Just another day, part II

Yesterday we spent the gloomy, misty afternoon working on our apartment building- you know, keeping things safe, sanitary, and attempting to make it a little bit nice too. It is adjacent to the high-voltage power lines that occupy a wide green median at 20th street. It's become a dumping ground- and when mattresses end up there, whoa! Instant playground!

Hard to see above, but Red Shirt is airborne.




The nurse part of me that is concerned about public health and safety in Milwaukee's north side population was easily won over by the easily-amazed part of me that said "OMG backflips!!!" and went to get the camera.

Executing high-risk behavior + No Trespassing signs+ bedbugfilled mattresses+being pretty much right in traffic=awesome moves.

Beverly Shores, Indiana

The first night we were gone on our road trip, we stayed near the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.Parts of it are beautiful, even amazing (giant sand dunes!) but this part (above), maybe not so much. Busloads of school kids came to splash around in the shadow of the power plant's cooling tower. It looks like a nuclear plant, but it's not.

Nearby Beverly Shores, IN was our next stop. Some of its homes were transported there via barge across Lake Michigan after their exhibition at the 1933-34 "A Century of Progress" Chicago's World's Fair; some of the beachfront homes are abandoned. There are three existing Lustrons in the town. We found two of them. This yellow one at 729 Lake Front Drive, which overlooks Lake Michigan.

This blue (or blue-green, I find it difficult to discern the difference) Lustron below had no house number on it. It was on Montana just off Lake Front Drive.

Back home!

We're back home safe and sound after a trip to the Smoky Mountains and visiting several cities besides. It's great to travel and great to be back home with fresh perspective. What a great country we live in! I have a camera full of photos and a notebook full of ideas...

Down by the lake, aina?

For whatever reason, I rarely go down by the lake. Why? It's just always there. I could go anytime, and so I NEVER do. Well, we went on Labor Day. It was amazing.

Look! It's like vacation!

I call these Gilligan's Island bikes.

You can even rent a Segway, if you are so inclined. Or even if you are on a flat surface.

Giant windsocks festoon the kite store.

Fun was had by all.

Milwaukee Irish Fest

It never ceases to amaze me how the festival grounds can be completely transformed in four days to accommodate a different ethnicity and its foods and culture. Last weekend's Arab World Festival gave way to this weekend's Irish Fest. Hookahs disappeared and were replaced by beer as the substance of choice.

So much green!

So many bagpipes! They are much more fun in the open air, as a big parade.

Irish dancing routine to "Eye of the Tiger." Who would have thought?

This is probably the single least-appetizing food I have ever encountered, but it's cultural. (Sponge pudding?)

I love the Fair!

Kind of spur-of-the moment, I decided to join the rest of the sun-baked crowd today at the State Fair to get my Wisconsin on. Again. I love the fair. The weather was fantastic.

You can get anything you want on a stick at the Fair. Deep fried mac & cheese, for instance, or solar energy, or what have you. (Isn't energy the same thing as calories, anyway? Meta!)

There it is. On a stick.

These critters were just so cute, posing like this. Many, many city folk were taking their picture. They didn't seem to mind a bit. They are somewhat denuded here- their fleece was for sale, for human use in the harsh Wisconsin winter. Way to go, sheep and camelids! Thanks!

One of my favorite things at the Fair is the craft section. I loved this piece- it is just so meta: fourth-place ribbons proudly framed for display, and it earned a fourth place. I hope the entrant does not base his or her self-esteem on ribbons won. The judging is harsh. Man, I know!

And, cow poop. Hooray for the digital "macro" setting!

Arab World Fest

We went to Arab World Fest last night.
Camel rides were available- "desert ships."

Hoop dancing. I am now officially obsessed.

I surreptitiously took this shot of the couple in the background, who had dressed for the Renaissance Faire on accident.

Mohammed Al-Farra, who was like the Palestinian version of Eminem.

Things I did not get pictures of

Things seen at the State Fair opening day yesterday, which I was so excited to get to that I forgot my camera:

::Chocolate-covered bacon on a stick. The friend who accompanied me to the Fair was shown, chocolatey-faced, on Channel 12 eating some with much gusto.

::Large people. People on scooters.

::Well-hung Clydesdales.

::Small 4-H children singing "I will Survive" en masse.

::A giant banner proclaiming McDonald's as a proud sponsor of the Ag Oasis. Figure THAT one out. Oh, the apple slices in a plastic bag. Mmmmmm.

::Piglets! (AKA future chocolate-covered bacon.)

::Cactus and succulent judging. I loooooove succulents. I am the kind of person who, though I normally have the attention span of an eight-year-old on the last day of school, can nonetheless spend hours looking at cacti and succulents, given the right circumstances...but we had to get to the expo center. (I generally go to the Fair twice every year: once with my friend, who does not read my blog, and again by myself to do all the stuff I want to do.)

Church picnic

Today was the church picnic at the only church that I know of that would allow smoking during worship (please do not comment to state this is sacrilegious; smoking is only allowed during outdoor worship events). Also of note, this church ministers to many people in recovery from other more dangerous substances. Also, lunch was free and there were racing sausages, a rock band, and a puppet show.

Here are some photos from the event: life's rich pageant.The racing Bratwurst stood still long enough to pose with me: thumbs up.


The hand at the end of this guy's outstretched arm does indeed contain a lit cigarette, before the worship service started.

Weiner alert.

Manning the sausages at the grill.

Well-behaved hot dogs were welcome also.

Gallery Night 7/24

Gallery Night last night was amazing. Brain had a drum gig last night at one of the venues, leaving me free once again to explore art that I liked at my own pace. I started off at MIAD where there was a senior exhibition. I was particularly taken by this piece by Brittany Renee Miller- a series of mostly-silkscreened panels. As you can see, not only is each separate panel different on one side from the other, but the whole is much, much greater than the sum of each part.


Miller's piece starts with some of the chemical compounds that make up the human body, and ends with poetry and some other things. Obviously a photo cannot do an art object like this justice.






On to the Tory Folliard Gallery, below. The art was great; the people-watching, even better.




Lastly, on to the Pritzlaff Building, where more MIAD students were presenting art that took into account the cavernous space and the long history of the building.

The art above is concentric circles several feet in diameter, made of paper figurines, representing the ripples we all create through history. It is quite breathtaking. It looks like a galaxy seen from far, far away, except that it is made up of people instead of stars.

New parade photos added to Flickr Photostream

Aye aye, Captain!! Photo sent by Matt.

I added some new photos generously sent by other MRPA members to the Flickr photostream including the prep work on the float.

Enjoy!



You might even be in one of them!


And, see you at the MRPA meeting tomorrow, 7pm, at the Hilton where Port Washington Road meets the river.

Tammy and Jay, looking justifiably proud! Photo by Cindy.

MRPA float

The Milwaukee River Preservation Association had a float in the Glendale Days Independence Day parade. "Fun was had by all!" The pontoon boat float came out beautifully. Most people were very receptive to us. Check out the photostream on Flickr! If you have more photos, send them via email at suzanney300 (at) yahoo.com and I can add them if you like- extra fun!!

Our float from the rear. I fell behind but got an ok shot out of it.

This kid had a blast tubing behind the float.

I wore my Statue of Liberty costume (with a "Kiss me, I'm Irish" t-shirt underneath- since, after all, she is the first thing American that my Irish ancestors saw opon their arrival. Plus, it is green.)

I was immensely proud to be able to wear this costume, despite crown malfunction. I cropped it this way because of the Lincoln Park sign- I love that sort of juxtaposition.

I hope you enjoy the Flickr photostream for all the photos I got at the parade today. Sorry if I missed getting a shot of you, or didn't know your name to label you properly- I reassure you, it was unintentional! There are also some other shots from the parade so if you had to miss it, you can get some of the flavor, I hope.

Special thanks to Tammy for coming up with this fantastic idea and making it happen. Hopefully, our float will help us garner some support so that we can float again soon on the Milwaukee River.

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free." And yes, I was tired after walking almost the whole parade route- but it was worth it.

Civil disobedience in action!!

Butterflies land en masse in Shorewood

Butterflies seem to have landed everywhere in Shorewood!

Andy Haas Schneider's butterfly on display at Tim Hart Dentistry, 1720 E. Lake Blvd. I loved the juxtaposition with the bikes.

According to Shorewood Now, there are thirty hand-decorated butterflies gracing Shorewood's shopping district, which I first noticed incidentally while on Oakland Avenue.

Detail of Schneider's butterfly design: the colors flow together so smoothly. Photos simply do not do it justice.

I haven't been able to explore them all, but the idea is just so colorful and fun. All of the artists are from Shorewood or are otherwise local or regional (the two farthest-away artists are from our neighbor state to the south). I love public art, I love butterflies, and I love Shorewood (it's a well-planned community; a walkable and compact first-ring suburb; and convenient to downtown and UWM, with good schools and plenty of rental availability (convenient for elderly residents)- something Glendale, with its distaste for anything to do with rental property, could well learn from - but that's another issue, and I can't afford to move to Shorewood anyway.

I can, however, afford to bike or park in one spot there and walk to everything I need to do: work out at the Community Fitness Center (what a concept!), read at the library, buy groceries, get a cup of coffee, window shop, mail a letter, go to the bank, and now look at some really cool butterflies to boot.

Kathleen Hoffman's butterfly at Gilded Edge Lakeshore, 4401 N. Oakland.

The art is on display until August 23rd, after which they will be auctioned off. Besides on and near Oakland Ave, they are also on display at the Police Department, the Library, the Village Hall, and the Fitness Center. Brochures are available too with all the addresses and thumbnail photos. I hope you enjoy them!

Keefe, Atkinson, and Milwaukee's Stonehenge

The word "Solstice" conjures up a lot of different things for different people. Astronomically, the summer solstice refers to the longest day of the year-- usually June 21st: simply the day when, in the Northern hemisphere, the day is as long as it will be all year. Some people find this to be a sad day- after all, the days will only get shorter from here on out until the winter solstice, the shortest day. Others make a spiritual celebration out of it. I certainly note its presence- I don't enjoy our Milwaukee summer heat, but I love the longer light at the end of (and even more so at the beginning of) each day.

Now, there is a place on Atkinson Avenue that I always feel is special. I think of it as Milwaukee's version of Stonehenge. Atkinson, just north of Keefe, heads in a northwesterly direction at this point- and on the summer solstice, the sun appears to set directly over the road. It is simply amazing. Maybe it is just me, but I just feel that there is something special about this phenomenon.

Here's a map below. The little "A" indicates where the photo was taken. (OK, so I was four days late. Life, and clouds, got in the way of taking it on the exact solstice. I had been planning to take this photo for two years, so four extra days- aside from not being as precise as I would have liked- mattered little.)

I hope you enjoy this post. I certainly enjoyed putting it together for you.

Actual lack of gunfire makes Milwaukee news

I would have gone to the Locust Street Festival yesterday, had I felt up to it. I usually try to go every year. It's free, it's great people-watching, great food, fun music, and just a nice place to wander around. I was glad I didn't go though, after I saw this from WISN news:
A 38-year-old man was shot Sunday (June 14th) in the middle of the Locust Street Festival in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood... Investigators said he was shot in the left hand and right thigh. Police said the victim and the suspect knew each other. Police are still looking for the shooter, but said they know who it is.
(He) was released from Froedtert Hospital Monday morning.

"We believe this altercation stemmed over an earlier issue between the two men and it resulted today in a shoving match here,” Milwaukee Police Department Asst. Chief James Harpole said.
Police could not say whether the shooting was gang related, but witnesses felt that was at the root of today's violence. "When I saw the victim being led away in the stretcher, he flashed a gang sign," said a witness.
Refreshingly, though, investigators said the witnesses and the crowd were very cooperative, talking to police and alerting them to evidence at the scene.

So when I saw this article, (also from WISN) stating,
Several law enforcement agencies were called to State Fair Park Sunday night (the same day) to break up a large crowd...who was there for a scheduled rodeo and concert...when the band didn't show up, people got upset and started throwing beers on the stage. (Too bad Jake and Elwood Blues didn't show up to play "Rawhide" for three hours.) People also started demanding they get their money back.
State Fair police called for assistance for crowd control.
The spokeswoman said there were no guns or fights, just a large crowd.

I somehow felt a little relieved and even surprised. No gunfire!!! Sad, hey? What does this say about our city? As you may recall, I recently wrote that Brain and I didn't go to Riversplash this year because of threats of violence. I'm not super-fond of big crowds anyway, but throw in chaos and that just is not something I would call "fun."