Staff Archive

November 6, 2014Insider

Living in the Past

Story by Julie Mautner Inset photo by Mark Hunsberg When the Lake Park Pavilion opened in July 1903, the main floor was used for indoor summer concerts and the lower floor as a changing room for lake swimmers. That same year, a local photographer captured a photo of concert-goers set just west of the pavilion, where a gazebo, torn down in 1954, once stood. A copy now hangs in Lake Park Bistro, the upscale eatery restaurateurs Joe and Paul Bartolotta opened in the pavilion after signing a 20-year lease in 1995 and completing a $1.3 million renovation. At some point…

November 6, 2014Sports Nut

Quick Bucks- The Power Forward Problem

The Bucks have a power forward problem and it needs to be addressed. They simply have too many people that could fill the role. The Bucks started rookie Jabari Parker at the 4 spot in their first three games, and he’s played a majority of his minutes at that position. In the last two games, veteran Ersan Ilyasova has been the starting power forward, but only played 42 total minutes. Many predicted a possible breakout season for John Henson this season, yet the 23-year-old, who plays both power forward and center, has seen his playing time nearly cut in half.…

November 5, 2014Magazine Perspective

Alone But Not Lonesome

ot to get all tragic, but when I go out, I go out alone. It happens to be the way I roll these days. I dine alone. I go to movies alone. I attend the theater alone. Table for one. A single ticket. Just one ice cream cone. I am fine with this. It’s Milwaukee that seems to have a problem. I have practiced my aberrant lifestyle in New York, in London, in Switzerland, and along the decidedly un-cosmopolitan north shore of Minnesota. Never have I been as challenged and pitied as I have been since I moved to Milwaukee.…

November 3, 2014Music Notes

Paul Cebar Reviews John Prine at the Pabst Theater

Photos by Sara Bill, Pabst Theater. That rough-cut jewel of a song adventurer, John Prine, filled our town’s jewel of a concert hall, the Pabst Theater, Saturday night with affirming witnesses (and old friends) as he delivered a career-spanning voyage through a richly expressive, Midwesternly witty and heart-probingly philosophical repertoire. Re-encountering his detail-driven glimpses into lives lived and ruminated upon in Midwestern towns not unlike our own, I thought about how much Prine’s flinty, pithy musical tableau shares with the early music of The Band. Prine and The Band both conjured up a new sort of song with a sense…

November 3, 2014Brew City

Some Beer to Go With That Beer

Photo via Shutterstock A Pair of Exciting New Brews from Sprecher This week, Sprecher is bottling two new beers that are worth noting, and perfect for winter. Czar Brew Russian Imperial Stout and Commando Scotch Ale have both been aging nicely in white oak bourbon barrels for two years. This week, both make their debut in the Sprecher Gift Shop (701 W. Glendale Ave.) before making it to store shelves on the week of Nov.…

October 30, 2014Sports Nut

Quick Bucks- A Veteran Presence

There was a lot to be excited about last night in the Bucks season opener. The block from Giannis. Larry Sanders patrolling the lane. Jabari Parker going coast-to-coast. Somehow, though, none of those things really grabbed my attention. The thing that grabbed my attention was Jared Dudley barking out defensive assignments audible on my television in the third quarter. Focus on Jared Dudley and listen for his voice in the first seven seconds. “Dive! Triple! Triple! Triple! I’m right here. I’m right here. Here help down. Larry! Larry! Get out there!” That’s how you play defense on the backside. A…

October 27, 2014Brew City

For the Love of Growlers

Photo via Shutterstock Growlers Galore I stopped by The Malt Shoppe (813 N. Mayfair Rd.) over the weekend, and the theme there appears to be variety. There are 30 taps to choose from to fill your growler. And the bottle selection isn’t too shabby either. Hundreds of options are available, including a few hard-to-find beers (I was fortunate enough to pick up a Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree). Growler proliferation in Milwaukee is a…

October 20, 2014Brew City

Braking for Beer

Photo via Shutterstock Beer Tours Keep the early portion of 2015 open. I’ve talked about Hop Head Beer Tours here before, and the Madison-based outfit has some big road trips planned for February and March of next year. The big event is a three-day pilgrimage to Michigan in early March that includes Greenbush, New Holland, Founders, Dark Horse and Bell’s. This tour even features Chicago stops like Goose Island’s barrel-aging facility and Chicago’s Revolution Brewpub.…

October 13, 2014Brew City

Award-winning Beers

Photo via Shutterstock Great American Beer Fest Medals The Brewers Association posted the list of medal winners from the Great American Beer Fest, which took place in Denver two weeks ago. 268 medal winners were chosen from a whopping 5,507 beer entries. I’m happy to report that the list had a fair share of local flavor. Capital Brewery, MobCraft Beer, Titletown Brewing, Stillmank Brewing, Stevens Point Brewery, and big boys Miller Brewing and…

October 8, 2014Insider

This Spot’s Reserved

The Zipcar pitch is tantalizing: Use a car whenever you want for as little as $6 a month and $8.75 an hour, gas and insurance included. Now available in most U.S. cities, Zipcar maintains about 30 cars in Milwaukee, spread across 21 locations. Convenience is paramount – if a customer has to walk a mile to find a Zipcar, she might just take the bus. Since expanding citywide in 2013, the Massachusetts-based company has rented space in city-owned lots to store its vehicles, a more constricting arrangement than in many other cities. In Chicago, Minneapolis, Baltimore and Los Angeles, Zipcar…