Birthday Dinner REAP celebrates a decade of food and politics while looking to the future Mary Bergin on Friday 09/19/2008, (1) Recommendation On a tranquil Saturday night this summer, 150 people -– some from as far away as Florida -– trekked nearly one mile up a country lane that passed by prairie grass and pasture, auburn cows and their pies. The purpose was dinner at the top of a hill that overlooked gentle valleys and a marshy pond, to which sandhill cranes flew as though on cue. >MoreThe main events What not to miss this season at Wisconsin Union Theater and Overture Center Susan Kepecs on Friday 09/19/2008, (3) Recommendations Here comes the 2008-2009 performing arts season at the Wisconsin Union Theater and the Overture Center, the city's top venues -- and I'm totally glued to the electoral soap opera. Can I skip the latest exploits of Sarah Barracuda for New Orleans funk or modern dance? Could I even afford to go? My habits of grocery shopping and driving a car are taking a bite out of my theater funds this year. >More
Opening night at inaugural Forward Music Fest a success April Williamson on Saturday 09/20/2008 4:17 pm, (3) Recommendations Opening night at the two-day Forward Music Festival on Friday was not without a few glitches. But I have to applaud the organizers of this event for pulling off such a large undertaking in a city that to bands and promoters can feel small and unwelcome to change. A multi-venue event like this must take an incredible amount of work, unselfishly put in out of a love for music and a desire to see Madison assert itself on the national music stage. >MoreWilmington on DVD: A small town epic Snow Angels, Max Ophuls, Aki Kaurismaki, and Speed Racer Mike Wilmington on Friday 09/19/2008 2:00 pm, (1) Recommendation Small towns are often romanticized and sentimentalized in the movies, turned into fantasies of good will and overly fond memories that sometimes make the consummately homey visions of painter Norman Rockwell look like the works of a cynical satirist. David Gordon Green's Snow Angels, however, takes the opposite course. It's nastier and more realistic, though, in the end, almost as poetic. >More
Righteous Kill: Masters at work Pacino and De Niro don't exactly rise to the occasion Kent Williams on Friday 09/19/2008, (2) Recommendations It could have been a dream match-up: Al Pacino and Robert De Niro strapping on the gloves and going 15 rounds, may the best man win. Who would win, Serpico or Travis Bickle? >More
Plaka Taverna's Telly Fatsis, owner Susan Kepecs on Friday 09/19/2008, (2) Recommendations A legendary old diner is reincarnated in August as Mad City boho chic — a gentle model of urban renewal that calls for celebration. Do it with dolmades, and a shot of ouzo. >More
The main events What not to miss this season at Wisconsin Union Theater and Overture Center Susan Kepecs on Friday 09/19/2008, (3) Recommendations Here comes the 2008-2009 performing arts season at the Wisconsin Union Theater and the Overture Center, the city's top venues -- and I'm totally glued to the electoral soap opera. Can I skip the latest exploits of Sarah Barracuda for New Orleans funk or modern dance? Could I even afford to go? My habits of grocery shopping and driving a car are taking a bite out of my theater funds this year. >More
Log in