CricketToes

Eureka--There is Water on Mars!

NASA announced today that there is indeed water on Mars, as evidenced by this snapshot taken by the Phoenix Mars Lander showing an above ground pool perfect for family get-togethers and BBQs. Kids love it!

Okay, there may have been some Photoshopping shenanigans involved in that image--and almost as good the missile photo released by the Iranians!--but the news remains true that they have found undeniable, irrefutable proof of H2O on the Red Planet.

Good, now maybe the perpetually thirsty Southwest will stop gazing at The Great Lakes with such wistful, covetous eyes.

Link

Picnic on Canvas

Tonight you're invited to a picnic at UWM's Institute of Visual Arts (Inova), where you can sprawl luxuriously on an original Eugenio Espinoza painting on canvas, imbibing in BYO Brie and wine.

The event with the artist is free and open to the public on the 3rd floor terrace of the Kenilworth Square East building, 2155 N. Prospect Avenue. The ants arrive at 5:30PM and you should too.

Link (Thanks, Tamiko!)

Oh Happy Day! Rice-A-Roni® is Back on the Menu

For all my love of fancy food that does not come in a box, I must admit that I love Rice-A-Roni®--love it, love it, love it! Unfortunately my favorite packaged rice-vermicelli dish contains Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), and neither I nor Kev can handle that particular ingredient as it sends our hearts racing--and not in a good way--which results in all kinds of problems, like insomnia.

But today is a day of cheer, for this morning on NPR's Morning Edition I heard a captivating piece on the history of The San Francisco Treat® and was able to obtain the original Pailadzo Captanian's Rice Pilaf recipe from their site. Yes! No MSG, just flavorful ricey goodness.

Produced by the inimitable Kitchen Sisters for their Hidden Kitchens series, "Birth Of Rice-A-Roni: The Armenian-Italian Treat" includes the tale of Pailadzo Captanian's harrowing forced deportation from the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey) in 1915, at the time of the Armenian genocide--a word that the Turkish government does not accept as an accurate description of the events that occurred during and just after World War I (1914-1918), but at least twenty-one other countries have officially recognized as such.

Listen or Read

Every Two Seconds Someone Blows a Gasket

Negativland's David Wills (aka The Weatherman) has posted the clips he used for the audio collage “How Dare You”, which inspired the name of his blog, How Dare You? The Weatherman's Dumb Stupid Home Page.

The clips are brilliantly chosen and the final collage is well worth a listen. Both are NSFW without headphones as they contain some "naughty" words.

(Thanks, Dan!)

Finally, a Film Festival for that Bike-Themed Movie You Made Last Year

The good folks over at The Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin (BFW) have called for submissions to their annual Bike Shorts--haha, clever!--Film Festival. While your film doesn’t have to focus solely on you or your best friend riding atop a comfy banana seat while laughing at the road riders who choose to place their keisters on the thin slivers they call “saddles,” bicycles do have to act as if their shooting for the Outstanding Performance by a Prop in a Supporting Role Award.

Other specifications? It must be less than 30 minutes, in DVD format, and they need it by August 12--no pressure though.

The films chosen will be shown on August 15 as a part of BFW’s free Bike-In Movie Series at the Media Garden, which is under the Holton Viaduct--where Water Street splits into Water and Brady Streets--and across from Trocadero Café.

Submit your film via snail mail or drop it off:
Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin
Bike Shorts Festival Submissions
1845 N Farwell Ave, Suite 100
Milwaukee, WI 53202

Link (Thanks, MARN!)

America's Black Holocaust Museum Needs Your Help

While out on the town last night, one of our closest friends informed Kevin and I that America's Black Holocaust Museum in Milwaukee is closing its doors due to lack of funding. She said that the those involved with the museum hoped it would only be a temporary closure, but she didn't know for how long or if it would ever open again. I vowed to her that I would blog about this urgent situation and so here I am, doing just that.

Founded 20 years ago this year by the late Dr. James Cameron, America's Black Holocaust Museum is the nation's only memorial institution dedicated to the documentation of and education of the public about the grave injustices suffered by people of African heritage in the United States. And yet, it is more than a museum--it is a powerful testimonial to the endurance of the human spirit and a ghastly reminder of how brutal and ethically bankrupt humanity can become.

Today I issue a call to action, dear readers, to save this historic and priceless cultural museum for all of us--for those living today and for those who follow.

Please, if you have or know someone who has marketing and/or fundraising expertise who would also be willing to join the America's Black Holocaust Museum board as a member, contact them at info at blackholocaustmuseum dot org or call 414-264-2500.

America's Black Holocaust Museum is an irreplaceable resource we can ill afford to lose.

Thank you.

Editor's Note: The ABHM website is now defunct.

Starbucks’ "Black Tuesday" Makes Holy Mermaid Logo Cry

Embattled java giant Starbucks--soon to be known as Starcuts--is slashing and gashing its way through employees and stores in a desperate attempt to raise its stock price and perhaps live to see another day. The coffee corp announced yesterday that it's cutting 1,000 jobs and closing more than 70 percent of its stores in Australia by August 3. Poor Aussies--they're forever getting the short end of the stir stick, aren't they? Whoops, no, sorry, that's the Kiwis.

Anyhoo, according to Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter Andrea James, the job cuts will only effect nonstore drones--oh, except for those baristas and managers that work at all those soon-to-be-closed stores Down Under--including 180 employees that are being laid off right in the heart of the Java Holy Land (aka Seattle). Two-Tailed Mermaid, Mother of the Sacred Espresso Bean, Save Us!

But will all this bloodletting help to resurrect the 'Bucks? Well, after yesterday's announcement, its stock price rose 5.3 percent. So, let's see... that's one for the stockholders and a big fat zero for the workers. Huzzah for restructuring and realignment!

Link (via Coffee Talk)

Poetry is Not Dead, So Sayeth the Laureate

I was super pleased to hear an interview this morning on WUWM's Lake Effect with Susan Firer, Assistant Professor of English at UWM, Milwaukee Poet Laureate and a former poetry teacher of mine. I took a course with her way back in 1995--yes, I was a student of age, as they say, at least to the fresh-faced 18 year olds that surrounded me at the time--and, unlike some professors, Firer is as dedicated and devoted to her students' work as she is to her own.

The interview includes Firer reading from her new collection, Milwaukee Does Strange Things To People: New And Selected Poems 1979-2007, which was published by The Backwaters Press last October.

Firer was officially named Milwaukee Poet Laureate in February and will serve a two-year term promoting poetry at Milwaukee Public Library and community events, as well as working on an inter-arts program, Poetry & the Other Arts, to be presented on September 25.

A hearty congratulations to you, Madam Laureate!

Listen

Stirring Video Challenges Definitions of Communication, Language and World View

So, In My Language, the video piece posted below, has been up on YouTube for a year and a half but has just now come to my attention. Amanda Baggs (aka silentmiaow) is a 27 year old woman with autism. She writes and directs videos which demonstrate and discuss the unique world view of those who think differently--in particular, those with autism--and how their view and interaction with the world is often misunderstood, misinterpreted and disrespected by the majority.

The comments and video replies to In My Language are decidedly unYouTube-like, showing a depth of emotional and intellectual response that is extremely rare. Baggs has most assuredly hit a chord with a remarkably broad audience, the members of which may have very little in common otherwise.

Baggs also has a website and blog where she writes about autistic liberation and disability rights.

Link (via Michael John Moynihan on MARN)

Hooligans Advertises its Foot Fetish--Beer Drinkers Cry Eew!

There are times when one comes across an ad that is so... not right that all that can be said by any sane person viewing it is a plain and simple "Eew!" While I do not claim to be sane by any stretch, that was my one and only reaction to this Hooligans ad, spied on Shepherd Express' expressmilwaukee.com:

Okay, I get the reference to the 1966 pop ditty "These Boot Are Made For Walkin'" made famous by Nancy Sinatra, but naked toes in beer foam? It's just not right, people!

Oh, and if that weren't enough, the local bar has chosen that image--bigger and eewier--to grace the homepage of the its currently under construction website. You will not kill my love of beer, you madmen!

UPDATE: Thank the beer gods, they've dropped it.