Author: Rob Wieland

Castle crashers: An interview with Jesse Theiler from The Dungeon Cocktail Experience

August 20, 2025

It’s easier than ever to get into Dungeons & Dragons these days. What started out as a nerdy hobby game in Lake Geneva more than 50 years ago has become an entire genre of game, a lifestyle brand, and a pre...

AdeptiCon brings big-time miniatures action to Milwaukee

Rob Wieland

March 19, 2025

As the old saying goes: "March comes in like a lion and goes out with three nerdy weekends full of back-to-back-to-back conventions." This week, Gary Con celebrates the life of one of the creators of Dungeon...

The Final Girl is a spooky bar that’s a space for everyone

Rob Wieland

October 31, 2024

There are thousands of bars in Wisconsin. There are hundreds of bars in Milwaukee. Most of them have common themes: sports, heritages, specific types of alcohol. Some of the themes are more unique: arcades, boa...

The Space Marines of spring: AdeptiCon announces move to Milwaukee in 2025

Rob Wieland

April 15, 2024

Fresh off the successful 2024 Midwest Gaming Classic, the Baird Center will be home to another large nerd convention in 2025. AdeptiCon announced on Monday that it will be moving from its home in Schaumburg, Il...

According to the Wisconsin Historical Society, a Hodag is Challenge Rating 3 and worth 700 Experience Points

Rob Wieland

April 2, 2024

Twenty twenty-four marks the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons. The game is more popular than ever. How can you tell? Actual Plays like Critical Role and Dimension 20 are playing sold-out arena shows a...

Local D&D nerd does good: An interview with Sarah Babe of ‘Encounter Party’

Rob Wieland

November 9, 2023

For many fans of Dungeons & Dragons, the idea of sitting and watching other nerds play the game sounds absurd on its face. Then Critical Role happened, and for the last 10 years the genre of "actual play" h...

The Dragon’s Sandbox: Come to Walker’s Point for dinner and a dungeon crawl

Rob Wieland

October 10, 2023

Dungeons & Dragons is more popular than ever. The current edition has sold millions of copies and is the most popular version in years, if not the entire 49-year history of the game. Actual play shows like ...

I was a teenage(-ish) tour guide for Harley-Davidson

Rob Wieland

July 11, 2023

"Wah-wah-too-sah" "Whoa-wah-toe-suh" "Wuh-wuh-tuh-say" - Folks from around the world on the Harley-Davidson tour, attempting to pronounce "Wauwatosa" The Harley-Davidson plant that existed on 124th Street...

That time I went to a real ‘Blade’ blood rave

Rob Wieland

June 22, 2022

Blade has one of the best opening action sequences of all time. (Chances are, if you've seen the movie, "Confusion" by New Order is already playing in your head.) It introduces the daywalker wordlessly. It sets...

Where to play D&D in MKE

Rob Wieland

June 21, 2022

As is the custom of this weird-ass place called the internet, Milwaukee Record is required by law to mention the latest season of Stranger Things. (It's back! In pog form!) What does this have to do with local ...

7 things we want to see in the upcoming Weird Al biopic

Rob Wieland

May 21, 2022

broadstreet.zone(72091); Welcome to Milwaukee Record's Weird Al Week, sponsored by Lakefront Brewery! Want daily Al-related articles culminating in a recap of Al's May 24 show at the Marcus Performing Arts Cen...

The Glass Cannon brings live action role-playing (but not LARP) to Turner Hall

Rob Wieland

April 12, 2022

Dungeons & Dragons is having a moment. There are three main factors to this: a recent edition that's very accessible to new players, a boost into the pop culture consciousness thanks to being part of the St...

A B-movie icon brings his A-game for “An Evening with Bruce Campbell” at Pabst Theater

Rob Wieland

September 29, 2019

Who knew that a low-budget film trilogy featuring crawling severed hands, literal fountains of blood, a chainsaw montage, and a time travel finish would launch two of the longest-lived careers in Hollywood? The...

The 5 best Weird Al cameos in film and television history

Rob Wieland

July 22, 2019

broadstreet.zone(72091); Hey! Welcome to the second annual Weird Al Week! Over the course of seven days, Milwaukee Record will fill your feed with fresh, funny, and slightly fanatical Al-related materiel. It a...

Mystery Science Theater 3000 LIVE! was a great homecoming for Joel, a fine showcase for Jonah

Rob Wieland

November 16, 2018

Inevitably, when an influential band breaks up, its members gravitate back toward the thing that made the band famous. Thirty years have passed since Mystery Science Theater 3000 turned an activity once confine...

Bristol Renaissance Faire adds more cosplay to its 2018 lineup

Rob Wieland

July 5, 2018

For most Milwaukeeans, Summerfest marks the midpoint of summer in a frenzy of fireworks, free(ish) concerts, and memories that will hopefully sustain them through the next winter where February lasts for 15 yea...

Local romance author offers different kind of fantasy football with Milwaukee Dragons books

Rob Wieland

May 2, 2018

The last weekend of April featured a lot of big moments. Comic fans got to see a big messy crossover on the big screen. Winter finally decided to fuck off until September. And Packer fans got their heart rates ...

30th anniversary of Bristol Renaissance Faire offers games and thrones

Rob Wieland

July 6, 2017

For many folks in the Milwaukee area, summer doesn't begin with Summerfest or fireworks. It begins when they strap on a rapier, peel on some leather gloves, and hoist a giant turkey leg down at the Bristol Rena...

Midwinter Gaming Convention is coming

Rob Wieland

January 9, 2017

In the dead of winter, there are few precious lights in Milwaukee. The Bucks might be doing well, and the Packers are hopefully still in the playoffs. (They are and they are.) Snow has gone from holiday fun ti...

You’re a blizzard, Harry: MSO’s ‘Harry Potter’ show bravely plays on

Rob Wieland

December 19, 2016

Milwaukee has some great Christmas traditions. The Milwaukee Repertory Theater performs A Christmas Carol every year. The LED-decoration arms race of Candy Cane Lane makes WE Energies smile. Soulless automato...

Author Rob Wieland