Citizen Dave: Packers and climate change? I am happy in my denial Dave Cieslewicz on Wednesday 01/28/2015 12:30 pm When someone so much as brings up the topic of football, I cut them off, change the subject or, if necessary, leave the room. Global climate change can be ignored in the same way, or so the U.S. Senate would have us believe. >More
Isthmus on WORT: Sisterhood is Powerful on Tuesday 01/27/2015 A. David Dahmer spoke with WORT producer Dylan Brogan about Madison's African American alumni sororities, who have helped generations of black women network and build careers in Madison. >More
Bucky's China venture falters Stu Levitan on Tuesday 01/27/2015 1:15 pm After three years and about a half a million in investment, the UW's Shanghai Innovation Office has lost its founding leaders, has no known new funding, and might not last past summer. >More
Citizen Dave: Let's talk about death Dave Cieslewicz on Monday 01/26/2015 6:00 pm, (2) Comments When patients in La Crosse started to think about end-of-life issues, costs dropped to half the national average, yet life expectancy is longer: "They want to end their stories on their own terms." >More
Isthmus Live Sessions: Joe Pug Jon Kjarsgaard on Monday 01/26/2015 4:05 pm Folk troubadour Joe Pug's gritty, narrative songwriting invites comparison to Bob Dylan and John Prine. But the former playwriting student says he also looks to literary figures like John Steinbeck and Walt Whitman for inspiration. Pug recorded a live session at the Isthmus office on Jan. 21, a few hours before a Barrymore Theatre performance in support of the Devil Makes Three. >More
Ensemble shines in The Beautiful Dark Lanni Solochek on Monday 01/26/2015 9:00 am Erik Gernand's script is sharp and witty, providing just the right amount of biting sarcasm. The snappy dialogue propels the story while still providing the necessary time for the pieces of the plot to unfold. >More
Citizen Dave: Airlines want you to be miserable Dave Cieslewicz on Sunday 01/25/2015 6:00 pm, (1) Comment The economics of airline service fees is that we won't pay for them unless the basic service is miserable. So the airlines have created an actual incentive to provide a bad experience, so more of their customers will opt for "special" treatment. >More
Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra shines on Schönberg John W. Barker on Saturday 01/24/2015 12:00 pm The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra's Friday evening concert was cunningly planned. Each half opened with unfamiliar, maybe off-putting music, followed by works of familiar composers. The orchestra was accompanied by Russian-born pianist Ilya Yakushev as soloist. >More
Citizen Dave: In defense of Mike Tate Dave Cieslewicz on Saturday 01/24/2015 7:58 am Last November was a national Democratic disaster of almost epic proportions, and there was nothing one state's party chair could do about it. >More
Madison's 'arts entrepreneurs' make the city cool Catherine Capellaro on Friday 01/23/2015 7:30 pm "The arts create a sense of place that attracts new people to our city," says Karin Wolf, and support for affordable spaces, and investment in people and education, improve Madison's competitive edge. >More
Beer Here: InAbsinthia, from Vintage Brewing Company Robin Shepard on Thursday 01/22/2015 5:53 pm "This is unique," says Vintage brewmaster Scott Manning of his latest creation. InAbsinthia is a robust blend of English and Belgian brewing tradition, aged for nearly a half-year in an absinthe barrel. With its layers of flavor, spicy notes of licorice and alcoholic warmth, InAbsinthia isn't for everyone. Adventuresome drinkers and those who love to find rare, limited-release beers, this is one you need to try. >More
The wee bear gets the movie he deserves in Paddington Marc Savlov on Thursday 01/22/2015 8:00 am Bears and marmalade have gone together like Pooh and honey ever since 1958, when U.K. author Michael Bond and illustrator Peggy Fortnum published their children's book A Bear Called Paddington. Featuring the misadventures of a young bear from "darkest Peru" who finds himself living in London through no fault of his own, the Paddington books are the rarest of VYA (Very Young Adult) touchstones, the children's classic. >More
The ghosts of Richard Brown Nathan J. Comp on Wednesday 01/21/2015 4:52 pm As Richard Brown Sr. sees it, Madison is suffering from a crisis of leadership. A former Dane County supervisor, Brown says the crisis will end only when voters stop living in the past.
"We're stuck in the Paul Soglin time warp," Brown says. "People have lost confidence in the mayor's office. There is no leadership there." >More
Mashups on tap for MACN Week André Darlington on Wednesday 01/21/2015 4:14 pm MACN Week, the Madison Area Chefs Network's new food event to take place March 9-15, is shaping up to be a kitchen-hopping extravaganza. There are still more events to be confirmed and details to iron out, but already there's much to look forward to. >More
Cold War Kids tear down the wall between rock and pop Andrew Brandt on Wednesday 01/21/2015 3:10 pm Cold War Kids weren't literally kids when they dropped their infectious single "Hang Me Up to Dry" in 2007. But the band, founded in 2004 by Nathan Willett and Matt Maust, was young enough to stand out in a crowd of fresh-faced indie rockers. Five albums and more than a decade into their career, Cold War Kids have ascended from early blog darlings to rock 'n' roll regulars. >More
UW's Cinematheque honors Kenosha-born auteur Orson Welles Jon Kjarsgaard on Wednesday 01/21/2015 12:54 pm This year marks the 100th anniversary of Orson Welles' birth. The Kenosha-born filmmaker and actor (who lived in Madison when he was 10) is revered for his groundbreaking work in theater, radio and film. UW's Cinematheque will celebrate his career all year, kicking off with a six-week run of films at 4070 Vilas Hall emphasizing his career as the "complete auteur." >More
New cafe to open in King Street's Atrium space in downtown Madison Linda Falkenstein on Wednesday 01/21/2015 11:55 am The Atrium is a unique space in Madison and almost no one knows that better than Benjamin Altschul. Altschul grew up at the site, at 111 King St., between where the Kitchen Gallery and Context Clothing are now located. Kitchen Gallery was once home to Botticelli's, the restaurant owned by his parents, Jane Capito and Dan Altschul. "My first memories are from there," says Altschul, who is now co-owner and operator of the Tip Top Tavern, a venerable Eken Park-neighborhood tap that he revitalized in 2013. >More
"Festival brews" would make an ambitious Isthmus Beer and Cheese Fest even better Kyle Nabilcy on Tuesday 01/20/2015 5:33 pm There's a lot of common beer festival DNA, no matter which one you attend. You'll see a lot of pretzel necklaces, of course, and some kind of crazy clothing accessory -- hat, novelty glasses and beer-themed socks are common. If the festival is indoors, you'll definitely get to know the ooooooh..., that half-sympathetic, half-judgmental cheer that goes up whenever a glass is dropped. So yes, you would have witnessed all these things at the Isthmus Beer and Cheese Fest (IBCF) which just wrapped up its jam-packed sixth annual iteration last Saturday. >More
Local alt-country artists breathe new life into classic Stones album Michael Popke on Tuesday 01/20/2015 4:14 pm, (2) Comments Matt Earley first heard the Rolling Stones' classic 1972 album Exile on Main St. at age 19, and it quickly became a go-to record for him. This week, the 45-year-old vocalist, guitarist and ukulele player for Madison's Americana string band Winn Dixie will lead the "Exile on Willy St." project -- a who's-who of the city's alt-country music scene -- in a one-time-only, front-to-back reworking of the 18-song double album now regarded as one of the finest records in rock history. >More
Tracy Michelle Arnold is vulnerable, heroic in Forward Theater's The Other Place Gwen Rice on Tuesday 01/20/2015 11:10 am Forward Theater delivers a brave and bruising production of Sharr White's The Other Place (through Feb. 1 at Overture Center's Playhouse). It's a complicated portrait of a woman descending into disease -- one that irrevocably alters her perceptions of the present, her memories of the past and her sense of self. >More
Citizen Dave: Packers and climate change? I am happy in my denial Dave Cieslewicz on Wednesday 01/28/2015 12:30 pm When someone so much as brings up the topic of football, I cut them off, change the subject or, if necessary, leave the room. Global climate change can be ignored in the same way, or so the U.S. Senate would have us believe. >MoreCitizen Dave: Let's talk about death Dave Cieslewicz on Monday 01/26/2015 6:00 pm, (2) Comments When patients in La Crosse started to think about end-of-life issues, costs dropped to half the national average, yet life expectancy is longer: "They want to end their stories on their own terms." >MoreCitizen Dave: Airlines want you to be miserable Dave Cieslewicz on Sunday 01/25/2015 6:00 pm, (1) Comment The economics of airline service fees is that we won't pay for them unless the basic service is miserable. So the airlines have created an actual incentive to provide a bad experience, so more of their customers will opt for "special" treatment. >MoreCitizen Dave: In defense of Mike Tate Dave Cieslewicz on Saturday 01/24/2015 7:58 am Last November was a national Democratic disaster of almost epic proportions, and there was nothing one state's party chair could do about it. >MoreCitizen Dave: Suicide is the real story about guns Dave Cieslewicz on Friday 01/23/2015 12:20 pm Contrary to the narrative of the National Rifle Association, a murder-suicide in Montfort, Wisconsin, represents the typical use of a gun in a death. >MoreCitizen Dave: Why is air travel so bad? Dave Cieslewicz on Friday 01/16/2015 4:35 pm Look, I am not a complainer. I am not a difficult person. In fact, as a rule I'm a pretty happy consumer. I think most products and services have improved in the last couple of decades. >MoreCitizen Dave: Let's get Madison's 2015 mayoral candidates talking Dave Cieslewicz on Friday 01/09/2015 10:57 am, (1) Comment Who to vote for mayor of Madison will be the most important -- and exciting -- civic decision of the next four years. In case you missed it, there's an election for that position coming up on April 7, with a primary only a few weeks away on February 17. >MoreCitizen Dave: Charlie Hebdo and Madison Dave Cieslewicz on Thursday 01/08/2015 1:12 pm, (2) Comments In reflecting on yesterday's massacre at the headquarters of the French satirical periodical Charlie Hebdo, a few things come to mind with regards to life in Madison. >MoreCitizen Dave: We must repeal concealed carry Dave Cieslewicz on Wednesday 01/07/2015 12:09 pm, (4) Comments As I've stated regularly over the last few years -- as a hunter who owns guns -- I believe that carrying around a loaded firearm in public is simply insane. >MoreCitizen Dave: As you enjoy the bowl games, think of the players Dave Cieslewicz on Thursday 01/01/2015 12:26 pm Okay, so it wasn't the most eloquent statement ever, but it was accurate. "Why should we have to go to class if we came here to play FOOTBALL, we ain't come to play SCHOOL, classes are POINTLESS." >More> MORE FROM DAVE
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