CricketToes

Cricky Lives!

That's right, you lovable yet mighty few, despite all the rumor, innuendo, hearsay, scuttlebutt, et al I remain a member of the Oxygen Breathers Club! Which, of course, can only mean one thing: Scores and scores of nonsensical words, pictures and video flowing your way, whether you want it or not--Whoot!

Okay, so, to be honest--and what other way could I be, eh?--I've been busin' myself with an effort to sort out what the hippies like to call some kind of "life balance" and, after much soul-searching and many trips on the booz... well, just say I felt a pleasant buzz numerous times--hehe!--I have come to the earth-shattering conclusion that balance as a whole can only be achieved as a culmination of balance in the moment. Whoa, man, did you just feel that? I know you did.

Anyhoo--yeah, you heard me--beginning next week, you may again feel confident to check back here at CricketToes on at least a weekly basis for a hearty helpin' of art and culture news straight from Miltown and--as far as we know--the only somewhat informative, sometimes opinionated, always overly chatty leaping orthopteran insect of the Gryllidae family on the planet.

Welcome back and, remember, we're all in this together!

ARGH!! No More Partisan Ads!

Because you're a super smart and attentive crew, y'all have probably noticed that some ads appearing on the left sidebar of this here bloggity blog over the past couple of weeks have had an obvious, politically partisan message. Let me assure you that this is absotootly, posilootly not our choice.

As we've said many times and stated clearly in our policies, we are staunch defenders of the freedoms of speech and expression. However, political advertising is a distinct species of speech that often carries with it a regrettable form of divisive rancor that, quite frankly, we do not wish to propagate in this venue. Also, we're pretty lazy and, given the grouped manner in which these ads are presented to us prior to publication--that's a boring story I'll spare ya--it takes way too much time and energy to block these ads as they appear.

While we are well aware that no art or cultural issue is completely separate from the political sphere and we of course have our own political views, we want CricketToes to be a virtual destination where all people feel comfortable to share ideas, views and opinions as free as possible from the ugliest of partisan wrangling and unfettered by the direct influence of any particular political party.

That being the case, we have discontinued the spaces reserved for the ad service supplying these political ads for the foreseeable future. This may only last as long as the current election cycle, um, cycles or it may be forever.

On the upside, this frees up space for others who would like to reach the extremely intelligent peeps who read this blog through our advertising opportunities. Check out our Independent Artists Advertising or Organizational, Institutional & Business Advertising now!

Cricky Proudly Says, "I'm Only Two Years Old!"

Tis true, ye lovable peeps of Miltown, the State o' Wisconsin and beyond, that this day marks the second anniversary of our little blog about art and culture, with all the prodigious chuckles and rarer non-chuckles it hands us daily, nightly and ever so rightly. Huzzah!

While we are ecstatic to be celebrating such an historic milestone, this day is really for you, so let the guileless appreciation begin!

To every independent artist, sound jockey and wordsmith who has reached out to us, we thank you heartily. To every art and/or cultural organization and institution that has given us intel to share, we offer our sincere gratitude. To every gallery, collective, creative business, radio and television show and/or station that has spent their precious time communicating with us so that we may spread the word, we are honestly grateful.

To our fellow bloggers, writers, critics, retweeters, and news and opinion pushers who have linked to us and helped us grow, we humbly say, "You Rock!"

To our generous sponsors who have shown their support to us over the past twelve months, we show you honor with a tribute of linkage: Milwaukee Specialty Food and Coffee, CJ Clippers, WriteCamp, Milwaukee Public Television's Arts Digest, and Spolar Studio.

Lastly but never leastly--sometimes rhythm trumps grammar, don't cha know--to our loyal readers, well, words simply fail us. The truth is we wouldn't be here without ya, and for that gift there is no equal repayment other than a continual striving to produce the best from oneself. And so we shall continue on in the hopes that our modest efforts will show our undying thanks for you.

All right, let's all grab a drink and cheer!

Tweakin' In The New Year!

Cricky Celebrates 1 Year of Virtual Life!

Today, good people, is the first anniversary of the birthing--or, if you prefer, hatching--of this here bloggity blog known as CricketToes. Whoozzah!

On this historic day, we thought it most fitting to update our tagline to better reflect what has become the major focus of our coverage and opining, and that is art and culture. Have no fear, oh you who love the endlessly fascinating topics of food and drink, for we shall continue on with those as well and to the best of our ability as time allows.

Should any doubt the correctitude of our new tagline, let us assure you that we have it on expert authority that some cricket species do indeed fly, however rarely. Cricky just happens to be one of those extraordinary few who take to the air on a frequent basis.

Anyhoo, as is the usual custom on birthdays, it is the duty of the honored celebrant to bring the cookies, cake and other sweet treats for the enjoyment of friends and family, and what follows is a litany of sincere appreciation.

To all the highly talented and worthy artists, groups, collectives, galleries, orgs, institutions, projects, and businesses who have generously shared their time and intel with us--you know who you are!--helping to feed Cricky so that Cricky may feed the peeps, we transmit our humble gratitude through this mighty chirp: Thanks for all you do and all you create!

To all the bloggers, writers, critics, feed aggregate enablers, and others who have shown us prodigious love over the past twelve months by giving us mentions, links, kudos and comments, we offer our own deep affection to you and then some: Alverno Presents, Artists Working in Education (AWE), Art Mail Milwaukee, Artsy Schmartsy (a.k.a. Jonathan West), Ben Turk, Brew City Tea, Bucketworks, Cassandra Smith and Jessica Steeber of the now defunct Armoury Gallery, Coalition of Photographic Arts (CoPA), Cultural Alliance of Greater Milwaukee, Dorota Biczel Nelson of Walker's Point Center for the Arts (WPCA), Dwellephant, Pegi Christiansen of IN:SITE, Joyce Owens, Kurt Hartwig, Latino Arts, Inc., Mary Louise Schumacher, Mike Brenner, Mollie Boutell-Butler on Decider Milwaukee, Nathaniel Stern of Upgrade! Milwaukee, Queercamp Milwaukee, RedLine Milwaukee, Rishi Tea, South of Highland (SOHI) District, Spreenkler, Susceptible to Images, ThirdCoast Digest, TRUE Skool, Urban Milwaukee, Polly Morris of UWM Peck School of the Arts, William Zuback, Wisconsin Arts Board's Arts News, and WMSE 91.7 FM. (If we've forgotten anyone, please accept our deepest apologies and let us know who you are, 'kay? 'Kay.)

To our sponsors and in-kind exchange partners, both past and present, we send good tidings and good vibes for your success, no matter your stock or trade. And here's where we present our thanks in the form of the ever cherished link: Milwaukee Specialty Food and Coffee, emerge midwest art zine, In Tandem Theatre, CJ Clippers, and Indie Talent Magazine. Whoot!

Finally and most importantly, to our devoted and oh-so loyal readers, commenters, retweeters, spreaders of the word, and tip givers whose numbers continue to grow by tremendous crickety leaps and bounds, we give a hearty and heartfelt shout-out designed to linger in the air for all eternity: Thank you, peeps! Were it not for you Cricky would be but a mere yet messy streak on the giant windshield of The Internets™.

Now let's all lift a glass in cheers!

Givin' It Up for Cricky's New Sponsor

We are überpleased and proud to welcome Indie Talent Magazine as a brand new sponsor of our little blog that could, can and will, CricketToes. Whoozzah!

Featuring profiles of independent artists across the disciplinary spectrum, Indie Talent is a rising monthly e-zine star available only on the highly influential and indomitable Internets™. How do they do it? Through the power of pure, nontoxic Indie awesomeness, of course.

Their third issue just came out, so go ahead and flip those digital pages, peruse the wealth of talent and enjoy learnin' what makes other artsy types tick. Who knows, by the time you're done readin', ya may even wanna advertise with 'em or pitch an article to the fine editors there, but only if you think you're poser-free enough to handle it, and of that we have no doubt.

Go to MagazineHost and click on Indie Talent.

Feeding the Peeps

So yesterday we had to switch our RSS and email subscription feeds to excerpts 'cause The Internets™, though much beloved, are often fickle and even the most geekish among us have trouble predicting or controlling 'em. The reaction from readers to this turn of publishing events was a rapid and definitive shout of WTF!

Let it never be said that Cricky would knowingly or willingly ignore the peeps, so, after dealing with a problem of the most vigorous head-scratching kind, we’ve restored the full feeds for the sustenance of all. Hurray!

Thanks for reading and thanks for caring, you adorable blog-loving kids you.

Cricky Celebrates Historic Day!

Just moments ago, our little blog CricketToes passed the 10,000 lifetime page views mark--Whozzah!!

OMG, there's just so many people to thank we don't know where to begin. Er, well, we don't wanna embarrass anybody by callin' 'em out, so we'll simply thank each and every one of you who've clicked, read, commented, subscribed, passed on links, passed the word, and even those of you who clicked over here expecting to find insightful chatter on the favored sport of Great Britain and her former colonies only to be staring a huge, googly-eyed insect in the face.

Thank you and keep right on doin' what you're doin'!

Cricky Succumbs to Twitter

By nature, Cricky is not a bandwagon jumper nor a mindless follower of trends, but I am not so foolishly stubborn to ignore those things that clearly have a significant impact on The Internets™ and the humans that use 'em.

And so it is that I announce today that Cricky has heard the siren tweet of Twitter and, yes, has joined the countless many who share obscure, occasionally relevant musing with the world in under 140 characters.

Follow Cricky and maybe Cricky will follow you! (That's sounds a bit creepy, but ya know what I mean.)

Trouble with Comments?

It's been brought to Cricky's attention that a few readers have had problems submitting comments.

If you've gone through all the hoops necessary to have your say but your comment hasn't appeared after you've submitted it, send an email to contact at crickettoes dot com so I know that this is more than just a hiccup and I'll try to figure out a fix.

FYI, Cricky has no upfront comment moderation policy, meaning we do not hold comments for review prior to publication, so your comment should appear on the related post immediately.

Thanks, kids!