Huh?

Someone found a need to graph the number of bars to the number of grocery stores across the U.S.

I'm not sure I understand the purpose of this measurement, since Froot Loops and "something to do on Saturday night" are completely different commodities. And in rural areas, it's not a big deal to make a weekly trip many miles, possibly to a different county *gasp* for provisions, but it's kind of a drag to drive an hour to hang out and have a beer. So a county without the population to support a grocery store has a bar? HORROR!

But it does confirm my suspicion that the reporters at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel who keep writing the "Wisconsin's unique (and shameful!!1!) drinking culture" tripe have never lived anywhere else.

This evening I am responsibly enjoying a single bottle of beer at home. I am doing nothing immoral, I am endangering no one, and I paid a buttload of state taxes for the privilege. Anhedonic fascists pretending to care about "health" as it relates to alcohol are cordially invited to go [verb] yourselves. Feel free to live a dry, joyless existence, as is your right, and stop interfering with my right to choose the opposite, mm-kay?

Wisconsin does not have a "unique" "drinking culture"

I've been critical here and elsewhere when people hyperventilate about how the "drinking culture" of Wisconsin is the worst in the world. As if no where else on Earth does anyone ever drink to excess at a bar or sporting event, or fail to learn the lesson after the first DUI. I know we all want to think we're special, but we're not. Spending any time at all outside of Wisconsin should clear that right up, unless you're spending it with practicing Mormons.

A 33-year-old college professor was arrested on drunken driving charges twice in the same night following separate traffic stops in the city, authorities said.

Madison? LaCrosse? Must be Platteville, right?

Utica.

The problem is not the culture of Wisconsin. The problem is stupid people. And they live everywhere.

Someone ask Cory Mason if he's ever heard of "Maryland"

Saw this today:

The plan would be funded with a 1% income tax increase on individuals making $1 million or more, which would generate about $145 million, bill sponsor state Rep. Cory Mason (D-Racine) said Tuesday. A bill pending in Congress would provide at least $135 million in matching funds, he said.

Leaving aside my general disgust that people in 49 other states are expected to pay for Wisconsin welfare programs (it's a corollary to my disgust that people in 49 other states paid for New York's cash-for-welfare-mothers scheme), a tax on millionaires? Is Madison a Parkers Brothers board game? Are you freaking kidding me?!

Maryland has already tried this, with predictable results:

One-third of the millionaires have disappeared from Maryland tax rolls. In 2008 roughly 3,000 million-dollar income tax returns were filed by the end of April. This year there were 2,000, which the state comptroller's office concedes is a "substantial decline." On those missing returns, the government collects 6.25% of nothing. Instead of the state coffers gaining the extra $106 million the politicians predicted, millionaires paid $100 million less in taxes than they did last year -- even at higher rates

.

I don't know if it's fair to expect a state legislator to be familiar with everything U.S. Supreme Court justices have written--I had to do a search on "laboratories of democracy" to learn the quote was Louis Brandeis*--but surely they should be at least vaguely aware of both the concept of federalism and of national headlines just a few months ago about how their idea failed spectacularly in another state. Especially if we mere migrant workers can keep up...


* "It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country."

I love Wisconsin.

If I had known there was a Cheese Championship with a Cheddar Lombardi, I would have taken a drive today.



It's like the Combine Demolition Derby--why can't I ever learn about these things before they happen?

I am too depressed to blog about politics.

So here are some pictures of Harrington Beach on Sunday.

This seems unnecessary

$1.125M federal funds to to add on to the Ice Age Trail.


I like the Ice Age Trail, but surely the people who find it important can throw their own money at it instead of expecting working stiffs around the country to provide it for them.

Yeah, I know.

I love Wisconsin.

No wonder California has such an inferiority complex. Manicured and facialed metrosexuals vs.
sturgeon-spearing nonagenarians named Aelred.

Betcha a Leinie's that's a family name.

What is WITH people?

Don't click if you don't want to see more dead animals.

And of course, if the asshole had fallen into the water, good people would have gone out to rescue him. I try not to think about that too much.

I can't comment.

The Madison Beer Review has some interesting comments on the Neo-Prohibition movement in Madison.

I'm increasingly incensed at the abuse heaped on beer drinkers by teetotaling busybodies, especially now that the state government is funding and sanctioning their activities. Go get a life of your own and get the hell out of mine.

Harrington Beach

Kinda alien-looking.

Beer...

Something to do to stave off post-election...whatever: I will be seeing the local documentary "99 bottles" at the Rosebud/Times Cinema next weekend. (While the name of the blog is the "Madison Beer Review" they seem to travel around the state.)

And I am shocked I was previously unaware of the Beer Mapping Project. I'm firing that one up the next time I go to München.

Washington Irving, call your office

Nothing in this photo shocks, offends, or surprises me; perhpas I've lived in Wisconsin too long.

Grazing toward the bright future of the motherland

Socialist realism is hot in art these days...

This is Antoinette, in Plymouth, just off SR 67.

Well, at least we got to see the Snoopy blimp.

When the Colts hire guys off the street to play defense, they should give 'em a copy of the rulebook. Good grief.

Other than the losing, I had a lot of fun at Lambeau (probably because the Colts sucked like a Hoover so all the drunks were happy instead of angry). Best pro football venue I've been to, I think (Arrowhead is a lot louder, but I've only seen BigXII games there). We felt very close to the action, and we weren't that close, really. And the cheese curds--OMG.

I will totally go back wearing green when they play some team I hate. Of course, it's six years until the FPats and four until Jax...maybe Baltimore.

Also, do not mix Weissbier and marshmallows.

And I could have done without the teenage boy on my left hurling invective at Peyton Manning until the six-year-old boy sitting in front of him wearing a Manning shirt began to cry. Yes, I know Packers fans pride themselves on their assholeness, but there should be an age limit.

OH: Everyone who was ripping Aaron Rodgers a new one in August should be ashamed of themselves. He looked good yesterday. Mind you, it's easy to look good against the Colts D...

What a difference a week makes

View from Parnell Tower 4 Oct 2008:



View from Parnell Tower 11 Oct 2008:



My parents were here this weekend; my mother vetoed the brewery tour so we spent yesterday driving around Kettle Moraine with a stop at Harrington Beach. Then we went to a big birthday dinner with my work friends, which went over surprisingly well (they did not come to post-dinner drinks at La Cage, heh). Today they're on their way back to western Iowa with a van full of New Glarus beers and fresh cheeses from the factory near Belgium WI.

Eskers and kettles and kames, oh my!

Bah. We were up by 20 when I got out of the car to spend some time in the woods.

Kettle Moraine State/National Forest/Scientific Reserve.



Tomorrow I expect a long afternoon of sitting on my couch listening to Bob Uecker and watching the Colts on TV and being totally unable to keep up with either game.

Saturday! Saturday! Saturday! Saturday...

Last spring I said, "This summer I will explore Wisconsin!" Then the price of gasoline--well, we've all been bitch-slapped by the Invisible Hand, no need to dwell on it. (Drill, baby, drill!)

So today I finally took off driving. After being pulled off the interstate by the siren song of "Quilts n Silks", where I engaged in a mutually beneficial transaction motivated by selfishness, greed, and cute cat fabric *hee hee*, I realized that despite all the times I've been to the quilt shop in Manitowoc, I've never been to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum across the street.

There weren't quite enough exhibits to keep me occupied while I waited for two groups of seasoned citizens on bus trips to go through the submarine before my tour was called (admittedly, I skipped the "children's activity" sections), but they sell cold root beer called "Torpedo Juice" and I carry a notebook for just these situations. The exhibits concentrated on the people involved in ship-building and fishing; could have gone further into details of how ships were made *nerd*. I also enjoyed "controlling the steam engine", although it was hard to miss the hydraulics that were moving the pistons in lieu of steam. And the models--like the antique cars, I had almost no idea what I was looking at, but I could appreciate the time and skill that went into crafting them.

The tour of the USS COBIA was excellent, and I recommend it for all short people interested in military history. Our tour guide was a retired Marine drill sargeant (I don't think "Listen up, people!" was in the original script :) and quite funny. Relayed lots of stories told to him by men who had been stations on submarines. Tour lasted about an hour, and by the end I was anxious to get topside and breathe some fresh air. I am in awe of everyone who served in "The Silent Service."


Afterwards, I noticed a lighthouse. Bit of a hike around the marina, but a nice, cool breeze. Nice day to be out--dogs, nuns, teenagers sucking face, old biker-looking dudes catching huge fish just feet from the shore. While I was out on the breakwater, there was a freighter! And it went into the harbor!

("So what?" you say. The biggest body of water near my hometown is a 98.5-acre fake lake stocked with crappies. Anything larger than a canoe fascinates me.)

The Michipicoten! I love the Internet! She's Canadian, no doubt delivering poutine or back bacon or liquored-up kickers.

And as usual, there is a set of pictures on Flickr.

Well. This is interesting.

Got a letter today from the State of Wisconsin claiming they don't have my birthdate on file because I registered to vote--"at the above address"--before 2003 when that information was not required.

While I appreciate a retroactive effort to verify I didn't sign up as a 10-year-old and vote illegally for five years...I registered to vote in 2006. At my polling location. I don't remember if they asked for my date of birth, but it was prominent on the government-issued ID (...an Iowa driver's license) that they asked to see.

And I couldn't possibly have registered to vote here at this address before 2003 because I was living in West Des Moines and, despite a summer of cat-sitting downtown in 1999, had no idea this address even existed.

I like that they're checking databases and whatnot, but if they have bad data for date of registration, what else is bad?

Way to go, Cedarburg!

Hrm, I wonder how I missed this in the local media* this weekend when I was trawling for pictures from the event.

CEDARBURG, Wisc. -- Hundreds of angry people in this small town outside Milwaukee taunted reporters and TV crews traveling with Sen. John McCain on Friday, chanting "Be fair!" and pointing fingers at a pack of journalists as they booed loudly.

Then there's this:

McCain leads Democrat Barack Obama by 50%-46% among registered voters, the Republican's biggest advantage since January and a turnaround from the USA TODAY poll taken just before the convention opened in St. Paul. Then, he lagged by 7 percentage points.

Dear talking empty heads on TV: You're assholes. Thanks!

* No, I don't.

Heh.

Did anyone else get a creepy OJ Simpson vibe from the live coverage of Favre's SUV driving through Green Bay, or is it just me?