Every Friday, Off The Record looks to other Milwaukee publications (and beyond) for bits of news we missed throughout the week.
• Monopoly is one of those classic board games that is constantly being remade despite the fact that it’s, well, kind of lame. Strip away the Harry Potter, X-Men, Family Guy, M&Ms, Disney, World Of Warcraft, Coke, Pepsi, Halo, and/or Garbage Pail Kids rebrandings and you’re still stuck with endless, boring old Monopoly. Seriously: it’s a game so dull that every few years someone discovers a new rule, because no one on Earth has ever read the rules to Monopoly.
Which brings us to the recently unveiled “Here & Now” edition of Monopoly, an 80th anniversary edition that features U.S. cities (in the U.S. version, at least) in place of the game’s traditional properties. And hey! There’s Milwaukee in the mid-priced red section, one space past “Free Parking,” and sitting alongside Detroit and Boston! Neat! Oh, and we’re represented by two dudes wearing Cheeseheads and green-and-gold face paint watching a Packers game at…um…er…uh…maybe in someone’s backyard or something? Outside a bar? In the woods? Huh.
So yeah, let’s all get worked up about Monopoly mistaking Milwaukee for Green Bay and list some things that would better represent our city: the Milwaukee Art Museum, Miller Park, The Shops of Grand Avenue, the hot dog guy on the corner of Wisconsin and Water, the sunglasses guy outside the federal building, Summerfest, etc. Speaking of Summerfest…
• Love Summerfest? Hate the whole “physically going to Summerfest” part? You’re in luck: beginning this year, you can stream select Summerfest concerts in the comfort of your living room/bedroom/bathroom. The Journal Sentinel has more info. (Picnic table dancing, cigar smoke, and near-riots after an Imagine Dragons show not included.)
• Love food? Hate the whole “eating food without making an awful political statement” part? You’re in luck: a Chick-fil-A in Oak Creek is one step closer to becoming a reality. The Milwaukee Business Journal has more info.
• Norm Macdonald dropped by The Late Show With David Letterman and talked about Las Vegas, “gossipy small town whores,” and, of course, all the incredibly filthy and hilarious shit that comes out of Bob Uecker’s mouth. Oh, and feeding Mr. Belvedere fried mozzarella.
• With a new Bucks arena all but inevitable, it’s almost time to start thinking/worrying about what the damn thing will look like. The Journal Sentinel’s Mary Louise Schumacher gets a jump on the game by looking at the work of Populous, the Kansas City-based architecture firm hired to do the job.
• Milwaukee has one of the shortest average commutes of the country’s 30 largest cities, reports the Business Journal. The average Brew City worker spends 3 hours and 40 minutes sitting in a car each week, watching their lives slowly tick away while listening to Bob and Brian or whatever. New York drivers, by comparison, spend 6 hours and 18 minutes
• The Shepherd Express talked to Emily Walker-Miller and Sydney Walker, a mother and daughter who have both been involved in the long-running Rocky Horror Picture Show “shadow cast,” Sensual Daydreams.
• 88Nine Radio Milwaukee chatted with Bliss & Alice for its “88 Seconds” video feature.
• “Is Milwaukee becoming gentrified?” asks Urban Milwaukee. What’s the opposite of Betteridge’s law of headlines?
• The Business Journal has some info on the ongoing (and pricey) Milwaukee Art Museum renovation, which is scheduled to be completed in mid-November.
• Rio Turbo revealed the video for “Lip Service,” the first clip from its upcoming self-titled album.
• Urban Milwaukee’s Michael Horne took in the fixed-gear sights and sounds of the 14th Annual Milwaukee Messenger Invitational Alley Cat Bicycle Race, and has the pictures to prove it.
• Kevin Mueller put together a sweet winter playlist of local music for Milwaukee Magazine. Enjoy!