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ASKTHEEXPERTS::
BUYING YOUR FIRST HOUSE Dear Kim,
I want to buy my first house this year. Where should I start?
5. Get preapproved. A mortgage expert will help you determine how much you can afford so you don’t fall in love with a home that’s out of reach. Preapproval also puts you in a position to make a serious offer when you find the right house. You’ll also discuss home loan options best for you. 6. Now, contact a professional realtor and find your home!
-Kim Dear Kim, We’ve been saving and are thinking of purchasing our first home this spring. What can we do now to prepare?
-Soon-to-be Homebuyer -First-time Homebuyer Dear Soon-to-be Homebuyer, Dear First-time Homebuyer, Congratulations! By now you’ve been budgeting and saving Not where you might think! Looking for a home is number six on the list! 1. Set your mind to saving all you can toward a down payment. The more you pay up front, the lower your payments will be every month. Also, when you see every expense as taking you further from buying a home, it’s easier to pass on splurges. 2. Get rid of other debt. At Summit Credit Union, our financial advisors review debts with first-time buyers and help them decide which to pay off before applying for a mortgage. 3. Your interest rate and, therefore, your payments, will be affected by your credit score. Get a free copy of your credit report a few months before preapproval. Make sure it’s correct, and fix any problems. 4. Choose your lender carefully. Consider loan options, experience, buyer assistance programs and accessibility to guidance, including local servicing of your loan.
W-2s, and account statements from checking, savings and investments. Also, keep your most recent tax return handy to make answering the financial questions easier. Finally, there are many mortgage products—one that’s right for your friend may not be right for you. Factors for a mortgage include disposable income, the amount you’re financing, how long you plan to own the home, the amount of your down payment, and how quickly you plan to pay down the mortgage. Well-trained mortgage advisors can discuss this with you and get you into the lowest cost mortgage product that fits your situation. A home is often the biggest purchase of your life, and the difference in the cost of your mortgage can vary by many thousands of dollars. Also, you may want your mortgage serviced locally. Helping members find their best options and servicing locally is what we do at Summit and why we are the number one mortgage lender in Dane County.*
for this exciting purchase. Now is the time to talk to a mortgage expert about your options, and to get preapproved for what you *#1 mortgage lender based on number of mortgages recorded with can afford. It’s easy to connect using Summit’s free CURB Dane County register of deeds. app, which lets you check current listings in your favorite -Kim neighborhoods, view mortgage rates and payment options and connect to a mortgage loan officer. Kim Sponem is CEO & President, Before meeting with a realtor, you should get preapproved. since 2002, of Summit Credit Union, a In our current market, many homes are getting multiple $2.7 billion, member-owned financial offers. You are in a stronger position—it’s more likely to cooperative with more than 162,000 be accepted—if your offer comes with a preapproval letter members. Kim has a passion for empowering people to improve their because the seller will have confidence in your ability to close financial well-being for a richer life. on the home sale. Meeting with a mortgage expert will give Ask Kim your money questions by you confidence and understanding of the homebuying process emailing: moneysmarts@summitcreditunion.com and what you’re able to afford while also meeting your other financial goals. Here are a few items you’ll want to have handy to prepare for a meeting with a mortgage lender: your most recent pay stubs, SPONSORED CONTENT / ASK KIM
TAX LEVIES AND LIENS Dear Arthur Lee, How do I get the tax lien off my record?
-Wants a Clean Slate Dear Wants a Clean Slate, In short, the taxpayer must pay what he or she owes, get the debt dismissed in bankruptcy court, or reach an offer in compromise with the tax authorities. Let’s start from the beginning and talk about how a person can end up with a tax lien in the first place. Although tax liens are treated as a last resort by the Federal and State governments, they exist as a way to force an individual or business to pay back taxes. Federal and state governments may place tax liens for unpaid federal or state income taxes, while local governments may place them for unpaid local income or property taxes. A tax lien is a claim to a taxpayer’s future property. This acts as a legal claim against your property to secure payment of your tax debt. This occurs after the IRS assesses a tax against you, sends you a bill and you refuse or neglect to pay it. The tax lien happens prior to a tax levy, as the lien protects the government’s interest in all your property, including real estate, personal property and financial assets. It also affects your ability to get credit, business property and it may continue even after bankruptcy. A tax
levy, on the other hand, is when the government actually takes your property in order to pay your debt. Now that you understand the difference between a tax lien and a tax levy, you probably want to know how to get rid of a lien, remove it from your record, and move on. Based on your situation, there are a number of directions to take; we recommend that you consult with an experienced professional, such as the Alliance Tax Team—We’ve successfully resolved such tax problems. After you’ve paid your tax debt in full, the lien will be lifted within 30 days. Credit bureaus will get automatically updated that the tax lien has been lifted, but it doesn’t hurt to check after those 30 days. Obtain a copy of your credit report to verify that the status of the lien has been updated. If it has not, you can dispute the status stating that it should indicate the lien was released. You want to take action in regards to your tax lien as soon as possible so that the IRS doesn’t go forward with a tax levy. If you’re battling with the next steps in handling your tax lien, give our team at Alliance Tax the chance to hear your situation and get you on track for a permanent solution. You can book a complimentary consultation with us at our website AllianceTaxUSA.com or by giving us a call: (262) 786-4442.
Arthur Lee is a Certified Public Accountant and owner of Alliance Tax and Accounting Service. With over 20 years of experience and success in tax resolution and tax planning, Arthur and his team specialize in resolving State and IRS tax problems for clients throughout Wisconsin and the Midwest.
www.alliancetaxusa.com 262-786-4442 info@alliancetaxusa.com The Alliance Tax and Accounting Service Team, based out of Elm Grove, a western suburb of Milwaukee, has been solving tax problems for individuals and businesses since 2009. With a dedicated staff of Certified Public Accountants, experienced tax resolution specialists, and case managers, we’re ready to solve your tax problem—permanently.
-Arthur Lee SPONSORED CONTENT / BY ARTHUR LEE, CPA
SHEPHERD EXPRESS
MAY 4, 2017 | 5
::NEWS&VIEWS
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Rescuing Neighborhoods from Foreclosure
HOW ACTS HOUSING, A LOCAL NONPROFIT, TURNS MILWAUKEEANS INTO HOMEOWNERS ::BY ELLIOT HUGHES ix months ago, when Norma Mendoza and Juan Pacheco walked into the two-story white bungalow on Milwaukee’s North Side they planned to move into with their two children, they had to suspend their fantasies of how the living room would be decorated and who would get which bedroom. Instead, they had to take in the enormity of the effort required just to make the living room and bedrooms safe. The home, foreclosed long ago, had most of its windows knocked out. Debris lay strewn all about the dirty carpeted floors. The walls were scratched, vandalized and punctured. The furnace was dead. They’d need a plumber, permits and all sorts of other help. They didn’t know where to start. For a Spanish-speaking low-income family who hadn’t attempted a project like this before, they were intimidated. “Nothing is easy,” Mendoza said last week, with the help of a translator, sitting on a wraparound couch in her freshly painted living room with new wood floors. Mendoza, 37, and Pacheco, 40, pulled it off. Eleven years of renting from negligent landlords are over for them, and their bungalow has gone from a foreclosed blight to a happy and strong home. They deserve more credit than anyone for that turnaround, but they did receive critical help from ACTS Housing, a nonprofit that for more than 20 years has helped low-income families in Milwaukee become homeowners by purchasing and renovating vacant, crime-attracting foreclosed houses. It’s a mission that not only provides stability for vulnerable families, but also for neighborhoods in a city that officials estimate has
more than 2,000 foreclosed homes. “I’ve enjoyed working with ACTS immensely,” said Amy Torim, real estate development services manager for the city of Milwaukee. “It’s so exciting to see families sit around their own kitchen table and gather in their own living room and pick the decorations that they want to hang on their own walls. There’s nothing else like that. “That all contributes to bringing vibrancy back to these neighborhoods.” ACTS was born out of a pilot program at St. Michael’s Church in the early 1990s to push back against some of the crime and foreclosures swirling around the neighborhood. Since that time, though, the organization’s footprint has spread all over Milwaukee’s North and South sides and central city, with offices in each area.
Juan Pacheco and Norma Mendoza
6 | M AY 4 , 2 0 1 7
What the group does is provide expertise for the entire process of purchasing and rehabilitating a property—everything from obtaining loans and grants to cataloging the repairs needed and picking contractors. According to ACTS, over the years it’s helped sell more than 2,100 properties and rehab more than 750. More than $129 million have been invested in all of that. ACTS helped 165 families last year, a record for the organization. Mike Zimmerman, the president of ACTS’s board of directors, said the staff will be disappointed if they do not top that mark in 2017. Most of the families they help have household monthly incomes of $2,000 or less and are paying rents as high as $900 a month for a space that is either cramped, not sanitary or unsafe, according to Mike Gosman, ACTS’s executive director. Many of them have landlords that can’t afford to or have no interest in keeping their properties in good condition. Mendoza and Pacheco know that life, they said. Water would leak frequently. Stairs felt old and dangerous. Pacheco would be forced to fix little things around the property all the time, without being compensated by the landlord. Most city-owned foreclosed properties can be purchased for $3,500, but there’s usually about $25,000 worth of rehabbing that needs to be done, about as much as the annual household income of most ACTS families. Much of the work that doesn’t have to be done by a licensed professional is often left to the families themselves. It’s an investment that, on average in the long run, Gosman said, saves families about $250 a month in housing expenses. Seventy-five percent of ACTS’s clients still live in their homes, while 6% have foreclosed, he added. Gosman says ACTS is sensitive about taking credit for these success stories. He and others stress the fact that they are merely a coach on the sidelines giving advice and nothing resembling charity. “They’re also gaining all this confidence in themselves, accomplishing something that many from the outside thought, ‘Oh, they can’t do that.’ And so in the process of doing what they do and showing their strength, they prove a lot to themselves and their family,” Gosman said. When asked to recall what it was like to rehab her new home, Mendoza laughs a little. She relates a story about how she and Pacheco would sometimes end up focusing so hard on the work they were doing that long stretches of time would pass before they would even look at each other. When they finally did turn their eyes on each other, they would laugh at how dirty the other one had become. They spent six months turning the downstairs into the warm, inviting space that it is today. The upstairs, which will include a play area for their two kids, is unfinished. By the time it’s all done, about $18,000 will have been poured into the place and all of it will be covered by loans and grants, Mendoza said. But they’ve already achieved what they’re after. More than anything, Mendoza and Pacheco said they wanted their home simply to have more space. The places they’ve rented were too small for a family of four. Neighbors in close proximity meant they had to be quiet. They never had their own yard. All of that is different now. “They love it to be here, freely, doing their stuff,” Mendoza said of her kids. Comment at shepherdexpress.com. n
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Milwaukee PBS Responds to Changing Times and Threatened Budgets Troubled by OCD? Participate in a clinical research study
Rogers Behavioral Health is currently recruiting individuals (aged 18-65) with OCD symptoms to participate in testing a computer-based treatment program. The treatment, delivered on a smart phone in a controlled setting, is aimed at reducing the anxiety associated with the disorder. To learn more, call 414-865-2600 or visit rogershospital.org/research Qualified participants will receive compensation. All inquiries are confidential. Study is funded through private donations to the Rogers Memorial Hospital Foundation.
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General Manager Bohdan Zachary on public TV’s enduring mission ::BY DAVID LUHRSSEN
“D
evastating.” Bohdan Zachary, general manager of Milwaukee PBS, responds without hesitation when asked about Donald Trump’s threat to eliminate the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Drastic budget cuts that might result from the Trump budget could threaten an important Milwaukee legacy. The city’s two PBS stations, WMVS-10 and WMVT-36, brought “Sesame Street,”“Monty Python” and “Masterpiece Theatre” to our city; they host “PBS NewsHour” and “BBC World News”; and produce a raft of local shows with beloved stars such as John McGivern (“Around the Corner”) and Joanne Williams (“Black Nouveau”). According to Zachary, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting provides $2.5 million toward Milwaukee PBS’ annual operating budget of $11 million. “The topic of potential budget cuts is under discussion nationally as well as locally— and also applied to National Public Radio. For some public stations in smaller markets, the cuts to CPB would mean the end. Many stations receive more than half of their budget from the CPB.” Although Milwaukee’s two public stations, their licenses held by Milwaukee Area Technical College, spent many years quietly building a multi-generational and increasingly diverse audience, they were born in controversy. The Hearst Corporation and other commercial broadcasters fought doggedly through the early 1950s against public television in Milwaukee. The city’s socialist mayor, Frank Zeidler, finally overrode their obstruction with the support of many community groups and the administration of Milwaukee Vocational School, as MATC was then known. Channel 10 finally went on the air in 1957, followed by Channel 36 in 1963. Strictly educational programs filled the stations’ schedules in their early years, including a course designed to teach adults how to read and write. The call letters preserve their origin: MVS stands for Milwaukee Vocational School and MVT for Milwaukee Vocational Technical. They were little watched by the general public until “Sesame Street” debuted in 1969. Through the ’70s and ’80s, public television gained the reputation as the sophisticated person’s choice for TV by airing acclaimed British mini-series such as “Brideshead Revisited” and “The Jewel in the Crown” along with programs based on Agatha Christie and other British murder mystery authors. Rigorous news reporting and analysis arrived in the form of “The MacNeil/Lehrer Report,” ancestor to “PBS NewsHour.”
Public Under Attack Since the Reagan era, PBS and NPR have been under attack by Republicans who claim to
detect “bias” in public broadcasting’s news coverage. Underlying their assault is an ideological agenda, identical to Hearst’s objection to Channel 10 in the 1950s, which seeks to privatize the entire world. Some have also argued that nowadays, with cable, satellite and Internet channels, the public has sufficient choices without public broadcasting. “I believe that public television continues as always to deliver on its mission to entertain, inspire and educate at no cost to the viewers,” Zachary says in response. “Public television is supported by taxpayers at the rate of $1.35 per year.” He believes taxpayers are getting their money’s worth. “We are an eye onto the world and an eye on the community we serve—and we are now serving multiple communities on air, online and in the community.” Last November, Milwaukee PBS debuted “10thirtysix,” a half-hour news program hosted by Portia Young and focused on Milwaukee. They have also been collaborating more actively on developing news stories with their radio counterpart, Milwaukee’s NPR affiliate, WUWM. “Dave Edwards and I are in this together,” Zachary says, referring to WUWM’s general manager. “We did a half-hour special together after the events at Sherman Park last summer. We are in the early stages of looking back at that story one year later.” Recently, Patricia Gomez, host of “¡Adelante!,” the only weekly Spanish-language news program on any PBS station, reported on a South Side immigrant family whose children were born in the U.S. but whose parents are undocu-
mented. “The family wanted to tell their story on camera,” Zachary says. “They want everyone to know who they are and what they’ve contributed to our community. I had Patricia ask them several times: ‘You know if you go on camera, everyone will know who you are?’ And they said, ‘Yes, we have to do this.’” It’s the sort of story Zachary wants to follow up on, and often, the quickest way to do that will be through Milwaukee PBS expanded online presence. “At other times, we will begin to tell stories online and fold them into our television programs,” he adds.
Working in a Great Community Among a growing number of community events, Milwaukee PBS has organized workshops with parents and kids to draw on the lessons from public broadcasting’s award-winning children’s shows on “how to tell stories, how to express creativity,” Zachary says. At a recent Milwaukee PBS public forum on parenting, audience members asked questions from panelists that included Madison pediatrician and children’s health advocate Dipesh Navsaria and MATC faculty. The event was recorded, edited, broadcast on air and made available online. “We’re looking for 21st-century ways of being a player in educational media,” Zachary says. A Detroit native, Zachary took up his post at channels 10 and 36 in November 2015 after nearly 20 years at public station KCET in Los Angeles. “I’d been reading about Milwaukee and thought it would be a really nice place,” he said of his career move. “I read JSOnline and the Shepherd Express online and got the sense that this is a vibrant city. After I moved here, I walked to the Third Ward, sat at Colectivo and said, ‘This is my new life.’ I’ve never looked back.” While most of his predecessors were content to manage operations from the back office, Zachary has assumed a more deliberately public role as spokesperson for public television. His visibility has resulted in a change to Milwaukee PBS’ biggest fund drive, the annual Great TV Auction. This year the nine-day marathon is on Channel 36 instead of 10. “People would recognize me when I was out and say, ‘I hate it when you do the auction on Channel 10 and disrupt my favorite PBS shows!’ Our ad agency coined the slogan for this year’s auction: ‘Going, Going, Gone to 36.’” This year’s auction, he promises, will take bids on everything from locally sourced apple pie to an Art Deco dining room set. The funds raised will augment revenue from foundation grants, major local donors, corporate underwriting and members, “all of whom contribute to our ongoing work,” Zachary says. As for Trump’s threat to cut public broadcasting, Zachary says that his boss, the MATC board of directors, is “very supportive of whatever we will have to contend with. I’m delighted that the board believes in what we do. Conversations are ongoing about the potential dilemma of budget cuts but then, you never know on a daily basis where the wind is blowing from in Washington.” The 49th Annual Great TV Auction runs 3-11 p.m. through May 6 on WMVT-Channel 36. Comment at shepherdexpress.com. n SHEPHERD EXPRESS
::SAVINGOURDEMOCRACY ( MAY 4 - MAY 10, 2017 )
E
ach week, the Shepherd Express will serve as a clearinghouse for any and all activities in the greater Milwaukee area that peacefully push back against discriminatory, reactionary or authoritarian actions and policies of the Trump administration and other activities that promote social justice. We will publicize and promote actions, demonstrations, planning meetings, teach-ins, party-building meetings, drinking/discussion get-togethers or any other actions that are directed toward fighting back to preserve our liberal democratic system.
Thursday, May 4
Mental Health Services Community Conversation, 5:45-7:30 p.m., Hillside Terrace Family Resource Center (1452 N. Seventh St.) The Milwaukee County Mental Health Board is partnering with the Zeidler Center for Public Discussion to facilitate a guided community conversation to “gain additional insight on community priorities for the 2018 budget.” Attendees will be given the opportunity to share personal experiences, ask questions and provide in-depth input.
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Saturday, May 6
Peace Action Wisconsin: Stand for Peace, noon-1 p.m. @ Corner of Layton and Howard avenues
Every Saturday, from noon-1 p.m., concerned citizens join with Peace Action Wisconsin to protest war. Signs will be provided for those who need them. Protesters are encouraged to stick around for conversation and coffee afterwards.
Sunday, May 7
Bay View Tragedy Commemoration, 3 p.m., @ Corner of Superior Street and Russell Avenue
BUY, SELL OR LOCATE
YOUR SCOOTER, MOTORCYCLE, LUXURY OR SPORTS CAR t h rough Rei na I nter nat iona l
This event commemorates the killing of seven people by Wisconsin state militia on May 5, 1886, during a protest march in Bay View near the site of the former iron mill. A reenactment of the event, complete with larger than life-sized puppets, will be staged by actors. This will be the 131st anniversary of the Bay View Tragedy.
Wednesday, May 10
Refuel the Resistance, 5-8 p.m., Bounce Milwaukee (2801 S. Fifth Court)
Every Wednesday, Bounce Milwaukee offers a space to organize, as well as a free drink to anyone who brings evidence of resistance in the past week, including protest signs, an email to an elected official or a selfie at the capital. To submit to this column, please send a brief description of your action, including date and time, to savingourdemocracy@shepex.com. Together, we can fight to minimize the damage that this administration has planned for our great country. Comment at shepherdexpress.com. n
SHEPHERD EXPRESS
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NEWS&VIEWS::POLL
You Believe Ryan Should Press Trump on His Tax Returns Last week we asked if Paul Ryan should demand that Donald Trump release his tax returns before considering any tax reform plan. You said: n Yes: 82% n No: 18%
What Do You Say? Considering his record as Milwaukee County sheriff, does David Clarke deserve to be promoted to a position in the federal government? n Yes n No Vote online at shepherdexpress.com. We’ll publish the results of this poll in next week’s issue.
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NEWS&VIEWS::
ISSUEOFTHEWEEK
Courts Restore Some Integrity and Balance to County Government
S
hortly after Chris Abele was elected Milwaukee County executive, he worked with the Republican-controlled state legislature to curb the power of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors and shift that power to himself. Interestingly, we find many recent parallels on a much grander scale on the international scene. We have seen similar actions by authoritarians like Putin in Russia and more recently in Turkey, where two weeks ago, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan barely won a referendum, fraught with voting irregularities, that shifted much of the power from the parliament to the presidency. Fortunately, unlike Russia and Turkey, we still have an independent judicial branch that can restrain illegal power grabs. Last week, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge John DiMotto ruled that Abele acted unlawfully when he gave raises to his political appointees without the approval of the County Board whose job is to provide checks and balances on the county executive.
Abele’s Power Grabs
Over the past six years, Abele has begun to function in a more and more autocratic manner. He refused to attend county board budget meetings when invited. He refused to attend public meetings including one on the future of the Domes with hundreds of his constituents in attendance. He walked out of meetings when he didn’t like the discussion. He prefers to carry out his functions in secret as much as possible. Longtime county watchers argue that his administration is the least transparent since the Milwaukee County Executive position was established in 1960. Abele used the powers granted to local governments by the Republican legislature to get around labor contracts and force employees to pay a greater share of their health insurance and pension contributions. Historically, Milwaukee county employees had given up some salary increases in return for the county paying a greater share of the health and pension contributions. They traded off salary for benefits. The county employees involved were earning reasonable wages when compared to similar jobs in other similar-sized counties throughout the country and in the private sector. This unilateral change by Abele resulted in significant pay cuts. For many single parents raising children with a family health insurance plan, the pay cut could amount to more than 10%. At the same time he was bragging about sticking it to the lower-paid employees, he gave his political appointees high initial salaries followed by generous raises. He is Robin Hood in reverse.
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Using Our Limited Tax Dollars is the Most Effective Way
We understand that we must use the taxpayer dollars prudently, but as any smart business owner will tell you, you need to treat your employees fairly. If the county is trying to save money by unilaterally changing negotiated agreements with employees, then you can’t be giving your cronies, some with very questionable qualifications, significantly higher salaries than their predecessors. Milwaukee County government has had its issues in the past, but other than the pension scandal, it was generally managed in a fair and transparent way that looked out for the average working person. Milwaukee was a blue-collar town with a history of respecting working people. Abele comes from a very different background where workers were there to serve his family and be happy just to have a job. Under his administration, much is done in secret through a system of cronyism and no-bid contracts. We need to make sure that county dollars are spent in an honest manner, hiring is done through a fair and competitive system and all contracts are bid out in a transparent and competitive process. Failure to do business honestly costs the taxpayers a lot of money. We need to restore a system of checks and balances so the county supervisors have the powers to serve as a countervailing force to an abusive and selfserving county executive. This current court ruling was a very good step forward. Comment at shepherdexpress.com. n
Joel McNally’s Taking Liberties column will return next week. SHEPHERD EXPRESS
Every week, our DJs seek out emerging artists and revisit favorites from the archives. And song-by-song, we independently create our own playlists. We believe music brings people together and that positive stories can change the way you see our city. M AY 4 , 2 0 1 7 | 11
::DININGOUT SHEPHERD STAFF
FEATURE | SHORT ORDER | EAT/DRINK
Antigua
Riviera Maya
BRANCH OUT WITH UNIQUE MEXICAN MEALS ::BY LACEY MUSZYNSKI
exican cuisine has become just as ubiquitous as beer and brats in Milwaukee. The Latino community on the South Side is at the heart of the Mexican dining scene, but restaurants serving up Mexican and Mexican-inspired food are dotted all over the city and suburbs. From tacos al pastor carved off a food truck’s rotisserie to Qdoba—Milwaukeeans will always be equal opportunity eaters—it’s easy to find unique Mexican menu items that go far beyond elementary school hard-shell tacos. Antigua, a restaurant with a menu inspired by Mexican, Caribbean and South American flavors, offers a couple twists on typical redsauced enchiladas. Cheese curd enchiladas ($14.99) blend a traditional rich mole sauce with Wisconsin’s favorite squeaky cheese for a fusion dish that’s uniquely local. Also offered are enchiladas Yucatecas ($15): braised shredded pork-filled tortillas topped with a striking, bright yellow sauce you won’t find anywhere else, made primarily with yellow bell peppers. Riviera Maya in Bay View centers their entire menu on an assortment of homemade moles and salsas. Up to six are offered at any given time, making the typical “red or green?” sauce question seem paltry. They range in color and flavor from the fresh, creamy pipián verde pumpkin seed salsa to the velvety, brick red mole de Oaxaca with chocolate, peanuts and pasilla chiles. Order a mole sampler to help you choose which salsa you’d prefer bathing your shrimp enchiladas in ($18).
12 | M AY 4 , 2 0 1 7
Moving to the far south suburbs, El Fogon in Oak Creek serves up a burrito that’s equal parts Wisconsin and Mexican. The fish fry burrito ($9.50) combines two totally different but well-loved items into one big bundle. Breaded fried perch, cheese, lettuce, pico de gallo and chipotle sauce make for an uncommon option on your next Friday fish fry outing. For a more traditional Mexican meal, head to Taqueria el Cabrito. The specialty of the house is birria, a long-simmering goat stew (and indeed, cabrito means “young goat”). It’s served in a huge bowl, deep red, flecked with chiles and full of tender meat. Take advantage of the onions, cilantro and lime served on the side to add freshness to the rich broth. El Canaveral, housed in a former Schlitz tavern with a long history, makes two typical Mexican staples really well: tortillas and salsas. It’s not uncommon to get two or three different types of salsa when you sit down at a Mexican restaurant, but four is a little more unusual. Two of the salsas are creamy from the addition of cooking oil to create an emulsion with cooked peppers: one is green with jalapeños, the other orange with habaneros. A tomato-based salsa and a smoky version with chile de arbol complete the set. They’re lovely scooped up with tortilla chips, but order some handmade corn tortillas instead. They’re thicker than some, but still pliable and full of fresh-from-the-comal charred flavor. For two things so integral to Mexican cuisine, you’d think more Mexican restaurants would take the extra time to get them right. It’s worth the effort to find one that does.
Antigua 5832 W. Burnham Ave. 414-321-5775 | $$-$$$ antiguamilwaukee.com
Riviera Maya 2258 S. Kinninckinnic Ave. 414-294-4848 | $$ riviera-maya-milwaukee.com
El Fogon 8701 S. Howell Ave. 414-570-4340 | $$ mexicanrestaurantsmilwaukee.com
Taqueria el Cabrito 1100 S. 11th St. 414-389-4545 | $-$$
El Canaveral 2501 W. Greenfield Ave. 414-671-7118 | $$ elcanaveralmke.com
SHEPHERD EXPRESS
DININGOUT::WHERETHEYEAT
Heather Terhune As a new resident of Milwaukee, executive chef Heather Terhune tends to stay close to home—or restaurant, in this case. She spends a lot of time at DanDan because, “It’s close to Tre Rivali and a great place to go after work.” Her favorite dishes? “Smashed cucumbers, cumin lamb, schmaltz fried rice and the desserts, just to name a few.” It’s also great for solo diners, she says, because “the service is always great. The chefs Dan Jacobs and Dan Van Rite are super friendly and always say hello. They make you feel comfortable and at home, whether you dine with others or are dining solo.”
SHEPHERD STAFF
Executive Chef, Tre Rivali
DanDan
Join Us in Celebration of
cinco de Mayo with Other Margarita Specials Along Long. Be Sure Festivites Will Go On All Day ebrating its Cel , to Join us at La Fuente o Locations. Tw Our at yo Ma 25th Cinco de
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El Beso 5030 S. 74th St. 414-817-0362 elbesomke.com
El Fuego 909 W. Layton Ave. 414-455-3534 elfuegomke.com M AY 4 , 2 0 1 7 | 13
DININGOUT::EAT/DRINK
Nine Spots for Premium Margaritas ::BY LACEY MUSZYNSKI
HAPPY HOUR SPECIAL Monday-Friday 4-6 p.m.
$6 Half-Pound Louisiana Crawfish $6 Cod Sandwich $3 Fish Tacos $6 Shrimp with Guacamole $5 Mussels and Clams $5 Infused Vodka Martinis $5 Sangria $3 Rail Drinks Half-Off Tap Beers
DAILY SPECIALS WEDNESDAY Half-Off Bottles of Wine
FRIDAY 1-lb. Lobster with Buttered Greens and Fries $28 SATURDAY Surf and Turf 1-lb. Lobster and prime rib with Guinness gravy and melted butter and hand-cut fries $30
W
e’re all familiar with the frozen, neon-colored margaritas served up from rotating slushie machines. They’re the workhorse of drinks: reliable, but boring. Skip the brain-freeze-inducing drinks this Cinco de Mayo and celebrate with these creative, unforgettable margaritas instead.
Margarita City 8201 S. Howell Ave. 414-574-5144 margaritacity.com
With a name like Margarita City, you better believe this restaurant offers up a full menu of drink options. It’s best to keep it simple with one of their signature margs, like the La Frida. Top shelf spirits Casa Noble tequila and Grand Marnier are mixed with pomegranate juice and fresh lime. The pomegranate juice lends only a subtle sweetness, making this a great choice for people who steer clear of overly sweet cocktails. (Plus it lends a gorgeous deep pink color.) The smoothness of Grand Marnier’s orange flavor can’t be beat.
Café Corazón
3129 N. Bremen St. and 2394 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. corazonmilwaukee.com Why limit margaritas to the evening hours? You can drink them for brunch at Café Corazón. Wash down your migas and chilaquiles with the sunrise margarita. They take their house margarita, served on the rocks with 100% agave tequila, simple syrup, triple sec and fresh lime juice, and add a splash of orange juice and grenadine. It’s a cross between a tequila sunrise and a margarita that’s perfect for brunch. And that dose of vitamin C from the OJ makes it healthy, right?
Riviera Maya
2258 S. Kinninckinnic Ave. 414-294-4848 riviera-maya-milwaukee.com Tamarind, a popular sour fruit that flavors everything from Indian chutney to Mexican candy, makes an appearance in the tamarindo margarita at Riviera Maya. It makes a refreshingly sour drink, which is served here with a rim of salt and spicy chile powder. If you’d rather a sweeter drink, try the horchatita, a hybrid of a margarita and cinnamon-filled horchata. It uses RumChata, a locally made rum cream, in addition to Frangelico, tequila and a splash of horchata for a creamy, nutty drink that would be great for dessert.
C-viche PIER 106 SEAFOOD TAVERN 106 W. WELLS ST. MILWAUKEE 414-273-7678 PIER106SEAFOODTAVERN.COM 14 | M AY 4 , 2 0 1 7
2165 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. 414-800-7329 c-viche.com Bitter liqueurs are a huge trend in cocktails right now, and margaritas are no exception. There are two margaritas on the menu at C-viche
that incorporate bitter spirits. The Agave (happy hour only) mixes tequila, agave nectar for sweetness, and a splash of grapefruit juice with Cocchi Americano, an Italian fortified wine flavored with citrus peel and cinchona bark, the original source of quinine. The Maguey Margarita also utilizes an Italian spirit: Aperol. It’s mixed with mezcal for smokiness, lime juice, triple sec and cilantro. Both drinks are complex thanks to those Italian bitter spirits.
The Outsider
310 E. Chicago St. 414-291-3980 outsiderrooftop.com The posh rooftop bar on the Kimpton Journeyman Hotel, The Outsider, has a creative cocktail menu including a margarita-like drink called the Oaxacan Exchange. Tequila’s close cousin, mezcal, is used. It’s got a smoky, earthy flavor imparted by roasting the agave in an earthen pit. It’s mixed with lime, orange peppercorn syrup, pink sea salt and grapefruit radler (a beer and fruit juice mix). Again, this is a not-too-sweet choice thanks to the smoky mezcal and little bit of spice from the peppercorn.
Odd Duck
2352 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. 414-763-5881 oddduckrestaurant.com When you belly up to the bar at Odd Duck, order the #7. Drinks here have no names, only numbers. The #7 is considered a seasonal cocktail, but it appears on the drink menu more often than not. Mezcal and tequila pack a one-two punch of Mexican spirits along with Campari, blood orange juice, pink peppercorns and fresh lime. Campari is a dark red Italian bitter liqueur, which mixes well with both the mezcal and blood orange. Pink peppercorn and lime lift the flavor of this intensely colored drink.
Phoenix Cocktail Club
785 N. Jefferson St. 414-539-5918 thephoenixmke.com New kids on the block, The Phoenix Cocktail Club, opened at the beginning of the year with a playful, trendy cocktail menu (one drink even comes with a coloring page and crayons). So it’s safe to assume that their version of a margarita is a little bit different. The Mexican Firing Squad mixes blanco tequila with sour lime juice, grenadine and soda for sweetness, and a few dashes
Margarita City
of bitters for an herbal complexity. It’s close to a traditional margarita, but the additions of grenadine and bitters make it memorable.
Vagabond
1122 N. Edison St. 414-223-1122 vagabondmke.com Vagabond has a few margaritas that utilize fresh fruit for flavoring instead of snow-conelike syrups. The Watermelon Fresco muddles watermelon and lime before topping it with tequila and Patrón Citrónge. Blueberry Basil incorporates fresh berries and basil leaves with lime, tequila and simple syrup. But the most interesting of them all is the Marengo: Diced ripe mango and spicy jalapeño are added to the standard margarita for a fruity, spicy kick. You can get them all by the pitcher, and you’ll want to.
BelAir Cantina Multiple locations belaircantina.com
BelAir, perhaps the Tex-mex taco king of Milwaukee, has a number of delicious, unique margaritas. The Fresa Fresca uses fresh strawberry juice with a sugared rim to create a sweet cocktail that won’t make your teeth ache. The real star of the margarita menu, though, is the cucumber hatch. The usual suspects of tequila, triple sec, simple syrup and lime are mixed with freshly juiced cucumber and hatch green chiles. Whenever cucumber joins the party in a drink, you know it’s going to be refreshing. Add in the sharp pepperiness of the hatch chiles and it’s a match made in margarita heaven. continued on page 16 > SHEPHERD EXPRESS
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COURTESY OF CORE / EL CENTRO
DININGOUT::EAT/DRINK > continued from page 16
OUR READERS’ CHOICE
Winner for Best Margarita in the Shepherd Express’ 2016 Best of Milwaukee Contest La Fuente With three locations, La Fuente is clearly a local favorite, especially when it comes to enjoying frozen margaritas and refreshing shrimp soup on a sunny patio. When La Fuente opened in 1991 at 625 S. Fifth St., it was one of only a few Mexican restaurants around Fifth and National, an area now a hotbed for south-of-the-border spots. La Fuente’s cuisine struck a chord with Milwaukee area residents looking for some spice, and it became a destination dining spot for suburbanites. After a couple of expansions in hopes of producing shorter wait times, owner Jose Zarate finally decided to bring the same Mexican food to the suburbs. He opened a location on Bluemound Road in Wauwatosa in 2010 and another in Waukesha in 2012 (temporarily closed for remodeling). The spacious patio with outdoor bar at the original location is the best place to enjoy the food, especially when the restaurant’s namesake fountain is bubbling away.
CORE / El Centro Rooftop Garden
CORE/El Centro Strives for a Healthier South Side ::BY SHEILA JULSON
S
ince 2002, CORE/El Centro (130 W. Bruce St., Suite 300) has promoted healthy people and communities through holistic health programs in English and Spanish. Since moving to the Clock Shadow Building in Walker’s Point in 2012, the organization has been able to expand its popular gardening and nutrition programs by incorporating a rooftop garden, adding urban gardening space and forming a farmers market. Stephanie Calloway, garden and nutrition program manager, said their Food as Medicine cooking and nutrition classes are a key component of the program. The class introduces participants to not just healthy recipes, but it also teaches them
how to cook. “It allows them to build confidence it the kitchen,” she said. Much messaging around food and nutrition is related to calories, fat, sugar or salt content, and Calloway said sometimes people are surprised to learn how just whole foods can help lower cholesterol or blood sugar, or reduce stress and anxiety. “People learn of the health impact of getting more fruits, vegetables and herbs to the diet, and I think that’s a critical angle that we’re presenting,” she said. Angela Kingsawan, herbalist and garden coordinator with CORE/El Centro, has been gardening since her childhood and has for many years made her own medicinal home remedies, body care products and cleaning products. She brings that expertise to teach the Food as Medicine class and aims to make the lessons fun. She values feedback from participants to mold the programs to what people want. The classes are for adults and children. CORE/El Centro uses its yoga studio for a learning space and brings in burners to demonstrate cooking. There’s a small kitchenette attached to the space. The rooftop garden consists of a beehive and raised beds to grow produce and host gardening workshops. CORE/El Centro has a paid gardening internship program for high school students. New this year is the Medicine Makers Herbal Apprenticeship Program, which Kingsawan said would be a key component this year to managing that garden. Since 2014, they also use a 7,000-square foot gardening space on the corner of Muskego Avenue and Arrow Street, accom-
plished through a partnership with Pete’s Fruit Market. They keep chickens there. Participants in the Medicine Makers Program commit to meetings, workshops or cooking classes and gardening shifts. More than 50 people have signed up for 2017. “People always want to know more about herbs and food and different ways to incorporate that, but the apprenticeship goes into getting your hands dirty and being out in the garden,” Kingsawan said. Kingsawan will grow wild vegetables on the rooftop garden and at the lot this year, including chiltepin (ancestors to hot chili pepper), different kinds of gourds, pre-Colombian tomatoes, Mayan rice, amaranth, indigenous squashes and Oaxacan green corn. “I want to expose people to things they’ve never seen before or have little experience with,” she said. CORE/El Centro’s farmers market takes place Thursday from 3 to 7 p.m. beginning June 8, held on the rooftop garden space and first floor of the building. CORE/El Centro serves mostly South Side residents, but people from all over the city participate in their programs. Partnerships for nutritional education include Pete’s Fruit Market, UW-Extension, Ho Chunk Nation, and they also get support from Milwaukee Public School’s Violence Prevention Program for the student internship opportunities. The organization also hosts school groups. For more information about CORE El Centro’s gardening and nutrition programs, call 414225-4267 or visit core-elcentro.org.
MILWAUKEE’S PREMIER SUSHI RESTAURANT FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS!
Come In and Check Out Our Newly Renovated Dining Room 2150 N. PROSPECT AVE. | 414-271-5278 WWW.IZUMIS.COM Tasty deals available at sheptstore.com 16 | M AY 4 , 2 0 1 7
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MIKE MILLER
::OFFTHECUFF Did you always want to be a chef? No. I think I figured it out when I was at UW-Madison and I was studying to be an English teacher and, my third year in, decided that it wasn’t for me. At that point, I decided I would give culinary school a go and when I started I knew it. I understand that you opened a restaurant in Spain. How did that come about? I was living out in San Francisco and my sister was living in New York and we both wanted to go live abroad somewhere and we chose Spain. We moved there and it was initially going to be for a year to learn a new language and live abroad, but a year came and went. I started cooking when I was there and when the year came and went I wasn’t ready to leave, so I decided to stay until I didn’t want to. So after a few years of working in a restaurant, I decided I wanted to open my own restaurant there to cook the food I wanted to cook. There was no one cooking like that at the time and I started exploring it and found a space and was able to afford it and open it up.
Karen Bell
Making Meat Local and Sustainable Off the Cuff with Bavette La Boucherie’s Karen Bell ::BY EMILY PATTI
harmingly situated in Milwaukee’s Third Ward, Bavette La Boucherie (330 E. Menomonee St.) is a butcher shop and café specializing in local and sustainable meats, delicious soups, sumptuous sandwiches, flavorful salads, creative plates and desserts. Inspired by both her extensive travels and the subtleties of everyday life, chef and owner Karen Bell continues to produce excellent dishes by imaginatively utilizing local meats and ingredients. Bell spoke with Off the Cuff about her former restaurant in Madrid, Spain, the opening of Bavette, and the challenges of whole animal butchery. SHEPHERD EXPRESS
So when did you decide to open Bavette? I had moved back here and I wasn’t thinking about opening something after Spain. I was back here doing consulting and I realized that I would work just as hard for myself as I do for someone else. So I did get to a point where I knew I wanted to open a restaurant. At first it was going to be more of a restaurant than the butcher shop concept, but that changed after seeing the resources that we have in Wisconsin and being exposed to whole animal butchery and that having a resurgence around the country. So then I went more in the direction of the butcher shop, and the restaurant came a bit later. Over time, the restaurant was an opportunity to use the whole animal and that was something that was important to us. How were you introduced to whole animal butchery? How is the method reflected on Bavette’s menu? Bavette’s menu is completely designed around whole animal butchery. We started as a butcher shop and the restaurant started later. The restaurant came in part as a way to be able to continue receiving the whole animal and using it up in an effort to be sustainable. It is very difficult to sell the whole animal in a solely retail capacity. I would say only about 20% of the animal is sold through the case. The rest we use for our sandwiches and the menu. We also make pâtés, stocks, render the fat and make sausages with the trim. I began to become interested in whole animal butchery when I moved back to Wisconsin. Part of it had to do with being back in the state, another part with a growing resurgence of whole animal butchery across the U.S., and finally my growing interest to learn a new trade, my increased awareness of food politics, and also to continue my education and experiences. Learn more about Bavette La Boucherie and view their daily menu at bavettelaboucherie.com. M AY 4 , 2 0 1 7 | 17
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Eric Thames’ April Ranks Among the Greatest Single-Month Performances in Brewers History ::BY MATTHEW J. PRIGGE
O
ne month into the baseball season, the hot start of Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Eric Thames has been one of the sport’s biggest stories. With the possible exceptions of Paul Molitor’s 1987 hitting streak and CC Sabathia’s dominant final months of the ’08 season, Thames’s roaring start might be the most attention-grabbing short-term feat in franchise history. Thames batted .345 on the month with a leagueleading 11 homers and a slugging percentage of .810. But other Brewers’ batters have had similarly scorching calendar months without drawing the same kind of attention as Thames’ April. Looking back at the best months in team history, Thames is in some select company and, if this history is any indicator, he can look forward to what should be a very productive season. Robin Yount was still just 19 years old when he opened the 1975 season with a sensational month of April that thrust the second-year shortstop into the national spotlight. Yount bolted out of the gate with a .386 batting average and a robust .649 slugging percentage that helped the Brewers to a surprising 9-7 start. Yount was named the AL Player of the Month for his efforts. First baseman Cecil Cooper was even hotter in August 1980 when he rapped out 52 hits, including six homers, to register a .400 average on the month. Despite Cooper’s heroics, the Brewers sputtered to a 15-17 record that month and fell out of contention in the AL East. Cooper’s big month was a part of a very big season. He finished with a .352 batting average and finished fifth in the MVP voting. Rockin’ Robin was even more dominant in July 1982, the midst of his first MVP campaign. In 27 games, Robin Yount smacked eight homers, 11 doubles and ran up a
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.414 batting average. His hot bat helped the Brewers to take possession of first place on the last day of the month, a position they would not relinquish for the remainder of the season.
The Unstoppable Paul Molitor Although his 39-game hitting streak is more often remembered, Paul Molitor was even more unstoppable in September 1989. With the Brewers lingering around .500 and out of the pennant race, Molly went absolutely berserk in the season’s final weeks. He recorded 16 multi-hit games, batting safely in all but two of his 25 September contests. Molitor batted a ridiculous .476 on the month while drilling 13 doubles and swiping seven bases. Molitor raised his season batting average by 33 points in September, eventually finishing with a .315 mark—good enough for sixth best in the AL. In 2007, the Brewers found themselves as unlikely contenders in the NL Central, holding a part of first place for 121 days. Prince Fielder was a big part of the reason for their early season surge. In May, he blasted 13 homers on his way to running up an otherworldly .755 slugging percentage. Rookie sensation Ryan Braun was nearly as good that June, batting .345 with 11 homers and 25 RBI. Although the Brewers eventually fell short of the playoffs, both Braun and Fielder turned in huge seasons and would return to form in 2008 to help the Crew clinch a Wild Card spot. Eric Thames’ April certainly holds its own against these fantastic month-long tears. Of course, only time will tell how his career as a Brewer stacks up against his fellow month-long sensations. Regardless, he has already earned himself a place in franchise history.
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Wild Space’s Debra Loewen Marks Three Decades of Dance Making with ‘Wild at 30’ ::BY JOHN SCHNEIDER
ebra Loewen laughed when I asked her how it feels to have her Wild Space Dance Company turn 30. She invited me to quote her laughter and continued: “My God, how did this happen? The amount of work I’ve made in that time is just staggering, so in some ways, I feel like ‘Stop, Deb!’ I guess I had a drive to do it but when it’s time to look back and assess, it’s hard.” Loewen is celebrating the anniversary with “Wild at 30,” a multifaceted show of old, new and site-specific dance theater work. Her cast includes dancers from every period of the company’s history. Founding members will recreate excerpts from early dances and newer members will present revivals and premieres. “I wanted to bring back some of the fun things,” Loewen explained, “things that I thought would work in the Next Act space, for which big dance-y things or abstract things that require you to look for complicated patterns are not suited. And it’s hard for me not to have new work in the show because this is now and people move differently and read differently onstage and think differently.” Loewen started making site-specific dances in college and pioneered such performances in Milwaukee. “Somebody’s got to start it, right?” she once asked me, adding half-jokingly that it was just because, as a new choreographer in town, she couldn’t afford to rent theater space. But Loewen does much more than fill interesting city sites with movement, sound and light. From Wild Space’s 1988 performance in the empty Gordon Park swimming pool to the breathtaking banquet of sights and sounds that filled Villa Terrace’s gardens last fall, her work analyzes these environments, helps us really see them and feel their history, their idiosyncrasies, the ways they represent ideas, hopes and follies. Transforms them, too; you’ll never see a site the same way once you’ve seen a Wild Space show there. Wild at 30 will take us to places we’ve never been in Next Act Theatre and help us rethink the building’s familiar spaces by changing our relationship to them. Act One will consist of four simultaneous events in the theatre, lobby, box office, offstage hallway and rehearsal room. Each will be repeated
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four times with certain changes as audience groups visit each site in turn. Loewen was especially drawn to the rehearsal room. “A lot of people don’t realize that this is where people work, audition, practice music and have meetings,” she said. She plans to set a long table with food there. “For many years, I did summer workshops out where I live in the country. We’d dance all day and then put a big spread on the table. There’s something about the communal table where ideas get started and passed around, and I definitely wanted to have David Figueroa and Jennifer Goetzinger and Tom Thoreson in that room.” The three are Wild Space founding members. A fourth, Diane VanDerhei, will join them at the Saturday performance. All are seminal Milwaukee artists who’ve played roles in the creation of our city’s current arts scene. What a treat to see them with dancers who followed in and widened the paths they carved. Act Two will take place in the theater. It’s a revue of new work and brief excerpts from early shows, includ-
‘Wild At 30’
ing holonoloh from the company’s debut concert in April, 1987, a short piece choreographed by founding member, Cate Deicher, who danced it with Goetzinger, who’ll dance it this time with Figueroa under Deicher’s direction. “It’s beautiful these many years later on these older bodies,” Loewen said. Thoreson will reprise a satirical 1995 piece, Romantic Options, that’s as timely in theme today. Middle generation dancers Randy Talley and Veng Yang-Strath will revive duets with longtime Wild Space dancer/choreographer Dan Schuchart. The list of returning artists and collaborators is extensive and illustrious: among them, dancer/ choreographer Mauriah Kraker Wild with a new solo and lighting deSpace signer Jan Kellogg with a lighting Dance event. Newcomers Maggie Seer Company and Nicole Spence of UWM’s dance department each have a Wild At 30 premiere and the entire cast will May 4-6 perform in a partly improvised Next Act piece toward the show’s finale. Loewen’s home was robbed Theatre last year. Among her losses were irreplaceable video records of Wild Space performances and rehearsals. “That loss was such a violation I couldn’t think about it for months,” she said. “Then I thought, well, I was not meant to be in that world. I made a decision to look at this show as a celebration, a show about memories of people, things specific to people, that we laughed about and loved. In theater, what I love most are the small things. I don’t need the big story or big context or anything fancy. I’m drawn to the humanity.” Performances are at 8 p.m., May 4-6 at Next Act Theatre, 255 S. Water St. For tickets, call 414-278-0765 or visit wildspacedance.org.
SHEPHERD EXPRESS
CONVERSATIONS with TOM BAMBERGER Saturdays, May 6 and 13 | 1:00 A panel discusion including Dean Sobel, Fred Stonehouse, Dick Blau, John Koethe, and Debra Brehmer.
Hyperphotographic on view through May 21 wisconsinart.org | West Bend Ellen Leon, Tom Bamberger with a fly on his shirt, 1977 (detail)
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WMSE MEMBERSHIP DRIVE MAY 5 - 12
The Performing Arts Matter. Join us on Sunday, June 4, for UPAF’s largest annual fundraising event. Ride and raise pledges to benefit 15 outstanding performing arts groups in Southeastern Wisconsin. With five routes for all types of riders, it’s fun for everyone. For more information or to register visit UPAFRide.org or call (414) 276-RIDE. SHEPHERD EXPRESS
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::THISWEEKINMILWAUKEE FRIDAY, MAY 5
Joe Ely w/ Jason Eady @ The Back Room at Colectivo, 8 p.m.
Along with Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, Joe Ely was one of the founding members of the Texas country band The Flatlanders, a group that didn’t attract much attention during its original run together but whose stature has grown as its members went on to distinguished solo careers. Ely’s career may be the most wide-ranging of the three: He’s played with Bruce Springsteen, The Chieftains and Uncle Tupelo and sang backing vocals on The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” In 2015, Ely released his latest album, Panhandle Rambler, a record rich with the sounds of his native Texas.
White Reaper PHOTO BY JESSE DE FLORIO
THURSDAY, MAY 4
White Reaper w/ No Parents @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
If you can forgive the audacity of them naming their latest album The World’s Best American Band, there’s a ton to love about the Louisville, Ky., rock ’n’ roll band—particularly their new album. Indebted to acts like Big Star and Cheap Trick, it’s a set of bubblegum rock that sounds like something the cast of “That ’70s Show” might have cruised around Point Place listening to. It even opens with fake crowd cheers to fully hit home that At Budokan feel. All 2017 rock records should be this fun.
Express Yourself Milwaukee Presents: SOUL @ Milwaukee Theatre, 6:30 p.m.
Dance, music, spoken word and visual arts come together under one roof for this presentation from Express Yourself Milwaukee, a non-profit that offers creative outlets for the city’s low-income and at-risk youth. With a cast that includes 120 young people and 30 artists and musicians, it promises to be quite a spectacle. “Our hope is that the work will inspire, touch and deepen everyone’s commitment to the youth in our city and the changes we need to make together,” said Express Yourself Milwaukee’s Executive Director Lori Vance.
The Soulful Sounds of the East & West @ Kenwood Church, 7 p.m.
Warren Garstecki, a meditation lecturer at UW-Milwaukee, arranged this benefit concert aiding a vocational school for poor women and children of Malethi, India. The lineup, featuring British Columbian sitar player Pandit Tejomaya and Milwaukee blues staple Steve “Airmaster” Cohen, promises a mix of sounds from across the globe. Tickets are $10 or $7 for UWM students.
Joe Ely
SUNDAY, MAY 7
The Maine w/ The Mowgli’s and Beach Weather, 7:30 p.m.
Like so many rock bands with a bright, teen-friendly sound, the Arizona quintet landed a major label shortly into their tenure. Warner Bros. released their sophomore album, Black & White, a snappy pop-rock album with a wistful edge. Creative differences with the label led them to part ways before their 2011 album, Pioneer, though it’s difficult to guess what those creative differences might have been: All the records they’ve released since, including their just-released sixth LP Lovely Little Lonely, sound like the kind of radio-friendly alternative rock that no label A&R rep could possibly disagree with.
Todd Rundgren @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
To the masses, Todd Rundgren is best known for his catchy, irresistibly silly novelty hit “Bang the Drum All Day,” a song that in no way captures the depth and diversity of his body of work. He’s worked with artists as diverse as Janis Joplin, Badfinger, The Band, Hall & Oates, XTC, Patti Smith, The New York Dolls and The Cars—whom he briefly fronted during a reunion tour—but never let those outside projects get in the way of his own solo career. On his recent albums like 2013’s State, Rundgren has continued to explore the electronic sonic textures that have been his hallmark since his 1972 breakthrough work, Something/Anything?, but his upcoming record, White Knight, looks to be one of his most high-profile in years. It features a star-studded cast that includes Trent Reznor, Donald Fagen of Steely Dan, Joe Walsh of The Eagles, Daryl Hall, Joe Satriani, Dam Funk and the Swedish pop star Robyn.
Amanda Huff @ The Jazz Estate, 9 p.m.
With her malleable, acrobatic voice, singer Amanda Huff has emerged as one of the Milwaukee jazz scene’s most valuable utility players over the last year or two, lending her vocals to guitarist Steve Peplin’s worldly Strangelander project and stealing the spotlight at last month’s “Wonder Uncovered” Stevie Wonder tribute concert. For this show, she’ll lead a quartet that includes Peplin, bassist Clay Schaub and Strangelander drummer Jeremy Kuzniar.
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The Maine
SHEPHERD EXPRESS
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Pile
WEDNESDAY, MAY 10 James Lee Stanley @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
Catfish and the Bottlemen
TUESDAY, MAY 9
Folk and soft-rock songwriter James Lee Stanley has been putting out solo albums steadily since the early 1970s, when he was signed to RCA records. But he found a new audience in the ’90s when he began recording and touring with former Monkee Peter Tork. In recent years, Stanley has recorded at a steady pace, both in collaboration with fellow songwriters like John Batdorf and Cliff Eberhardt and on his own. In 2014, he released the understated, largely acoustic Apocaloptimist, which he followed up with one of his most ambitious projects yet, Straight From the Heart, an original musical he spent nearly two decades working on. Continuing his recent prolific streak, last year he released a spirited soundtrack to M.H. Salter’s novel, Dove.
Pile w/ Gnarlwhal @ Cactus Club, 9 p.m.
Catfish and the Bottlemen w/ The Worn Flints @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
Their band name and the periodic post-punk undertones that creep into their sound suggest that the British alt-rock group Catfish and the Bottlemen have a clear affinity for the moody British rock of the ’80s, but their real allegiances lie with the straightforward rock revival sounds of bands like The Strokes and The Killers. Their 2016 album, The Ride, cemented them as rising stars, peaking at number one on the U.K. albums chart and a respectable number two on America’s alternative albums chart.
Not to be confused with Milwaukee’s own Piles (though fans of either band would probably do very well for themselves to check the other out) the Boston noise rock band Pile has been on a hot streak lately, releasing one fantastically vital record after the next. Their latest may be their finest. Released on the label Exploding in Sound, A Hairshirt of Purpose revitalizes the edgier sounds of ’80s indie rock. If The Fall’s Mark E. Smith recorded a record with Sonic Youth during their prime, it might have sounded something like this. Pile is joined on this bill by Gnarlwhal, an awesome Nashville duo that imagines Les Savy Fav on bath salts, and Sex Scenes, the Milwaukee rock band featuring members of NO/NO and Bad Wig.
ASKTHEEXPERTS::
CONSIDER GOING VEGAN Dear Milwaukee Veg Expo Team, Why go Vegan?
-Curious about the benefits Dear Curious, Every action you take, every dollar you spend is a vote for what you believe in. What did you vote for today? Our most popular vote is choosing what and how to eat, and therein lies our greatest opportunity. This opportunity is an empowering option to choose love over pain and suffering. We can choose to love ourselves, others, and our planet through the choices we make on what and how we eat. Here’s how: Our diet is the driving force behind our health, the wellbeing of others, and the fertility of the Earth. Choosing a whole food, plant-based vegan diet is a vote for love. It is a vote for non-violence. It is a vote that leads to healthy outcomes. For you and your family—a whole food, plant-based vegan diet has been proven to prevent disease and treat many existing diseases. In a society where frequent and debilitating health conditions are abundant, health care costs are skyrocketing and the quality of health care is diminishing,
there is no better decision than choosing a whole food, plantbased vegan diet. This diet is rich in the pillars of health— antioxidants, phytonutrients and complex carbohydrates— none of which are found in animal products. In fact, based simply on scientific evidence, animal consumption kills. The consumption of animals is linked to four top diseases (and many others) that plague our society: heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity. Vote for love and give yourself and your family the gift of health. For the animals—a vegan lifestyle is devoid of all animal products. In the Standard American Diet (SAD), animals are enslaved, separated from their family, and murdered all for nothing. Your contribution to the violence bestowed upon animals is halted when you choose a whole food, plantbased vegan diet. Deceptive marketing of the meat and dairy industry blinds us to these atrocities. Instead of suffering, your plate reflects orchards, gardens, and fields. No longer purchase animal-based apparel and personal care products, too. Vote for love and allow animals their freedom. For the Earth—a whole food, plant-based vegan diet conserves water, reduces the degradation and deforestation of land, allows for more food to be grown for and consumed by humans and reduces the pollution and contamination of our waterways, air pollution, habitat loss, species extinction, and greenhouse gas emissions. Vote for love and allow the Earth to breath, give life, and flourish. When asked “why go vegan?” I can’t help but respond with a simple question, “why not?” With all that has been
mentioned above, it becomes clear what the answer is. Choose love, go vegan. When we choose love, our reward is immeasurable.
-Steven Bedwell, Jr. Milwaukee Veg Expo Committee Member
To discover and taste all that a vegan lifestyle has to offer, please be sure to visit the Milwaukee Veg Expo on Saturday, May 6 from 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. at Hart Park in Wauwatosa. For more information and a list of activities, speakers, and exhibitors visit mkevegexpo.com. SPONSORED CONTENT
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A&E::PERFORMINGARTSWEEK
THEATRE
their own personal goal. This Just In… by Malaina Moore (Rufus King International School) is about a young Milwaukeean who lost a friend in a policeinvolved shooting incident. May 4-7, Broadway Theatre Center Studio Theatre, 158 N. Broadway. For tickets, call 414-291-7800 or visit milwaukeechambertheatre.com.
It’s Andrew Lloyd Webber, Art ‘By Jeeves!’ ::JOHN JAHN
B
roadway composer Andrew Lloyd Webber is world famous for very good reasons; his scores for Jesus Christ Superstar, Phantom of the Opera, Evita and others are legendary classics. Songs from his musicals are known to many who’ve never seen the works from whence they came. Based on the novels of P.G. Wodehouse, By Jeeves—which Webber composed to lyrics and book by Alan Ayckbourn—debuted in 1975 under its original title, Jeeves. Alas, it wasn’t a huge success. He reworked the piece and, 20 years later, it achieved better results. In its current guise, By Jeeves now makes its way around the world’s stages. It will receive its Milwaukee premiere via Windfall Theatre this month, featuring Cleary Breunig as Bertie Wooster, Ben George as her valet, Jeeves, and direction by Carol Zippel. May 5-20, Village Church Arts, 130 E. Juneau Ave. For tickets, call 414-332-3963 or visit brownpapertickets.com.
Young Playwrights Festival
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre presents three one-act plays written by the winners of their high school playwriting competition. Saying Grace, by Alexandra Gieske (Homestead High School) involves a family dealing with its eldest members in an assisted living facility. Pride & Pancakes by Kyle Radomski (Ronald Reagan High School) concerns a pancake-eating champ cheering on a friend toward
Written by Yasmina Reza and directed by Lindsey Erin, Art is a dark comedy about the nature of art and the opinions of people, in this case a trio of long-time friends, about it. It premiered (in its original French) in 1994 at the Comédie des ChampsÉlysées in Paris, in London in ’96 and on Broadway in ’98. Can friendship survive the friends’ discussion about art—especially, say, when one acquires an all-white painting that costs him a pretty penny? May 5-20, Brumder Mansion, 3046 W. Wisconsin Ave. For tickets, call 414-388-9104 or visit brownpapertickets.com.
Improv Extravaganza!
Milwaukee Youth Theatre presents its first totally unscripted improv show, a project directed by Second City-trained MYT Education Outreach Coordinator Brittany Curran. As MYT bills this event, “Students will learn how to think on their feet and create stories on the spot—just like actors of Second City and on “Whose Line is it Anyway?” May 5 and 12, Lincoln Middle School of the Arts, 820 E. Knapp St., Room 208. For tickets, call 414-390-3900 or visit milwaukeeyouththeatre.org.
Little Gem
Milwaukee Irish Arts presents Elaine Murphy’s comedic play, Little Gem, a play that, per Irish Arts’ Joan End, “cleverly interweaves monologues from three generations of women in the same family to relate a year in the lives of these women,” which makes such pertinent stops along life’s journey as “love, sex, birth, death and salsa classes.” May 5-8, Irish Cultural Heritage Center, 2133 W. Wisconsin Ave. All performances are pay what you can. For more information, call 414-377-3879 or visit milirisharts.wordpress.com.
DANCE
Body and Sole
Marquette University’s Dance Program presents an informal collection of works choreographed by both students and faculty. The program includes a range of dance styles—classical ballet, tap, African and modern dance. There will be two tap dance pieces: a traditional tap piece and a more contemporary rhythmic tap dance. As for ballet, there will be both a medieval court dance and a contemporary piece. Students will also present their own solo works as well as a structured improvisation. 2 p.m., Sunday, May 7 at Varsity Theatre, 1326 W. Wisconsin Ave. This event is free and open to the public.
Real Time: inside/outside
The third in a series of dance performances at Milwaukee’s Urban Ecology Centers takes creators and curators of Real Time, Andrea and Daniel Burkholder, to the Menomonee Valley. It features a screen dance created on the trails near the Center and live performance both inside the Center’s Valley Room and outside, surrounded by Nature’s beauty. This series is fully funded by an open-priced, pay-what-you-can ticket structure. 8 p.m., Friday, May 5, Urban Ecology Center, 3700 W. Pierce St.
MUSIC
Pioneers & Prodigies
The Festival City Symphony concludes its Symphony Sundays season with some terrific and riveting Romantic music. The Ruy Blas Overture of Felix Mendelssohn (18091847) is perhaps the most robust work of the composer. Henryk Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in D Minor (1862), a piece with a finale boasting a dashing rondo of Gypsy melodies, presents violinist Frank Almond as the soloist. Finally, there’s the unjustly overlooked gem of American composer Amy Beach: Symphony in E Minor, Op. 32 (1896)—better known as the Gaelic Symphony given its many references to Irish, English and Scottish melodies. 3 p.m., May 7, Pabst Theater, 144 E. Wells St. For tickets, call 414-286-3663 or visit pabsttheater.org.
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Catalano Square 4-8 pm Fri, June 2
Food Trucks & Carts Beer & Live Music
shepherdexpress.com/streeteats Present Music at MPM
Seven days of outdoor painting on MKE’s Historic East Side.
MUSIC
PRESENT MUSIC’S SONIC MUSEUM TOUR A SUCCESS ::BY RICK WALTERS
N
o Present Music exploration of an unconventional venue has been more successful than the event—I hesitate to call it a concert—at the Milwaukee Public Museum last Saturday evening. The large audience was divided into four groups, each encountering the musical units in a different tour order through the museum. In the Dome Theater, soprano Chelsie Propst sang with floating, effortless tone the mystic The Heavenly Spheres Are Illuminated by Lights by Japanese composer Somei Satoh. Jeff Stanek on piano and James McKenzie were her sensitive collaborators. Hearing this with planetarium imagery was magical. A piece by Olivia Valenza and Nicholas Elert, a slower speed of light, provided an atmospheric soundscape, with slow moans of sound coming from the electronics triggered by Elert on guitar. In the Gromme Lecture Hall, George Crumb’s Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale) Part II was an evocative connection to nature, expertly played by pianist Cory Smythe, flutist Jennifer Clippert and cellist Adrien Zitoun. Other musicians joined for Nina Young’s Tethered Within, which summons anxiety and frustration in whirling, busy sounds punctuated by sharp interruptions. David Lang’s flashy, relentless Learn to Fly took the nervous energy a step further. Ashley Fure’s Something to Hunt was performed by Ensemble Dal Niente, hairraisingly positioned in front of a carnivorous dinosaur above his kill. This is no place for lyrical music, and Fure’s spikey, quirky score certainly isn’t. I loved the animalistic low growl of the double bass that ended the piece. In the Rain Forest exhibit, Marcus Rubio played Cory Smythe’s Asphodeloideae, featuring electronics triggered by manipulating an aloe vera plant. Rubio’s own Sonata for Musical Saw and Electronics is an imaginative pushing of boundaries, using multiple techniques to get sounds from the bow on the saw. In the Wisconsin Prairie exhibit, under taxidermy birds, the UW-Milwaukee Flute Ensemble played John Luther Adams’ Strange Birds Passing to good effect. The immersive experience included hearing musicians stationed in the Pacific Islands exhibit chant and play instruments from that area, as well as hearing instruments from ancient Mesoamerica in that area of the museum. All in all, quite an evening!
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SHEPHERD EXPRESS
M AY 4 , 2 0 1 7 | 25
PAUL RUFFOLO
A&E::INREVIEW
THEATRE
The Rep’s Unnecessary Update of ‘Jane Eyre’ ::BY STEVE SPICE
First Stage’s ‘Junie B. Jones’
THEATRE
Nothing Crooked in First Stage’s ‘Junie B. Jones’ ::BY ANNE SIEGEL
T
he play Junie B. Jones is Not a Crook! is taken from Barbara Park’s popular book series and adapted here by Allison Gregory. It’s a heart-touching visit with spunky 5-year-old Junie, the funniest girl in classroom 9. First Stage has developed a couple of Junie B. Jones-based plays in the past. The current installment is a delight from beginning to end, thanks mostly to Junie’s antics (played by Molly Domski in the Found cast). Domski shines here as she brings to life this smart-aleck fashionista with her own special view of the world. Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook! takes place almost exclusively in Junie’s classroom. Various child actors take on well-known personas: Lucille, the rich girl (Grace Fischer), the bully (John Aebly) and Warren, the good-looking boy whose attention is craved by all the little girls (Carson Pressley). The play provides realistic encounters that young theatergoers will, or have already, encountered in their own classrooms. Junie isn’t always popular with her teacher (Kay Allmand), the principal (Dan Katula) or the administrative assistant known as the “Grouchy Typing Lady” (Lachrisa Grandberry). Interestingly, these seasoned educators (all adult actors) take Junie’s dramatic flair in stride. Allmand and Katula also are double-cast as members of Junie’s family, namely her mother and her grandfather. Junie’s infant brother is never seen onstage, but he makes himself known by his cries after Junie has awoken him from yet another nap. Adults should note that this is a scaled-down First Stage production. First, the age range has narrowed from children age 5 to 9 or so. For this age group, the “crime” Junie almost commits is a moral one, not something that brings out the Keystone Kops. Also, the usual theatrical bells and whistles that ordinarily mark First Stage productions have been dispensed with. About the most exciting piece of set design is a moveable chunk of the backdrop that is pushed forward and spun around to become Junie’s bed. Director James Fletcher clearly intends to let Junie and her friends be the stars of the show. The set’s attractive backdrop contains a jumble of enormous drawings by kindergarten-age children. On the floor, younger characters leap between a series of low, rounded platforms shaped almost like paint blobs. Junie’s dilemma begins when she finds a big flashy pen lying in the hallway. Nobody is around. Junie tries to justify keeping it by quoting “finders keepers.” Of course, she eventually does the right thing and returns the pen. Her spunk and tell-it-like-it-is demeanor certainly delighted the youngsters in the audience during one of the opening performances. The 90-minute show is a fun, helpful glimpse into some of the situations real kids will find themselves in, whether Junie is around or not. Through June 4 at the Todd Wehr Theater, Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, 929 N. Water St. For tickets, call 414-273-7206 or visit firststage.org.
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B
rontë purists may be put off by the Milwaukee Rep’s attempt to update Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë’s taut and justifiably famous telling of the story of an orphaned waif who finds love as governess to the ward of the formidable Rochester of Thornton Hall. The charm of the original, of which this production is in short supply, lies in the meeting of two unlikely antagonists who share hidden misfortunes within an inflexible social order. In this streamlined, often garrulous, barebones production (coproduced with the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park), dramatic moments are highlighted with incessant drumbeats, characters burst into song at odd moments, actors bark across stage portraying animals and attempts are made at simple
Cooperative Performance Milwaukee’s Satisfying Tumble Through Life’s Struggles ::BY RUSS BICKERSTAFF
A
t Cooperative Performance Milwaukee’s aLL wRoNG, every audience member is handed a playing card on the way in. Aside from a few cell phones, those cards are the most prominent props in the show. It takes place in a small space. Dancers dress in black pants and shirts with grey, formless patterns reminiscent of old broadcast TV static. The dancers illustrate error into the abstract. The mistakes that make us living, breathing creatures take the form of multiple narratives.
choreography which seems to come out of nowhere. The most interesting rationale—and the most creative innovation of this production—is the treatment of Rochester’s insane wife, presented here as a symbolic alter ego to Jane, constantly onstage in a red room prison above the action in a gesture of ersatz Freudianism. She never speaks, only screams now and then, but as portrayed by solemn-faced Rin Allen, her carefully choreographed, formidable motions are the most interesting part of the show. African American actress Margaret Ivey as Jane often rises above the production and brings a surprising delicacy and charm to her role. Michael Sharon cuts an impressive figure onstage as Rochester, but his diction verges on the inaudible, and he seems ill at ease in key scenes. As Adele, Rochester’s ward, Rebecca Hirota plays the child part like a manikin on steroids and seems to pounce onstage only to disrupt serious goings-on. The well-appointed lesser roles are handled competently, but in the final analysis one must question writer Poley Tealle’s misguided application of the classic tale, which she professes to have loved since childhood and with which she tampered to reinvent Jane Eyre in up-to-date terms. It’s an unnecessary endeavor as the novel stands on its own. Despite some creative direction by KJ Sanchez, for this reviewer the production remains disappointing.
The first is conceived by Posy Knight. A square is rendered on the floor. A young girl’s struggles tumble about the center of a miasma of movement. The setbacks and frustrations of youth play through quite gracefully in dreamy fits that flit from a spelling bee to so many other abstractions and distractions. Through it all, the little girl slowly perseveres until everything rolls into a kind of sleep, with all the dancers in a restless rest on the shiny, black floor. It’s a touching, emotional walk through life’s first challenges. Then the piece ends and the audience is shuffled according to the playing cards chosen at entry. The phantasmagoric respirations of narrative then slide into a second piece. Kirk Thomsen’s contribution to aLL wRoNG has frustrations fusing into adulthood in pleasantly disjointed struggles, including scraps and scrapes of spoken word that begin to reach an electrifying peak of abstraction peering into human endeavor that comes to rest at the end of a piece by Joelle Worm. It’s a thoroughly satisfying tumble through form and motion which echoes into the space beyond the stage long after the show’s final bows. Two more performances are scheduled: Thursday, May 4, at Best Place Tavern, 901 W. Juneau Ave. and Friday, May 5, at the Charles Allis Art Museum, 1801 N. Prospect Ave. For more information, visit cooperformke.com.
SHEPHERD EXPRESS
A&E::FILM
A&E::FILMCLIPS Complete film coverage online at shepherdexpress.com
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 PG-13
‘The Lost City of Z’
In Search of ‘The Lost City of Z’ ::BY DAVID LUHRSSEN
I
n Europe and the U.S. in the years before World War I, with western imperialism at its zenith, intrepid adventurers set forth on much publicized journeys into the unknown. Some sought the poles. Others hacked through uncharted jungles. Occasionally, an explorer found a lost city, a Machu Picchu. British Maj. Percy Fawcett thought he was on the trail of a forgotten civilization in the Amazonian backwaters where Bolivia melts into Brazil. He never found it, though evidence has surfaced in recent years that he was onto something. Adapted by writer-director James Gray from a recent biography of that largely forgotten adventurer, The Lost City of Z is a lush evocation of the past. Cinematographer Darius Khondji, who has worked with everyone from Wes Anderson to Woody Allen, brings a painterly sensibility to most every frame of the film. He baths the British Isles in honeyed light and colors the rainforest in deep shadows pierced by streams of bright sunshine. Although Gray is American, he handles the production with a Merchant Ivory sensitivity to people and history. The characters are fully inhabited by their actors, even when the roles are small. The biggest
parts are played by Charlie Hunnam as Fawcett and Sienna Miller as his wife, the fiercely independent yet loyal Nina. Fawcett’s derring-do starts with the desire to reverse the dishonor his father brought to the family and to rise in British society. He is implacable whether confronting hostile Indians or arguing with the Royal Geographical Society, many of whose members scoffed at this jungle quest as a pipe dream. The romance of adventure is streaked with madness in scenes indebted to a pair of Werner Herzog art house classics set in Amazonia, Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre, The Wrath of God. At the last outpost on the rim of the unknown, Fawcett encounters a rubber plantation governed by a decadent aristocrat who keeps a full grand opera company for entertainment and keeps the natives as slaves. As Fawcett’s raft proceeds up the river and off The Lost the map, attackers unCity of Z seen behind the thick cover of green shower Charlie Hunnam his party with arrows. Sienna Miller His Indian guide Directed by mentions “a city of James Gray gold and maize” Rated PG-13 deeper in the forest; he finds potsherds and petroglyphs; he is convinced. Although the screenplay puts a bright gloss on it, there is also a touch of madness in Fawcett’s behavior, beginning with a proud man’s obsession to prove himself and ending by endowing his El Dorado with the sum of his life’s meaning. The Lost City of Z measures the pain of his wife and children as they bore the burden of his dreams.
Sightseeing ‘On Location’ Where Movies are Made ::BY DAVID LUHRSSEN Judging by the slim Wisconsin chapter in Vacation on Location in the Midwest: Explore the Sites Where Your Favorite Movies Were Filmed, Hollywood gives the Badger State no respect. In fact, the only Wisconsin entry in this book on tourist-ready places featured in movies is Rodney Dangerfield’s Back to School (1986). That production used exteriors at UW-Madison to stand for the fictional Grand Lakes University. That’s all for a state with four seasons, cities and farms, rolling hills and woods—not to mention a lake big enough to pass for an ocean? The book’s author, travel writer Joey Green, doesn’t try to explain. Even flyover South Dakota boasts Dances With Wolves, How the West Was Won and North by Northwest. But Green’s job isn’t to advocate but to present the facts via summaries of more than three-dozen popular movies shot (at least in part) in the Midwest with maps and descriptions of the settings. The Chicago church in The Blues Brothers (1979) where James Brown played the preacher? Vacation on Location will help you find it. SHEPHERD EXPRESS
Adapted from the Marvel comic book series, the second Guardians of the Galaxy film has a “been there, done that” quality. Fortunately, we like most of these characters, relentless verbal sparring aside. Quill (Chris Pratt) comes face-to-face with his traitorous father, Ego (Kurt Russell), who literally doubles as an entire planet’s life force. Overly edited space battles, as well as the casual air of those risking their lives, is a lot to overlook, but the film never gives up trying to recapture the original’s lighthearted magic. (Lisa Miller)
Movie Collectible Show
Milwaukee’s genial movie historian Dale Kuntz, the man behind the Charles Allis Art Museum’s film series, is hosting his semi-annual movie memorabilia show. Some 30 Midwest dealers will be on hand selling cinema collectibles, including posters, books, stills, autographs, DVDs and more, with new and used, contemporary and classic items on sale. It’s one of the only events of its kind in the area. (David Luhrssen) 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Sunday, May 7, Burnham Bowl Hall, 6016 W. Burnham St.
Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer R
Richard Gere plays Norman Oppenheimer, a matchmaker not of marriages but of business alliances. His problem is that his sense of importance exceeds reality in this funny-sad, eventually bittersweet tale. Written and directed by Joseph Cedar, a New Yorkborn Israeli filmmaker, Norman is a social and character study with a marvelous performance by Gere as a relentless schmoozer who scrambles the firmest “No!” into a “Maybe.” The impressive supporting cast includes Charlotte Gainsbourg as an Israeli lawyer and Steve Buscemi as Oppenheimer’s hard-pressed rabbi. (D.L.) Opens May 5, Oriental Theatre. For a full review, visit shepherdexpress.com.
[HOME MOVIES/OUT ON DIGITAL] Donnie Darko Limited Edition
High school student Donnie Darko’s imaginary friend is a giant talking rabbit, but the malevolent Lepus bears no resemblance to Jimmy Stewart’s gentle pal in Harvey. Frank, the demonic rabbit, insists the world will end within a month and urges Donnie to acts of destruction. It’s October 1988, but Frank has other things in mind than the impending election of George H.W. Bush. Donnie Darko (2001) quickly gained a cult following—an avid one judging by the elaborate DVD/Blu-ray set featuring the original theatrical version, the director’s cut and masses of bonus material. Donnie’s in therapy but the meds can’t banish the rabbit. He might be crazy but crazy things are happening in objective reality, including weird synchronicities and the jet engine that mysteriously falls on his home. Donnie Darko satirizes motivational speakers, bad pop culture and worse pop psychology. And yes, there are wormholes and the prospect of time travel.
The Mephisto Waltz
Alan Alda seems an unlikely star of a horror movie, but a year before “M*A*S*H,” he headlined this 1971 film alongside Jacqueline Bisset. With a glib manner not unlike Hawkeye, Alda plays a music critic interviewing an imperious concert pianist (Curt Jurgens), only to be drawn into the maestro’s circle of evil. The pianist is a dying Satanist who takes possession of the critic’s body. Disorienting camera angles (and weird synthesizer music) help set the mood.
The Scar
Paul Henreid is remembered for his starchy nobility in Casablanca. He plays against type in The Scar (1945) as a criminal mastermind who isn’t always as smart as he thinks. After a bungled heist at a mob-run casino, Henreid, on the run, murders and impersonates a psychiatrist whom he closely resembles. The Scar includes several great film noir scenes and a bitterly cynical recrimination against society. Crime looks appealing juxtaposed against the drudgery of 9-5 workdays. —David Luhrssen
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A&E::VISUALARTRT
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VISUALART|REVIEW
Expressive Photography at Madison Museum of Contemporary Art’s ‘Reconfigured Reality’
A
::BY MICHAEL MUCKIAN
rtists argue that, in the right hands, paint far exceeds mere pigment in its ability to express intellect and emotion. So, too, with photographers who see cameras as more than just visual recording devices. The work of 18 photographers argues this thesis quite effectively in “Reconfigured Realty,” a modest exhibit of 18 images on display at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art’s intimate Henry Street Gallery. The color and black-and-white works, drawn from MMOCA’s permanent collection, feature people, places and things caught up in specific moments of time. Technological advances since the 1970s have given this slate of visual artists new ways
of exploring older techniques, many of which result in compelling imagery. Jan Groover’s fanciful Untitled (1989) offers a still life tableau of household objects and mannequin arms and hands. The dye coupler print tells its tale by suggestion, driven by the inclusion of a revolver, which appears to have too many bullet chambers. Color images continue with Carl Corey’s At Random-Milwaukee From the Series Tavern League (2008). The interior of the Bay View cocktail lounge is a scarlet splash of light and décor, communicating strong emotions without the presence of any human life forms. Cindy Sherman creates one of the most compelling images with Untitled Film Still #30 (1979), part of a lengthy series of female stereotypes in which the photographer herself is the subject. The image is a headand-shoulders shot of the subject’s battered face, an obvious
VISUALART|PREVIEW
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art’s ‘Zulu Time’ Tells the Politics of the Clock ::BY TYLER FRIEDMAN
“Z
ulu Time”—also known as Coordinated Universal Time or, abbreviating the French Temps universel coordonné, UTC—is the standard by which the world sets its clocks. In brief, Zulu Time establishes time zones in relation to zero degrees longitude. So, if you find yourself on the uninhabited Baker Island, you are at UTC-12, and your watch should be set 12 hours earlier than, say, London. Not surprisingly, this (ultimately arbitrary) standard was elected by the British at the height of their colonial power. Thus, concludes New York-based artist Kambui Olujimi, Zulu Time is tainted by the residue of empire and implicitly favors Western ways of organizing a day. “Kambui Olujimi: Zulu Time” (May 5 through Aug.13 at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art) investigates the temporal hierarchies that benefit some while disadvantaging others. Olujimi takes viewers on a journey from the birth of the universe through the question mark of the future, using diverse media including blown glass and wheat pasting. Kambui Olujimi, Stowaway, from the series Killing Time, 4 single handcuffs, costume jewelry, variable dimensions, 2017
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victim of domestic violence. The frightened woman’s image emerges from a darkened room, the windows behind her blackened to opacity, creating a film noir impression through the monochromatic imagery. Other images bring other content and emotions to the surface, including a 2011 photograph of a Queens, N.Y., playground that is a riot of lines and color. In reality, the print by Paul Baker Prindle and Julio Rivera chronicles the location of a violent criminal assault, making the viewer wonder what other backstories lie beneath the surface of these reconfigured realities. Through Nov. 12 at Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, 227 State St., Madison. JoAnn Verburg, Sans Seplchro Diptych, Dye-coupler print, 21 x 23 ¼” (top); 32 ½ x 23” (bottom), 1991
“Future MKE”
Kenilworth Square East 1925 E. Kenilworth Place “Future MKE” finds seniors in UW-Milwaukee’s Design and Visual Communication program waxing both prognostic and nostalgic. The capstone showcase features group projects about the past, present or future of Milwaukee’s major aorta, Wisconsin Avenue, aside personal manifestos written by each student. Since today’s graduates are tomorrow’s designers poised to determine the future face of Milwaukee, the public is encouraged to attend and to provide feedback. The forward-looking showcase takes place on Thursday, May 4 from 6-9 p.m.
“Claire Milbrath: Still Lives” Groovy Dog Gallery | 2401 N. Weil St.
Claire Milbrath’s style calls to mind the airy figurations of Matisse, except—and there’s no euphemistic way to say this—with way more penises. The Montreal-based artist and editor-in-chief of art and fashion quarterly The Editorial Magazine delights in situating her signature character, Poor Gray, in homoerotic scenes set against ornamental interiors and idyllic outdoors. “Claire Milbrath: Still Lives” exhibits paintings of flowers, ashtrays, fruit and other items from Poor Gray’s home. The show opens with a reception on Friday, May 5, from 7 p.m. to midnight and is on display through June 3. SHEPHERD EXPRESS
A&E::BOOKS BOOK |PREVIEW
BOOK |REVIEWS
Author Speaks on ‘Hiking the Ice Age Trail’ in Wisconsin
The Expanse Between
::BY JENNI HERRICK
(WINTER GOOSE PUBLISHING), BY LEE L. KRECKLOW
Voyeurism as inspiration is the engine powering Lee L. Krecklow’s debut novel, The Expanse Between. The Milwaukee storywriter, whose short fiction has appeared in several prestigious reviews, sets his novel in an easily recognizable Milwaukee, albeit one that seems circa 1990 rather than 2017. His story concerns a trio of protagonists drawn together by a reclusive, once-famous writer who uses a struggling painter to spy on a troubled young woman. The woman lives across the street from the writer and is intriguingly visible through the windows of his apartment. Krecklow is especially good at describing emotional states as they arise from failed love and crumbled marriages. (David Luhrssen) Lee L. Krecklow will discuss The Expanse Between at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, May 12 at the Historic Greendale Hose Tower, 5699 Parking St., Greendale.
Civil Wars: A History in Ideas
W
hen the last Ice Age receded more than 12,000 years ago, the glaciers left behind unique landscapes of woods, hills and wetlands across the Midwest. Today, the Ice Age Trail, a thousand-plus mile footpath entirely in Wisconsin, serves as a rejuvenating way for hikers to discover the natural beauty that spans the Badger state. The volunteer-built trail, which began its construction in the 1950s and is not yet complete, is one of just 11 National Scenic Trails and sees more than 1 million visitors a year. In a new book published by the Wisconsin Historical Society, author and runner Melanie McManus chronicles her personal journey exploring the entirety of the trail. Thousand Miler: Adventures Hiking the Ice Age Trail documents the challenges and rewards of thru-hiking this iconic state path. McManus, who set records in 2013 and 2015 for the fastest times on the Ice Age Trail, completed her supported hike in 36 days and 34 days, respectively. In her inspiring memoir, McManus documents her solo encounters in the wild and provides strategic advice for future thru-hikers. As she battles bugs, bears and blisters, McManus discovers the unique beauty, history and geology of Wisconsin as well as the redemptive powers of hiking and outdoor adventure. McManus will detail her adventures and discuss her book Thousand Miler at Books and Co. on Tuesday, May 9 at 7 p.m.
(ALFRED A. KNOPF), BY DAVID ARMITAGE
One of the defining features of civil wars is their lack of civility. Once neighbor takes arms against neighbor, savagery often results. One of David Armitage’s tasks in Civil Wars is to define terms that are as hotly contested as the Gettysburg battlefield. He finds that victors tend to speak of “revolutions,” reserving “civil war” and “rebellion” for internal armed conflicts they deem as bad. By his terms, the American Revolution was a civil war, given that it often involved Americans fighting Americans, and the American Civil War is so called because the Union won (a Confederate victory might have resulted in something grander, maybe War for Southern Independence). The Harvard history professor writes with sharp irony and dense allusions on the recent past and near future. Because “civil war” has gained status in international law, the U.S. has become circumspect in pronouncing those two words given the legal obligations the term now entails. (David Luhrssen) SHEPHERD EXPRESS
BOOK |PREVIEW Secret Words
10 p.m., Mondays | Comet Café, 1947 N. Farwell Ave. Comet Café has been an East Side favorite for decades. In addition to a full bar and vegan-friendly menu, they now offer budding authors a creative and competitive outlet with their weekly Monday night “Secret Words” writing series. Sponsored by Milwaukee’s Vegetarian Alcoholic Press, Secret Words is a thematic writing exercise that anyone can play once they learn that week’s secret word. At midnight, all entries are read aloud and voted on by a peer jury. Top vote-getting submissions are set to be published in a forthcoming anthology. The word is out—Secret Words begins every Monday at 10 p.m.
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HEARMEOUT:: ASK RUTHIE | UPCOMING EVENTS | PAUL MASTERSON
::UPCOMINGEVENTS May 4: LGBT+ Thursdays at Hotch (1813 E. Kenilworth Place): The kids at Hotch are hosting this new night every Thursday. Quizmaster Trivia starts at 8 p.m., but the party continues until bar close. Don’t forget to check out the menu because the kitchen is cooking up savory sensations until 10 p.m.
One in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bush Dear Ruthie,
LOVE
I love my new girlfriend, but I’m not sure how to handle her twin. They are identical in most ways but the twin is straight. She’s great, but she comes on just about all of our dates. When she’s not around, she’s constantly in contact with my girl via texts. I’ve only been dating my girlfriend for three months and we need time alone to take things to the next level. How can I approach this subject with my girl?
Love your column, Look-a-Like Lover
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30 | M AY 4 , 2 0 1 7
Dear Love,
Nearly every straight man reading this is completely lost in a fantasy world right now, honey, but let’s focus on you! Know that the relationship between twins is like no other, and you might not ever completely understand their bond. If your relationship grows, accept the fact that the twin will become a large part of your life. I think you answered your own question. Sit with your lady and explain that you’d like to take your relationship to the next level; however, it’s hard to do that when her twin is around as much as she is. Remind your girlfriend that you adore her twin but that you need more time to focus on your lady love. Suggest some boundaries. Maybe the twin joins you on Fridays but not on Saturdays. See what your girlfriend says, and take things from there.
Dear Ruthie,
My wife and I don’t have an issue with our son’s homosexuality, but we’ve had it with the losers he dates! None of the guys he brings around have decent jobs or jobs at all and they all look like drug addicts. I’m not saying that no one is good enough for my son, but these guys are really losers. Our son is 23, so we don’t think there is anything we can do, but my wife and I thought we’d reach out to you.
Thanks, Disappointed Dad & Mom Dear Pop & Ma,
You got it! There’s nothing you can really do. Your boy is a grown man, and while you may not like his choice in men, it’s really none of your beeswax. That’s not saying you can’t try setting him up with a nice doctor, handsome lawyer or all-around good guy, but you need to let him find his own way through the dating pool. (And if you know a nice doctor or handsome lawyer, send him my way, would ya?)
May 5: The Miltown Kings Present Urban Legend at Riverwest Public House Cooperative (815 E. Locust St.): For a $7 door charge, you’ll witness the hottest Cream City drag kings bump and grind their dirty parts across the stage and into your heart. These bad boys promise to have you screaming for more during the 21+ 9:30 p.m. show (doors open at 9 p.m.). May 6: 50 & Better Family Coffee at Colectivo Coffee (9125 W. North Ave.): Grab a cup of joe, make some new friends and settle in for a social for those 50 years and older. Sponsored by Milwaukee’s LGBT Community Center, this is the first in a series of monthly get-togethers (first Saturday of the month at 10 a.m.). You’re on your own for coffee and food, but the social’s host, Bob, promises to keep things light and lively. May 6: Mother of All Art Crawls at Various Waukesha Art Galleries: More than 20 galleries, 175 artists, live music and great food make this stroll through Downtown Waukesha one for the books. Enjoy the art crawl from 4-10 p.m., and see waukeshaart.com for a list of participating sites, maps and more. May 7: Debut of Dear Ruthie’s Starry Night Revue at Hamburger Mary’s (730 S. Fifth St.): Lady Gaga, Celine Dion and Tina Turner are coming to Milwaukee…sort of. I host this show as the late, great Joan Rivers with three other celebrity impressionists. Join us for the debut of the 7 p.m. revue, taking place the first Sunday of each month. The show includes a $2.50 show fee and a $10 minimum food/beverage purchase. Call 414-488-2555 to hold your table. May 8: Opening Night of ‘Shakespeare Raw: Coriolanus’ at Best Place/Historic Pabst Brewery (901 W. Juneau Ave.): Boozy Bard Productions offers another non-rehearsed take on a Shakespeare classic. Actors pick roles from a hat, have a few drinks and hit the stage for your pleasure! Enjoy the hilarious 7:30 p.m. evening for $10 (or $5 with two nonperishable items for Hunger Task Force); or check out additional performances through May 10. Want to share an event with Ruthie? Need her advice on a situation? Email DearRuthie@Shepex.com.
SHEPHERD EXPRESS
::MYLGBTPOV
Gay Culture and Erotic Art CELEBRATING TOM OF FINLAND ::BY PAUL MASTERSON
T
om of Finland, the new film biography of gay culture’s leading homoerotic artist, Touko Laaksonen (1920-1991), aka Tom of Finland, is making its way through the festival circuit. It’s already received critical acclaim and an award. For those unfamiliar, the artist created an iconic body of work featuring tall, square-jawed, broad shouldered and hard-muscled caricatures of the very epitome of male fantasy. Gays always had their heartthrobs—Tarzan, movie gladiators, Brando in The Wild Ones or the big jock on campus. But, although they all oozed that certain male mystique, they were ultimately straight and unattainable. Tarzan had Jane; gladiators preferred killing each other to kissing each other and the big jock inevitably went off with the prom queen. But Tom of Finland’s devilishly grinning macho men—soldiers, sailors, motorcycle bad-boys in squeaky black leather—asserted homoerotism and took it to an unencumbered mutual climax. Suddenly, rather than the McCarthy era’s mincing queer stereotypes or Tennessee Williams’ emotionally frail and suicidal archetypes, gay men could identify with strapping, thick-necked toughs in excessively tight navy crackerjacks or classic police uniforms, replete with knee high jack-boots and excessively flaring jodhpurs—and always with even more excessively flaring bulges. With such imagery dancing in my head, I entered my first Euro leather bar, Boots, in
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Frankfurt, Germany, with a certain sense of abandon. A Tom of Finland guy adorned the bar logo so I naturally expected a lion’s den of doe-eyed, leather-clad lads seductively slung across bar stools. Instead, the place was practically empty save for a couple of much older, stouter guys, albeit arrayed from head to foot in silver-studded leather. I overheard one of them gushing, in high gay German Tuntendeutsch, about his collection of bootlegged Maria Callas recordings. Still, although it may have belied reality, Tom of Finland’s iconography of the leather fetish subculture inspired exactly that embrace of queer nonconformity. According to Milwaukee activist Si Smits, co-founder of several local leather clubs and the owner of the former Boot Camp Saloon, that hyper-masculinized fantasy propelled LGBT culture, encouraging people to shed their inhibitions and come out. It contributed to LGBT liberation in general and to the leather world’s self-awareness in particular. And, although the artist died in 1991, beyond the leather scene, his once underground brand is now an established and enduring cultural phenomenon. A Tom of Finland exhibit recently hung at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. In 2014 the Finnish Post Office even issued commemorative postage stamps. And, if you’re looking for a Tom shower curtain, duvet cover or fashion wear, online sales outlets supply it all. Meanwhile, Tom’s original message still inspires the competitive leather contest scene that culminates each year with International Mr. Leather (IML) held in Chicago at the end of May. Smits, who attended the first IML in 1979, recalls at most a couple of hundred attendees. Today, decades later, the annual event draws exponentially larger crowds of leathermen and leatherwomen for a wild weekend of parties and the naming of a new International Mr. Leather. This year, Milwaukee’s Mr. Harbor Room, Chad Barr, will vie for the title.
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Meat Puppets
Meat Puppets Add a Fourth, But It’s All in the Family
::BY CHRIS PARKER
f the Carter Family palled around with Black Flag in the late ’70s, dropped a lot of acid and moved to Arizona they might’ve found kinship with The Meat Puppets, one of the finest and most enduring bands to emerge from the early American punk underground. Once a flagship act of trailblazing punk label SST Records (run by Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn), the Puppets revolve around the brother act of guitarist Curt Kirkwood and bassist Cris Kirkwood. Their hazy, ambling cowpunk/country-psych owes a solid debt to The Grateful Dead and the dreamy, dissolute indigence of youth. (See, for instance, their mellow paean to the pre-GPS world, “Lost.”) Strangely, the brothers came to music separately. Though they shared lessons, it wasn’t until younger brother Cris saw Deliverance that he was inspired to take up first the banjo and finally the bass. “Curt always kind of played guitar and then at a point in his mid-teens he really got into it; he tried going to college and spent that time expanding his consciousness,” recalls Cris. “He was a whole different guitar player all of a sudden.” They debuted their eponymous album on SST in 1982. It was the label’s ninth release, and Cris recalls sitting outside a venue with SST co-owner Joe Carducci and Henry Rollins in 1983. “From across the parking lot this guy yells at Henry, ‘Rollins you sellout,’ and Henry puts his finger up, and says ‘Excuse me.’ We’re like ‘uh-oh,’ because we knew what that meant and not only was [Henry] buff but he was definitely somebody who would lay hands on you,” Cris recalls. “So he goes bolting across the parking lot, the kid sees him coming and tries to scamper away and Henry just flattens him to the pavement and goes, ‘You have something to say to me. You say it to my face,’” Cris
32 | M AY 4 , 2 0 1 7
continues. “He comes walking back and goes, ‘I hate it when that happens.’” Shortly after that tour, Curt wrote the classic Meat Puppets II (featuring three songs Nirvana later covered in its famous Unplugged session for MTV) and fathered twins. As luck would have it, the band survived long enough for Curt’s son Elmo to join a few years ago, changing the Puppets from power trio to quartet. “It was a cool move on Curt’s part to keep the band interesting and push back at those boundaries and things that get built up to see where else we could go,” Cris says, offering that even more than his father, Elmo’s a tremendous technical player. “He’ll sit around and learn complicated stuff like Stevie Wonder songs or The Bee Gees. He’s able to not just hang with us, but propel us forward in a very satisfying way.” Adding a second guitarist has opened up things for Curt, and allowed the band to throw a few more album tracks into the set they that they’d previously avoided as a trio. It’s been a win-win. “We get to share what me and his dad built and people dig it,” Cris says. “We come out on stage and they’re shouting ‘Elmo! Elmo!’ He’s got his own people.” There was a moment in the ’90s when the Puppets’
legacy was in doubt. Cris grew addicted to heroin and had to leave the band. Later he was imprisoned after a scuffle with a security guard at a post office. Jail offered an opportunity to get clean and, after his 2005 release, the band reunited and set to work. Though the Nirvana money enabled the situation, and the death of their mother catalyzed it, Cris dismisses excuses. “I was in my mid 30s … I absolutely knew better, and it comes down to me. There’s this hole in my character,” he says. “The only element of it that I can tolerate is that I did manage to come back from it. I don’t take credit for that; there’s nothing heroic about it. It was a goddamn shame that I let—made—it happen … but at least I’ve been able to repay [my girlfriend and family] by getting my shit back together.” Not only has he reassembled his Meat shit, the band’s last two albums, Puppets 2011’s Lollipop and 2013’s Rat Farm are among the best things they’ve Friday, done. That this has gone largely May 5, unnoticed in the press is criminal, 8 p.m. but Cris could care less. Shank “We have succeeded by leaps Hall and bounds being what we are and making exactly what we wanted to make. Considering how we’re a bunch of non-conformists to rock ’n’ roll formulas or pretty much any formulas, we’ve done just fine,” he says. “And in that self-indulgence we managed to create something that’s fairly unique.” Meat Puppets play Shank Hall with Mike Watt and the jom and terry show, and Porcupine (featuring Hüsker Dü’s Greg Norton) on Friday, May 5 at 8 p.m.
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The xx w/ Sampha
@ The Eagles Ballroom ::BY EVAN RYTLEWSKI
S
tardom doesn’t come naturally for The xx. The band certainly never imagined themselves playing to roaring, sold-out crowds when they were recording their soft-spoken 2009 selftitled debut, an album so love-sick that it didn’t seem to realize how cutting edge it was. At the time that record seemed far too intimate to be a blockbuster—guitarist Romy Madley Croft and bassist Oliver Sim sang to each other like bashful teens afraid their parents might overhear their overtures from the next room—yet in the years that followed its fusion of hauntingly dreamy indie-rock and electronica proved massively influential, not only in indie rock, which shortly after began flocking to R&B for creative inspiration, but also in the highest echelons of rap and pop. Drake’s great artistic breakthrough came after an xx binge, and commercial monoliths The Chainsmokers have openly pillaged the group’s playbook, albeit while dialing up the wattage with the subtlety of a Fast and Furious movie. For their 2012 album Coexist, The xx offered more of the same, to diminishing returns, but it was only on this year’s I See You that the trio fully embraced their stature, stepping up to fill the market they helped create for festival-ready, indie-adjacent EDM. It’s flashy in ways their previous records never allowed themselves to be, leaning more than ever on producer Jamie xx’s dynamic beat injections and drawing lessons from his outside solo success, yet impressively it never loses the sense of romance and vulnerability that’s always set the band apart from their intimidators. These songs may seem cocky on the surface, but they’re still shy at the core. The group demonstrated how comfortable they’ve become in the spotlight Saturday night for a very receptive sold-out crowd at the Eagles Ballroom. With their trim black clothes and sharp haircuts, Croft and Sim no longer look like sheepish kids but well-styled stars, and they brought a sense of confidence even to their many numbers about anxiety (one of which, “Performance,” Croft sang in a solo spotlight). Accompanying his bandmates from an elevated platform above, Jamie xx alternated between keyboards, drums and beat pads, and with him as the night’s de facto musical director, everything about their music seemed heightened: The EDM parts were clubbier, the anthemic parts more U2-y. Every break, pause and solo was calculated for maximum impact and applause. The producer seemed to relish his newfound prominence, and jumped at the chance to put a little extra spin on some tracks. He pumped up “Shelter,” a typically naked number from the group’s debut, with a dramatic ’80s-inspired techno beat, and for the night’s encore spun “On Hold” into a massive rave-up, proving he can work a crowd every bit as well as the superstar DJs that have sprung up in his wake. The xx were joined on the bill by one of the artists their sound helped pave the way for, the velvet-voiced London electronic soul singer Sampha. He’s a more trained, passionate vocalist than either of The xx’s co-leads, but so far doesn’t have a true solo hit to show for all that talent (his highest charting tracks have been two guest features with Drake). That’s an injustice that should be remedied in time: Watching him croon away in front of his backing band (a drummer, a keyboardist and a beat-pad guy) and a thoughtful light show, it seemed like more a matter of when than if. Like the headliners he warmed the stage for, Sampha’s making the kind of music that seems to be everywhere right now, but doing so with color and texture that’s all his own.
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Township
Township Slow It Down on ‘Impact Bliss’
E
::BY EVAN RYTLEWSKI
ven though it’s not all that far from Milwaukee, I’m not sure I’ve ever driven through Fond Du Lac, nor could I point it out on a map. Usually the only time I hear about it is whenever TV news is reporting on snow fall totals or tornado warnings in other parts of southeast Wisconsin. As Matthew Weinberger of the Fond Du Lac/Sheboygan-born dream-rock band Township tells it, I’m probably not missing much. “It’s your average Wisconsin town,” Weinberger says. “Lots of bars, lots of restaurants, a really crappy mall. So there really isn’t a whole lot to do.” It’s precisely because there was so little going on there, Weinberger says, that Township came together in the first place. “That’s why we found ourselves hanging out, introducing each other to different bands and making music together.” In the beginning, the band played the kind of pop-punk, emo and post-hardcore that goes over well, at least among a certain all-ages subset, in just about any city, but they quickly began to refine that sound. Their influences became more specific. Nicholas Halverson drew from his love of shoegaze and dream-pop, while Weinberger looked to the grander soundscapes of post-rock. “As we started writing more we became a little more on the ambient side,” Weinberger says. “The songs got a little slower and we moved away from the quicker, fast, fun, jumpy parts. It kind of matured as we did and went from something you could bob your head to, to something you could almost fall asleep to.” Weinberger’s joking about the falling asleep thing, mostly, but there’s a touch of truth to it. The group’s just-released debut Impact Bliss is the kind of album that rewards close listening yet also deters it. Save for the occasional striking riff, the record seems designed to deflect attention from itself. The guitars murmur, the vocals muffle themselves under a blanket of echoes and the tempos rarely rise from a tortoise-paced crawl. Like some of the albums it most recalls—Codeine’s Frigid Stars, Galaxie 500’s On Fire—you can be absorbed in it one moment then forget you’re listening to it altogether the next. Milwaukee is lucky to have a couple of bands that touch on these sounds: Estates put a harder, heavier edge on them; Haunter tempers them with indie-pop; and there are always a few solid shoegaze acts active at any time here. But in truth this is niche music, and it doesn’t have anywhere near the same built-in audience that other genres have, especially as the hardcore acts on the all-ages bill that Township predominantly plays around Milwaukee and surrounding cities. That should be a disadvantage for the band, then—going from playing a popular kind of music to a decidedly less popular one—but Weinberger says more often than not it works in their favor. If nothing else, the sound helps them stand out. “Milwaukee is a good place for this kind of music,” Weinberger says. “Whether the people going to shows know they like it or not, it seems like some of the hardcore kids who won’t admit they listen to anything but hardcore will end up liking our band. We’ve come to embrace it. We like doing something a little different.”
M AY 4 , 2 0 1 7 | 33
MUSIC::LISTINGS THURSDAY, MAY 4
Amelia’s, Jackson Dordel Jazz Quintet (4pm) American Legion Post #449 (Brookfield), Larry Lynne Solo Angelo’s Piano Lounge, Acoustic Guitar Night Cactus Club, Diamond Banks, Tae the Ticket, ADHD, King Bap, Supah, Cash, Pharoah the God, $HUNMILLION$, Timmy C, Bankhead, Siddity Gangg, SupurrDupurr, Jay Lew, Partyat4 w/host FRESH & DJ KTB Caroline’s Jazz Club, Billy Johnson Trio Company Brewing, Liv Mueller w/Palomino Shakedown County Clare Irish Inn & Pub, Acoustic Irish Folk w/Barry Dodd Frank’s Power Plant, Dr. Boogie w/Platinum Boys, Bad Mothers & Brain-Bats Harry’s Bar & Grill, Kyle Feerick (6pm) Jazz Estate, Amanda Huff Quartet
Mother’s Day Brunch Sunday, May 14 9am-4pm
One Entree
Two sides with cornbread
$15.95
Two Entrees
Two sides with cornbread
$18.95
Kelly’s Bleachers (Big Bend), Thursday Night Acoustic Open Jam w/host Michael Sean Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, Devil Met Contention w/Rocket Cat & Dave Tamkin Mason Street Grill, Mark Thierfelder Jazz Trio (5:30pm) Miller Time Pub, Joe Kadlec Milwaukee Theatre, Express Yourself Milwaukee SOUL Show Miramar Theatre, Sunsquabi w/Maddy O’Neal O’Donoghues Irish Pub (Elm Grove), The All-Star SUPERband (6pm) Pabst Theater, Todd Rundgren Packing House, Barbara Stephan & Peter Mac (6pm) Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, In Bar 360: Phil Norby (8pm), In the Fire Pit: Deke Dickerson (8:30pm) Rave / Eagles Club, LANY w/Machineheart (all-ages, 8pm), White Reaper w/No Parents (all-ages, 8pm) Shaker’s Cigar Bar, Prof. Pinkerton & the Magnificents Shank Hall, Anthony Gomes Stoneridge Inn (Hales Corners), Julie Nelson (6pm) The Bay Restaurant, Ian Gould Urban Bay View, Bootleg Bessie at Urban
FRIDAY, MAY 5
American Legion Post #449 (Brookfield), Dean Richard Angelo’s Piano Lounge, Piano Night Anodyne Coffee Walker’s Point Roastery & Cafe, Joseph Huber album release w/Al Scorch Art Bar, Art Show Opening: “Poems for Nothing” Erick Knudtson Cactus Club, Rio Turbo w/Doomsquad & IN//VIA Cafe Carpe (Fort Atkinson), Karen Wheelock Caroline’s Jazz Club, Adekola Adedapo & The Paul Spencer Band w/Aaron Gardner Cedarburg Cultural Center, First Fridays: The People Brothers Band (6pm) Circle-A Cafe, Alive at Eight: Contraptions w/Old Northwest (8pm); DJ: LaFontaine & Triplett (10pm) Colectivo Coffee On Prospect, Joe Ely w/Jason Eady Company Brewing, The Bang Bang w/Rocket Paloma County Clare Irish Inn & Pub, Traditional Irish Ceilidh Session Five O’Clock Steakhouse, Christopher’s Project Iron Mike’s (Franklin), Jam Session w/Steve Nitros & Friends Jokerz Comedy Club, Chris Killian Lakefront Brewery Beer Hall, Brewhaus Polka Kings (5:30pm) Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, The Vitrolum Republic w/Chris DuPont Band Mamie’s, Stokes & The Old Blues Boys Mason Street Grill, Phil Seed Trio (6pm) Milwaukee Ale House, The Blues Disciples Miramar Theatre, Dead Man’s Carnival w/Prof. Pinkerton & The Magnificents Ollie’s Sports & Spirits (Burlington), Joe Kadlec Packing House, Chanel le Meaux & the Dapper Cads w/Jeff Stoll (6:30pm) Pillars Pub (West Bend), 5 Card Studs Polish Center of Wisconsin, Sock Hop w/Do-Wa-Wa’s Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, In the Buffet: Voces De America (2pm), In Bar 360: Andrea & The Mods (9pm), In the Fire Pit: Deke Dickerson (9pm)
Potbelly Sandwich Shop (East Side), Texas Dave (noon) Riverwest Public House, Miltown Kings’ Urban Legend Route 20 Outhouse (Sturtevant), Legacies w/Greatest Lakes Shank Hall, Meat Puppets w/Mike Watt & the jom and terry show, and Porcupine (Greg Norton of Husker Du) Site 1A, Breathe Carolina The Bay Restaurant, Steve Lewandowski & Lyn Lew The Metal Grill (Cudahy), Rush Tribute Project (ages 18-plus, 9pm) Up & Under Pub, Battle of the Bands: Brave You Band, Moth Light & Witchdoctor Von Trier, Robin Pluer & The R&B Coquettes (6:30pm)
SATURDAY, MAY 6
American Legion Post #449 (Brookfield), Nostalgia Angelo’s Piano Lounge, Piano Night Arriba Mexican Restaurant (Butler), The Incorruptibles Art Bar, Sugar Still Bender’s Bar (Silver Lake), The Blues Disciples Bootz Saloon, Brecken Miles Cactus Club, Gun Sin Roses w/Cosmic Furnace Cafe Carpe (Fort Atkinson), James Lee Stanley Caroline’s Jazz Club, The Paul Spencer Band w/James Sodke, Larry Tresp, Aaron Gardner & Neil Davis Circle-A Cafe, Alive at Eight: Aluminum Knot Eye w/Hue Blanc’s Joyless Ones (8pm); DJ: Mil-Dew Jays (10pm) Club Garibaldi, Max & The Invaders w/Skapone & Beaker Company Brewing, Noh Life: Tons of Friends 03 Cue Club of Wisconsin (Waukesha), The Playlist Delafield Brewhaus, Dave Miller Chicago Blues Trio w/Hal Miller & Bill Seaman Fire On Water, Good Morning Bedlam w/Dig Deep & Zach Pietrini Five O’Clock Steakhouse, Charles Barber Frank’s Power Plant, No Funeral w/Gravedirt & Cannabinol Synapse (5pm), Sweetalk w/Else, Bright Black & Path (8:30pm) George’s Tavern (Racine), Heartsfield Great Lakes Distillery, Jude and 2 Dudes Hilton Milwaukee City Center, Vocals & Keys Jazz Estate, Abigail Riccards & Eric Schneider Group (8pm), Late Night Session: Max Bowen Trio (11:30pm) Jokerz Comedy Club, Chris Killian Just J’s, The Carpetbaggers Kelly’s Bleachers (Big Bend), Almighty Vinyl Kochanski’s Concertina Beer Hall, One Lane Bridge Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, Eagle Trace w/Silver Foxxx & Boomtown Riot Los Mariachis Mexican Restaurant, The Jammers Milwaukee Ale House, Shag Miramar Theatre, Party Thieves w/WolfBiteR & A Frame (ages 17-plus, 9pm) MugZ’s Pub and Grill (Muskego), Debacle Packing House, Lem Banks, Jeff Stoll, Alvin Turner & Omar (6:30pm) Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, In Bar 360: 89 Mojo (9pm), In the Fire Pit: Deke Dickerson (10:30pm) Red Dot Tosa, Reggae Night Reefpoint Brew House (Racine), Joe Kadlec Riverwest Filling Station, Eccentric Acoustic
Fried Lobster Tails
ALL SHOWS 21+
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50¢
$27.95
Mothers receive a free beverage with any meal. Complimentary live music from Noon-3pm.
Saxophonist Christopher Pipkins from Christopher’s Project along with special guest/singer Jackie Caldwell.
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9PM
FRI, MAY 5TH
MILWAUKEE COMEDY PRESENTS
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SAT, MAY 6TH
9PM
MAX & THE INVADERS BEAKER
9PM
SAT, MAY 13TH
NEIL HAMBURGER 414-882-7708 • 770 N. Jefferson St.
chicundergroundlounge.com
34 | M AY 4 , 2 0 1 7
Route 20 Outhouse (Sturtevant), Eva Under Fire w/Donoma & Achilles Saloon on Calhoun, 5 Card Studs Shank Hall, Southbound (Allman Brothers Tribute) w/Big City Knights The Bay Restaurant, Sigmund Snopek III The Coffee House, “Celebrate Music of Leonard Cohen, Food Pantry Benefit” w/Francesca, Julie Kane, Amanda Suckow, & Tom Webber The Metal Grill (Cudahy), Damaged Justice and Facelift The Suburban Bourbon (Muskego), Larry Lynne Band (2pm) Trinity Three Irish Pubs, Superfly w/DJ Zovo Up & Under Pub, The Radiomen
SUNDAY, MAY 7
Angelo’s Piano Lounge, Live Karaoke w/Julie Brandenburg Cactus Club, Kontravoid w/Tarek Sabbar, Samantha Glass & Demien Glas Cafe Carpe (Fort Atkinson), Sarah Potenza Circle-A Cafe, Alive at Eight: Texas Dave Trio w/Matthew Davies (8pm); DJ: Trail Boss Tim Cook (10pm) Dopp’s Bar & Grill, CCMC Open Jam w/host Red Deacon (3pm) Frank’s Power Plant, God’s Outlaw (12pm) Just J’s, Matt MF Tyner Kochanski’s Concertina Beer Hall, Twin Lakes Trio Polka Band (2pm) Rave / Eagles Club, The Maine w/The Mowgli’s & Beach Weather (all-ages, 7:30pm) Root River Center, Extraordinary Show Rounding Third Bar and Grill, The Dangerously Strong Comedy Open Mic Scotty’s Bar & Pizza, Bill Spaulding (4pm) Sugar Maple, Fox & Branch (2pm) The Metal Grill (Cudahy), Y & T w/Strip’d The Tonic Tavern, 3rd Coast Blues: Andrew Koenig Band w/Benny Rickun (4pm) Turner Hall Ballroom, Denny Laine
MONDAY, MAY 8
Colectivo Coffee On Prospect, Overcoats w/Yoke Lore Jazz Estate, Mark Davis Trio Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, Poet’s Monday w/host Timothy Kloss & featured reader JoAnn Chang (7:30-10:30pm) Mason Street Grill, Joel Burt (5:30pm) Paulie’s Pub and Eatery, Open Jam w/Christopher John Up & Under Pub, Marshall McGhee and the Wanderers Open Mic
TUESDAY, MAY 9
Colectivo Coffee On Prospect, The Wild Reeds w/Blank Range Frank’s Power Plant, Druid w/Powerwagon, Doubletruck & Suffer Head Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, Mike Fredrickson Mamie’s, Open Blues Jam w/Stokes Mason Street Grill, Jamie Breiwick Group (5:30pm) McAuliffe’s Pub (Racine), Jim Yorgan Sextet Miramar Theatre, Tuesday Open Mic w/host Sandy Weisto (sign-up 7:30pm) Rave / Eagles Club, Catfish And The Bottlemen w/The Worn Flints (all-ages, 8pm) South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center, Jesse Cook 2017 One World Tour The Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts, Jazz Jam Session Transfer Pizzeria Cafe, Transfer House Band w/Dennis Fermenich Turner Hall Ballroom, The Growlers
WEDNESDAY, MAY 10
Cactus Club, Pile w/Gnarlwhal & Sex Scenes Caroline’s Jazz Club, Harvey Westmoreland w/Knee Deep Blues Jam Company Brewing, Full Moon Karaoke & Variety Show Conway’s Smokin’ Bar & Grill, Open Jam w/Big Wisconsin Johnson District 14 Brewery & Pub, Wednesday Open Mic Iron Mike’s (Franklin), Danny Wendt Noodle Jam (6pm) Kochanski’s Concertina Beer Hall, The Delta Bombers w/Colors Of The Alphabet Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, Acoustic Open Stage w/feature Arthur (sign-up 8:30pm, start 9pm) Mason Street Grill, Jamie Breiwick Group (5:30pm) Miramar Theatre, Stage Right Pub: Paul Smith & Andy Jehly Nomad World Pub, Locals Only Live Music Packing House, Ellen Winters w/Sam Steffke (6pm) Paulie’s Field Trip, Humpday Drunkday w/Dave & Blair Potbelly Sandwich Shop (East Side), Texas Dave (noon) Route 20 Outhouse (Sturtevant), Wednesday Night Live w/ Blackwater (5:30pm) Shank Hall, James Lee Stanley Tally’s Tap & Eatery (Waukesha), Tomm Lehnigk Turner Hall Ballroom, Rival Sons w/London Souls & Howie Pyro
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Freeway Fluffy is a 3-year-old Domestic Longhair who was found on the side of the highway in terrible shape. She was transferred from MADACC to the WHS Milwaukee Campus and is now seeking a family who can provide her with the patience, love, and compassion she needs to adjust to life in a home. Still very fearful, she does not like to be picked up and will likely seek out the best hiding places in your home for a while. If you have a quiet home without children under 13, you might be the one who can finally bring light into this sweet girl’s life!
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If you are 18-64, receiving SSI or SSDI benefits, and need a job? America Works WILL help. • Benefits counseling • Work plans • Local job opportunities • Resume & interview help Call (855) 268-1935 now or visit www.americaworks.com/ tickettowork Delivery Driver’s Wanted $11-$12/hr FT 1st Shift. Brookfield Area. NonCDL. Company provides vehicles. MUST have clean driving record and valid Driver’s License. Call (414) 256-3600
SERVICES SHEEHAN CONSTRUCTION Brick, Block, Stone, Stucco, Tuck pointing, Chimneys, Retaining Walls. Concrete Work. New and repair. Free Estimates. Accepts credit cards. Call John: 414-258-9838
HEALTH SPECIAL TOUCH MASSAGE Massage $55 & up. Lose 2-3 dress/pants sizes instantly with THE body wraps starting @ $75. Facials also available. Call Sheldon for appt. now 414-224-7081. (Mobile spa\hotel service available).
WHEELS 2005 Chrysler Sebring Turbo dual overhead cam. 135k miles. New brakes & susp parts. New tires in front. Must see A1. $2,500. 414-526-0643.
LEGAL You Are Being Sued Dejan Drca Matthew Komorowski Report to Milw. County Courthouse 901 N. 9 th St. Rm. 400 May 9, 2017 2:30pm. To Dawn Smith or owners of a 1996 Jeep Grand Charokee Laredo, VIN #1J4GZ58Y1VC549234, License Plate 365YFY. Pay fee and remove the vehicle from Economy Airport Parking by May 19th or vehicle will be sold pay for payment of storage and parking fees compliant to Wisconsin state statutes. Call 414-744-8636.
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M A Y 4 , 2 0 1 7 | 35
THEME CROSSWORD
SUB ROUTINE
By James Barrick
PSYCHO SUDOKU! “Greater-Than Sudoku”
For this “Greater-Than Sudoku,” Iím not giving you ANY numbers to start off with! Adjoining squares in the grid’s 3x3 boxes have a greater-than sign (>) telling you which of the two numbers in those squares is larger. Fill in every square with a number from 1-9 using the greater-than signs as a guide. When you’re done, as in a normal Sudoku, every row, column, and 3x3 box will contain the numbers 1-9 exactly one time. (Solving hint: try to look for the 1’s and 9’s in each box first, then move on to the 2’s and 8’s, and so on). psychosudoku@gmail.com
and wet 76. Honest — 77. Old Greek anatomist 78. Steppe 79. Barrier in a road 80. Audio-system part 83. Adult 84. Long lock 85. Courtroom figure 86. Top hat top 87. Determined beforehand 88. Tattered duds 89. By — and bounds 90. Foray 91. Kind of old British money 94. Cuban dance 95. Wide-body jet 99. Deception 102. Less prevalent group 104. Sour fruit 105. Of a grain 106. Coal 107. Ruler of the Aesir 108. Manage 109. Put forth effort 110. Lean 111. Wetland plant DOWN 1. Disarrange 2. Shivering fit 3. Terra — 4. Lose track of 5. Flavoring plant 6. Of fleecy beasts 7. Leaf part 8. Festival 9. Worst 10. First things 11. Tickle 12. Bryant of basketball 13. Building part 14. Agnus —
15. Old card game 16. Clair de — 17. Muscat and — 18. Knights’ combat 24. Barnyard sound 26. Killed by Corday 29. Stake 32. Collier 33. Very young children 34. School: Abbr. 35. Newts 36. Put pedal to metal 37. Engages in swordplay 38. Show, for short 39. Stew meat 40. — Hashim Epps 41. Dainty 42. Like some pastries 44. Spitting creature 45. Steam room 47. — brulee 48. Luster 51. Fossil resin 52. Prodigious 53. Pious one 54. Tom Sawyer’s pal 56. Luxury car brand 57. — — a million 58. Clemens, alternatively 60. “Aliens” role 61. Goof-off 62. Weaken
63. Protagonists 67. — macabre 68. Org. from 1958 69. Border on 70. Obligation 71. Yegg’s targets 72. Does a farm job 73. Yard 75. Bridge position 77. Percussion instrument 78. Suggests 79. Noteholder 81. Woolen fabric 82. Talk to a crowd 83. Seize 84. Tremulous sound 86. Bind together 87. Set of matched jewelry 89. Bar order 90. Kitchen tool 91. Yoo-hoo! (sotto voce) 92. Govern 93. Black 94. Not talking 95. Israel’s — Eban 96. Au naturel 97. Cleveland’s lake 98. Split 100. Caviar 101. Office machine 103. Game VIP
Solution to last week’s puzzle
U J A N I F F U N F R K L E H E O G R A R D B S E A A S Y N Y D
R A R R O M E A T P H E I R A A P Y
L T E V Z E L D Y W T H E S E L
4/27 Solution
WORD FIND This is a theme puzzle with the subject stated below. Find the listed words in the grid. (They may run in any direction but always in a straight line. Some letters are used more than once.) Ring each word as you find it and when you have completed the puzzle, there will be 25 letters left over. They spell out the alternative theme of the puzzle.
Heatwave Solution: 25 Letters
© 2017 Australian Word Games Dist. by Creators Syndicate Inc.
© 2017 United Feature Syndicate, Dist. by Andrews McMeel Syndication
ACROSS 1. Thank-you- — 5. Gaucho’s weapon 10. Shirred 15. Cabal 19. Tangerine-grapefruit hybrid 20. Rounded molding 21. Soap plant 22. Persian poet 23. Reader with an account 25. Unconscious, as awareness 27. Flying boat 28. Hoist 30. Catkin 31. Sled 32. Recipe direction 33. Reveal 35. Remove, in a way 38. Some regimens 39. Old British dandy 43. Speckle 44. Perfume ceremonially 45. Kind of unseen particle 46. Timbre 47. Orbiting body 48. Like some estates 49. Whiz 50. Org. cousin 51. Shelter in a garden 52. Fills 53. Bit of evidence 55. Juice squeezer 57. Town in Maine 58. Greek letter 59. Hoagie: 2 wds. 64. A letter 65. Brainwaves 66. Graded 68. Low-water mark 71. Division 72. Pigtail 74. Unpleasantly cold
T U I W I N G M Q P I S K U L L E I T K N U C C I P H O T S A C A B O O L N R E X E R T O W
Acute Anomaly Bake Barometer Bathe Beer Bikini Breeze Cranky Cumulus Drink Drought Dust storm
El Niño Fan Fatigue Gelato Gripe Haze Heat Hose Ice Lightning Low pressure Melt Precipitation
Screen Sea Shorts Shower Smog Stamina Sun Surf Sweating Temperature Water
36 | M A Y 4 , 2 0 1 7
4/27 Solution: Meerkats are still the best SHEPHERD EXPRESS
Solution: It's a good idea to stay indoors
Creators Syndicate 737 3rd Street • Hermosa Beach, CA 90254 310-337-7003 • info@creators.com
Date: 5/4/17
::CHUCK SHEPHERD’S
::FREEWILLASTROLOGY ::BY ROB BREZSNY TAURUS (April 20-May 20): When poet Wisława Szymborska delivered her speech for winning the Nobel Prize, she said that “whatever else we might think of this world—it is astonishing.” She added that for a poet, there really is no such thing as the “ordinary world,”“ordinary life,” and “the ordinary course of events.” In fact, “Nothing is usual or normal. Not a single stone and not a single cloud above it. Not a single day and not a single night after it. And above all, not a single existence, not anyone’s existence in this world.” I offer you her thoughts, Taurus, because I believe that in the next two weeks you will have an extraordinary potential to feel and act on these truths. You are hereby granted a license to be astonished on a regular basis. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Would you consider enrolling in my Self-Pity Seminar? If so, you would learn that obsessing on self-pity is a means to an end, not a morass to get lost in. You would feel sorry for yourself for brief, intense periods so that you could feel proud and brave the rest of the time. For a given period—let’s say three days—you would indulge and indulge and indulge in self-pity until you entirely exhausted that emotion. Then you’d be free to engage in an orgy of self-healing, selfnurturing and self-celebration. Ready to get started? Ruminate about the ways that people don’t fully appreciate you. CANCER (June 21-July 22): In a typical conversation, most of us utter too many “uhs,” “likes,” “I means,” and “you knows.” I mean, I’m sure that…uh…you’ll agree that, like, what’s the purpose of, you know, all that pointless noise? But I have some good news to deliver about your personal use of language in the coming weeks, Cancerian. According to my reading of the astrological omens, you’ll have the potential to dramatically lower your reliance on needless filler. But wait, there’s more: Clear thinking and precise speech just might be your superpowers. As a result, your powers of persuasion should intensify. Your ability to advocate for your favorite causes may zoom. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In 1668, England named John Dryden its first Poet Laureate. His literary influence was so monumental that the era in which he published was known as the Age of Dryden. Twentieth-century poetry great T. S. Eliot said he was “the ancestor of nearly all that is best in the poetry of the eighteenth century.” Curiously, Dryden had a low opinion of Shakespeare. “Scarcely intelligible,” he called the Bard, adding, “His whole style is so pestered with figurative expressions that it is as affected as it is obscure.” I foresee a comparable clash of titans in your sphere, Leo. Two major influences may fight it out for supremacy. One embodiment of beauty may be in competition with another. One powerful and persuasive force could oppose another. What will your role be? Mediator? Judge? Neutral observer? Whatever it is, be cagey. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Just this once, and for a limited time only, you have cosmic clearance to load up on sugary treats, leave an empty beer can in the woods, watch stupid TV shows and act uncool in front of the Beautiful People. Why? Because being totally well-behaved and perfectly composed and strictly pure would compromise your mental health more than being naughty. Besides, if you want to figure out what you are on the road to becoming, you will need to know more about what you’re not. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In addition to fashion tips, advice for the broken-hearted, midlife-crisis support and career counseling, I sometimes provide you with more mystical help. Like now. So if you need nuts-and-bolts guidance, I hope you’ll have the sense to read a more down-toearth horoscope. What I want to tell you is that the metaphor of resurrection is your featured theme. You should assume that it’s somehow the answer to every question. Rejoice in the knowledge that although a part of you has died, it will be reborn in a fresh guise. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “Are you ready for the genie’s favors? Don’t rub the magic lamp unless you are.”That’s the message I saw on an Instagram meme. I immediately thought of you. The truth is that up until recently, you have not been fully prepared for the useful but de-
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manding gifts the genie could offer you. You haven’t had the self-mastery necessary to use the gifts as they’re meant to be used, and therefore they were a bit dangerous to you. But that situation has changed. Although you may still not be fully primed, you’re as ready as you can be. That’s why I say: RUB THE MAGIC LAMP! SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You may have heard the exhortation “Follow your bliss!” which was popularized by mythologist Joseph Campbell. After studying the archetypal stories of many cultures throughout history, he concluded that it was the most important principle driving the success of most heroes. Here’s another way to say it: Identify the job or activity that deeply excites you, and find a way to make it the center of your life. In his later years, Campbell worried that too many people had misinterpreted “Follow your bliss” to mean, “Do what comes easily.” That’s all wrong, he said. Anything worth doing takes work and struggle. “Maybe I should have said, ‘Follow your blisters,’” he laughed. I bring this up, Sagittarius, because you are now in an intense “Follow your blisters” phase of following your bliss. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The versatile artist Melvin Van Peebles has enjoyed working as a filmmaker, screenwriter, actor, composer and novelist. One of his more recent efforts was a collaboration with the experimental band The Heliocentrics. Together they created a sciencefiction-themed spoken-word poetry album titled The Last Transmission. Peebles told NPR, “I haven’t had so much fun with clothes on in years.” If I’m reading the planetary omens correctly Capricorn, you’re either experiencing that level of fun, or will soon be doing so. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In what ways do you most resemble your mother? Now is a good time to take inventory. Once you identify any mom-like qualities that tend to limit your freedom or lead you away from your dreams, devise a plan to transform them. You may never be able to defuse them entirely, but there’s a lot you can do to minimize the mischief they cause. Be calm but calculating in setting your intention, Aquarius! P.S.: In the course of your inventory, you may also find there are ways you are like your mother that are of great value to you. Is there anything you could do to more fully develop their potential? PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “We are what we imagine,” writes Piscean author N. Scott Momaday. “Our very existence consists in our imagination of ourselves. Our best destiny is to imagine who and what we are. The greatest tragedy that can befall us is to go unimagined.” Let’s make this passage your inspirational keynote for the coming weeks. It’s a perfect time to realize how much power you have to create yourself through the intelligent and purposeful use of your vivid imagination. (P.S. Here’s a further tip, this time from Cher: “All of us invent ourselves. Some of us just have more imagination than others.”) ARIES (March 21-April 19): Beware of feeling sorry for sharks that yell for help. Beware of trusting coyotes that act like sheep and sheep that act like coyotes. Beware of nibbling food from jars whose contents are different from what their labels suggest. But wait! “Beware” is not my only message for you. I have these additional announcements: Welcome interlopers if they’re humble and look you in the eyes. Learn all you can from predators and pretenders without imitating them. Take advantage of any change that’s set in motion by agitators who shake up the status quo, even if you don’t like them. Homework: Which of your dead ancestors would you most like to talk to? Imagine a conversation with one of them. Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s Expanded Weekly Audio Horoscopes and Daily Text Message Horoscopes. The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
Entrepreneurial Spirit
A
S an Francisco startup recently introduced a countertop gadget to squeeze fruit and vegetables for you so that your hands don’t get sore. However, the Juicero (a) requires that the fruit and veggies be pre-sliced in precise sections conveniently available for purchase from the Juicero company, (b) has, for some reason, a Wi-Fi connection, and (c) sells for $399. (Bonus: Creator Jeff Dunn originally priced it at $699, but had to discount it after brutal shopper feedback. Double Bonus: Venture capitalists actually invested $120 million to develop the Juicero, anticipating frenzied consumer love.)
Great Art! Monument to Flossing: Russian artist Mariana Shumkova is certainly doing her part for oral hygiene, publicly unveiling her St. Petersburg statuette of a frightening, malformed head displaying actual extracted human teeth, misaligned and populating holes in the face that represent the mouth and eyes. She told Pravda in April that “only [something with] a strong emotional impact” would make people think about tooth care. Artist Lucy Gafford of Mobile, Ala., has a flourishing audience of fans (exact numbers not revealed), reported al.com in March, but lacking a formal “brick and mortar” gallery show, she must exhibit her estimated 400 pieces online only. Gafford, who has long hair, periodically flings loose, wet strands onto her shower wall and arranges them into designs, which she photographs and posts, at a rate of about one new creation a week since 2014.
Bright Ideas Raising a Hardy Generation: Preschoolers at the Elves and Fairies Woodland Nursery in Edmondsham, England, rough it all day long outside, using tools (even a saw!), burning wood, planting crops. Climbing ropes and rolling in the mud are also encouraged. Kids as young as age 2 grow and cook herbs and vegetables (incidentally absorbing “arithmetic” by measuring ingredients). In its most recent accreditation inspection, the nursery was judged “outstanding.”
Leading Economic Indicators Legendary German Engineering: The state-of-the-art Berlin Brandenburg Airport, originally scheduled to open in 2012, has
largely been “completed,” but ubiquitous malfunctions have moved the opening back to at least 2020. Among the problems: cabling wrongly laid out; escalators too short; 4,000 doors incorrectly numbered; a chief planner who turned out to be an impostor; complete failure of the “futuristic” fire safety system, e.g., no smoke exhaust and no working alarms (provoking a suggested alternative to just hire 800 low-paid staff to walk around the airport and watch for fires). The airport’s taxpayerfunded costhas tripled to €5.4 billion. Rich Numbers in the News: (1) A onebedroom, rotting-wood bungalow (built in 1905) in the Rockridge neighborhood of Oakland, Calif., sold in April for $755,000 ($260,000 over the asking price). (2) Business Week reported in April that Wins Finance Holdings (part of the Russell 2000 smallcompany index) has reported stock price fluctuations since its 2015 startup—of as much as 4,555% (and that no one knows why). (3) New Zealand officials reported in March that Apple had earned more than NZ$4.2 billion ($2.88 billion in U.S. dollars) in sales last year, but according to the country’s rules, did not owe a penny in income tax.
Undignified Deaths Dark Day for Competitive Eating: A 42-year-old man choked to death on April 2 at a Voodoo Doughnut shop in Denver as he accepted the store’s “Tex-Ass Challenge” to eat a half-pounder (equivalent of six regular donuts) in 80 seconds.
Recurring Themes Prominent tax avoider Winston Shrout, 69, was convicted in April on 13 fraud counts and six of “willful” failure to file federal returns during 2009 to 2014—despite his clever defense, which jurors in Portland, Ore., apparently ignored. Shrout, through seminars and publications, had created a cottage industry teaching ways to beat the tax code, but had managed always to slyly mention that his tips were “void where prohibited by law” (to show that he lacked the requisite “intent” to commit crimes). Among Shrout’s schemes: He once sent homemade “International Bills of Exchange” to a small community bank in Chicago apparently hoping the bank would carelessly launder them into legal currency, but (in violation of the “keep a low profile” rule) he had given each IBE a face value of $1 trillion. © 2017 CHUCK SHEPHERD M AY 4 , 2 0 1 7 | 37
THEBACK::ARTFORART’SSAKE
The AltWrite Stuff ::BY ART KUMBALEK
I
’m Art Kumbalek and man oh man manischewitz what a world, ain’a? So listen, I hear that the orange circus peanut we call president of the United States passed up having dinner with a bunch of guys and gals who write about politics for a living so he could hold a pally rally at a shovel factory in the Keystone State. You think it might be the same factory from where he got the shovel he uses to fling his 24/7 bullshit, what the fock? Some people wonder if our snake oil swindling Svengali knows anything about history. I wonder, too; although, I do not wonder that he has certainly boned up on 1920s-’30s Il Duce Mussolini, moltissimo, bene moltissimo. Anyways, I can’t pony up much of an essay for you’s this week on account that the other day I finally declared my declaration to be your next governor; since so far seems that no Democrats have the chutzpah to take a run at our incumbent Gov. Snidely Whiplash, for christ sakes. So I’ve got a full focking platter what with the hobnobbing to do for some campaign dough on account that currently my war chest amounts to about a buck two-eighty plus a dollar-off coupon for dry cleaning from a joint that’s gone out of business, I kid you not. But as your next guv, I vow to shovel tons of money to the public schools, which they desperately need and hanker for. My will to do this was steeled when
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I stumbled upon one of those back-page slow-newsday bullshit stories about some kind of Education Department report reporting that many of our American school-age rocket scientists “are unable to write effectively” and have “trouble making their point in writing.” Should I care? Hey, anybody wonder if maybe these kids didn’t have a focking “point” to make in the first place, for crying out loud? And even if they did, who cares? This report I read seemed to be most bugged by the notion that our future Einsteins were deficient up-the-jock-and-back “in the ability to write persuasively.” Now, that is a tough tittie ’cause from what other source but our young people are we to go for informative and convincing reportage on topics like, “Who’s More Bitching: Xbox One S or Nintendo Switch?,” “The Supermodel I Whack Off About Most Often and You Should, Too” and “Why My Dad’s An Asshole.” Yeah yeah, this focking waste-of-time report finds that poor study habits result in poor writing skills. Really? Who would’ve thunk, ain’a? And it goes on to whine that kids can’t write ’cause they’re too busy watching too much TV. OK Mr. Smarty-Pants report, then I’m saying they’re not watching too much TV— they’re watching the wrong TV. I’m saying if we were really concerned about our kids’ harmony with the tenor of our times, that our local TV news shows— instead of running B.S. for old farts like the latest in neighborhood block watches, Humane Society kittens and where to save a focking penny on a goddamn gallon of gasoline—ought to run more stuff about bitching supermodels and how to stay out all night without getting caught; ought to run stuff our kids would watch on the TV news so that they, too, could become informed citizens like the rest of us. Personally, I don’t view this report about how suckass our kids are at writing as necessarily bad news. In
fact, to a guy in my position, it’s darn good news. If kids can’t write their way out of a paper bag, it lessens the chance and increases the odds that some whipper-snapping snot-eater with a multicultural tale to tell could waltz into this newspaper and set up shop in place of me, what the fock. So, I got to go and start riding that ol’ lonesome campaign trail. And instead of harping on job creation, I’m going to hammer on “job replacement,” as in Art Kumbalek replacing Snidely Whiplash as your brandnew guv. The gig now pays $144,423 each and every year, and I can seriously use that kind of dough—especially after I haul it over to Potawatomi and triple it in
Circulation Drivers NEEDED The Shepherd Express, Milwaukee’s best news, arts and entertainment publication, has a need for Circulation Drivers. The qualified candidate must have a good driving record, an appropriate vehicle with insurance, be reasonably physically fit, and available every Wednesday beginning in the morning. The Shepherd Express is a great place to work and has been recognized by The Business Journal as one of Milwaukee’s Top Workplaces. To apply for the position, contact Josef at 414-292-3809
two seconds flat Jack, I kid you not. As Gov. Kumbalek, first order of my business will be to triple taxes on all Honky-sha County Republicans for their penchant to elect election officials that can’t count, and other general principles like bamboozling water from out of Lake Michigan. This increased revenue will be used to hire a boatload of new public school teachers statewide and to highly raise the salaries of the teachers we already got. Our children’s future depends on this, you betcha. “Friendly faces everywhere, humble folks without temptation,” that’s my slogan ’cause I’m Art Kumbalek, and I told you so.
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