1. Sip Some Black Gold at Central Waters Milwaukee
CHRIS DROSNER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The weather hasn’t really caught up with the calendar yet, but Big Stout Season does not concern itself with such trifles. It has arrived. Last weekend Milwaukee’s outpost of Central Waters Brewing got in for the first time on the Amherst-based brewery’s most celebrated of its many big barrel-aged releases: Black Gold. Central Waters is arguably the state’s best stoutsmith and is certainly the longest-running Wisconsin purveyor of barrel-aged stouts, and this is its most extreme beer: a 13.5% ABV stout aged three years in bourbon barrels, with all the boozy-vanilla character you’d expect from that long of a wooden rest. Black Gold comes in two variants dropped this year: a Hot Honey feller with a subtle sweet-spicy finish, and Red Dawn, which takes the same concept but ratchets it up to 10 with habanero peppers. The former is good but unnecessary; the latter was too intimidating for me to try. All three versions were still on tap Monday and figure to be so through the week, but beyond Black Gold, the tap list is wide-ranging and excellent top to bottom right now. 1037 W. Juneau Ave.
2. View Art Galore at Gallery Night & Day
EVAN MUSIL, ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
You could debate whether opening receptions are truly the best environment to take in works of art. With crowds and conversations, distractions abound. But certainly it’s the most exciting. Personally, I love the energy. It’s encouraging to see people care about art and celebrate it, and openings are the culmination of months and sometimes years of hard work for artists. You get few other chances to ask artists questions and share your thoughts. And trust me, they really do appreciate outside observations.
Gallery Night & Day is a smorgasbord of openings and closings, artist talks and samplings. And it’s all completely free. You can map together your own itinerary of exhibitions through the event’s website. My suggestions? Check out Mark Mulhern’s figurative crowd paintings at Tory Folliard Gallery, Ian Sonsyadek’s deconstructions of nature at Var Gallery, Lauren Semivan’s ghostly photography at Portrait Society Gallery, and punk posters at Real Tinsel. Happy browsing!
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
3. Watch John Candy: I Like Me
ANN CHRISTENSON, DINING EDITOR
There was nobody like actor/comedian John Candy. If you grew up in the 1980s, you will understand. If you watched a lot of comedies from the 1980s, you will understand. Known for playing lovable goofs, Candy – who died of a heart attack in 1994, at age 43 – brought warm, vulnerable life to characters like the ingenuous soldier Dewey in Stripes, the awkward fish-out-of-water in Uncle Buck, to even the half-man, half-dog Barf in Spaceballs. Nobody could have played them like John Candy. That becomes very clear in the new documentary John Candy: I Like Me, streaming on Netflix.
In the first scene, Bill Murray – who started at the improv comedy troupe Second City Toronto in 1973, the same year as Candy – sets the tone of the affectionate look at the sometimes oafish but always likable comedian, his life and his work. “I wish I had more bad things to say about him,” says a deadpan Murray. “But that’s the problem when you talk about John. People really don’t have a lot of negative things to say about him. And I hope that what you’re producing here turns up people who have some dirt on him.”
All I know is I plan to revisit his catalog of films (Splash; Planes, Trains and Automobiles; Home Alone, for god’s sake!!) and those genius skits from “SCTV” – Candy as Julia Child facing off against Mr. Rogers (played by Martin Short) in a boxing ring, and as one-half of the polka music duo the Schmenge Brothers (with Eugene Levy). I’m not going to tell you if anyone scrapes up some dirt on Candy – you’ll have to find out for yourself. There’s lots of great old footage here and interviews with comedians and filmmakers who worked with him (one being Tom Hanks, whose son Colin made this film), and some of the most poignant commentary of all from Candy’s wife and children. It almost made me cry – and I’m not a crier. Now, please excuse me while I go watch The Blue Brothers, which has Candy playing the unforgettable fanboy parole officer Burton Mercer.
4. Accidentally Enjoy Indeed Brewing
ARCHER PARQUETTE, MANAGING EDITOR
I do not particularly like weekends. Yes, I know this is an unpopular opinion, but the 48 hours of yawning nothingness tend to get me down.
“Man, these 48 hours of yawning nothingness tend to get me down,” I say.
“Hey, don’t worry about it,” my pet rock Larry replies. “It’s not like you’re talking to a rock or anything. Ha ha.”
“Oh, Larry. Always joshing me.”
Well on Saturday, in an effort to alleviate the monotonous drifting of the afternoon, I went to Walker’s Point, planning to read and drink coffee at a cafe to while away the hours. As I walked down Second Street, I accidentally stumbled on a little block party taking over the street, which I would later learn was Indeed Brewing’s “The Low Down” Oktoberfest celebration. Clutching my books, I glared at the crowd of people enjoying their weekend.
“Bah, humbug,” I muttered.
“Wrong season,” said Larry, who I keep in my pocket at all times.
Well, I decided, who am I to turn away from the random event I’ve found myself walking through. I stopped by and tried a good ol’ Oktoberfest beer from Indeed. And let me say, if you’re planning to quietly sip a beer while reading Teatro Grottesco by Thomas Ligotti, Indeed’s Oktoberfest ain’t a bad one to choose. Nice taproom, nice people, nice beer.
