SEE YOU ON THE RADIO

One annual road trip we enjoy is along the Mississippi River over to the quaint river town of Alma, WI, home of the WPR award winning Big River Radio Wave show. 

If you've never been to a 'live' taping, it's participatory as a mic hangs over the audience to capture a pre-practiced chant. Ours was a rowdy "Hey, Wisconsin"for the first show of the season with a rip roaring applause and a few unsolicited cheers. The same show is taped at 6 and repeated at 8. This variety show will be spliced for its airing and will be the lead in for the Prairie Home Companion. Pretty cool, huh?

Once again we were present for the taping of their July 4th week end broadcast. The stage was definitely more crowded as the show's band, Section 8, has grown to 10 members with a larger horn section. Mac Cherry's still the lead male vocalist. 

Also returning was comedian Tim Harmston from the Twin Cities.  There was no shortage of political material and the show's audience did not need any warming up to his humor. 

Dick Stahl who lives in Davenport, Iowa who served as the first poet laureate (01-03) of the Quad Cities shared some of his poetry from his new publication Bluffing inspired by his many hikes with his wife to many of the Mississippi bluff overlooks. 

Another guest on the show was Billy X Curmano, adventurer/artist who swam the length of the Mississippi to bring attention to pollution. He also spoke of poisoning water in fracking referring to the Dakotas and the pipeline's damage to the environment. In April he had an installation called Hidden & Collected Waters along with performances. As a vet he also uses his art to protest war with other Viet Nam vets. 

There are a lot of interesting folk to meet...

Remember, you too can be part of a live taping.  For $ 12/ticket you can have a great time  on the Big River Radio Show/ we can all just see each other on the radio. Check FB for their schedule.

Here's a link to a past blog entry:
2016 Big River Wave Radio

* Of course we made our stop for plants in Alma at 333 S. Main St. and my favorite Fiesta de Sol variety at Alma Garden Gate. Big clearance sale going on now for all you gardeners.

FOTO FRIDAY: CAUGHT RED HANDED

FOTO FRIDAY: The entire idea and fun of some senseless teenage pranks is to not get caught. These 2 culprits are much older and may have lost their touch because they got caught. 


Two of my four babysitting charges helped themselves to a roll of TP (toilet paper) from inside the house. 

As I drove up to their driveway there on the lawn was something white, a lone roll of toilet paper -

surrounding it was Tyson (alias Rat Boy) and Buster. As I asked what was going on, Buster put his head down in shame for being caught in the act.

Ratboy swears it was the cats Jasper and Felix who did this. 
Do you have any pics of catching someone in the act? 
If so, please do share.

One story came in with a wish there were critter cams back in the day when this couple had their first Shep, Edgar. While they were gone, he figured out how to get to a roast sitting way back on the stove top. Only remnants were left. They had not doubt who their culprit was:)

Last week's FOTO FRIDAY was:PILE LOAD OF...

COUPLE'S SHOWER...

'Tater Tot'  had quite a party this past weekend in the Atlanta suburb of Decatur  thanks to some wonderful friends and family...

The expectant couple

You know a lot of things have changed between generations and one of these is the addition of the Couple's Baby Shower. It's not just the girls getting together to celebrate the impending arrival of the new bouncing bundle of joy but has become a co-ed event. 

Family and friends travelled from California, D.C., Florida, New York, Tennessee, Texas and yours truly from Wisconsin to attend the event in Georgia. Not only did these Southern hosts do their garden party up big with a tent, enough seating for the 50+ to enjoy the amazing southern bar b que seated, it was even bigger than the wedding party they had thrown for my daughter and son-in-law less than two years ago. These are very generous friends. Perhaps now that many couples are marrying and having children later in life, it is a bigger deal.

It's great to have creative friends and you knew you had a full evening ahead as a welcome door of photos and list of games greeted the guests. 

Family members were given handmade name tags too.

Yes, of course, there were still games and prizes for guessing the correct number of baby pins,


stealing baby dolls if folks left theirs unattended, 
each guest could also decorate a piece of quilt which will be assembled into a baby quilt,

         bobbing for nipples, bottle nipples. Where are your minds? 

Personalized corn throw board  with diaper sand bags and a Plinko for 'chance'  guesses of the baby's arrival date hopefully not beyond that August 28th due date.


        
And a photo booth op 
for all the guests with  
pacifiers, rattles, yellow duck eye eyeglasses and signs as props.

Other special touches included
cupcakes with edible butterflies, a non edible diaper cake, gorgeous flowers on all the tables and a beautiful garden setting...




The bartender was kept plenty busy as the special drink requests kept coming for the "All Nighter," "Pacifier" and "Pretty in Pink" altho' big tubs of iced alcoholic and non were available too. There were 3 pregnant women that we know of present and they had choices too. There was something for everyone but...

Nobody could forget the reason we all were there was to celebrate the arrival of Tater Tot. She will be one lucky gal - not only with all her new gear but to have a lot of folks who care about her and her folks...

XOXO to all her friends for making this occasion so special! 

SUMMERTIME EATS

Eating lighter is what Cooking Light recipes are all about and make terrific summertime eats. This past weekend we enjoyed Summer Chicken Parmesan courtesy of the kids's Atlanta kitchen and it was definitely not too heavy for a warm June day in the South.

Here's what you'll need:

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 c  white whole-wheat flour (about 
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2/3 cup plain whole-wheat breadcrumbs
• 4 (4-oz.) chicken breast cutlets
• 1 t kosher salt, divided
• 1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
• 2 T olive oil, divided
• Cooking spray
• 3 oz part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 3/4 cup)
• 1 1/2 c chopped zucchini (about 1 medium)
• 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• Instructions:
• Preheat broiler. 
• In 3 separate shallow bowls put flour, egg and breadcrumbs.
• Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper to taste.
• Dredge chicken in flour; dip in egg, and dredge in breadcrumbs.
• Heat 1 1/2 t oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add chicken to fill pan; cook 1 minute on each side. Place on  baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with 1 1/2 t oil and remaining chicken.
• Place cheese on chicken.  Broil 1 1/2 minutes. Heat remaining oil in skillet. Add zucchini; sauté 1 minute. Add remaining 1/8 t salt, tomatoes, and garlic; sauté 4 minutes. Serve with chicken, and top with basil.
• 
  

SLOW DOWN, YOU MOVE TOO DANG FAST

I have lived in some very large cities (translated with traffic) but remember I now live in a Wisconsin rural area. Yesterday I had a reminder of what traffic really is. You see I am visiting the Atlanta area for a baby shower and the family is starting to arrive. We had what is normally a 45 minute ATL airport pickup that ended up lasting almost 3 1/2 hrs. We left the house about 1:30pm for a 2:15pm pickup but by the time we had the other future Grandma and her puppy on board en route home, the traffic app suggested taking another route due to an accident with an hour delay.

Unbeknownst to us and that app in that couple of minutes of being rerouted there was even a more devastating accident on the new highway route where we ended up sitting about 2 hours. The traffic map appeared red all over so Daughter Lori even called her hubby for an extra set of eyes to see where/if we could take an exit to circumvent some of the standstill. He might have exaggerated with the Holy Cow exclamation of 100 accidents across the city at that time, but you get the picture. The traffic was a hotbed mess.

Emergency vehicles one after another blared by us on the shoulder. Eventually our side of 4 highway lanes became one during that one mile backup. As we passed the accident our mouths dropped seeing the 3 cars , 2 smaller cars (one completely demolished and flattened) with a large SUV upside down on top of the 2, creating the letter T. There is no way most of those crash occupants could have walked away.

No, I didn't take a photo but wouldn't you know a rubbernecker on the other side of the highway ended up causing another accident?

It was truly a relief finally reaching an exit for a bathroom break and much needed DQ treats. By the time we returned to the highway we entered the twilight zone as we were like the only car on our side of the highway. Apparently in that small window of time exiting we had missed our highway side being closed for probably the car removal/otherwise we would have been sitting longer.

So y'all can make fun of where Natureman and I live but know our last traffic jam near the End of the Rainbow Valley was last Saturday when after taking our garbage to the dump and mistakenly choosing County Road K to go to town. I had reminded Natureman about the Vernon County Dairy Breakfast. "Aw, no, says he take it." Wouldn't you know we got stuck behind the Tractor Parade going up to the ridge? Gee, I think it slowed us down maybe 6 minutes.

I don't know how the Atlanta residents face their traffic mess all the time. All I can say is, "Folks, slow down, you move too dang fast. "

ARE YOU SURJ ing = SHOWING UP FOR RACIAL JUSTICE?

 This past week citations were issued to a local 16 yr old girl who participated with others belonging to a group called SURJ (Standing up for Social Justice) for leaving chalk messages on the riverfront sidewalks. 

The police stated the problem wasn't in the messages  of love, not hate which included sayings like "Love is not racist,"" You are welcome here," "Stand up for Muslims," "Black Lives Matter." You see chalk drawing is considered defacing property and the citations were to pay for the power cleaning and labor (which by the way was labelled 'washable' chalk.)  A park camera aided in the identification of this young citizen who just happens to be biracial.  

So yesterday at 4:30 was the court hearing where the accused would need to plea either guilty/ not guilty. A couple dozen people including myself from various ethnic/ religious groups showed up to show support for the 16 yr old (pictured here far left in the white blouse and sunglasses) before her hearing.

No one was in charge of this peaceful gathering and folks just waved to passerbys, holding their posters, not blocking the sidewalks in front of the Onalaska City Hall. 

Ironically if you take a look there across the street from City Hall on the sidewalks of the elementary school, what do you see? Wow, chalk drawings. Hmmm, in a public place.  Will these students and their teachers be fined?

 We know the issue is not the chalk drawings but something much more important and we all need to show up and stand up for what is right.

AS CLEAR AS GLASS...

La Crosse 2017, the free public arts program returns this weekend June 9th & 10th  Unfortunately, I won't be in town but if you are, put ARTSPIRE  on your list of things to do. You won't be disappointed.  Area visual, literary and performing arts will be both in the Arts District and Downtown. Cultural experiences for all ages. You can click on past blog entries below.

Today, meet Laurel Grey, one of the glass artists who will also have a booth again at ARTSPIRE this year. It was indeed a treat visiting her home studio where her fur babies keep her company while she hones her glass craft. 

Laurel attributes her interest in glass to her early years living in Japan as a military child. Obviously the intense glow of those hot ovens where the glass was fired in the glass district left a lifelong impression and imprint for a lifelong hobby and labor of love.

Originally I was introduced to Laurel's work at another artist's home show where I bought an engagement/wedding gift of Laurel's embellished wine glasses. Even the packaging had a special glass touch.  

Since then Laurel has continued to expand her glass techniques and knowledge through the internet, other glass artists's workshops and their experiences. And my, has her work transformed.

Below Laurel is removing a grouping of leaves from the kiln each has been hand painted with layers of paint before being baked. Now, each will need to be washed and polished before they will become part of one of the many projects for this summer's upcoming shows/custom orders.

An ongoing transformation with her leaves are called Falling Leaf Strands with interwoven silver beads from Bali. Sometimes you might even spot Lake Michigan finds such as beach glass/ driftwood/ stone with the strands varying in length. These would add a special touch to any window/wall. Each combination makes quite a statement.  

If you'd like something smaller there are also glass birds for your flower pots. Colored odd glass pieces were the inspiration for these bird/fish pot ornaments.  

The fusion of layers create an interesting multidimensional aspect. Laurel is playing with incorporating photography into some of her projects and the results are impressive.

This is the type of fly I'd rather have on my wall...

Laurel's use of copper adds interest whether as framing / a branch of a tree. 



And now she's even playing around with lighting for those stained glass panels... 




So go see for yourself. And as I always say, go support your local artists. 

*Check out Laurel Grey Glassworks on FaceBook.

Links to previous ARTSPIRE blog entries :

 ARTSPIRE2014

ARTSPIRE 2016