tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52903239552698405182011-12-28T22:42:45.821-06:00Something else to do...Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.comBlogger1961100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-81122969524464800092010-08-24T02:39:00.004-05:002010-08-24T02:40:52.346-05:00Memories: Forty years after the Sterling Hall bombingThe truth is simply this: I have no memories of the Sterling Hall bombing. I'd worked until late that night and I slept soundly. Although I lived only a few blocks away, the sound of the explosion did not awaken me, nor did the subsequent wail of police and emergency vehicle sirens. My most vivid memories of the Sterling Hall bombing were created more than two decades later.August 24th, 2010 Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-11829261571766128412009-09-02T16:12:00.004-05:002009-09-03T01:36:40.791-05:00Where can I buy my pink plastic flamingos (and will they look like the ones on Bascom Hill?)Photograph of pink plastic flamingos on Bascom Hill in 1979 ©Michael Kienitz. It is used here with his permission.So last night the Madison City Council voted 15-4 to make the Pink Plastic Flamingo the city's official bird – and of course now you want to buy not one, but two. That's right two; the original "official" pink flamingos, designed by Don Featherstone for Union Products, were always Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-37221466808661150772009-08-31T21:40:00.004-05:002009-08-31T22:08:17.173-05:00Meet my latest project: "Madison on the Cheap"There's a reason I haven't been blogging here lately -- and you can see it in the sidebar. I've removed the link to the Library of Congress videos (which no one seemed to use) and replaced it with a Facebook Fan Box for Madison on the Cheap ("Your resource for freebies, discounts, and deals in Wisconsin's capital city").Madison on the Cheap is a member of the rapidly growing network more than 40 Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-84370470947218759672009-08-13T16:44:00.002-05:002009-08-13T16:46:48.355-05:00Bascom Hill lore and traditions at the UW-Madison: Have you sat on Abe Lincoln's lap or rubbed his shoe?The iconic statue of Abe Lincoln atop Bascom Hill on the UW-Madison campus turned 100 this June -- and I must have had something else to do, because I missed the birthday celebration.I've never sat on Abe's lap or rubbed his shoe because when I was an undergraduate, living in Chadbourne Hall, there was another legend about Abe. Even now, I don't walk in front of him; but since Himself will Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-18594478364799089622009-07-24T13:49:00.001-05:002009-07-24T13:51:13.512-05:00Celebrating National Hot Dog Month outdoors in MadisonSalmons Hot Dog Topped with Caramelized Onion, Garlic, Whole-Grain Mustard and Gruyere Cheese on a Toasted Clasen's Hard RollI grew up eating Oscar Mayer wieners and A&W Coney Dogs, so I make no claim to being a hot dog connoisseur. Almost all I know about the famous Chicago Hot Dog comes from reading Paul Soglin's blog.My friend Austin, who operates three late-night hot dog carts in the vicinityNadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-64615033147723194612009-07-12T23:23:00.002-05:002009-07-12T23:26:10.649-05:00Led astray by "The Gift From 93 Million Miles Away"As someone who spends a lot of time in libraries and archives, I know you can't find everything on the Internet. Nonetheless, I'm surprised I was unable to learn more about a Kellogg's Corn Flakes jingle that I wanted to use as a lead-in to a blog post.There are a couple of things I remember only if I sing them. One is the correct spelling of encyclopedia. I learned how to spell it by listening Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-46964561220056533512009-07-01T23:57:00.000-05:002009-07-02T00:02:40.671-05:00Today's funeral service for Kurt Pechmann, a man who spent most of his life creating memorials to other people's livesKurt Pechmann was an artist who worked in stone. He did not sculpt marble into statutes of famous men; he worked with granite, carving memorials to police officers killed in the line of duty, members of the armed services, and ordinary and extraordinary people. Sometimes, without calling attention to his gift, he helped to create memorials to people whose graves might otherwise go unmarked.This Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-3858221960385685522009-06-30T15:36:00.003-05:002009-07-12T23:28:31.536-05:00John Dillinger and the Little Bohemia Lodge in WisconsinIf you don't have a ticket to tonight's Madison preview of UW-Madison alumnus Michael Mann's new film, "Public Enemies," starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale? Consider spending a few minutes brushing up on a some Wisconsin history, by watching this short video about Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters, scene of the 1934 shoot-out between the Dillinger Gang and the FBI (spoiler alert: Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-5232885952512932272009-06-24T23:47:00.006-05:002010-07-18T00:37:55.952-05:00Remembering Joel Gersmann...who died too soonJoel Gersmann hated blogs: He thought they were filled with scurrilous gossip and the inane, meandering thoughts of people who, if they really wanted to write, should be writing serious stuff...like plays, and novels -- or at least articles about his beloved Broom Street Theater.Joel died four years ago today. Were he still alive, I think he would have changed his mind about blogs -- and he Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-45805865959992941492009-06-11T09:27:00.001-05:002009-06-11T09:27:56.132-05:00Not on hiatus (or even marching to a different drummer)... just too busy to blogNadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-50871033594287568852009-06-03T00:47:00.006-05:002009-06-03T10:45:50.843-05:00Lunch at the University Club with Molly Eddy, winner of the 2009 Iwanter Prize for interdisciplinary excellenceMolly Eddy, Winner of the 2009 Iwanter PrizeIt had been a dark and stormy night and I hadn't slept well. I didn't want to get out of bed. I turned off the alarm clock and hunkered down under my quilt, hoping to give my sub-conscious another stab at writing a lede for a story I had been working on for days.Then the telephone rang. It was Sidney Iwanter calling from Los Angeles to tell me I had Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-69392767514860781282009-05-25T07:00:00.000-05:002009-05-25T07:00:10.696-05:00It's too nice outside: I'm on hiatusNadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-39717183488348351722009-05-17T18:15:00.002-05:002009-05-20T09:02:33.201-05:00Report from Woodstock: Searching for clues about the missing Dick Tracy Museum"Hey, Babe! Just checking in to see how you're doing.""Where are you?""I'm sitting at an outdoor café overlooking the scenic Woodstock Square.""Woodstock? I thought you were in Lake Forest.""I was, but I'm on my way home and I stopped in Woodstock to do a telephone interview.""Woodstock, Illinois?""Yes.""So what's there?""This is the city where they filmed 'Groundhog Day' and where Orson Welles Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-44203032855380678142009-05-14T00:04:00.004-05:002009-05-14T00:09:02.463-05:00This is one of the presses my grandfather kept runningPressmen at the Wisconsin State Journal building on S. Carroll Street (date and photographer unknown)When I wrote the previous post, I thought I had enough images to make it work, but Himself noted that it was difficult to see what the old press looked like in the photo on the scanned newspaper page. So I've been looking for a better photograph for several days -- and I found this one in one of Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-79788385876184523062009-05-08T00:26:00.000-05:002009-05-13T23:24:10.299-05:00He kept the presses running and could never have imagined a world without the aroma of fresh ink on newsprint...The letter from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware arrived a few days ago, but there's no need for me to respond: The Tribune Company doesn't owe me any money. I received my last check from them a few days before Sam Zell completed his leveraged buyout of the company.Although this bankruptcy proceeding may presage the beginning of the end for yet another great Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-31452785198736964022009-04-17T11:18:00.002-05:002009-04-17T11:21:06.678-05:00On hiatus from blogging (again)Too much work, too little time and energy...Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-70937113505078712512009-04-12T22:46:00.004-05:002009-04-12T22:51:42.471-05:00Revisiting the Easter Cow on Madison's East Side in order to check out the bovine beauty's 2009 holiday attireLast year when I visited the Easter Cow, there was snow on the ground and she was wearing an elaborate headdress, not an Easter bonnet. The ambient light was good.This year, the light wasn't great and her head and horns were bare. In fact, Holstein Parade seemed to be wearing her birthday suit – a sad state of affairs, utterly disappointing. But then I looked down and realized that this year's Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-70388038617213930362009-04-08T01:01:00.005-05:002009-04-08T01:31:53.662-05:00A short tale about how I was temporarily lured from my hiatus by the Library of Congress and some pugilistic pussy catsIt might look like a cat fight, but this very short video is a piece of history. It was filmed in July 1894 at Thomas Edison's Black Maria studio, and features "amusement entrepreneur" Professor Harry Welton and two furry felines wearing gloves.This historical oddity is one of 70 videos added to YouTube by the Library of Congress (LOC), which yesterday announced the launch of its own YouTube Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-68835514700119301162009-04-06T19:45:00.001-05:002009-04-06T19:46:52.300-05:00On hiatus from blogging, but not, alas, on vacationNadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-92059617591797528492009-03-31T23:57:00.002-05:002009-04-01T00:44:39.980-05:00A lunchtime adventure during which I do not engage in networking with Brazen Careerist author Penelope TrunkIt's raining at a medium windshield wiper pace and I'm running late for lunch with Penelope Trunk. I was going to park in a ramp, but I spot an open space on West Washington Avenue only a block away from my destination; so I take it even though I only have 85 cents in change for the meter and may well end up with a parking ticket.The wind is so strong it blows my cheap umbrella inside out, so I Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-73622968768689773372009-03-25T23:58:00.005-05:002009-03-26T09:41:36.327-05:00I'm Singing the Blues, Brother: I went to Woodman's tonight, but failed to get Dan Ackroyd's autograph on a Crystal HeadDan Ackroyd signing Crystal Head Vodka bottles at Woodman's WestThere are many things I'll do for Himself, but buying a bottle of vodka in a crystal bottle shaped like a human skull is not one of them. Firstly, he doesn't drink; so he'd probably keep the silly thing in his cabinet of curiosities, hoping its value would one day outpace inflation. Secondly, if he did decide to take a nip or two, Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-47295802588155889682009-03-18T00:44:00.002-05:002009-03-23T01:24:11.591-05:00On hiatus for a while...Pink elephant near the Citgo Station and Cheese Chalet in DeForest, WisconsinAll too soon, these delicious, sunny spring days will lead us into construction season, tornado season, and those dreary April showers. Time to haul out my camera and start using it again, ride my bike, take a day trip to explore Wisconsin. Back to blogging eventually...just not now.Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-33199501163339230022009-03-14T02:08:00.004-05:002009-03-14T02:11:54.824-05:00Play with your food (and memorize those decimals): It's Pi Day (and Albert Einstein's birthday, too)Today is Pi Day. When I was teaching school, the math teachers used to make pies for Pi day. I own a nifty Pi pie plate like this one, but I doubt that I'll have time to use it today.March 14 has been celebrated as Pi Day for 21 years -- ever since Larry Shaw, a physicist at the San Francisco Exploratorium science exhibition, decided to start it as a "geek holiday". The event has become an Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-3185547416675963262009-03-05T01:10:00.003-06:002009-04-13T20:24:50.575-05:00Trailer for "Public Enemies," directed by University of Wisconsin alumnus Michael Mann"I like baseball, movies, good clothes, fast cars, and you. What else do you need to know?"The first official trailer for "Public Enemies," the Michael Mann film, starring Johnny Depp as John Dillinger and Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis, is now available, so let the scrutiny begin: Just how many Wisconsin locales can you find in this 2½ minute preview?If you missed the excitement last year, or Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-92203909239071452162009-03-02T22:43:00.002-06:002009-03-08T16:34:39.792-05:00The day Bob Dylan didn't arrive on Mifflin Street (July 4, 1969)There are lots of names listed in my 1969 engagement calendar, but Bob Dylan isn't one of them. I'm pretty sure I wasn't hanging around the Mifflin Street Coop on the 4th of July, but I can't tell you where I was that day -- and I won't tell you who I was with, either.In any case, this post is about Bob Dylan and features guest appearances by Patrick McGilligan, Paul Soglin, and Jim Hougan -- allNadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-21343091156540433642009-02-21T19:36:00.000-06:002009-02-21T19:38:05.776-06:00After the snow stops: Five early Twentieth Century photographs of snow from the Library of CongressBoys cleaning snow off the ice, so that they can ice skate, Washington, D.C., area. (From the National Photo Company Collection at the Library of Congress)Men loading snow onto wagon, after snow storm, in Washington, D.C. (From the National Photo Company Collection at the Library of Congress).Piles of snow on Broadway, after storm, New York; building numbers 1204 and 1209 in foreground; Times Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-59541494351118175202009-02-09T22:26:00.003-06:002009-04-13T20:24:50.577-05:00Film director Werner Herzog's Wisconsin Connections: "Strozsek" and the Dancing ChickenHimself went to film school. I did not. Ergo, he knows much more about celluloid than I do. But a few days ago, when we were having another one of our surreal conversations about Buñuel, it meandered in an unexpected direction and I discovered Himself did not know about Werner Herzog's Wisconsin connections. I was shocked and appalled – and for a minuscule moment allowed myself to feel a bit smugNadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-84741039288370929022009-02-06T00:09:00.002-06:002009-02-06T00:15:07.918-06:00Walker Evans' postcard collection inspires me to wander through a bit of Madison, Wisconsin historyMy postcard collection is not an obsession, but the reflection of a habit instilled in me by my parents and grandparents. When they traveled, my grandparents and parents sent postcards with brief messages to friends and relatives. They purchased additional postcards for themselves as souvenirs, substitutes for the photographs they were too busy or ill-equipped to take themselves.As a child, my Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-53238001595968908832009-02-04T00:43:00.003-06:002009-04-13T20:24:50.579-05:00He doesn't bring me flowers... and he'd better not send any animated tulips from TelefloraI no longer read Playboy for the articles or watch the Super Bowl for the commercials. It's undoubtedly because I have something else to do, some more rewarding ways to spend my time.When Alex Haley was contributing memorable interviews with men like Malcolm X to Playboy, it was worth the possible embarrassment of being "caught" reading a magazine full of photos of vapid women wearing little or Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-75360912788101855572009-02-03T00:46:00.004-06:002009-02-03T01:03:14.679-06:00Another hiatus from blogging (spending too much time researching to write)"What is more important in a library than anything else—than everything else—is the fact that it exists." - Archibald McLeish"The richest person in the world - in fact all the riches in the world - couldn't provide you with anything like the endless, incredible loot available at your local library." - Malcolm Forbes"Libraries are reservoirs of strength, grace and wit, reminders of order, calm andNadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-57870105663780901722009-01-24T15:30:00.001-06:002009-01-25T23:28:19.904-06:00Redheads: "Teased, bullied - and heading for extinction"Photograph by Jenny WicksHis face, the sound of his voice, these have faded from memory. Decades later, it is his words that haunt me.He was closer to my grandfather's age than my father's and he sometimes rode the Hudson Park bus to Madison's Capitol Square. I rode that bus on a daily basis because my junior high school was on Wisconsin Avenue, two blocks from the iconic white granite edifice Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-65365825983368623012009-01-23T01:44:00.004-06:002009-04-13T20:24:50.580-05:00A "freaking awsome" commercial from the UKThis video made me smile -- and made me wish I'd been at London's Liverpool Street Station last Thursday to watch the flash mob in action. This event was organized for a commercial; but knowing that doesn't really diminish the fun you'll have watching the video.Madison has seen some Zombie Lurches around Halloween, but a huge flash mob pillow fight would be a great way to welcome spring. World Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-63180280546920126352009-01-21T12:04:00.004-06:002009-02-03T01:03:34.718-06:00On hiatus again...Too busy, racing around and working on other projects, to blog.Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-49878766985015206652009-01-15T01:38:00.006-06:002009-04-09T00:46:37.893-05:00Obama and Oyamel, or will the next president's dining preferences force me to eat spicy half-smokes instead of crunchy chapulines?Pollo con mole poblano and sides at Oyamel Cocina MexicanaSharing isn't always easy. My friends and I usually have no problem sharing food when we eat at a restaurant. It's a terrific way to sample a variety of menu items without ordering them all for yourself and dealing with the problems of either eating too much or having to smuggle that doggie bag past an overly-vigilant theater usher who Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-13549666786061682842009-01-15T01:28:00.004-06:002009-01-15T02:27:14.800-06:00Fit for a President? - Eighteen photos of culinary delights from Oyamel Cocina Mexicana in Washington, D.C.These photos were taken on December 27th and 29th, 2007 at Oyamel Cocina Mexicana at 401 7th Street, NW in Washington. D.C. They're posted here to supplement the next post (above) about Omaya and Obama.The photos were taken with an Olympus C-740 Ultra Zoom camera, using only available light. There is more "white noise" on some of the photos than I'd prefer, but given the limitations imposed by myNadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-64599488526171013982009-01-04T21:48:00.022-06:002009-04-30T00:07:39.466-05:00Daily Photograph: Fugu for Madison foodies? The next item on the menu for the former home of Brown's Restaurant on West Gilman Street is "live fish"When I lived across the street from this small building at 411 West Gilman Street, it was still home to Brown's Restaurant, a good place for home-style breakfast and lunch. The restaurant had been in the neighborhood long before I arrived, though.According to a note in Catherine Murray's Cooks' Exchange column in the June 17, 2007 Wisconsin State Journal, "Floyd and Lois Brown's first restaurant Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-55414701359360697712009-01-03T23:15:00.000-06:002009-01-03T23:34:02.807-06:00Daily photograph: Pigeons warming themselves at an eternal flame in Chicago's Daley PlazaWhile I'm not exactly frightened of pigeons, they do give me the willies. It's probably because I've spent a great deal of time in London, where the pigeons are so aggressive you may as well abandon any plans to have a peaceful spot of lunch in a park. While perhaps not as terrifying as the "flesh crazed pigeons" of Trafalgar Square depicted in a series of photographs I first saw a couple of Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-21717843887882888312009-01-02T22:28:00.004-06:002009-01-02T23:42:22.102-06:00Daily Photograph: Chicago Hot Dog sign in BucktownHot dogs? When I was growing up, that meant made-in-Madison Oscar Mayer hot dogs on a soft bun with a little bit of bright yellow French's mustard – except on Tuesdays.Tuesdays were half-price Coney dog day at local A&W Root Beer stands. Coney dogs were Oscar Mayer hot dogs with chili and onions.Oscar Mayer hot dogs usually came in packages of 10 wrapped with a bright yellow band. Even when you Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-23643647892262887632009-01-01T18:14:00.009-06:002009-01-03T23:24:29.189-06:00Daily photograph: An historic Marshall Field and Company plaque survives on Chicago's State StreetFor most of my life, Christmas wasn't Christmas without a trip to the Marshall Field's flagship store on State Street in Chicago. When I was young, my paternal grandmother would take my sister and me to Chicago on the train, so we could all have lunch under the giant Christmas tree in the Walnut Room, then go outside to admire all the beautifully decorated windows with their animated scenes of Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-38424901396713183022009-01-01T17:51:00.006-06:002009-01-01T19:10:47.233-06:00A 2009 New Year's resolution I just may be able to keepPhotograph taken at Madison's Forest Hill Cemetery on New Year's Day 2007Two years ago, I resolved to do a "photo a day" project. That resolution was abandoned long before the end of the month.In retrospect, I think I imposed too many rules upon myself, in particular the rule stating the photo had to be taken and posted on the same day. Add to that my penchant for research and my propensity to Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-30907595265643807372008-12-30T00:28:00.007-06:002008-12-30T01:25:39.528-06:00"The Scent of Seduction, with a hint of of flame-broiled meat" - A love song to Ricky's NYC, not Burger King cologneWhen other people dream of visiting New York City, they probably envision themselves shopping on Fifth Avenue, ice skating at Rockefeller Center, visiting the Statue of Liberty, or enjoying the view from the top of the Empire State Building. Not me. Long before I first visited Manhattan and saw my first Broadway show, I had three very different cultural icons on the top of my "must see" list: theNadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-16136853118913681052008-12-28T02:07:00.008-06:002010-02-12T23:49:28.772-06:00Admiring the ice and snow sculptures in Harbin, China and yearning for the return of Madison's Kites on Ice FestivalIlluminated ice sculpture at the Harbin, China Ice Festival. Note the Russian architectural influences. Harbin, China's tenth largest city, is renowned for its unique, Russian-influenced architecture, which has earned it the sobriquet "The Oriental St. Petersburg." (Photo from Mail Online)We've already had record snowfall in Madison this December; but this afternoon, the sidewalks in my Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-2792033020807982252008-12-24T10:54:00.012-06:002011-12-12T17:07:24.219-06:00Madison, Wisconsin restaurants open on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (not all of them Chinese)Please visit our updated list for Christmas 2011 (now published on Madison on the Cheap)There are a surprising number of restaurants open in Madison, Wisconsin on December 24th and 25th -- and not just Chinese restaurants.I created a list for 2008, checked it twice and posted it here last night. Somewhere along the line, I neglected to put Christmas into the header of that post; so even though Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-27228013861360790062008-12-24T02:00:00.001-06:002009-04-13T20:24:50.583-05:00"Christmas movies come in four basic varieties: the cuddly, the cloying, the cretinous and the cute."Whether you remember seeing it in a movie theater, enjoying it uninterrupted on Public Television, or being appalled when you viewed a colorized version, you've probably watched Frank Capra's 1946 film, "It's A Wonderful Life," more than once.This year, NBC is offering "It's a Wonderful Life" on Christmas Eve, undoubtedly not free from commercial interruption.Search the Internet and you'll find Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-76608332786728302462008-12-23T15:38:00.014-06:002011-12-12T17:02:07.158-06:00Eating Chinese Food in Madison Redux: The 2008 version, featuring some non-Chinese restaurant alternatives, tooPlease visit our updated list for Christmas 2011 (now published on Madison on the Cheap)Last year, it started out like this:Last week, Himself reminded me that not everyone engages in frenzied cookie baking as Christmas approaches. Nor does everyone spend Christmas Eve engaged in frenzied last-minute shopping, followed by caroling and too much eggnog. Nor does everyone eat turkey and ham and Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-55286129061957858672008-12-19T14:26:00.003-06:002008-12-19T14:39:52.137-06:00A report from the snow-filled world outside: Judy Karofsky walks her dog and photographs State StreetNeither rain nor snow can keep my friend Judy Karofsky and her faithful dog, Spencer (photograph on left) from their daily perambulations around Downtown Madison. And since she's acquired an iPhone, Judy has been a reliable source of visual information about what's happening in her neighborhood.This morning, while most of us were sleeping late or trying to avoid shoveling our driveways, Judy and Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-79806250043492588612008-12-19T04:34:00.009-06:002008-12-19T23:43:01.673-06:00Countdown to a dark Christmas: An interview with playwright Jeff Goode, creator of "The Eight: Reindeer Monologues" and "Seven Santas"Blame playwright Jeff Goode for bringing dark Christmas stories to your local theater.Not long ago, Christmas theater was awash in happy endings, redemption, and sugarplums. Then Goode snatched Clement Clarke Moore's reindeer from the sky, plopped them on a nearly bare stage, and had them recite monologues about what really happened to Vixen one foggy Christmas Eve."The Eight: Reindeer MonologuesNadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-10485009695648390202008-12-13T10:43:00.008-06:002008-12-24T13:42:21.155-06:00NORAD has been tracking Santa's Christmas Eve flight for more than 50 years -- and this year you can watch it in 3DWhilst searching for some information about mashups, I happened across the above video, "NORAD Tracks Santa in 2007," on the Google Earth website. The concept is great, but the music is egregious, too frenetic -- more like the soundtrack for a pretentious epic film than the joyous sounds of a traditional Christmas.Tracking Santa has become a Christmas tradition at NORAD, the bi-national U.S.-Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-41340944054682313512008-12-03T22:09:00.006-06:002008-12-12T15:39:43.906-06:00Still on hiatus for a while...Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-18814375593108440822008-11-10T11:19:00.001-06:002008-12-06T13:20:53.255-06:00A load of coal and a slice of hot apple pie with cinnamon ice cream: Historic tidbits about shopping in Downtown Madison"THRILLS TO MARK STATE ST. LIGHTING JUBILEE THURSDAY!" shouts the full-page announcement in the Tuesday, June 2, 1931 edition of The Wisconsin State Journal.Thursday was the day "a flood of midnight sun would literally bathe State and Fairchild streets" as the new "State Street Bright-Way" was turned on. Up and down State Street's eight blocks there would be "2,160,000 lumens released from the Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-9064988430455906692008-11-04T13:12:00.002-06:002008-11-04T13:24:45.886-06:00100 Years ago today: Republican William Howard Taft defeats Democrat William Jennings Bryan in presidential electionWilliam Howard Taft (left) with Emanuel Philipp (right), circa 1908 (Wisconsin Historical Image ID: 42747) Phillip later served as Wisconsin's governor (1915-1921).One hundred years ago today, it was Wednesday, the day after the 1908 presidential election, the outcome of which was very different from the expected outcome of today's November 4, 2008 presidential election: Republican William HowardNadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-82781007664504724482008-10-20T18:14:00.002-05:002008-12-06T13:20:53.256-06:0075 Years Ago Today: Shopping and "running wild" in Madison, Wisconsin during the Great DepressionHommel's Store at 606-608 S. Park Street in 1932, photographed by Angus McVicar (Wisconsin Historical Image ID: 28253). Seventy-five years ago today, Hommel's was selling chicken for 17 cents a poundLately, I've been doing a lot of research for my history projects. In the course of searching for one kind of information, I often stumble upon all sorts of other fascinating odds and ends. Every so Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-65453203412177997882008-10-20T09:42:00.000-05:002008-10-20T09:43:00.828-05:00From my Flickr archives: Pink house on Elmwood AvenueRecently, I discovered Flickr is providing all sorts of additional statistics about the photographs I post, including data about which photograph was the most viewed on the previous day. I tried to do some backtracking to determine why this one, taken last October, it had suddenly become so popular, and discovered that someone had posted a link to it in an online forum discussing pink houses. Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-80561398496094147692008-10-16T23:58:00.004-05:002008-10-17T01:22:32.693-05:00Wednesday night's selection from the Wisconsin Book Festival buffet: Dale Van Atta's biography of Melvin Laird: "With Honor"President Richard Nixon meets with Secretary of the Navy John Chafee, Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird of Wisconsin, and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the Oval Office of the White House an April 4, 1972. (Wisconsin Historical Image ID: 40704)Cultural festivals, like expensive Sunday brunch buffets, can be thrilling, intimidating, and exercises in coping with wretched excess. This year's Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-27866209059926212002008-10-16T23:45:00.003-05:002008-10-17T01:07:03.578-05:00Nonagenerian Lillian Deutsch talks to WKOW television about surviving the Great DepressionBorn in 1918, Lillian was a mere 89 years old when I photographed her last year in the lobby restaurant at the Orpheum Theater on State Street. Now, she's a nonagenerian.My friend Judy Karofky's mother, Lillian Deutsch (looking pretty in pink) was interviewed by WKOW television today and she spoke eloquently about living through the Great Depression. If you missed her on the evening news, you canNadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-78178200735413895032008-10-10T16:32:00.003-05:002008-10-17T01:28:22.353-05:00Orson Welles, the University Theatre stage adaptation of "The War of the Worlds" and the return of my Black DogThere have been millions of words written about The Mercury Theatre on the Air radio broadcast of H.G. Wells's "The War of the Worlds" on October 30, 1938. In conjunction with the University Theatre's stage adaptation of this legendary broadcast, I'd hoped to add a few more words -- but a focus remains elusive as I find myself diverted by sidebars and footnotes.Himself, who's been thinking aboutNadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-87416205318814866782008-10-04T14:01:00.004-05:002008-10-04T14:24:34.197-05:00Only 28 days until Halloween on Frank Lloyd Wright Avenue in Middleton HillsWhen I stopped by Copps in Middleton Hills to pick up some fresh-squeezed orange juice this afternoon, I noticed a family working on transforming the front of their house for Halloween. Did they mind if I took a photograph? No. They were more than willing to have me snap a few pictures -- and they said they hoped I'd come back later when all the decorating had been finished and take a few more.IfNadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-57421229711887377092008-10-01T02:19:00.003-05:002008-10-01T02:35:28.924-05:00Members of the Carpenter-Ridgeway Neighborhood hold a dedication ceremony for the New Sid Boyum Sculpture GardenLast Saturday morning, while I was blow-drying my hair and deciding what shoes to wear to my niece's wedding before heading down I-94 to Brookfield for the big event, Randy Glysch and other residents of the Carpenter-Ridgeway Neighborhood on Madison's East Side, attended a dedication ceremony for the new Sid Boyum Sculpture Garden. Because I couldn't squeeze the ceremony into my schedule, Glysch Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-23644308632290803042008-10-01T02:14:00.001-05:002008-10-01T02:16:38.957-05:00When you take a hundreds of photographs at your niece's wedding, you may well be too busy to blogWhitney (the bride) and Cristina (the flower girl)When you're seated in the church and craning your neck to see if you know anyone else in the pews besides your relatives and a girl three rows back who looks familiar (probably because you snapped a photo of her at a nightclub several months ago and her face shows up now and again in the constantly shifting slide show that serves as your screen Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-21451559180976522872008-09-24T22:01:00.003-05:002008-09-24T22:37:05.408-05:00Today is National Punctuation Day, so let's discuss "hermaphrodite transvestites" and "commas with pretensions"Today is National Punctuation Day, a holiday created in 2004 by former newspaperman Jeff Rubin, who wanted to remind America that a "semicolon is not a surgical procedure."Himself knows this, but still isn't sure if or when he should use this punctuation mark.We're both too busy working on writing projects to pause to celebrate National Punctuation Day with cake and ice cream, but it seemed like Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-61906255080651777362008-09-23T22:23:00.001-05:002008-12-06T13:01:31.397-06:00Too tired to blog, so I guess I've been on hiatus for a weekNadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-62164353128854218352008-09-15T19:31:00.000-05:002008-09-15T19:34:16.803-05:00Project Runaway to New York City to watch Brett Favre play with the Jets (featuring the latest Favre fan fashions)We met for dinner one August evening, shortly after she returned from New York City, where she'd arrived the day after Brett Favre announced, "I'm here to help the Jets win."The day after that announcement, there were men on the streets of New York hawking Favre clothing with Favre's new team logo. She was ecstatic.For years, I'd believed she was a Packers fans. It seems I was wrong: She's a Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-5759130055084657212008-09-05T12:24:00.003-05:002008-12-13T11:23:52.582-06:00Meet actor Daniel Graupner (currently performing in the Mercury Players Theatre production of "The Full Monty")Photo of Daniel Graupner Copyright 2008 by Nadine GoffActors often have to make personal sacrifices to transform themselves into believable characters. Less than two weeks ago, when I took this photograph of Daniel Graupner, he told me director Pete Rydberg was thinking about having Jerry sport a mullet.Jerry is the character Dan plays in the Mercury Players Theatre production of "The Fully Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-68992401653190042382008-09-03T01:33:00.003-05:002008-12-06T13:43:51.931-06:00Love, death, and the unopened suitcase full of lettersYesterday afternoon was the first time I've ever seen the suitcase, although I've heard about it for decades. Now it's sitting in my living room. I've stared at it, weighed it (about 20 pounds), and photographed it. Soon, very soon, I'll open it.The suitcase belonged to my Aunt Ginna, who died a year ago today. Ginna's first husband was my father's brother, Wallace Edward Goff. My Uncle Wally Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-17624481081842226332008-08-26T23:46:00.004-05:002008-12-06T13:01:31.397-06:00On hiatus from blogging (probably until after Labor Day)Too much to do and too little time to blog -- and that's even before the friends and relatives who've decided to spend the waning days of summer arrive. I'm taking a hiatus from blogging.Nonetheless, Himself has all sorts of ideas for blog posts he'd like to see me write. Some of them really can wait until after Labor Day. Others require travel. For instance, this year he's really excited about Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-91587440623818798342008-08-21T17:05:00.003-05:002009-05-10T14:04:05.037-05:00Madison's 2008-2009 Theatre Season: Naked Men, Nuns, Novelty, Shakespeare and some contemporary classics, too Download a PDF of the 2008-2009 Madison theater season schedulePhoto from the Sitzprobe for the 2008 Four Seasons Theatre Production of "Follies" (in front, left to right: Tamara Brognano, Marja Barger, Tom Wopat, Joe Dahl) Given the tempestuous behind the scenes dramas on the Madison theater scene in the past year, plus the number of empty seats I encountered at some productions, I Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-48677425143061258742008-08-19T22:13:00.002-05:002008-08-19T22:17:58.307-05:00Places and faces: What I've been doing instead of bloggingAttending a wedding shower for my niece in PardeevilleDriving to Davenport, Iowa to see two films about IndiaTaking photographs at Henry Vilas Zoo to assuage Himself's endless appetite for all things MadisonSince acquiring my new Nikon D40, I've spent most of my spare time taking photographs and trying to learn how to use the various features and functions it offers, as well as experimenting withNadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-44580874613138659482008-08-11T00:22:00.002-05:002008-08-11T10:14:10.504-05:00Social commentary on Madison's Williamson StreetEarly Sunday evening, I drove to the East Side of Madison to take some photographs for a couple of upcoming posts. While I was walking on the even-numbered side of the 1300 block of Williamson Street, I sighted this bit of graffiti on a building not far from the Crystal Corner Bar. What grabbed my attention was the verb. I can't recall seeing or hearing "to fume" used in a long time. Who are the Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-57369562794052420342008-08-05T23:48:00.002-05:002008-08-06T00:09:46.024-05:00Bringing titillating theater to Money Magazine's 2007 "Best Place to Live" - "The Rocky Horror Show" arrives at the Middleton Performing Arts Center"It's just a jump to the left. And then a step to the right." And no, this post has nothing to do with electoral politics. It's about getting ready to do the time warp again! That's right folks, Frank-n-Furter and the gang have taken up residence at the Middleton Performing Arts Center – and they'll be strutting their stuff there for the next two weekends.So it's time to ask some warped questionsNadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-69650135196098496192008-08-02T23:38:00.001-05:002008-08-02T23:52:45.377-05:00Inside and outside the Mount Horeb Mustard Museum on National Mustard DaySaturday was National Mustard Day in Mount Horeb. The weather was beautiful, so I decided to put my new Nikon D40 to work. More words and photographs are forthcoming.Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-38688607888893116282008-07-28T12:09:00.003-05:002008-12-06T13:01:31.398-06:00While I'm on hiatus, check out my photograph on your iPhonePhotograph of Mercat de la Boqueria in Barcelona Spain, ©Nadine Goff, 2005-2008Last year, Schmap, a leading publisher of digital travel guides, contacted me for permission to include one of my photographs of Mercat de la Boqueria in their guide to Barcelona. I granted their request. Today, they notified my that my photo is now available on an iPhone version of Schmap Barcelona, too. I don't haveNadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-47978058736782285142008-07-23T04:17:00.005-05:002008-07-23T04:32:44.371-05:00Discovering the Wisconsin Historical Society's Flickr photostream, which includes photographs from Michael Lesy's book, "Wisconsin Death Trip"Photograph of Carl and Roy Linnel by Charles Van Schaick (Wisconsin Historical Images ID: 29160). A copy of this photograph, eerily aligned with with a reversed image, is featured on the back cover of the 1973 edition of Michael Lesy's book, "Wisconsin Death Trip" (see below)Normally, receiving a FlickrMail announcing that someone has made me their newest contact is a kind of ho-hum event. But Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-19698388530468807002008-07-11T01:55:00.003-05:002008-12-06T13:56:18.468-06:00Sir Salman signed scores of books in Shorewood on Wednesday: Tonight, he'll sign books in Shorewood Hills"So have you read any of his other books?" the woman sitting behind me asked her companion."I haven't read anything by him," was the reply. "I guess I will now," she continued.They were discussing Salman Rushdie, who'd just finished talking about his latest novel, and had now taken a seat at a small table, where he would soon be accommodating the scores of people who'd queued up at Schwartz Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-63366266166986534822008-07-07T22:02:00.010-05:002008-07-08T07:19:08.292-05:00Art in public places: "Children of Abraham" sculpture in the courtyard of the Mosse Humanities Building on the UW-Madison campusIt's been there for less than a year, but in the not too distant future, Phillip Ratner's sculpture, "Children of Abraham," will have to find a new home because its "permanent home" is in the courtyard of the George L. Mosse Humanities Building, one several 1960s Modernist buildings slated for destruction as part of the University of Wisconsin Madison Campus Master Plan.Unless you've had a class Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-83436933803843108722008-06-29T14:03:00.001-05:002008-06-30T10:32:24.389-05:00A Saturday afternoon garden tour to benefit the Carpenter-Ridgeway Neighborhood's purchase of Sid Boyum 's Japanese Lantern sculptureAlthough I'm a Madison native, there are streets and neighborhoods I've never explored. Most inhabit spaces that are relatively new. A few have been there a long time, but I've never had a reason to visit them.Saturday afternoon, I had a reason to explore the Carpenter-Ridgeway Neighborhood: A benefit summer garden tour, the proceeds from which will be used to purchase a Sid Boyum sculpture for Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-25243471977528088382008-06-27T11:23:00.001-05:002008-06-27T11:25:23.595-05:00Resisting the temptation to indulge in too much more research about James Watrous, Conrad Elvehjem, and Paul BunyanOne reason why I don't blog as often as some people (or at least Himself) would like me to blog is that I love history and research and can wile away hours assembling all the information I think I need to accompany a single photograph such as this one of the Paul Bunyan Room at the Memorial Union.I want to tell you about James Watrous, the artist who, in the 1930s, painted the murals depicting Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-69810782688994982402008-06-18T13:22:00.004-05:002009-12-09T21:12:55.182-06:00Art and architecture in Fitchburg: A visit to the opening reception for the Tandem Press exhibit at the Promega Biopharmaceutical Technology CenterIt wasn't until after I'd viewed the exhibition of prints from Tandem Press, snapped scores of photographs, savoured a skewer of chicken satay, and chatted with my former high school guidance counselor that I learned all this activity had been taking place in a factory.Viewing prints in the Tandem Press exhibit at Promega"Breathing Hard" by Gronk Late Tuesday afternoon, I drove to Fitchburg to Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-33561688733763058872008-06-15T23:08:00.005-05:002008-06-16T08:18:27.062-05:00Tonight's 2008 Tony Awards: The Wisconsin ConnectionsTom Wopat rehearsing for the Four Seasons Theatre's production of "Follies" on February 16, 2008One of these years Wisconsin native Tom Wopat is going to win the Tony Award® for Best Actor in a Musical he so richly deserves. This year, he was nominated for his role in "A Catered Affair." In 1999, he was nominated for his role as Frank Butler in "Annie Get Your Gun." Tonight, the award went to Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-84647950144345356142008-06-01T23:34:00.001-05:002008-08-10T11:17:13.747-05:00From buckwheat to Bach, or why I'm too busy to blog...My weekend started Saturday morning with buckwheat pancakes and ended with what should have been Bach, but was instead Brahms. In between, I journeyed through several centuries and three Wisconsin counties, shot more than 200 photographs, wrote postcards, and at least thought about blogging. Meanwhile, Himself was off indulging his bibliomania and occasionally checking in by telphone. Most, if Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-69599684276315465472008-05-29T14:09:00.001-05:002008-05-29T14:11:21.717-05:00Baby chicks and Hollywood galas: A benefit for the new Goodman Community Center on Madison's East SideThe Klinke chick hatchery at 1918 Winnebago Avenue, circa 1935; photograph by Angus McVicar (Wisconsin Historical Image ID: 15902)In 2004, Madison passed an ordinance allowing residents of single-family homes to raise chickens in their backyards. Longtime Madisonians (and ardent local historians) know raising chickens in the city isn't new and novel. Long before they went into the dry cleaning Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-76660045356068176932008-05-27T12:17:00.002-05:002008-11-11T13:42:31.096-06:00The Memorial Day Avenue of Flags at Sunset Memory GardensA ceramic ashtray filled with spent shell casings rests atop my desk. My maternal grandfather bought the ashtray at Galleries Aux Lafayette in Paris in 1938. Sixty years later, a member of the veteran's firing squad that honored my father at his funeral collected the spent cartridges from the grounds near his grave in Madison's Forest Hill Cemetery. My sister has the burial flag – a United StatesNadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-92121712248030556892008-05-20T09:04:00.007-05:002008-12-06T13:01:31.399-06:00Question: Where in the world is Nadine? Answer: On hiatus from blogging for a while (working on a consulting job)The view from my bedroom window this week Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-68933140064032036212008-05-15T14:30:00.000-05:002008-11-11T13:42:52.130-06:00The armed forces, the war at home, and the history of Truax Field: The East Side History Club is collecting memories and preserving local historyThe man is Clarence Legrey, the lead lathe operator and shop Foreman at Gisholt during World War II. His daughter, Charlotte Kalish, recently shared this image with members of Madison's East Side History Club (ESHC). Today, I saw it on the club's flyer announcing an upcoming meeting about East Side military memories and immediately emailed ESHC organizer Sarah White to request a copy to post Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-14622694982808286932008-05-12T03:20:00.008-05:002008-12-21T16:39:46.099-06:00Crabby, crabby, crabby: A meandering essay about the arrival of the season's first soft shell crabs (and a few other things, too)APRIL is the cruellest month, breedingLilacs out of the dead land, mixingMemory and desire, stirringDull roots with spring rain.-T.S. Eliot - "The Waste Land"I. The Burial of the DeadIt was raining gently when I drove home from Milwaukee Saturday evening. After I went to bed, it must have stormed because the ground outside was wet when I awoke on Sunday. Stepping outside, I discovered one of the Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-31401123381826046772008-05-06T13:08:00.005-05:002009-04-09T01:23:14.359-05:00Fedoras, benches, cars, and community: Perambulating around the Capitol Square and through some memory banksDecades ago, I did a series of black and white photographs of people sitting on benches on Madison's Capitol Square. They were part of a photography exhibit that never happened. One day, perhaps, I'll find the time and money to digitize them because they're remarkable images of a bygone era.Monday afternoon, I stopped to take a few photographs of people sitting on benches on Madison's Capitol Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-71391030594335708452008-04-26T11:47:00.004-05:002008-12-06T13:01:31.400-06:00On hiatus from blogging for a while...Too much to do and too little time to do it. Probably back to blogging next week.Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-59657080991459776612008-04-21T13:56:00.002-05:002008-10-17T00:55:27.926-05:00Moving a house around the Capitol late on Sunday night: Judy Karofsky captures the action on her iPhoneJust as I was about to log off my computer and head for the library, I received an e-mail from my friend Judy Karofsky with 41 photos attached. She wrote, "I happened to be out last night, driving my Mom home, and I saw all the police cars re-routing traffic . . . went to check, and saw they were moving the house from W Johnson to E Mifflin – fabulous, in the warm spring night."I telephoned her Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-80892290745958526122008-04-15T02:12:00.001-05:002008-04-15T02:15:40.913-05:00Telling stories and putting names on faces: Exploring the Wisconsin Historical Images collection, which includes a photograph of my parent's weddingPhotograph taken at my parent's wedding at Bethel Lutheran Church in Madison, Wisconsin on April 29, 1945. From left to right, bridesmaid Mary Jo Kalland; bridesmaid Lucy Abbott; my mother, Elaine; my father, Fred; my uncle, Richard Nelson Goff (Wisconsin Historical Image ID: 42366)The ex-husband of my sister's former Girl Scout troop leader is there. So are my parents. And so is Spencer Tracy, Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-75901784966933587592008-04-09T11:58:00.002-05:002008-08-10T11:17:13.751-05:00Not with a bang, but a whimper: Observing the demolition of Ogg Hall and sharing memories of living there in the 1980sOgg Hall on March 19, 2008: The greatly diminished West Tower in the foreground; East Tower in the background (additional photos available HERE)Last Fall, before Himself was invented, in his capacity as The Great Motivator he persuaded me to take some photographs of the demolition and deconstruction of Ogg Hall and then write about it. In my post, I noted that Ogg Hall had never played a very Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-20027777094470747732008-04-07T13:54:00.008-05:002008-04-07T16:40:23.291-05:00Celebrating the end of Prohibition: 75 years ago today it once again became legal to drink beer in Madison, WisconsinPhotograph by Angus McVicar, taken on April 6, 1933, showing an overhead view of the bar and crowd at Fauerbach Brewing Company tavern at 651 Williamson Street in Madison, Wisconsin, celebrating the end of Prohibition. Wisconsin Historical Image ID 1956.Before I even had time to finish the previous post, Himself telephoned to remind me that April 7th was the 75th anniversary of the day it once Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-78719822878787938372008-04-07T12:59:00.001-05:002008-12-13T11:23:52.586-06:00Too busy to blog: Literary conceits and Pretty Girl's Brett Favre Farewell Tribute SongToo busy to blog. I've been writing website copy, editing someone else's book, escaping to coffeehouses with Wi-Fi to drink tea, and attending way too many movies during the Wisconsin Film Festival.Meanwhile, Himself – who has decided he'd rather not be a literary conceit – continues to urge me to blog, although he can't find time to do it himself: "I prefer not to." Instead, he's been writing Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-9167823541190898912008-03-31T16:27:00.000-05:002008-03-31T16:28:39.072-05:00Not with a bang, but a whimper [continued]: Remembering the dedication ceremony for the Southeast Residence Halls"The University of Wisconsin in its ever-broadening mission has opened many bright doors to learning. Abundant with student vitality and opportunity, the Southeast Residence Halls are a shining example" Last Friday afternoon, I spent 25 cents to buy a piece of someone else's history. I was at the Memorial Library on campus and couldn't resist the lure of the Friends Book Sale, even though it was Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-73056624860494473452008-03-24T01:01:00.005-05:002009-04-12T22:51:09.302-05:00Visiting the Easter Cow behind the historic Hoffman-Kennedy Dairy Horse Barn in the Atwood Avenue neighborhoodLast week, she was bedecked in St. Patrick's Day finery -- and if you look closely, you'll see a couple of leprechauns still lingering by her hooves. Sunday afternoon, she was definitely an Easter Cow, sporting an array of bright-colored Easter eggs on her horns. Last year, she wore rabbit ears.Her name is Holstein Parade and she was created for Madison's 2006 Cow Parade by artist Mary Heinze. Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-38249652096337213332008-03-17T13:01:00.002-05:002008-03-17T13:03:38.627-05:00A crêpe and a cuppa: light lunch at Bradbury'sWhen you're looking for a light lunch, sometimes even half a sandwich is too much. That's why I'm glad I took time to enjoy a crêpe at Bradbury's last week. Now, when I'm Downtown, I know where to find an excellent and reasonably priced light lunch,Bradbury's crêpes are made with local and organic ingredients, so some menu items will be seasonal. When I tried to order the apple, bacon, and Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-85404066453106949772008-03-12T23:59:00.001-05:002008-04-07T14:36:37.611-05:00Seen/Scene on Monroe Street last Friday: Brasserie, Burger, Boylan's, Barack and BillLast Friday noon I decided it was time to push away from the computer and have something besides granola and yogurt for lunch. In search of red meat and adventure, I decided to drive to Brasserie V on Monroe Street.Since I loathe parallel parking and plugging meters, I parked a few blocks away on Madison Street, definitely an adventure. The street was ice-covered and so were the sidewalks. At Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-49184550237713570822008-03-08T00:24:00.005-06:002008-12-06T13:43:51.932-06:00Remembering John Bardeen, a Madison native whose scientific achievements affect our lives in more ways than the latest Johnny Depp movie ever willIt's not often a Madisonian is honored with a postage stamp, so I rather expected there to be a bit of a fuss – maybe a mayoral proclamation, a small ceremony with overly-long speeches and sheet cake. But as far as I was able to determine, there was very little local interest in the issuance of a commemorative stamp honoring John Bardeen, winner of two Nobel Prizes in physics – one for the Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-33720712318839817712008-03-02T01:10:00.003-06:002008-06-17T22:28:16.281-05:00Something else to do: Learn more about a Madisonian whose photograph is included in the Library of Congress Flickr Commons photostreamEven places you've visited many times before still hold secrets and surprises. That's one of the reasons I've been hitting the road and rediscovering Wisconsin for the past several years – and I've learned to always carry my camera everywhere so I can document some of my recent discoveries, such as Gopher Crossing and Grandview, as well as take a new look at familiar places such as Madison's Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-49686114081673839692008-02-24T14:29:00.009-06:002008-06-17T22:28:56.017-05:00The Blogging "Follies" Project - It's not over 'til it's over: The cast party and some thoughts about roads not yet takenAfter Friday's opening night performance of "Follies" was over, I assumed I was nearing the end of The Blogging "Follies" project. Not so.First, there was a small post-performance reception for "Follies" supporters at the Memorial Union. You could nibble on cookies or lemon bars and have a cup of punch or coffee. Tom Wopat attended briefly, as did some other members of the cast who had been Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-57948542785268547612008-02-22T13:21:00.003-06:002008-03-17T15:04:16.146-05:00The Blogging "Follies" Project - Tom Wopat arrives in Madison and begins rehearsing with the cast - Part 2Louise Stout (Emily Whitman) and Roberta Riportella (Ensemble) watch the rehearsal action, while Tom Wopat studies his linesAn actor's life can be really boring. It doesn't matter if you're an American icon with a starring role in a musical or a prolific and talented writer who aspires to be a mere extra in a Michael Mann movie starring Johnny Depp: Both pursuits involve a lot of patience, a lot Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5290323955269840518.post-45919749945315184712008-02-19T01:13:00.010-06:002008-02-19T14:02:47.070-06:00The Blogging "Follies" Project - Tom Wopat arrives in Madison and begins rehearsing with the cast - Part 1A few minutes earlier, Sarah Marty, the Four Season Theatre's managing director, was pasting marker tape on the floor of a dance studio in preparation for a rehearsal of Stephen Sondheim's "Follies." Now it's almost 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon and she's standing by a window overlooking a crowded parking lot, her cell telephone pressed tightly to her ear. She's talking to Tom Wopat, verbally Nadinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786367874033068732noreply@blogger.com0