Second Supper

INSIDE: SOME FINANCIAL ADVICE FOR 20-SOMETHINGS • PAGE 6

La Crosse's Free Press VOLUME 10, NO. 34 | SEPTEMBER 9, 2010

Suicide summit brings attention to hidden issue Page 5

PLUS: 6Q WITH TONY AND MARIA • PAGE 7 | THE MAJAK MIXTAPE • PAGE 11 | THE ADVICE GODDESS • PAGE 15

2// September 9, 2010

Second Supper

Social Networking NAME AND AGE:

Caroline Shayna Joanne Prentice, 19

WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Gundersen Lutheran Hospital

CURRENT JOB: Being awesome

DREAM JOB: Touring as a band's road manager for at least 10 years, then starting and owning my own all-ages music venue

last thing you googled: Blindwitness MySpace page

if you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Australia: I enjoy the way they say "cricke."

what is Something you want to do before you die: Build my own home

what is your beverage of choice?

Banana Nectar; sooo delicious

celebrity crush: Gerard Butler. He's delicious as well.

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tell us your guiltiest pleasure: Video games, even though I completely suck at them.

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what book are you currently reading?

I don't really enjoy reading as much as I used to. I resort to watching movies now.

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What is your biggest pet peeve?

When people do not clean up after themselves.

What one person, alive or dead, would you want to have dinner with?

Keith Buckley(still alive) from a band called Every Time I Die. He's sort of my hero.

tell us a joke: Why does Snoop Dogg carry an umbrella? Fo drizzle.

what's the last thing you bought?

A single can of V8 juice. Yummy!

what's in your pocket right now?: Lint, lint and ... more lint!

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If a genie granted you one wish, what would you ask for?

To have a sweet super power, like ... being able to go anywhere in the world by a snap of my finger.

FIRST CONCERT YOU WENT TO: Aaron Carter! Yes

how do you know gretchen (last week's interview)?

Let's just say I was inside her tummy for 9+ months. :) — Compiled by Shuggypop Jackson. shuggypop.jackson@secondsupper.com

Second Supper

Things To Do Check out the fall fashions available downtown

The Top Happy thoughts 1. Cuddly puppies 2. Hammocks 3. Huckleberry pie 4. Monkeys in hats 5. Aaron Rodgers 6. Sunrises 7. Hugs from grandma Biker art 1. Sons of Anarchy 2. Easy Rider 3. Anything by Motorhead 4. The Wild One 5. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance 6. Born to be Wild 7. '52 Vincent Black Lightning

September 9, 2010 // 3

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Fashionistas, awake! A fall fashion show presented

by La Crosse’s Downtown Mainstreet Inc., with the help of The Waterfront Restaurant and Tavern as well as other local businesses, will feature the coolest, hippest and smartest looks of the season from a variety of downtown merchants. The models will strut their stuff down the runway at 7 p.m. today, Sept. 9, in the Cargill Room in Riverside Center II, 332 S. Front St. Tickets are on sale at The Waterfront Restaurant and Tavern, 328 Front St. S. General admission tickets are $25 and include a free desert from The Waterfront. VIP front-row tickets are $50 and include champagne service, a gift basket from participating retailers, free desert and chocolate. For information, call (608) 784-0440 or send an email to TkabatDMI@centurytel.net.

1

View the stars from St. Joseph Ridge

The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration will host a stargazing hike from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11, at Villa St. Joseph located on St. Joseph Ridge. The event is part of the Mississippi Valley Conservancy’s Linked to the Land series.

Participants will walk St. Joseph Ridge at sunset while waiting for the stars to shine. Telescopes will be available courtesy of the La Crosse Area Astronomical Society. To get to the event, take State Road (Highway 33) east out of La Crosse for approximately 7.5 miles. Go through St. Joseph, and the villa is on the left just as you leave town. For more information, visit www.MississippiValleyConservancy.org or www.fspa.org, or call (608) 784-3606.

2

Relax, take a deep breath and submit Players, 300 Fourth St. S., will put you under their spell when they host hypnotist Isaac Powers for a free show starting at 9 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 11. According to Powers, who has performed nationally, hypnotism's effectiveness really depends on the person. "The more extroverted and outgoing the person the better," he explained. The show is a part of a birthday celebration for drag queen Tammy WhyNott?, chosen as one of area's best drag queens in Second Supper's Best of La Crosse voting last spring.

3

Admit your 'Rent' fix is long overdue If you missed the summer production of “Rent,” time is on your side! The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Theatre Department hosts an encore performance of “Rent” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 12, at UW-L’s Toland Theater in the Center for the Arts. Tickets are on sale at the box office in the lobby of the Center for the Arts or call (608) 785-8522 for reservations.

Ticket sales support UW-L theatre student scholarships. The theater is general seating, but a ticket is required for admission.

4

Support the Sirens and aspiring young authors

The La Crosse Skating Sirens will take on the Sioux City Roller Dames from Sioux City, Iowa, to open the women’s flat track roller derby season at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11, at the La Crosse Center. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Proceeds will benefit the Andy Revels Memorial Scholarship, which supports aspiring authors from Logan High School. If you mention Andy Revels’ name at the door, you will get your ticket for half price. If you wear your 2010 Steppin’ Out In Pink or 2010 Operation Homefront Freedom Walk T-shirt, you get $2 off.

5

4// September 9, 2010

Second Supper

COMMENTARY

WisPolitics.com Stock Report sTOCk REpORT

RisiNG Lobbying

614 Main St., La Crosse, WI 54601 Phone: (608) 782-7001 Online: secondsupper.com Publisher: Roger Bartel roger.bartel@secondsupper.com Editor in Chief: Adam Bissen adam.bissen@secondsupper.com Student Editor: Emily Faeth emily.faeth@secondsupper.com Sales: Mike Keith mike.keith@secondsupper.com Sales: Ansel Ericksen ansel.ericksen@secondsupper.com Sales: Michael Butteris michael.butteris@secondsupper.com Regular Contributors: Amy Alkon, Erich Boldt, Nick Cabreza, Mary Catanese, Brett Emerson, Jake Groteuschen, Shuggypop Jackson, Jonathan Majak, Matt Jones, Carolyn Ryan, Julie Schneider, Anna Soldner, Nate Willer Ralph Winrich Cover illustration by Carolyn Ryan Second Supper is a weekly alternative newspaper published by Bartanese Enterprises LLC, 614 Main St., La Crosse, WI 54601

Sudoku

Answers on page 15

Trying to infl uence lawmakers may be recession-proof, as new fi gures from the Government Accountability Board show interest groups spent $53.9 million lobbying through the fi rst 18 months of the current legislative session. That's 12 percent more than in the comparable period of the previous session. For the fi rst half of 2010 alone, groups spent $17.7 million, led by the $1.1 million dropped by the Forest County Potawatomi in pushing unsuccessfully for the “Clean Energy Jobs Act.” The Assembly and Senate versions of the legislation were also the most lobbied bills during the fi rst half of 2010, with lobbyists spending 14,324 hours on them. The third most lobbied bill, one to reverse gubernatorial appointment of the DNR secretary (ultimately vetoed), received 1,088 hours of lobbying.

MiXED Wisconsin economy

The state’s economy continues to be a mixed bag. The Department of Revenue says the state has added 25,400 jobs since December, though it warns the recovery continues to be slow and predicts no return to pre-recession employment levels until 2013.

The forecast calls for employment growth of 1.7 percent and 2.5 percent during 2011 and 2012. But the latest unemployment numbers for metropolitan areas shows all 12 of them had lower rates in July than June.

fAlliNG Dan Kapanke

Insiders say western Wisconsin’s 3rd congressional district is the kind of district that the GOP could catch Dems off guard and pick off in a wave election — if they had the perfect Republican candidate. But so far, state Sen. Dan Kapanke doesn't appear to fi t the bill. In his latest misstep, Kapanke says he unintentionally violated state ethics codes by using money from a charity that collects contributions from organizations employing lobbyists to pay a personal debt — a no-no. The admission comes after state Dems fi le a complaint with the GAB, and the party chair calls on Kapanke to resign and withdraw from his quest to take on U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse. After initially acknowledging the validity of the complaint over the more than $16,000 paid, Kapanke later acknowledges it was actually $32,000, breathing new life into the story. Some Republicans dismiss it as white noise, saying voters aren't paying attention to such things this year and only care about the economy, jobs and government spending. But others say the missteps have held Kapanke back and will provide great fodder for attack pieces.

THAT's DEBATABlE Editor's Note: WisOpinion.com has asked two veterans of Wisconsin policy and politics, Scot Ross of One Wisconsin Now and Brian Fraley of the John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy, to engage in weekly exchanges on a topic of their choosing. This week they debate Labor Day. ROSS: Labor Day: I think it’s a great time to thank all of the workers across this state and across the nation. The importance of Wisconsin’s workers is more than evident — but what a treat that President Obama chose to further toast Wisconsin’s workers by choosing this Labor Day to spend with them at Laborfest in Milwaukee, along with Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and Richard Trumka, the inspiring president of the AFL-CIO. FRALEY: It's never a bad day to thank people who work hard, provide for their families, and make the goods and provides the services we all use and enjoy. That being said, you don't have to acquiesce to the demands of the modern (often taxpayer-funded) labor movement whose actions are often to the detriment of those they purport to represent (just ask a soon-to-be-unemployed SubZero employee or a young public school teacher who watches as longevity, not excellence, is rewarded on a daily basis).

ROSS: “Taxpayer funded”? The right’s obsession with trashing public sector union employees who keep our public operations working — at salary levels far below private sector employees — continues unabated, I see. We all know that the “free market” conservatives see state and federal coffers as their own personal piggy bank — a place

where they can call for privatization schemes that always cost more than similar services provided by public sector employees.

FRALEY: Not sure how pointing out that public sector unions are taxpayer funded is “trashing” them? The advocates of the free market need not apologize for supporting reform efforts at the local, state and federal level that are aimed at protecting taxpayers from huge unfunded liabilities associated with the health and pension costs of public employees. That's not to begrudge workers their right to compete in a fair and open marketplace for a wage commensurate with their trade.

ROSS: We know the free market advocates who helped wreck our economy by passing unpaid-for tax cuts for the rich and corporations, massive deregulation and funding two wars on a credit card will never apologize. In fact they revel in their own succulent pile of failure. But enough on that. Happy Labor Day to America’s workers. The economic crisis isn’t over, but at least we’re no longer hemorrhaging 700,000 jobs a month as we did throughout the fi nal years of Dubya.

FRALEY: Back to the topic, Happy Labor Day to those who still have jobs here in Wisconsin. And, to the tens of thousands here who have lost your jobs since the Democrats have run every level of government: You deserve, but won't get, an apology from the anti-job legislators, community organizers and provocateurs whose policies shrink the economy, punish the successful and make investors risk-adverse all while celebrating a common mediocrity.

NEWs iN BRiEf Kind calls for investigation into Loggers Foundation

U.S. Rep. Ron Kind says the La Crosse Loggers Foundation should be subject to further investigation after his likely GOP opponent acknowledged improper payments from the non-profi t to pay a personal debt.

After the state Democratic Party fi led a complaint recently, state Sen. Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse and owner of the independent La Crosse Loggers baseball team, admitted that the foundation shouldn't have paid some $32,000 to the city of La Crosse as part of a debt repayment plan for renovations to the Loggers' stadium.

"I think everyone is disappointed," Kind told WisPolitics. "I've known state Sen. Kapanke for some time, but everyone knows that you cannot be taking money out of a charitable foundation for personal uses. "I mean, that's just basic. It's fundamental."

Kind declined to join DPW Chairman Mike Tate in calling for Kapanke to suspend his 3rd CD campaign, but he said Kapanke's admission should result in a deeper investigation of the non-profi t group.

Court rules UW-Madison improperty denied funds for Catholic organization

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

has upheld a district court ruling that UWMadison improperly withheld funding from a Catholic student group because it planned to use the money for worship, proselytizing and religious instruction.

UW-Madison's policies for divvying up student fees to student groups have been the subject of legal actions off and on over the past decade.

The university assured the U.S. Supreme Court in one suit that its policies would be viewpoint neutral.

But it refused to give out student funds for worship, proselytizing or religious instruction because it believed doing so would violate the separation of church and state.

A federal district court rejected that argument, as did a split appeals court.

The majority opinion noted UW-Madison funds groups such as the MultiCultural Student Coalition that promotes “social justice" and Sex Out Loud, which promotes “healthy sexuality.”

"But having decided that counseling programs are within the scope of the activity fee, the University cannot exclude those that offer prayer as one means of relieving the anxiety that many students experience," the court noted.

Second Supper

COMMUNITY

September 9, 2010 // 5

Saving lives: Summit brings attention to suicide prevention

Q&A

The statistics are sobering.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15- to 24-year-olds in Wisconsin and the 10th leading cause for all ages.

More teenagers and young adults die from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, infl uenza and chronic lung disease — combined.

There were 14 suicides in La Crosse County in 2007; fi ve were under age 35.

Finally, 737 Wisconsin residents took their own lives in 2008, when suicides hit the highest level in at least 20 years.

To better understand the issues behind the numbers, we talked to Matthew Strittmater, mental health recovery services manager for La Crosse County Human Services.

Q: Why is the 20-something age group so susceptible to thoughts of suicide?

A: Younger adults are still experiencing signifi cant physical and mental changes.

Impulsive thinking. Stress is a signifi cant factor due to life transitions, roles and expectations changing, striving to excel, etc. There may be insuffi cient support systems and family dynamics. The infl uence of drugs and alcohol can be a factor as well.

Q. Are all suicide threats real or "just" a cry for attention?

A. All threats should be taken seriously as they may be a way for asking for help. It is better to be wrong about intent than to not respond.

Q. Are young women or young men more likely to attempt suicide?

A. Suicide attempts are much more common than death by suicide. Attempts are estimated to be about 20 times the number of deaths. The female hospitalized attempt rate is about two times higher than the male rate. Females represent 65 percent of hospitalized attempts. However, the male suicide rate is about four times greater than the female rate. Males account for 80 percent of suicides.

Q. What should I say to or what can I do for a suicidal friend?

A. Stay calm, engage them in conversation, and listen carefully. Be direct. Don’t be afraid to ask if they are suicidal. Ask if they have a plan and the means to carry it out. Stay with the person, persuade them to get help and accompany them to someone or someplace they can get professional mental health services. Provide hope, empathy, and support. Remember to get support for yourself as well; don’t do it all on your own.

By Roger Bartel

roger.bartel@secondsupper.com

Of all the saddening statistics regarding suicide, perhaps none is more telling than this:

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 90 percent of people who die by suicide have treatable mental illnesses, such as depression or substance abuse disorder, that are often undiagnosed or untreated.

Laura Lee Stigen, 22, of La Crosse is one of the lucky ones. She ultimately was diagnosed with borderline personality order and depression, and has been able to get the therapy and medication to treat them.

But it has not been an easy road. Laura will be among the panelists discussing suicide at the 2010 Suicide Prevention Summit, organized by the La Crosse Area Suicide Prevention Initiative, Wednesday, Sept. 15.

She spoke at the summit last year also and has reached out to other groups to share her story as part of her therapy following years of self-harm and an estimated 40 overdoses.

“I’m not afraid to tell my story,” says Laura, who was a dance team captain and graduated in the top 10 percent of her class at La Crosse Central High School. “If I can save one life, that makes all the difference.”

Born and raised in La Crosse, Laura had, from the outside, an idyllic childhood.

She was popular, a good student and surrounded by friends and family. There were hints of mental health issues in the extended family — a bipolar grandparent and a cousin who committed suicide — but nothing that would cause anyone to worry.

Beneath the surface, however, Laura was in turmoil. “I couldn’t feel anything,” she recalls. “Pain was the only time I could feel anything.”

She was 12 the fi rst time she harmed herself. “It was just cutting,” she says with a shrug. “It felt almost like I was out of my body.” She hid the cuts from family and friends.

By the age 15, she also had developed an eating disorder. And she found a new way to “feel” — burning. Still, she defl ected any concerns of those close to her.

“I was a performer,” she says. Still, family members were suspicious that something was seriously wrong.

“They blame themselves ... but it had nothing to do with them,” Laura says. “My family is awesome. My family is my rock.”

And Laura’s mother sought help immediately following a driving incident in which it was clear Laura had intended to hurt herself.

Laura entered her fi rst psychiatric facility when she was 18, but she did not stay long and ignored followup treatment. “I didn’t want help,” she says. “I didn’t want to be stopped.”

So, she went off to college in Iowa, saying it was a fresh start and there was nothing to worry about as she moved in with “45 happy, go-lucky girls in a sorority.”

Inside, however, she had not changed.

The burnings continued: ovens, curling irons, whatever she needed to “feel.”

Laura Lee Stigen

“I hated myself for no reason,” she recalls. “I felt like nothing. I was in so much pain. I hated myself. I could not fi nd good things about myself.”

She did fi nd her sorority sisters to be quite helpful, however. She borrowed pills from each of them — “Aleve, Tylenol, anything they had” — and overdosed ... more than once. Finally, with her stomach bleeding, she was hospitalized and committed for two weeks.

There were more dark days ahead, however. She estimates she overdosed more than 40 times in a two- to three-year period, although she was not hospitalized each time.

She was sexually assaulted. And she sunk deeper into depression. “The hole gets bigger and bigger and bigger,” she says.

Laura recalls, “A doctor once told me I had an angel over my shoulder. There was no way I should be alive.”

Finally, she found effective help at Gundersen Lutheran. Therapy helped her fi nd things to look forward to, a purpose for her life. Laura says her life turned around in July 2008. “I knew I had to save myself,” she says. “I realized life is what you make it. I want to use what I put myself through to better other people’s lives.”

Last spring, Laura earned her degree as an occupational therapy assistant from Western Technical College. She chose occupational therapy because of her many hospitalizations. “Occupational therapy made me smile,” she says. “It really made me stand on my feet.”

She plans to attend graduate school next year. Laura said she wants eventually to work with people like her. “I worked in a psych ward. It felt like I was home,” she says.

When she talks with people about depression and suicide, she offers simple advice: “Get help early. The longer you wait, the worse you’re going to get. ... You can’t do it by yourself.”

Laura remains on medication. She works as much as she can. And she focuses on the future. Still, “it’s a battle every single day of my life.”

But it’s a battle that Laura now is confi dent she can win. Her purpose is clear. “I’m going to change the world, of course,” she says with a smile.

At A Glance

what: Suicide Prevention Awareness Event when: 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14 where: Riverside Park who: This free public event will include speakers, including family survivor and Olympian Suzy Favor Hamilton, stories of hope and an informational walk. fYi: www.lacrossesuicideprevention.org. what: Suicide Prevention Summit when: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 15 where: Radisson Hotel, La Crosse who: The symposium is designed for anyone who can influence and assist individuals in seeking help when suicide is being considered. Dr. Shawn Shea, nationally recognized author, is the keynote speaker. Suzy Favor Hamilton also will speak. fYi: For information, visit www.uwlax. edu/conted or call (608) 785-6508.

6// September 9, 2010

COMMUNITY

Second Supper

Finances 101

Dollars and cents advice for 20-somethings

With students returning to area college campuses, new graduates still fi nding their way in a tight job market and older 20-somethings facing long-term fi nancial decisions, Second Supper asked Jackie Urban, member education offi cer for Altra Federal Credit Union, to answer some common questions from our readers.

Urban provided some basic information but cautioned, “It is always a good idea to talk over these things with people you can trust to have the knowledge. I always tell people, ‘You should always know the answer to the question you ask.’”

In other words, fi nd an expert, or fi nancial adviser, at a local fi nancial institution, at school or even at home, and be sure you’re making informed fi nancial decisions.

Q. I’ve graduated from college and don’t have a full-time job. I’ve heard about an “economic hardship” rule for deferring student loans. What is that all about?

A. My understanding is that you may be eligible to defer for a number of reasons, such as unemployment. I would check the borrower’s line to see what options may be available to you.

Q. I know I need to build a credit history before I try for a car or house loan. What should I look for when considering a credit card?

A. One of the things you don't want to do is have too many credit cards, especially if you are a spender. Only open lines of credit you would use regularly and be able to pay off in a reasonable amount of time.Running out without thinking about what you are going to use the credit card for could lead to too much credit card debt, which could delay your major purchase. Beware of credit cards that advertise that they can help you build credit, as sometimes what you get is a credit card that is maxed out with fees (application fee, processing fee and annual fee).

These accounts come with a $300 limit and it's maxed before you even activate it. You really only need a couple of open revolving accounts to help jump start your credit history. If good credit hstory is your goal, learn more about what you need to do before applying for a credit card. I tell people to start close to home. There are several things to consider: Who do I want to do business with and for what purpose? Saving, investing, borrowing? Which lending institution do I want to build a long-term relationship with?

Traditional credit history isn’t the only history we may want. Our credit score is determined in part by how long has the account been open. Be particular with who you do business with.

Q. I landed a full-time job at a local company. Is it worth enrolling in a 401k if I don’t think I’ll stay with a company for very long?

A. Time is money. There is no time like the present to start saving. Talk to your representative about your goals. Most times you can roll your funds into a qualifi ed fund and take it with you. Again, time is money.

Money works 24-7 when invested. Compounding interest at its best.

Q. I'm single, work a couple of part-time jobs while completing my degree, and basically live from paycheck to paycheck. What features should I consider for a checking account?

A. Free checking. Be frugal in all aspects of your life. Make every dime count for you because the dimes add up.

Q. I’ve saved up a couple thousand dollars through my waitressing job. Should I keep saving or try investing it now?

A. Time is money — start now! We should have several different types of savings, both short term and long term, depending on what the goals are. Save and invest in the appropriate types of accounts. Ask a fi nancial adviser what types of accounts are available for long-term (retirement) and for shortterm (house, car and emergency). The account objectives will be very different.

Q. I have three credit cards and debt of about $5,000. I'm making only minimum payments each month. What's the best way for me to tackle my credit card debt?

A. There are lots of different ideas here.

The snowball theory: pay the higher interest fi rst, pay lower balances off fi rst, pay more than the minimum. All work. Find the one that motivates you to stay on track.

Make sure that you consider trickling money into an emergency fund so that when those emergencies happen you do not have to use the credit if debt liquidation is your goal. An unexpected event that we don’t have funds to pay for is usually what will make our debt liquidation plan falter.

For more information, contact Jackie Urban at (608) 787-7527 or by e-mail at jurban@altra.org.

Enjoy Pettibone Park without the car Sept. 19

You can come by bike. By skateboard.

By scooter. By foot. But don’t come by car.

“The Pettibone Experience: A car-free day in the park” will be held from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 19. The event at Pettibone Park will include a Geo Quest, yoga, Ultimate Frisbee, Zumba class, free bicycle safety checks, disc golf scramble, free market, bike rodeo, bike decorating, messenger

relay races, free root beer fl oats and a fi shing derby. T.U.G.G. and other local musicians will provide music from 3 to 6 p.m.

While cars are not allowed in the park, there will be parking by the beach house and across the highway for those who live far away.

For additional information, visit http:driftlessbicycle.org.

Second Supper

©2010 Treasure Island Resort & Casino

6Q

ARTS with Sara Meyer (Maria) and Aaron White (Tony)

actors in "West Side Story" at La Crosse Community Theatre

By Jonathan Majak jonathan.majak@secondsupper.com

Let the fi nger snapping commence.

Opening this weekend at the La Crosse Community Theatre and running through the 26th, West Side Story is the classic reworking of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, now set among the fi re escapes and back alleys of 1950s New York City. It is fi lled with high energy dance numbers, classic songs and, at its center, a tragic love story, Second Supper sat down recently with Sara Meyer and Aaron White, who play the star-crossed lovers Maria and Tony, to discuss the upcoming production.

Second Supper: This is not a small show in the least with a lot of people involved and that can be sort of diffi cult. What’s been the most diffi cult aspect of the show for you?

Aaron: “It’s such a well-known show, it’s sort of intimidating.”

Sara: “It’s a great challenge, though.”

SS: With a show that has such an iconic fi lm version of it, do you watch that or do you sort of refuse to look at it while in the rehearsal process?

Sara: “I watched the movie when they announced they were doing it. I watched the movie so much that it got me really excited for the production.”

Aaron: “The soundtrack, that’s all that’s in my car right now.” [laughs] SS: This is an extremely dance-heavy show.

Is learning the choreography a nightmare?

Aaron: “Luckily, Sara and I don’t have too much at all.”

Sara: “It’s super fun.”

SS: West Side Story is a show really built upon racial tensions. That fuels most of the antagonism between the characters. So how is the production handling those issues with a cast that doesn’t necessarily refl ect the racial makeup of the script?

Aaron: “Greg’s [Parmeter, artistic director of LCT and director of this production] direction is very tactful and done tastefully with

PHOTO BY MARY CATANESE

Sara Meyer and Aaron White portray Martia and Tony in La Crosse Community Theatre's West Side Story.

the accents and everything.”

SS: Though I know this is sort of like asking a parent to choose their favorite child, what are you most looking forward to people to see?

Sara: “I’m looking forward to the gym scene.

There is just so much energy on stage during it.”

Aaron: “I really do look forward to people seeing everything.”

SS: What pop cultural event would you like to see be turned into a musical?

Aaron: “Sarah Palin: The Musical would be awesome.”

Sara: “That is perfect.”

SS: Does anybody know if Tina Fey can sing?

Aaron: “They should get Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel from Wicked to play Hilary Clinton and Sarah Palin in a musical.”

Sara: “Love it.”

“Raising Awareness and Hope”

suicide prevention awareness event LaCrosse Area Suicide Prevention Initiative

free and open to the public

SUZY FAVOR HAMILTON I N F O R M AT I O NA L WA L K IN THE PARK

Riverside Park

speaker rain or shine music weather permitting for more info: www.lacrossesuicideprevention.org call: 211 or 1.800.362.8255

3

LEGGED

14, 2010

music by

Tuesday, September

FA M I LY SU RV I VO R A N D O LYMPIC ATHLETE

marley

September 9, 2010 // 7

8// September 9, 2010

The Arts Review The Designer's Drugs Medium: Literature Justin Cronin — "The Passage" (2010)

Second Supper

ARTS

Like many masterpieces of horror, what makes The Passage one of the finest pieces of vampire literature to come along in a long, long time is that it’s not about the monsters.

So much time is invested into building the pre-bloodsucker world that when the creatures rise up, their presence is both fully formed and yet somewhat secondary.

Though entirely its own story, this first volume in Justin Cronin’s planned vampire trilogy is easily comparable to The Stand, both in plot and scope. The first act of the tale is set in a United States a few years from now, in a world that has fallen further into the war on terror. Further acts of mass de-

struction, committed both inside the country and beyond, have turned America into an ailing police state. Such a declining state of affairs leads to drastic attempts to reassert American dominance, culminating with a plot to copyright immortality. You can guess how well that turns out. A hundred years later, mankind is in its death throes, when a girl from the old world reappears to lead a band of survivors to war. Their present goal: to travel to ground zero and find the truth about the walking plague.

The main facet of Justin Cronin’s storytelling that sets him apart is his eagerness to infuse his story with consequence. Too many characters come back when presumed lost, and this does pull the plot into an undue tidiness at times. That some documents of the times have been preserved as exhibits in a society a thousand years in the future indicates that some form of civilization has survived, which takes away some of the danger. Then again, Cronin is unafraid to wipe out anyone and everyone, and there’s a lot that could happen in the next millenium. Despite the hazy future, the suspense in The Passage twists the reader’s expectations right to the very last sentence.

All of which wouldn’t mean a thing if the characters weren’t so well developed.

The people of the old world and the new — both the monsters and their prey — are examined without mercy. Their flaws are

brought into full view, yet at the same time no character, no matter how vile, is without humanity, and one can fully understand where each person is coming from. The board is black and white, but the pieces are all shades of grey.

The sum total of The Passage is a story that may not reinvent the wheel, but is fully deserving of being called an epic. If this first offering is any indication of how the rest of Cronin’s trilogy will unfold, this will be the vampire story by which all others will be judged.

— Brett Emerson

The Screening Room Medium: Film "Machete" (2010) Directors: Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis Cast: Danny Trejo, Jessica Alba, Robert De Niro Writers: Robert Rodriguez and Álvaro Rodriguez

The best of all the faux trailers that ran with Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s epic 2007 flop Grindhouse, Machete managed to upstage Rodriguez’s featurelength disappointment Planet Terror. Now a

feature-length film itself, the similarly disappointing Machete further blurs the line between paying tribute to cheesy exploitation flicks and becoming one itself.

There’s enough over-the-top violence and ill-conceived dialogue to suggest that the film mostly succeeds as homage, but a healthy majority of Machete exists with tongue ambiguously out of cheek, which raises the unfortunate question, Was the movie this bad intentionally?

Machete’s scant instances of carefree cornball fun (most of which appeared in the trailer) become bogged down by a bloated cast of side characters.

Trejo’s titular badass — framed for the attempted assassination of an anti-immigration U.S. Senator — isn’t given much time to gleefully jam sharp objects into bad guys’ faces before the needlessly convoluted plot takes over.

The overabundance of characters and side plots even manages to drown out what should have been a overly pronounced, progressive stance on immigration issues.

Machete doesn’t work as social commentary, it works marginally as hyper-violent schlock, and just barely works as a fun-loving “mexploitation” comedy. It simply doesn’t deliver what the two-minute Grindhouse trailer promised.

— Nick Cabreza

HOW ARE WE DOING? FILL OUT SECOND SUPPER'S ANNUAL READERSHIP SURVEY AT WWW.SECONDSUPPER.COM

Show us where Altra has taken you and win a Flip Mino™ Send us a photo of you with your Altra Debit Card.

Maybe it's a vacation, an unusual setting, or an everyday experience. Be creative!

Each month through December, a team of Altra judges will pick our favorite photo and award that lucky Altra Debit Cardholder a Flip Mino™ camcorder to keep recording their adventures.

Visit us online for complete details.

Chicago , r e w o T ) s r a e S ( Willis , Altra member

hn Hestekin Jo by d te it bm su to ho Winning P

Open 7 days a week inside Festival Foods, La Crosse

608.787.4500 • www.altra.org

Monthly prize will be awarded at the sole discretion of the judging team. Photos showing Altra members in a dangerous or illegal setting will not be considered, so don't even try it. Same goes for photos not rated G. Photos will not be retouched other than to obscure the number on the card if visible. By submitting a photo, you certify that you have the legal right to grant Altra unrestricted permission to publish the photo in any medium. Contest open to Altra members who are current Debit Card users. Sorry, Altra employees and their immediate family members are not eligible for prizes.

Second Supper

September 9, 2010 // 9

LA CROSSE’ S N EWEST & T RUEST PUB & EATERY WITHOUT Monday: T HE F RANCHISE! All U Can Eat Wings includes choice of potato, slaw and a frosted Pint. 4-9:30 $8.99

Tuesday: Wisconsin cheese steak sandwich $8.99 with a frosted Pint.

Wednesday: Ladies Night, $1 Off All Drinks 4-Cl. Pint-Aritas $3.00 (lime or strawberry)

Thursday: All U Can Eat Boneless Wings includes choice of potato, slaw and a frosted Pint. 4-9:30 $8.99 Watch Brewers and Nascar - 8 Plasma TV’s • Food & Drink Specials Smoke Freee

Outdoor Patioo Now open Serving Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner 7 dayss per week Karaoke on Thursdays and Live Music on Weekends Happy Hour Mon.-Fri. 4-6pm

400 Lang Drive, La Crosse 20222585jg

(Across From Menards) 784-2242

10// September 9, 2010

MUSIC

Second Supper

You, Me, and Everyone We Know renews LaX acquaintances tonight

By Jason Crider jason.crider@secondsupper.com

General admission $25 VIP front row $50

Purchase tickets at The Waterfront Restaurant & Tavern Call the DMI office: 608-784-0440

Or email: TkabatDMI@centurytel.net

for 18- to 25-year-olds

You, Me, and Everyone We Know is an up-and-coming powerpop/indie band touring the Midwest in support of its debut fulllength release, Some Things Don’t Wash Out, which will be available through Doghouse Records on Oct. 12. The band stops in La Crosse tonight, Sept. 9.

In 2006 the band independently released its fi rst EP, Party for The Grown and Sexy, which garnered quite a bit of critical acclaim in the indie/pop circuit. The band’s 2008 EP, So Young, So Insane, also independently released, featured guest vocals from Max Bemis from Say Anything and furthered its signifi cance as a powerpop staple.

The band is known for catchy choruses, energetic melodies, unconventional lyrics and the members’ deeply seeded pop sensibilities. Their sound has been compared to the likes of Say Anything, The Format or early Panic! at the Disco. You, Me, and Everyone We Know will greatly please fans of groups such as Motion City Soundtrack or The Spill Canvas.

As lead singer Ben Liebsch explained, “at the heart of it we’re a pop band that borrows from punk sounds that I’m a fan of [as well as] other indie sounds. What sets us apart musically is that we don’t have any [holdup] about what kind of band we are….

We’re comfortable experimenting with different sounds.”

Liebsch went on to describe the events leading up to the recording of Some Things Don’t Wash Out: “About two years ago we were in Georgia and our van caught fi re and burnt to the ground,” he said. “That incident was the catalyst for us recording [the] album.” The band was able to bounce back from the setback full-force and recorded an album they hoped would combine the best elements of its two previous releases. “I wouldn’t call it a blessing. ... But it’s the reason we’re [where we are] now,” Liebsch said.

In regards to returning to La Crosse, Liebsch said the band is thoroughly excited to be coming back to see some friendly faces.

“We’ve developed an extremely loyal fanbase over the last few years, and we’d like people to continue to be as excited about us as they have been,” he said.

This fan loyalty is largely due to the wildly energetic and entertaining live shows for which the band has become known.

“People say we look like we’re having the time of our lives,” Liebsch said.

You, Me, and Everyone We Know will be playing at the Warehouse tonight with Queen’s Club, Take Cover, Cadence, and All the Right Moves. Tickets are $9 and are available at the door. Doors open at 6 p.m., and the show begins at 6:30 p.m.

Second Supper

The Majak Mixtape

By Jonathan Majak jonathan.majak@secondsupper.com

Oh Laurence Fishburne, your daughter is a porn star now. She will undoubtedly be starring in a host of adult films that reference your films in some way: What’s Condoms Got To Do With It, Akeelah and the Peen, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (we didn’t even have to change that one). We’re not ones to point fingers and blame. Except that we totally are and we’re going to say having a daughter who names Kim Kardashian’s career based on her sextape as the impetus for her own foray into pornography means that’s some poor home training. But we don’t want to make you feel bad; we’d just like to offer a mixtape to you, wise Morpheus, because we’re pretty sure in your daughter’s situation the blue pill is Viagra and the red one is Plan B.

First up is Sia’s cover of Madonna’s “Oh Father” off her We Are Born album. Let’s be honest, it could safely be argued that a lot of Madonna’s antics in the 1980s and early 1990s stemmed from massive daddy issues

By Brett Emerson brett.emerson@secondsupper.com

Medium: Album Stimulus: Stewart "Kicks" Anno: 2010

Stewart sounds the way a commercial designed to sell clothes to teenagers sounds.

Pictures of quirky kids running around a mall in fast-motion rush through my head when listening to “Dance with Me,” “Consider Me Gone,” and “Aloof.” This girl group doesn’t run exclusively on Veruca Salt rock, but the quiet songs, “Gone” and “Who We Are,” seem out of place. That’s a shame, because they — and a sped-up redo of the latter song — are the best offerings on the album.

Clocking at less than a half hour, Kicks has little aim beyond being a party album.

While it fulfills that purpose, the undercurrents indicate greater talents than what’s seen on the surface.

Medium: Album Stimulus: Vienna Teng and Alex Wong "The Moment Always Vanishing" Anno: 2010

One of the things I like least about live albums is the amount of talking (often preplanned) that often obstructs the music. Un-

MUSIC and one doesn’t need to be Freud to see your daughter’s doing porn to be some cry for attention of both you and wife actress Gina Torres. Sia’s taken Madonna’s sad tune and upped the quirk on it because you know what a song about father/daughter strife needs? Xylophone.

You can’t put together a mixtape like this without including Lindsay Lohan’s homage to bad parenting and even worse musical recordings in her tune “Confessions of Brokenheart (Father to Daughter).” Not so much a standard tune as much an episode of Maury Povich put to music, Lohan asks her father Michael Lohan if he ever loved her while the music aims for raw emotion and lands at cacophonous mess, which admittedly is almost as thin of a line as Lohan has been accused of snorting.

Lastly, we go opposite in emotion but equal in crap quality, the Bob Carlisle tune “Butterfly Kisses.” This song assaulted Top 40 radio back when we were freshmen in high school. We’d write more, but we’re in a diabetic coma because of the treacle sweetness of it.

Buy: Interpol’s new self-titled album

YouTube: Mark Ronson’s new video “The Bike Song”

Read: 2DopeBoyz (www.2dopeboyz. com)

Get your daily dose of Majak Mixtape at the Majak Kingdom blog (www.majakkingdom. blogspot.com). less the band is KISS and the speaker is Paul Stanley — whose stage banter is so over the top that bootleggers have constructed entire albums devoted to it, listeners are probably going to hit fast forward and resent the artist. Anticipating this, Vienna Teng and Alex Wong made a smart decision and placed their many such (seemingly unplanned) conversations on separate tracks, allowing listeners to get right to the action. And in one of their speaking tracks, the group tries to wail like Paul Stanley, so points there as well.

Accompanied by a cellist in certain tracks, pianist Teng and multi-instrumentalist Wong play a set of gorgeous melancholy.

The sound quality on these tracks is so great that, were it not for the applause and those bits of conversation, The Moment Always Vanishing could almost pass for a studio album.

Songs like “Antebellum” and “Blue Caravan” are every bit as wrenching as they are in their original forms, while a few songs break with Teng’s established formula and go further.

Showing the range of the performance, “The Last Snowfall” becomes a pristine work of heavy loops and production tricks, whereas “Grandmother Song” turns into a charging blast of bluegrass which gets the audience howling. The presence of Radiohead’s “Idioteque” at album’s end is a well done bonus.

More live albums should be like this.

The combination of skill and personality shown on The Moment Always Vanishing sets it in a class far above most bands’ stale victory laps. With Teng stepping away from music for the time being, this serves as a magnificent stopping point.

To read Brett's interview with Vienna Teng and Alex Wong, go to ymarksthespot.org.

September 9, 2010 // 11

12// September 9, 2010

Second Supper

MUSIC

music directory // September 10 to September 16 just a roadie away fridaY, .

September 10

Milwaukee

Alpine Inn // W5717 Bliss Rd. Pat McCurdy (Wisconsin legend) • 9 p.m.

population

Bone Thugs N Harmony // SEPT. 30 The Rave • $25-$33

Flipside Pub and Grill // 400 Lang Drive Sellout (rock) • 9 p.m.

The Drive-By Truckers // OCT. 1 Pabst Theater • $25

Neuie's varsity club // 1920 Ward Ave. Three Beers 'til Dubuque (funk, variety, party) • 8 p.m.

Farm Aid 2010 // OCT. 2 Miller Park • $39.50-$97.50

Nighthawks Tap // 401 S. Third St. The New Blues Crew (blues-rock) • 10 p.m.

Pearl Street Brewery // 1401 St. Andrew St.

Overserved Quartet (Wisconsin jamrock supergroup) • 5 p.m. piggy's blues lounge // 501 Front St. S. Blue Vibe (blues) • 8 p.m.

Broken Social Scene // OCT. 3 Pabst Theatre • $25 Pat McCurdy may be Wisconsin’s most-loved musician, but that doesn’t make his music any easier to describe. Suffice it to say: He puts on an uproariously fun show that mixes oddball humor, an over-caffeinated troubadour, copious crowd participation and the occasional adult beverage (pictured). If you’ve never seen Pat perform, you may as well hate cheese curds because you’re missing out on a vital piece of Wisconsin culture. His performance schedule is as stuffed as a bratwurst casing, but McCurdy will be making his seemingly monthly return to Alpine Inn on Friday night beginning at 9 p.m. Get up the bluff for a primer before his Oktoberfest show that is sure to bring the house down.

Popcorn Tavern // 308 S. Fourth St. All Good Things (folk-rock) • 10 p.m.

The Remainders, Sell Out, Beth Kille (Rockin’ Out in Pink) • 5:30 p.m.

The Arterial // 1003 S. 16th St. Paxico (rock) • 9 p.m.

my second home // 2104 George St. The Fabulous Baloney Skins (variety) • 8 p.m.

sundaY,

September 12

The Starlite Lounge // 222 Pearl St. The New Jazz Infidels (jazz) • 8 p.m.

north side oasis // 620 Gillette St. Geared Under (rock) • 10 p.m.

the waterfront tavern // 328 Front St. Greg Balfany (jazz quartet) • 8 p.m.

Popcorn Tavern // 308 S. Fourth St. Nicholas Mrozinski and the Feelin Popcorn Tavern // 308 S. Fourth St. Band (worldly pop) • 10 p.m.

Shawn's Open jam • 10 p.m.

Huck Finn's // 127 Marina Dr Milktoast (modern rock) • 7 p.m.

Mt. La Crosse // W5549 Old Town Hall Rd.

September 15

Bad Axe Jam (gear provided) • 10 p.m.

Nighthawks Tap // 401 S. Third St. The King Everything Classic Rock & Blues Revue (self-explanatory) • 10 p.m.

Freight House // 107 Vine St. Whitney Mann, Mark Harrod (refined country) • 8 p.m.

wednesdaY,

Popcorn Tavern // 308 S. Fourth St. The Sunday Blend (fusion) • 10 p.m.

The Root Note // 114 4th St. S. Art Brothas w/ Rob Dz (improvised art/percussion) • 8:30 p.m.

Red Pines Bar & Grill // W7305 Hwy Z Don Harvey (songwriter) • 8 p.m.

Buddy Guy, Jonny Lang // OCT. 8 Northern Lights Theater • $65-$75

Del’s Bar // 229 Third St. Kokopelliens (jam grass) • 10 p.m.

piggy's blues lounge // 501 Front St. S. Blue Vibe (blues) • 8 p.m.

September 11

Muse, Passion Pit // OCT. 6 Bradley Center • $45-$55

French slough // 1311 La Crescent St. Kin Pickin’ (jam grass) • Noon

The Joint // 324 Jay St. Overserved Band, Circle of Heat (funk, jam rock) • 10 p.m.

saturdaY,

596,974

The Warehouse // 324 Pearl St. Jonny Craig, Mod Sun, Fight Fair, Breathe Electric, The Divine (pop rock) • 5:30 p.m.

mondaY,

September 13

Del’s Bar // 229 Third St. Open Jam • 10 p.m.

The Root Note // 114 4th St. S. Carolina Story (indie folk) • 8:30 p.m.

September 14

The Root Note // 114 4th St. S. Jared Grabb (Americana) • 8:30 p.m.

tuesdaY,

the waterfront tavern // 328 Front St. Greg Balfany (jazz quartet) • 8 p.m.

Popcorn Tavern // 308 S. Fourth St. Dave Orr (open jam) • 10 p.m.

The Root Note // 114 4th St. S. 3rd Relation Jazz Trio (jazz) • 8:30 p.m.

Nighthawks Tap // 401 S. Third St. Popcorn Tavern // 308 S. Fourth St. Jazz Liver (jazz) • 10 p.m.

recovery room // 901 7th St. S. Kin Pickin’ (open jam) • 10 p.m.

thursday,

September 16

Del’s Bar // 229 Third St. Dox Phonic (jamgrass) • 10 p.m.

Nighthawks Tap // 401 S. Third St. Dave Orr's Damn Jam (open jam) • 10 p.m.

Popcorn Tavern // 308 S. Fourth St. TBA (the great unknown) • 10 p.m.

The Starlite Lounge // 222 Pearl St. Kies and Kompanie (jazz) • 5 p.m.

The Warehouse // 324 Pearl St. Texas in July, This or the Apocalypse, Destruction of a Rose, Before We Fall, Elle Woods (punk rock) • 6 p.m.

Second Supper

The Beer Review Hell Surly Brewing Company Brooklyn Center, Minnesota

It’s always good to have a couple of friends in Minnesota. They can make for good fishing buddies, offer a couch after rocking First Avenue, show you the worthwhile attractions in Mall of America, or help you land those coveted Packers/Vikings tickets. But one thing that Minnesotans are especially good for — and this is not easy for a proud son of Wisconsin to admit — is beer. More specifically, Minnesotans are great for Surly, that most cultish of microbrewers that crams its beers with flavor, packages them in pint-size cans and distributes them only in the land of 10,000

Lakes (despite my many protestations on their Facebook wall). I’ve never tried a Surly beer that was anything short of wonderful, so a huge shoutout has to go to my boy Nate who recently provided me with their latest seasonal: Surly Hell.

Although this suburban Minneapolis brewery is best known for its hop prowess and over-the-top ales, Hell is a lager and far from anything else Surly brews.

It’s modeled on a Zwickel Bier, an unfiltered, unpasteurized German-style lager that dates back to the Middle Ages. It’s so uncommon in America that I’m not sure if I’ll ever get to try this style of beer again (are you reading this, Nate?). But don’t let the imposing brand name scare you.

Hell actually takes its name from the German word for “light,” and this clean lager makes the perfect swan song for my sum-

mer beer reviews.

Purchase: A gift of a single pint can, purchased somewhere in Minneapolis Style: Zwickel Bier, similar to a Munich Helles Strength: 4.5 percent ABV Packaging: The silver can bears a flamelike lime green design as well as this boast from brewmaster Omar Ansari: “Finally, a Surly beer my German mother will drink!”

Appearance: Bright golden color that’s clearer than advertised with a foamy white head that leaves decent lacing Aroma: Superb! The can keeps this one fresh with huge whiffs of lime juice, a subtler lemon presence and something that evokes a dandelion stem rubbed down with an alcohol wipe. Pilsner malts carry the aroma, but the unknown quality may

The Best Food & Drink Specials in Town LOCATION

September 9, 2010 // 13

YOUR GUIDE TO CONSUMPTION

SUNDAY

be unfiltered lager yeast that we rarely find in American beers.

Taste: This isn’t a hugely flavorful beer like everything else on the Surly line, but all the tastes work nicely in tandem: grassy hops, lemon and honey sweetness, a faint biscuity aftertaste and Pilsner flavors to dry the tongue.

Mouthfeel: Supremely light bodied, almost as if it weren’t there at all Drinkability: I can say quite confidently that this is the most drinkable Surly.

Reviews: BeerAdvocate gives it a B+ and RateBeer scores it a 91. The freaks of Surly Nation (their term, not mine), seem a bit disappointed by this light beer, but Hell is both a history lesson and a taste sensation — assuming you can find one.

— Adam Bissen

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

ARENA

Midwest Poker League 7 p.m.

Closed

Wyld Wednesday: $2 Jumbo UV, mixers $1.50 Coronas

Ladies' Night, $5 Long Island pitchers

$1 Cherry Bombs, $1 Keystone Light silos

$1 Cherry Bombs, $1 Keystone Light silos

BODEGA BREW PUB

$2 BBQ Pork Sliders

2-Fers, Buy any regularly priced food item and get one of equal or lesser value for free

$2.50 Coors vs. Keystone pitchers. All specials 9 p.m. to close

AUC2D: $5, domestic taps, rail mix- 10-cent wings, $1 Miller High Life ers, Long Islands. All specials 9 p.m. bottles, $1.50 rail mixers; $2.50 call to close drinks. All specials 9 p.m. to close.

AUC2D: $5, domestic taps, rail mixers and Long Islands. Wristband Night: $2.50 SoCo & Jack. All specials 9 p.m. to close., 50¢ shots (2 flavors)

$3 3 Olives mixers, $3 Mojitos, $2 $3 Bacardi mixers, $3 Mojitos, $2 Cherry Bombs, $1 Bazooka Joe's; Cherry bombs, $1 Bazooka Joe's.

FAC: $3 domestic pitchers, micro/ All specials 9 p.m. to close. import taps, anything that pours.

4-9 p.m.

Taco buffet 11-2; $1 Pabst bottles and $1 bowling after 9

All you care to eat pizza buffet, 11-2

All you care to eat fish fry 4-10; unlimited Glow-N-Bowl $9.99

Prime rib dinner 4-10; unlimited Glow-N-Bowl $9.99

All you can eat wings, includes a Wisconsin cheese steak sandwich choice of potatoe, slaw and a frosted with a pint of beer, $8.99 pint, 4-9:30 p.m., $8.99

Ladies Night, $1 off all drinks, 4 to All you can eat boneless wings, inclose; Pint-Aritas $3 (lime or straw- cludes a choice of potatoe, slaw and berry) a frosted pint, 4-9:30 p.m., $8.99 9 p.m. to close: $2 Captain mixers, $2 bottles/cans, $3 Jager bombs

9 p.m. to close: $2 Bacardi mixers, $2 domestic pints, $1.50 shots blackberry brandy

107 3rd St. S. 782-1883 122 4th St. 782-0677

BROTHERS

Closed

306 Pearl St. 784-0522

FEATURES

W3923 State Highway 16 786-9000

FLIPSIDE PUB & GRILL 400 Lang Drive 784-2242

HOWIE’S

Fish Tacos: 1 / $2.50, 2 / $5.00, 3 / $6.50.

Happy hour 4 to 9 p.m.; 9 p.m. to 9 p.m. to close: $3.50 domestic 9 p.m. to close: $1 rails, $2.50 pitch- $5 all you can drink close: Night Before Class - $3 pitch- pitchers ers, beer pong ers of the beast

9 p.m. to close: $1.25 rails, $1.75 bottles/cans

IMPULSE

214 Main St. 782-6010

$5 AUC2D wristbands: domestic taps, rail mixers, Long Islands, 9 p.m. to close; live DJ, dancing 9 p.m. to close

Alcohol-free night, 7 p.m. to 2 a.m., $5 AUC2D wristbands: domestic for ages 25 and younger; live DJ, taps, rail mixers, Long Islands, 9 p.m. dancing, giveaways, AUC2D soda, to close; karaoke 9 p.m. to close $10 cover

$5 AUC2D wristbands: domestic taps, rail mixers, Long Islands, 9 p.m. to close; karaoke 9 p.m. to close

Free Wing Night (while supplies $5 wristband happy hour, 5 to 9 p.m; last); $5 AUC2D wristbands: domes- live DJ, dancing 9 p.m. to close tic taps, rail mixers, Long Islands, 9 p.m. to close; live DJ, dancing 9 p.m. to close

$5 wristband happy hour, 5 to 9 p.m; live DJ, dancing 9 p.m. to close

JB’S SPEAKEASY

$1.75 domestic bottles

SIN Night

Happy Hour 5 to 7 p.m.

Happy Hour 5 to 7 p.m.

Happy Hour 5 to 7 p.m.

$1.79 burger (after 8 p.m.)

Breakfast 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Hat Night: Buy 1 drink, get 1 free w/ Rail drinks $2 (4:30 to close); Buckets of beer $10, Boston Bobby's Margaritas $4 (Straw, rasp, mango, hat (4:30 to close); $1.50 chili dogs After 8 p.m. specials: $5 skewer of drummies 10 for $2 (4:30 to close), peach and reg); After 8 p.m. specials: (after 8 p.m.) shrimp,l $1.79 burger, $1.50 chili dogs $1.79 burger (after 8 p.m.) $5 skewer of shrimp, $1.79 burger

1125 La Crosse St. 784-7400

$1.75 domestic bottles

Happy Hour 5 to 7 p.m.

717 Rose St. 796-1161

SCHMIDTY’S 3119 State Road 788-5110

SLOOPY'S ALMA MATER

$2 can beer (2-6 p.m.) $11 buckets of beers (6-close)

163 Copeland Ave. 785-0245

THE LIBRARY

Sunday Fun Day - Wristband Night

Wings, Wings, Wings... $2 off 14: Ladies night, 2 for 1 drinks (6-close), pizza, $2 can beer (2-6 p.m.) $2 can beer (2-6 p.m.)

Friday Fish, $2 can beer (2-6)

Half price tequilla, $1 domestic taps Karaoke, $2 Double rails and all Beer Pong Tourney and $3 Bacardi mixers, $3 Jumbo Long and rails bottles; $3 Double call drinks wristband night, $2 cherry bombs, Island Iced Teas 50¢ shots (3 flavors)

123 3rd St. 784-8020

TOP SHOTS

$2 can beer (2-6 p.m.)

12" pizza: $8.99 up to 5 toppings (4-close)

Breakfast 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.; lunch buffet 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., $6.99

137 4th St. 782-6622

$5 Pitchers/$2 bottles of Miller $1.75 Miller/Bud Light Taps, $2.25 $1.75 Rails, $1.50 Domestic Taps, $2 domestic bottles, $2.50 Skyy/ products (11-4pm) MIcro/Craft Taps, $2.50 Cherry Bombs $3.50 Jager Bombs Absolut mixers, $2 Dr. shots $2 Corona Bottles, $2 Kilo Kai Mixers (7-1AM) (7-1AM) (7-1am) , $3 Bloodys (7-1AM)

5 Domestic Bottles for $10, $5 $2 Captain Mixers, $2. Long Island Micro/Import Bottles $11.50, $7 Mixers, $3 Effen Vodka Mixers (7Micro/Craft Pitchers (7-1AM) 1AM)

TRAIN STATION BBQ

Ask for great eats

11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Barn burner $7.95; 4 to 9 p.m., Hobo dinner (serves two) $30.95

WHO'S ON THIRD

Happy Hour until 10 p.m. $1.50 domestic taps, $2 rails from 10 to close

601 St. Andrew St. 781-0005 126 3rd St. N. 782-9467

$1 taps of PBR, $1 rails

11 a.m. to 3 p.m., extra side with sandwich; 4 to 9 p.m., $1 off rib dinner

Special varies

$3 call doubles, $2 Bud products

Ladies' Night: $2 top shelf, $1 Pink $8.50 Fish Bowls, $2 Miller products $1 off Three Olives, $2 domestic taps Tacos Everyone: $2.50 bombs, $2 taps, $3 Jack/Captain doubles

2 for 1 pints/pitches w/ student ID over 21 $3 Jumbo Long Island Iced Teas, $3 3 Olives mixers $5 Miller/Bud Light Pitchers, $2.25 Leinies Bottles (7-1AM)

11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Chicken on fire One-half chicken three bones $7.95; 4 to 9 p.m., Bones and bris- $12.95 kets $13.95

14// September 9, 2010

Maze Efflux

Second Supper

DIVERSIONS

By Erich Boldt

"Crossing over" No theme. No problem.

By Matt Jones

The Universe and Other Small Things

By Ralph Winrich Special to Second Supper

You don’t really hear that all that often these days. Most people have made the transition to the 21 Century by now. But, there are some people still hanging on to the 15th Century in certain areas — believing that horoscopes are valid would be one.

Just what does that mean? Well belief in horoscopes is centered on an old belief that the stars rule your life, that the date you were born casts your fate depending on where the sun and planets were at that time. Enter a little science.

With the exception of the nearest star, the sun, believing that some star has any effect on your fate is, to say the least, rather lame. Outside of the heat and energies the sun provides for photosynthesis plus the fact its gravity holds our world in place and keeps it from wandering the galaxy in a permanent deep freeze, not much.

Casting that aside, each constellation the sun resides in is supposed to give you your overall traits. Astrologers assign 12 different groups or signs. Hmmm. Very nice; one per month, sort of. But the sun actually hangs out in 13 different constellations not

12. The 13th is between Scorpio and Sagittarius and is called Ophiuchus. It can be found there from Nov. 30 till Dec. 19. This group of stars is supposed to resemble a man holding or carrying a snake.

So what traits would a person carrying or holding a snake afford you if born under this sign? Maybe a future in herpetology, the study of amphibians would be in order.

As for whom you would get along with best, well most people have problems with people who walk around with snakes draped around them, but there is always someone looking for someone different, and this would sure fit!

So, why don’t most horoscopes include our snaky friend? Most likely because they are a tad out of date, more like 1,900 years or so. When the original 12 were set up, the sun was in a slightly different place each day then it is now. This is due to the earth’s rotation on its axis; fact is, this is not a smooth even process. The earth wobbles at bit and over time this throw off the whole scheme.

So, things are not what they use to be. Gee, where have we heard that one before?

Another reason for 12 instead of 13 is that 12 is a nice even number and 13 throws off that symmetry. Astrologers liked to even things out, so they averaged things a tad and conveniently omitted our friend with the snake. Now astrologers might take umbrage over this generalization, but then it's not like astrology is a real science, so who cares?

When was the last time someone won a Nobel Prize for Astrology?

So if your birthday falls under this sign what to do? Here’s a thought, just make up your own traits, pick something that’s accurate or that you like or try to be.

What sign was I born under you might ask? Why the one called Quiet Hospital Zone!

ACROSS 1 Like British Parliament 10 Viscounts' superiors 15 Kind of blood 16 Do an entry-level job?

17 Loses membership?

18 In safekeeping 19 Palindromic 1977 Steely Dan album 20 Desolate 21 Gossipmonger 22 John's 2008 running mate 24 Frat party wear 26 "And remember, mud spelled backwards is ___" (Bugs Bunny) 27 Beats twice-over in a race 30 Make certain 32 Nose-in-the-air type 35 Computer brand 36 Lucky charms 40 ___ way (not at all) 41 To come

42 Admits 44 Herbie et al.

47 Microchip with thousands of transistors, for short 48 "The Killing Fields" Oscar winner Haing S. ___ 51 Faith that celebrates Ramadan 53 Gets stuck in a bog 55 Use a code on a video game 58 "Rubicon" network 59 Wordsworth, for one 60 Held 62 ___-cop 63 Heavenly, in a way 64 Albino rocker Winter 65 Hoax DOWN 1 Mouths, in Mexico 2 One place to keep candy 3 Lucrezia Borgia's

Answers to September 2 puzzle The bleat goes on — Wooly? Bully?

brother 4 Piers Morgan show, for short 5 "The medium is the message" coiner McLuhan 6 State, to the French 7 Lovely Beatles girl 8 Turn away 9 Infomercial guy Matthew with those question mark-covered suits 10 Director Atom 11 Duncan appointed to the Obama cabinet 12 Bring on again 13 Professor on a circuit 14 East Coast clams 23 Late Oldsmobile models 25 2009 Robert Duvall movie 28 Attacking, slapstickstyle 29 Cartman cohort 31 Plea to a superhero 33 What-___ 34 Sketch comedy show

once with Rick Moranis 36 Between Taylor and Pierce 37 Like some arguments 38 Constantly at work 39 Electron paths 43 GM service 45 Quick look 46 Identical to 49 Razor manufacturer?

50 Actress Mitra of "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans" 52 "Keep the hot side hot" fast food sandwich 54 "It is," in Spain 56 MIT grad, often 57 Suit to ___ 61 "There's no ___ team" For answers, call (900) 226-2800, 99 cents per minute. Or to bill to a credit card, call (800) 655-6549. Reference puzzle #0482.

Writers Wanted Second Supper is looking for freelance columnists to write on any of the following topics: • Local government/politics • Local restaurants • Life in La Crosse Send letter of introduction and 500word column sample(s) to editor@secondsupper.com.

Second Supper

September 9, 2010 // 15

THE LAST WORD

The AdviCe GOddess

By Amy Alkon amy.alkon@secondsupper.com Petaling as fast as he can

I met my dream girl in my poker group in grad school. I recently moved far away to start my own company, but I plan to move back in about six months, once it’s up and running. I just learned on Facebook that she and her boyfriend broke up, so I sent her flowers. She posted a picture of them and thanked me publicly on Facebook, but hasn’t answered my e-mail asking about her plans after grad school. I don’t think she’s too interested in me, so I need some good ideas. I’m on a shoestring budget, so what can I do from 1,000 miles away that would rub her the right way?

— Hopeful

Your best bet? Invent time travel, go back to the day you sent her those fl owers, and get drunk and pass out before you can click “submit order.”

Sending fl owers to a girl you’ve had no sexual or even romantic contact with is only

appropriate if the girl is a racehorse who just won the Preakness. Once you’ve slept with a girl, sure, send her a bouquet or, if she was particularly awesome in bed, maybe even a fruit basket. Otherwise, it’s pretty much like going to the fl orist and saying, “What color roses say ‘I’m lacking in social intelligence’?

Oh, yeah … and could you add a few sprigs of ‘Boy, am I glad you stopped sleeping with that other guy’?”

As somebody who’s starting a company on a shoestring budget, chances are, your regular daily form of transportation isn’t a Gulfstream V with a “My other car is a primer gray Volvo” bumper sticker on the back. While you can keep in touch with the occasional witty e-mail, there’s otherwise no way but the wrong way you’ll rub this girl by trying to pursue her from 1,000 miles away.

(What were you planning to do, invite her to a gallery opening with free wine in her town and text her hello from a gallery opening with free wine in yours?)

Of course, the single best reason to stop pursuing this girl is that she’s shown no interest in you beyond whether you’re the one holding the ace of spades. But, let’s say you have a chance with her. If you spend six months obsessing over her (and worse yet, if she’s the reason you move back), when you do see her, you’re sure to radiate all the personality of a trapped animal. Quit clinging to your faraway “dream girl,” go ask a real live local girl out, and rediscover the joy of old-fashioned instant messaging. No, no more sending questions off into space to

sit unanswered on some girl’s computer. Just whisper them straight from your pillow to the cute neighbor girl on the pillow across from yours, and get answers instantly to “Got plans after grad school?” — or, better yet, “Got time to do that again before you leave for work?”

Giving him the dry heave-ho

After a great date with a guy I met online, he suggested going out again. Later that evening, he texted that he looked forward to hanging out again. Four days later, he e-mailed, wanting to know my schedule. I e-mailed it to him and never heard back. A week later, I got an apologetic e-mail, saying he’d had the stomach flu all week. Pardon my insensitivity, but how hard would it’ve been to e-mail that he can’t hang because he’s puking his brains out? Part of me wants to give him another chance, part of me wants to say “See ya.”

— Flake Avoider

to not be so prosecutorial as to fi nd no guy appropriately perfect to be your boyfriend?

Sure, we all have about fi ve modes of nearinstant communication, but having the ability to respond instantly doesn’t translate into a mandate that we do. OK, maybe you’d leap up out of a coma to check your e-mail, but he isn’t a bad person if he doesn’t do the same. What kind of person is he? Go on a few more dates with him and you might fi nd out. (Time, not angry assumptions, will tell.) Consider yourself lucky if his big character fl aw is an inability to multitask while projectile vomiting.

Sudoku

It takes a special kind of person to stare into a toilet bowl of their own vomit and wonder what’s in their inbox. Come on. It’s not like the leaves changed while you were waiting to hear from him. Besides, he isn’t your boyfriend, just some guy you had a single date with. And, by the way, he actually showed a pretty remarkable level of communication and consideration — verbally, and by e-mail and text — before he found himself watching instant replays of his lunch.

Part of you wants to give him another chance? Which part, the part that hopes

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$1.75 - Miller/Bud Taps $2.25 Micro/Craft Taps $2.50 Cherry Bombs (7-1am)

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THURSDAY FRIDAY 5 Domestic Bottles 4 $10 $5 Micro/Import Bottles $11.50, $7 Micro/Craft Pitchers (7-1am)

$5 Miller Lite/Bud Light Pitchers

SATURDAY $2.25 Leinies Bottles (7-1am)

$2 Captain Mixers $2 Long Islands $3 Effen Vodka Mixers (7-1am)

from page 4

16// September 9, 2010

Second Supper

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