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FEATURES | POLLS | TAKING LIBERTIES | ISSUE OF THE WEEK
HATE on the RISE How Milwaukee Jewish Federation fights anti-Semitism and builds community ::BY DAVID LUHRSSEN n Saturday, Oct. 27, a gunman slipped into a Pittsburgh synagogue and murdered 11 worshippers. Two days later, Monday, Oct. 29, the Milwaukee community gathered to remember. Despite short notice, Congregation Beth Israel in Glendale was crowded with as many as 2,000 people. Many weren’t Jewish. “At one point, all faith leaders at the gathering were invited to come forward—and they just kept on coming,” says Hannah Rosenthal, CEO and president of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, recalling the turnout. “Rev. David Simon, an Episcopalian, said, ‘You are not alone. We won’t let this happen here.’” Those are encouraging words amidst a drumbeat of bad news and inflammatory rhetoric. Pittsburgh could happen again, and something very much like it already happened here in 2012 with the Oak Creek Sikh Temple shooting. A toxic brew of bad ideology and the belligerence of contemporary culture and politics—coupled with easy availability of military-grade weapons, ignorance licensed by poor education and widespread emotional disorder—make more shooters inevitable. Although they are not the only religious or ethnic minority with reason for anxiety, Jews, after years of comfortable assimilation into American society, are once again the frequent targets of hatred.
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In 2017, the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center endured a series of bomb threats, and this year, Baraboo drew worldwide infamy after a photo surfaced showing students dressed for the junior prom with arms raised in a Nazi salute. Anti-Semitic incidents in our area are tracked by the Jewish Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Council. “Our statistics show a three-fold increase from 2013 through 2017,” says the council’s director, Elana Kahn. She adds that many incidents go unreported. The statistics she cites are not unique to Milwaukee. How to account for the increase? Rosenthal got a taste of neo-Nazism’s rising prominence in Western as well as Eastern Europe while serving as special envoy on anti-Semitism during Barack Obama’s presidency. In America, in those days not so long ago, “it was considered fringe,” she says. However, crude anti-Semitic remarks were sometimes bandied earlier this century by prominent figures, including the reality TV star and professional wrestling manager who became president of the United States. “In the past, when Donald Trump talked about his ‘massive’ fortune, he said the only people he’d allow to count his money were ‘guys who wear beanies,’” Rosenthal continues.
Unleashing Hatred
Trump is a curious case, given his daughter’s marriage to a Jew, Jared Kushner, and his son-in-law’s role as White House adviser. He might not be personally anti-Semitic, but he has shown himself willing to manipulate prejudices that flourish on America’s fringe. He brought what once was marginal into the mainstream. Of course, along with belittling individuals at every opportunity, Trump blames many groups for problems real and invented, including immigrants, Mexicans and Muslims. He strongly supports Israel yet sometimes employs anti-Semitic dog whistles, deriding “globalists” (interpreted by some as a nefarious international Jewish network of financial interests) and accusing George Soros of lavishly funding conspiracies against him. Trump is willing to accept and encourage the support of the most nefarious elements in American society as demonstrated by his equivocation after Charlottesville. “Anti-Semitism has been unleashed and condoned,” Rosenthal says. “Donald Trump has assessed what people will be excited by. Whether or not he is racist, what he says is racist. Through his language, he has unleashed hatred.” Kahn adds, “He built on what was already in progress. He uses fear and a sense of scarcity. After the trauma of 9/11 and the 2008 financial crisis, many Americans were ready to find someone to blame.” Hate continued on page 6 >
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NEWS&VIEWS::FEATURE > Hate continued from page 4
Other forces at work include the dark side of the internet. “It plays a role in civility—the way we communicate with each other,” Kahn says. “It’s easy to say terrible things to other people when you don’t have to look them in the eye. With free discourse, there needs to be some sense of responsibility.”
Harassment, Threats, Assaults
According to a Jewish Community Relations Council audit, many children in Milwaukee area schools have seen swastikas painted on their belongings in 2017 or were assaulted on group chats and in person for being Jewish. Adults have been victimized as well. Vandalism has occurred, including at least one act of arson in addition to spray-painted swastikas and epithets. Death threats have been hurled from passing cars, on voice messages and through the U.S. mail. Jews have been denounced in flyers circulated at supermarkets for promoting “race mixing.” Comments left on Gov. Scott Walker’s public Facebook page referred to Israeli control over U.S. politics and the power of the “globalist shekel lords.” Meanwhile, congressional wannabe Paul Nehlen, defeated in the Republican primary for Paul Ryan’s seat, tweeted references to Christ killers and “shills for the sheckles (sic).” Can history repeat itself? Nazism in southeastern Wisconsin goes back to the 1930s, when the pro-Hitler German American Bund ran a summer camp in Grafton and staged rallies in the Milwaukee Auditorium. Then as now, Milwaukee was only one knot in a longer thread. In 1939, 22,000 uniformed Bund members Heil-Hitlered in New York’s Madison Square Garden. Kahn reminds us that the Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s roots also extend to that era. Faced by mounting threats, Jewish leaders decided to “fight antiSemitism by building relationships with the community.”
DEATH THREATS HAVE BEEN HURLED FROM PASSING CARS, ON VOICE MESSAGES AND THROUGH THE U.S. MAIL. JEWS HAVE BEEN DENOUNCED IN FLYERS CIRCULATED AT SUPERMARKETS FOR PROMOTING “RACE MIXING.” For Kahn, her work involves attending countless meetings in the Milwaukee area, many with non-Jewish groups and leaders. The council played an advocacy role in social and economic justice issues intended to benefit society as a whole. “We build relationships to protect and defend Jews individually and collectively; and, with our allies, we hope to make the world safer for Jews and other people. We advocate policies that protect all people.” About that history of anti-Semitism, which reached a climax during the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II: “Is this 1938?” Rosenthal asks. Has the danger risen to that scale? “Absolutely not!” she insists. “It’s different in 2018. We have the lessons of the Holocaust, which happened because no one stood up or fought back. America is the place where we live, and we will hold up America’s values.” Comment at shepherdexpress.com. n
Hours Against Hate What are you doing during your lunch hour or coffee break? You might want to look into Hours Against Hate, described by the Jewish Community Relations Council’s Elana Kahn as “an initiative that engages people across lines of difference. It started with Muslim and Jewish officials at the U.S. State Department who wanted to give people opportunities to pledge time, hour by hour, to people who didn’t live, look, love or pray like themselves.” Launched in Milwaukee in 2013, Hours Against Hate is a program focused on creating situations for meaningful conversation for young people in schools and workplaces. Hours Against Hate’s resources include a speakers’ bureau—whose diverse community leaders travel to classrooms and workplaces—as well as weekly postings of ethical questions. It also sponsors a mini-grant program providing program funding for Milwaukee-area schools. For more information, visit hoursagainsthate.com.
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NEWS&VIEWS::FEATURE
Finding Work and Teaching Skills YouthBuild Milwaukee breaks down the barriers ::BY CATHERINE JOZWIK
F
or many young people, a lack of a high school diploma often creates a barrier to finding gainful employment. Those with felonies can find securing a job even more challenging. YouthBuild, a U.S. Department of Labor grant program, helps break down these barriers while strengthening community workforces. The 10-month program provides an opportunity for at-risk youths aged 16-24 to learn technical trade skills (carpentry and flooring installation, for instance) by building and repairing houses for low-income and homeless families. Participants split their time between a work-training site and a classroom. According to the Employ Milwaukee website, YouthBuild “offers 28 weeks of subsidized program wages, at up to 28 hours per week, with an additional 8 weeks supported by stipends.” As part of a collaboration with
the YWCA, youths work to earn their GED or HSED. “Of the 12 participants in 2018, three participants have earned their GED or high school diploma as a result of the program. Two others are on track to earn it in 2019,” said Kenneth Barbeau, director of community programs and services for the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM). After youths complete the program, a case manager assists them with finding employment and/or pursuing higher education. Participants must meet several criteria, including being a youth or adult offender and high school dropout (or lacking basic educational skills), having a disability, or having an incarcerated parent.
Apprenticeships and certification
Since 2009, local workforce development board Employ Milwaukee “has coordinated a
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collaborative of YouthBuild programs.” said Barbeau. Northcott Neighborhood House, Milwaukee Christian Center, and HACM are among the YouthBuild partnering organizations. HACM, a YouthBuild partner since 2014, is now training its fourth group of 12 participants in home construction and renovation. Youths have the opportunity to achieve certification widely recognized in the industry, including OSHA 10 and the Home Builders Institute Pre-Apprenticeship certification. Program participants undergo asbestos awareness and other specialized training. Barbeau said the program offers youths the chance to learn more than basic carpentry. “For many of them, it is their first job, so it teaches them the skills that are so important to obtaining and sustaining employment, such as showing up to work on time, teamwork, and communication and social skills,” he said. YouthBuild was life-changing for 21-yearold Ne’Con Bowman, a recent program graduate. “When I first started the program, I was lost in life,” he recalled. “I dropped out of school to be on the streets full-time. I had bills to pay, a baby on the way, and I just spiraled out of control.”
Bowman heard about the YouthBuild program through a family member and decided to enroll. “Now that I’m done with the program, next week I’m getting my high school diploma, and I’m getting my license in carpentry,” he said. Bowman highly recommends YouthBuild to others who have faced similar situations, particularly youthful offenders. “They [YouthBuild] don’t discriminate on background,” he added. For many young adults who lack education and work experience, YouthBuild is an ideal way to gain both, said Barbeau. “This program offers these young adults opportunities and a positive path to employment,” he concluded. For more information on YouthBuild in Milwaukee, visit employmilwaukee.org. Comment at shepherdexpress.com. n (top) The TechHire program, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, provides accelerated, hands-on, Information Technology training at no cost to participants. (middle) 2018 YouthBuild graduation (bottom) Kenneth Barbeau SHEPHERD EXPRESS
A New Kind of Sex Pill Beats Generic Viagra to the Market A patented pill costing less than $1 a dose stands to help millions of men with failing sex lives; no prescription will be required SAN DIEGO − A new sex pill is set to take the spotlight with the Viagra patent about to expire. Since it’s not a drug, it’s something very different, it won’t require a perscription and is priced just under a $1 a dose. The new pill called Vesele is part of a new class of performance enhancers for men, which work on the body and mind, supporting firmer and harder erections Formulated with a special compound known as a blood flow boosters, Vesele can transport its active ingredients in higher levels into the blood stream, where it begins to work. The patent pending ingredient increases nitric oxide production, initiating a process known as vasodilation, which causes arteries and vessels throughout the body to relax. This allows blood to flow to penis and genitals, promoting stronger, harder erection which last longer. But what makes Vesele so remarkable, and what these other sex pills can’t do, is that a small portion of this blood flows to the brain, which creates feelings of intense arousal. In laymen’s terms, users become incredibly excited and turned on. This is why the makers of Vesele say their pill has worked so effectively in human clinical use survey trial. It increases blood flow to the two most important organs for great sex, the penis and the brain.
The Brain Erection Connection Until now, medical researchers did not fully understand the brain-erection connection. It has now been made clearer with the data backing Vesele. When both are supplied with a constant blood flow, men are harder and firmer for longer...and have higher sex drives. “Most of the research and treatment methods for men’s sexual failures have focused on physiological factors and have neglected the emotional ones. For the leading sex drugs to work, like Cialis and Viagra, you need visual stimulation” explains Dr. Henry Esber, from the company who created Vesele. According to research published by the National Institute of Health, 50% of men taking these drugs stop responding or can’t tolerate their side effects... and on top of that they spend $25 per pill and it doesn’t even work half the time. This is what makes Vesele so different. It provides the blood stream with nitric oxide which cause arteries to relax. The patented accelerator speeds up this process even more.
The result is an increase in hardness and maintenance and frequent sex when it is taken daily.
Great Sex At Any Age With the conclusion of latest human clinical use survey trial, Vesele is now being offering in the US. And regardless of the market, its sales are exploding. Men across the country are eager to get their hands on the new pill and according to the research, they should be. In the trial above, men taking Vesele saw a staggering 45.1% improvement in erection hardness from baseline over a four-month period. Their erections also lasted twice as long. These same men also experienced an astounding 27% increase in the desire for sex (libido/sex drive) and an even greater improvement in overall satisfaction and ability to satisfy their partners.
Higher Absorption into the Blood Stream Vesele is made up of three specialized ingredients: two vasodilators and a patented absorption enhancer often called an accelerator. The FDA considers all to be safe. Research shows that with age, many men struggle to produce an erection firm enough for penetration. And although there are many theories as to why this happens (including a loss in testosterone) one thing is certain, inadequate blood flow is virtually always to blame. That’s why sex drug manufacturers focus on blood flow, it makes your erection hard. But what’s more surprising, and what these manufacturers have failed to consider, is that lack of blood flow can also kill your sex drive. That’s because blood supplies energy for the brain. This energy is required for creating brainwaves that cause excitability and arousal. Studies show that nitric oxide stimulates the entire cardiovascular system, including the arteries that lead to both the brain and penis. The higher concentration of the ingredients in Vesele combined with the accelerator ensures that this process continues to work over time. The sexual benefits of Vesele will start to show as its ingredients build up in the system over time. This is why many men take it every single day.
The Same Study Shows Positive Effects on Women In the same outstanding study referenced throughout, Vesele was also shown to have a surprising effect on women too. That’s because the
Expiring Patent Opens the Door to a New Sex Pill: Vesele is a new pill that cost just $1 a dose does not require a prescription. It works on both body and mind to increase arousal and erection hardness. same arteries and vessels that carry blood and oxygen to the brain and genitals are the same in men and women. “In our study, women taking Vesele saw a stunning 23.7% and 20.4% improvement in arousal and sex drive over baseline. You can imagine why some couples are taking Vesele together. Everything feels better. Everything works better. Everyone performs better.
A New Frontier of Non-Prescription Sex Pills With daily use, Vesele is helping men (and women) with their sex lives and overcome sexual lets downs without side effect or expense. Through a patented accelerate, Vesele’s formula is better absorbed into the bloodstream, resulting in remarkable improvements in erection firmness and hardness. And with better blood flow, users also experienced sexual feeling they haven’t felt in years.
Where to Find Vesele This is the official release of Vesele in Wisconsin. As such, the company is offering a special discounted supply to any reader who calls within the next 48 hours. A special hotline number and discounted pricing has been created for all Wisconsin residents. Discounts will be available starting today at 6:00AM and will automatically be applied to all callers. Your Toll-Free Hotline number is 1-800-324-8133 and will only be open for the next 48 hours. Only a limited discounted supply of Vesele is currently available in your region.
THESE STATEMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN EVALUATED BY THE U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION. THIS PRODUCT IS NOT INTENDED TO DIAGNOSE, TREAT, CURE OR PREVENT ANY DISEASE. RESULTS NOT TYPICAL. VESELE IS NOT A DRUG AND DOES NOT REPLACE PDE5 INHIBITORS. SHEPHERD EXPRESS
DECEMBER 2 0 , 2 0 18 | 9
::SAVINGOURDEMOCRACY ( DEC. 20-26, 2018 ) The Shepherd Express serves as a clearinghouse for all activities in the greater Milwaukee area that peacefully push back against discriminatory, reactionary or authoritarian actions and policies of the Donald Trump administration, as well as others who seek to thwart social justice. We will publicize and promote actions, demonstrations, planning meetings, teach-ins, party-building meetings, drinking-discussion get-togethers and any other actions that are directed toward fighting back to preserve our liberal democratic system.
Thursday, Dec. 20
CLOSEmsdf Picket @ Milwaukee County Courthouse (901 N. Ninth St.), 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
A coalition of Milwaukee organizations gather at the Milwaukee County Courthouse every month to picket the treatment of people incarcerated in the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility. The group is hoping to eventually shut down the facility.
Milwaukee Post-Election Debrief @ Coffee Makes You Black (2803 N. Teutonia Ave.), 4-7 p.m.
Candidates, county party leaders, volunteers, activists and others will both speak and listen to community members at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s post-election debrief and listening session.
Party with BLOC @ Garfield’s 502 (502 W. Garfield Ave.), 6-8 p.m.
Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC), a nonprofit focused on quality of life issues for black communities in Wisconsin, will be celebrating the end of the year, along with its one-year anniversary, with a party at Garfield’s 502. There is a suggested donation of $20 for general admission with additional sponsorship opportunities.
Waukesha County Democratic Party Annual Potluck @ Southminster Presbyterian Church (200 Richard St., Waukesha), 7-9 p.m. Waukesha Democrats and those interested in finding out more about the organization are invited to bring a dish to pass and share at the annual holiday potluck. The potluck will replace the monthly meeting.
Young Worker Committee Monthly Meeting @ Milwaukee Area Labor Council (633 S. Hawley Road), 7-8:30 p.m.
The Milwaukee Area Labor Council’s Young Workers Committee is a group that helps workers under 40 learn, network with each other and meet union activists and leaders. Nonunion-represented workers who are interested in the benefits of a union, or who want to learn how to organize their workplace, are welcome to attend.
Friday, Dec. 21
Voces de la Frontera Waukesha Membership Meeting @ Voces de la Frontera’s Waukesha Headquarters (305 E. Main St., Waukesha), 6-7:30 p.m.
Voces de la Frontera Waukesha will include a “Know Your Rights” workshop and discuss its efforts to restore access to driver’s licenses to immigrants and fight against anti-immigrant policies at its bi-monthly membership meeting.
Saturday, Dec. 22
Peace Action Wisconsin: Stand for Peace @ The corner of Port Washington Road and Silver Spring Drive, noon-1 p.m.
Every Saturday from noon-1 p.m., concerned citizens join with Peace Action Wisconsin to protest war and, literally, “Stand for Peace.” Signs will be provided for those who need them. Protesters are encouraged to stick around for conversation and coffee afterward. 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 Trump and others of his kind have planned for our great country.
NEWS&VIEWS::POLL
You Say Walker and Republicans are Showing Contempt for Democracy Last week, we asked if Scott Walker and Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos are showing contempt for the will of Wisconsin voters by backing lame-duck legislation weakening the power of incoming governor Tony Evers. You said: n Yes: 88% n No: 12%
What Do You Say? After a disappointing year, will the Green Bay Packers rebound next season and make the playoffs? 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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SHEPHERD EXPRESS
NEWS&VIEWS::TAKINGLIBERTIES
Republicans Celebrate Glorious Victory Destroying Healthcare ::BY JOEL MCNALLY
W
isconsin’s recently ousted Republican governor and attorney general, Scott Walker and Brad Schimel, finally have something to celebrate. Their party’s long-sought dream of destroying healthcare for millions of Americans achieved its first legal victory in eight years when a rightwing federal judge in Texas threw out former President Barack Obama’s entire Affordable Care Act (ACA) as unconstitutional. Take that, incoming Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Atty. Gen. Josh Kaul! Both Evers and Kaul won election by taking advantage of the widespread unpopularity of Wisconsin’s support for the Republican lawsuit to destroy the ACA’s guaranteed coverage for pre-existing conditions and public subsidies lowering the cost of healthcare. Now, Walker and Schimel could go down in history as the political martyrs who prevented millions of undeserving Americans from extending their lives through expensive surgeries and high-priced drugs they couldn’t afford. One day, statues might be erected in public squares honoring Walker and Schimel for heroically sacrificing their political careers to protect Wisconsin from the socialist tyranny of Medicare for all. Sharing those honors will be the Republican legislators who stood up to the majority of Wisconsin voters by stripping political powers from Evers, Kaul and any other Democrats who might dare to usurp those offices in the future. The top Republican priority was to prevent Evers and Kaul from pulling Wisconsin out of that Republican lawsuit.
‘Pretty Bananas’
As it turned out, Texas U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor issued his sweeping decision striking down the ACA before Evers and Kaul even took office, but Wisconsin taxpayers could still face years of legal fees by remaining part of the long court battle that still lies ahead before coverage of pre-existing conditions and other popular ACA benefits are completely obliterated. By arguing their case before a Republican-appointed judge in Texas (who was already hostile to the ACA), Republicans got their dream decision. But, even many extremely conservative legal scholars are skeptical of O’Connor’s tortured legal justification for totally upending American healthcare. O’Connor claimed congressional Republicans somehow destroyed the entire law when they passed a tax cut that killed the financial penalty for people who didn’t buy insurance. “It’s pretty bananas,” said Jonathan Adler, SHEPHERD EXPRESS
a law professor at Case Western Reserve University and a member of the conservative Federalist Society who worked on a previous unsuccessful challenge to the ACA before the U.S. Supreme Court. “This decision makes a mockery of the rule of law and basic principles of democracy.” The next step for O’Connor’s decision is the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and, Adler said, “I can’t see who in the Fifth Circuit swallows this.” The U.S. Supreme Court, in decisions written by Chief Justice John Roberts, has twice upheld the ACA as being fully constitutional. Ironically, it could be even worse for Republicans if the Supreme Court agrees to review the ACA again. The soonest that could happen would be 2020. That means voter outrage over continuing Republican attempts to destroy healthcare for millions of people with pre-existing conditions would dominate Donald Trump’s reelection— just as it did during 2018’s midterms. That’s how Democrats won every statewide office in Wisconsin and control of the U.S. House of Representatives. In 2020, Democrats could complete the trifecta by winning the presidency and the U.S. Senate. That’s why Democrats were practically dancing in the streets after the Texas decision, while many Republicans were strangely silent about their glorious legal victory before a rightwing Republican judge. Incoming Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hailed the ruling for exposing “the monstrous endgame of Republicans’ all-out assault on people with pre-existing conditions and Americans’ access to affordable healthcare.”
Trump’s ‘Great News for America’
Most Republicans who dared say anything at all assured the public all those ACA benefits Republicans have repeatedly tried to repeal would continue as the Texas case moves through the courts. One of the few Republicans foolish enough to call public attention to the latest Republican threat to American healthcare was, of course, the fool-in-chief. “As I predicted all along, Obamacare has been struck down as an UNCONSTITUTIONAL disaster!” Trump gleefully tweeted. Another presidential tweet called the decision destroying coverage of pre-existing conditions and every other ACA benefit “Great news for America!” Folks in Wisconsin remember Walker’s dishonest campaign claim that the lawsuit destroying coverage for pre-existing conditions wasn’t really a threat, because Republicans could simply pass a state law restoring those protections. No, they couldn’t. During their ugly, lame-duck session passing laws weakening the elected Democratic governor and attorney general, Republicans couldn’t muster enough votes in one of the nation’s most partisan gerrymandered state legislatures to pass those protections for pre-existing conditions. Some hate-filled Republicans will never vote to protect anything passed by Obama; others just mindlessly vote to destroy healthcare out of habit. There won’t really be any statues in the square honoring Republican losers. The way to protect public health care in America is to stop electing politicians hellbent on destroying it. Comment at shepherdexpress.com. n
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Time to Move Forward on Justice Reform
I
t’s hard to know whether to cheer the creation of the new justice reform task force or feel sorry for its members. Where do they even start? The criminal justice system was beaten and abused by Gov. Scott Walker and Attorney General Brad Schimel, who used it mainly to cater to far-right funders and tough-on-crime reprobates like former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke. Lady Justice is on the ground and weeping. Her scales are nowhere near balanced. Maybe the new task force, appointed by Gov.-elect Tony Evers and Lt. Gov.-elect Mandela Barnes can give the Lady a hanky, help to her feet and give the rest of us a reason to believe that justice actually resides in the Wisconsin criminal justice system. Here are just some of the things the task force—burdened with the official name of “Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Police Advisory Council” should recommend doing: 1. Legalize medical and recreational marijuana. Referendums around the state showed that voters endorse legalization, though to different levels. Enforcement and prosecution of pot laws are grossly racially biased, as evidence continues to show. It’s time for prosecutors—yes, that’s you, John Chisholm—to simply refuse to charge people arrested with small amounts of marijuana. And it’s time for the Legislature to legalize cannabis. 2. Increase the absurdly low $40-an-hour rate the State Public Defender’s Office pays private bar attorneys to represent indigent clients in criminal cases. That amount doesn’t even cover lawyers’ overhead costs.
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who can pay but simply don’t, there are other options, including debt collection and tax intercept. 9. Eliminate life-without-parole sentences for juveniles convicted of homicides—allow parole consideration (not necessarily release) after 15 years. 10. Significantly reduce maximum penalties for felonies. What a great way to reduce prison populations! 11. Eliminate probation/parole revocation for rules-only violations.
3. Make the State Crime Lab independent and NOT a part of any law enforcement agency.
12. Reinstate a robust parole system under new leadership at the Parole Commission.
4. Decriminalize disorderly conduct. Make all disorderly conduct ordinance violations. Let’s use criminal courts for real crimes.
13. Expand compassionate release to allow more ailing and aged inmates who are not threats to society to leave prison.
5. Eliminate the felony bail jumping charge. This is a charge issued for violations of bail conditions set in felony cases. Felony bail jumping charges, which carry a maximum penalty of six years in prison, can be issued for conduct that by itself is not even criminal. Lazy and understaffed prosecutors use it to force plea bargains in cases that might otherwise go to trial.
HALF-OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH AT
::BY GRETCHEN SCHULDT
6. Reform the process for expunging criminal records. Wisconsin should allow an expungement request during or at the end of a sentence. Defendants are now required to ask for expungement eligibility at the time of sentencing. The state should also expand the types of offenses for which expungement is requested to include more criminal charges and municipal ordinance violations. Make expungement available to defendants of all ages, rather than limiting it to defendants under the age of 25. 7. Raise from 17 to 18 the age at which defendants are considered adults in criminal cases; raise from 10 to 18 the age at which defendants charged with some homicides are presumed to be adults. 8. Eliminate the ability of municipalities to incarcerate ordinance violators for non-payment of forfeitures. People who wind up behind bars for failure to pay frequently don’t have any money and can’t pay. (It also would be nice to see forfeiture amounts vary with a defendant’s ability to pay.) For scofflaws
14. Increase education and job training opportunities for inmates. 15. Increase prison wages for inmates. 16. Increase the wages of front-line corrections staff to ensure an adequate, professional workforce. 17. Expand re-entry programs for inmates to help ensure successful transitions to the community. 18. Ensure that state labor laws apply equally to law enforcement employees to eliminate any indication of a special status for officers. Enough of this “divide and conquer” strategy—it is time to come together. 19. Ensure that juveniles are represented by attorneys during police questioning. 20. Review court costs, fines, and fees at all levels to ensure they are not unduly burdensome and are appropriately levied. Gretchen Schuldt is executive director of the Wisconsin Justice Initiative. WJI’s mission is to advocate for progressive change in the Wisconsin justice system by educating the public about its real-life impacts and partnering with other organizations to achieve more just outcomes. Comment at shepherdexpress.com. n
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FEATURE | SHORT ORDER | EAT/DRINK
MidTown Grill
Neighborhood Diner MidTown Grill Brings More BreakfastLunch Options to Tosa and West Side
would do well at the State Fair or dipped into one of MidTown’s milkshakes. My sugar high easily achieved from an appetizer, I went for a slightly more healthy main. The shroom chicka shroom skillet ($11) included sliced chicken sausage heavy on the sage, mushrooms, spinach, tomato, onion and pepperjack, served over ribbon potatoes (think hashbrowns but with thinly shaved potato slices) and topped with three eggs. There was plenty of cheese and fresh spinach, but the ingredients could have used a bit more cooking as there was almost no browning. Over-easy eggs were on point, however. Other skillet options include the Irishman ($12) with corned beef, Swiss and hollandaise, or the chorizo and avocado ($11) with peppers, pepperjack, salsa and sour cream. If you’re starving, the Pasadena breakfast sliders ($9) will fill you up easily. Two not-very-small biscuits are made into sandwiches with an egg, lots of melted cheddar, and your choice of sausage patties, bacon or ham. The biscuits were melt::BY LACEY MUSZYNSKI in-your-mouth and overflowing with filling, making a fork and knife necessary. Signature ribbon potatoes on the side were crisp and piled high. For something more hen Mike Topolovich purchased North Avenue Grill unusual, try the Southern turkey sliders ($9) with deep fried turkey, over-easy egg, six years ago, I don’t know that he had any plans on Swiss and cranberry sage relish on the same biscuits. expansion. As soon as his customers found the neighThree types of pancakes are offered, and you can try them all in one pancake borhood diner, however, they knew they wanted more. flight ($10) with sweet bacon pecan, multigrain with plantains, and cinnamon swirl. The demand led to an expansion of North Avenue Grill’s Creme brûlée French toast ($9) has a shell of caramelized turbinado sugar, a sauce footprint, thanks in big part to the space next door becomof macerated berries and crème anglaise. On the savory side are street breakfast ing vacant. A few months ago, a similar vacancy down the tacos ($11) with either chorizo or beef barbacoa mixed with eggs in corn tortillas, or street prompted Topolovich to branch out even more, opena pork belly sweet potato hash ($11) with eggs and a vegetable slaw blend. ing MidTown Grill in the former John’s Sandwich Shop. Burgers ($9-$13) are done differently here than NAG. They’re smaller with Fans of NAG might do a double take at MidTown Grill, as it’s quarter-pound patties for a more diner-like version. Other wraps and sandwiches, practically the same layout as NAG before the expansion. The like the yardbird ($11) fried chicken breast with Korean gochujang chili sauce and storefront space has a long diner counter with stools opposite a the “better dig the pig” ($12) with a brat patty, pork belly, gouda and bacon-onion row of booths (though these are larger to easily seat six) and an open kitchen in the jam, make up the lunch menu. A seared ahi tuna salad ($12) and a 5-grain power back. The menu is similar as well, with classic diner fare, but smaller and with more bowl ($12) with grains, greens, avocado and beets offer some lighter options. of an emphasis on breakfast, since MidTown is only open for breakfast and lunch. Milkshakes ($6) are over-the-top creations with ingredients like marshmalIt’s quaint, neighborly, and what everyone loved about NAG when it first opened. low whip, Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, and crushed pretzels. If it’s a little I’m always on the lookout for new-to-me brunch items, and one in the “sharetoo early in the morning for that, there’s always local Valentine coffee and able” category of the menu easily won me over. Deep Riverwest-based Brew City nitro. Whether you head to fried bread pudding ($6 on the menu, though I was only MidTown Grill for breakfast or lunch, you’ll get a topcharged $5) is made by cutting dense bread pudding into notch diner experience just like its sister restaurant MidTown Grill cubes, then deep frying and serving them up hot with down the street. 8913 W. North Ave. powdered sugar. The outsides have the taste and texture of 414-837-6400 • $$ funnel cake, while the bread pudding inside is creamy, soft (left) Pork belly sweet potato power hash and full of cinnamon. They were impossible to resist and midtowngrilltosa.com (right) Deep fried bread pudding
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Kringle is Wisconsin’s Official State Pastry LOOK FOR SPECIAL HOLIDAY FLAVORS FROM RACINE BAKERIES ::BY SHEILA JULSON
I
n the foodie world, New York is known for its bagels, and a visit to New Orleans wouldn’t be complete without a beignet. Here, in Wisconsin, kringle has put Racine on the foodie map. The city’s cluster of kringle-specific bakeries, which craft these Scandinavian delights, has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, The New York Times and CBS Sunday Morning. In addition to lefse or lutefisk, Wisconsin’s Scandinavian settlers gifted us with the much more appealing kringle, a buttery, flaky pastry filled with fruit or nut filling. “Kringle has been a Racine area tradition since Danish immigrants brought the pastry here in the mid19th century,” said Marie Heyer, director of marketing at Racine Danish Kringles, 2529 Golf Ave., Racine. Kringle is the Danish word for pretzel, the ancient symbol of the bakers’ guild in Denmark. Kringle pastries were traditionally formed in pretzel shapes, but Racine bakers adopted the oval shape, making it easier to share. Making the kringle’s signature flaky butter dough takes years of practice and oldworld skill taught through generations. An authentic kringle has more than 30 thin layers of flaky butter dough, filled with fruit or nut fillings, and usually topped with white icing. Heyer said that an authentic kringle takes three days to make. “We fold the dough over and over with butter and flour, then we refrigerate the dough, thus creating 81 layers of flake. Our kringles are hand shaped, hand iced and filled with over 30 different flavor options, including traditional flavors such as almond, raspberry and pecan.” Although the kringle is not historically tied to the holiday season, the treat has become a popular gift. “They are such a tradition here in Wisconsin that many people have fond memories of kringle during this time of year. They are a delicious, unique gift, and an easy bak-
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ery pastry to share with a group,” Heyer said. Racine Danish Kringles bakes about 10,000 kringles a day during the holiday season, with holiday flavors such Merry Berry and Santa’s Cinnaberry. They ship to all 50 states, as well as Canada and Puerto Rico. Laurits Bendtsen founded Bendtsen’s Bakery (3200 Washington Ave., Racine) in 1934. The shop has the hallmarks of a cozy neighborhood bakery, including display cases that showcase the shop’s 13 kringle varieties formed by hand. Their pecan kringle is the most popular, and they also feature creative flavors such as turtle or cranberry walnut. Kringle lovers can join their Kringle of the Month Club. O&H Danish Bakery (5910 Washington Ave., Racine) has been producing kringle since 1949. Their 21 flavors include almond, cherry and raspberry, and holiday flavors like eggnog or Christmas Kringle, with chocolate and peppermint filling and red velvet cake bits sprinkled over white icing. In addition to their main store of Washington Avenue, O&H Danish Bakery also has two other locations in Racine, as well as in Sturtevant and Oak Creek. On what makes an authentic Danish kringle: O&H’s vice president Matt Horton says, “This is often the great debate! We believe that authenticity really starts with the method to make a kringle. Similar to other food, there can be so many ways to add ingredients slightly to make subtle differences in the bakery. However, we truly believe that following the same methods our great-grandparents taught us is the most important lesson. That often involves patience, because each kringle takes three full days to make.” Horton believes sharing and tradition make kringles a popular part of the holiday season for many families. “We all have memories of the holidays and what makes them special. Often, it’s a mosaic of thoughts—from the company we keep to the decorations we put up to the favorite foods we eat. Many customers view kringles as part of their special holiday traditions, and ithey’re something that they have had at family occasions over the years.” Lehmann’s Bakery (4900 Spring St., Racine) offers scratch-made fruit- or nut-filled kringles in 14-ounce bars or two 16- or 28-ounce rings. Lehmann’s kringles have a reputation for being hearty and generous with fillings and icing. Larsen’s Bakery (3311 Washington Ave., Racine) uses traditional Danish recipes to create 30 flavors, including almond, cherry or strawberry cheese. They also feature a Kringle of the Month, with December’s being chocolate mint. Ask five people who makes the best kringles, and you’ll likely get five different answers, proving that there are enough dedicated kringle lovers to keep kringle bakers busy for decades to come.
Located in the Country Inn & Suites • 350 E Seven Hills Rd • Port Washington (414) 803-5177 • www.lepantobanquet.com D E C E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 8 | 15
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IT’S FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! For more information call 414-302-4308
Holiday Gift Pages Browse pages 16 - 19 for holiday gifts that will make the season bright!
AMERICAN SCIENCE & SURPLUS Don’t stick just anything in their stockings…shop with geeks, treasure hunters, artists and mad scientists for the most incredible stuff in Milwaukee! From robotic lizards and wooden catapult kits to beaker mugs and ludicrously-bright flashlights, American Science & Surplus has thousands of unique items to educate, entertain and most certainly give you a reason to giggle.
ART BAR Art*Bar’s 12th annual “mini” show is the biggest and best tiny art show of its kind. Tiny art @ tiny prices: Everything is smaller than 8” x 8” and sells for less than $100! More than 150 local artists and more than 1,800 pieces of art. The show is reloaded with new art every day from now until Christmas; show ends Sunday, December 30.
BAY VIEW PRINTING COMPANY A community-focused design and letterpress print shop, their days are spent crafting one-of-a-kind impressions on paper and, by night, opening up type drawers and teaching you how to do the same. Treat your peeps to a Drink&Ink gift card this season, and 16 | D E C E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 8
you’ll be gifting an amazing night of drinks and poster printing at their weirdly awesome, 100-year-old letterpress print shop—an experience they’ll never forget!
BILTRITE FURNITURE-LEATHERMATTRESSES A 4th generation local, family business that has proudly served the Milwaukee area since 1928 that takes pride in their quality, pricing and personal service. Their specialties include affordable, better quality furniture and mattresses, mostly USA- and Amish-made, and small-scale furniture. They have a huge in-stock selection as well as affordable custom options with your choice of fabric, leather, wood, finish and hardware.
BREW CITY BRANDS Established in 1986, Brew City Brand is a family-owned, Milwaukee-based clothing company that designs and prints incredibly local products—it celebrates everything that makes Milwaukee iconic. You’ll find the perfect gift for that special someone (or for yourself!) to show off that unique Milwaukee pride—think t-shirts, glassware, can coozies, sweatshirts, socks and even beer-scented SHEPHERD EXPRESS
candles. Brew City has three retail locations at the Milwaukee Public Market, General Mitchell Field Airport and Southridge Mall or online at www.brewcityonline.com.
stay for a tour and tasting--it’s just a quick road trip away! Pick up a bottle for a gift and don’t forget one for yourself; after all, it is the holidays.
BREWED CAFÉ
JEWELERS GUILD
In the bottom of a house on the East Side’s Historic Brady Street lies a brightly colored, delightfully warm and homey cafe. Brewed serves up all-day breakfast, sandwiches and weekly homemade soup specials in a cozy space. You are invited to sit, relax and enjoy a cup of their excellent coffee or mull their eclectic art over a glass of wine or beer.
BUDDY SQUIRREL Buddy Squirrel combines the best of both worlds when it comes to satisfying your sweet tooth or craving for salt. Whether you’re looking for confections, nuts or gourmet popcorns, Buddy Squirrel offers a wide selection of award-winning specialties at three, convenient retail locations. Treat yourself or that special someone to delicious indulgences that are handmade using traditional recipes to make the perfect gift, holiday treat or party favor!
CASCIO MUSIC Join this 72-year-old musical instrument retailer in celebrating the season! Their experienced music team looks forward to serving everyone from the budding musician to the seasoned rock star and everyone in between!
CBD THERAPEUTICS OF WI CBD Therapeutics of WI is a local, family business of Organic CBD products in Southeastern WI. All products are made from organic fair-trade ingredients, contain 99% pure CBD isolate and are THC free. CBD Therapeutics Gift Bags are loaded with products at a steep discount that’s perfect for gifting.
CHRISTMAS IN THE WARD Make your list, check it twice, then get all your holiday shopping done in the national and locally owned shops of the Historic Third Ward. You’ll find the perfect gifts for all the special people on your list.
DAVID BARNETT GALLERY
Have you been to David Barnett Gallery? Located within the historic Button Mansion overlooking Lake Michigan, the gallery houses over 6,000 artworks from around the world in a variety of styles and prices. No wonder it has been revered as a Wisconsin art destination! The gallery offers custom picture framing, art appraisals, restoration, installation, and giclée printing. Gift Certificates available!
FISCHBERGER’S VARIETY Fischberger’s Variety, a one-of-a-kind gift shop masquerading as an old-time variety store, aims to have the finest and freshest build-your-own $20 gifts for all ages. You’ll find unique, thoughtful gifts including a large selection of books, quality toys, home goods, yarn and fun, cool stuff guaranteed!
GREAT NORTHERN DISTILLING Is one of your favorite gifts to give or receive a bottle liquor? If so, Great Northern Distilling has what you need. Distilled in Plover, WI, they embrace the ingredients grown in the fields around them. Visit their distillery to see the process in action and SHEPHERD EXPRESS
Besides the typical jewelry store amenities, the Jewelers Guild offers beautiful retail jewelry showcasing 100% handcrafted works by talented jewelers that are ready to go home with you. However, their specialty is custom pieces designed just for you!
KILWINS Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. Just about everyone loves chocolate, especially at the holidays, and Kilwins selection is made from the finest ingredients on earth. You’ll melt their hearts as it melts in their mouths. Don’t forget their luscious caramels, creamy ice cream or fudge. You can even take a class!
MONCHES FARM Located in the scenic Holy Hill area of Wisconsin, is a charming and beautiful property decorated with a huge selection of fresh wreaths, trees and garlands. Stroll the grounds and say hello to the doves in the greenhouse and meet the flock of rare and heritage breed chickens. The lovely shop has a truly incredible and unusual selection of distinctive, imaginative gifts, antiques and décor. Visit them again or learn why they are a year-round favorite of so many!
Holiday Hours: Open—Sun., Dec. 23 11am-2pm | Closed—Mon., Dec. 24 and Tues., Dec. 25 Back To Normal Hours—Wed., Dec. 26
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SCHWANKE-KASTEN JEWELERS Great things come in small packages at Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers. Since 1899, they have offered beautiful engagement rings, jewelry and timepieces. Their longstanding reputation of outstanding customer service, with onsite gemologists, goldsmith and watchmaker has made them one of the most trusted and respected jewelers in the Milwaukee area. This holiday season, shop local at Schwanke-Kasten!
SPARROW COLLECTIVE A brick-and-mortar boutique and gift shop featuring contemporary clothing and artisan goods. Their local gallery sells handcrafted items such as printed tees, jewelry, accessories, bath and home goods, candles, gifts and so much more. Featuring monthly metalsmithing, jewelry, calligraphy and fiber classes in their Milwaukee shop.
CBD THERAPEUTICS OF WI PRODUCTS CAN BE FOUND AT LANDRIGHT’S BOTANICAL HEALING CENTER. ALL PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED HERE IN SOUTHEAST WI.
Holiday Gift Certificates are available for CBD products and CBD massage and/or yoga packages. Store Specials: CBD Dec. Gift Bags: A bundle of products at a discounted price 8652 S. Market Pl. Oak Creek • (414) 236-2911 • cbdtherapeuticsofwi.com
LOOK FOR OUR NEW KIOSKS-NOW OPEN-IN EAST AND WEST TOWN MALLS IN MADISON
URSA Come visit URSA and enjoy a unique shopping experience in their relaxing, sun-filled boutique. You’ll find a unique collection of gifts and goods to make your home look and feel it’s best. You’ll also find women’s & men’s apparel, jewelry, apothecary goods, houseplants and a wide selection of space cleansing incense, smudge sticks and candles. Shop with them on KK in Bay View. Free parking available in their lot.
THE WAXWING Find a unique, one-of-a-kind, handmade gift for nearly every occasion at The Waxwing, a Milwaukee boutique giftshop that features the work of more than 350 local and national makers! You’ll find this treasure located on Milwaukee’s East Side at the corner of North and Oakland avenues.
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FEATURE | FILM | THEATRE | ART | BOOKS | CLASSICAL MUSIC | DANCE
Remembering the Movies We Enjoyed ::BY RICHARD G. CARTER
n the Milwaukee post office years of my youth, Richard Wiley and I used to pass what seemed like endless nights discussing movies, sports and women while sorting what seemed like thousands of letters of all sizes and shapes. It was a dead-end Civil Service job, but we had families to feed, and jobs in the 1960s were hard to come by for black men in town. So, we became clerks at the old main post office on East Wisconsin Avenue, now the scene of an extensive construction project. In those days—prior to zip codes, extensive automation and computers—night postal clerks devised many ways to alleviate boredom on the job. Some bet on addresses as poker hands, rated different categories of females on a 1-10 scale, played sports trivia games and engaged in one-upmanship telling off-color jokes. With Wiley and me, it usually boiled down to movies we had enjoyed. Not current ones—they were for those without our insights—but oldies. Wiley was an all-world film buff, and better at it than me. He had total recall of lines, characters and plots. Around 9 p.m. one particular night, after three hours of throwing letters, Wiley hit on the idea of picking our favorite flicks from the 1940s and ’50s. It sounded good to me. But, before taking this fanciful trip down movie memory lane, it occurred to us to recall bravura performances by three fine black actors in several of our favorites. We listed:
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n Canada Lee in Alfred Hitchcock’s tingling Lifeboat (1944). As Joe Spencer, ex-pickpocket and ship steward in World War II, he saves a female passenger and baby, lifts a compass from a German submarine survivor and disarms a German sailor they rescued. n James Edwards as Peter Moss in the controversial racial drama Home of the Brave (1949). His portrayal of a soldier who endures intense taunting from a white soldier on a World War II Pacific island earned admiration from black and white movie audiences. n Juano Hernandez in the wonderful Young Man with a Horn (1950). As trumpet virtuoso Art Hazzard (a story based on the life of legendary jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke), he teaches Kirk Douglas how to play, as well as how to live. Wiley and I agreed that these black actors lifted every film or play in which they appeared. Indeed, Lee’s work as Bigger Thomas in Richard Wright’s Native Son on Broadway in 1941 earned him rave reviews, with one famous critic calling him “the greatest Negro actor of his era, and one of the best actors in the country.” Back to our favorites from the ’40s and ’50s, we decided to select 10 from each decade—a daunting task indeed. But, 15 minutes after racking our brains during a sodapop break, we each had a written list on which we mostly agreed or compromised. Wiley and I chose Battleground (1949) as our favorite ’40s film—one of that memorable movie decade’s all-time greatest. Featuring an all-star MGM cast, it garnered six Academy Award nominations, including best picture, director and supporting actor. The rest weren’t as easy. But, by 2 a.m. quitting time, our other 1940s faves were Double Indemnity and Lifeboat (1944); The Best Years of Our Lives, My Darling Clementine and The Killers (1946); The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948); Home of the Brave and Twelve O’Clock High (1949). We chose Sunset Boulevard (1950), the stunning story of a faded silent film actress, as our favorite film of that postwar decade. This one copped eight Oscar nominations, including best picture, director, actress, actor and supporting actress. Other ’50s were The Asphalt Jungle and Young Man with a Horn (1950); High Noon (1952); From Here to Eternity and Stalag 17 (1953); Love Me or Leave Me (1955); The Bridge on the River Kwai and Paths of Glory (1957). After work, as Wiley and I reviewed what we wrought over a cold beer, it dawned on us that we had not chosen a single Orson Welles’ film from the 1940s. For example, we failed to include Citizen Kane (1941)—considered by many as the greatest movie of all time—which received six Oscar nominations. We also didn’t include its fine follow-up, The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), his suspenseful The Stranger (1946) and the stunning The Lady from Shanghai (1948). Then, I suddenly remembered I had overlooked my favorite Edward G. Robinson flick, Key Largo (1948) with Humphrey Bogart, Lionel Barrymore and Lauren Bacall. Wiley laughed heartedly as he recalled Robinson’s great bathtub scene. The movie trivia game I played with the late Richard Wiley was the best part of the otherwise drab, pre-journalist post office nights of my Milwaukee hometown youth. Richard G. Carter was a Milwaukee Sentinel reporter, Milwaukee Journal columnist and local radio commentator, a New York Daily News columnist, and has appeared on Larry King Live and Donahue.
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A&E::INREVIEW
C A MERON M ACKINTOSH’S S PE CTA CU L A R NEW P RODU CTION OF
A N D R E W L L O Y D W E B B E R ’S
Off The Wall’s ‘Cole and Noel’
Anything Goes at Off the Wall’s Holiday Party ::BY BLAINE SCHULTZ
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he idea is a simple one: Cole Porter and Noel Coward return from Heaven for a holiday performance, just enough time to present over 30 songs in a two-act musical revue. Theater-goers sat elbow-to-elbow in Off the Wall’s shotgun theater for a fast-paced Sunday matinee that used witty dialogue to tie together some of the best-known songs from the last century. With Dale Gutzman as Coward and Jeremy C. Welter as Porter, the duo welcomed party guests decked out in tuxedos and formal gowns. A dozen actors and a two-piece orchestra comprised the revolving cast, offering chestnuts such as “Anything Goes,” “Don’t Fence Me In,” “Night and Day” and “Let’s Do It.” “Mad About the Boy” found four actresses of varied ages and social standings (from schoolgirl to cleaning lady to high society matron in a mink) declaring their love for an unattainable movie star, with Liz Norton’s powerful voice taking the spotlight. Porter and Coward’s rapier wit may have sailed over the heads of some of their audience in their heyday, but in hindsight these wordsmith’s coded signifiers and double entendre can be viewed as roadmaps to their almost-acknowledged homosexuality. Gutzman and Welter take the opportunity to explain what might not have been so obvious in a recitation of the lyric to Coward’s “Green Carnation,” or the between-the-lines inferences of “Don’t Fence Me In.” Yet, it wasn’t all camp. Gutzman introduced “London Pride” as being sung on London streets during the German Blitz of World War II. “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” recalled a time when England was convinced it ruled the world. There were in-jokes, “Nina From Argentina” featured “bored” backing vocalists decked out in straw hats and maracas, “on loan from the Sunset Playhouse,” which brought a withering glance from Porter. He also delivered a barb as Coward led up to intermission, suggesting it would give him a chance to “find a light for your obviously fake cigarette.” Intermission began, or never really ended, with stagehands Larry Lukasavage and Thomas Welcenbach sweeping the stage and then opening the next act with “Brush Up Your Shakespeare.” Globe-trotting and steamer trunks got updated with references to cell phone selfies in Coward’s “Why Do the Wrong People Travel,” and “(When It’s Cocktail Time in) Siberia” acknowledged the prevalence of drinking culture throughout the performance. The clarion call of “Blow, Gabriel, Blow!” sent the message that it was time for Porter and Coward to re-shuffle off this mortal coil. The finale, “Let’s Do It,” is a sly update that incorporated references to Vice President Mike Pence, Aretha Franklin, Taylor Swift, Julia Child and “young men who’ll sell antiques.” It was a twist worthy of the Capitol Steps. SHEPHERD EXPRESS
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::THISWEEKINMILWAUKEE
Wild Pink
THURSDAY, DEC. 20 Wild Pink w/ Thompson Springs @ The Back Room at Colectivo, 8 p.m.
For whatever reason, slowcore hasn’t been passed down from generation to generation the way that some sub-genres of indie-rock have been, but the Brooklyn trio Wild Pink show how powerful those sounds can still be when they’re done right. Drawing on the distinctive, purposeful pacing of bands like Red House Painters and Codeine, theirs is a particularly crisp, muscular take on the style. The group followed up their 2017 self-titled debut album with a louder, more assured record this year called Yolk in the Fur. Like many of the most exciting indie-rock records of the last couple of years, both were released on the label Tiny Engines.
Flatbush Zombies
FRIDAY, DEC. 21
Flatbush Zombies w/ Denzel Curry and A$AP Twelvyy @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
Rhett Miller w/ Trapper Schoepp @ The Back Room at Colectivo, 8 p.m.
EBRU YILDIZ
FRIDAY, DEC. 21 Rhett Miller never let his solo ambitions get in the way of his alt-country band Old 97’s, even after he found considerable critical and commercial success with his 2002 solo debut The Instigator. He’s continued writing and recording with Old 97’s while juggling a solo career on the side. His most recent solo records—including 2015’s The Traveler, an inward-leaning indie-pop album recorded with assistance from R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and members of The Decemberists, and this year’s plainspoken The Messenger—give him a chance to take a breather from Old 97’s breathless rock ’n’ roll and showcase some of his most personal songs. He’ll be joined on this bill by a kindred spirit: Milwaukee’s Trapper Schoepp, who has a new album planned for early next year.
SATURDAY, DEC. 22 Mark Waldoch and Testa Rosa Holiday Special @ The Cooperage, 8 p.m.
Rhett Miller 24 | D E C E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 8
New York may no longer be hip-hop’s creative center, but there’s still no shortage of young talent coming out of the city. Flatbush Zombies have been one of the better acts to emerge from Brooklyn over the last few years, a group with a clear appreciation for the genre’s past and a clear vision for where they’d like to take it going forward. On their 2016 debut album 3001: A Laced Odyssey, they resurrect the gritty horrorcore sound pioneered by The Gravediggaz then put their own bleakly psychedelic spin on it, creating an album that feels strangely out of time. The band’s new sophomore album Vacation in Hell is even more expansive, and features guest spots from Joey Badass, Jadakiss, A$AP Twelvyy, Bun B and, most memorably, the alternative band Portugal. The Man. Flatbush Zombies return to the Rave after a sold-out show there in May.
Each year local Milwaukee music scene fixtures Mark Waldoch and Testa Rosa curate a holiday bill filled with surprise collaborations, covers and originals. And unlike the holiday specials you grew up watching on TV, these specials don’t repeat themselves. This year the musicians have organized a fresh lineup featuring Chris Rosenau, Lex Allen, Barry Clark, Caley Conway, Mike Noyce, Jeff Mitchell, Rae Cassidy and Joe Crockett, as well as the live debut of L’Resorts, the new project from Jaill’s Vincent Kircher and Lady Cannon’s Martha Cannon. The group released a debut EP of dreamy, tropical-inspired throwback pop called Christmas is a Time For Dreaming earlier this month. SHEPHERD EXPRESS
JANICE VOGT
STEVE LANKFORD
Read our daily events guide, Today in Milwaukee, on shepherdexpress.com
George Winston
SistaStrings and Nickel&Rose
SATURDAY, DEC. 22
SistaStrings and Nickel&Rose @ Anodyne Coffee, 8 p.m.
Though sisters Monique and Chauntee Ross of the string duo SistaStrings approach their music from a classical background, their sound has proven exceptionally portable. They dabble in R&B, hip-hop, jazz and rock as well, and they’ve performed with artists from all of those worlds. Lately their drive for collaboration has led to performances with another Milwaukee duo, the folk enthusiasts Nickel&Rose, who this year released their breakout EP Americana to exceptional reviews around Milwaukee and beyond. After playing together at the Washington Park concert series this summer, the two acts put together this show, which will feature individual sets from both groups then end with a combined set.
All Time Low w/ The Maine and The Wrecks @ The Rave, 7 p.m.
Who said emo is something you outgrow? All Time Low first received national attention in 2003, when its members were still in high school, but adulthood hasn’t stopped the quartet from continuing to wallow in teen-like angst—albeit to a new background of R&B sounds. Their seventh studio album, The Last Young Renegade, came out last year to favorable reviews, including one from Rolling Stone which, noting the band’s newfound pop influence, commended them for broadening their sound “without jeopardizing what has made them so appealing to young listeners for more than a decade.” They’ve got some experience playing Milwaukee: This will be their 17th performance at the Rave, and they’ll be joined by The Maine, who will be playing the venue for the 14th time. SHEPHERD EXPRESS
SUNDAY, DEC. 23
George Winston @ Marcus Center, 7 p.m.
A pioneer of a R&B-inspired playing style he’s dubbed “rural folk piano,” pianist George Winston has released 14 albums of solo piano, including his latest, Spring Carousel, a cancer research benefit album released on RCA Records. For this performance, though, Winston will draw from the two tribute albums he recorded to Vince Guaraldi, the famed jazz pianist beloved for his soundtrack to the “Charlie Brown Christmas” special. The show will also highlight other seasonal music.
Anuel AA @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
One of the biggest stories in music this year was the rise of Latin trap, which crossed over to American charts in a big way. One of the guys leading that charge was Anuel AA, a Puerto Rican rapper with a reggaeton-inspired flow. His debut Real Hasta La Muerte premiered at number one on Billboard’s Latin albums chart, and just a month later he scored a number one on the Latin Songs chart with his 6ix9ine collaboration “Bebe.” More recently he was featured on Meek Mill’s new album Championships, on one of the album standouts “Uptown Vibes.”
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A&E::VISUALART
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CLASSICALMUSIC
“Don’t Do the Crime if You Can’t Make It Rhyme!” As Milwaukee Metro Voices’ John Buchel says of the ensemble’s next concert, subtitled “A Revue of Music by Jason Powell,” “Tickets are only $16, so we hope it is a very accessible way to take a break and enjoy some entertainment during the holiday season.” Powell, MMV’s creative director, has several hit musicals under his belt, including For Purely Elfish Reasons, Invader? I Hardly Knew Her and Fortuna the Time-Bender vs. the Schoolgirls of Doom. Powell’s original music has anchored these and other eclectic, fan-favorite theatrical productions. At this revue, the audience will hear several of Powell’s clever, wide-ranging original tunes, including “Sweet Midwestern Girl,” “I Like You,” “The Trout Uprising of 2017” and “I’m Good.” This being the holiday season, Powell will also include some of his original holiday jingles. Founded in 2006, Milwaukee Metro Voices showcases local talent in original works of music, theatre and more. (John Jahn) Dec. 20-23 at The Underground Collaborative, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave. For tickets, visit milwaukeemetrovoices.org. 26 | D E C E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 8
SABLE ELYSE SMITH
“ORDINARY VIOLENCE” At the Haggerty Museum of Art ::BY SHANE MCADAMS
A
s French historian and social theorist Michel Foucault wrote famously in Discipline and Punish, “Truth is a thing of this world: it is produced only by virtue of multiple forms of constraint.” Despite that phrase’s enduring wisdom, one evokes Foucault’s writing with a cringing hesitation, given what have become almost parodic associations with certain superficial academic pretentions and bongo-circle radicalisms spawned in the decades following its publication. That said, his knowing spirit seems to hover above Sable Elyse Smith’s current exhibition, “Ordinary Violence” at the Haggerty Museum of Art, as both a scholar of punishment control and surveillance and, less obviously, as a symbol of how our perceptions might tend to consolidate around stereotypes in general.
Smith’s work emerges from her own uneasy relationship to the American penal system, which absorbed her father, her community and her country as a whole. The works at the Haggerty merge multi-disciplinary contemporary art forms and raw personal psychology into complex and contradictory results. One of the more subtle and evocative moments in the show comes from a seemingly unassuming, untitled block of dimensional wall text. It’s purposefully difficult to read, with irregular letter spacing applied to fit into a tight rectangle. The unpunctuated text provides a fragmented and impressionistic account of Sable Smith’s frustratingly regulated visits to see her father in prison. “…HARSH AND FRIGID… YOU CAN ONLY CARRY A SEE THROUGH POUCH…” The illegibility stands as a metaphor for the physical act of institutionalized and tightly regulated personal engagement with tedious bureaucracy. It also leans on our expectations as viewers in a museum, as we hope for an elegant esthetic exchange, but are instead offered a challenging interpretive struggle. A struggle that must barely approximate the depths of Smith’s own experiences. Smith ingeniously inverts the metaphor of confinement in a separate gallery with a 15-foot high-arched passageway constructed of end-toend prison commissary tables, titled “Swear it closed, closes it.” The soaring sculpture encourages a free and casual physical passage only before the inevitably toxic reminder of its components’ function sets in. The piece is handsome enough to escape the gravity of its suggestive narrative for a moment, but ultimately remains grounded in her story. This is especially true as one considers the other visual takes on her relationship with the penitentiary, including a haunting video and a series of deceptively naïve works on paper based on pages from a book designed to help children like Smith cope with the grief and struggle of dealing with incarcerated loved ones. Smith’s show was mentioned to me weeks ago
as an example of “identity politics,” a lazy term that has coagulated into meaninglessness, but as a result has somehow become more meaningful. In the way terms like “bully” or “fascist” have; the less meaning, the more power it has, as if by natural law. And more power means more division. Not nearly as divisive, “conceptual art” too has congealed into cliché. If you’re at a polite dinner party and you say you like conceptual art, few would assume you simply mean that you like art about concepts, instead they’d probably assume you were identifying yourself as a sophisticate. This is a constraint on the term, not on the truth. Good art is always conceptual, in that it’s about something. And this is art’s great promise; to provide some kind of otherness and strangeness to help us reexamine labels yearning to be simplified. America has the most sprawling and bloated penal system in the history of mankind, and it has become simply acceptable. Sable Elyse Smith’s personal tragedy along with the immeasurable social traumas brought on by the system have become so diffused in a sea of statistics, legal nonsense and complacency we don’t even see it as strange anymore. Smith’s work tries to remind us of how brutally surreal it is, but that system will fight perpetually to neutralize its strangeness. Foucault, who assiduously studied 400 years of the history of the modern penal system, told us that “multiple forms of constraint” were not merely physical, but linguistic, psychological and creepingly subtle. It’s like he wrote about the American penal system from the future, knowing how easy and natural it would be to create consent around social deviancy. Which is why it’s so ironic, and should be a lesson, that Foucault’s own legacy has become somewhat obscured and squeezed by the same constraining forces. Sable Elyse Smith, Landscape II, neon, 16 x 108”, 2017 SHEPHERD EXPRESS
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A&E::FILM
Sex, Intrigue and All Those Powdered Wigs! RACHEL WEISZ PLAYS ‘THE FAVOURITE’ IN PROVOCATIVE NEW FILM ::BY DAVID LUHRSSEN
ueen Anne gave her name to their wiles through the women. Anne is played a gracefully curved style of as neurotic and vacillating, uncertain of herself furniture. Her 12-year reign is and needing a strong guiding hand. There is neiotherwise little remembered. Al- ther king nor prince consort. None of her many though the 18th-century monarch children survived childhood in a world where left only a slight legacy, The Fa- even royalty was prey to high infant mortalvourite finds interest in her story. In the latest film ity. Tough-minded Sarah acts as gatekeeper by provocateur Yorgos Lanthiand wife-in-charge, caring for mos, Anne (Olivia Colman) is the hobbled and gouty queen, at the center of vicious courtly ordering the palace routine, The Favourite and sexual intrigues, only some controlling access to the monOlivia Colman of it provoked by men. Anne arch and dictating state policy. governs Great Britain largely on Rachel Weisz Anne is depicted—perhaps unthe advice of two women, first fairly—as knowing little about Directed by from Sarah Churchill (Rachel her country’s war with France, Yorgos Lanthimos Weisz) and then from Abigail a wasteful conflict encouraged Rated R Hill (Emma Stone). by the Marlboroughs and opDeborah Davis’ tart screenposed by Harley. play puts the men in second Abigail enters the picture place. Even Britain’s leading politicians, Sar- on a crowded carriage rattling down the rutted ah’s flustered husband, the Duke of Marlbor- road to the palace. She is Sarah’s cousin from ough (Mark Gatiss) and his scheming foe, the a fallen branch of gentlefolk and arrives for her foppish Harley (Nicholas Hoult), must work job interview splattered with horse dung and
‘The Favourite’
haloed with flies. “Friends of yours?” Sarah quips. Although given the lowest job as a scullery maid, Abigail makes herself useful by preparing a soothing herbal salve for Anne’s painful gout. It’s a step up the ladder, and Abigail proves to be an agile climber. Lanthimos shoots many scenes from askew angles or with concave or convex lenses to suggest the warped shape of 18th-century society. The settings contrast the poor servant class, confined to cramped and dingy spaces, with their masters, gliding across polished floors through gilded caverns of consumption. The poor have low ceilings. The rich have roofs that touch the sky. Political rivalry plays out in the darkness of the candlelit palace and its torchlit grounds. Britain is no longer an absolute monarchy but the parliamentary system is still teething.
Matters of state are conducted by ministers huddled around the queen’s sick bed. Representing the rising urban merchant class, the Marlboroughs want war and tax hikes to pay for it. Standing for the landed gentry, Harley is against war and taxes and wants Abigail as his spy. He thinks nothing of knocking her into a ditch to display his power over her. Then again, Sarah threatens her with a pistol. Abigail begins the story as a relative innocent but in the end, no one is good. The Favourite is a lavishly staged satire on the age of powdered wigs (Whigs?) with dialogue that lashes like a serpent’s tongue. Although falsely marketed as comedy, The Favourite is more a tragedy about power and what lack of power can mean in an unjust society where everyone is allowed—even encouraged—to torment the less fortunate.
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Winners will be announced on January 22, 2019 From 5-8:30pm at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino www.shepherdtickets.com
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SHEPHERD EXPRESS
[ FILM CLIPS ] Bumblebee PG-13
Portraying newly 18-year-old Charlie, Hailee Steinfeld’s character discovers that her old Volkswagen Beetle is actually Transformer B-127. Having recently lost her father, Charlie bonds with B-127, a lost soul she names Bumblebee. Along with teen neighbor Memo (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.), Charlie helps Bumblebee hide from Decepticon scouts (voices of Angela Bassett and Justin Theroux), while preparing to fulfill his destiny of saving the Earth and humanity. Directed with sensitive coherence by Travis Knight, this Christina Hodson screenplay explores how Charlie’s and Bumblebee’s friendship helps them to heal and fully reach their potential. (Lisa Miller)
Mary Poppins Returns PG
This sequel to the 1964 film duplicates the original’s innocence in a ravishing production. Recently widowed Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw) is raising his three kids with help from his sister, Jane (Emily Mortimer), when he learns the family home is slated to be foreclosed upon in a mere five days. Enter Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt), who helps Michael find his mojo while restoring his children’s happiness. Poppins’ lamplighter friend, Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda), bolsters the film’s whimsical song-and-dance numbers. Fleshed out with new hum-able tunes, Blunt sings, as do Miranda, Meryl Streep and, yes, Dick Van Dyke, the latter appearing in an extended cameo. (L.M.)
Mortal Engines PG-13
It’s 1,700 years in the future, and large cities are nomadic steampunk machines. Mounted atop enormous tanks, they survive by gobbling up villages and Earth’s remaining resources. Teenage Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar) survives off the land. She is tracking Valentine (Hugo Weaving), one of mobile London’s elite, because he killed her mother. To bring him down, Hester teams up with Tom Natsworthy (Robert Sheehan), an outcast historian, and Anna Fang (Jihae), an outlaw airplane pilot. Hester, in turn, is targeted by Valentine’s cyborg assassin (Stephen Lang). Conceived in the ’80s and intended for adults by author Philip Reeve, this multi-book tale was scooped up by Scholastic Books after Reeve rewrote it for young readers. Peter Jackson wrote the screenplay of book one with his visual effects creator, Christian Rivers, directing. Up to eight sequels may follow. (L.M.)
The Mule R
Inspired by a New York Times article, “The Sinaloa Cartel’s 90-Year-Old Drug Mule,” Clint Eastwood (age 88) portrays an elderly, yet prolific drug courier. The real mule sought to save his daylily farm from foreclosure, then became enamored of three figures wages per trip. Well-versed in playing the curmudgeon, Eastwood works from a script by Nick Schenk who creates a lived-in history for Earl Stone. Judging from similar Eastwood directed/starring films such as Blood Work and Gran Torino, we’ve every reason to expect an engaging character and story. (L.M.)
[ HOME MOVIES / NOW STREAMING ] n Agony
David Clay Diaz’s Agony is set in Vienna, not the postcard town but a city as dreary as anywhere else. It jumps in place and time following the lives of two young men: Alex, dreaming of becoming a professional boxer; and Christian, a law student. Their stories are as disjointed and ungrounded as contemporary life. Alex has the violent misogyny rap down pat—he talks the street talk. But one wonders what Christian is capable of?
n Outrage Coda
Beat Takeshi has a face (and voice) familiar to fans of Japanese gangster movies. Hoarse and implacable behind the shades he seldom removes, Takeshi plays mid-level crime boss Otomo in the concluding title of the director-star’s “Underworld” trilogy. After a ruthless gangbanger harms his prostitutes, Otomo escalates vengeance into all-out war. Outrage Coda is interesting for depicting the rigorous—yet often broken—code of East Asian syndicates with elaborate rituals of obeisance and saving face.
n “Ernie Kovacs: The Centennial Edition”
Ernie Kovacs (1919-1962) was often pointedly bumbling as he had fun with the nascent medium of television. Watching some of the early 1950s shows collected here, his irony seems to foretell David Letterman and his wacky surrealism was a foretaste of Monty Python. The new nine-DVD set houses 22 hours of Kovacs, including his prime-time network broadcasts, a rare pilot episode costarring Buster Keaton, his intentionally goofy gameshow and even his Dutch Masters cigar commercials.
n The Apartment
Director Billy Wilder’s brilliant 1960 satire of American corporate-sexual life stars Jack Lemmon as a clerk in an insurance company. Eager to climb the ladder to the executive suite, he will do almost anything to spur his advance, including loaning his apartment to his suburban higher-ups as a trysting spot with female employees (they tell their wives they’re “working late”). He co-stars with Shirley MacLaine as the vulnerable sex interest of the boss Fred MacMurray. —David Luhrssen
Roma R
The film’s title refers to a Mexico City neighborhood, but in a double meaning, it might also allude to Rome, Open City and other classics of Italian neo-realism. Like directors of that genre, Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity) filmed Roma in somber shades of black and white, which also serves to better focus on the human-scale characters and their situations. Visual distractions are minimized, even when the frames are crowded. There are even Felliniesque moments when upper-class hacienda guests sip their cocktails as the lower class fights a fire only a few feet away. The story of a maid in a middle-class household plays out slowly with little editing, sometimes as if in real time. (David Luhrssen)
Second Act PG-13
Though talented and possessing hard-earned knowledge to spare, 40-year-old Maya (Jennifer Lopez) can advance no further without a college degree. Then, a well-meaning friend reinvents Maya’s résumé, procuring her a high-paying job. While something’s gotta give, maybe the movie should look more that the importance of (and reliance on) on-the-job training and less on paying outrageous college tuition. By suggesting that falsified job experience and nepotism are acceptable options, Second Act is simply offensive. (L.M.)
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse PG
Taking a new direction, this animated Spider-Man film bows from Marvel’s multiverse comics. A portal allows Peter Parker/Spider-Man (voiced by Jake Johnson) to meet and train a teenager, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), from another dimension. Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) also finds the portal, throwing in with the guys who are soon joined by various other spideys. They weave a collective web to defeat universe-hopping villain Kingpin (Liev Schreiber). Made by Sony Animation, this well-received adaptation uses jokes to stick to audiences, then hangs on via a constant stream of attitude. (L.M.)
Welcome to Marwen PG-13
Having suffered a devastating beating that nearly killed him, Mark Hogancamp (Steve Carell) meticulously creates an imaginary world where he can heal. Using dolls designed as World War II soldiers and Barbie Doll-like Rosie Riveters, Mark builds an astonishing art installation that is admired and shared by a pretty neighbor, Nicol (Leslie Mann). Viewers see Mark’s vision when his dolls (including one that represents himself) defend all that is right and good. The film delicately balances Mark’s imaginary world against his difficult, sometimes comedic efforts to function in real life—a battle that yields surprising smiles. (L.M.)
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A&E::BOOKS
BOOK|REVIEW
BOOK|PREVIEW
Building the Nation: Missed Opportunities in Iraq & Afghanistan
(POTOMAC BOOKS), BY HEATHER SELMA GREGG
CELEBRATE ‘MIDWINTER DAY’ AT WOODLAND PATTERN ::BY JENNI HERRICK
Under George W. Bush, the U.S. engaged in two costly exercises in “state building,” Afghanistan and Iraq. Both failed miserably and gave rise to Islamist extremist. In Building the Nation, defense analyst Heather Selma Gregg critiques America’s failure to ask the people of those nations what kind of state they wanted. In Iraq, especially grievous was the exclusion of formerly ruling Ba’ath Party members, which denied the new regime expertise, alienated the majority Sunni population and gave rise to ISIS. Gregg writes persuasively on the importance of “national entrepreneurs—artists, authors, socialites, philanthropists” and others who “foster a sense of national unity.” In the U.S., their efforts included the National Park system, the Statue of Liberty and foundational myths that bound an increasingly heterogeneous population together. Knowing how to build nation-states is crucial in an age of transnational terrorists who will fill the void—as did ISIS—if a nation fails. (David Luhrssen)
Torn in Two: The Sinking of the Daniel J. Morrell and One Man’s Survival on the Open Sea (UNIVERSITY
OF MINNESOTA PRESS), BY MICHAEL SCHUMACHER Kenosha-based writer Michael Schumacher has been fishing the Great Lakes for good shipwreck stories. In recent years, he’s written on the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald and published two other accounts of catastrophic lake storms. With Torn in Two, Schumacher explores the 1966 sinking of the Daniel J. Morrell in Lake Huron. Only one sailor survived. For 60 years, the steam-driven ship had been a cog in a bulk-shipping industry that hauled iron ore from Minnesota across waters that promised danger when the fall winds blew. The Morrell had survived many gales, but as the author notes, its old hull was getting brittle with age. As usual, Schumacher finds the human element amidst ship and storms, giving a sense for life on the lakes in the last century. (David Luhrssen) 30 | D E C E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 8
D
ecember 22 is the shortest, darkest day of the year, but 40 years ago, the day was celebrated as the centerpiece to one of the longest and most well-regarded poems in recent years. Bernadette Mayer’s experimental poem Midwinter Day is an artful recounting of a single day’s cycle. It is a book-length epic that moves from fluid dream states, to mundane child-rearing tasks, back to the opaque relaxation as one settles into sleep at the end of the day. Alternating between rhyming couplets, literary-style prose and poetic imagery, Mayer’s poem was created in a single day—Dec. 22, 1978—in Lennox, Mass., and continues to reveal a relevant portrait of an individual’s most ordinary of daily routines, deepest of inner dreams and most powerful of observations. This narrative poem has been touted by fans since its release four decades ago, and this year Woodland Pattern Book Center will commemorate the poem’s (and the day’s) anniversary alongside other poetry aficionados across the country by holding a community reading of Midwinter Day beginning at 3 p.m. Fifteen different readers will recite the six-part poem in its entirety to pay tribute to the darkest, shortest day of the year. Cider and snacks will be available, and attendees are encouraged to contribute what they can.
SHEPHERD EXPRESS
EYE DESIGN MEDIA
::OFFTHECUFF
Tackling Poverty One Meal at a Time
Off the Cuff with Riverwest Food Pantry’s Vincent Noth ::BY ELIZABETH JANOWSKI
R
iverwest Food Pantry’s executive director, Vincent Noth, shares his vision for a Milwaukee with less poverty through a mindful, interactive community food center. Since the late 1970s, the Riverwest Food Pantry has served hundreds of patrons each week from its bases at St. Casimir Church and Frederick J. Gaenslen School. It recently updated its mission to focus not only on food distribution, but on supporting its patrons through mentorship programs and an interactive shopping experience. Off the Cuff sat down with Vincent Noth to learn more about the Riverwest Food Pantry’s vision of alleviating poverty in Milwaukee.
Deanna Thare
Health and Wellness Alternatives for Milwaukee Women OFF THE CUFF WITH BIRTHING INTUITION’S DEANNA THARPE
::BY JEAN-GABRIEL FERNANDEZ
A
ccording to a CDC study, Wisconsin has the highest mortality rate for infants of non-Hispanic black women: 14.28 per 1,000 live births. Along with three other care providers, DeAnna Tharpe—a Milwaukee doula who is sensitive to issues of great concern to many women and African Americans—decided to take the initiative to offer better health and birth-related services to the community. The fruit of their work is the Women’s Health and Wellness Center (5301 W. Hampton Ave.), which celebrated its grand opening on Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. The Wellness Center focuses on offering excellent alternative healthcare to Milwaukeearea women by providing services such as Midwifery Model of Care, doula (birth coaching), Yoni steaming (vaginal care using herbal steam) and Prenatal Care Coordination. Two months after its opening, DeAnna Tharpe agreed to answer our questions. What lead to the creation of the Women’s Health and Wellness Center, and what are your hopes for it? As a doula working in the community, seeing the difficulties women have making appointments and obtaining transportation to and from SHEPHERD EXPRESS
those appointments lead me to think: Why not create a space where providers can support the health and wellness needs of women directly within the community? Knowing African American babies are four times more likely to die before their first birthday ignites the fire inside of me, but we service women of all socioeconomic statuses. We are here to service everyone. This is a movement, not just a project; this movement is the first of its kind, and I plan to see it flourish in cities across the U.S. Is the decision of locating the center in the northwestern part of the city deliberate? If so, why? I definitely deliberately located the Health and Wellness Center in the northwestern part of the city. The city of Milwaukee is the nation’s fifth most impoverished big city. What was unexpected was that I landed in the “Best Baby Zone.” In 2016, 15.4% of babies born in the 53218 zip code have low birth weight, and 14.6% are premature. Are there specific needs of—or a lack of resources for—women of color that the center aims to address? There’s a need for alternative health and wellness services. Our community is lacking continuity of care, inclusive healthcare and informed consent, and we, at Birthing Intuition and Wellness Services, intend to make sure we fill those gaps—making sure families feel whole when they leave our space. Educating the community is one of our biggest goals. How much does it cost for clients to be taken care of at the center? Midwives accept BadgerCare and private insurance, and we work with each family to make sure they have access. Nobody will be denied care because of financial restraints. Has the center been a success so far? Even now, most people are still “in awe” of the services we provide and the realization that there are alternative options to conventional medicine. The local community has been so supportive, but we still have a long road ahead of us. I’m just so thankful for the providers’ support and belief in my vision.
What does it mean for the Riverwest Food Pantry’s mission to go beyond just food? The idea is that we need to have a bigger conversation about the power of food as a public good, as a way to foster public health and community well-being. So, a huge thing we do is use food as a means to have that conversation. People get to shop for their food here, and we organize all of it by its health content. We have an urban farm that grows thousands of pounds of fresh produce, and we rescue produce too. Then, we have chefs come and do cooking demonstrations. We really try to engage as many community members as possible in the process of prepping the food. But, even if we give them great food, there’s still no path to stability, right? So, one small thing we do in that regard is our mentoring program. We partnered with a couple schools of social work to train volunteers to become helpers in people’s lives. We also do advocacy training. A lot of people think poverty is about individuals making bad choices, but that’s actually not true. When you look at Milwaukee—at segregation, the school system, neighborhood safety, the cost of rent and the struggle to access well-paying jobs—you see that poverty is more structural than it is personal. So, we train thousands of volunteers a year to be spokespeople for the fact that we will not fix hunger or poverty in Milwaukee until we address these bigger structural issues. Does the number of people you serve fluctuate at all with the holiday season? Are you more in need of help during this time of year? Actually, those have two totally different answers. Yes, it fluctuates, yes, it’s cyclical and you can predict some patterns. Our busiest months in terms of shoppers are always October and November, and the summer is pretty busy as well. But, as far as us needing help, the irony is the time we need help the least is the holidays because so many volunteers want to help around then. So, how can people get involved? We actually have a tremendous need for volunteers at our farm. What we’re most in need of is people who are able to pick up a slot—say, someone who’s able to come in every Friday morning to sort produce. The other thing we really want people to do is become a mentor. We want volunteers to come with the pathway in mind that maybe they could really walk with people in their crises, in their struggles. We need people to experience that firsthand, because that produces that hunger for advocacy and makes people say, “Wait a minute, this has to change.” Any messages to potential volunteers who might be reading this story? Well, one thing I’d say is that we love Milwaukee. We love this community on the North Side. People will read this, and the mission will draw them. People come and stay for the community. There’s this wellspring of generosity that comes when we realize that no one’s so materially rich that they don’t have profound needs that this community can meet, and no one is so poor that they don’t have profound things to offer. There are riches in our poverties, in our struggles and our vulnerabilities. And so, that spirit of generosity is who we are.
Vincent Noth
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Pasta Tree Restaurant & Wine Bar (1503 N. Farwell Ave.): Missing a deceased relative this holiday? Curious what 2019 might bring? Two mediums hit up the pasta palace for a night of predictions and more with this 6 p.m. party. Enjoy wine and seasonal bar specials as well as a
Dear Ruthie,
p.m. bash.
Christmas is here and I’m freaking out. I don’t even have my tree up and I guess I’m going to have to pull an all-nighter to get it up. I don’t have my shopping done, and I can’t even think about this stupid White Elephant Party I have to go to! I’m in a cookie exchange at work and that’s adding even more anxiety to an already stressful time. Is this what the holidays are all about? Please offer me (and maybe many other people) a few ways to beat holiday stress.
Dear Annie,
Get it here: th
Dec. 20—Ghosts of Christmas Past Mediumship Night at The
appy holidays! It’s time for celebrating and sharing; parties and prayers; food and friends; drinks and delights. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. During this week, my dear Ruthie Rooters, I just want to wish you all a helluva holiday and nifty New Year. Whether you live it up, party down, get cozy or get crazy, I hope this season offers the exact celebration you desire and creates memories you’ll cherish. Cheers to a happy season, my friends. Not everyone, however, is quite as excited as I am about the season. Don’t believe me? Let’s review a message I recently received and see if we can’t send this reader some merry-and- bright vibes!
Please Answer This, Anxious Anne
Shepherd Swag
::RUTHIE’SSOCIALCALENDAR
Take a chill pill, sweetie! Well, okay, maybe stay clear of actual pills, but do take a step back, take a deep breath and try to remember what Christmas is supposed to be about. Start by accepting that you can’t do it all. It’s okay. Really! One year, I had no time to put up a Christmas tree, so I didn’t. You know what happened that year? Not a damn thing. Santa still came, the world still celebrated, and I still had wonderful holiday free of any Christmas-tree-related stress I may have created for myself. White Elephant Party’s too much for you? Don’t go. Cookie exchange getting you crazy? Drop out. If that’s not a possibility (for some bizarre reason), take a shortcut. Grab a kooky gift from around the house or pickup cookies from the bakery on your way home from work one night. Find fast solutions to stressful situations, even if that means leaving your original idea in the dust. Start to re-think holiday traditions in order to make life easier. If holding a yuletide party leads to panic attacks, change your plans. Make it a potluck so you don’t have to cook, suggest meeting friends at a bar or restaurant, or simply don’t host those stressful suckers in the first place. Create new Christmas traditions that better fit your schedule, and you’ll experience less stress and more happiness this holiday season.
henna artist at this change-of-pace soiree. Dec. 20—Silver & Gold Holiday Party at This Is It! (418 E. Wells St.): One of the city’s favorite LGBTQ watering holes is decked out in all its metallic glory to ring in the holidays with you! Join the team for their Christmas bash that includes $3 drink specials, as well as spiked cider and cocoa. Santa is also scheduled to arrive with gifts for all at the 8
Dec. 21—“RuPaul All-Stars” Viewing at Mary’s Arcade (734 S. Fifth St.): Ru’s brought his best gals back for more craziness during this new season of the popular series. Don’t have cable? Don’t worry! Watch each episode, munch on free popcorn and take advantage of drink specials during the weekly 7 p.m. viewing parties. Dec. 22-23—National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation at Avalon Atmospheric Theater (2473 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.): Rise and shine! The Griswold family is hosting a bash, and you’re invited. Watch as they plan the funniest holiday on film. Enjoy the 1989 classic Christmas movie on the big screen at 10:30 a.m. for just $5. Dec. 23—Don’t Do the Crime, If You Can’t Make It Rhyme at The Underground Collaborative (161 W. Wisconsin Ave.): Local songwriter and performer Jason Powell hosts this evening of songs with original music and lyrics in this live 6 p.m. concert. Tickets are going for $18, so liven up your yuletide with a new custom!
Ask Ruthie a question and share your events at dearruthie@shepex.com. Follow her on Instagram @ruthiekeester and Facebook at Dear Ruthie. Don’t miss her hilarious reality show on YouTube—“Camp Wannakiki!”
SHEPHERD EXPRESS
Be free to be
::MYLGBTQPoint of View
Queer Family Pictures at MAM ::BY PAUL MASTERSON
T
works recognize the validity of our alternative family. The queer take on the theme expands the concept of family into a realm most LGBTQs will easily recognize, namely a family by default. It’s the circle of friends and lovers (some fleeting, others enduring) who provide us with those natural familial comforts and companionships that our natural families often can’t—or won’t—afford us. Some define it as our “logical family” versus our “biological family;” it’s particularly prevalent in communities in which homophobia prevails. Edmonds’ Holy Family confronts gender norms and offers a certain emotional intimacy with his subjects. They look at you. The individual portraits reveal beauty, generational diversity and the calm of body topography as ways of expressing the discreet empowerment that defines our unique family. Harris’ work is a multi-screen slide installation, the Ektachrome Archives (New York Mix). Taken from 1986 to 2000, the formal
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COURTESY AND © JOHN EDMONDS AND LTD, LOS ANGELES
he Milwaukee Art Museum’s collection contains a lot of family pictures. Hanging in its galleries are assorted works dedicated to the theme in its many iterations. A tour might include a late-18thcentury portrait of a pair of brothers in matching black suits and powdered wigs. The boys are shown with the accessories of lofty social status: books, musical instruments and, of course, a badminton racket and shuttlecock. Then, there’s a quite charming 1885 genre painting of a mother and child who share an Oriental carpet-draped sofa with another family—a watchful matriarchal cat with her kittens—in a well-appointed bourgeois living room replete with a potted palm. An acquisition of MAM’s founder, meat-packing magnate Frederick Layton, it reflects those fin de siècle values (before the ennui set in). If one wanders a gallery or two, one finds more scenes of old-world familial bliss: a Westphalian village fete under Linden trees or the alternative family of monks in their brotherhood. In the Haitian Gallery, there’s a Vodou (a.k.a. Voodoo) version of Catholicism’s Holy Family: the mother spirit, Erzili, with her retinue of pregnant John Edmonds, Little Black Dress, Inkjet print, 2017 mothers-to-be, all with a defined linea nigra. and candid images consist mostly of portraits, Speaking of holy families, in the museum’s but others are snapshots of events and random lower-level photo gallery is queer black phoviews. You stand among them as a participant. tographer John Edmonds’ montage of 11 imLike Edmonds, Harris shows the diversity and ages, entitled Holy Family. It’s arranged in dynamics found in the multicultural context the manner of a Renaissance altarpiece and of queer life. His photos reference AIDS, the consists of portraits of gay black men and LGBTQ diaspora and the African American women. It’s a part of “Family Pictures,” a community with a focus on identity, sexuality special exhibit featuring the works of nearly a and class. dozen African American photographers. The A special In Conversation event with John show is of particular LGBTQ relevance for its Edmonds and MAM exhibit curator Lisa Sutinclusion of two queer artists: John Edmonds cliffe sponsored by Cream City Foundation and Lyle Ashton Harris. In the exhibit’s extakes place Thursday, Jan. 10, at 6:15 p.m. ploration of the spectrum of family structures The exhibit closes on Sunday, Jan. 20. For from blood relations to the “close knit,” their more information, visit mam.org.
YOU!
SHEPHERD EXPRESS
ARTISTIC DRIVEN SUAVE CHRIS GILBERT CHOREOGRAPHER OF BUCKS GRAND DANCERS WATCH THE VIDEO AT RADIOMILWAUKEE.ORG
D E C E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 8 | 33
::ILIKEITLIKETHAT
Winter Solstice is a Time for Reflection ::BY CARMEN MURGUIA
T
he winter solstice has always meant for me a time of quiet and reflection, two things I strive for every day. However, I’m not always successful, and, since I often choose running from one end of the city after work to the other side of the bridge and back, I become tired and still. It’s in the beauty of stillness that introspection comes, and when that happens, I can see what’s there inside my heart, mind and body. The winter solstice also has meant for me a time of celebration (trust me, not because I fully enjoy the bitter cold), because it marks a new time, a fresh approach and a clean slate where, yes, you can see your breath in the air. The winter solstice, also known as midwinter, marks the day with the shortest period of daylight and the longest night of the year. It occurs when one of the Earth’s poles has its maximum tilt away from the sun. It happens twice yearly, once each in the northern and the southern hemispheres. In doing my research on how other cultures honor the winter solstice, I found some interesting things to share. The Chinese celebration of the winter solstice, Dong Zhi (which means “Winter Arrives”), welcomes the return of longer days and the corresponding increase in positive energy in the year to come. On the longest night of the year, Iranians all over the world celebrate the triumph of Mithra, the Sun god, over
darkness in the ancient festival of Shab-e Yalda (“Night of Birth”). According to tradition, people gather together on the longest night of the year to protect each other from evil, burning fires to light their way through the darkness and performing charitable acts. Friends and family join in making wishes, feasting on nuts, pomegranates and other festive foods and reading poetry, especially the work of the 14th-century Persian poet Hafiz. Some stay awake all night to rejoice in the moment when the sun rises, banishing evil and announcing the arrival of goodness. For the Zuni, one of the Native American Pueblo peoples in western New Mexico, the winter solstice signifies the beginning of the year and is marked with a ceremonial dance called Shalako. After fasting, prayer and observing the rising and setting of the sun for several days before the solstice, the Pekwin (or “Sun Priest”) traditionally announces the exact moment of itiwanna, the rebirth of the sun, with a long, mournful call. With that signal, rejoicing and dancing begin, as 12 kachina clowns in elaborate masks dance along with the Shalako themselves—12-foot-high effigies with bird heads, seen as messengers from the gods. After four days of dancing, new dancers are chosen for the following year, and the yearly cycle begins again. In my winter time of reflection, I see a woman-loving woman who has overcome many challenges in life, such as relying too much on others instead of looking within; I see a strong Latinx who is proud of her heritage and wears it proudly on her black sleeve; I see a Milwaukee native with mixed feelings about this city, yet claims it as her own; I see a lover who is kind and passionate, generous and true, physical and determined, still growing and evolving. When I am with my friends, both LGBTQ and straight, it turns out that they, too, are on a quest for answers about love and relationships, what’s now, what’s next and what’s meant to be. I think we are all people who are
striving—not simply surviving—for our best selves and the best possible life. Take, for example, why I am currently single. I mean, I’ve been married to women before, I’ve had long-term lovers, and I’ve had one-night stands that became relationships that should’ve stayed one-night stands. I’ve had unrequited love, and I’ve had deep, unspoken, intimate, unconditional encounters. I’ve broken trust, and I’ve had my heart broken. I’ve avoided much-needed talks, and I’ve been in couples counseling. I’ve cheated, and I’ve been cheated on. I’ve loved, and love has been so good to me, and that’s the best feeling ever. In fact, I do this thing every time I take a flight (yes, I’m very dramatic) as soon as I take my seat, and we are taking off: I look out the window or I close my eyes and give thanks to the Universe for my having been loved and given love in return. I do it every time without fail as I look back on women in my life and whisper, “Thank you for the good and the bad.” It’s been two years since I’ve been in a relationship, and that in itself is a coup! I’ve wondered about a couple things: Am I blocking love by my current personal challenges (finances and weight), or is it that the right woman hasn’t come along yet? However, when she does it’ll be that “WHAM! I told you the right one would come along when you least expect it” kinda thing. I cry sometimes, because it does get lonely at certain times of the day, week or season; but I’m happy a good majority of the time, because I do have a full life that I’m utterly grateful for. My thing is, though, that I want to share all of this with someone special. Wherever you find yourself in celebration and in reflection this winter solstice, I hope it brings you happiness and peace and the answers you are looking for as you begin the new season.
Love, Carmen
Grab a solo cup and let’s rage! Beer. Punch. Games. Music by DJ Shawna.
Friday, February 8 • 5:30pm to 9pm Tavern at Turner Hall
Tickets: Shepherdtickets.com
34 | D E C E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 8
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D E C E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 8 | 35
::MUSIC
For more MUSIC, log onto shepherdexpress.com
JO MCCAUGHEY
FEATURE | ALBUM REVIEWS | CONCERT REVIEWS | LOCAL MUSIC
Kurt Vile
KURT VILE RETURNS FOR A DO-OVER ::BY JOSHUA MILLER
urt Vile feels he has a little unfinished business in Milwaukee when he returns to perform at Turner Hall Ballroom on Friday, Dec. 21. In 2016, he played his first and only Milwaukee show at the Pabst Theater, and, while he enjoyed the warm reception from the crowd, he admits the show wasn’t his best. “I was excited and nervous,” recalls Vile during a recent interview. “We were playing theaters, and theaters were new to me. I didn’t love my show that day.” When he and his band The Violators return to Milwaukee, he promises to “completely obliterate that show.” “We’re definitely going to kill it this time,” he says. With increasing experience on the road and in the studio since that show, it’s easy to not doubt his growing confidence and swagger as an artist. His latest album, Bottle It In, released in October, finds him continuing to push the boundaries of his sound and exploring diverse sonic textures.
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The album’s 13 songs were recorded in different studios around the country during breaks in his busy touring schedule the last few years. He worked with several producers he had worked with previously. While some artists might opt to stay and record in one studio, he says that traveling is such a part of his job description that it felt natural to record in chunks when opportunity or inspiration presented itself. “Along the way, while I was playing, I would go into the studio as opposed to touring an album cycle for a year or two straight and starting a record off from scratch at one place,” he says. “That wasn’t realistic because that’s not how my life has been lately.” While he knew he was going to have a new album at some point, he enjoyed Kurt Vile the low-pressure recording ventures. “[On an album like this] there are and The different excursions and eventually it Violators turns into your ultimate piece,” he says. Turner Hall “I knew I was recording more than Ballroom enough. Just keep going. Don’t think if Friday, Dec. 21, this is too much for a record.” That thought process led to unex8 p.m. pected sonic journeys. Due to his busy schedule, which included his album with singer/songwriter Courtney Barnett, he decided to push the album’s spring release back. “Just in pushing it back, I went back into the studio and recorded things I wouldn’t have otherwise recorded,” he says. “That’s kind of the journey and why you make music. You don’t really know what’s going to happen. Maybe it’ll eventually be a record or maybe it’ll be more.” The album’s title track acted as a centerpiece for the album. It’s a track Vile has wanted to play live but has found “deceptively tricky to play live” thus far. “It’s more a living, breathing organism than just a song passing by on an album,” he says. “It’s a time capsule of where I’m at, a little more important than just a song that fills part of an album or something. That one surprised me not only how it turned out but by everyone that was involved and played on it.” The album marks a return to some of his earlier recording techniques, albeit more refined. “I was into keyboards on my earlier recordings and synth experiments and noise and tones and psychedelia. My first albums on Matador were more mature, conventional records. B’lieve I’m Goin Down was a gateway to going back to self-production,” he says. “I moved into a new place and had keyboards all over the place and was doing experiments like the old days. I think I extended that into the studio as well.” “Come Again” is a song he wrote on banjo. The final version features Lucius on harmonies. “Sometimes you add more studio dates, and next thing you know, you’ve written songs of inspiration that you didn’t think you would write,” he says. “I wasn’t sure if it would make the record but it’s an ear worm. A lot of people tell me it’s catchy. It’s hypnotic. I like those kinds of banjo jams.” Vile enjoys seeing his hard work pay off with each record. It allows him to spend more time with his family. “We see the payoff of every record and there’s a little more time off to see the world with family,” he says. “You strike while the iron’s hot and things get a little better all the time. I play bigger festivals, get more exposure and more people come out to the shows. Each step up at a time you see the reason why you have to go away for a while and come back.” Kurt Vile and The Violators play Turner Hall Ballroom on Friday, Dec. 21, at 8 p.m. with opener Jessica Pratt.
SHEPHERD EXPRESS
::::LOCALMUSIC LINSEY SIEGER
::CONCERTREVIEW
Bird Streets, Cabin Essence and Daydream Retrievers Shared a Night of Power Pop
Semi-Twang
::BY ANDY TURNER
D
ressed dapperly and sipping hot tea during his band’s soundcheck Thursday night at the Cactus Club, John Brodeur eased into Bird Streets’ performance calmly and confidently. Despite whatever he lacks in roiling, rock ’n’ roll intensity, Brodeur’s music still stirs because of his lovely voice and playful lyrics, like those on “Carry Me,” a power-pop nugget that borrows from gospel music and offers to raise a toast to “new beginnings and bitter ends.” “Betting on the Sun,” meanwhile, describes a friendship that was “tighter than Steely Dan,” and the sad insight that there’s a “fine line between living and just getting by.” “Thanks for Calling” (“Every time the phone rings I get a chill/It could be you”) is a perfect fit for an indie romance movie montage. Brodeur released his debut as Bird Streets in August on Omnivore. The album is a collaboration with acclaimed popper Jason Faulkner of Jellyfish and Three O’Clock fame, and many of the songs were born in a Los Angeles studio. Nonetheless, Brodeur and his touring band, especially guitarist Lisa Bianco, conveyed the songs live with vigor, even if Brodeur did playfully knock the bassist for starting on the wrong song briefly, introducing him as “the anxious bassist.” Brodeur’s clear, appealing voice commanded the small room, and the quality of the songs easily were repeatedly revealed. Brodeur saluted the opening acts, Cabin Essence and Daydream Retrievers, for helping to “keep pop alive,” and both bands certainly delivered on that mission. Cabin Essence, which has a similar dynamic as Bird Streets, began the night. A studio solo project for Nick Maas that live features bassist Terry Hackbarth and drummer John Wythes, the band especially shined on a pair of new songs that Maas introduced as the A- and B-sides of an upcoming single they will release next year. The songs showed the different flavors of the band’s appeal: One a gentle, keyboard-driven tune that showcases Maas’ own strong vocals; and the flip, a loud, delightfully crunchy pop song. Led by Ian Olvera, the four-piece Daydream Retrievers were fun and funny, rolling through catchy rockers like “Cars Can’t Stop” (“Let’s get out of the city/We’ll be buried alive”), slow burners like “Tuesday Night in America,” the soulful “Right is Right” and even a Bar-Band-Gold cover of NRBQ’s perfect “I Want You Bad.”
SHEPHERD EXPRESS
SemiTwang Do One for Kenosha ::BY BLAINE SCHULTZ
I
t seems like John Sieger can predict the future. In 1988 Semi-Twang released their debut LP Salty Tears for Warner Brothers Records. Sieger once told me the lesson he learned from that experience was the band could have made handful of good records for what that one cost. Cut to 2009, Semi-Twang is resurrected. Cut again to 2018 and the band is releasing their fourth LP, Kenosha, without a major label budget in sight. Backed by the usual stellar musical performances, Sieger’s collection of songs resemble characters that populate William Kennedy novels. Gritty, determined and flawed, not unlike the city whose name the album shares. “Concept albums are above my paygrade,” he says. “They require a mind that’s organized differently than mine—or just organized! But there’s a thread of some sort, more emotional than intellectual. The story behind ‘Kenosha’ is simple, the town needed a song. It has been a place of low expectations and breaking out and finding yourself isn’t always easy there. Plus, Memphis has more than enough songs.” In recent years Sieger say he has been reflecting on what it was like to grow up in a factory town, yet one that managed to launch the likes of Orson Welles, Mark Ruffalo, Reince Priebus and Raymond Edward Johnson. While he says he has never written directly about his life, these songs “lean a little more in that direction; they’re still impressions and feelings more than anything. My family was big”—seven kids, including brother Mike who plays bass and sings harmony in Semi-Twang—”and
was down the economic ladder in a diverse neighborhood before anyone thought of that word. Walking home from school was an adventure and there was an occasional black eye.” Along with the Siegers, the band includes guitarist Mike Hoffmann, Bob Jennings on keyboards and sax, and drummer Bob Schneider. The album was produced by the band and Chris Hanson. The challenge, it would seem, is allowing everyone their sonic say in the matter. Sieger credits Hanson as diplomatic and sympathetic behind the mixing board but allows that a sense of maturity helps. “I’ve never been a band ‘leader,’ more like the member who writes the songs,” he says. “That causes problems. I can be stubborn and occasionally suck all the oxygen out of the room trying to get what I want. At times like that I have to remind myself I get to work with some of the better players in town and that we actually have pretty good chemistry together. So at the end of the day, I hope everyone gets their licks in and we can stay a band for a while longer.” And at the end of the day these players realize it is about the song. “Boxcar Out of Genesee” takes a loping rhythm and breaks it up with a guitar solo that strikes like a lightning flash. The song sets the tone for themes of small towns and wanderlust. “Chalet on the Alley” takes a clear-eyed look at a growing homeless population and is reminiscent of his compadre Phil Lee’s best songs. Bob Jennings Hammond organ solo adds just the right atmosphere of Milwaukee skyline resignation. Yet not all is bleak here. “My Mind is Weak” could be a vintage R&B stomp arranged Semi-Twang with Jennings’ tinkling piano Shank Hall and horns. “Time Zone” is a Sat., Dec. 22, bopping Norteno two-step 8 p.m. that recalls Sir Doug Sahm and Flaco Jiménez. “Our concept for recording, and I hope we do this more and more, is to leave space for things to move around and reverberate. You can’t pack every little idea everyone has into a track and hope the song will fight its way out of the clutter. There was a lot of selflessness this time around,” he says. “Maybe we’re growing up!” Semi-Twang play Shank Hall on Saturday, Dec. 22, at 8 p.m. with The R&B Coquettes.
D E C E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 8 | 37
::ALBUM Big Brother & The Holding Company Sex, Dope & Cheap Thrills (COLUMBIA LEGACY)
Big Brother & The Holding Company wanted to call their 1968 album Sex, Dope & Cheap Thrills and they sort of got their way 50 years on. The new two-disc release compiles 29 outtakes from the sessions that produced their breakout LP, which was simply titled Cheap Thrills, all but four of those tracks were previously unreleased. A certain amount of creative fumbling is audible. Many numbers featured here are less focused than the familiar versions released in ’68. Vocalist Janis Joplin is—of course—in full whiskey-and-nicotine throated attack. What’s more interesting is the unpolished window into Big Brother. They are crude as an ax handle, protopunk and mind-scorchingly psychedelic, heavy as the metal that soon would follow. Sex, Dope & Cheap Thrills includes no less than two outtakes of George Gershwin’s “Summertime,” with the Bach-like mathematics of guitarist James Gurley’s classic arrangement in development but not fully realized. A hint of resignation hangs over the song. Summer would be over soon. Joplin would soon be gone. —David Luhrssen
The Splitz Mortality Curve The Splitz could have been the second Milwaukee band on Slash Records after Violent Femmes. John Jaco and his bandmates declined the label’s offer in 1990, and an indie debut album followed two years later. Mortality Curve follows more than a quarter-century later as if extricated from a stylistic time warp few acts have visited. Jaco’s warmly arch vocals and melodies address personal and societal moral concerns with a sound conflating dual Midwestern rock traditions: the pop prog of Styx and Kansas and power pop recalling Off Broadway and Spooner. It’s a curious amalgam but with a larger potential listenership than they may think. —Jamie Lee Rake
Lawful Citizen Internal Combustion The album’s title says it: Internal Combustion is a set of compositions related to the spark and vroom of motor vehicles, including motorcycles. You could call it jazz for Harley dealerships. The more raucous tenor sax parts suggesting heavy metal thunder with a determined rhythm section pumping along underneath. The Montreal quartet maintains a hard pulse even in the most reflective moments. —Morton Shlabotnik
38 | D E C E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 8
MUSIC::LISTINGS To list your event, go to shepherdexpress.com/events and click submit an event
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20 Anodyne Coffee , Honest John w/Sweet Sheiks, Jesse Voelker & Steve Peplin Cactus Club, North Breeze w/The Keystones & Well-Known Strangers Cafe Carpe (Fort Atkinson), Lamplighter: Peter Mulvey, Nickel&Rose, John Sieger Caroline’s Jazz Club, Wicked Long Day w/Marcia Cunningham Clarke Hotel (Waukesha), Ginni & JoAnna Marie (6pm) County Clare Irish Inn & Pub, Acoustic Irish Folk w/Barry Dodd Fire On Water, Steve Cohen & The Riccos (5pm) Jazz Estate, Jim Liban Combo w/Joel Paterson Kochanski’s Concertina Beer Hall, Open Jam: Roadhouse Rave Up Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, Cream Vellum w/Duckling Mason Street Grill, Mark Thierfelder Jazz Trio (5:30pm) Motor Bar & Restaurant, Thirsty Thursday Live Music Series (5pm) O’Donoghues Irish Pub (Elm Grove), The All-Star SUPERband (6pm) On the Bayou, Open Mic Comedy w/host The Original Darryl Hill Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, In Bar 360: Mark Croft (8pm), In the Fire Pit: Hillbilly Casino’s Real American Christmas (8:30pm) Rounding Third Bar and Grill, World’s Funniest Free Comedy Show Saloon on Calhoun with Bacon, Todd Bryant Band Sheryl’s Club 175 (Slinger), Acoustic Jam w/Milwaukee Mike & Downtown Julius The Back Room at Colectivo, Wild Pink The Bay Restaurant, Ian Gould The Packing House Restaurant, Barbara Stephan & Peter Mac (6pm) Transfer Pizzeria Cafe, Martini Jazz Lounge Up & Under Pub, A No Vacancy Comedy Open Mic
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21 Alley Cat Lounge (Five O’Clock Steakhouse), Brian Dale Group American Legion Post #399 (Okauchee), The 45’s American Legion Post #449 (Brookfield), Bobby Way & JJ Brooks American Legion Post #69 (Mayville), The Ricochettes Angelo’s Piano Lounge, Julie’s Piano Karaoke Cactus Club, IfIHadAHiFi w/Tigernite, Haunted Heads & Fowlmouth Cafe Carpe (Fort Atkinson), Lamplighter: Peter Mulvey, John Statz, John Stano, Chris Porterfield Camp Dundee Bar & Grill (Campbellsport), Robert Allen Jr. Band Caroline’s Jazz Club, Paul Silbergleit Quartet Charles Allis Art Museum, boo boo cubby’s EP release Circle-A Cafe, Alive at Eight: Solstice Soiree w/Llysa Spencer & Mama’s Golden Ratio (8pm); DJ: DJ Dolls (10pm) ComedySportz Milwaukee, CSz Milwaukee - Home of ComedySportz Naughty and Nice Shows! (Naughty Edition) Company Brewing, Sigmund Snopek Holiday Show & Full Moon Karaoke County Clare Irish Inn & Pub, Traditional Irish Ceilidh Session Iron Mike’s (Franklin), Open Jam Session w/Steve Nitros & Friends Lakefront Brewery, Brewhaus Polka Kings (5:30pm) Landmark Lanes, ShandiniMagic Band w/Coventry Jones/Scott Summers Dynamic Duo & D.B. Rouse Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, Lil’ Rev w/The Ukulele Sunshine Band Los Mariachis Mexican Restaurant, Larry Lynne Revue Mamie’s, The Incorruptibles Mason Street Grill, Phil Seed Trio (6pm) Mezcalero Restaurant, Do-Wa-Wa Miramar Theatre, Figure X Megalodon (all-ages, 9pm) Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, In Bar 360: Geoff Landon & Friends (9pm), In the Fire Pit: Hillbilly Casino’s Real American Christmas (9pm) Rave / Eagles Club, Flatbush Zombies w/Denzel Curry & A$AP Twelvyy (all-ages, 8pm) Saloon on Calhoun with Bacon, Element 13’s Final Show Shank Hall, Pundamonium: The Milwaukee Pun Slam The 024 (Grafton), Matt MF Tyner The Back Room at Colectivo, Rhett Miller The Bay Restaurant, Peter Donalds The Cheel (Thiensville), Jack and Jill Jazz Christmas w/Jack Grassel & Jill Jensen (6:30pm) The Knick, 5 Card Studs The Packing House Restaurant, Carmen Nickerson & The Carmen Sutra Trio (6:30pm) Turner Hall Ballroom, Kurt Vile and The Violators w/Jessica Pratt Up & Under Pub, Chocolate and Cheese
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22 American Legion Post #449 (Brookfield), Larry Lynne Band Anodyne Coffee , SistaStrings w/Nickel&Rose Cactus Club, The Eradicator w/Population Control, No Question & Curbsitter Cafe Carpe (Fort Atkinson), Krause Family Band Caroline’s Jazz Club, The Paul Spencer Band w/James Sodke, Andy Spadafora, Michael Ritter & Victor Campbell Circle-A Cafe, Alive at Eight: The Cow Ponies (8pm); DJ: Quixotic Control (10pm)
ComedySportz Milwaukee, ComedySportz Milwaukee! Cue Club of Wisconsin (Waukesha), G-MONEY PRESENTS: The G-$tring Xperience Explorium Brewpub, Matt MF Tyner Five O’Clock Steakhouse, Kirk Tatnall Hilton Milwaukee City Center, Vocals & Keys Jazz Estate, Trumpet Quintet w/Brian O’Kane Kick Switch Bar And Grill (Okauchee), Blues Addiction Kochanski’s Concertina Beer Hall, Billi Russo w/The Munchkins Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, “Another One” - A Grateful Dead Christmas w/members of Coyote, Reckless & Darlene, and Vb’s Jeebies Lyon’s Irish Pub (Watertown), Derek Byrne Solo Mason Street Grill, Jonathan Wade Trio (6pm) Matty’s Bar & Grille (New Berlin), Winter Music: Marr’Lo Parada McAuliffe’s Pub (Racine), Katie Todd Band Mezcalero Restaurant, Looking Back Live Christmas Celebration Miramar Theatre, Trop Out Volume 7 Daft Punk Tribute Set w/Plaid Hawaii, Tanner Dixon & Phox (all-ages, 9pm) Motor Bar & Restaurant, Bulleit Bourbon Presents BBQ & Blues (5pm) Plymouth Church UCC, The Coffee House presents: Living Activism Benefit Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, In Bar 360: 3D (9pm), In the Fire Pit: Boo! the Band (9pm) Rave / Eagles Club, All Time Low w/The Maine & The Wrecks (all-ages, 7pm) Route 20 Outhouse (Sturtevant), Take Me w/Fall Hazard (ages 18-plus, 8:30pm) Saloon on Calhoun with Bacon, Detour Shank Hall, Semi-Twang w/The R&B Coquettes The Cheel (Thiensville), Andrew Gelles Band The Cooperage, Mark Waldoch and Testa Rosa Holiday Special The Packing House Restaurant, Joe Jordan & The Soul Trio (6:30pm) Three Lions Pub, A Blue Christmas: Holiday Blues w/The Blues Disciples Up & Under Pub, When the Sun Sets
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23 Angelo’s Piano Lounge, Live Karaoke w/Julie Brandenburg Cactus Club, Milwaukee Record Halftime Show: Yum Yum Cult (11:30am), Pardon the Wave w/Fast Lane Sonny, Random Loud Gang, Rich P, Phif Flow, Kunta Ten K, Tiny C & Lil Dugz (9pm) Cafe Carpe (Fort Atkinson), Lamplighter: Peter Mulvey, Brianna Lane, SistaStrings Circle-A Cafe, Alive at Eight: Annual Letter Reading Night (8pm); DJ: Sextor (10pm) Dugout 54, Dugout 54 Sunday Open Jam Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, George Winston Matty’s Bar & Grille (New Berlin), Ugly Sweater Christmas Party w/The Dirty Boogie Rave / Eagles Club, Anuel AA (all-ages, 8pm) Rounding Third Bar and Grill, The Dangerously Strong Comedy Open Mic Scotty’s Bar & Pizza, Transistor Radio (4pm) Sunset Grill Pewaukee, Full Band Open Jam (5pm) The Packing House Restaurant, Jazz Unlimited Jazz Jam: Sherwood Alper Quartet w/ Jeff Stoll (1pm)
MONDAY, DECEMBER 24 Cactus Club, Xmas Eve w/Jack & hors d’oeuvres by Maya Ophelia’s Mason Street Grill, Joel Burt Duo (5:30pm) Paulie’s Pub and Eatery, Open Jam: Christopher John & Friends w/featured band Up & Under Pub, Open Mic w/Marshall McGhee and the Wanderers
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25 Club Garibaldi, Spillage!: Lost Tribes of the Moon w/Cold Black River Mason Street Grill, Jamie Breiwick Group (5:30pm) Riverwest Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts, Jazz Jam Session Transfer Pizzeria Cafe, Transfer House Band w/Dennis Fermenich
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 26 Caroline’s Jazz Club, Jimi Schutte American Blues High Dive, The Voodoohoney Pirates Hudson Business Lounge and Cafe, Jazz at Noon: Don Linke and Friends Iron Mike’s (Franklin), B Lee Nelson Acoustic Jam Jazz Estate, Special Funk Night w/Angie Swan Kochanski’s Concertina Beer Hall, Polka Open Jam Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, Acoustic Open Stage (sign-up 8:30pm, start 9pm) Mason Street Grill, Jamie Breiwick Group (5:30pm) Mezcalero Restaurant, Annie B Duo Morton’s (Cedarburg), Andrew Koenig Band w/Benny Rickun (6:30pm) Paulie’s Field Trip, Wednesday Night Afterparty w/Dave Wacker & guests Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, In Bar 360: Al White Saloon on Calhoun with Bacon, KatzSass Sunset Grill Pewaukee, Robert Allen Jr. & Friends (6pm) Tally’s Tap & Eatery (Waukesha), Tomm Lehnigk The Packing House Restaurant, Carmen Nickerson & Kostia Efimov (6pm)
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www.chipconnection.com D E C E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 8 | 39
ODD JOB
THEME CROSSWORD
By James Barrick
PSYCHO SUDOKU! “Kaidoku”
Each of the 26 letters of the alphabet is represented in this grid by a number between 1 and 26. Using letter frequency, word-pattern recognition, and the numbers as your guides, fill in the grid with well-known English words (HINT: since a Q is always followed by a U, try hunting down the Q first). Only lowercase, unhyphenated words are allowed in kaidoku, so you won’t see anything like STOCKHOLM or LONG-LOST in here (but you might see AFGHAN, since it has an uncapitalized meaning, too). Now stop wasting my precious time and SOLVE! psychosudoku@gmail.com 14
2
10 16
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23 14
ACROSS 1. “—, the Magic Dragon” 5. Young haddock 10. Bogus 15. Accord 19. Disappearing sea in Asia 20. Zahn or Abdul 21. Crime-fighter — Ness 22. Razor brand 23. — avis 24. Bird genus 25. Hackneyed 26. Supernova 27. Start of a quip by Jennifer Love Hewitt: 6 wds. 31. Emmet 32. Appliance 33. Speak ill of 34. Makes a gallinaceous sound 36. Extras 39. Aphorism 41. Carriage hood 43. Cubic decimeter 44. Units of weight 45. Mentioned previously 48. Footless 49. Hogback cousin 50. Lacks 51. Big bird 52. Special person 53. Group of fish 54. A little loony 55. John — Garner 57. Santa — 58. Disconnect 59. Performing group 60. Go at a leisurely pace 63. Part 2 of quip: 3 wds. 66. Jars 67. Reduced 68. Vessels with bails 69. Promised 71. Walks speedily
72. Swiftness 73. Scrap or sheet 74. License plate 77. Nest-egg letters 78. Provokes 79. Capacitance unit 80. Tree trunk 81. Muttonchops 84. Ecstasy 85. Island chain in the Pacific 86. Approval 87. Flat roll 88. Man from Oz 89. Blatted 91. Arrange in categories 92. Appends 93. — Alamos 94. End of the quip: 6 wds. 102. Ins and — 104. Exemplar 105. Scholarly publication 106. Repetition 107. Bewildered 108. List of office hopefuls 109. Fine instrument 110. A bone 111. Period 112. Device in a hack 113. Vetches 114. Farina, e.g. DOWN 1. — -mutuel 2. River in Russia 3. Old card game 4. Like some coffees 5. Freshets 6. Body of rules 7. Red-brown 8. Olive genus 9. Gloomy 10. Pasturage plant 11. Communion table 12. Perjurer
13. Unique 14. Son of Oedipus 15. Faux — 16. Files sent via email 17. Grouch 18. Bakery offerings 28. Always 29. Shade trees 30. Glazed custard 35. Serv. branch 36. Dross 37. Simple instrument 38. Corpuscle 39. Makeup for mummers 40. Part of NLRB: Abbr. 41. Dispute 42. Dilettantish 44. Clique 45. Three goddesses of destiny 46. Host 47. Musical works 49. Cry like “Eureka!” 50. Brandishes 53. Coasters 54. — Epoque 55. Just out 56. School: Abbr. 57. Symbol in sheet music 58. Skewers 60. Plant pest genus 61. Indigene of New
Zealand 62. Media organization 64. Kilns 65. Greek letters 70. Soft mass 72. Mata — 73. Flexible body armor 74. A-one 75. Jai — 76. Factor in heredity 78. Eastern faith 79. Barge 80. Parade instrument: 2 wds. 82. Goof 83. Mangel-wurzel 84. Shuttlecock 85. A martial art 87. HVAC device 88. Dreamboat 89. Swell 90. Unethical guy 91. Flat fish 92. Banded stone 95. Lazy 96. Unmixed, as scotch 97. Writer — Bombeck 98. Kanten 99. Mouselike creature 100. Famed volcano 101. Duck 103. Tolkien character
Solution to last week’s puzzle
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12/13 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 18 letters left over. They spell out the alternative theme of the puzzle.
Raising the stakes Solution: 18 Letters
© 2018 Australian Word Games Dist. by Creators Syndicate Inc.
© 2018 United Feature Syndicate, Dist. by Andrews McMeel Syndication
9
14
22 19
1 1
18 11
Action Adept Ante Beat Bet Call Cards Casino Coins Craps Crib Debts Deuce Dice
Envy Excitement Face Flush Gain Gold Jack Job Keno Kits Land Loser Low Ludo
Manila Money Move Odds Outwit Pawn Pick Pit Poker Pot Prize Punt Shake Skip
Solo Success Tap Trivial Pursuit Trump Two-up Upset Whist Win
12/13 Solution: What a white knuckle ride!
40 | D E C E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 8
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Solution: Are you feeling lucky?
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Date: 12/20/18
::FREEWILLASTROLOGY ::BY ROB BREZSNY SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Until 1920, most American women didn’t have the right to vote. For that matter, few had ever been candidates for public office. There were exceptions. In 1866, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the first to seek a seat in Congress. In 1872, Victoria Woodhull ran for president. Susanna Salter became the first woman mayor in 1887. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, Sagittarius, 2019 will be a StantonWoodhull-Salter type of year for you. You’re likely to be ahead of your time and primed to innovate. You’ll have the courage and resourcefulness necessary to try seemingly unlikely and unprecedented feats, and you’ll have a knack for ushering the future into the present. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Studies show that the best possible solution to the problem of homelessness is to provide cheap or free living spaces for the homeless. Not only is it the most effective way of helping the people involved; in the long run, it’s also the least expensive. Is there a comparable problem in your personal life? A chronic difficulty that you keep putting band-aids on but that never gets much better? I’m happy to inform you that 2019 will be a favorable time to dig down to find deeper, more fundamental solutions; to finally fix a troublesome issue rather than just addressing its symptoms. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Many people in Iceland write poems, but only a few publish them. There’s even a term for those who put their creations away in a drawer rather than seeking an audience: skúffuskáld, literally translated as “drawer-poet.” Is there a comparable phenomenon in your life, Aquarius? Do you produce some good thing but never share it? Is there a part of you that you’re proud of but keep secret? Is there an aspect of your ongoing adventures that’s meaningful but mostly private? If so, 2019 will be the year you might want to change your mind about it. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Scientists at Goldsmiths, University in London did a study to determine the catchiest pop song ever recorded. After extensive research in which they evaluated an array of factors, they decided that Queen’s “We Are the Champions” is the song that more people love to sing than any other. This triumphant tune happens to be your theme song in 2019. I suggest you learn the lyrics and melody, and sing it once every day. It should help you build on the natural confidence-building influences that will be streaming into your life. ARIES (March 21-April 19): Consumer Reports says that between 1975 and 2008, the average number of products for sale in a supermarket rose from about 9,000 to nearly 47,000. The glut is holding steady. Years ago you selected from among three or four brands of soup and shampoo. Nowadays you may be faced with 20 varieties of each. I suspect that 2019 will bring a comparable expansion in some of your life choices, Aries—especially when you’re deciding what to do with your future and who your allies should be. This could be both a problem and a blessing. For best results, opt for choices that have all three of these qualities: fun, usefulness, and meaningfulness. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): People have been trying to convert ordinary metals into gold since at least A.D. 300. At that time, an Egyptian alchemist named Zosimos of Panopolis unsuccessfully mixed sulfur and mercury in the hope of performing such magic. Fourteen centuries later, seminal scientist Isaac Newton also failed in his efforts to produce gold from cheap metal. But now let’s fast forward to twentieth-century chemist Glenn T. Seaborg, a distinguished researcher who won a share of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1951. He and his team did an experiment with bismuth, an element that’s immediately adjacent to lead on the periodical table. By using a particle accelerator, they literally transmuted a small quantity of bismuth into gold. I propose that we make this your teaching story for 2019. May it inspire you to seek transformations that have never before been possible. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): United States President Donald Trump wants to build a concrete and fenced wall between Mexico and
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America, hoping to slow down the flow of immigrants across the border. Meanwhile, 12 Northern African countries are collaborating to build a 4,750-mile-long wall of drought-resistant trees at the border of the Sahara, hoping to stop the desert from swallowing up farmland. During the coming year, I’ll be rooting for you to draw inspiration from the latter, not the former. Erecting new boundaries will be healthy for you—if it’s done out of love and for the sake of your health, not out of fear and divisiveness. CANCER (June 21-July 22): Cancerian poet and filmmaker Jean Cocteau advised artists to notice the aspects of their work that critics didn’t like—and then cultivate those precise aspects. He regarded the disparaged or misconstrued elements as being key to an artist’s uniqueness and originality, even if they were as-yet immature. I’m expanding his suggestion and applying it to all of you Crabs during the next 10 months, even if you’re not strictly an artist. Watch carefully what your community seems to misunderstand about the new trends you’re pursuing, and work hard to ripen them. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In 1891, a 29-year-old British mother named Constance Garnett decided she would study the Russian language and become a translator. She learned fast. During the next 40 years, she produced English translations of 71 Russian literary books, including works by Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Turgenev, and Chekhov. Many had never before been rendered in English. I see 2019 as a Constance Garnett-type year for you, Leo. Any late-blooming potential you might possess could enter a period of rapid maturation. Awash in enthusiasm and ambition, you’ll have the power to launch a new phase of development that could animate and motivate you for a long time. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I’ll be bold and predict that 2019 will be a nurturing chapter in your story; a time when you will feel loved and supported to a greater degree than usual; a phase when you will be more at home in your body and more at peace with your fate than you have in a long time. I have chosen an appropriate blessing to bestow upon you, written by the poet Claire Wahmanholm. Speak her words as if they were your own. “On Earth I am held, honeysuckled not just by honeysuckle but by everything—marigolds, bog after bog of small sundews, the cold smell of spruce.” LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “Be very, very careful what you put into that head, because you will never, ever get it out.”This advice is sometimes attributed to 16th-century politician and cardinal Thomas Wolsey. Now I’m offering it to you as one of your important themes in 2019. Here’s how you can best take it to heart. First, be extremely discerning about what ideas, theories, and opinions you allow to flow into your imagination. Make sure they’re based on objective facts and make sure they’re good for you. Second, be aggressive about purging old ideas, theories, and opinions from your head, especially if they’re outmoded, unfounded, or toxic. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Memorize this quote by author Peter Newton and keep it close to your awareness during the coming months: “No remorse. No if-onlys. Just the alertness of being.” Here’s another useful maxim, this one from author Mignon McLaughlin: “Every day of our lives we are on the verge of making those slight changes that would make all the difference.” Shall we make it a lucky three mottoes to live by in 2019? This one’s by author A. A. Milne: “You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” Homework: Write a parable or fairy tale that captures what your life has been like in 2018. Testify at freewillastrology.com. 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 877873-4888 or 900-950-7700.
::NEWS OF THE WEIRD ::BY THE EDITORS OF ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION
Maybe Nike’s Hiring
D
ominick Breedlove of Spring Hill, Fla., doomed his chances of landing a job at Kohl’s on Dec. 5, reported Fox 13 News, by getting arrested for shoplifting after his interview. Breedlove arrived for his appointment with human resources that afternoon, Hernando County Sheriff’s deputies said, and afterward stopped to browse in the shoe department. A loss prevention officer watching Breedlove told police the suspect went outside to his car, retrieved a Kohl’s shopping bag and returned to the store, where he stashed two pairs of Nike athletic shoes worth $150 in the bag and attempted to walk out of the store. Breedlove was charged with shoplifting. Oddly enough, he didn’t get the job.
A Prosecutor’s Dream A Michigan bank robber failed to appear at his sentencing hearing on Dec. 6 in Macomb County Circuit Court because he was cooling his heels in Toledo, Ohio, after being arrested in connection with another bank robbery. Paul Carta, 45, pleaded guilty in October to robbing a bank in May in Utica, Mich., and was due in court on the sixth, Newsweek reported. But, the day before his court hearing, Carta entered a Toledo bank and handed a clerk a note demanding money and warning that he was armed. The bank employee gave Carta an undisclosed amount of money, and he fled the bank. Toledo police took him into custody 11 minutes later at a Taco Bell drive-thru nearby.
Is Eeling a Thing? Scientists are likening the strange occurrence of eels getting stuck in monk seals’ nostrils to “one of those teenage trends,” according to The Washington Post. Charles Littnan, lead scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program, posited, “One juvenile seal did this very stupid thing, and now the others are trying to mimic it,” but he and other scientists are stumped about the phenomenon. Hypotheses suggest that the eels jet up the nostrils as seals poke their faces into eels’ hiding spots, or seals regurgitate the eels and they exit through the nose. Over the last two years, three or four incidences have been reported, all with good outcomes—for the seals, that is; none of the involved eels have survived.
Art Imitates Life Ted Pelkey of Westford, Vt., has been battling the Westford Development Review Board for months over his proposal to erect a building on his property for his truck repair and monofilament recycling business. But, he told WCAX News that the city keeps putting up barriers to the development, so Pelkey has instead installed a message to the board and the people of Westford: a giant sculpture of a fist with the middle finger raised. “It’s very big. Everybody got the message,” said Fairfax resident Carol Jordan. Pelkey, who spent $4,000 on the public rebuke, said he hopes the citizens of Westford will take a “really long look at the people who are running their town.” In the meantime, the select board told WCAX that, because the sculpture is considered public art, they can take no action against it.
A Teacher a Cut Above the Rest Science teacher Margaret Gieszinger, 52, at University Preparatory High School in Visalia, Calif., was captured on video cutting off students’ hair with scissors on Dec. 5, while loudly, and incorrectly, singing “The StarSpangled Banner.” The Visalia Times-Delta described the video showing Gieszinger starting with a male student seated in a chair at the front of the room as she cuts portions of his hair and tosses them behind her. When she moved on to a female student, other teenagers started screaming and ran out of the classroom. Lilli Gates, one of Gieszinger’s students, told the Times-Delta the teacher “is a loving and kind lady. She is usually all smiles and laughs. This is not the Miss G. we know and love.” After Gieszinger’s arrest on suspicion of felony child endangerment, the district notified parents that she would not be returning to the classroom.
Lawyers on a Plane When Stephen Keys boarded a SkyWest flight in Reno, Nevada, on Sept. 9, he settled into his first-class seat and reached to buckle his seat belt. But, when he raised the right armrest for better access, his right pinky finger became lodged in a small hole under the armrest, according to the lawsuit he filed against American Airlines and SkyWest on Dec. 5. Keys tried repeatedly to remove his finger but could not, and it remained stuck for nearly an hour until the flight landed, and airline mechanics disassembled the armrest, reported City News Service. “The spring mechanism ... applied intense pressure to the plaintiff’s finger, immediately inflicting injury, swelling and pain,” the lawsuit read. “Dozens of passengers became aware of Mr. Keys’ perilous condition, causing his dire situation to become a humiliating public spectacle.” What’s more, the injury left Keys “unable to drive or play with his children, causing severe emotional distress,” according to the lawsuit. © 2018 ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION
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::ARTFORART’SSAKE
Blitzened Upon the Midnight Beer JAMES KLOIBER
::BY ART KUMBALEK
A
nyways, this week I choose not to belabor the craft of a finely honed essay, ’cause I beseech you, who the hell’s going to read it what with the holidays, with or without Jesus, upon us? You’re all too busy with your fruitcakes and with your focking relatives (to whom it applies, please excuse the redundancy) to read anything I’ve got to pitch your way. Besides, right now I’m awfully busy trying to locate my mistletoe belt buckle. Cripes, I hope I didn’t lose the goddamn thing somewheres. But before I go, I’ll give you’s a nice little retelling of a favorite Christmas story of mine that you can present to loved ones this season, perhaps in lieu of a regular gift, you cheap bastards. So, one Christmas Eve long, long time ago, Santa’s getting ready for his yearly trip ’round the world like always, but he’s running into all kind of problems every time he turns around. All of a sudden five elves have the flu-like symptoms and are way too sick to work and the rest of the elves can’t pick up the slack, so now’s Santa got a case of the heebie-jeebies from being way behind schedule. Then on top of that, the Mrs. tells Santa that her mother was coming to visit for a couple weeks, and now he’s really in a bad mood. So he goes out to harness the reindeer, and he discovers that three of them are about to give birth and another two had gone AWOL over the fence to who knows where. Now he’s really stressed out. And then while he’s loading the sleigh, one
of the floor boards cracks, his big bag of toys tears, falls to the ground, and now he’s got toys all over the gosh darn place. Santa’s really beside himself, so he goes back into the house for a cup of coffee and a quick shot or three of whiskey, only to find the bottle empty and now he knows why the elves were too sick to work. Then he accidentally drops the coffee pot, which shatters into hundreds of tiny pieces all over the kitchen floor. He goes to get the broom to clean up the mess only to discover that mice had eaten all the bristles. And just then, wouldn’t you know, the doorbell rings. Santa goes to open the door, cussing all the way. And there, holding a Christmas tree, stands the chirpiest, most cheerful angel you ever did see. The angel looks up at Santa and says, “Hi ya’, Santa. I’m Harold. What a wonderful, wonderful day. Merry, merry Christmas to you, and look at this beautiful, beautiful tree I have just for you. Hey Santa, where would you like me to put it?” And that is how the tradition of an angel stuck on top of the Christmas tree began. Ba-ding! One more thing, for those generous souls who just may wonder what a guy like me would truly appreciate for Christmas, my wish list remains unchanged from any other year: • A busload of Vegas showgirls. • Case of Pall Malls and a boatload of Old Crow to wash ’em down with. • My own private compartment on all buses that run the No. 30 or 15 line. (Hey, one of my favorite movies all-time is Todd Browning’s Freaks, but I’d rather watch it than be in it, I kid you not.) So, there you go. Happy holidays, merry Christmas, joyous whatever-it-is-you-got-deserves-celebrating. And to all: I hope you get what’s coming to you, right here, right now, and I mean that in the best way, whatever that means. So be damn sure to celebrate this holiday good and plenty. You just can’t ever be 100 per-focking-cent sure that it may not be the last one you’ll get; so make it a good one, what the fock, ’cause I’m Art Kumbalek and I told you so.
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