MadTracks -- 'Thinking About You' by Meteorade Jessica Steinhoff on Thursday 11/20/2008 5:53 pm, (1) Recommendation Meteorade calls bands such as Weezer, Cake and the Pixies their main influences. While this isn't unusual for a band composed of 35-year-olds, Meteorade's members, all of whom are UW students, weren't even in preschool when Doolittle was released, so perhaps this fascination is somewhat unconventional. >More
Isthmus asks consumers to shop local this holiday season on Thursday 11/20/2008 3:47 pm, (1) Recommendation Isthmus is urging readers to spend at least $100 of their holiday money this fall at locally owned stores in Dane County -- a move that could pump more than $15.9 million into the urban economy during this recession-plagued season. >More
Beer Here -- Alt from New Glarus Robin Shepard on Wednesday 11/19/2008 3:00 pm, (10) Recommendations New Glarus Brewing is out with a brand new beer. Owners Deb and Dan Carey say their latest creation -- a German altbier -- is an early holiday present, “a thank you” to their customers. Last winter, the Careys asked their fans to make suggestions online for what brews they would like to see, and the alt style was one of the most recommended. >More
3 in 10 public-records requests in Wisconsin not properly fulfilled Bill Lueders on Wednesday 11/19/2008 1:00 pm, (1) Recommendation A statewide public records audit found that one in 10 requests for basic documents were denied or ignored by local governments. Another two in 10 requests were fulfilled only after records custodians required the requesters to identify themselves or explain why they wanted the documents, in violation of state law. >More
Madison Etsy explorations: Whimsy House Shopping locally online Megan Larson on Wednesday 11/19/2008 12:00 pm, (2) Recommendations Recycled and vintage pieces have found a home at the Whimsy House. Aptly named, Molly Bernier's online store carries a wide array of jewelry that embraces your lighthearted side. >More
Ryland Bouchard quietly thrills small audience at The Project Lodge Craig Cady on Tuesday 11/18/2008 3:18 pm, (4) Recommendations Ryland Bouchard graced Madison Friday evening with a small and intimate performance at The Project Lodge. No longer releasing albums as The Robot Ate Me, the one-man experimental music project that made him known, Bouchard seemed more balanced in his manner, more mature since playing Club 770 in 2006. >More
Win tickets to Guys on Ice at the UW Mitchell Theatre on Tuesday 11/18/2008 12:00 pm 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: a monster show featuring Low vs. Demand, Rose Hill Drive, Barcelona, Colour Revolt and Paper Route, and JJ Grey & Mofro at the Majestic; Guys on Ice at the UW Mitchell Theatre and more. >More
Blaska's Blog: A guided Mistele is on target David Blaska on Tuesday 11/18/2008 8:45 am, (7) Comments, (2) Recommendations Will Nancy Mistele get a fair shake from the Madison establishment media? Already, my hosts here at Isthmus are dragging out the long knives. >More
Apocalypse Mistele She won ugly, and people won't forget it even if the D.A. doesn't prosecute her Marc Eisen on Monday 11/17/2008 2:46 pm You have to wonder about Nancy Mistele: She's turned a political victory into a personal defeat, and she has no one to blame but herself. >More
Nancy Mistele a pistol Falk challenger will fight to win, and perhaps fight dirty Bill Lueders on Monday 11/17/2008 2:01 pm, (1) Comment, (1) Recommendation Nancy Mistele’s opening shot in her planned challenge against County Executive Kathleen Falk was unusually harsh for local elective races but not out of character for her. >More
Broom Street artistic director Callen Harty suffers heart attack Medical emergency mars opening night of late playwright Rasmussen's Dancing With My Other Amelia Cook on Monday 11/17/2008 1:38 pm, (5) Recommendations Friday's opening performance of Broom Street Theater's Dancing With My Other ended with an ambulance. Callen Harty, Broom Street's artistic director and father of the show's director, suffered a heart attack. >More
On the Agenda: Dane County 2009 budget, dog parks and a troubled bar Vikki Kratz on Monday 11/17/2008 12:23 pm The County Board takes up the $450 million budget for 2009. Here’s guessing it won’t be quite as contentious as the Madison Common Council’s two-day budget battle last week. The county’s budget includes funding for the troubled 911 center, three new social workers for Child Protective Services and a cost-of-living increase for social service agencies. >More
Terry Tempest Williams: Finding Beauty in a Broken World Wisconsin Book Festival presents renowned author at MMoCA David Medaris on Monday 11/17/2008 10:00 am Terry Tempest Williams has established herself in that vanguard of North American environmental essayists and socio-cultural critics alongside such esteemed predecessors as Edward Abbey and Aldo Leopold. In an email interview in anticipation of her appearance in Madison, she addresses the genesis of her new book, its central mosaic metaphor, Barack Obama's potential as a transformative figure, the significance of prairie dogs and the importance of knowing the names of the flora and fauna where you live >More
The Week: November 17-20, 2008 on Monday 11/17/2008 6:00 am Winter really only gets started in Madison with the Holiday Fantasy in Lights, which opens for the season at Olin Park on Wednesday. This week also offers live music by No Age, Ingrid Michaelson, Matt Nathanson, and a performance by Luna Negra Dance Theatre. >More
Blaska's Blog: Where's the body? David Blaska on Sunday 11/16/2008 9:25 am, (2) Comments, (2) Recommendations In the previous post I marveled at the UW-Madison’s ability to find jobs for out-of-work liberals. I noted that Louis Butler, twice unseated by the voters of Wisconsin after two gubernatorial appointments to the Supreme Court, got a nice gig at the Law School. Time to mention that Paul Soglin also sinks his jowls into the UW’s feed trough. >More
Madison joins nationwide protest against Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage in California View photos from the rally at the Capitol Emily Mills on Saturday 11/15/2008 4:11 pm, (1) Comment, (16) Recommendations Early Saturday afternoon, amidst the throngs of red-clad game day Badgers fans, a river of rainbow colors wound its way up State Street to the Capitol. Hundreds of people gathered as part of a nationwide day of protest against the passage of Proposition 8, the measure repealing the recently granted right of gay marriage in California. >More
Vinyl Cave -- The Bridge in Blue by the Bridge Bob Koch on Saturday 11/15/2008 8:00 am, (3) Recommendations Loudon Wainwright III finds himself recasting the spare voice and guitar arrangements of songs from his first few albums amidst a more fleshed out band setting in his new album Recovery. After a random purchase at the St. Vincent de Paul record sale last week, I discovered that this concept had been undertaken years before -- in 1972, when the songs were new -- on the obscure final album by The Brooklyn Bridge. >More
Wilmington on DVD: Hellboy 2, The General, Budd Boetticher, The Clone Wars Mike Wilmington on Friday 11/14/2008 10:00 am, (2) Recommendations Hellboy 2: The Golden Army is one of my so-far favorites of this year's flood of big, splashy action-fantasy movies. In many ways, it's more fun, more magical, more delightfully characterized, more splendiferously imagined and more stunningly visualized than the others. Director-co-writer Guillermo del Toro is obviously a genius at this kind of unbuttoned fairytale horror story. >More
Blaska's Blog: Don't know much economy David Blaska on Friday 11/14/2008 7:09 am, (4) Comments, (3) Recommendations This recession came home to Madison very forcefully with the announcement of a $5 billion “revenue shortfall” for the upcoming state government biennium. Madison immune from recession? Methinks not. >More
The Week[end]: November 14-16, 2008 on Friday 11/14/2008 6:00 am, (1) Recommendation Madison bands flex their muscles this weekend, with the slate of shows representing some of the best the scene has to offer. The complete live music calendar includes performances by Buckcherry, Graham Colton, The New Standards, Wisconsin Singers, Robert Fulghum, Rose Polenzani and Anne Heaton, Harmonious Wail, We the Living, German Art Students, Over the Rhine, The Crest, Matt & Kim, Blueheels, a WORT benefit with the Low Czars and V05, Holly Golightly & the Brokeoffs, Loudon Wainright III, the Pro Arte Quartet, and Deerhunter. This mid-November break also brings productions of Winnie the Pooh and Dancing With My Other, the Ten Percent Society 25th Anniversary Coming Out Dance Party, and the Winter Art Festival. >More
MATC's Shawna Carter receives Business Forum award Isthmus Staff on Thursday 11/13/2008 9:28 am, (1) Recommendation The Business Forum, a women's business organization in Madison, awarded the ATHENA Young Professional award Wednesday night to Shawna Carter, Associate Dean of the Arts & Sciences Center at Madison Area Technical College. The event and award helps mark the 20th anniversary of The Business Forum. >More
Beer Here -- Swiss Style Amber from Minhas Craft Brewery Robin Shepard on Wednesday 11/12/2008 3:30 pm, (7) Recommendations Minhas Craft Brewery in Monroe makes more than 20 different beers. Most of its products find their way to Alberta, Canada, the home of 20-something owners Ravinder and Manjit Minhas. Now in the Wisconsin market, Minhas has ventured into the craft beer realm, first with Lazy Mutt and now with its newest brew, Swiss Style Amber. >More
MadTracks -- 'Joie de Vivre' by Harmonious Wail Jessica Steinhoff on Wednesday 11/12/2008 12:00 pm, (11) Recommendations Madison is a far cry from the gypsy caravans of the Balkan peninsula, but the musical influence of the Roma people has been germinating in our town for quite some time. A major force behind this growth has been Harmonious Wail, a four-piece that's been making some of the country's best gypsy jazz -- a hybrid of conventional jazz and traditional Roma music -- for more than two decades. >More
Madison Etsy explorations: Pravina Studio Shopping locally online Megan Larson on Wednesday 11/12/2008 11:30 am, (8) Recommendations I definitely have a fondness for bags. My husband teases me that I carry not only one bag, but that I have bags inside of bags. Those with a bag fetish like me will love Pravina Studio. >More
Madison arts funding at stake in 2009 budget battle David Medaris on Tuesday 11/11/2008 1:23 pm, (1) Comment, (5) Recommendations "This is an opportunity to express to our elected officials how much we value the arts in Madison," says Karin Wolf, who urged local arts partisans in an email appeal over the weekend to register in opposition to Amendment 26 at tonight's meeting, to speak out against it and to urge their alderpersons to vote it down. >More
Nori Japan is short on nori, high on grease at University Square New campus food court vendor fails the test Linda Falkenstein on Tuesday 11/11/2008 12:30 pm, (1) Comment, (7) Recommendations I finally made my way back to the new University Square Food Court to give its Japanese option, Nori Japan, a try. The parent company of the franchise lists a long and somewhat tempting menu with salads, soups, and even kobe beef. These options bears little resemblance to the abbreviated menu at the UW-Madison campus outpost. >More
Win tickets to Deerhunter at the High Noon Saloon on Tuesday 11/11/2008 11:30 am, (1) Recommendation 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: Deerhunter at the High Noon; the UW Ten Percent Society silver anniversary party at the Orpheum; Ingrid Michaelson and Drew Hastings at the Barrymore; Luna Negra at the Capitol; Graham Colton, Over the Rhine, Dredg, and Matt Nathanson at the Majestic; and more. >More
"It was Republicans in the legislature who prevented the adoption of a budget with realistic estimates for the 'rainy day fund.' It is those same Republicans who insisted upon cutting taxes when a tax increase was needed." Paul Soglin
Mickey's Tavern's shrewd management saw the Madison smoking ban coming and figured rather than railing against fate, they'd diversify. Eating in Madison A to Z
"Mickies Dairy Bar's portions on the griddle fare are so ostentatiously bigger than they need to be that it seems to us that they're trying to take on too much." Eating in Madison A to Z
"I see a huge difference between government telling adults when they can or cannot drink, and government telling people that they will be severely punished for drinking and driving." Emily Mills
"Illinois and Michigan take the top spots among Big Ten (public) peers [in graduate salaries], followed by Purdue and Wisconsin. Last? Ohio State." Danny Spirn
A Supreme Pizza celebration for Madison Try a new pie for National Pizza Month! Linda Falkenstein on Tuesday 10/21/2008 2:00 pm, (3) Comments, (9) Recommendations October is National Pizza Month. Yes, it's true. The pizza, which frankly seems like a food substance that in America is in no danger of becoming an endangered species, has its own celebratory promotional month. And why not? While I presume that most of us eat a good deal of pizza in any/every month, it's not a bad idea to pause and give thanks, to truly appreciate the pizza pie. >MoreBeer Here -- Kilbourn Hop Ale from Moosejaw Pizza & Brewing Robin Shepard on Thursday 10/16/2008 2:06 pm, (11) Recommendations While Chief Amber Ale is Moosejaw Pizza and Brewing's flagship offering, the Kilbourn Hop Ale is a favorite of the local beer enthusiasts for its bold bitterness and locally grown hops. >More
Vinyl Cave: Cajun in the Blues Country by Rusty Kershaw Bob Koch on Sunday 10/19/2008 4:00 pm, (3) Recommendations When Doug "The Ragin' Cajun" Kershaw vaulted to crossover success in 1969 after an appearance on Johnny Cash's variety show, many listeners at the time may not have known he had been performing successfully for a long time. Kershaw formed his first band with older brother Rusty all the way back in 1948. >MoreCellist Alban Gerhardt finds the sadness with the Madison Symphony Orchestra Chosei Komatsu conducts Elgar, Holst and Copland Kenneth Burns on Saturday 10/18/2008 11:00 am, (4) Recommendations The German cellist Alban Gerhardt has a dramatic vibrato, and it seemed to shake the very platform he sat on Friday night in Overture Center's Overture Hall. That is where he and the Madison Symphony Orchestra performed Edward Elgar's "Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in E Minor." >More
Obama campaign cancels Madison rally on Thursday, October 23 Candidate to visit ailing grandmother in Hawai'i Kristian Knutsen on Monday 10/20/2008 7:58 pm, (1) Comment, (1) Recommendation Barack Obama will not be holding a rally in Madison on Thursday, October 23 as was announced last Friday. "We got a message earlier this afternoon from the organizer saying that they were going to cancel the event," says Laura Whitmore, the community relations coordinator for the Madison Parks Division. >MoreACORN organizer Austin King talks voter registration and the McCain campaign An interview with the former Madison alder on the presidential election Vikki Kratz on Monday 10/20/2008 2:47 pm, (14) Recommendations During his years here, former Madison Ald. Austin King had a reputation around town as a bit of a troublemaker. He left Madison for New Orleans last year, where he's been working for ACORN, a community organization supporting low-income families. And his job -- as national director of ACORN's financial justice center -- has landed him in the thick of things again. >More
firebretbielema.com blogger speaks Jason Joyce on Thursday 10/16/2008 9:59 am, (6) Recommendations In his column earlier this week, Wisconsin State Journal writer Andy Baggot called attention to the blog firebretbielema.com. Included in his pokes at the site, Baggot wrote "its instigators are anonymous." But in 2008, finding out who has purchased a domain is easier than tracking down Badger Allan Evridge's quarterback efficiency rating. >MoreOnce upon a time at Derby in Dairyland... Melissa Faliveno on Wednesday 10/15/2008 1:30 pm, (15) Recommendations After three days of hard-hitting, fast-paced, eight-wheeled excitement over the weekend, Derby in Dairyland came to an end, but not without leaving a lasting impression on every skater, volunteer, and fan that took part in the fun. The 2008 Women's Flat Track Derby Association Eastern Regional roller derby tournament was, to say the very least, a success, and while host team and hometown sweethearts the Dairyland Dolls may not have made the cut to go to the nationals, they certainly put together one heck of a celebration that won't soon be forgotten. >More
Blaska's Blog: Send in the farm team David Blaska on Friday 10/17/2008 9:09 am, (3) Comments, (2) Recommendations Keith Ripp looks a little like Gary Cooper in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, only larger. He is one big, strapping fellow with an open, sun-splashed face and hands as big as grain shovels and a certain shyness about him. You expect him to say, “ah, shucks, Ma’am.” As a public speaker, he makes Cooper seem verbose. >More
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MADISON HALLOWEEN
The Zombeatles tease All You Need Is Brains with new trailer Kristian Knutsen on Tuesday 10/21/2008 12:00 pm, (51) Recommendations Hey food, don't be afraid,
I have found you, now you are my dinner,
The minute, I've eaten all of your skin,
Then I'll begin, to eat you better. >MoreThe Zombeatles and undead fans infest Frequency to shoot mockumentary Zac Shipley on Tuesday 10/07/2008 3:00 pm, (43) Recommendations One crisp October afternoon, a small music venue in downtown Madison was transformed into a nightclub of the living dead, when Doug Gordon and a small team of assistants shot scenes for All You Need Is Brains, a terrifying glimpse into the zombie apocalypse. The reanimated masses clawing for the stage at The Frequency didn't just have a hunger for decaying flesh, though, they also wanted a piece of the band performing atop it: The Zombeatles! >More
Rich textures in The Love of the Nightingale by University Theatre Classics illustrated Bruce G. Bradley on Tuesday 10/21/2008 4:00 pm, (6) Recommendations Centuries after its creation, Greek legend still has a remarkable power to affect us. The dreams and desires, fears and follies of those long-ago people in faraway places have stood the test of time astonishingly well, not least because, while circumstances may change, human nature does not. >MoreBack to the future with David Maraniss at the Wisconsin Book Festival From the Rome Olympics to Barack Obama Kristian Knutsen on Sunday 10/19/2008 1:22 pm, (4) Recommendations Madison gave a warm welcome to journalist and historian David Maraniss at the Wisconsin Book Festival on Saturday night in Promenade Hall at the Overture Center. The hometown luminary introduced his new book Rome 1960 with a discussion that wedded the triumphs, intrigues, novelties, and most of all, change afoot in those Summer Olympic Games and the broader world at the onset of that tumultuous decade to the realities of 21st Century athletics and politics. >More
Wisconsin Book Festival 2008: M.K. Asante, Jr. speaks David Medaris on Tuesday 10/14/2008 10:00 pm, (3) Recommendations In his new book, It's Bigger Than Hip Hop, the poet, author and filmmaker M.K. Asante, Jr., chronicles the rise of the post-hip-hop generation, its ownership of the spoken-word movement as a vehicle for social justice and its savvy rejection of corporate exploitation. He describes the inspirations for and the fluid process of researching and writing the book, recounts a formative childhood encounter with Public Enemy, outlines the consequences of the corporate hijacking of hip hop, and more in an email interview. >MoreWisconsin Book Festival 2008: Patricia Smith speaks David Medaris on Monday 10/13/2008 5:00 pm, (3) Recommendations Published last month by Coffee House Press, Blood Dazzler by Patricia Smith is a searing portrait of the horrors wrought by Hurricane Katrina -- told from perspectives including the hurricane itself, its victims and survivors, politicians and more abstract points of view. In an interview conducted via email, Smith describes the genesis of Blood Dazzler assesses the legacy of Katrina, compares the rewards of teaching public-school students vs. prison inmates, and explains the responsibility that comes with fearlessness. >More
Once upon a time at Derby in Dairyland... Melissa Faliveno on Wednesday 10/15/2008 1:30 pm, (15) Recommendations After three days of hard-hitting, fast-paced, eight-wheeled excitement over the weekend, Derby in Dairyland came to an end, but not without leaving a lasting impression on every skater, volunteer, and fan that took part in the fun. The 2008 Women's Flat Track Derby Association Eastern Regional roller derby tournament was, to say the very least, a success, and while host team and hometown sweethearts the Dairyland Dolls may not have made the cut to go to the nationals, they certainly put together one heck of a celebration that won't soon be forgotten. >MoreNew York defeats Madison 138-70 in round two of Derby in Dairyland on Friday 10/10/2008 4:01 pm, (3) Recommendations Madison's own Dairyland Dolls, having defeated the Minnesota Roller Girls Friday morning, advance to the next round of the Womens Flat Track Derby Association's Eastern Regionals where they'll face the Gotham Girls of New York. Follow the action with a live video stream and live blog here. >MoreMadison defeats Minnesota 143-67 in round one of Derby in Dairyland on Friday 10/10/2008 9:31 am, (2) Recommendations Derby in Dairyland opened on Friday morning at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum with a big win for the hometown favorites as the Dairyland Dolls defeated the Minnesota Roller Girls by a score of 143-67. >MoreKeeping track of the Derby in Dairyland tournament with DNN Follow live coverage of the Dairyland Dolls all weekend Kristian Knutsen on Thursday 10/09/2008 11:16 pm, (14) Recommendations When the Derby in Dairyland women's flat track roller derby Eastern Regional tournament is held in Madison this weekend, every bout on the floor of the Veterans Memorial Coliseum will certainly be well-documented by dedicated supporters of sport. Beginning with the opening showdown between the Mad Rollin' Dolls and the Minnesota Roller Girls first thing Friday morning, the team behind the online clearinghouse Derby News Network will closely covering the competition. Like the action on the track, this is a DIY affair, one that's growing along with derby. >MoreDerby in Dairyland puts Madison skaters and supporters to work Melissa Faliveno on Wednesday 10/08/2008 2:00 pm, (114) Recommendations If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes an entire city to plan a major sports tournament. No one knows this more than the Mad Rollin' Dolls. The Women's Flat Track Derby Association annual Eastern Regional Tournament -- this year aptly named Derby in Dairyland -- will bring 240 skaters from the best leagues east of the Mississippi along with hundreds of staff and volunteers, and throngs of loyal fans to Madison. And making it happen is no roll in the park. >MoreDerby in Dairyland rolls art and music into flat track festival Kristian Knutsen on Monday 10/06/2008 1:48 pm, (64) Recommendations Roller derby skaters and fans across the eastern half of the country are polishing their best moves and cheers for Derby in Dairyland this weekend in Madison. The Women's Flat Track Derby Association 2008 Eastern Regionals Tournament will bring together 12 teams, including the local faves Dairyland Dolls, in a three day frenzy of competition at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Alliant Energy Center for a shot at the nationals in November. The fun will extend well beyond the rink, though. >MoreMad Rollin' Dolls lace up for Derby in Dairyland WFTDA tournament Kenneth Burns on Friday 09/26/2008 3:00 pm, (12) Recommendations Next month Madison roller derby will reach a milestone when the Mad Rollin' Dolls, the four-year-old roller derby league, host the eastern regional tournament of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association. Complicated preparations are under way for the Oct. 10-12 event dubbed Derby in Dairyland, which will see competition at the Alliant Energy Center's coliseum between 12 teams representing Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Philadelphia and other eastern cities. >MoreFrozen Codebase discusses new WFTDA roller derby video game Zac Shipley on Thursday 07/17/2008 12:22 pm, (49) Recommendations The Fast Forward Skate Center at Verona Road and the Beltline has been the home to the Mad Rollin' Dolls roller derby league for five years now. There the Dairyland Dolls take on a visiting squad from Baltimore in hardcore derby action this weekend, the latest in a summer of bouts culminating in the Women's Flat Track Derby Association Eastern Regionals in Madison this October. But who said you shouldn’t be able to play along at home? >MoreUp close and personal with the Mad Rollin' Dolls: The Dairyland Dolls Margaret Broeren on Thursday 05/29/2008 12:30 pm, (20) Recommendations When Madison's favorite milkmaids in the Dairyland Dolls skated into Seattl
