My most memorable concerts of 2008 in Madison and Milwaukee Shelby Lynne, Derek Trucks, The Guarneri Quartet, Sam Baker and Gurf Morlix, The Tender Land, and a little bandoneon Marc Eisen on Monday 01/05/2009 3:00 pm, (7) Recommendations It was a marvelous moment, yet another reason why I love live music. The pleasures are visceral, surprising and life affirming. It's why I headed for the concert hall and the clubs 50-plus times in 2008, culminating New Year's Eve at Uihlein Hall watching the Milwaukee Symphony and Chorus performing Beethoven's awe-inspiring 9th Symphony. >MorePBS's Antiques Roadshow to visit Madison in July Dean Robbins on Monday 01/05/2009 5:34 pm, (1) Recommendation We're all gonna be rich. The PBS series Antiques Roadshow is coming to Madison on July 11, so all we have to do is haul our old junk out of the attic, show it to the Roadshow appraisers, and find out how many thousands of dollars we can sell it for. >More
Holy redeemer After three decades in law enforcement, Jerry Hancock turns his focus to prison ministry Esty Dinur on Thursday 01/01/2009 Much of what the Rev. Jerry Hancock has to say about the criminal justice system sounds reasonable coming from a clergyman who heads a Madison-based prison ministry program. But when you consider that he's spent more than 30 years as a lawyer in this system, many of them as a prosecutor, his perspective is positively stunning. >MoreOrgan, harp and piano players are the orchestra's loners Sandy Tabachnick on Thursday 01/01/2009, (3) Recommendations A symphony orchestra is like a nesting doll. Under the orchestral umbrella are smaller sections -- strings, woodwind, brass and percussion -- and further divisions within those get smaller and smaller. Then come the loners, which have no like creatures around them: harp, piano and organ. Far from being antisocial, though, these instruments help their neighbors by adding depth and texture. Their pitch range is uniquely wide, so much so that they can support any instrument in the orchestra. >More
Dobra brings a leisurely approach to beautiful tea Linda Falkenstein on Thursday 01/01/2009, (3) Recommendations Kakuzo Okakura, author of The Book of Tea, writes that "The cult of tea is founded on the adoration of beautiful things among the sordid facts of everyday existence." That's a guiding philosophy for State Street's Dobra Tea, which opened in September, transforming the former Real Chili into a passable slice of what used to be called "The Orient" (i.e., "everything that is not the West"). Plush rugs and rattan chairs evoke India or the Middle East; couches and a few raised seating areas where footwear is left behind prompt visitors to settle in to a celebration of tea. Don't expect to run in for a quick cup to go. >MoreMadison beer makes for big smiles in 2008 A look at more than a dozen of the best local brews this year Robin Shepard on Tuesday 12/30/2008 12:00 pm, (19) Recommendations Another year has passed, and looking back at the beers released by breweries around Madison and further afield in Wisconsin can't help but encourage a smile. >More
My favorite video games of 2008 Madison developers and gaming continue to move forward in 2009 Zac Shipley on Sunday 01/04/2009 2:00 pm, (1) Comment, (14) Recommendations The last several years have been wonderful for gamers, setting a ridiculously high bar. Was last year up to the challenge? I initially jumped at the chance to rant and rave at the best and worst of electronic entertainment in 2008, but I'm far from an unbiased professional. >More
My favorite vinyl finds of 2008 The year in obsessive collecting Bob Koch on Saturday 01/03/2009 10:00 am, (7) Recommendations This year was feast or famine as far as tracking down vinyl. I seemed to either come home with a giant pile of random records to sift through, or not much of anything. Since I write in this space most weeks about LPs, here's a double album's worth of singles that stuck out! >MoreMadTracks -- 'Down On A Bender' by the .357 String Band Jessica Steinhoff on Friday 01/02/2009 12:00 pm, (6) Recommendations There are some regional differences that simply can't be denied, especially when it comes to how we deal with life's ups and downs. Californians have exercise, New Yorkers have therapy, and here in Wisconsin, we've got booze. >More
Wilmington on DVD: The best releases of 2008 Mike Wilmington on Friday 01/02/2009 4:00 pm, (1) Recommendation To everyone in Madison, a city I love and miss: Here are my top tens this year for both DVD singles and box sets. Here's hoping the next eight years will be better than the last -- and that the movies will help. >More
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