single Jewish temple, zero mosques, and limited underground smatterings of eastern religious influence. To a Christian, five different kinds of Christianity is “diversity,” but Heaven help the Hindi or Muslim that decides to move to La Crosse under the auspices of spiritual openness. What about Paul’s lamentations that blue collar jobs in the area only pay, “…around $25K per year”? He states that it’s bad to move here unless “…you are a doctor or some other professional,” but since when has getting a blue collar job ever been an exceptionally profitable venture in any city? Second Supper writers may be deemed “professionals,” but I highly doubt they would complain about making only $25,000 a year. (author’s note: “writer” typically ranks just below ditch digger, roadkill cleaner and hobo in the list of “Jobs That Are Highly Lucrative.” You’ve been warned, kids) The United States is beginning to see a cultural shift in how we live and work; with the bottoming out of the housing markets in the sprawl areas of urban environments and a growing number of workers gaining opportunities to work from home, the U.S. is beginning to see a reverse of the expansionist policies that dictated American life for the last century. Rust Belt communities are beginning to

see their cities contract — the big bang that brought on the growth is leaving empty lots, abandoned buildings and unwieldy municipalities in its wake. The federal government is, today, considering programs in will raze whole abandoned districts and return the land to nature. Places like Flint, Michigan, have already begun such programs. The latest business climate seems to favor light, nimble cities over population-dense behemoths. With a new administration spearheading programs such as “Cash for Clunkers,” socialized health care, urban contraction, stronger agricultural presence and a delicate balance between a city and its surrounding natural resources, La Crosse (Wisconsin as a whole, really) begins to sound like the guerrilla headquarters of a new world order. It would seem that the city is on the forefront of the American mind set in more ways than even the venerable U.S. News can understand. In addition, telecommuting continues to rise as a viable alternative to the commute, leaving many professionals to pursue habitation based on factors not related to their jobs. Of course, these are things known primarily to those who’ve already decided to live in the La Crosse area The statistical snapshots of real estate prices and per-capita GDP can be misleading to the outsider. So under what auspices is the La Crosse emigrant operating? We’re cheap and have good schools — not necessarily bait for high-end money-makers. The assertion that La Crosse is “the best” may momentarily give residents reason to puff out their chest, but like a prized fishing hole it can quickly get spoiled once everyone finds out. Every day — particularly at Second Supper editorial meetings — one learns new things about the city that never make headlines. We don’t dig selfishly into our secrets — like a good dive bar, we invite only our friends and quietly drink our $1.50 Spotted Cow on tap, but never whore out the location. At the end of the day, a city is the sum of our efforts towards building a community. This author has lived in La Crosse twice before, but only now — after living 30 miles away — appreciates proximity to the treasures that the city offers. What was once regarded as an apartment near a large party district is now a plethora of beautiful parks, verdant forest, dynamic nightlife and — heaven forbid — easy access to organic food. A five minute bike ride to a local theater production is heaven compared to the cost and trouble of a 45 minute drive just to get good beer. This author looks forward to regularly raising a glass in — and toward — La Crosse and prays to the city’s apparent diversity of gods that U.S. News and World Report hasn’t damned us all.

Second Supper vol. 9, issue 176

Great River Folk Fest Q&A Second Supper: I was wondering if we could start out with a little history, like how did your band come together?

The new old-time More hobo than hippie,

Pert' Near Sandstone may be the Midwest's hottest string band

By Adam Bissen adam.bissen@secondsupper.com It’s been a busy summer for Pert’ Near Sandstone, but for this 6-year-old string band, every year seems to be busier than the last.They came up, as so many fine acoustic acts have, through the Minneapolis coffeehouse scene. But while their musical inspirations look to the past, their career is moving forward faster than ever. Without traveling too far, I’ve managed to see this band 10 times in the past three years, and their high-energy old-timey sets have won a solid following on the West Coast and Southeast. Tragically, they’ve never played La

August 20, 2009

Crosse before, but that omission is about to be rectified next weekend when Pert’ Near Sandstone leads a workshop and headlines the Saturday evening concert at the Great River Folk Fest. On Tuesday night, I caught up with banjo player Kevin Kniebel by cell phone while he was relaxing with his new wife in northern Minnesota. We discussed the band’s freight train-hopping roots, the peculiarity of growing popular and the terrible sports news that broke that afternoon.

Kevin Kniebel: We’ve known each other for a long time, the majority of us. We were good friends first and then we sort of ended up living in a big house in St. Paul — two of us, the guitar player Jay and myself. Jay was in a number of different bands, playing jazz and playing rock, lots of different types of music. And I was always very interested in folk music, and he and I started just kind of late night in the house doing some picking. At some point our fiddle player Ryan Young came along, and shortly after that Nate Sipe, who plays mandolin and fiddle, showed up. I don’t think we really invited any of them, because I don’t think it was anything formal enough to really be invited to. But we sort of got together every Tuesday and started playing music, and eventually thought we should go out and play a coffee shop. We did that a couple of times and decided we like beer better than coffee and started playing in bars. We certainly didn’t ever intend to be playing as much or traveling as far as we do these days or we might have come up with a different name, something you could remember. SS: So you guys are all Twin Cities guys? You don’t have any Appalachian roots or anything from the mountains? KK: No, no. I’d been listening to the types of things people typically listen to in college —

Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead and all that — and I found Jerry Garcia’s bluegrass project, Old and In the Way, and that just kind of reignited my interest in traditional music. I grew up as a kid listening to old-time country, kind of before country commercialized. But really the band has its roots and how we get our inspiration really comes from Nate, the mandolin and fiddle player. I think he was born in the wrong century, maybe. Once he was done with high school he hopped on a bunch of freight trains and hitchhiked across the country. He hitchhiked across Canada as well and just kind of did odd jobs and moved from town to town, being a traveler and really got interested in music through that. He was really the fourth of fifth person to join the band, but when he arrived that’s sort of when we developed our sound. SS:That’s pretty far out. KK: Yeah, yeah. And he’s the guy we go to for all our source stuff. I know quite a bit about that stuff myself, but he has really studied that and really is interested in that old style, and it’s a real plus to have somebody like that around who is so interested in the tradition he knows so well and is so keen on preserving it. SS: Well I’ve been seeing your band for probably three years. I remember catching you at FatFest and for being an old-timey band I thought it was kind of a fresh sound. But in the three years since

PERT' NEAR cont. on page 11

Reviews: Your Guide to Consumption

r’s e n g i Des Drugs The

Oh hi, right now I am being nauseated by the self aggrandizing circle jerk that is the 40th anniversary celebration of the Woodstock Music Festival that far too many media sources have been interloping upon my eardrums and eyeballs with this past week. Seriously, you washed up old burnouts, I have been slammed with enough hype about your little mudfest nostalgia since about, oh, forever. I also question if these marketing honchos who are churning out this hoopla as a ploy to sell yet another edition of concert recordings and unnecesery schwag were even there, let alone ever subscribed to the whole naive vision of utopia that weekend was supposed to epitomize. I'm sure some of you are saying, oh Shuggypop, stop being such a grumpy crumudgeon and let those Boomer relics have their moment of fun in the sun reminiscing for the thousandth time about how awesome their generation-defining event was for them. Sorry, but I sipped on the Haterade so you will just have to forgive me for ranting all Eric Cartmanesque this week, ripping apart the numerous ways those Age of Aquarianites are hypocritical hyperbole. But let's face it, they are way too deserving of a target for me not to. Besides, if they would just STFU and go away already, I wouldn't have any reason for dropping such a bile filled column. I will be the first to give props to some of the cultural aspects of that generation. Just on the music front alone, Electric Ladyland, There's a Riot Goin' On, Live Dead, Cosmo's Factory, and After Bathing at Baxter's are some mindblowing recordings that came from that era. But the overwhelming majority of the 450,000

in attendance were nothing more than obnoxious, posturing fashion mongers who adopted the trends and rhetoric of the day, including smelling like hot garbage and dropping some of the most ridiculous slang known to the English language, who haven't done a thing in their lifetime to bulk up these claims of their badassitude they anoint themselves with simply because they did some drugs in a farm field while the overflowing shitters seeped all over the fest site.What delusions of grandeur makes them think they were so damn revolutionary and deserve such platitudes in the annals of history? And yet these cocky loudmouths never shut up about their oh so special Woodstock Generation and continue to pat themselves on the back while attempting to force those of us who could care less to choke down their vapid glory days. Eat a dick Woodstock nostalgia mongers. If forty years after the fact you catch me waxing poetics about some shenanigans I went to when I was twenty years old, please do me a favor and ship me off to the glue factory to put me out of my misery. To quote Paul Begala in his article "The Worst Generation" he wrote for Esquire in 2000, those flower power prima donnas who are once again being hero worshipped are nothing more than "the most self-centered, self-seeking, self-interested, self-absorbed, self-indulgent, self-aggrandizing generation in American history." (Read Bagala's entire highly recommended spot-on article at www.superseventies.com/worstgen.html)

Director: Kathryn Bigelow Cast: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty Writer: Mark Boal

its off-the-charts pulse and the characters lose their stone-faced intensity. Few are the scenes in which the characters are calm; when they're not diffusing bombs or shooting insurgents, they're wrestling each other or starring in introspection with a silent urgency. When a decision you make can cost lives, there's barely any time to sit back and observe. It's tricky, amidst all the suspense and intense acting, to notice that some of The Hurt Locker feels a little unlikely. Screenwriter Mark Boal spent time with a bomb squad in Iraq, so I assume his portrayal on-screen of a similar squad to be accurate. But the characters' reactions in several scenes seem horribly mishandled. Perhaps fluffing on the accuracy made the film a more exciting one. It doesn't bother me, though veterans may find it distracting. Realistic or not, a film that can punch an audience in the gut this hard for damn near two hours deserves a lot of a credit as an action picture. There's a lot to think about and a lot to look at in The Hurt Locker; it almost dares you to look away.

— Nick Cabreza

tween the dreck. Iggy’s French whispers in “Les Feuilles Mortes” are among his best vocals on the album, swimming through the woodwinds and bass while allowing the instruments time to breathe. “Spanish Coast” is a bit of an organ dirge, feeling a bit too lackluster and comatose at times, although the strings at the end bring it to a satisfying close. The elements of “How Insensitive” come together in a way that holds vague promise of rock beneath the softness. It’s in this song where Pop puts on his best Bowie disguise and mimics the Duke’s vocal style, pulling the imitation off in style. When the songs slip from the prescribed calm, they tend to suffer. The electronics, slap bass and bursts of high end guitar mesh poorly with Pop’s trite vocals about “Dicks and asses/ cocktail glasses.” One example which bucks this trend, however, is “King of the Dogs,” which evokes ragtime jazz while Pop sneers and drawls into the microphone. While the disc suffers twitches of punk habit from time to time, this song is Preliminaire’s punk zenith. This album is something of a curiosity, and it is for curiosity’s sake that this album merits a look. There are very good songs on Preliminaires, but as a whole, it’s not wonderful. A follow-up might better expand the idea.

— Brett Emerson

Trailer Town (2003)

— Shuggypop Jackson

The Hurt Locker (2009)

How much of a movie should filmmakers designate for sheer unbridled action? If you were to ask the minds behind the 2-hour-plus-long The Hurt Locker, they would say almost all of it. From its opening shot until around the halfway point, The Hurt Locker barely offers a pause in the pure unadulterated suspense. The film's energy remains high as it follows a bomb squad working to defuse improvised explosive devices in Iraq in 2004, and for most of the first half, it appears that's all the film is going to do. Somewhere beneath the intense, jarring action there lies a plot, but it remains mostly hidden, trumped by an assemblage of high-octane action scenes. The result is a supremely exciting action picture, one that — though it may cloak some of the more character-driven elements — knows exactly how and when to shut up and let the action speak for itself. Most of the effectiveness of the action scenes comes from the camerawork. I usually detest movies that use the Blair Witch-style queasy-cam, but this is a worthy exception. Without the shaky, in-your-face, and constantly-switching camera, The Hurt Locker forfeits

The stereotypical image of Iggy Pop as writhing punk hellcat gets derailed every so often, whether he’s collaborating with David Bowie or writing wholly un-punk tunes like “China Girl.” Even so, the idea of the head Stooge coming out with an album comprised of him crooning jazz numbers, occasionally in French, comes off as bizarre.While the musical content of Preliminaires shifts within ambient styles and occasionally into a more upbeat plateau, it remains largely constant in Pop’s soft-spoken, occasionally Bowie-like vocals. Not everything on this album shines; in particular, a jangly guitar theme repeats itself throughout the album, overlain by Pop’s mantra of: “She’s a business, and business is good.” Once this theme will come with a woman whispering in French, once it arrives with Iggy running solo, and in “He’s Dead/She’s Alive,” the music plays the theme while Pop sings different words altogether. Following that track, however, comes the album’s most haunting piece. Alongside a guitar line that evokes rainy nighttime revenge in the western wastes, Iggy reads a poem about a dying dog and its identical replacement. He muses about the nature of love, and how a dog is, as the song’s title says, “A Machine for Loving.” The song’s end summons up another “She’s a Business” track, but this interlude shines be-

Medium: Album Stimulus: Iggy Pop — Preliminaires Anno: 2009

Directed by: Kenneth J. Berton Starring: Ernest Borgnine Written by: Kenneth J. Berton There are films that test the resolve of even the most absurdist connoisseurs of Bizarro cinema, films that pull the souls from the bodies of gleeful crapseekers and show these spirits how weak they really are. Trailer Town is such a movie. Should one’s spirit not be in complete alignment, this movie will tear that tenebrous fabric from its host body to show the total individual how weak it truly is. The film is directed by Giuseppe Andrews, a bit actor who landed face time in films like Cabin Fever, Independence Day and most notably Detroit Rock City. Judging from Trailer Town and the accompanying interviews on its DVD, he may be a bit special. His career behind the camera seems to consist entirely of filming the denizens of the trailer park which Andrews inhabits and constructing the vaguest coherency to their acts and ramblings — all of which, while spoken in English, are mysteriously subtitled in Trailer Town. This gem wastes no time in cutting the chaff out of the audience. The film’s two opening scenes are among the film’s most vile. In the first, an old burnout pretends to be an Emmy-winning soap opera star and sweet talks an old hag into dancing in her birthday suit. In the next, a creepy old man serenades, and later seduces, his own stool. Eating while watching these scenes is not recommended. Though comparisons to the work of John

Waters are inevitable with action like this,Trailer Town isn’t all Pink Flamingos. The majority of this movie consists of this world’s shriveled burnouts spouting out extravagantly disjointed dialogue, and these nonsensical one-liners give the film its comedic gravity. When a wrinkled old woman is accused of sleeping around, she admits the affair, explaining that “He produced Ghostbusters.” The main characters of Trailer Town are Billy and Stan, a pair of old washouts who are in a constant quest for new inventive sexual innuendoes. Billy is the loose cannon of the two, getting wasted and running around town wearing a strap-on dildo. More philosophical, Stan helps Billy meditate and muses on how country dancing can stop police chases. There’s a laugh track filled poetry slam between the two that comes at film’s end and drags far too long, but these gentlemen are usually ludicrous comic geniuses. Whether the citizens of Trailer Town are going to war with the management, reading insane love letters to each other, or bumping asses to a disco version of “Deck the Halls,” everything found in this film is utterly ridiculous. I can’t think of another movie that exemplifies Bizarro cinema like this masterpiece.

— Brett Emerson

Second Supper vol. 9, issue 176

I'm Jonesin' for a Crossword "No Ham for Me,Thanks"--don't be a pig about it. By Matt Jones Across 1 Make a groove 5 It's high part of the time 9 They may be housebroken 13 "Julie & Julia" director Ephron 14 Kimono sashes 15 Stares in astonishment 16 Moral dilemmas, so to speak 18 How cold drinks are kept 19 Western carriage for a former Virginia governor? 21 It may get smashed 22 Farmer's sci. 23 Raptor's claw 25 Took off the truck 30 "ER" actor Noah 31 "Wow, it stinks like a spoiled kid in here"? 33 Mode preceders 34 Vigoda who's still alive 35 Hot time in Quebec 36 Device that takes pictures of poetic metric units? 41 "You look fiiiine!" 42 Plastic bottle size 43 "___ to?" 45 Veinte divided by veinte 46 Hibernation place 47 Snoozes, online

PERT' NEAR, from p. 9 then you seem to pop up at every festival. Your band has really grown a lot. KK: Yeah, it seems that way. We’ve certainly been able to travel quite a bit, and we all love traveling.We’ve been out west for probably the last three or four years now; we go out there quite a bit. Like you said, lots of festivals and stuff in the summer, so we always feel fortunate because we kind of feel like we get to see the best of the Midwest in the summer when we travel around to all these different festivals. Hearing great music and seeing some great venues and doing some great camping, we feel very fortunate for that. SS: Have your shows changed over time? KK: Well more people seem to come out to them. Our first couple shows were at coffee shops, and we had a tough time convincing our parents to come out to those. SS: Well, it doesn’t seem to take too much convincing any more.

journal-style, to Tonto? 54 Novelist Potok 55 Right away 56 Vocal Apple 57 Uncredited credit, in quotes 58 "Love, Save the Empty" singer McCarley 59 Wine container 60 Fuzzy green stuff 61 It's used to return mail: abbr. Down 1 One of the Es in E.E.: abbr. 2 Riding mower brand 3 Louie meat 4 Block in a loft

Answers to Issue 175's

"No Ham for Me,Thanks"

August 20, 2009

5 Dessert at an Italian restaurant 6 Letter-shaped steel girder 7 TV screen measurement, for short 8 ___ quam videri (North Carolina state motto) 9 ___ Games (2011 sporting event in Doha, Qatar) 10 Huge movie 11 Part of MIT: abbr. 12 One way to go: abbr. 15 10 to the 100th power 17 Concerning 20 Get ahold of 23 All-Pro cornerback signed twice to the New York Jets 24 San Antonio site 25 Retired "raw" Crayola shade 26 ___-do-well 27 Dismal, to a poet 28 "Suck it!" 29 Edge square in Battleship 30 "Hold up!" 32 Matching 37 Signature makeup, perhaps 38 Picture house

39 Resting upon 40 Gets up 41 Horse races 44 Hastened 46 Prom night rentals 47 "Eagle Eye" actor LaBeouf 48 Country that becomes its official language when you drop the final letter 49 Thailand, once 50 They lead to P 51 Actress ___ Flynn Boyle 52 Spunkmeyer of the cookie world 53 Ace and Peter's bandmate 54 Ozone layer pollutant: abbr. ©2009 Jonesin' Crosswords (editor@ jonesincrosswords. com) For answers to this puzzle, call: 1-900226-2800, 99 cents per minute. Must be 18+. Or to bill to your credit card, call: 1-800-655-6548. Reference puzzle #0428.

KK:We can’t take anything for granted — that’s the way these things go — but it seems like there’s been some momentum when we play. We’ve been working really hard on our records and traveling a lot, making sure that we get out and get to the places that we’ve been to before so we can try to keep that circle going so that the relationships that we’ve made stay fresh. SS: Is it hard to write contemporary messages into the more old-timey style of music? KK: Uh, I don’t think it’s been hard for us. Nate really approaches the music kind of from this 1920s mindset, so that means all the stuff that he writes is kind of squarely in that tradition. Jay comes from this jazz and kind of rock background. Like for instance “Just One Day” on our last album, which he wrote, has kind of this reggae influence but somehow even with the different rhythmic approach to that song, it still really feels like it’s somehow connected to the tradition. It might just be because of our instrumentation, but I guess it’s been sort of a natural fit. We played together for quite a while now, so the music that we play just kind of fits our approach, even if it might not sound old-timey in and of itself. It seems to kind of pick up those spirits or whatever when it’s played.

get some momentum there so that’s great. And just this past spring we went down south and played through Tennessee and Kentucky. Down there the music itself, a lot of it is really from there. We had some trepidations as to how we might be received, just because we’re a bunch of Yankee kids playing that Appalachian music, but people just seemed to love it and it’s been great for us. SS: Do you guys still have your day jobs? KK: Yeah, I guess everybody does, actually. It seems like things have grown slowly enough that we have been able to adjust our work lives with the growth of the band. Everyone’s got part time jobs that they work when we’re not on the road, jobs that are flexible enough that when we travel more we work less.That’s been really good. I don’t think that’s a given. There’s a lot of people that are forced to make a tough decision because their jobs or their family wasn’t able to afford it or whatever. But we’ve all been fortunate enough to have great support at home and the workplace. We are able to still kind of hold down those jobs, which is important because the bank comes looking for their money every month. SS: So your career, are you guys doing that the independent route or have you gotten any label offers? KK: Well we’re pretty strongly independent, I guess. For what we do traveling around, selling stuff out of your trunk is pretty gratifying because people for the most part get their music from us or from iTunes or from a very select few Internet distributors. No we haven’t been approached by — or haven’t sought out — any label representation or anything like that. SS: As you look ahead in your career is there any thing you’re worried about or any factors you have to take in consideration as your band grows in popularity? KK: Well I’m just still not convinced that the band is blowing up or whatever. We have so much fun — like our dynamics internally, our friendships or whatever, all of that is so much the same that it feels like it’s a continuation of it rather than anything to be concerned about. Our love and friendship for one another and for music, that for me feels the same today as it always has. So any day that we can say that, we probably don’t have that much to worry about.

SS: Well I know a lot of Midwestern kids are really into your sound. My roommate, in particular, wanted me to tell you that you’re his favorite band.

SS: Last question: I know you’re in the north woods right now, but have you been able to follow the latest sports developments?

KK: Aww. That’s awesome.

KK: Yeah, Brett Favre. Brett Favre, baby! We’re sorry about that for all you Wisconsinites, but we know that we’ve got some Minnesota Vikings fans on the western side of the state. Any of us who are Minnesota Vikings fans, we’re all going to work hard to get over the fact that Brett Favre used to be a Packer. Super Bowl, baby!

SS: But I’m wondering: What’s your appeal like in the rest of the country? KK: Well, we’ve done pretty well out west. We kind of joke about Oregon being our second home. Places like Portland and Eugene and Bend, Oregon have been just incredibly gracious to us and really loved us. Washington has been a really good place for us and Montana. Colorado has a little bit of a different side to it. They really like their jamgrass. We’re a little less jazzy than those cats might be, so that’s taken a little bit of time, but we’re starting to

SS: Oh, man.You better not be too vocal about that when you come to town. KK: No, no. I shouldn’t have even said that. Hopefully we’ll make it out of town with our skin.

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$.50 domestic taps, $1 microbrews, $3 domestic $.50 taps Domestic 3.00 pitchers, pitchers $6 microbrew pitchers

$2$2 Tuesdays, Tuesdays,including including $2 import taps,taps, beer $2bottles, bottles, import pong,pong, apps, single mixbeer apps, shot single ers,mixers, featuredfeatured shots, and shot 50 cent taps shots, and 50 cent taps

WING 1NIGHT-$1.25/LB lb. of wings = $1.25, BUFFALO, SMOKEY BBQ, PLAIN $1 PBR/PBR Light bottles $1.00 PABST PABST $1.50AND Rolling Rock,LIGHT BOTTLES$1.50 ROLLING ROCK $2 JUMBO rail mixers, BOTTLES$2.25 Bud Lights $2.25 BUD LIGHTS $1.00 $1 Shot of the WeekSHOT OF THE WEEK

chicken & veggie OPEN-CL fajitas $2 U "Call" it for two

7-CL:night football domestic beer: $1.50 $1.50 domestic Mexican beer:rails $2.00 pints, $1.50

7-CL: chicken $1.50 domestic primavera pints, $1.50 rails

7-CL: shrimp $1.50 domestic pints, burrito $2 craft pints, $1.50 rails

chicken & veggie fajitasown Build your 5200 Mormon for Mary two Bloody N3287 County Coulee OA 16oz Mug - $4.00

football night domestic beer:Pizza $1.50 Homemade Mexican beer: $2.00 & PItcher of Beer

FiestaHollow Mexicana Fox

Goal Post Gracie’s Gracie’s Howie's

1908 1128 Campbell La Crosserd. st.

Huck Finn’s The Helm 127 108 Marina 3rd st dr.

$9.00 $5.99 gyro fries & soda

1904 1908 Campbell Campbell rd. rd. 9-cl- NBC night. (Night Before Class) $3 pitchers of the beast Happy Hour 4-9 p.m.

9-cl- $5.99 gyro $3.50 Domestic fries pitchers & soda

$1.75 domestic bottles

$1.75hour domestic happy 4 -7 bottles $2 domestic cans

$1.75 domestic bottles

W4980 Knoblach Rd.

JB’s Speakeasy 717 Rose st. 12

$1.75 domestic bottles

HAPPY HOUR 6 AM - 9 AM Buy one gyro free baklava, ice beer pong 6 p.m. get one free wings 6or p.m. - 9 p.m. cream sundae $8.95 16 oz steak half price with meal Buy$1one gyro free baklava, ice 9-clrails, $2.50 $5 AUCD get one cream or sundae pitchers, Beer Pong half price with meal

$1 cherry bombs $1Keystone silos

Italian beef meal: $6.15 2 Chicago meal: Italian beefdog meal: $3.00 Bacardi mixers/ $3.45 $6.69 mojitos $2 Cherry Bombs 2 Chicago dog $1.50 $1 Bazooka Joes $5.89

meal:

bloody marys

FAC 4-8 pm.: $2 taps, $2 rails, $2.50 11Miller a.m. Lite - 4pitchers p.m $3 Bacardi mixers $3 Three Olive mixers $3 Mojitos, $2 Cherry Bombs , $3 Mojitos, $2 Cherry Bombs $6.75 joes $1 Bazooka joes $1 Bazooka 50 cent taps 4 - 7 (increases 50 cents per Great drinks! hour) $1 rails

Great drinks!

Happy Hour 12 - 7

After ClassMixers $3 $2.00 Captain Pitchers $1.75 Rails

12-3: Buy one get Jaeger, one $2.00 Malibu, $2.50 domestic $3.00 Jaeger beer Bombs Holmen Meat Locker Jerky Raffle

Wristband Happy Hour 7 - 9. $2 for all single shot mixers and all AND beers. $2.50 JUMBO CAPTAIN NightNight $2.50 JUMBO Captain Morgan mixers Wristband FLAVORED BACARDI MIXERS $5$5COLLEGE I.D. $2.50 JUMBO Bacardi Mixers (all flavors) COLLEGE I.D. $3.00 JAGER BOMBS $3 Jagerbombs general public $9$9general public Karaoke Karaoke $1 shot $1 shot specials specials

live live DJ DJ $1 shot $1 shot specials specials

7-CL: chili $1.50 domestic pints, verde $2 craft pints, $1.50 rails

HAPPY HOURshrimp EVERYDAY 3 - 6 chili chicken primavera $1.25 Bucketburrito of Domestic verde 25 Cent Wings BURGERS Cans 5 for $9.00

HAPPY specials HOUR All day (everyday!) $1.25 Old Style Light $1.50 LAX Lager/Light $1 shots of Dr.

Bloody Mary specials 10 - 2

JB’s Speakeasy $1.75 domestic Irish Hills bottles 717 Rose st.

$1 cherry bombs $1Keystone silos

pepper & egg sandwich meal: $4.50, fish sandwich meal: $4.99, pepper & egg sandwich ItalianCaptain sausage meal: $3.00 mixers/ mojitos meal: $6.15$5.00 $2 Cherry Bombs meal: Italian sausage $1 Bazooka Joes $6.69

$2.00 Cruzan Rum Mixers, $2.50 Ladies'Jameson Nite outShots, 1.50 $3.00 Raill Mixers mixers/ $2.50 X bombs

$3.00 Patron Shots $2 Pearl Street Brewery beers

Ladies Ladies Night Night buy buy one, one, get get one one free free wear wear aa bikini, bikini, drink drink free free

5200 1914 Mormon CampbellCoulee rd.

garlic

All day, everyday: $1.00 Shots of Doctor, $2.00 Cherry Bombs, $1.75 Silos of Busch Light/Coors All day Everyday: $1 Doctor $2 Silos. M-F: Happy Hour 2-6 $.50 off everything but the daily special

Topless Topless Tuesday Tuesday

Fiesta Eagle'sMexicana Nest

beans, and bread $5.50

Cosmic Bowl starts at 9Mixers p.m. $2.50 X-Rated $2 Captain Mixers $2 Premium Grain Belt $2 Snake Bites

shrimp dinner

$1 6Dr.8shots $3$1.50 Jagertaps Bombs

$1 $1 Kul Kul Light Light cans cans

411 3rd st.

Karaoke starts at $2.50 Bomb Shots happy hour $2.50 Ketel One Mixers 9 p.m. $2 Retro Beers "Your Dad's Beer"

$4.50 domestic pitchers barrel parties at cost $4.50 domestic pitchers Pitcher and Pizza $10

HAPPY HOUR 4 - 7 closed

$4 $4 full full pint pint Irish Irish Car Car Bomb Bomb

Dan’s Place

Saturday

Cosmic Bowl & 3-7

$5 bbq ribs and fries AUCE wings $5.00

bucket night 6 for $9

Bucket Night 6 beers

Import night $2 Silos starts at 7 p.m. Stop in for Value Menu too big to list here

to receive

for $9meal: Italian beef $6.15 Chicago chili dog: Italian beef meal: $3.45 Thirsty $6.69

Friday

$1.50 rail mixers

77 -- CL CL $1 $1 domestic domestic 12 12 oz oz $2 $2 Stoli Stoli mixers mixers

closed closed

Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

shots of Doctor hamburger meal: 8-Midnight grilled chicken$6 sandmeatball sandwich $3.69 wich meal: $5.29 meal: $6.15 HAPPY HOUR 3 PM - 8 hamburger PM cheeseburger Polish sausage or meal: grilled chicken meal: sandmeatball sandwich 2 dogs meal: $ 5.25 10 cent wings (9 - CL) $3.89 cheeseburger meal: $3.99 $2.50 wich meal: meal: $6.69 Wristband $1 High Life$5.29 bottles $3.89 Blatz vs. Old Style Chicago dog: Polish sausage meal: $1.50burgers, rail mixers$2.60 Tuesday 2meat Chicago dogs meal: $1.25 soup orNight saladw/dog bar makechili your own $2.25 Italian Beef orpitchers marinara $2 Guinness pints $3.89 $4.49 $5.89 FREE with entree or meal: $7.89 tacos, $4.75 taco salad cheeseburgers, $2 off spaghetti: $3.45 sandwich until 3 p.m. $2.25 margaritas, $2 large10 pizza, fries cent $1 wings Italian sausage: $4.95 $5 AUC2D $2.50 Blatz vs. Old by itself) off large taco pizza with anyHigh pizza $1 Miller Life bottles, ($3.95 Wristband night $2.50 SoCo and Jack Style pitchers

Martini Ladies' Night Martini Madness James Martini: vodka, triple $2 off all martinis sec, orange juice

114 5th ave.

CheapShots

Monday

Ask 2server 3-9: for 1 for details domestic bottles and rail drinks

Karaoke Karaoke OPEN-CL $2 U "Call" it

Ask server for details

$1.25 domestic taps HAPPY HOUR 3 - 8 GREEK ALL DAY buy one $8.95 16 appetizer oz. steak buy oneHOUR burger HAPPY get one half price appetizer half price 5 p.m. 10 p.m. get one- half price $8.95 1/2 lb. fish platter with meal 9-cl $2 bacardi $1.25 domestic taps 9-cl -$2 captain mixers, GREEK ALLmixers, DAY 9-cl $1.25 rails, buy one appetizer $2 domestic pints, $1.50 $2 bottles/cans, $3 jager appetizer buy one burger half price $1.75 bottles/cans bombs get one half price shots blackberry brandy get one half price with meal

EVERYDAY 3 -7 and 9 - 11 $1 Vodka Drinks $1.00 12 oz Dom.Taps $1.25 12oz prem. Taps $3 Orange Bombs

HAPPY HOUR 5 - 7 Steak and golf $14.95

HAPPY HOUR 5 - 7

Second Supper vol. 9, issue 176

Area food food & & drink drink specials specials ] COMMUNITY SERVICE [Area LA CROSSE

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday Wednesday

closed

$1.00 SHOT OF THE WEEK $4 DOMESTIC PITCHERS 1 LB WINGS = $1.25

Sunday Fun Day ~ Wristband Night

closed

$1 Domestic Taps & Rails 1/2 price Tequila

$2 Double Rails & All Bottles

223 Pearl st.

123 3rd st.

Pettibone Boat Club 600 S Pettibone dr.

Players

$1 off fried chicken

Kids eat free with adult

Price by Dice

2 for 1 Happy Hour ALL NIGHT LONG

214 Main St ,

Ralph's

In John's Bar 109 3rd st. N

Ringside 223 Pearl st.

Schmidty’s 3119 State rd.

Chef specials daily Mighty Meatball sub $6

CLOSED

breakfast buffet $9.95 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

BBQ Sandwich

Karaoke @ 10 p.m. 2-4-1 Happy Hour 5 - 10 AUCD Rail mixers @ 10 p.m.

Karaoke @ 10 p.m. 2-4-1 Happy Hour 5 - 10 $1 Pabst cans, Dr. shots @ 10 p.m.

chicken parmesan sub $6

Italian sandwich w/ banana peppers and parmesan &6

open 4-9

Top Shots 137 S 4th st.

Yesterdays 317 Pearl st.

LA CRESCENT

Crescent Inn 444 Chestnut st.

WINONA Godfather’s 30 Walnut st.

August 20, 2009

Wristband Night & Beer Pong Tourney BBQ Night $1 off 2-4-1 Happy Hour 5 - 10 $2 Capt. mixers $1.75 domestic beer, $1.50 Rails, $1 Pabst cans @ 10 p.m.

Southwest chicken pita $5

HAPPY HOUR 4 PM - 7 PM cheeseburger HOOP DAY!! MAKE YOUR SHOT AND YOUR ENTRÉE IS FREE!

$3.00 JUMBO Svedka Mixers $2.50 Corona bottles $2.50 Cuervo shots

$2 Jonestown shots

$3 Bacardi Mixers & Jumbo Long Islands

$3 Three Olives Mixers & Jumbo Long Islands

Pettibone Fish Fry

Prime Rib

2-4-1 Happy Hour 3 - 9 Best Damned DJ'S @ 10 p.m.

2-4-1 Happy Hour 3 - 8 Best Damned DJ'S @ 10 p.m.

Chicken salad on rye w/ lettuce, tomato, onion $5 $6.99 FISH SANDWICH FOR LUNCH, $7.99 FISH SANDWICH FOR DINNER, $9.99 ALL YOU CAN EAT FISH FRY ALL DAY

happy hour all day long! $1.00 OFF WILD WINGS, $1.00 PHILLY STEAK AND CHEESE.

LUNCH BUFFET $6.95

Buck Burgers

801 Rose st.

601 St. Andrew st.

AFTER COMEDY: PINT NIGHT $1 PINTS OF RAILS MIXERS AND DOMESTIC TAPS $2 PINTS OF CALL MIXERS AND IMPORT TAPS $3 PINTS OF TOP SHELF MIXERS

Chili Dogs

Tacos

Fish Sandwich

12 oz. T-Bone $8.99

Fish Fry $6.95

All day (everyday!) specials $3 Double Captain & Cokes $2 Double rails $1 Cans of beer

Sports Nut

Train Station BBQ

double $6.50

Tacos

120 S 3rd st.

1019 S 10th st.

$6.99 AUCE Pasta

2 for 1 Burger Night

Shooter’s

Tailgators

Saturday

Shots of Doctor $1 all day, everyday

324 Jay st.

The Library

Friday

$2 domestics and rails, 4-8

The Joint Legend’s

Thursday

happy hour all day

$4 domestic pitchers

Tacos $1.25

15 cent wings

HAPPY HOUR 10 AM - 12, 4 PM - 6 PM $2 Bacardi mixers

$2 Spotted Cow & DT Brown pints

Bucket Night 5 for $9

closed

11-3: Extra side with sandwich 4-9: $1 off rib dinner

Special varies

11-3: Barn burner $7.95 4-9: Hobo dinner (serves 2) $30.95

$1.75 light taps and Dr. shots

$1.50 Bud/Miller Lite/ PBR taps all day $1.75 rails 10 - 1

$2 domestic bottles 7 - 12, $2.50 Skyy/ Absolute mixers 10-1 $2 Dr. drinks

$1 Point special bottles

$2.50 pints Bass & Guinness

$1.75 domestic bottles

$2.25 Pearl st. pints $1.50 PBR bottles

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday Wednesday

$2 Rolling Rocks $2 domestic beer

8 - CL $1.50 rails $1.75 Bud cans

$1 shots of Dr. $2.50 Polish

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday Wednesday

ask for great eats

Fiesta Night 7 - 12 $2 tequila shots $2.50 margaritas

family buffet 5 -8 kids under 10 pay .45 cents per year of age

$1 domestic taps $3 Jager Bombs

5 domestic bottles for $10, $2 Bacardi mixers, $1.50 rail vodka mixers 10 -1

$1 Dr. shots $3 16 oz Captain mixers 11-3 $7.95 Chicken on fire 4-9: Bones & briskets $13.95

$2 Long Islands, PBR bottles, Captain mixers

15 cent wings

$1 Dr. shots $3 16 oz Captain mixers 1/2 Chicken 3 bones $12.95

$2.75 deluxe Bloodys ‘til 7, $5 lite pitchers 7 - 12

$1.75 rails $1 PBR mugs

Thursday

Friday

$2.50 Captain $2.50 Jager Bombs & Polish

$2 u-call-it (except top shelf)

Thursday

Saturday

Friday

Saturday

any jumbo, large, or large 1 topping pizza medium pizza up to 5 $9.99 toppings: $11.99 (get 2nd large for $5)

Ã Thursday, August 20

August 22, continued

Cruz-In Adam Palm