1. Have a Beer on Amorphic’s Patio
CHRIS DROSNER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR
I know it happens every year, but there’s nothing quite like that first patio beer of the season. If you haven’t had your first yet – or you can have a second one after the crazy-warm February false start – allow me to suggest Amorphic Beer’s patio (3700 N. Fratney St.). This Riverwest brewery has a few tables out front, but the real gem is through the working brewery to the little patio in the 15-foot or so gap between the former machine factory on Fratney Street and the neighboring building. This mostly shaded patio is decked out in a weird and welcoming aesthetic that I can only describe as steampunk flea market. It’s a fun spot to put back a couple of Amorphic’s beers, which are always among the most interesting (in a good way) in Milwaukee – especially for hopheads.
2. Listen to Cindy Lee’s Diamond Jubilee
EVAN MUSIL, ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
My shrinking attention span means my listening habits usually consist of hopping from one album to the next. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I entirely listened to Cindy Lee’s latest, Diamond Jubilee, this weekend. This gargantuan album is mystic and magnetic, and it’s one of the best releases of the year so far. It cracks, snarls and croons of love and longing in the vein of ‘60s girl groups and The Velvet Underground. It’s just as joyful as it is melancholic. It’s also two hours long and only available on YouTube and GeoCities(!), so if you can only listen to one song, make it “Kingdom Come.” And you can catch them live at Cactus Club on May 3.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
3. Read The Wager by David Grann
ARCHER PARQUETTE, MANAGING EDITOR
I’m very much into pre-1900s shipwreck stories. The strange, brutal life of men at sea fascinates to me – the bravery, the desperate violence, the cruelty of random chance, the best and worst of human nature that comes out in extreme circumstances, knit sweaters, etc. I often read about these wild adventures (and horrific nightmares) while sipping hot coffee in my air-conditioned office with my fat behind sinking into my nicely cushioned chair, my biggest worry being a slightly testy email from Brenda in accounting.
The Franklin Expedition is my personal favorite, while Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance is a close second, but last week I discovered my new third – the story of The Wager, which wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Chile in 1741. David Grann, the author of Killers of the Flower Moon, wrote this fantastic recounting of the unbelievable tale, which I tore through in two days. The twists and turns are cinematic so it might not surprise you to hear that a movie is already in the works, directed by the one and only Martin Scorsese, who also adapted Killers. Even if you’re not a shipwreck psycho like me, this book is a fascinating yarn.
4. Listen to The Tortured Poets Department by Taylor Swift
BRIANNA SCHUBERT, ASSOCIATE DIGITAL EDITOR
Obviously, I’m recommending that you listen to Taylor Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department. And listen, I get it – if you’re not a Swiftie, you don’t need to listen to all 31 songs of the double album. Find a few you like and jam out. I am a Swiftie and even I’m doing that because trying to listen to 31 songs and truly appreciate them all is not an easy task. So if you only listen to five songs, here’s what I think they should be: “Florida!!! (feat. Florence + the Machine),” “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?,” “So Long, London,” “The Albatross” and “The Bolter.” You’re welcome.
5. Drink Soul Brew Kombucha
ANN CHRISTENSON, DINING EDITOR
Last Saturday I stopped at Outpost Natural Foods, not knowing that the store’s birthday celebration would be going on. Employees buzzed around handing out pieces of cake, and several local businesses had set up stations with free samples of their products. One of those businesses was Soul Brew Kombucha. I’m not new to this drink. I first tasted it at a farmers market a few years ago and it changed how I feel about kombucha – I wasn’t much of a fan of the fizzy fermented tea. Brands I’ve tried were too sweet. This stuff is different – a well-rounded mingling of sweet-and tart, smooth and lightly effervescent. I sampled Soul Brew flavors that were new to me, like Koffee – which tasted like cherries, chocolate and, yes, coffee. I ended with a tried-and-true flavor in my shopping basket – Cranny Apple, which is as light and refreshing as its color might suggest.
