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Saturday, November 21, 2009 |  Madison, WI: 35.0° F  
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LATEST POSTS

The Selfish Gene grabs Isthmus Band to Band Combat 2009 title

Sleek, solemn rock trio The Selfish Gene prevailed last night at the Frequency in the final round of Isthmus Band to Band Combat, the local-music contest staged by your favorite Madison alternative newsweekly. The runner-up was The Midwest Beat, the quartet whose brisk pop songs are drenched in Mersey Sound jangle. The winner was chosen by club patrons, who cast votes. >More  Top Wisconsin beers to pair with your Thanksgiving meal

Beer and Thanksgiving are intrinsically linked in the settlement of this country -- the Pilgrims had beer on the Mayflower -- so why not serve local beers on your holiday table? Granted, it can be a challenge to find just the right beer(s) to go with the cornucopia of flavors found in a Thanksgiving feast, but try breaking down the meal with several beer options. >More
Madison Snaps -- November 20, 2009

Today's image titled “Skate this way....” was photographed by Michael Leland. >More  The Week[end]: November 20-22, 2009

Get the holidays rolling early this weekend. The calendar includes: the Holiday Art Fair and Madison Women's Expo; the Wis-Kino Fall Kabaret; productions of The Little Match Girl, 1 SW33T R1DE, and the UW Dance Fall Faculty Concert; a book reading by Chris Newbold; Funk Out Cancer!; and, a bumper crop of live music by Carrie Newcomer, Modern Skirts, the MSO, Cougar, Haley Bonar, A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Band from TV, Mason Jennings, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, and more. >More  A Book A Week: Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner

Popular fiction is a genre that is distinct from literary fiction, though the boundaries are fluid. I like to think of these categories as either ends of a ruler, with most books falling somewhere between the two ends. A lot of the books I read fall right around the middle of the continuum between popular and literary fiction. >More  Blaska's Blog denounces Комунизъм and its apologists

That bothersome old Communist Clarence Kailin is finally being stuffed into the ground. Dead, you know. >More  MadTracks: 'Hold On' by Former Ghosts

Madison's Nika Roza Danilova has been very busy with music the past couple years. She has released solo recordings as Zola Jesus, and another album featuring Danilova appeared in October on London's Upset the Rhythm label: Fleurs by Former Ghosts. >More
Madison Snaps -- November 19, 2009

Today's image titled “North Fairchild Street” was photographed by Peter Patau. >More  Scott Walker, the MSO, turkey day buffets, and Giving in the November 20 issue of Isthmus

What can you find in this week's Isthmus? Highlights from the latest issue follow. >More  Blaska's Blog has regulation fatigue

Stopped by the Dane County Lakes and Watershed Commission hearing Tuesday night at the Verona Senior Center to testify against the so-called Dane County Waterbody Classification Project. >More  Madame Fromage: Baked Miniature Pumpkins with Blue Cheese recipe

One of my favorite combinations at the Thanksgiving table is baked squash with some sort of savory stuffing. This year, I'm planning to adapt a Deborah Madison recipe that calls for cream, a leaf of sage, and a spoonful of Gruyere baked inside a mini pumpkin; instead of using Gruyere, I'm going to combine blue cheese with the cream, and a few cranks of black pepper. >More  Wilmington on DVD: Gone With the Wind, The Exiles, Star Trek, My Sister's Keeper

Like the flawed but spectacular Margaret Mitchell novel from which it derives, the movie Gone With the Wind has never lost its power to enthrall and bewitch. Producer David O. Selznick's phenomenal film, can still, like Mitchell's saucy and unconquerable heroine, Scarlett O'Hara, seduce or bulldoze almost all before it. >More
Madison Snaps -- November 18, 2009

Today's image titled “rowing at sunset” was photographed by Monique J. Isham. >More  Win tickets to Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, Ari Hest, Natty Nation, and more!

The Isthmus Guest List is back with another round of free tickets to amazing concerts, shows and more fun events around Madison. This week's contests include tickets to: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), Step Afrika!, and Grease at Overture; The Books, Boombox, Cross Canadian Ragweed, and James Otto with Jimmy Wayne at the Majestic; Haley Bonar, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, Ari Hest, Natty Nation, and Taylor Hicks at the High Noon; Band to Band Combat at the Frequency; and more! >More  Madison Snaps -- November 17, 2009

Today's image titled “Wingra Dam” was photographed by Jon Tanke. >More  Madison Eats Agenda: Master Cheesemakers, Holiday Art Fair, Ruby Nouveau
The week in food

This coming week, in events that get to your heart through your stomach. >More  Emily's Post: Tom Barrett, Justice Gableman and that blowhard Blaska

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett antes up, Gableman’s down and dirty tactics endorsed by panel, and would it be repetitive to mention that Blaska is up in arms over nothing again? >More  Madison Music Scene and Heard: Daniel and the Lion, Funk Out Cancer!, Ironworks Cafe

Folk-rockers Daniel and the Lion have built a local following in less than a year, and they will offer an opportunity for fans to put their audience skills to use at a live DVD filming at the High Noon Saloon on Tuesday, Nov. 24. >More  Blaska's Blog: The Stately Manor is besieged by control freaks!

To the ramparts! Prepare the boiling oil! Even Ruben Mamoulian has been released from the dungeon for active duty. Stately Blaska Manor, historic and gracious seat of the Blaska Policy Research Center and Experimental Work Farm, is in the gun sights of the collectivists. >More  Handful of standout pieces in Kanopy Dance Company's fall concert Autumn Heart

Autumn Heart, the late fall concert by Kanopy Dance Company at Overture's Promenade Hall last weekend, was predictably inconsistent. Three standouts rescued the eight-piece program from the dustbin of unmemorable Madison dance performances. >More  Madison Snaps -- November 16, 2009

Today's image titled “honk for college” was photographed by Beth McConnell. >More  The Week: November 16-19, 2009

Believe it or not, but this is actually the last complete work week of the month, given the big holiday a week from Thursday. The calendar includes: appearances by Erica and Richard Halverson, Peter Yarrow, and James Norton with Rebecca Dilley; and, live music by Digital Leather, MV & EE, Vagabond Opera at Mad Toast Live, Two Fresh, Randy Weeks, and Brother Ali. >More  University Theatre's Blood Wedding is sheer poetry

Going to the theater is risky. Theater tickets are investments in the unknown. So often we leave our seats disappointed, thinking that a few pints would have been a better use of the night. Saturday night, as I headed into the strangely balmy air after University Theatre production of Blood Wedding, I felt just the opposite. >More  Sir James Galway goes for laughs with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra

For its 50th anniversary concert, Saturday night in Overture Center's Capitol Theater, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra presented three works of the twentieth century, and one not. >More  Vinyl Cave: The Spoils by Zola Jesus

Nika Roza Danilova is creating quite a buzz in the music blogosphere with her musical alias/one-woman band, Zola Jesus, including a stack of "best of 2008" lists and a recent mention by comics writer/king of all media Warren Ellis. >More  Broom Street Theater's McBeth brings Shakespeare's king to the corporate world

Broom Street Theater brings its 40th anniversary season to an end with an adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth, which artistic director Callen Harty has twisted and turned into McBeth, an allegory of corporate greed. >More  A Book A Week: A Long Finish by Michael Didbin

When I heard in 2007 that Michael Dibdin had died, I remember thinking, "Oh darn, I never got around to reading any of his books." What a weird thought, as if the Head Librarian would now be taking all his books off the shelves. >More  Madison asks residents to help maintain ice rinks

Madison Parks Division is moving ahead with plans for an "adopt an ice" partnership to help maintain the city's ice rinks. The city is currently asking residents to help commit to doing maintenance at the city's eight rinks, at Tenney, Vilas, Elver, Olbrich, Warner, Westmorland, Garner Park and Goodman parks. >More  Beer Here: Hop Harvest from Central Waters Brewing

Did you catch a glimpse of the harvest moon a few weeks ago? Well, the brewers at Central Waters must have been basking in the moonbeams as they celebrated the release of their latest seasonal creation: Hop Harvest. Brewery staff did more than brew the beer -- they even harvested the hops. >More  Madison Snaps -- November 13, 2009

Today's image titled “Forever 21 has taken over my mall” was photographed by Katie Hebble. >More  The Week[end]: November 13-15, 2009

Late autumn in Madison doesn't really get any busier than this weekend. The calendar includes: Kids Expo, the Winter Art Festival, and the opening of Holiday Fantasy in Lights; Bioneers; productions of Sesame Street Live, Blood Wedding, Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps, McBeth, and Room on the Broom and performances by Kanopy Dance, Jason Petty, and the Smothers Brothers; appearances by Sir James Galway, Mukoma wa Ngugi, and Jonathan Patz; and, an avalanche of live music. >More  Blaska's Blog hears the fat lady singing

It is over for the Democrats in Wisconsin. The report card is in on the Jim E. Doyle-Mark Pocan-Mark Miller state budget. The Pew Center for the States, as disinterested party as you can find, puts Wisconsin among the 10 states whose government is in the worst budgetary shape. >More  The Midwest Beat and The Selfish Gene are your Band to Band Combat finalists

After four rounds of online balloting from over 1,400 voters, The Midwest Beat and The Selfish Gene have emerged as the 2009 Band to Band Combat finalists. That means they'll perform in front of a live audience at The Frequency on Thursday, November 19 for a bushel of prizes including studio time, gift certificates and CD dubbing services. >More  MATC's Ahedo receives the Athena Young Professional Award from Madison's Business Forum

Tina Ahedo and her children are active volunteers in the community, serving meals at local food pantries and working with Habitat for Humanity. Accepting the award, Tina attributed her success to “the best teachers, mentors and friends who have inspired, taught and challenged me to do my very best.” >More  Vicki McKenna, University Theatre, Whitney Mann, Opa in the November 13 issue of Isthmus

What can you find in this week's Isthmus? Highlights from the latest issue follow. >More  Blaska's Blog battles Rhamnus cathartica

My hands are bloodied and bruised for I have been engaged in a pitched battle here at the Blaska Policy Research Center and Experimental Work Farm with my arch-enemy. No, not Bicycle Boy. Something far more sinister (if possible) and fecund: Rhamnus cathartica. >More  Madison Snaps -- November 12, 2009

Today's image titled “protesters” was photographed by Beth McConnell. >More  MadTracks: 'Moving On' by Flame Shark

Justin Jahnke came to the Madison area from Louisiana, so Flame Shark's sound has always had some Southern roots. This time around, the band took the extra step of recording the basic tracks for Raw Flowers live during a 20 hour session at Piety Street Recording in New Orleans. >More  Wilmington on DVD: Up, Wings of Desire, holiday classics, The Ugly Truth, Mamma Mia!

Up flies us right up into those magical realms of sky, flight and fantasy that Judy garland's Dorothy traveled, in her Kansas twister ride to Oz, and that little Pascal Lamorisse was whisked off to by his air force of Parisian balloons at the end of The Red Balloon. >More  Madison Snaps -- November 11, 2009

Today's image titled “ready for cold weather” was photographed by Ron Wiecki. >More > PREVIOUS DAILY POSTS

MADISON MISCELLANY

The Dairyland Dolls run at the WFTDA Championship ended in Philadelphia with a 104-96 loss to the Boston Massacre on November 13 Mad Rollin' Dolls
PHMDC "immunized 6,237 people at its targeted H1N1 community immunization clinics" this week at the Alliant Energy Center PHMDC
UW students aren't applying for the new open ALRC position Jack Craver
"Many Wisconsinites don't realize how many flying squirrels we have" Four Lakes Wildlife Center
"WMC, cohorts return for another round of deception" Paul Soglin
A Friday roundup of commentary on Section 8, the ALRC, mayoral appointments, and more Brenda Konkel
"Deer hunters: Be a narc" Tim Morrissey
A recap of the Dane County Board meeting discussion about the poverty task force, zoning petitions, and more on November 19 Brenda Konkel
"There's nothing like a library on a rainy night, and if there's an art exhibit inside, so much the better" Peter Patau
"Dane County distressed property sales on the rise" Dan Miller @ Keller Williams
A review of The Disco Biscuits show at the Wisconsin Union Theater on October 29 Rich Kujawa
An interview with Kyle Cherek of Wisconsin Foodie Andrew Zimmern
Herb Kohl, Tammy Baldwin, and District Court Judge Barbara Crabb respond to complaints on photographer harassment at Kastenmeier courthouse Josh Zytkiewicz
An interview with UW College Dems president Molly Rivera Jack Craver
View photos of the Gossip show at the Majestic on October 17 Dave Kreisman @ Dane101
Watch the Madison school district Talented and Gifted plan presentation on November 17 Jeff Henriques and Laurie Frost @ SIS
UW researchers report on environmental component associated with North American megafauna extinction UW Comm.
"I may be the first Madison Mayor in generations who not only hunts, but will talk about it incessantly" Dave Cieslewicz
A report on the Underground Food Collective venison dinner at the Wisconsin Historical Museum Emily Mills
A report on the Madison ALRC discussion on the Blue Velvet, hip-hop, The Pub, and more Jesse Russell @ Dane101
"Tammy Baldwin introduced and marshalled through a House committee Wednesday a bill that would extend benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees" Gregory Humphrey
Perkins: "Favorite of the senior discount set (and they can keep it)" Eating in Madison A to Z
"Sweet corn story begins in UW-Madison lab" UW Comm.
"UW-Madison receives $9.5 million Gates Foundation grant" to study potential pandemic influenza viruses UW Comm.
"Evolution institute named for pioneering UW-Madison geneticist" UW Comm.
More commentary on the Wisconsin men's hoops win over Oakland on November 18 Chris West
A Thursday roundup of commentary on the TRC, Mayor Dave's donors, and more Brenda Konkel
Is Wisconsin Republican Senatorial candidate Terrence Wall a supporter of Tammy Baldwin? Lukas Diaz
Thoughts on the Wisconsin men's hoops win over Oakland on November 18 Scott Tappa
"The Wisconsin men's basketball team dispatched Oakland, 58-42, Wednesday night at the Kohl Center" "Jbharris87" @ Bucky's 5th Quarter
Live-blogging the Wisconsin men's hoops game against Oakland on November 18 "Jbharris87" @ Bucky's 5th Quarter
"Congratulations to SLAC, antisweatshop activists everywhere and especially to the struggling Honduran workers" Kyle Szarzynski
"The most insightful and thoughtful analysis I've ever seen regarding" the state of the Willy Street Co-op Michael Barrett
A look back at the early '70s Wisconsin Badgers football Saturdays "jb"
"I had high hopes when Sundance opened that it would actually be an arthouse" John Benninghouse
Mayor Dave and overzealous parking officers TDPF
"Crime is lower today than it was when we were rated the Best City in America" Jack Craver
"You have my word that I will continue to work to further reduce crime, especially in those neighborhoods where the news is not as good as it is citywide" Dave Cieslewicz
"I would soon be heading downtown, my only mission to follow my friends around and wait for the seedy underbelly of Corporate Freakfest to show itself" Tyler Sitar
"Police urge pedestrians to heed construction warnings" UW Comm.

FOOD AND DRINK

Beer Here: Hopscotch from the Great Dane Fitchburg

Hopscotch offers some big malty flavor, much like the current offering of fall Oktoberfests, only it has an assertive, bitter personality, making for a taste that you shouldn't, well, skip. >More The Green Owl brings vegetarian dining back to Madison

Jennie Capellaro started cooking "just out of necessity." Soon, she'll spin that necessity into a brave venture: The Green Owl, Madison's first vegetarian restaurant since Peacemeal closed about five years ago. It's been hard for vegetarians in Madison -- well known as a place that loves its farmers' markets, food coop and CSAs, yet has been unable to sustain a dedicated vegetarian restaurant. >More

FOOD AND DRINK

Dane County Farmers' Market: Green's Pleasant Springs Orchard
Stoughton growers share recipe for apple crisp

Green's Pleasant Springs Orchard offers fresh apples, apple cider, lettuce, and tomatoes this fall in its 29th year at the Dane County Farmers' Market. >More Madame Fromage: Menage from Carr Valley Cheese

Lately, I've been on a quest for the perfect desk cheese. That's right, a cheese I can eat at work when I'm lunching with email -- a cheese that goes with apples and pretzels or whatever's handy, a cheese that won't stink up the mini-fridge but that isn't bland. Well, here's my star: Carr Valley's Menage. >More

SCENES

Kathie Rasmussen Women's Theatre stages strong debut
Smart Women Project is as smart as its name

As debuts go, The Smart Women Project -- the first-ever production from the new Kathie Rasmussen Women's Theatre company -- is, well, awfully smart. The production's nine short plays run the gamut from sober realism to out-there experiments to frenetic zaniness, and while some work better than others, all of them work, and none talk down to the audience. >More Bawdy laughs in Bricks Theatre debut An Adult Evening with Shel Silverstein

I approached the Bricks Theatre's first-ever production, An Adult Evening with Shel Silverstein, with two questions: Would it tarnish my innocent childhood memories? And more important, would it be funny? The answers are "no" and "yes," respectively. >More

SCENES

A Book A Week: Mother on Fire by Sandra Tsing Loh

Sandra Tsing Loh is a writer, performance artist and public radio commentator. I don't hear her much on radio but I do read her pieces in the Atlantic. I’ve also never seen any of her one-woman shows but would sure like to. In 2008 she published Mother on Fire, a memoir about her life in Los Angeles, framed around her search for an appropriate school for her kindergarten-age daughter. >More Madison Etsy explorations: A Handmade Portland
Shopping locally online

I have a fairly large jewelry collection; consequently if I am going to expand my collection the piece needs to be unusual. Ordinary just won't do. Classic hoops are not going to excite me, neither are plain gold studs. Luckily, Etsy is ripe with unique shops and A Handmade Portland is no exception. >More

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MADISON MUSIC PROJECT

MadTracks: 'We Will Bury You' by Optometri

Part of the fun of being in a band is developing a stage presence, be it slightly different or wildly divergent from one's usual personality. Madison's been graced with many performers dedicated to onstage antics and fanciful band back stories; currently one of the most developed "biographies" surfaces on stage a few times a year in the form of Optometri. >More Vinyl Cave: Tiptoe Past the Dragon by Marlin Greene

On a recent long-delayed field trip to Fox Music Company in Watertown to dig through the store's thousands of 45s, disappointment reigned upon learning that they had sold the whole works to someone in Michigan just a few weeks previously. So I settled for digging through the thousands of LPs, and uncovered several obscure items to take a flyer on. >More

MOVIES

Wilmington on DVD: Monsoon Wedding, Dusan Makavejev, Transformers 2, Cheri

Monsoon Wedding, Mira Nair's joyous movie about a wedding in Delhi -- constantly disrupted by family squabbles, sudden crises, covert romantic interludes, cultural clashes among the guests, dark buried secrets erupting to the surface and finally, a full-blown monsoon rainfall, not to mention a musical climax that outdoes Bollywood -- is both her most popular film and her best. >More Wilmington on DVD: Natural Born Killers, Drag Me to Hell, Gaumont, The Proposal

Natural Born Killers, Oliver Stone's mad-dog-violent "love on the run" neo-noir, one of the most controversial movies of the '90s, may get better and better every time you see it in a new release. But that doesn't mean it still couldn't use some improvement. >More

NEWS

Hilldale Target receives mixed reaction from neighbors

Monday night, Target executives presented their plan for a 155,000-square-foot "raised single level" store at the corner of North Midvale Boulevard and University Avenue. The store would be on top of about 450 parking spaces and employ 150 to 200 people. >More Madison media launch All Together Now with collaborative reporting project on health care

When our jobs were secure, it was easier for reporters and media organizations to bicker with each other. Now we are more inclined to see that we’re all in this together. >More
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