■ CONTENTS
■ WHAT TO DO
4 SNAPSHOT
TRUMPED
Local reporter braves the GOP spin room.
6-9 NEWS
MONEY PIT
GOP wasted time, resources chasing elusive mine.
10 TECH
IF THEY BUILD IT
PerBlue is one of the latest tenants to sign on to tech hub StartingBlock.
PAULIUS MUSTEIKIS 23 ART, 26, 28 FOOD
CHRIS LAY 28 FOOD CHRIS LAY was working at MadCity Music Exchange when a couple of guys from Graft came in to buy vinyl records for their new downtown tapas restaurant. Lay knew that Brasserie V also spun records, but he wasn’t ready to call it a trend until he learned that Gib’s Bar was playing records Sunday nights. A comedian, writer and collector of vinyl himself, Lay takes a look this week at the return of the turntable to local restaurants.
PAULIUS MUSTEIKIS’ photographs pop up in multiple articles this week. He took the photo of sculptor Erika Koivunen, the vinyl collection at Graft and the luscious-looking cocktail at Cento. His Isthmus cover photo of UW’s Kathy Cramer is now part of a time capsule the university buried in July beneath the floors of Bascom Hall.
17 COVER STORY
BARRY BALL
“Coach-for-life” Alvarez reflects on 25 years at the UW.
23 ART
THE ALCHEMIST
Welder Erika Koivunen transmutes base metal into art.
Rising star
25-31 FOOD & DRINK
STOP THE INSANITY
Why suffer at home when you can go out for Thanksgiving?
DINNER AT 33 1/3 RPM
Vinyl is infiltrating local restaurants and bars.
32 RECREATION
RUN FOR YOUR SUPPER
Turkey trots burn pre-feast calories.
Mon., Nov. 23, Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, 7:30 pm UW anthropology prof John Hawks, discoverer of Homo naledi as co-leader of the Rising Star Expedition, will discuss the project and the cave where the huge cache of hominin fossils was found.
35 MUSIC
NO, NO, NANOOK
Drop the puck! WTF!
Inuk throat singer Tanya Tagaq upends stereotypes.
Sun., Nov. 22, Kohl Center, 4:30-6:30 pm
36 STAGE
You’ve cheered on the hockey team from the stands, now here’s your chance to join them on the ice at Skate with the Badgers. (No tripping or slashing — leave your sticks at home, but bring your skates.)
FRENCH KISS
Madison Opera’s La Bohème tells of love and loss on the streets of Paris.
JOHN W. BARKER
38 SCREENS
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
36 STAGE
Claustrophic Room explores the ties that bind.
JOHN W. BARKER is another vinyl collector, amassing some 110,000 classical music records. A professor emeritus of the UWMadison history department and a passionate music lover, Barker has reviewed classical records since 1957 and classical music for Isthmus since about 1990. This week he raves about the Madison Opera’s performance of La Bohème.
50 EMPHASIS
RE-ANIMATOR
Taxidermists venture into new territory.
The best things in life are....free books
IN EVERY ISSUE
Happy Booksgiving! The family-owned bookstore chain promotes literacy by giving out books to each child who attends this special storytime.
12 MADISON MATRIX 12 WEEK IN REVIEW 14 THIS MODERN WORLD 15 FEEDBACK 15 OFF THE SQUARE
Sat., Nov. 21, Half Price Books (4250 East Towne Blvd.; 626 S. Whitney Way), 1 pm
40 ISTHMUS PICKS 52 CLASSIFIEDS 53 P.S. MUELLER 53 CROSSWORD 54 SAVAGE LOVE
Mad vendors unite Tues., Nov. 24, Madison Turners Hall, 3001 S. Stoughton Rd., 4-8 pm
Get a head start on your holiday shopping at the Dane Buy Local Holiday Expo. Gifts, decorations and wine will all be on hand — and your purchases support our local job creators.
PUBLISHER Jeff Haupt ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Craig Bartlett BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Mark Tauscher EDITOR Judith Davidoff NEWS EDITOR Joe Tarr ASSOCIATE EDITOR Michana Buchman FEATURES EDITOR Linda Falkenstein ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Catherine Capellaro MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Jon Kjarsgaard STAFF WRITER Allison Geyer CALENDAR EDITOR Bob Koch ART DIRECTOR Carolyn Fath STAFF ARTISTS David Michael Miller, Tommy Washbush CONTRIBUTORS John W. Barker, Dylan Brogan, Kenneth Burns, Dave Cieslewicz, Nathan J. Comp, Aaron R. Conklin,
ISTHMUS is published weekly by Red Card Media, 100 State Street, Suite 301, Madison, WI 53703 • Edit@isthmus.com • Phone (608) 251-5627 • Fax (608) 251-2165 Periodicals postage paid at Madison, WI (ISSN 1081-4043) • POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 100 State Street, Suite 301, Madison, WI 53703 • © 2015 Red Card Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
We are the 51% Sat., Nov. 21, & Sun., Nov. 22, Alliant Energy Center, 10 am-4 pm
In addition to the usual fashion and food, the Madison Women’s Expo offers presentations on office Pilates, self-defense and yoga, football tips from Antonio Freeman, poetry by Fabu, author talk with Michelle Wildgen and more.
FIND MORE ISTHMUS PICKS ON PAGE 40
NOVEMBER 19–25, 2015 ISTHMUS.COM
Ruth Conniff, André Darlington, Marc Eisen, Erik Gunn, Bob Jacobson, Seth Jovaag, Stu Levitan, Bill Lueders, Liz Merfeld, Andy Moore, Bruce Murphy, Kyle Nabilcy, Kate Newton, Jenny Peek, Michael Popke, Adam Powell, Katie Reiser, Jay Rath, Gwendolyn Rice, Dean Robbins, Robin Shepard, Sandy Tabachnick, Denise Thornton, Candice Wagener, Rosemary Zurlo-Cuva ADVERTISING PRODUCTION MANAGER Todd Hubler ADVERTISING MANAGER Chad Hopper ADVERTISING ASSISTANT Laura Miller ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES Lindsey Dieter, Peggy Elath, Amy Miller WEB ANALYST Jeri Casper CIRCULATION MANAGER Tom Dehlinger MARKETING DIRECTOR Chris Winterhack EVENT DIRECTORS Kathleen Andreoni, Courtney Lovas EVENT STAFF Sam Eifert EVENT INTERN Megan Muehlenbruch ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR Kathy A. Bailey OFFICE MANAGER Julie Butler SYSTEMS MANAGER Thom Jones ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Carla Dawkins
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