T-Pain Day in MKE
On Saturday, T-Pain unleashed a three-stage, nine-hour musical extravaganza called “Wiscansin Fest” at the Rave Eagles Ballroom. Mr. Pain performed a cavalcade of his greatest hits, obviously including “Can’t Believe It” with the line that gave birth to the festival’s title: “put you in a mansion, somewhere in Wiscansin.’”
And then at the end of the night, T-Pain was read a proclamation from Mayor Cavalier Johnson announcing that June 11 was officially “T-Pain Day” in Milwaukee. Finally, T-Pain is getting the recognition that man deserves. As a young fella who grew up on “Bartender” and “Ringleader Man,” this brings me immense joy.
Although … it does beg the question: Can the mayor literally name any day whatever he feels like? Does he have absolute power in this domain? Because I have suggestions. How about “Make It Rain (Remix) (Explicit) by Fat Joe Day” or maybe “Socks and Sandals Day,” or dare I humbly suggest, “Archer Parquette Day.” Mayor Johnson? Please? It doesn’t even have to be a good day. I’ll take a Tuesday in January, whatever you got.
Hayat Pharmacy Gave Out Free Baby Formula
Despite what my high school football coach said, I am not a “pathetic baby,” and so I haven’t been personally affected by the baby formula shortage. But I know parents are having a real tough time with it. There was one small positive bit of news amid the shortage – local chain Hayat Pharmacy gave out one thousand cans of Similac at its South Side location on Tuesday, free of charge, first-come, first-served. Hayat Pharmacy is one of the few small pharmacies still around in Milwaukee – and our own Kenya Evans actually wrote a feature partly about them in our May issue – so it’s nice to see them helping out Milwaukee in a tough time.
Dane Baldwin Wins a James Beard Award
If you’re someone who likes food, then this story is for you. If not, then I’m curious to meet you. Are you a monk? Have you renounced earthly pleasures for the sake of achieving spiritual transcendence? That’s awesome, man. We should discuss.
But anyway, if you’re one of those food people, then you’ll be interested to know that Dane Baldwin, the chef-owner of The Diplomat restaurant in Milwaukee just won the prestigious James Beard award for best chef in the Midwest. That’s a very big deal. These awards are the Oscars of the restaurant industry, except if the Oscars awarded actual talent (How could you not nominate Pig for best picture?!?!). So if you haven’t been to The Diplomat (or you weren’t at Milwaukee Magazine‘s awesome Chef Event, where Baldwin cooked small plates for our guests), then you should definitely give it a try for some top-notch cuisine.
The Smile Is Coming to The Riverside
Radiohead is a phenomenal band. If you’re not familiar with them, might I suggest reading this self-published article, “The Top 60 Radiohead Songs” by a talented young writer who really knows what he’s talking about. Radiohead’s lead singer, Thom Yorke, and one of the band’s guitarists/composers/musical geniuses, Jonny Greenwood, teamed up with Tom Skinner, the drummer for Sons of Kemet, to start a band called The Smile, which released a quite good album in May. They’re now heading to The Riverside to perform on Nov. 29. Tickets are on sale now.
ENTER OUR HOME & DESIGN AWARDS
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Heat Wave Sends Kids Home Early
Milwaukee Public Schools closed early on Tuesday because of the sweltering heat wave that hit the city. Most schools were out by noon, as temperatures hit three digits.
The Night Market Is Canceled
Wednesday night was a rough one weather-wise, with storms and tornados and power outages across the state. The Milwaukee Night Market, which we’d been looking forward to for weeks, was shut down amidst tornado watches and severe weather. That stinks. I had been hoping to hawk copies of my new mixtape, “Yung Potato Sings Sinatra.” Guess I’ll have to wait until July.
