Play in the City

Let the contest begin

The contest rules and blog position description are now posted on VISIT Milwaukee’s website.

If you’re interested in taking over here at Play in the City, you can submit your resume along with a 250-word essay between now and May 11. The top two to five candidates will be chosen by VISIT and then the public will be invited to vote for the winner. I feel good about the contest - I think it's only right that I, along with all of you, should have a say in who ultimately takes the blog into its third year!

You can go here for all the details: www.visitmilwaukee.org/blogcontest

The job description has changed a bit since I began two years ago, and it appears that they're going to make the site a bit more all encompassing. I started out covering strictly the outdoors, which then moved to indoor activities, as well, because, let’s face it: we live in Wisconsin and there’s just no way we could keep the fun strictly outside!

The blog will now cover nightlife and hotspots, too – though the writer will have to take caution to not cover too many restaurants, as VISIT already sponsors a food blog.

Another change is this: It’s not a recap of visits to popular places; it’s more of a dialogue about Milwaukee’s rich urban experiences.

Recaps are obviously what I’ve done all along, and it seems to me that they’ve worked quite well in showcasing all that Milwaukee has to offer by way of activities. And that was, in fact, what I was told to do when I started. But hey, good for them for trying to shake things up a bit. I think it's a great idea to cast a wider net with the blog. I’m eager to see how it all works out, and I hope it’ll be a big success.

Good luck to all who enter – I look forward to helping to make this decision!

Moving on from Play in the City ...

I knew the day would eventually come and now, just like that, it’s nearly here. After two full years of writing this blog, I’m wrapping up and moving on. The contract for my second year will be up next month and I decided awhile back that I wouldn’t be renewing for a third year.

I’ve had a couple of months to get used to the idea and I’m hoping that by mid-May when I post my last post, I’ll be happy to go. I’m not quite there yet, but almost.

The blog’s been a huge part of my life, and it’s been wonderful for me both personally and professionally. I’ll miss it, but I’m also ready to move on and pursue other writing opportunities.

The good news is that Play in the City will live on, though who will take over remains to be seen. That’s where you come in.

VISIT Milwaukee will be holding a contest to decide who will take over blogging duties. They’re announcing the opportunity exclusively via my blog so that ideally, one of my readers will be the person to take over.

I’ll have more details in the coming days, but in the meantime, please feel free to post a comment or email me if you have any questions!

Double Date at Organ Piper

The double date.

Like any other first date, the first double date can be quite the high-stress situation. In fact, it can be even more high-stress than a regular date, since it's not just one person you're hoping to hit it off with, but two; and at the same time, you're hoping that your significant other will hit it off with those two people, as well.

Kiersten and I have been close friends since we were 15 years old. Throughout college, though, we only saw each other a few times per year, and until Friday, we hadn't seen each other since my wedding. When she called last week and asked if Dave and I would like to meet her and her longtime girlfriend, Angie, for dinner Friday night, since they'd be visiting from Oshkosh for the weekend, I was more than excited.

Then I thought, hmmm, Kiers and I haven't hung out on our own much the past few years, and we've certainly never thrown the significant others into the mix. Would we all have a good time together?

She suggested we meet at the Organ Piper in Greenfield for pizza, since it's on the way from Burlington, and since we had one particularly memorable night out there back in high school and she thought it'd be fun to go back for old time's sake. I relaxed a bit – it certainly wouldn't be a high-pressure double date when we were feasting on pizza and surrounded by noise!

Dave and I drove out to the Organ Piper around 7:45 Friday night and walked in to get a table. Just as I remembered, long tables filled the large room, will smaller tables of four sitting around the perimeter. We started to sit on a bench inside the entrance to wait for Kiers and Angie when an older lady came up to me, grabbed my hand and with a big smile asked if we were here for dinner. I explained we were waiting for two more, and then she, still holding my hand, said well, let me get you a table and then you can wait there!

When we got to the table, she asked if I'd been here before. I shouted at her over the music and conversation, telling her it'd been about ten years since my last visit. She grabbed both of my hands in hers and said well we're so glad you came back! I just wanted to hug her, she was so friendly.

She explained that we were to order our drinks and food at the counter, that the Organ Piper doesn't have waitstaff. We'd get a number which would light up on the big Bingo-looking board on the wall when our food was ready.

The place was chaotic, and I think as a twenty-something couple there on our own, we stood out a bit. It was almost all big groups and families, there to entertain the kiddies and/or celebrate a special occasion.

Kiers and Angie showed up about five minutes later and we settled in with our drinks (we ladies drank Brandy Old Fashions – when in Rome, I say!) to catch up a bit before ordering our food.

We giggled at the atmosphere, the kids running around, the huge organ (The Mighty Wurlitzer!) perched above us and the lights that bordered the ceiling lighting up at sporadic intervals. Duck statues above us even quacked along with certain songs. It's quite apparent that very little has changed about the Organ Piper in the 31 years it's been in business – and that's what makes it so special.

We ordered zucchini fries, garlic bread and a large pizza for dinner and our total came to just 27 bucks, which we handed over at the register after we'd placed our order. We picked up plates and forks and napkins from the counter and headed back to our table with our second round of drinks. We filled out little request cards for the organist, which are provided at each table. Kiersten requested some Billy Joel and Dave requested Take Me Out to the Ballgame, and the organist played both.

Our apps were up in no time, and our pizza followed ten minutes later. The pizza was incredible. Perfect crust, tangy sauce, and generous cheese and toppings. Mmmmm.

It got to be about 9:00 and the place had emptied out and the lights had come up. The website says that they serve til 9:45 p.m. but it seemed to be closing time. We packaged up our leftover pizza and drove over to the closest bar, The Bosch, on the corner of Highway 100 and Janesville Road.

We had a couple more drinks there as well as a couple more hours of great conversation. Our first double date couldn't have gone better – we had a blast together! The Organ Piper was the ideal fun and inexpensive haunt to hit up for our first night out as a foursome. It definitely won't be our last time hanging with Kiers and Angie; and it won't be our last time at Organ Piper, either!

We'll have to take our own kiddies there in a few years, and tell them about our big nights out there back when we were kids … or twenty-five-year-olds, whatever.

The rest of our weekend was a double date of sorts, too. Amanda and Mark came to stay with us Saturday until Sunday. They're moving here later in the summer, so Saturday we took them to the lakefront, the Third Ward, downtown and to the East Side to have a little look around.

When we were in the Third Ward, we hit up the Public Market and bought some chocolate, and then on our way back to the car , we passed by two somewhat odd-looking folks, a man and a woman. I was just about to turn around and give the others a funny look when I heard Dave say "Hi Mark."

Oh crap, I thought, Dave knows this fella?

After a minute-long, very strange conversation, we walked on, Dave with a huge grin on his face. He said to Mark, "you know who that was right?" Mark looked a bit confused and then it hit him – "that was Mark Borchardt!"

Having never seen American Movie, Amanda and I were still a bit lost, but Dave and Mark thought it was the coolest thing ever.

We wanted to take Amanda and Mark to our favorite Shorewood spots while they were here, so we had dinner Saturday at Harry's and breakfast yesterday at Jean Pierre. Dave and Mark went and saw Andrew Bird at Alverno College Saturday night while we ladies stayed at home and drank wine, watched my wedding video and looked at her wedding-dress-shopping photos.

Dave and I were zombies for most of the day yesterday, recovering from our weekend of way too much food and drink. But what a great weekend it was!

The Decemberists at the Pabst

Last night I experienced the Pabst Theater how it's meant to be experienced – no cavemen allowed!

Dave and I saw The Decemberists and, even though I went in barely knowing anything about them or by them, it was probably one of the best concerts I've ever been to.

The sold-out show was general admission, so when we arrived at five minutes til 8:00, we didn't expect to get very good seats. We did alright, though, ending up in the middle section, dead center. The little theater was packed; the hipsters drinking their oversized cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon and cocktail waitresses with glow sticks on their trays making the rounds to make sure people had what they needed without having to get up and disturb their whole row.

The opening act was My Brightest Diamond. I didn't love the music, but the lead singer was fun to watch as she jumped around the stage, and thankfully, the set was pretty short. The crowd around us talked and talked throughout the opening act, which I thought was completely rude; at one point Dave leaned over and said "it sounds like a lunchroom in here!"

Luckily they all shut up when it was time for the Decemberists. I was feeling a little sleeping before they came on and I thought, oh great, it's going to be a long night. I took advantage the next time the cocktail waitress came around and I ordered a drink. It was supposed to be whiskey and seven but was instead, I believe, whiskey on the rocks. ZING! That perked me right up. Then with the show the Decemberists put on, there was no way anyone could be sleepy!

The band took the stage and the crowd's cheers and screams reverberated through the old theater. The band was a class act, the four guys dressed in light-colored attire, two with ties, one with a hat, and the lead singer in a jacket. The girl in the group wore a light cotton dress and flat shoes.

The stage featured a muted rural setting in the background and six giant white paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling that lit up with the music. The band played all kinds of instruments, with Colin Meloy, the lead singer, switching out his guitars after nearly every song. The other members played an organ, a bass, a cello, a keyboard, drums, an accordion and a few things I didn't even recognize.

Colin's voice is so unique, and he sounded perfect, just like on his albums – what I've heard of them, anyway. He interacted with the audience a lot between songs, encouraging singing along, clapping, waving of the hands, and even some "mid-show calisthenics" during which he made a joke about the "lack of aerobic activity" in Milwaukee. I was slightly insulted, but then he went on to say, hey, it's a national epidemic. He led the group in knee bends and arm raises and jumping up and down – it was very amusing.

He also commented on how beautiful Milwaukee is and how lucky we are to have a venue like the Pabst Theater. Sure, artists probably say such things wherever they go, but I believed him.

Toward the end of the show, he referenced the horrible tragedy at Virginia Tech and told us all to sing along with the next song. They sang "Sons and Daughters" and part of the lyrics were "hear all the bombs fade away." We sang that line together probably 50 times and it was really moving.

"Hear all the bombs – fade away. Hear all the bombs – fade away. Hear all the bombs – fade away."

They left the stage after about an hour or an hour and a half, and when they came back out, they sang "The Mariner's Revenge Song," which I'd heard before and which was just about the most entertaining encore ever. Before they started the extra-long song, Colin instructed the crowd on how to scream like we were being eaten by a whale. It was hilarious.

The song was so peppy and the story so good, and finally, we all got to scream like a whale was eating us as we pretended to rip at our clothing and fight for dear life. After that, we clapped along with the music with all our might, the drum beat getting faster and faster until I thought my hands might fall off.

We left the theater happy and totally jazzed up – it was a bit hard to fall asleep last night.

The concert was awesome and the Pabst is such a perfect venue for a show like that. As we walked the few blocks back to our car after the show, I looked at the city all lit up along the river and, maybe it was the music, maybe it was the whiskey, but I couldn't help but get a little verklempt at how lucky we are to live where we do!

Hardcore fans in Milwaukee

It’s often said how devoted Wisconsin football fans are. Last night we saw just how devoted Wisconsin baseball fans are, too!

It was only announced on Monday that the Cleveland Indians and the L.A. Angels would be playing their series at Miller Park, and last night, on that short of notice, more than 19,000 fans flooded the stadium to catch the first game.

The Journal Sentinel article from this morning paints a festive picture of the evening, with the Cleveland players being overwhelmed by the number of people at the game, and the stadium full of people erupting into the wave on more than one occasion.

I started the evening with a positive attitude and managed to maintain it until we were back home, which was surprising considering I would have much rather stayed home and watched Dancing With The Stars and the draft of our wedding video that arrived in the mail yesterday.

Dave, though, had a vision in his mind about how the night was going to unfold, and when things didn’t go according to plan, he was bummed out and stayed that way. He had assumed that a few thousand serious fans would show up for the game, that we’d get right in, get great seats and have a fun evening at the ballpark. Unfortunately, 19,029 other folks had that same idea.

We left our place by 5:30 and, even though we live just 15 minutes from Miller Park, traffic going into the stadium had us in the car until almost 6:45. Then there was the line to get tickets, which we stood in for about 20 minutes. We got inside and, famished, decided to get some food. But the food lines were all 25 people deep, and it was already the fourth inning, so instead we found our seats, way out past right field in the bleachers.

We sat down, Dave happy that we were right next to the bullpen, and suddenly we heard a BOOM … BOOM ... BOOM BOOM BOOM.

We turned, and there was a man sitting one section over with an enormous drum that he’d bang on every 30 seconds or so. He was amusing for awhile, and I even clapped along to his beat a few times, but after a bit longer, it just got annoying. A TV camera stood near him, giving him the attention he was obviously so eager for, and we just wondered – how the heck do you manage to get a DRUM inside Miller Park?

We watched about two innings of the game before getting back up to get some food, since we couldn’t contain our hunger any longer. The lines were about 30 people deep now, as there weren’t many food stands open for business. After waiting about ten minutes and hardly moving, Dave made the executive decision that we’d just leave in order to beat the traffic after the game.

So there we were, making the long trek back to our car in the quiet, freezing parking lot, with our empty stomachs growling, having only seen two innings of actual baseball, and I couldn't help but laugh at the situation. We came, we saw, but we did not conquer.

We missed a good game, with the Indians beating the Angels 7-6. At least we were still part of the historical series, even if it was just a small, grumpy part of it.

(For the record, he's a lot less grumpy tonight!)

Game two is going on as I write this, and after the blizzard we were blasted with today, I wonder how many people actually showed up to tonight's match-up.

Probably still plenty!

Just when you thought the wedding posts were done

Six days since my last post. I’ve been slackin’ a bit.

So, it’s mid-April already, and we should be able to finally get outside; but no, winter has descended upon once more during these past weeks, with EIGHT TO TEN inches of SNOW in the forecast for tomorrow.

I’m holding out for the warm weather here, people.

Actually, despite the snowy forecast, we’re considering hitting up Miller Park tonight or tomorrow night to see the Cleveland Indians and the L.A. Angels play some ball. The series was moved to Milwaukee after four games were snowed out in Cleveland last week. The teams will face off tonight, tomorrow night and Thursday afternoon, tickets are ten bucks each, and according to my husband, taking in one of the games is a chance to see a little bit of baseball history in the making.

When we go, if we go, depends on which night this week we can pick up Dave’s new car. Yes, this past weekend we made our first car purchase with no parental guidance. It made us feel like such grown-ups. J Dave got a slate gray 2004 Saab 93. He got a new job downtown about a month ago at a private investigation firm, and now he’s got a better car to match his better job!

In celebration of the new job and the new car, we treated ourselves to a dinner out Saturday night: we had sushi at Nanakusa and it was incredible. Great atmosphere, attentive service, big drinks, fresh, fabulous fish and delicious crème brulee for dessert. Nanakusa is located in the Third Ward at 408 E. Chicago St. If you didn’t know where to look, it’s really easy to miss. I’ve driven past it dozens of times, but until Saturday, I never knew it was there!

And finally, I alluded to this being a bit of a wedding post, didn’t I? After five and a half months (where does the time go?!), this really, truly is the final wedding post, the bookend to that wonderful journey.

Our video is finally ready, and a few parts of it are in an online gallery so that we may share them with the world.

Visit Frogman Productions, and under client login, enter Nevicosi for the username and password. There are about five short clips up. Or, to make things easy, here are two of my favorite parts: the Highlights (5 min.) and the Dance Video (3 ½ minutes).

And one final time, thanks for sharing in my excitement and happiness these past two years, from engagement to now!

The Daniel M. Soref Planetarium

It's been nearly two weeks since our visit to the Milwaukee Public Museum, and as much as I loved exploring the three levels of exhibits there, it's the second part of our trip that has really stuck with me.

That afternoon after our tour of the museum, we took in a show at the new Daniel M. Soref Planetarium, which is within the IMAX Theater.

A day hasn't gone by since then that I haven't at least briefly thought about what we saw, and I don't think I'll ever look up into the sky the same way again.

Sure, I learned about the universe in my science books year after year in school, but seeing "Wonders of the Universe" at the IMAX made me really see and understand it better in 40 minutes than any of those science books ever could.

Dave and I were seated in the dark theater, waiting for the show to start, when suddenly we were surrounded by sky. A giant sloping screen rose up toward us, over our heads and behind us, and on either side, too. It was the sky at dusk, which slowly faded to night, and I could have sworn we were in a field in the middle of the country somewhere, staring up at the stars.

For 20 minutes the female guide took us on a tour of our solar system, pointing out planets and constellations, explaining where the Earth lies in relation to the other planets and stars.

As we took a highly sped-up tour of our galaxy, the Milky Way, our point of view shifted and it felt as though we were in a giant bubble of a space ship, sailing among the stars.

The second part of the show was the "Wonders of the Universe" part which illustrated the history of the universe, from the first colliding of particles until today.

This part showed just how big the universe – how far infinity – really is. Our planet and the other planets in our solar system, as well as our sun and moon and stars, make up just ONE little galaxy, one among MILLIONS of other galaxies.

To see how tiny and insignificant the Earth is in the whole scheme of the universe is simply mind-boggling. It brings up all kinds of questions in one's mind, like why in the world would we think we're the only tiny little dot out there with life on it? And is God the god of the entire universe or just of Earth – or what?

The show was unbelievable. It gave me a perspective like I've never had before, and it's an experience that will certainly stay with me.

And you know, I complain a lot lately about how there are no good movies out in the theaters, but never do I stop to consider checking to see what's playing at the IMAX or the planetarium. That's going to change, though! The show we saw was educational, romantic, entertaining and awe-inspiring all at once. Not many movies can make such a claim!

Tune in: Planet Earth

It could be the recent Museum visit, or it could be the lack of new episodes of my favorite TV shows like Grey's Anatomy and The Office the past few weeks.

Of course, it's probably just the fact that there's never been anything quite like it on television before that I've been tuning into Planet Earth, a groundbreaking 11-part miniseries on the Discovery Channel.

Are you watching? The first three parts – Pole to Pole, Mountains and Deep Ocean – debuted last Sunday, and the series continues tonight and for the next three weeks with two more episodes per night. Tonight is Deserts and Ice Worlds.

The hour-long episodes include an annoying number of commercial breaks, but they're a small price to pay for such an incredible showcase of our planet. (And, well, we have DVR so it doesn't much affect us. Best invention ever.)

Dave and I have watched the first three installments in complete wonder and awe. The project took five years to make: 2,000 days of filming in more than 200 locations by more than 70 camera operators, and through new technologies, the crew were able to record and document animals and behaviors that have never before been seen by the masses.

Already, viewers have seen hundreds of dolphins swimming and jumping across the ocean, a Great White leaping out of the water in slow, slow motion, and a snow leopard with her cub, caught on film in the wild for the first time ever. We've seen a panda bear in her den, polar bears awaking from hibernation, and elephants traveling across the desert in search of water. Wild dogs hunting impalas in Africa and penguins in Antarctica huddling together for warmth through the four months of the year with no sunlight.

We've seen fish we've never seen before at the very bottom of ocean, and some of the most beautiful, interesting birds who call the bottom of the rain forest their home, which have also never been filmed before as they perform their crazy, fantastic dances to attract a mate.

The series is narrated by Sigourney Weaver and is truly a masterpiece, one that hopefully sparks viewers to see our Earth for the marvel it is, and to want to take care of it. In my humble opinion, it's a thousand times more effective in promoting appreciation for the Earth and the desire to make changes that will ensure its ability to thrive in the future than any piece of propaganda we're fed by hypocritical politicians or Hollywood actors.

I can't wait to see what treasures the next eight installments of Planet Earth have in store. I highly, highly recommend you tune in if you have the chance.