Taking it personally For years Heidi Nass was an HIV activist. When she got the virus, she became an expert Maggie Ginsberg-Schutz on Friday 08/07/2009, (16) Comments, (15) Recommendations She'd known for about a year. Not in the clinical, definitive sense to which she was accustomed, but in the instinctual sense, in her gut. The year before, in 1995, when Heidi Nass was 32, she spent a week in the hospital with the worst case of flu of her life. It turned out to be an acute retroviral syndrome -- an illness she knew was common at the onset of HIV. >More
NEWS
Madison police are taught restraint, even when disrespected Training cops to take it Bill Lueders on Thursday 08/06/2009, (2) Recommendations Sgt. Mike Koval of the Madison Police Department is so enlightened he doesn't even say it couldn't happen here. What he says, with refreshing clarity, is that it shouldn't. "Cops should not subject a citizen to arrest for acts of disrespect and incivility [toward officers]," says Koval, who since 1991 has been teaching Madison police recruits the dos and don'ts of the job. "That comes with the terrain." >MoreMadison Community Foundation grants help build library special collections With a little help from their friends Jill Carlson on Thursday 08/06/2009 The Alicia Ashman branch library on Madison's west side has an exciting collection of graphic novels and anime, genres that have taken off in popularity during the past decade. It's part of a multi-library grant from the Madison Community Foundation. >MoreLiers not welcome on Capitol Square benches Bill Lueders on Thursday 08/06/2009, (3) Recommendations In mid-July, wooden dividers were installed on more than a dozen benches on the Capitol Square, especially along Main Street. The dividers serve nominally as armrests; their obvious main purpose, though, is to keep people from lying down. The benches have been bum-proofed. >More
MUSIC
L.O.S.T. S.O.U.L.S. aims for diversity on new CD Melting pot Rich Albertoni on Friday 08/07/2009, (25) Recommendations It's five o'clock on a Wednesday afternoon, and Tefman, the Madison spoken-word artist who raps in L.O.S.T. S.O.U.L.S., is sitting across from me at the Local Tavern on King Street, talking about the group's new CD. "You put somebody in a box and say, 'He's a backpack rapper or he's gangster rap,' but L.O.S.T. S.O.U.L.S. is all of that," says Tefman. "We're a melting pot." >MoreThe Breeders craft a DIY vision Handmade rock Jessica Steinhoff on Friday 08/07/2009, (1) Comment, (1) Recommendation Though it's been more than 15 years since their most commercially successful album -- 1993's Last Splash, which spawned the lo-fi anthem "Cannonball" and an excellent video directed by Spike Jonze and Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon -- the Breeders seem as modern as ever when chatting about DIY culture. >More
OPINION & COMMENTARY
A big gay thanks but no thanks We won't be registering as domestic partners Kenneth Burns on Thursday 08/06/2009, (18) Recommendations In Wisconsin, same-sex couples began registering as domestic partners on Aug. 3. I wish them all happiness. But my boyfriend of nine years and I won't be joining them. >MoreDumped by Brett Favre I loved him. So why did he leave me? on Thursday 08/06/2009 Dear Tell All: Brett Favre makes me feel like a jilted wife. After all our wonderful years together in Green Bay, he turns into a self-absorbed flip-flopper. One day he's leaving, the next day he's staying. Then he gets a roving eye, flirting with other NFL franchises. I have to endure the humiliation of him playing for the New York Jets and, even worse, consorting with the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings! >More
Despite a big setback, Madison stages have plenty to offer for 2009-10 season The show must go on Jennifer A. Smith on Friday 08/07/2009, (2) Recommendations In the landscape of Madison's 2009-10 theater season, there is one glaring gap: no Madison Rep. But theater audiences of all stripes still have plenty of choices for a night out. While it's virtually impossible to list every upcoming show -- and schedules are bound to change somewhat -- here's a look at some highlights of what the next theater season has to offer. >MoreNick's Restaurant is where artists chow down Music, dance, pie Jay Rath on Friday 08/07/2009 One arts story this month is culinary. Nick's Restaurant is celebrating its 50th anniversary. It's the artist's office and the performer's meeting place. The diner at 226 State St. is a favorite of actors, dancers, musicians and writers. >MoreTearoom Tango is headed for New York Play about anonymous sex is a foot-tapping good time Josh Wimmer on Friday 08/07/2009, (8) Recommendations Playwright Douglas Holtz isn't sure how to describe Tearoom Tango. The Mercury Players Theatre production returns to the stage Friday for four shows at the Bartell Theatre before a run later this month at New York City's International Fringe Festival. The play is part comedy, part drama -- funny and at the same time very dark, he says. Maybe the best way to describe it is "raw." >MoreMonk begins its final season on a high note The end is near Dean Robbins on Friday 08/07/2009 I'm crushed that Monk will end after this season. As if to make me feel worse, the detective series begins its final run with a classic episode: funny, poignant and suspenseful. USA, you really know how to hurt a guy. >MoreNew thrills for fanboys of the Wii and King of Fighters King of Fighters XII: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (Rated Teen) Wii Sports Resort with Wii MotionPlus: Wii (Rated E) Doug Elfman on Friday 08/07/2009, (1) Recommendation Wii Sports Resort presents a win-lose scenario for Nintendo. The win: Since Sports Resort is a top-notch game that people can play at parties, it's earning many millions of dollars. >More
MOVIES
Departures laughs at death A good-looking corpse Kenneth Burns on Friday 08/07/2009, (1) Recommendation There's something discomfiting about the American funeral business. Smooth funeral directors, their careful euphemisms, their graveside AstroTurf -- they can make the already difficult process of mourning downright surreal. >More
Ha Long Bay Bistro serves Viet, Thai and Lao cuisines Near and pho on Willy Street Adam Powell on Friday 08/07/2009, (3) Comments, (19) Recommendations Bright neon green curtains enhance the comfortable new space for Ha Long Bay Bistro, previously occupied by Bab's French Quarter Kitchen. Bamboo pagoda lamps, rice paddy hats and nautical and floral images create a pleasing visual flow. Tiny bamboo plants in faux-jade baby elephant planters rest on each table. Cuisine is derived from Vietnamese, Thai and Laotian recipes. >More
SPORTS & RECREATION
Teaching your kids the old-school fundamentals Natural capabilities David Medaris on Friday 08/07/2009 Parents used to make sure their kids knew how to swim, bike, use a compass, catch and clean fish, and safely build, light, maintain and douse a campfire. Then the pace of life accelerated, people grew more inclined to cocoon at home than hike into the woods, fresh fish became more readily available at the local market, and GPS units supplanted the compass. And many of us started forgetting to teach our kids the fundamentals. >MorePackers by the minute Jason Joyce on Thursday 08/06/2009, (2) Comments, (1) Recommendation For an indication of how the coverage of sports in general and pro football in particular has changed from the days of Grantland Rice, one need only glance at The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Packers blog. On Tuesday afternoon, writer Greg Bedard provided a play-by-play rundown of how each quarterback performed in two-minute drills. >More
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