Pizza Man

Photo from onmilwaukee.com story.

I would be remiss if I didn't say something about the fire at Pizza Man. A four-alarm fire destroyed the whole block yesterday. I work half a mile away, and it was another one of those things like, "Let's go get a drink after work. We could all go down to Pizza Man," that never happened. We never went- the best of intentions gang aft agley. It's not Haiti or anything- everyone got out ok. But Milwaukee is a little sad right now. That wavy brick pattern on the corner of Oakland and North Avenue, that scrolling sign, gone.

New year

I love the first days of a new year. The Christmas rushing around is over; there is no pressure to go to any parties; life is quiet. The cold keeps the riffraff out. Or, rather, in. I love it.

Even kitties like the snow, as evidenced by wee pawprints.

Why does Wisconsin winter have such a bad rep, anyway? How come people aren't turning to each other and exclaiming, rosy-cheeked with great exhalations of steam, "Wow! This is bracing!" Or, with broad Chap-sticked smiles, "This cold air is so refreshing!" That would be great.

MATC Graduation

I had the opportunity to attend the MATC graduation on December 22nd. I know, it's a community college, and the mid-year graduation and all, but I was expecting some pomp and circumstance. It was at the USCellularena, so the Jumbotron was there to assist those of us in the nosebleed seats. I was too far away to get any good shots of the people I knew who were graduating, one of whom didn't come anyway.
Speaking of Jumbo, plenty of attendees took advantage of popcorn from the concession stand.

I miss Goldmann's.

My brother and I had our annual tradition: Christmas shopping and lunch at Goldmann's Department Store on Mitchell. We would buy "cherries on a wire" for mom, undershirts for me, nonironically retro-esque craft supplies, and other things that only they seemed to sell. The lunch counter was awesome. How can a place-a Milwaukee icon- close after being open for the previous 111 years? Was it because of people like me, who only shopped there once a year? Why didn't I appreciate them more? Where am I going to buy undershirts?

Hanukkah, oh Hanukkah...

...come light the menorah.Happy Hanukkah!

Santa Cycle Rampage!

Weather was fantastic for the Santa Cycle Rampage today. Throngs of Santas (and reindeer and elves and a fairy [?!]) participated. Cops were on hand just in case Santa was naughty.

Santa brought toys to pass out too- effigies of himself.

In a sea of Coca-Cola Santas, Father Christmas stands alone.

Perfect day for ice

Dog paw sculpture outside of the doggie spa.

It was cold today, but not too cold to walk outside, and most of the time the sun was shining: the perfect day for ice sculptures. What could be more awesome than taking a walk to the grocery store in Shorewood and watching intrepid artists carving giant blocks of ice?

I'm not sure what this (above) is supposed to be. A heart? A butt? It's kind of sexy. I like the way the light was shining on it. Ok, it's pretty hot. I can't believe it didn't melt itself.

Well, I learned something interesting about ice sculptures. What's different about the picture above and the one below? The above shot was taken about 45 minutes before the next one, below.

Aha- I always thought you could only take away from an ice sculpture, by shaving or carving. As it turns out, you can also add parts to one. The miracle of ice!

Of course, it would have been even more awesome if any of the artists was carving otter shapes, since otters LOVE ice. It would have been great symbolism. But alas...

Schroeder Books and Music

Schroeder Books & Music, 7629 W. Greenfield Avenue, Westallica: shelves piled high with books and magazines in genres that you can't find anywhere else. (Adjacent to the "Americana" section is "Linconana.") It's always worth a look-see here. I've imagined that every book ever published is in there...somewhere.

I found a Workbasket Magazine from the 1950's, in case I ever want to tat a doily. These are collectible little mags with historical value- not just needlework (presumably kept in a tidy basket by the hearth) but also for the ads. ("Steady pay every day as a Practical Nurse! Enjoy security, no recession for Nurses. Earn to $65 per week, good times or bad. Florence Nightingale School of Nursing.") As I checked out, the lady said,
"We have hundreds of Workbaskets."
Hundreds?
The mind reels!

I mentioned that I'm a longtime customer (sporadically) and used to go to the old store on 7th and Wisconsin, when it was across the street from the old Duncan Donuts, back in the 80's and early '90's. This was before the "revitalization" of downtown Milwaukee. She told me about the fire that destroyed the store- they had two locations at that time- and thousands of books stored beneath the street, all destroyed. But they have plenty again, so make sure you do some Christmas shopping for the lover of historic needework patterns or Linconana aficionado in your life.

Holiday Folk Fair!

I love the Holiday Folk Fair. It's kind of an annual tradition. I made sure to get there hungry today and immediately stuffed myself with a Siopao, the Filipino steamed bun, washed down with hot ginger tea. This was followed by Danish pastry and then Klobasa, a Slovak sausage.Of course, then I was stuffed like a sausage myself, and perfectly content to watch everybody else dance to the amazing accordion-infused live band.

People from all over the world, dancing the same dance! Fantastic!

This year's theme is "Celebrate the Weavings of Culture," which was broadly interpreted as fiber arts of all kinds being demonstrated and discussed in the cultural area. The secrets of knitting cables were imbued on me by a kindly mystical Irishman. Nearly lost arts like tatting and bobbin lace were proudly and nimbly executed by women with lightning-fast fingers. People's willingness to share and explain? Priceless! Especially since I got a miracle ticket!

The Holiday Folk Fair continues tomorrow (November 22nd, 2009) from 10am-7pm at the State Fair Expo Center.

Amazing bat photos!

These are some amazing shots!

It took weeks for wildlife photographer Kim Taylor to rig wires over a pond and get photos of difficult-to-photograph bats over his garden pond in Surrey, UK. I hope you enjoy the link!