Listening to: Cat Power

Friends and I are going to see Cat Power at Turner Hall tonight. I'm pretty excited. Not only have I been wanting to see her for a while, but I'll be joined by my two friends with small babies at home. I sometimes complain that I have no time, but I really wouldn't have any time if I had kids at home. Even if we make time, it still gets hard to meet out - 'I have a test this week', 'the littlest is sick', 'everyone's tired', 'sorry, already busy that night'. There's a natural falling off the face of the earth after having a baby so when the babies are old enough to be without mom for a few hours - the excitement gets quadrupled and then magnified by ten. Dinner AND a concert? It's like Christmas. Welcome back gals!

Fun Times at Blogs & Books

A big thanks to all those who came out for Blogs & Books last weekend! It was so much fun meeting fellow bloggers (Karis, Lisa, Elena, Colleen, and Marisa) and talking about books. Made my week.

We had some great local business giving us a hand: Treat Bake Shop provided some goodies, , fresh design for the flower arrangements, and Monograham paper for the fun notebook giveaways and of course, the wonderful Pabst Theater for letting us hangout!

I can't wait to do it again - I think we'll do four books a year - one for each season. There was a lot of response for Julia Child's 'My Life In Paris'; so let me know what you think. I've been on a real Julia Child kick, myself....just watch this video to see what I mean. My hope is that through this event we can discover new places in the city, discover new local businesses, discover new blogs, support the blogging and blog-reading community, and learn some new stuff. Hope to see you at the next one!

Out and About: Pabst Pubcast

If you were listening to 88.9FM last Friday you might have heard them cut live to the Pabst for a special pubcast with Sharon Van Etten, Tennis, and Yellow Ostrich before the they took the stage that night. Pubcasts are sort of impromptu radio shows from the Pabst Theater pub with touring artists. Not all artists do pub casts, but normally, you can find out about these secret shows by entering a contest at radiomilwaukee.org or follow @PabstTheater to get updates and directions the day of. You might have to be a little flexible and run over the theater at a moment's notice, but these little-known shows are great to see in person! Tennis was great, btw.

The Weekend

The long weekend (and beautiful weather) is upon us! My summer classes started this week - and despite the drive this surprisingly is not a bummer. My health policy and health finance classes sound fascinating! I'll be checking out the Downtown Baseball Block Party tonight. Then going to Chicago for a bachelorette party this weekend. Then taking some pictures of our beautiful new backyard to show you guys on Monday.

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!

Listening to: The Head and the Heart

"Down In The Valley" ranks high on my list of best road trip songs. Not only is it about traveling, but the rhythm builds and barrels on like an anthem for a lonely wanderer.

AND....did you notice TURNER HALL BALLROOM in the music video?? There are some clips from set up, soundcheck, and bits from their show this past spring. Don't you just love the burnt out wooden beauty of Turner Hall - it's a great music venue so I'm not surprised this band filmed there. I'm a big fan.

I even had my wedding at Turner Hall.

Do you know who Ira Glass is?

Yes. Ira Glass is this crazy gentleman standing alone in a desert with his desk. I always wondered what the studio looked like.

One of my weekly rituals is listening to This American Life on NPR with host Ira Glass.  Every Sunday morning I turn on the radio (or download the podcast depending how late I sleep in) and get ready to learn something new and amazing and relevant.  Ira and fellow journalists tell the true stories of true Americans through four acts on one common theme.  It's hard to describe it - it just has to be experienced.  This American Life has taught me so many new and wonderful things like:  the history of the CPR doll (it was modeled after a death mask); how wild aggressive silver foxes were bred for docility in three short generations; the explanation of mortgage-backed securities and their role in the housing crisis; and what's in the secret recipe of Coca-Cola.  Those were some of my favorites.

These are the stories you would never see on the nightly news or read about in the Journal Sentinel (sorry JS but it's true).  But these are the stories you really want to hear.

Tomorrow night Ira Glass is in Milwaukee at the Pabst Theater talking about his style of journalism and story-telling and hopefully, where the heck he finds these wild and amazing true stories to talk about every week.


Reinventing Radio: An Evening with Ira Glass
Saturday, February 4th at 8pm
The Pabst TheaterMilwaukee, WI
If you haven't heard This American Life, download it immediately from iTunes or go to their website to stream some of the stories.  You won't be disappointed.

Pabst Theater in Rolling Stone

images via rolling stone magazine
I JUST saw this Milwaukee shout out in Rolling Stone from last month's issue. They asked artists to name their music industry favorites as part of the "Best of Rock 2011" article. Justin Vernon from Bon Iver gave a gracious nod to Matt Beringer (aka hubs) and Gary Witt who run the show at the Pabst Theater, Riverside, and Turner Hall. Justin has played the venues about five or six times and will be here again in June (sold out).

SO, if anyone has a copy of this issue (I searched high and low but the new issue is already in stands) I would love to put it on our coffee table, open to that page for oh, like, the next 2 years. Email me if you have it and are willing to part! creamcityandsugar@gmail.com Thanks (big kiss, too)

Live Show: Belle & Sebastian

We ventured down to the Chicago Theatre a couple nights ago to see Belle & Sebastian. What an amazing show.
I had no idea how amazing the theatre's interior was. I had never been there before. Everything--the railings, the ceilings, the moldings--is ornate. The best was the huge chandelier in the lobby. The ceiling changes colors, see?

Looks kind of like the Pabst theater's chandelier, right?

Live Show: Janelle Monáe

This little chic has got some pipes! Janelle Monae is quite possibly the reincarnation of James Brown circa cape and funk years. She was was at the Pabst last week opening up for Of Montreal, but in my opinion, she stole the show. And if you've ever seen Of Montreal, you know it's hard to steal the show from what can only be described as a circus crossed with a drag-show. Janelle's song Cold War was probably my favorite of the night. She hit some high notes that I don't even think my dog could hear. Here's Janelle Monae's tour schedule. If she's in your area, I think you should go.




{Photos: CJ Foeckler}

Can't stop listening to: The National

The National - "Bloodbuzz Ohio" (official video) from The National on Vimeo.

The new album from the The National came out today. "Bloodbuzz" is the standout track on the High Violent album, but I also really like "lemonworld". I have to laugh at how awkward and anxious Matt looks in the video above because that's how he really is in real life: anxious and awkward. He's a incredibly nice guy, though. When we saw them play in Seattle a few years ago, he sang half of the show on the edge off stage with his back turned to the audience. His stage fright has gotten a lot better since. At their Pabst show last July, he came out into the audience walking on top of the theater rows and stood perched in the mdidle crowd. They will be coming again to Milwaukee this summer. Mark your calendars for August 4th.

P.S. Thanks to Muzzle of Bees for pointing out the Milwaukee Brewers shirt in this video (mark 1:40)

Can't stop listening to: Joanna Newsom

Check out the song Good Intentions Paving Company HERE from Joanna Newsom's new album Have One On Me. This album seems like a work of growth. Her voice is more relaxed, but still unique. Her harp is able to relax a little, too, on this album as it shares the stage with a few more instruments for a more blended sound.

Joanna is coming to Milwaukee Friday, April 2nd at the Pabst Theater. Yay!