Author: Tad Kriofske Mainella

Report from the World Series: The vital importance of high-fiving total strangers

October 26, 2026

Strange days have found us. Your Milwaukee Brewers just hosted (and won) games 1 and 2 of the Freakin' World Series. The time for waking up continues to evade Brewers fans, because this is the ever-loving dream...

Hungry for the next sunset: The drone pilots of American Family Field

Tad Kriofske Mainella

October 2, 2026

Safe in the south harbor of Menomonee Valley reside trucks and tents connected to and from American Family Field by cords snaking from here to who knows where. It's three hours before Labor Day gametime and two...

Finding nirvana at a Brewers game, alone

Tad Kriofske Mainella

August 3, 2026

broadstreet.zone(191205); Summer is the best. Join Milwaukee Record and Wheel & Sprocket August 3-10 as we search the city and beyond for the Spirit Of Summer. Following a Mother's Day get-together with...

Michael Lisowski and Dan Fons of The Queer Program

Dodging death threats and outing senators: Remembering Milwaukee public access show ‘The Queer Program’

Tad Kriofske Mainella

June 2, 2026

In anticipation of PrideFest Milwaukee (June 4-6), here's a look back at groundbreaking LGBTQ+ public access television show The Queer Program (1992-2017). For more information on the history of LGBTQ+ televisi...

The Lemon Twigs at Turner Hall: I came for monkey rock opera but stayed for great guitars and harmony

Tad Kriofske Mainella

May 1, 2026

One comes to things in so many ways. One comes to The Lemon Twigs by having a friend loco enough to teach for 30 years with an open mind and ears, all three wide enough ajar for a rock opera about a couple adop...

I was an Election Inspector: 15 hours of nonstop democracy

Tad Kriofske Mainella

April 8, 2026

Someone who knows me well enough to suspect that my freewheeling lifestyle could (or should) accommodate direct civil service suggested that I apply to be an Election Inspector. Being susceptible to suggestions...

Milwaukee’s Satanic panic of 1988: The kids were alright

Tad Kriofske Mainella

February 25, 2026

Where was I in 1988? Anywhere but aware. In my fourteenth year on Planet Suburb, folded neatly between the Green Sheets of the afternoon Milwaukee Journal and the abstract piety of St. Alphonsus middle school, ...

I played in Milwaukee’s largest Tecmo Super Bowl tournament

Tad Kriofske Mainella

November 20, 2025

Of all the things I value most in life I see my memories And feel their warmth And know that they are good - "Spiral Architect" by Black Sabbath When “real” American football failed as a religion, Tecmo ...

The agony and the irony are killing me (and WLUM-FM 102.1)

Tad Kriofske Mainella

October 29, 2025

"One morning I showed up and Norm Macdonald was waiting at the door!" No, this isn't the beginning of a Lorne Michaels story or an outtake from Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend. This is an end-of-days true state...

I listened to my sister’s Milwaukee radio mixtape from 1988: “Good Songs on Lazer + QFM”

Tad Kriofske Mainella

July 15, 2025

The Excitement of a Song You May Only Hear Once Dig if you will a 1988 bedroom: Ratt's Out Of The Cellar album cover is taped to the closet door, a guinea pig rambles the shag red carpet, a phone cord snakes...

The (completely fictitious) origin story of the Brewers’ “Two-Fisted Slopper”

Tad Kriofske Mainella

May 7, 2025

The Milwaukee Brewers surged to great success in the late 1970s and early '80s, culminating with their first (and still only) pennant in 1982. Despite rostering several future Hall of Fame players, the Brewer s...

“Song To Woody” becomes “Song To Uecker”: A Q&A with Milwaukee’s “Weird Al of Baseball”

Tad Kriofske Mainella

March 24, 2025

Milwaukee is home to many characters in the world of sport. Mike "Freeway" McCarter is a legendary presence at MKE sporting events. Eddy J. Lemberger has crafted memorable tunes dedicated to the Green Bay Packe...

Ocean of tenderness: Watching the NFL playoffs on mute

Tad Kriofske Mainella

January 16, 2025

Now that the Packers have been eliminated from Super Bowl contention, it’s time to consider how one can best enjoy what’s left of the NFL playoffs. I propose watching all non-Packers playoff games with your mus...

Hey MPS: More Montessori, please

Tad Kriofske Mainella

October 9, 2024

The purpose of this opinion piece is to suggest that Montessori education is not only developmentally appropriate and effective for most children aged 3-14, but elements of its theory and practice can and SHOUL...

On The Run From RNC: Dispatches from Route 66, Day 5: A direction home?

Tad Kriofske Mainella

July 19, 2024

To our Milwaukee: I understand I left you in your week of need. Sure, you didn't need me gonzo-ing adjacent to the RNC, but you could've used Barry with a bullhorn downtown to drown out some of the nonsense wit...

On The Run From RNC: Dispatches from Route 66, Day 4: The road narrows

Tad Kriofske Mainella

July 18, 2024

Things are getting weirder than weird as the Republican National Convention invades Milwaukee, so two forlorn Milwaukeeans are choosing to follow Route 66 to remember, to recharge, and to take pilgrimage at the...

On The Run From RNC: Dispatches from Route 66, Day 3: Civil war and fictional podcasts

Tad Kriofske Mainella

July 17, 2024

Things are getting weirder than weird as the Republican National Convention invades Milwaukee, so two forlorn Milwaukeeans are choosing to follow Route 66 to remember, to recharge, and to take pilgrimage at the...

On The Run From RNC: Dispatches from Route 66, Day 2: Honest Abe and Mother Jones

Tad Kriofske Mainella

July 16, 2024

Things are getting weirder than weird as the Republican National Convention invades Milwaukee, so two forlorn Milwaukeeans are choosing to follow Route 66 to remember, to recharge, and to take pilgrimage at the...

On The Run From RNC: Dispatches from Route 66, Day 1: American giants

Tad Kriofske Mainella

July 15, 2024

Things are getting weirder than weird as the Republican National Convention invades Milwaukee, so two forlorn Milwaukeeans are choosing to follow Route 66 to remember, to recharge, and to take pilgrimage at the...

Author Tad Kriofske Mainella