The Corona Diaries Vol 29: And we've got to get ourselves back to the (Olbrich Bier)garden

Early August 2021

I wrote previously that I was saddened when the news came down that an old Prohibition era roadhouse here in Madison with ties to Chicago mobsters called The Wonder Bar was slated to be demolished to make way for an 18-story high rise. In a surprising turn of events, the Madison Plan Commission saved the building by denying permission to the developer. Considering that the owner was ready to sell and that the restaurant has been closed for months, I am not sure that it is out of the woods yet but at least it has been given a temporary reprieve.

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I saw this at the grocery store last week: sauerkraut in squeeze bottles from a company called Sauer Frau. I love the name and logo.

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A cousin of mine sent out an email last month with a link to a photo gallery of train stations from the days of yore. I was reminded of this missive a couple weeks ago when one of our local papers ran an article about the debate over where to build a train station should intercity passenger rail return to Madison.

The article quoted a local urban planner:

"If Madison aims high, and hires the best station architects available, then it can have a beautiful new civic icon," he said.

Our mayor wants to locate it on the north side in the former Oscar Mayer site which is in the early days of being transformed from a meat processing facility into something new that doesn't smell like hot dogs. Here's a rendering showing a train station in the lower center with a clock tower.

Personally, while I understand that transit can spur development and growth, this seems wrong to me. Transit's first job is to move people as best it can, not promote economic growth. This site is not close to downtown and is absent from all current BRT plans. Put the station where it serves passengers the best, not where you want to do a ribbon cutting in a few years. 

Of course, there's no guarantee we'll even need a station in the near future. But let us hope. Biden's infrastructure bill is working its way through the legislative process…

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Despite having been open since 2017 and being a mere 2 blocks from our house, the Frau and I had never been to the Olbrich Biergarten until a week or so ago. Located on the north shore of Lake Monona, it serves up beer, soda, pretzels, and mini-bratwurst in an idyllic setting. Well, it's idyllic when the lake doesn't smell of toxic algae slime.

I recall the controversy back in 2016 when it was first proposed. A bunch of neighborhood fuddy-duddies were against it and predicted nightly bacchanalian revelry with uncontrolled noise, drunkenness, debauchery, and mayhem. On our visit we saw mainly families and older folks. One couple brought their dog in a stroller which was funny. Bands of 21 year-olds looking to get sloshed and cause trouble on a Friday night were noticeably absent.

It seems that all of the doomsaying by the local Cassandras didn't come to pass, thankfully.

While the lake's odor held off, unfortunately, the 3 Sheeps pilsner they had on offer was not good. I double checked my tastebuds a couple days later by drinking a can of it and it was the same.

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Back in high school I read Kerouac's On the Road and Ginsberg's "Howl". It took me a while but I have finally read something by the final member of the Beat Generation holy triumvirate, William S. Burroughs. I don't know why it took me so long especially considering his brief resurgence of popularity while I was in college when he did a couple spoken word albums with the musicians Kurt Cobain and The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, respectively. It was the Beat Generation collaborating with Generation X.

While I enjoyed Burrough's writing style and his turns of phrase, I just couldn’t get into it. I was not far in when I realized I had no idea what was happening beyond a junkie was looking for his fix and before long there was an orgy and then people were being killed. I just went along for the ride, not worrying about plot. It seemed to be an impressionistic survey of the life of a junkie instead of a conventional piece of storytelling with a 3 act plot and the action being led forward by cause and effect.

After I finished reading the novel, I sought out a little more about the man and found that the radio show This American Life broadcasted a BBC Radio 4 documentary about Burroughs called "Burroughs at 100" and it can be found here. To say that the guy was a character is a vast understatement.

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Now that there's fresh, local sweetcorn to be had, I bought some at the stand just 5 or 6 blocks from us. I grilled it up fine and turned it into elote, a.k.a. – Mexican street corn. I mixed some mayo with crema (Mexican sour cream) and smeared it on liberally. Then a layer of cotija, a dry cheese that crumbles into small bits easily, followed by some chili powder, and finally plenty of lime juice. It accompanied some fresh kielbasa that was also grilled to perfection.

We also enjoyed some locally raised porcine goodness recently. I wanted to cook something German for dinner and so I stopped in at my local butcher who sliced a couple pork chops for me that were nice and thick. She even made the slits for stuffing it for me. On the menu was Gefüllte Schweinerippchen à la Holstein or Stuffed Pork Chops, Holstein style.

The stuffing included rum soaked raisins and, on the day I was to cook the chops, I got them soaking first thing. I mean it was 5 A.M. and I went to the liquor cabinet to find the rum even before turning on the coffeemaker. My morning routine normally starts with the Brewing of the Coffee followed by feeding the cats who are noisily petitioning me with meows for breakfast so you can imagine they were not happy and even a bit confused as to just what the human was up to. In addition to those raisins, the stuffing had apple slices sautéed in butter, some cinnamon sugar, and bread crumbs. The chops were braised with beer in the oven and I think they turned out pretty well.

Sadly, it looks like cooking German food, drinking German bier, and watching German films will have to suffice for a while since we are unable to make a trip over there.

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Bonus photo. I saw this on the back of a car on one of my bike rides. When they turn on the rear windshield wipers, Arnie flexes his muscles.