Newsie for life...

Starting in June 2025, I became a part of the "Journalism Focus Group" of the Intuit RPO Onsite Team.  Although I'm sure issues of "Beyond The Desk" may be retrievable, at least theoretically, but I'll track my contributions here for posterity.  Evidently, because of my choice of feature article for this first issue, I am now on the "Milwaukee Spots" beat for the rest of my run here... 

9.1.25

Once each year, Historic Milwaukee hosts Doors Open Milwaukee, a city-wide immersive experience of behind-the-scene tours and insider tales of more than 150 sites, buildings, and other locations all around the Milwaukee Metro.

In recent years, I have seen The Worlds Largest Theater Organ at a Carmex Warehouse in Franklin, the view from the top of the Northwestern Mutual Tower, stories of the time the Pro Bowlers Association (PBA) hosted a match at Holler House, and a walking tour of Forest Home Cemetery & Arboretum (by far my favorite walkabout in Milwaukee!)

Doors Open is happening September 27th and 28th, and you can see all of the available locations this year starting on September 1st at their website.

Tours are free - you just need to secure tickets (starting September 10th {or 3rd if you sign up to be a Member!}) for some of the most popular locations, but there are a lot of locations all around the city where no tickets are required, so once the map goes live, check out what’s near you (or a bit of a drive - it’s usually worth it!), and get out exploring!

August 1, 2025

There’s nothing like the artificially cooled air of museum air conditioning to beat the summer heat.  And there’s no better price that you’ll find to enjoy that cool air (plus the loads of exceptional exhibits!) than FREE!  

So here’s your guide to some of the best that Milwaukee has to offer for the… frugal… visitor: 

The Milwaukee Public Museum (800 W Wells St.) - Free to visitors on the First Thursday of every month, thanks to Kohl’s. Enjoy some kitschy and classic exhibits of natural history and modern anthropology before the museum moves location in early 2027.

Milwaukee Art Museum (700 N Art Museum Dr.) - Every Thursday, museum admission is pay-what-you-wish from 4pm - 8pm. Classical and modern collections, I recommend the excellent collection of 20th Century Haitian Art, one of the best in the world.

Boerner Botanical Gardens (9400 Boerner Dr., Hales Corners) - Free admission on the last Thursday of the month through October 2025. Also enjoy the Wednesday Garden Walks for just $5, tours at 6pm led by a different local expert each week.

Wehr Nature Center (9701 W College Ave, Franklin) - No admission, but parking (normally $5) is free on the last Thursday of each month.

Admittedly, the AC at these last two is not great, but just a few ideas to get you started on some summer fun that won’t break the bank.

July 1, 2025

Hello, I’m Joel! I began working with the Intuit team about a year ago, but my connection with Manpower Group goes back a bit longer. I was placed in a temporary position by Manpower in 2007, and ended up spending over a decade with the boutique private staffing firm in downtown Milwaukee. I’m originally from a small town in Southern Wisconsin, and have lived mainly around the Midwest since then: Minneapolis, Omaha, Chicago, and now here! I’m a fan of horror genre everything (especially zombies!), games of all sorts, and Nottingham Forest. I’ll cover Team Building Efforts for the newsletter.

The Team Building Focus Group is organizing a PrideLuck Potluck on July 3rd at noon in the Connection Point to celebrate the culmination of Pride Month and the Fourth of July holiday! Sign-ups for dishes were distributed via email, and everyone is encouraged to to wear either your favorite (work appropriate) All-American or Pride Colors gear for the day. In other news, Roselyn Colon has taken over running the Intuit Movie Club. For July, they are currently taking suggestions for a “Summer Themed Movie”, so feel free to send your suggestions in for their meet up later in July.

Sanger House Gardens

Just a short eleven minute walk out the front door of MPG HQ sits Sanger House Gardens, a delightful summer afternoon walk break destination for anyone seeking a new spot to spend some time amongst beautifully curated flower and plant gardens. Across the Schlitz Park lot, and a block north of the Lonchera El Tapatio Taco Truck, at 1823 N. Palmer Street, the Sanger House Gardens are open to the public every day between 8:30am until 6:00pm, except when they are hosting a special event (which is rare on weekdays!). The gardens were designed and built by Steve Bialk and Angela Duckert over the past 25 years, and the property itself has a rich Milwaukee history, as the former home of a Milwaukee County Sheriff and a Milwaukee Mayor! In recent years, Sanger Gardens has also offered up their Carriage House as a unique airBnB, so if you are hosting out of town guests, they’ll be close to work! I highly recommend a visit - well worth the walk up Brewer’s Hill (besides, it’s downhill on the way back to HQ!)

The Seeger Family Christmas Letter (1st Draft)

Dear friends, family, Romans, and countrypersons,

What a year it has been, eh?  Or what a decade - or month (hour?)?  I don't have a good sense of time...

Allow me to introduce myself: My name is Keks, and I was born on 11 December 2018, so I've just recently turned 14 years old.  I am the smallest Grand-Dog of Donald and Hope Seeger (P.O. Box 304, Clinton, WI, 53525), and I currently reside in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - near the lake (which is awesome if you haven't been!!).

As most of you know, this year - 2020 - especially since mid-March has been unlike any in all of our lifetimes.  Hasn't it been great!!??  Humans at home ALL THE TIME!!!  They never leave, never have to put you in the kennel, are around to take you for walks all day long!

Anyway, it's been quite the wild ride has 2020.  As I mentioned, I live in Milwaukee with my humans, Joel and Brooke.  Since coming to live with them in February 2019, I've also spent a good deal of time visiting Don and Hope - who I get a real kick out of.  

*  *  *

the next morning...

I've been told - numerous times today already - that after making the request last evening that Keks draft the annual Seeger Christmas letter that Hope herself has started a draft of a letter, so we'll have a letter full of greetings and introductions* (beginnings are the best!) with the following uber-intro...

*  *  *

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God"

"The Gospel according to Saint John (1:1)" 

"My line comes down from Queen Ada, the sister of Malcolm IV, descended from King Duff, the first king of Scotland."

from Cash: The Autobiography of Johnny Cash, by Johnny Cash

"The terror that would not end for another 28 years, if it ever did, began so far as I can know or tell, with a boat made from a sheet of newspaper floating down a gutter swollen with rain."

- Stephen King, It

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope..."

- Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

    The beginnings are always the moments with all of the promise, indeed, all of the hope.  As we enter in to the start of a brand new year, 2021, which we may all remember best as the first year after 2020!, I thought we might do something a bit different, and offer you a sampling of beginnings of Seeger Christmas letters (we all know the beginnings of letters are the best part anyway!).  So without further ado: 

(submitted by Joel Seeger)

* If you would like to submit an introduction to be considered for the annual Seeger Christmas letter you can submit it to the comments below by 5:00pm CST on Saturday, December 19th, 2020.

This or That

On this date in History - 13 years ago Today (frack i am old...) - I was That Guy (or possible This Guy, the record seems not entirely clear).

It's approaching high summer, and in any other year Milwaukee would be looking at the SummerFest lineup each evening and choosing which nights to dive in to the crowds and see some cool new (and old) bands.

Instead, today, i googled (and learned) the definition of comorbidity.  Which sucks.

I have no wisdom or insight for us today, but only that we are breaking, my friends.  Our whole civilization.  And I think it's easy to blame Republicans (or leftists, if you're of a certain persuasion) or anyone else, really.  And there are plenty of people who are on the right track, but our problem is all of it.  

Those of us who are good liberals, but have some nice stuff, we want to keep having it - eating out and having nice cocktails and gym memberships (or spin classes; i think i mentioned earlier that i am so old) and cars and frequent flyer miles and dogs... all good stuff for the dogs.

We are the next #okBoomers and we like to pretend that we aren't.  Our refusal to be radical and rail against (and ultimately give up what we have) is kind of the problem.  I do not mean that middle class folks are the real problem in the face of billionaires (and multi-millionaires), but we are enablers.  No matter how much we don't want to be...

hard to remember the last time...

It's NFL early Christmas today, with the floundering Green Bay Packers coming to Soldier Field to take on the FIRST-PLACE Chicago Bears.

Source: sportsmockery.com

It's a marquee, albeit noon, game - it's a rematch of Week 1, where the Bears owned the first half and then collapsed under an epic Aaron Rodgers comeback.  During the final few minutes of that game, shane and i were texting that the Bears were only going to get better, and this week nearer the end of the season would be a damn tough game for the Packers.  Now, Shane is a full-throated Packer fan who was in part being kind to a friend during an embarrassing defeat, but i think he had a glimmer of what might be in front of him as a Packer fan.

3+ months later and the landscape has changed quite a lot.  The Bears enter 6-point favorites, and even with that, the strangest thing about this game is that Bears fans, myself included, feel fairly confident that we are the much better team playing this game today.  It doesn't mean we can't lose, but it does mean we will probably win, and should all things being equal win convincingly.

The question then arises, how best to watch such an epic match-up.  There are a plethora of mostly Packer-slanted events across Milwaukee.  You could go to:

• The Cactus Club and see the cover band Green Day Packers
• You can happily watch the game at every bar in Milwaukee, to be sure, but here are some of the best spots...
• The exception might be the local best soccer bar, which on Sundays becomes the High-Bear-y Pub

But no, for me, and a game this big, i need to be in my home, on my couch - i may text the outside world on occasion, but the emotion of this game day is my own and my highs or lows that may be to come over the next few hours need to be my own.  I don't want to gloat (or be gloated upon).  Although i appreciate the collective fandom experience, and think it's an important part of modern life that we mostly miss out on and it makes us all the worse (so says one of my favorite books!).

Enjoy the game everyone... for once, i feel pretty good about it and i'll see you all in late January for discussion of any snark and commentary!

So It Goes

It's with a heavy heart that we said goodbye to our dear friend, Rex Grossman, this week.

Eleven and a half years ago, Rex entered our newly married lives in Omaha, Nebraska.  I feel sure that i remember that Rex was born on a farm in Council Bluffs, Iowa (Brooke thinks it was in Nebraska) on the 27th of November 2006.

He survived orthopedic surgery on his right foreleg in his first year of life and moved to Milwaukee, coincidentally, when we did in the summer of 2007.

Rex was a ridiculously good looking dog.  In his early years, he would literally stop traffic, with drivers pulling over and getting out of their cars to meet him and ask what kind of dog he was (Beagle / Boston Terrier aka a Boglin Terrier).  Rex enjoyed riding in cars - when those people stopped he often seemed to think they were there to get him and he would try to jump into their cars.  (This was also often our method for catching Rex when he was still a runner and we'd have to flag down strangers and ask them to open their car door to coax him in and allow us to recapture him).  In so many ways Rex's stay with us seemed like a temporary, fleeting thing and he seemed to think that he was soon to be on to something else - to his next big thing.

In subsequent years, Rex became acquainted with Doctor Singh, whose summer cabin i expect we largely funded.  Rex survived a toy-induced blockage surgery, mysterious intestinal strangulation (possibly caused by an allergic reaction to avocados), death by chocolate when he ate Grandpa's Christmas gift from under the tree, an eventually explicable summer of malaise in 2013 (caused by a toothpick that had lodged itself under his skin for several months), and finally a prostate cancer diagnosis in September of 2017.

Reading this list of historical woes that Rex went through, it probably seems we were bad human caretakers for a pet.  We weren't, but things often seem other than they are.  Rex often seemed like a bad dog... screaming and crying loudly anytime we were in public (or in a car).  Pulling incessantly on walks.  Reliably emptying out the bathroom garbage can if ever we left the house and forgot to put it on the toilet seat.  Rex often seemed to sullenly slink away upstairs to lie under the bed when we were home.  He generally shied away from hugs and kisses.  But all of this, i think, was a complex psychological game that Rex was playing, because, vorallerdings, Rex was a genius dog.  A jock who loved playing ball more than life itself and a prototypical 'bad boy', but very self aware (a high IQ and high EQ, as it were).

Rex had a deep and abiding love of Harley Davidson motorcycles - he would sit and watch as one rode by if we were on a walk, or look out the window as one passed us on the highway.  We're pretty sure that Rex was a tough biker dude who had been reincarnated as a cute little puppy dog as karmic payback for a tough life knocking peoples skulls together.  For certain, this life wasn't Rex's first go round.  He was an old soul, and wise beyond his years.

Rex Grossman was a good dog... the best of dogs.  He was our dear friend.  We often called him "our lodger", because he seemed more like a stranger who had come to stay with us than a family member (that's why he had his own last name!).  He became a part of our pack and we a part of his. 

We will miss him, and will howl at the moon for a good long while in his honor.  Aooooo!

Vote Happy

Election Day will soon be upon us, once again.  Milwaukee has a Socialist running for Sheriff (she seems really lovely, smart, and on the right side of history!), and a Green Party candidate for State Treasurer (and in September, his numbers were pretty okay!).

In this sad/silly era of bought & sold candidates, dangerous zealots (as well as more clown-ish zealots), and a political campaign and lobbying system that encourages corruption, a progressive looking for genuine reform options often doesn't know which way to turn.  Of course, Democrats being in charge of things is less bad than Republicans.  So, the sensible choice seems to vote for Democrats in close races, and vote more radically (Greens, Socialists, liberal Independents) when it's expedient.  The fear-mongering lessons of Ralph Nader loom large, despite the fact that they're misguided.

Nationally, there are a lot of interesting races.  That said, the US House is guaranteed to remain in Republican hands, despite the fact that more people will probably end up voting for Democrats.  Thank you gerrymandering.

Unfortunately, the same reason can't be given for why the Senate seems poised to fall into Republican hands as well.  Though it would be awesome, wouldn't it?  To re-draw the state lines to re-organize people into more culturally appropriate regions? 

• East and West Dakota - East Dakota would be a 40 or so mile wide strip surrounding the I-29 corridor, stretching from Grand Forks all the way down to Kansas City (anything north of GF we can give to Canada).
• Up North - the northern part of Minnesota and Wisconsin, along with the UP.

  

  Source: www.pastemagazine.com

• The Middle Bit - a utopic plot of mostly rural farmland, focusing primarily on the biography of me, including Clinton, Wisconsin, stretching up north to Madison, then over to Decorah, Iowa, then up to Minneapolis.  It looks a bit like those Tetris pieces that go down one, over one, down one again (see picture, except the other one, and turned vertically).
• Austin, Texas - Austin, Texas.
• Yellowstone - Just a really cool state to visit.  First bear governor.
• Iraq - I know we're mostly moved out, but it's time to start colonizing, people.

The State of Wisconsin has a useful resource for figuring out what all is going to be on your ballot: 

At the top of the ballot, of course, is the Mary Burke / Scott Walker race for Governor.  This one will come down to turnout, and while I'm not overly excited about Mary Burke, she's the choice.

Down the ballot a ways is our rootin'-tootin' Sheriff Clarke, running against Angela Walker.  It seems the last time the Journal Sentinel deigned to mention her in an article was August 8th, when Chris Moews was being backed against the gun-loving sheriff by Michael Bloomberg. 

Environmental Theory

Of late there has been a ghastly pall of fog drifting over the spires of downtown Milwaukee (also, I've been reading some H.P. Lovecraft).

I hadn't given it much thought until

Brooke asked about it this morning, musing (sorry - HP) that the cause had something to do with the lake temperature, and theorizing that this perma-mist would last through the summer until the overall lake temp rose sufficiently to no longer need to release it's loamy essence. 

I said the theory sounds sound. But it certainly looks cool to me. And befitting my current reading. 

I was on a jury... and it was really awful... but hugely important

Last month I was called for jury duty and was ultimately selected to serve on a criminal trial involving two young black men who were accused of perpetrating an armed robbery in the Western Suburbs of Milwaukee. The experience was singularly unpleasant, not only in the ‘this is jury duty and it sucks” way, but also in the resulting loss of faith in humanity (which was already fairly unsteady).

The trial itself took the better part of a week, starting on Monday afternoon (after a couple hours of jury selection) and ending Thursday afternoon. Almost all of that time was spent on the prosecution, which made a fairly circumstantial case that the two young black men in the room were in fact the two, similarly shaped, young black men appearing on a poor-quality surveillance video. The defense* re-called one witness, a Milwaukee cop, and asked a few questions to demonstrate how little police work really went into all of this (not following up on additional leads or suspects, etc.)

At that point, after some final arguments, the case was given over to us, the jury. This is the point at which everything went to hell.

It was approximately 4:15pm by the time we adjourned to the jury room (a dreary room with a long table and mis-matched chairs, the windows covered in privacy tape and an alarm on the door). As we took our seats, the bailiff came in and said we would need to elect a foreperson. He asked for any volunteers and the old woman seated next to me (who will hereafter be referred to as Crotchety O’Lady) said, “I’ll do it.” She was eager, but worked hard to seem resigned to it.

The long and short of it was that most of the folks on the jury were convinced by 'authorities'.  The prosecutor and police officers who testified laid a flimsy groundwork based on burner cell phones and the aliases assigned to burner phones in the contact list of one guy who was not very believable, and whose vehicle was at both locations according to the grainy video footage.

*   *   *

3 May 2018
I am sorry that i didn't post this in real time... It was a lazy period for me (regular life, in other words).  [Is it just me #iijm or do we find ourselves creating irl type abbreviations in the real world (#itrw) - i wanted to abbreviate #irt and #iow when i was typing earlier this paragraph, but then realized i was making those up.)

I was called to be a juror in late 2013, and it was in the early days of my being a person with a real job.  When i was actually called into a court room, i answered honestly (mostly**) when the attorneys were selecting jurors.  I did make myself sound banal (a "staffing specialist" rather than a "graduate student"), and not overly opinionated.

Mostly what i found being on a jury is that people crave leadership and most people have strong prejudices that they are astoundingly unaware of.  There were a few (or perhaps a couple) people on this particular jury who were actively and obstinately racist in their preference for convicting.  But at the beginning of deliberations, almost all (actually all, except for a middle aged African American lady, who described the defendants as "guys who could my kids", and me) jurors were initially in favor of conviction despite the lack of any compelling evidence.

In the end the two of us had convinced enough of the jurors that there was enough doubt to acquit one defendant entirely and get a hung jury for the other. 

Since serving on the jury, i have been shocked by the number of times i've heard friends, colleagues and other folks discuss openly how they have or planned to avoid jury service by answering introductory questions to the effect that they are prejudiced or would not be able to be impartial.  Jury service is a pain in the ass, but the fact that so many middle and upper class and educated people shirk their responsibility means that juries are largely and disproportionately peopled by under-educated and  underprivileged people... people who are more likely to be unintentionally prejudiced.

And these people need a leader in their midst in order to do the right thing.

*Note: In point of fact there were two separate “defenses” as each defendant was being tried independently of the other, with separate counsel. This becomes important later in the post and only one of the two “defenses” called anybody to the stand.

** Defense attorneys asked whether any of the potential jurors had any "pre-conceptions" of whether the defendants in this case were guilty or not.  My immediate instinct was to answer that, "yes, i would go into the case starting with an assumption about their guilt - namely that they are not guilty, unless the prosecution can prove otherwise."  I withheld this smart-alec remark, which i think would've gotten me tossed by prosecution despite it's accuracy.  

Rex is Rex

Rex Grossman has been feeling a bit under the weather lately (see pic - note: er ist noch am leben - I know it looks a bit  like a chalk outline or some sort of ritual flooring).

He's doing well and we are once again indebted to Dr. Singh (side note to anyone in the Milwaukee Metro with a pet on the brink, Bayshore Vet in Shorewood is the best).  

** Update as of 7/10/13: Rex is back to 100% and acting normally.  We went to see Dr. Singh again today for a final check and his infection seems to have abated.  After a couple of routine vaccines, Rex was good to go, though, the promised 'sleepiness and lethargy' as a result of his shots did not come to pass...

Who's a good dog?

Too Far Airfield

Last weekend I completed what has been one of my most anticipated odd social experiments. I walked to the airport (and it wasn't that bad). Since moving to Milwaukee's alleged Garden District, I have frequently wondered what the experience would be like, walking to or from MKE, and last Friday I had the opportunity to test it. My hypothesis was that it would be difficult, dangerous or nearly impossible to accomplish what I had set out to do. Every time I had driven to or from the airport I had tried to make a mental note of various courses I would have to traverse,* without finding much of a hopeful way forward (or backward). To my chagrin, however, I found that the process of walking, at least to this one American airport, was really not much of a challenge.

On first approach, while leaving my immediate neighborhood and approaching the mega-block that is Mitchell International Airport, I was pleased to see my sidewalk end and some un-inviting looking fences and trenches seemingly blocking my path. Of course, I could have crossed over Howell Ave. and had an unimpeded walk, but this is clearly not the story I'm trying to tell here, so I trekked.

Presently, I came upon a side-road, upon which I assumed my pedestrations would be noted and carefully watched by Homeland Security and the TSA. There was some traffic on the road, though not a lot. I encountered exactly one fellow walker, who was wearing what looked like an airport badge, marking him as not the bourgeois-traveller class, but of the low-wage, service economy class we staff our airports (baristas, bartenders and security personnel alike) with.  This, too, fit my narrative, so I duly scoffed again at my circumstances.

As I continued on my walk, however, I encountered a well-maintained and marked pedestrian walk (not pictured), which led me past the International Terminal.  I was terribly disappointed to find that it is, in fact, quite easy to walk to the Milwaukee Airport.

Well done, you, Milwaukee.  My outrage is quelled, once more, for one more day.


* Of course, the state of heightened emotion we generally enter when arriving or departing an
airport (or while actually at an airport) tends to distract from even the best-intentioned observer's stance.

Progressive Voting Guide for Wisconsin - April 2011 Election

Voting day is just in front of us and this year's election is of vital importance. As such, I am trying to collect together a Voting Guide to inform people of their options. As I've said before (brilliant idea #2), there needs to be a site that collects all elections and gives good information on EVERY race, from President to School Board to Coroner (what is a "republican" way of coroning?).

Find your polling place!

This is in no way meant to be an unbiased, non-partisan guide. Rather, I will try to inform you of the candidate that will make Wisconsin a better place. I am open to discuss (in comments here, when I see you next, or any other way) and will update this post with changes when I get better information, but I want to post this as soon as I can. Please let me know if you know of other races and any info you have on candidates.

Wisconsin State Supreme Court
JoAnne Kloppenburg is the clear choice here. She's running against incumbent David Prosser, a former Wisconsin State legislator who has refused to recuse himself from the Collective Bargaining case despite the fact of having served with Walker and others in the state legislature and virtually assured to vote in favor of the bill.

Kloppenburg will restore some badly needed balance to the State Supreme Court, which is currently weighted toward republican perspectives (Note: I do not mean conservative perspective, I mean republican).

Milwaukee County Executive
Though I'm not convinced that either candidate is ideal, Chris Abele seems to be the less bad (and perhaps actually good, I just don't know for sure). His opponent, Jeff Stone is a republican legislator who voted for Walker's Budget and the collective bargaining sham of a bill, so he is clearly a bad choice (and, incidentally, probably a bad person in general).

Milwaukee School Board
District 8
Again, I'm not 100% about this race. It seems like both candidates aren't ideal, but until we are fully committed to running quality progressive candidates at every level I guess I would lean slightly toward Meagan Holman, who at least seems smart. I hope someone sets me straight here if they know any better, but the only information I can find is onmilwaukee.com's coverage of the primary in February and their answers weren't necessarily substantively different, but very much stylistically different (or intellectually different).

Milwaukee County Circuit Court - Branch 18

Vote to retain Judge Pedro Colón, who I really know nothing about, but I like his smile. Oh, and he seems like a reasonable guy.

C'mon you Party People

In support of the overall sentiment of today's Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear and with the looming Mid-Term Selections, I've decided that now was the time to come out of my self-imposed Cone of Silence and/or Ambivalence.

Plus, Halloween is upon us again.  As some friends and I make our way around Milwaukee in T. Party garb (T-een Wolf, the Plain White Tees, Aarti Paarti, _____________), we will be working toward some of the same goals as Team Stewart-Colbert.


*   *   *

May 2019

Ah, 2010 - back when the conservative political insanity was fun...

I stand by this 2010 Halloween pub crawl theme, though our compatriots were less political in their costume and messaging than Brooke and me (although if you look closely at Grant's sign, it's a Christine "I'm not a Witch" O'Donnell reference!). 

Rex was a bit confused and just dressed up as a pumpkin... maybe he's a pumpkin spice tea?

I do recall in seeing this picture that Bethany was going as "Sal-T-Hit Girl" (the Morton's Salt Girl crossed with Hit Girl from Kick Ass).  I have no recollection of what Grant's costume is.

... you think that was something

Okay, so nobody was terribly excited by my HUGE scoop last week...

Well, Roman Numeral J has another one... Something big is brewing this week, for Obama's campaign. My source was unwilling to spill too much, but i have a feeling it's going to be HUGE. Somewhere out west, a big little city, my hunch tells me Denver... Stay tuned.

Anyway,

in other news, i spent Saturday playing tourist in my own town yesterday. Seeing the Milwaukee River Walk, including Milwaukee's newest tourist attraction... the Fonz!

It's really short. I think it's actually life-sized (Henry Winkler was evidently a little guy). The whole cast of Happy Days was on hand last Tuesday to unveil the statue.

It's a bit overly smily & the teal pants are, well teal. But now, finally, milwaukee will be a major tourist draw... As much as i hate the term "Stay-cation" (i throw up a little in my mouth each time i hear it), i think exploring your own environs as an outsider (buy a map, tool around the streets, look up at the buildings, drink in the early afternoon, and hit up those museums you always drive by the signs for... wear shorts & tennis shoes!)

Tell you What... TellUride

South Milwaukee has a "new" bar... Finally a bar, for south milwaukee.

But seriously, Telluride, at 2155 S. Kinnickinnic is a great new find on the south side... For a neighborhood where you can find a small-time, local watering hole at every... well everywhere... Telluride provides an (evidently) eco-friendly, inviting experience. Modeled after a Coloradian resort bar (though any theme-i-ness is very understated) the bar has been in operation a couple of months according to co-owner Luke Grant, who was tending bar.

I am hugely in awe of anyone who starts a business, particularly one so close to my heart, and my liver. At first sight, the bar was clean & somewhat spartan in its decorating... and sparse in its patronage, though it was a Thursday afternoon... it was also southSide Milwaukee.

But they had good beers on tap (including Pilsner Urquell & some Colorado beers like Flying Dog Pale Ale) & poured some decent cocktails (no Rehorst on hand, despite the fact they're moving into the neighborhood). But the real highlight of this place was the outdoor seating/gaming area. They've got a great patio, some attractive landscaping & fencing & LADDERBALL!

In fact, you can choose from two types of ladder-ball, traditional (though with golf-balls) or 'football themed, with yellow goal-post style targets & overly bouncy football Bolas. They've also got two different types of Bags targets... Maybe I should introduce them to hippie horseshoes as well...

The other two great features of Telluride are that it's smoke-free (without needing a city ordinance to tell them to) & you can bring your dog & hang out in the patio... Finally Rex Grossman won't have to sneak drinks while we're at work...

Located at the north tip of Bayview on Kinnickinnic, Telluride also has the added bonus of getting a lot of drive by traffic each day. In fact, that's the only reason we ended up checking it out, was because we'd seen the outside seating area when i drove by for work each day.

On a side-note, this looks to be the first in a series of Milwaukee Southside entries coming up soon, as another new joint is opening right near us TONIGHT! (The Sahara Cafe) & i've heard a recent rumor that Rehorst is going to start selling Bourbon (as soon as sits long enough in the barrels)

Doe!

Last night i went golfing by myself, which is as rewarding an experience as going to movies by myself or sitting in coffee shops by myself. I played Grant Park Golf Course, which is close to (but out of eyeshot of) Lake Michigan on Milwaukee's southSide - after 7pm, they have "sunset" rates, which is $7 for as many of the 18 holes as you can get in. I got through the front nine, just barely (because of a couple larger groups that wouldn't let me play through).

I stepped up to the 9th tee, it was getting darker faster than it should have been due to the cloud cover and there was a light rain (better than the last 2 holes' middling rain) falling. I hit my tee shot once the foursome turned the left dogleg and it felt good. No idea where it went, didn't see it at all, but it felt like a nice shot.

I decided to play a 2nd ball, an orange ball, a "Noodle 2" in fact in case i didn't stumble upon my first ball. It was a line-drive right, into some trees, i saw it bounce, then saw somebody move toward my ball, "Shit!", i thought, "i almost hit that dude", but i quickly realized there wasn't anybody in the woods, rather two deer. I almost hit one of them with my orange ball, though they didn't seem to mind.

I walked in their direction, slowly, pulled my cell phone out of my bag and tried to shoot a few quick photos (nothing doing, it was too dark to get much of a shot). I didn't end up finding that orange ball, but the two deer ran to the middle of the fairway & i followed, figuring i might just skip the 9th, but their path took me over my original ball, the Nike Swoosh looking up at me.

I hit possibly the best 5-iron shot of my life then, just short of the green and looked once more at the deer, who were headed back toward the 9th tee now. I watched them go, then got to my ball, realized all the lights in the clubhouse were out and mine was the only car in the lot & proceeded to chip poorly & three-putt to end my round. Naja, it was worth it, though, and i played an ok round... Not great, but ok.

Weekenders Return

Having heard from jp now regarding his magic shoes that he left behind at our place, i can at least safely assume that one car made it back to minneapolis & will trust that all made it back home after the Colonel's Grand Opening.

Thanks everyone for making the trip down, up, or over. We'll try to do it again soon, often, and repeatedly. What with the Thursday, Saturday, & Sunday flood drives to & from minneapolis (as well as some somewhat associated trips to & from Omaha) the need for a fantastic weekend was high.

Tailgating went almost as perfectly as i could have imagined. Except for the lack of ladder-ball & the slightly embarrassing nature of Toss Across. But good times were had and PBR & vodka slushies were drunk... the newly acquired mini-grill assembled easily & the asian cole slaw was outstanding, seriously. Inside, the game was ugly, but the Beer Pen* was an interesting experience, with free t-shirts, anarchic seating situations, and not a little Twins fan harrassment (i was quite impressed by the number of homer-hanky-havers that made the trip down).

Saturday was looking to be a beautiful day... we put the guests to work (thanks guys) & got ready for the house-warming. The mpls kids wandered around milwaukee for the day, got to the Safe House & the marina then got back for a rain shower which moved everything into the house & the garage, though we got back outside later. Overall a fine party. I know grantykins had a good time. Sunday we went for brunch (with excellent crabcake Benedict in spite of incredibly bad waitering) at Barnacle Buds & most of the crew was off & back home. Seriously, thanks all for coming. We had a great time...

*geographic animosity never ceases to befuddle me. I mean, true fan animosity (like the way i hate most Cubs fans) is one thing... It's rational (or at least rationalizable) - the average Cubs fan doesn't understand nor want to understand the finer points of a baseball game. they just want to see homers & see the scoreboard click up for them... But a minnesotan's despise for a wisconsinite? the way Omahans talk about Iowans? Even, to some extent, the way coasters see the entire middle of the country as 'quaint' is difficult for me to process... Anyway - this Derrick guy had quite a different view of the Beer Pen than I had... anybody recognize him?

Sticks in my Cray...

Crayfish or Crawfish...

Last night we went to Barnacle Buds for just the second time for their 1st annual Crawfish Boil. It was quite an experience, though not all that we'd hoped... It was cold & windy outside, so we ate inside...

I don't know if you've ever been to a Crayfish Boil (maybe i'm way behind here), but the setup was... unexpected. When it "boiled over" they dumped it all (a mix of Crawfish, Corn on the Cob, Red Potatoes, Carrots, Garlic Cloves, & Andouille Sausage) along a table covered in newspaper & sort of said 'have at it'. All they had were a few rolls of paper towels & we were a bit confused. One guy quickly went over how to eat (or access) a Crayfish, which i only partially got so it's very likely i was eating Crawfish brains & poop, but naja, new experiences and all...

I wished we'd had an expert (i'm looking at you, dave yost) to help us along with the eating & the entire process... & if it had been nicer out i think part of the point is that you all just stand around the table eating and chucking shells away. We were angesprochen several times by a guy (who i think may have been Barnacle Bud) who looked like a cross between Santa Claus & the Gorton's Fish Stick Fisherman Guy (who i'm convinced may be the same person, just in different seasons)

**Note: Loyal reader(s) may have noted the increased usage of full names the last couple of posts... This is a throwback to an earlier idea i'd had about an occasional Membership Drive segment for Roman Numeral J, but just a lazier version... in hopes that people still google themselves (do they? I know i do from time to time...) Anyway, if you've found your name here and would like it removed let me know and i will give you a codename like Kojak or Kojak2

Dinn-Arr

Last night we had dinner at the latest addition to the Tippecanoe neighborhood, Shiver Me Timbers, a new restaurant specializing in American-Pirate Fusion... That's right, a Pirate restaurant right here in Milwaukee (which clearly has a long, prestigious pirate history).

I think (it was hard to tell, because their stories seemed to keep changing) last night may have been the first night they were serving food... Our reactions were mixed. A lot of first week kinks still to work out... Only about a third of the menu was up and running, the bar was a bit sparse, and they hadn't fully figured out their feel...

First-off, this place needs to get some pirate drinks. I inquired after juices and the only ones they had were cranberry, orange, and pineapple, which is pretty standard for most bars, but a Pirate bar??? Don't you think you need something more exotic? I mean, a minute and a half of internet research produced a list of pirate drinks... Additionally, splash some Welch's passion fruit juice onto some white rum makes a tasty instant pirate cockt-arr-l.

This place didn't even have rum... I ordered a second-rate pirate drink, but they only had Malibu or Captain Morgan Spiced Rum... I mean, if you're opening a pirate restaurant (which is awesome, by the way, and we totally have to open one in Decorah) you better have a damn impressive rum list.

On the other hand, i ordered the Pecan Red Snapper, and it was hands down, the best red snapper i've had in my life. The chef came out to apologize for a slight delay in getting our meals and was concerned about the dish, but i think it was fantastic... Brooke's goat cheese/smoked salmon salad was adequate, but nothing special & brig's chicken was ok, but the fish, my god the fish...

As a self-proclaimed great orderer, my two rules are 1) order the special & 2) what does this place seem like they should know? order that. And pirates ought to know fish. And these pirates did..., though they didn't know rum... yet.

It's A 2-Story Brick Colonial!

Today, we successfully closed on a house... seriously. Somebody gave us a set of keys and all we had to do was bring a gigantic (or giant, depending on which Russian you ask) cashier's check and sign several pieces of paper.

We never laid eyes on the sellers (which struck me as a bit odd)... we were quarantined in a small 'signing room' as they were, then had papers delivered over. We did, however, meet the wholly dishonest and shifty Real Estate Agent, who played so many games that we thought we eventually wouldn't get this house.

Tonight we headed over to the house for snacks & champagne w/ Brigette, then struck out into the neighborhood & found Swayz'... A Mexican Restaurant in our 'neighborhood'. We hit the local liquor store (less than 3 blocks away) - good prices and an excellent selection... And met the neighbors across the way... Some of whom are really into their snowblowers... but, they were drinking along on the sidewalk, so they can't be all bad.

It was an evening of 1sts... Rex Grossman's 1st poo in the back yard - Brooke's 1st (and 2nd) spill in the kitchen - Joel's 1st pee - the 1st fly in the house (a late-season January giant) - and the 1st shovelin' (which wasn't up to stuff according to the neighbor, who snowblowed it after i left).

We were also left a series of fine manuals for all of our new appliances & installations... One that i read through was quite revelatory. Our doorbell switches tones. To most any song you can imagine (or at least type of song)... Sadly there's not Counting Crows on the playlist, but The Colonel is well greeted.
That's right, The Colonel, that's what the house on Austin Street will be known as. He's the colonel. 4131 Austin St. In the Tippecanoe neighborhood.

We hope to see you all down there real soon... A hint of a progressive party was broached for late January, but it now seems we might move out sooner to save on January rent, so our two-estate state won't last much longer...

Happy new years all...
Be Excellent to Each Other
&...

Party on, Dude

retrospectively, respectfully, John Waters

We went Wednesday last to A John Waters Christmas, which really set me into the Christmas Spirit...

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It has been some time since I saw this show.  I think I thought at the time that I would come out of this show with a new appreciation of John Waters.  He's a genius, but I knew little or none of his work when I first when to this show at Turner Hall, and I've still seen almost none of his work.  I remember it being a fun show, funny and nostalgic. (jss - 14 March 2017)