aesthetic luddite 2

Aesthetic Luddite is a "series" where I take then post photos of signs/typography I like. Mostly old stuff.

aesthetic luddite #1

Aesthetic Luddite is a new "series" where I take then post photos of signs/typography I like. Mostly old stuff.

(Imagine a lot will be taken with my iPhone. It's easy and always on me.)

Honestly, pretty inspired by Draplin's daily madness. There's a lot of nice looking things out there with limited life left in them, so I may as well help add to the record of them having existed. Right?

Song of the day: Goose Island Ramblers

Song of the day (7/23/2010):
Goose Island Ramblers - Milwaukee Waltz

Thanks to Mucho Milwaukee for pointing me to this site, where there are a lot of great Wisconsin-centric recordings. This one obviously stood out. It's a slurry, beer-filled ode to our city. The singer has undoubtedly had a few swigs of what made us famous.

The pretzels are soggy
The beer flows like wine
After sixteen small bottles
The band sounds just fine
They laugh and they dance
And they have a good time
Doin’ the Milwaukee Waltz

Round and round and round they go
Over the floor and down they go
Round and round and round they go
Doin’ the Milwaukee Waltz

The trumpets are off-key
The tuba is loud
The banjo is lousy
Ach, look at the crowd
They pay half a dollar
To come in und dance
Then do the Milwaukee Waltz


Originally issued on Cuca back in '65.

Goose Island Ramblers - MilwaukeeWaltz.mp3

Flowdough Day 18: Yard Ornaments

Tour de Fat!

Great afternoon at New Belgium Brewery's Milwaukee stop of Tour De Fat. How astoundingly incredible would be if there were so many bikes out at ALL events in this town?

(more photos)

Now, time for more festive times (and beer! and bikes!) at the Burnhearts/PBR street party.

you just need a reason to look

Spent the day exploring the nooks & crannies of Milwaukee with Courtney & Denise. Furious Cudahy streets, the grotto in mosquito-crazed Seminary Woods, rare beaches at South Shore Park where we were sure hypodermic needles would press through the flimsy soles of our shoes.

Learned that Nissee's family owns a cottage on Lake Huron that was once owned by Henry Ford (yes, the Henry Ford). He bought it for his mistress. Her son died there and haunts the place. I cannot wait to visit.

It's good to have curious friends move to a town you've lived in almost all your life. They force you to drive deeper through the unlooked at parts. There's a whole other side here; you need a reason to look.

My neighborhood: Tippecanoe

Here's the thing: It's the sort of pride in place that melts into the flat surface of the word "irony". Like it never existed to begin with. Really, the neighborhood I'm in is, popularly, nothing more than a way to give name of a library, a school, a park. Public places unified by a word so ludicrous it's wonderful.

Tippecanoe.

It is a place. A collection of blocks that make up a distance you can probably walk without breaking a sweat.

It's like being abroad and fearing that the place you're from doesn't exist that far out. If you're from Milwaukee, you say Chicago instead. Little man complex.

It's the same way, but on the neighborhood level. We do this for Tippecanoe.

It's a place even the internet scarcely knows about.

Tippecanoe is located on the city's far south side. A solidly middle class and well maintained neighborhood. Most of the neighborhood's homes date back to the 1940s and 1950s. The homes are often in the Cape Cod style and made of red brick. The area was named from the political rallying cry "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" by landowner John Saveland, an outspoken local Republican who intended to develop it as an upper income suburban community.

Maybe it's because even the people whose lives happen here aren't aware that they're here at all? Bay View, they think, they tell, that's where I live. And there's pride in that. Or at least acknowledgement.

But it's not so, neighbors. We're not Bay View. And we're more than just the civil buildings. We're a people, a place. Beautiful , strong. We're Tippecanoe.

And...

swiftkicks - march 5th

this thursday!

decibully

If you are, to any degree, a fan of my dear brother & his merry co-banders in Decibully, you should go stream their new, unreleased record, World Travels Fast, on Decider Milwaukee.

The shit, it's good.

Oh, and they'll be playing with the second best band in Milwaukee, Quinn Scharber & etc, on Sat. If you're in town, make it a priority to hit that up.

**
Photo by JW Lawson.

swiftkicks - oct 16, 2008

Kevin won't be able to make it this week, but if you are anywhere near Milwaukee, WI USA, come join Brian and me at Burnhearts this Thursday. As always, we'll be playing classic and contemporary pop. It's the best night of pop music this city has to offer. In fact, it's the only night of pop music this city has to offer!

Oh, you should add us as a friend on myspace! We could always use more pals.