Every Friday, Off The Record looks to other Milwaukee publications (and beyond) for bits of news we missed throughout the week.
• If someone tries to open a strip club in Downtown Milwaukee and OnMilwaukee‘s Dave Begel isn’t there to write about it, did it really happen? How about if that someone knows very well his or her application to open a strip club in Downtown Milwaukee will inevitably be denied, and is just looking to sue the city? Who knows, but Begel’s latest lascivious love letter to leotard-laden ladies and the leering lads who love them is a pretty fun read. Sketchy proprietors! Pasties! Meth labs! Lucrative lawsuits!
Here’s the story: Back in October, Slinger resident Boro Buzdum filed an application to open a strip club called 10 Exotic at 730 N. Old World Third Street. Buzdum’s brother, Rad, and his sister, Diane Collins, ran the business that formerly occupied the space, Rusty’s Old 50. Rusty’s—which was not a strip club—ran afoul of the law last year when police discovered, according to Begel, “dancers wearing pasties, bikini bottoms and high heels while dancing and using what are commonly called ‘stripper poles.'” Begel goes on to note that Buzdum has had plenty of run-ins with the law himself, and that an Oconomowoc apartment building owned by the Buzdum brothers was busted for being a meth lab in 2003. Got all that?
Now for the good part: It seems that Buzdum’s application may not, in fact, represent a lifelong dream of running a downtown strip club, but may instead be a vehicle for suing the city. Last year, Silk Exotic won a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the city after its attempts to open a downtown club were continually thwarted. (730 N. Old World Third Street was one of Silk’s many proposed locations.) Now, according to Begel, Buzdum believes it would be “better” if the city denied his application, and that “if they turn it down Tuesday, I’ll be in Federal Court on Wednesday to file a discrimination lawsuit against them. My lawyer will file the suit. They’ve already lost one of these suits before. For a million dollars.”
Oh, and according to BizTimes, the city totally turned it down on Tuesday. No news yet on that sweet, sweet lawsuit.
• January 1 marked the beginning of a new year (duh), but it also marked a new beginning for Riverwest Radio. The DIY radio station based in the window ledge of Riverwest Film & Video has been webcasting since 2011, but it’s now officially on the air as WXRW (104.1 FM). The Shepherd Express spoke to Station Manager Xav Leplae and Program Manager Martin Hallanger.
• Drink Wisconsinbly, a.k.a. “Wisconsin’s official unofficial lifestyle brand,” is prepping a bar and restaurant in Walker’s Point, said the Journal Sentinel. The business will occupy the building that formerly housed Blue Jacket, and is expected to open by the end of the month. No word yet on the Milwaukee Home bar, restaurant, and vape shop.
• Earlier this week, we premiered the new video for GGOOLLDD’s “Dance Through The Winter.” 88Nine Radio Milwaukee went behind the scenes on the blizzard-rific shoot.
• Urban Milwaukee‘s Bruce Murphy revisited Shorewood’s supposed anti-Semitic sculpture, and called Milwaukee Record‘s Matt Wild (that’s me) the “one voice of sanity” in the original bullshit dustup. The other takeaway from Murphy’s piece? The out-of-town attention-seeking doofus who started this whole ‘controversy,’ Matt Sweetwood, is a total troll.
• A new jazz club is slated to open in Downtown Milwaukee. According to the Milwaukee Business Journal, Chic Underground Lounge will cater to the “upscale business crowd,” and “will not play hip-hop music.” Okay then.
• According to the Journal Sentinel, Easy Tyger, a “global street food and small-plates restaurant-bar” is now open for business on Brady Street.
• In more Brady Street news, Shorewood destination Harry’s Bar & Grill is opening a second location on the iconic East Side street, replacing the vacant True Value Hardware. Harry’s East is expected to open in May. The Milwaukee Business Journal has more.
• The Milwaukee Business Journal peeked inside a fucking Downtown condo with its own fucking waterfall and its own fucking 11-person home theater. The fucking thing costs $2.8 million.
• The Shepherd Express spoke to Milwaukee musician Shonn Hinton, who has played guitar for the likes of Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z, John Legend, and others. His band, Shonn Hinton & Shotgun, just celebrated the release of a new album, Long Live Shotgun.
• Food truck, downtown cafe, and caterer Simmer has closed, said OnMilwaukee. The business opened in 2013 and specialized in soups, paninis, and salads.
• The Pfister Hotel announced the six finalists of its next artist in residency program. The Journal Sentinel‘s Mary Louise Schumacher has more.
• The original Sobelman’s Pub & Grill will be closed for a few weeks for renovation, said the Milwaukee Business Journal. The business, which is housed in a 127-year-old building on St. Paul Avenue, will reopen January 16.
• Evan Rytlewski at the Shepherd Express listened to the atmospheric debut single from JVLIAN, the new project of Zhivago mastermind Eduard Vocke.
• Luke Bryan will headline Summerfest on July 6 and we’re all terribly excited. Piet Levy at the Journal Sentinel has more. Happy weekend, Milwaukee!