Bird electric scooters could be flocking back to Milwaukee

Remember those fancy Bird electric scooters that appeared all over Milwaukee? Then the city of Milwaukee told the company that these vehicles are illegal under state law and sued the company to remove them from the streets of the city. Well, it looks like the city and Bird have settled the lawsuit.

For fans who aren’t planning on attending a game, you might want to consider coming out to “Deer District” and watching the game with fellow Bucks fans on the plaza, in The Beer Garden and throughout the entertainment block. For every first round game, whether it be a home game or an away game, a 40-foot high TV will be brought out to the plaza, in addition to the massive outdoor TV that is already in The Beer Garden.

There will also be games, food, a DJ, shops, contests to win playoff tickets and more set up on the plaza. The festivities will begin 2 hours before each home game and 1 hour before each road game through the first round. Should the Bucks advance, there will likely be similar promotions throughout the duration of their playoff run which we all hope is lengthy (fingers crossed, knock on wood).

In addition to the promotions outside of Fiserv Forum, The Bucks are also encouraging Wisconsin students and schools to partake in “Fear The Deer Fridays.” To participate you can simply wear your favorite Bucks shirt, hat, hoodie or jersey to school or work or wherever it is you’re headed on Fridays during the playoffs. And if you don’t have any Bucks gear, now is a good time to get some. The Bucks Pro Shop is offering some special deals during the postseason. Anyone who spends $50 or more at the Bucks Pro Shop or at shop.bucks.com will get a free Bucks playoff car decal. And anyone who spends $75 or more will get a free Bucks playoff car flag.

And if you don’t want to deal with the heavy traffic around Fiserv Forum and would rather watch the game from a bit of a distance, The Bucks have a partnership with nearly 50 Wisconsin bars. These locations are known as “Official Milwaukee Bucks Bars” and will always have the game on TV for fans who want to grab a drink or a bite to eat before, after or during Bucks games. Special food and drink deals will vary depending on time and location.

Through stories about “Milwaukee’s Pacific Heritage,” “Holton Street from Both Sides,” “Milwaukee’s South Side Taverns,” a “Milwaukee Bus Ride” or “Mixed feelings at City Hall,” Kern hopes it’s an opportunity for people—inside and outside of Milwaukee—to get to know all aspects of this city better.

“There’s no shortage of attention that this city has or will be getting for the next few years, between sports, national conventions and humongous industrial projects,” Kern says.

The book shares residents’ perspectives on some of these national discussions, like a Greek basketball superstar in the making against an unlikely backdrop and a Sikh temple that moved on after one of America’s most notorious mass shootings.

But “Milwaukee doesn’t always get that national attention,” as Kern says. “Or when it does, it’s motorcycles, cheese curds and ‘Laverne & Shirley.’ It’s the same like three or four tropes that a lot of people lean on.”

“But we’re not one singular city or person or food or type of cheese curd—there are many different types of cheese curds,” he jokes.

Miller Park, Photo courtesy of Visit Milwaukee

Milwaukee Brat House will be hosting an opening day special event. Brat House and Jack’s American Pub are teaming up, as they have in years past, to celebrate the start of the Brewers season. Milwaukee Brat House will open at 7 a.m. and serve all inclusive tailgate special packages. Anyone interested is invited to meet at the Downtown Brat House, take the shuttle to the ballpark, enjoy the all inclusive tailgate experience, then go to the game and cheer on the Crew. The tailgate special includes all you can drink beer and liquor, all you can eat brats, burgers and hot dogs, a Milwaukee Brat House knit winter beanie, round trip shuttle transportation to and from The Brat House and music provided by DJ Buttersauce. Shuttles will leave the Brat House and head to Miller Park beginning at 9 a.m.

Who’s on Third and Oak Barrel Public House are also teaming up for an opening day special package offer. Check in starts at 8 a.m. at Oak Barrel Public House. Buses Depart for Miller Park at 9 a.m. Tickets are $55 and will include a shuttle to and from Miller Park leaving from Oak Barrel Public House, exclusive drink and shot specials at the bar as well as access to a special private full service bar at Miller Park. There will be burgers and hot dogs grilled on site at the tailgate party as well as games including beer pong, bags and flip cup, plus music from DJ Cloroxx.

Dingers Pub and McGillycuddys Bar are teaming up with Top Shelf Events to host their 13th annual Brewers Opening Day tailgate. For $50, you can get all you can drink beer, all you can drink liquor including $1 shots and Red Bull mixers, all you can eat brats, burgers, etc., beer pong, flip cup and other games, a reserved tailgate area at Miller Park and great local DJs. Buses will pick people up from Dingers Pub in West Allis. For this location, you must arrive no later than 9:15 a.m. to sign in and get your credentials (doors open at 6:00 a.m.). The bus leaves at 9:45 a.m. sharp. Buses will also pick people up from McGillycuddys Bar. For this pickup location, you must arrive no later than 9 a.m. to sign in and get your credentials (doors open at 8:30 a.m.). The bus leaves at 9:30 a.m. sharp. Tailgate guests will also receive drink specials all night after the Brewers game at Dingers Pub.

Brewski’s Sports Club will also feature game day food and drink specials. The bar opens at 8 a.m., and will offer buy one get one domestic tap and rail drink specials. Brewski’s will also offer shuttles to Miller Park, which will start heading over two hours before game time.

Go Brew Crew!

Photo courtesy of ComedySportz Milwaukee

The high school league

Comedy Sportz started in Milwaukee in 1984 and the high school league has been around since 1986. There are now 30 Comedy Sportz locations across the globe and matches are played in 24 cities.

Several prominent comedic writers and actors began their careers at a Comedy Sportz high school league. Once upon a time, Dan Harmon, creator of the NBC show “Community” and co-creator of “Rick and Morty,” played in the Comedy Sportz high school league. Other high school league alums include Rob Schraab, director of “Lego Movie 2,” as well as Todd Bishop who has directed over 400 episodes of “The Jimmy Kimmel Show,” and worked as a producer for “The Sarah Silverman Program.”

[Read more: Improv group keeps Milwaukee laughing for over 30 years]

The goal of the Comedy Sportz high school league is to give students an alternative creative outlet and to encourage all teens to come out of their shell and feel more comfortable. The organization also prides itself on teaching students skills that will help them on stage as well as in their day-to-day lives. And just like any other team sport, there are opportunities to step up, like to become a team captain.

“It gives students who have been here before the opportunity to be in a leadership position,” says Liv Shircel, a Comedy Sportz Milwaukee high school league coach and a player/referee.

But the captain also has the ability to strategize.

The game

Shircel says team captains have the responsibility of choosing which “game” will be played. So, they must keep certain things in mind like, “What are the strengths of my teammates, what are some of their weaknesses and how can we play the best match keeping those things in mind?”

Before the season begins, all students are required to participate in roughly eight weeks of training where coaches teach them various improv skills as well as dozens of the different “games” they will use in the matches. After training, students get involved in matches and tournaments.

One game students learn during training is called “Weekend at Bernie’s.” This begins with one team of three acting out a simple scene. After the scene is over, the crowd votes to eliminate one of the three team members. The team of three must then redo the same scene. But this time, the two players who remain must puppet the eliminated player’s body. The scene is played a third and final time with just one remaining team member acting as the puppeteer for both of the eliminated teammates. The final player must move the other players’ bodies and their mouths and speak for them.

The winner in this game is decided by the referee, while others are judged by the audience members.

“Blind Line” is a game where one team of three leaves the stadium and the other team prepares several notes for them. While asking for various quotes, characters and locations from the audience, the team jots down answers on pieces of paper. The papers are folded and dispersed across the stage. The other team then returns to the stadium and acts out a simple scene but must periodically pick up the notes from the stage floor and find smooth ways of incorporating the notes into the scene.

Notes could range from a simple song title like “It’s Not Easy Being Green,” to movie or TV quotes such as “Dad, it’s time to go home now. You have to wake up.” Regardless of the note, the player must read it aloud and relate it to the scene.

Like any sport, Comedy Sportz referees are instructed to call fouls as well. One foul is known as the “groaner foul.” This penalty is called anytime a player makes a “dad joke” that makes the crowd groan. Any player who is called for a groaner foul must stand at the front of the stage and apologize for insulting everyone’s senses of humor.

Another foul, known as the “brown bag foul,” can be called on any player who says anything that the referee deems to be “rude, crude, lewd or straight up out of context.” Players who commit a brown bag foul must wear a brown paper bag with eye holes over their head for the remainder of the match.

The future

Currently, all high school league matches are played on Saturdays at the Comedy Sportz stage on 1st St., but the goal is to expand it into the schools themselves.

“So right now they come to us. What we want to do is go to them,” Shircel says. “So the concept will be, the school will buy the Comedy Sportz rights to do the high school league, and then they can have practices whenever they want, they can have matches whenever they want, they can do concessions…”

The hope in expanding is to reach more students and offer this outlet to anyone who might be looking for it. Houston and Los Angeles have already adopted the new high school league format where schools buy the rights. Los Angeles is the most successful high school league city as they have over 75 schools involved.

“It’s something I wished was around in my hometown when I was growing up because I think it just fuels so much and teaches you skills,” Shircel says.

And after attending a match even I learned some new skills just from being in the audience. These high school matches are hilarious on so many different levels, and what Comedy Sportz is doing with the expansion of the high school league is unmatched.

Photo courtesy of Bloody Mary Fest

The Bloody Mary Liberation Party is a community of Bloody Mary lovers who put on festivals throughout the county dedicated to this savory cocktail. They curate the bars and restaurants that are making the best local Bloody Marys and bring them to you on one special day, under one roof to taste and enjoy with local artisanal food and beverage samples, music, expert judges and more.

Each festival goer gets to vote for their favorite and help crown the best bloody.

The ticket includes the best Bloody Marys, made by the finest bars, restaurants and bottled mixes in WI. Get them here.

The event welcomes all foodies, locavores, vegetarians, vegans, flexitarians and anyone who is interested in a plant-based lifestyle. While the event will be educational and will aim to show the impacts that dietary choices have on animals, personal health and the environment, there will also be several speeches and cooking demos throughout the course of the day.

At 11 a.m. the first speaker, Aaron Yarmel will talk about strategic vegan conversations. Yarmel’s talk will focus on showing others how to engage in better conversations about veganism in a variety of scenarios. In particular, Yarmel will talk about how to categorize and respond to every anti-vegan argument while building a genuine connection with whomever the argument stems from, instead of pushing them away.

Photo courtesy of MKE Vegan Expo

From 12 p.m. to 12:45 p.m Jennette Cable will give a talk on “compassionate action as a tenet of wellness,” and at 1 p.m. Mike Stura will talk about stories of animal rescue.

Later on at 2 p.m. Dr. Yami Cazorla-Lancaster will present and discuss how eating a plant-based diet can promote health, longevity and joy. She will also share ways to keep it simple, sustainable and enjoyable for life.

And at 3 p.m. Dr. Alex Sassani will present a brief overview of the research that has convinced thousands of medical doctors, pharmacists, nurses, and athletes to choose plant-based nutrition and lifestyle over SAD (Standard American Diet).

While these speakers are presenting, there will also be several cooking demos taking place throughout the day.

Caroline Carter will be showing how she makes one meal three different ways from 12:00 p.m. to 12:45 p.m.

And from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Amberlea Childs of Plant Joy will be demonstrating how to cook eggplant meatballs.

And finally around 3 p.m. things get a bit sweeter as Madeline Ruyle of Bunny’s Bites will teach those in attendance how to make chocolate espresso truffles.

There will also be a 30-minute yoga class for people of all experience levels from 4:15 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. The class will be taught by Alcy Sivyer of Everyday Bliss Yoga.

The event is free, but there is a suggested donation of $5 per person. Those who wish to attend must register here. Donations can be made online or at the door.

Photographs provided by the Larson Family

Jonah Larson

According to the press release, the book will include an introduction to the art of crocheting, a round-up of “Jonah’s Favorites” and the exclusive pattern for the first project Larson crocheted. Larson’ mother, Jennifer Larson will be the co-author of the book.  Milwaukee photographer Erin Harris will take the pictures for the book as well.

From the press release:

“Slated for Fall 2019, “Hello, Crochet Friends! Making Art, Being Mindful, and Giving Back: Do What Makes You Happy,” stitches together the inspiring story of Larson’s life, from his infancy in an Ethiopian orphanage to his adoption by the Larson’s; touching on his pre-crocheting early elementary years and ending with a celebration of all that crocheting has brought to his life today: a method for “calming his busy mind,” a tool for giving back, and a massive social media following that has led to sponsorship opportunities and a way for Larson to share his philosophy on life: do what makes you happy.”

Check out Larson’s Instagram, where you can see some of his amazing creations, which he sells for his business, Jonah’s Hands and donates some of the proceeds to the Ethiopian orphanage where he was adopted. Take a listen to the NPR story about Larson.