Homeward Bound

I caught the Mad-Bus back to the Cities yesterday afternoon. The had free Red Bull this time, and I took the risk of drinking two on the ride, but the caffeine and the confinement of the bus seat did not cause the sense of entrapment that I feared. The tiny TVs on the bus showed Saved! and 50 First Dates, and I enjoyed both films.  Jenna Malone is an impressive actress, and I felt the rest of the young cast of the first movie, none of which I had seen before, were able to hold their own as well.

Today I visited the dentist; all checked out well. I also visited the printer I plan to use for my portfolio.  RiverPoint Media Group, Inc. was recently formed out of Mendota Graphics and Munson Xpress, and I found all the staff members I encountered to be friendly and helpful.  I still have a week's worth of work or so to do on my portfolio, so hopefully I'll be getting the job to the good folks there on or around the first of December.  I'll see if I can post a PDF version here on the site once I get it done.  I've got to say, visiting the place and seeing the materials really has me excited about this project for the first time.

The sound of Milwaukee

I spent the better part of today in "the Genuine American City" and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. I worked on my personal statement on the ninety-some minute bus-ride over. When we arrived at the Milwaukee Art Museum our group of twenty or so went in separate ways, and I wandered the museum by myself. The major exhibit was "Masterpieces of American Art, 1770 - 1920: From the Detroit Institute of Arts," which was okay, but less focused than I think an exhibit should be. Grouping works based on where they currently reside seems foolish and unenlightening. After finishing my pass through those galleries, I set off in search of 20th century Italian Art, particularly any work by Medardo Rosso, but I was unsuccessful in achieving my specific goal and only moderately successful in achieving the more general one. Like the Art Institute of Chicago, this museum largely ignores Italy after the time of Carravagio. My searching did yield the unexpected pleasure of conversing with one of the museum guards named Ivana, a 22-year old art education student at UW-Milwaukee. She's from the Czech Republic, and encouraged me to visit Prague as soon as I have the chance. Ivana was most certainly one of the most knowledgeable guards I encountered, but she was trapped in the "Folk and Self-Taught" art section, which we both disliked. I think she was happy to have a little conversation.

At one, we boarded the bus and headed over to a dumpy little part of town for reasons unknown. I stuck with Eva (with whom I've now shared two art history courses) and her friend Rachel, and we ate at a Greek place called Apollo's. I had a good gyro and reasonable balavá. We wander the area for a while but found little of merit, so we walked back to the museum area, stopping it at a Borders and an Old Navy along the way. I used my time at Borders to begin reading Stephen King's The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower, which has me tingling with anticipation. I was not disappointed by what little I had a chance to experience. We got back to the museum in time to watch it close its wings, and then we bussed home again.

InTACOSication

Mike came back after a good number of drinks with some food from Taco Bell. Apparently Mike, in his alcohol-induced enthusiasm ordered all the items on the taco menu, so he arrived with a bag of five or six different types of tacos. I generally avoid tacos because they almost invariably contain cumin, one of the three foods that I most inconveniently do not like. (The other two are bell peppers and fish; other foods I dislike, such as flan, don't really cause much of a problem for me.) Realizing the steak taco would probably be free of cumin, I gave it a shot and was rewarded for my intuition. It's nice to know that there's something for me at Taco Bell, should I ever end up getting my dinner there.

75¢

The city of Madison, like most major cities, has a significant homeless population. I'm glad that some charitable organizations and our campus paper, The Daily Cardinal are currently calling attention this fact. The primary goal seems to be the establishment a new shelter, since the current one is unable to help all those that need it. I support this effort, and were I a resident I would gladly vote for it should it come up as a referendum.

That said, I was a little thrown this evening by my encounter with one homeless man on State Street. On our way to the Towers for dinner, Mike and I were asked for change by a man of about 30, but I was laughing at something or another that Mike had just said and wasn't able to respond. Feeling a bit guilty about it, I decided I'd bring him a piece of fresh fruit from dinner. When Marget and I were together, she would often give homeless people fruit since its a nutritious food needing no preparation, and that habit hers was one of those I greatly admired and appreciated. So I grabbed an apple and a napkin as I headed out the door, and kept my eyes peeled for the guy. I spotted him about 10 meters in front of me, but just as I got close to him, another man approached him and asked for 75 cents. The beggar to whom I was intending to give the apple pulled out several dollars worth of quarters and gave the other man three coins. I had passed him by another 10 meters before they parted ways, and I would have felt weird doubling back. I don't really know what to make of the whole thing, but I'll take the apple along with me tomorrow. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of people who could use it.

3¢

My Shakespearean Drama professor used the phrase 'Mac(k) the Knife' in class today, and it occurred to me that I had no idea what that meant. I've been aware of the phrase for many years, but I never asked about it. This evening I decided to find out. Quick Google searches for "Mack the Knife" and "Mac the Knife" were not instantly helpful, so I ran upstairs to consult my nearest and dearest English major. Sarah, like me, had heard those three words used together but did not know their combined meaning. So I returned to the Internet for answers. I was assuming that 'mac' or 'mack' was a verb, so I went to the Oxford English Dictionary entry for the verb 'mack' (there was none for 'mac'). I didn't find what I was looking for, but I did find a very helpful example of using 'mack' to mean "to be or act as a pimp." The OED gives us:

1971 Who took Weight? 160 I was sho'nuff macking. I had nine..whores.

So that cleared that up. Getting back to 'Mac(k) the Knife,' I returned to Google, did a little more browsing, and found my answer within a minute or two. It seems that either spelling is legitament, so I'll use 'Mac,' which I prefer; I suspect this is because of that elusive Dave Matthew Band song "MacHead" or my past relationship with a MacLeod or both. Getting to the point here, it turns out Mac the Knife is the nickname for Macheath, who is a criminal mastermind of London in The Threepenny Opera, which I believe is a play and not, as the title indicates, an opera.

Since 1953

Happy fifty-first, Mom!

Fire/Water

It's raining gently on the Madtown this evening, but it didn't stop someone over at Memorial Union from launching some nice fireworks. I didn't see anything big, but there were lots of loud bangers. I wonder if those tend to hold up better in the rain than the big fountains. I suppose the big stairwell windows of the Highlander may have been among the best places to see the show and stay dry, although I do miss my westward window over at the Langdon.

Since 1983

Happy twenty-first, Nat!

East Sjælland Island

I attended a performance of Michael Frayn's Copenhagen this afternoon at the Overture Center, a relatively new addition to State Street and a very impressive performance arts facility. The cast of three was well chosen, and the minimalist set design (three chairs) was quite effective. I felt that the play was a bit slow and its repetition of the "key" scene worked better some times than others. This interesting formula certainly made the play seem fresh as a whole, but caused me to feel that the end had arrived numerous times before it actually did. Perhaps the only story with more false endings is Stephen Speilberg's film A.I., which I also enjoyed, actually in a similar way. I was impressed with the playwrite's bold use of Heisenberg's uncertainly principal; he wove a general explaination of it into the dialog in a way that I feel demanded the audience to keep on their toes. All in all, it was a play I'm glad I saw once but would not choose to see again.

الأم ميشيل

Mike's mom was in town this weekend, and she was so extraordinarily kind as to take the two of us out for dinner both this evening and last. Perhaps even more delightful was the fact that they let me choose the restaurants. Last night I selected King of Falafel, an Arabic restaurant just a few blocks down the road from the Highlander. I think we were all very pleased with the food, and shocked at how reasonable the price was. I had a fabulous bean soup and lamb on a bed of gently seasoned rice. We shared falafels and humus as an appetizer, and Mike and I both finished with decent baklava.

This evening we went to a slightly fancier place called Cafe Continental. The place was quite busy, but their schedule had left a table empty for 90 minutes, so they admitted us directly. This restaurant, too, proved to make for a very enjoyable dining experience. I started with the best cream of mushroom soup I've ever had, and moved on to a rather interesting dish from their specials of the day, which included thin pieces of steak wrapped around a soft cheese, breaded, skewered, and fried. It was served with sliced tomato and fresh mozzarella. The menu was reasonably interesting, and the ambiance was most pleasant, being neither too loud nor too dark.

Shadows on the windows

Happy Halloween, all y'all.