Jerry Taff

Jerry Taff, the main anchor for Channel 12 WISN from 1979 through 2005, died last night at his home in Texas.  He was 85.

Taff was a ubiquitous face in my first three decades on this planet.  My family most often tuned in to watch the news on Channel 12, which famously had its real life newsroom running in the background of the newscast. (We watched Channel 6 less frequently, bougie Channel 4 rarely if at all).

Taff, a Texas native who mentored documentarian Michael Moore while working in Detroit, was the face of WISN, and a trusted one - the Cronkite of Milwaukee in that regard. 

 

He had his faults: he was fired for two years in the mid-80's, for reasons I know longer recall, causing him to miss reporting on a passenger jet crash here in '85. He also had an alleged feud with longtime co-anchor Marty Burns Wolfe that wasn't a very well kept secret.

When he signed off his newscasts, he did so with a signature phrase that still sounds like the best wish possible to me:  Good Night, and Better Tomorrows. 

Good night Jerry.  Rest in Peace.

Bob Uecker

 

Milwaukee native Bob Uecker, the voice of the Brewers, died today only a short while before his 91st birthday. 

Uecker was ubiquitous here in Milwaukee throughout my life. A former weak-hitting MLB catcher, he began calling games for the Brewers 3 years before I was born, and continued through 2024. He starred in a successful sitcom, Mr. Belevedere, in the '80's, was a standout in Miller Lite commercials, and brought his humor to the silver screen in the Major League movies.

He was genuinely, instinctively funny, and his love for Milwaukee, and the Brewers, knew no limits.. I'm sorry we didn't give him the chance to call a championship for the Crew.  

RIP

Goodbye, Smooth Jazz 102.5

Well, I knew it. Nothing good lasts forever. 

For the better part of a year I've enjoyed listening to 102.5, a Smooth Jazz station here in Milwaukee. Ask the kids - I'll spend many days with the station playing on my radio at home, providing a backdrop for my evening.  They even sponsered the jazz festival LuLu and I attended. 

It's a great staion. 

WAS a great station.

A few days ago I tuned in and heard Christian music. Ok, there's a Chrstian station on a similar bandwith that sometimes inteferes with the signal if you drive too far south of Milwaukee. Maybe my radio was just picking that up at home? 

Then too, they kept sprinkling in Christmas music, confusing me even more. 

Then finally, the death knell. It has become a Christan music station, and my radio will be going silent. 

Farewell Smooth Jazz 102.5. You were loved. 

It Was So Cute Too

I almost ran over a kitten just now  that darted into the road, and stopped my car to go try to lure it to safety. Then I remembered I'm on 27th and State and the kitten is probably safer than I am

25 Years Ago - The Collapse of Big Blue

25 years ago today, I received a call at our apartment on 23rd St.  My friend Tre was on the line,  and told me Big Blue - the crane then in use to build the new Brewers stadium - had collapsed.  

At the time I didn't think much of it.  A construction delay,  sure,  but otherwise, yawn.  In reality it was far worse. Not only did the crane collapse knock out a portion of the stadium, setting the opening back a year,  three ironworkers were struck by the crane and killed. 

The worst part? As with most disasters,  human error and hubris were to blame. 

On this,  the 25th anniversary of their deaths,  RIP Jeffrey Wischer, William DeGrave, and Jerome Starr.

WTH

So I just got home from Madison, I'm barely unpacked, and this dude randomly walks down the block, stops in front of my house, faces the street, takes out his penis and starts twirling around in a circle peeing. 

More taxes for Fewer Services in Return

And it applies to utility bills [too]. Great. - YaYa

Bobby Rivers

Bobby Rivers was a Marquette graduate who co-hosted a morning show on the old 93QFM, then moved into television at WISN, both here in Milwaukee. 

 At WISN  he became Milwaukee's first African-American film critic, taping segments for the nationally syndicated PM Magazine. In time this would lead him to leave Milwaukee, later working with Whoopi Goldberg on her own show, and hosting shows of his own on the Food Network and VH1.

I met Mr Rivers very briefly at WISN when I toured the studio on a Scout field trip. As I recall it was nothing more than running into him in the hallway where he smiled, waved and said hello to the group. Still, by that time I already recognized him as someone of importance here in Milwaukee and someone with a future in the entertainment industry and so that meeting has stuck with me over the years.

Rivers died Boxing Day in Minnesota at the age of 70.

RIP

Where Teddy Was Shot

Back on November 3rd and 4th I spent my workdays at a conference in downtown Milwaukee for my new job. I can't speak to any after-hours activities, but as to the conference itself: far duller, with much less swag handed out, than the hospitality conferences I attended back in Days of Olde. 

Not the point of this post tho.

 Just inside the doors of the hotel was this plaque, marking the spot where a would be assassin in my hometown shot Teddy Roosevelt in 1912. I'd known of the attempt all my life, but unless my memory has gone kaput this was the first time I ever stood on the same ground. 

Counsell Turns Traitor

Not really. 

Baseball is a business, and the man was offered $40 over 5 years to work for a vile, cursed   well funded, marquee organization. He'd have been a fool not to accept. 

Does it fly in the face of his constant harping on how he's a local boy in his "dream job?" 

Sure. 

But again, $40 million boo. $40 million. That's twice the sum of his career earnings as a player. 

Plus, the Brewers weren't exactly knocking down the door with offers enticing him to stay. Was that proof the organization is cheap, or did they suspect his leadership value was inflated? Hard to say, and I don't think Chicago is guaranteed to provide the answer to the latter either; deep pockets have the potential to solve many problems. 

(I think he was overvalued, but who am I? I'm just a schmuck with a blog.)

So congrats to Counsell -  although given his new job I can't exactly wish him success. 

update: Oops. I guess this "player's manager" forgot to actually inform his players of his move until AFTER the news was public. Smooth sir. smooth. 

The Bridge

I'm not sure these pictures are worth your time, but just in case the bridge is gone in 20 years and no one remembers it: here are some pics of the Wisconsin Ave bridge over the Milwaukee River being raised to allow a ship to navigate under it as we went downtown for Visit Milwaukee. 

A Neighborhood Fox

On the night of the 19th, about a half hour before midnight, Lisa and I came to a stop when a fox froze in the intersection. 

Now, if you listen to the hysteria on local Facebook pages, foxes are Enemies of the State, on the hunt not only for your dog and cat but literally also hungry for your baby and toddler.

Balderdash. What a sad testament to the divide between human and nature in 2023. The fox is a threat to your chickens, rabbits, and other small mammals, but hardly likely to steal Little Junior from his stroller or dare to take on your Fido. 

This example of the beast was so afraid of humans that he stayed put in the intersection, unsure and frightened about where to flee. Then he posed AGAIN, on the sidewalk when we pulled up to take more (admittedly poor quality) cell phone pictures. 

The Closing of the Downer

There's been some pretty lousy local news tonight. The 108 year old Downer Theatre, Milwaukee's oldest extant movie theater, has shut its doors.

For most of my adult lifetime the Downer has primarily shown artistic films with limited mainstream appeal. 

There's already some talk that the Milwaukee Film Festival will purchase the building, but as far as I know that's internet rumor and I don't know if there's anything to it. They already own and operate the nearby Oriental Theater, and I doubt they care to run a competitor located that close.

As to the Downer: I can't say I went there often but I do have a very specific memory of watching  Val Kilmer in the John Holmes bio Wonderland with Lisa in 2003, and slipping out into the lobby to take a call from Ray bragging to me that the Yankees had lost the World Series.

Goodbye Downer. You had a heck of a run.

Goodbye A&J's Polish Deli

This afternoon Lisa and I met up with YaYa and Alex at A &J Deli on Lincoln, just east of 13th St. Earlier in the week we'd heard the sad news on Facebook that they were going out of business, and we wanted to stop by, not only to stock up, but to say our goodbyes to a fine place. 

From the first glance, it was obvious the news wasn't just correct, but had been met with a similar reaction in the Polish community. 

All we wound up walking out with was a jar of pickles, red cabbage, jam, beet chrzan, and a bag of milk cookies. Oh, and a bottle of Polish alcohol for YaYa. 

The owner was there and said he was retiring, but I don't know, it didn't seem like a planned move. In recent years another Polish store, Wioletta's, has gotten a lot of press attention and foot traffic. I have to imagine - and imagine is all it may be - that Wioletta's greatly impacted their bottom line. If so, it's a shame. A&J's felt real - Wioletta's  . . .man, it's like shopping at a Target. 

RIP A&J's. We'll miss you. 

.

Frank Llyod Wright's Burnham St Homes

This morning Lisa crossed a long time wish off her bucket list. She grew up along Layton Boulevard in Milwaukee, only a few houses away from a group of Frank Lloyd Wright homes along Burnham Street. Two tickets and four decades later she finally got a chance to tour them. 

In 1915 Wisconsin native and self-proclaimed world's greatest architect Frank Lloyd Wright signed a contract to create the American homes. These are homes of his own design, modified for a middle-class budget, and built of pre-cut lumber. While his goal was obviously to make money, philosophical intention was to make even a lower or middle class home a work of art in America, and he envisioned selling tens of thousands of these. In the end largely because of World War i, the plan failed and a very small number of the homes were built.

That's what makes the Burnham Street houses an incredible treasure, right here on Milwaukee's South Side. Not only were these the first he constructed, in order to use these as examples for future sales, but there are not one or two but six American homes on a single block.

All the homes were held by private owners for decades and given that more than a century has passed many modifications were made over time. The charitable organization that now operates five of the six homes endeavors to put them back in the exact condition they were in the moment the sale was completed in the 1910's.

The first few houses are duplexes. All feature a built-in breakfast nook

And open it to the air sleeping porch, as was common in the days before antibiotics when disease was rampant and fresh air was seen as a preventative.

Alas he chose a Innovative stucco for the exterior that failed after 20 years and, even worse, was ridden with asbestos.

There were many rumors about the houses and their history that Lisa heard growing up, and I heard many of them as well not only from her but other people who lived in the neighborhood. Things like only two of the houses were actual Wright houses, while the others were copycats. That is untrue, but logically I think it stems from the extreme modifications a few of the owners did to the exteriors. 

There is also the tail of the east most house having been built for a friend of Wright. The story goes that on the basis of that friendship, Wright consented to include a garage for him despite his known distaste for garages. The docent adamently labeled this false, but they were a few photographs from the original owners on display and it does seem, at least my eyes to show a contemporary garage or shed on one of the properties. Not everything of the era is fully known yet so perhaps that neighborhood story will wind up having a kernel of truth after all.

The second house from the East was completely restored beginning in 2004. It now features a gorgeous front porch leading to a recessed front door under a consciously low pergola, which then opens to a large atrium.

Keep in mind this model is only 805 square feet, and yet it has an atrium big enough to accomodate the entire tour group. 

The house, unusual for the era, had a fireplace in the center of the home, subtly dividing the space. 

I think this is one of the greatest features he put into the homes; he was a big believer in the corner windows to not only let in more light but to tie the room in with the outside world.

The home featured 3 paint colors on the wall, to give the impression of more height. 

Stunning furniture - recreations of the originals. 

Here's the breakfast nook of this house

The kitchen features a builder decision that was grossly unsafe, a stairwell that began within the kitchen itself, with the floor just ending in front of the icebox. I'm sure more than one time the original owner went for something in his icebox and wound up stumbling down the stairs. As this violated the original design plans, it is believed to have been one of the things that led Wright to sue for the right to end the contract with the builder. 

The bathroom didn't really impress me or scream "old" as I've lived in places with similar rooms. 

 The tour was supposed to take between 30 and 45 minutes. We spent ninety minutes on it, and loved every minute. 

If you visit Milwaukee, make sure to make time to see those houses!

 

Gooodbye to Southgate and Showtime

Yesterday was the last day of operation for three Marcus theaters, two of them in the Milwaukee area. To my knowledge, it has more to do with Covid-era changes than any fallout from the current Hollywood strike. 

Southgate, pictured above, was where Lisa and I first saw Titanic on its opening night in 1997, and many other films over the years. In the last decade or so it had become a little wild for my taste, and so we had moved on to Southshore, but we still occasionally saw a film there. 

Showtime, another casualty, was a bit of a drive but once it was absorbed by Marcus and became a budget priced showhouse, it became my go-to with the kids every Monday night in the pre-Covid years. 

Unfortunately, after Covid Marcus made it a first-run, full price theater again. That was a curious call, since it lacked the Dreamlounger seating of other showhouses and was forevermore the odd man out. Even so, I saw John Wick 4 there with LuLu earlier this year. 

I enjoy the experience of watching a film on the big screen, in the presence of a full room of people. I cringe when I hear of theaters closing, and I hope this is the last of the losses for the near future. 

RIP

Record Heat and School Cancellations

Both Tuesday and Wednesday of last week (August 22nd-23rd) featured extreme heat by Wisconsin standards; Tuesday we crossed 100 degrees F here in Milwaukee for only the 34th time since records were kept (dating back to 1871). 

In response, Milwaukee Public Schools closed both days. I know folks in Texas and the Deep South probably find this amusing, but up here most schools not only don't feature air conditioning, the windows barely budge. In fact, Junie's school just remodeled to, in part, *remove* the ability to open windows, leaving the school to be cooled only by small vents in each window. 

In 100 degree heat, ya might as well coat the kids in butter and salt and pepper and serve 'em up on a barbeque platter. 

Oh, and it was a WET heat too. Ick. 

[apologies for Junie's language in the text. Not cool, pun intended.]

Milverine's Jersey

On August 22 Milwaukee legend, Bay View's own Milverine, aka John Frank Hamann, threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Brewers game.

  This is the jersey they gave him.

If the Brewers haven't thought about producing replicas of this, they should.  Make one in my size and I'd proudly wear it!

Yadeem's On the Go

Early this afternoon Lisa and I ventured all the way out to 88th and Brown Deer Rd, where a R&B festival was taking place, just because we'd heard that Yadeem's had set up a food truck there. 

It's owned and operated by an old high school classmate of Lisa's, Nnamdi Duncan, and we've been wanting to try it for awhile now, both because we love to try new restaurants and because we're happy to support alumni. 

I had a "reverse engineered" stuffed salmon bowl over rice. 

Lisa tried their eggrolls, available in 3 varieties. She chose chicken  & ranch, and gyro. I graciously offered to try her dish, and my lawd - that gyro one! 

I didn't dig the pineapple lemonade but Lisa loved it. 

Now, for desert I oddly agreed to buy 4 crab rangoon from a booth run by a Mom and her middle school daughters; at 4 for $3 it was hard to pass up. But I also wandered back to Nnamdi's truck and bought some of his banana pudding, based off his Grandma Inez's recipe. 

OMG. That banana pudding - and I am NOT a fan of the dish in general - may have been one of the best desserts I've had in my life. I. Am. Not. Kidding. 

It rivaled the creme brule I've had on cruises!

Yadeem's is normally based at 6003 W Fond Du Lac but the food truck is available for both catering and special events. 

It's definitely worth the drive. Check them out!