The Corona Diaries Vol. 117 - Postlude: Holy crap, there's a marzipan museum!

(Don't forget to read entry #117.)

The Corona Diaries Vol. 117: Another Year Comes to a Close

(late December 2023)

You may recall from an entry or two ago that I had received a photograph from a friend of mine last month that depicted lefse being made. Well, December began with the promise of homemade Norwegian flatbread being fulfilled as he stopped by on the first of the month with a few sheets for us. Well, for me as my Frau is avoiding gluten these days.

If that wasn’t enough, the lefse was accompanied by a host of canned vegetables, sauces, and jams courtesy of his sister who, I was told, had "gone apeshit with the canning this year" and was perhaps going to parlay her food preservation skills and open a business. Wisconsin law was changed fairly recently allowing folks to sell home-canned foods without a license on a small scale.

There was pear jam and hot sauce; there was pickled watermelon rind, garlic, and peppers. If we had a pantry, it would have been stocked for the winter. I celebrated the bounty by whipping up a Virgin Mary garnished with the pickled garlic which was quite tasty and kept the vampires (and the Frau) away.

Living in Wisconsin, you know I had to also garnish the drink with cheese, finely aged cheddar, in this case.

The next day, the gang of turkeys that stalks the neighborhood traipsed through our backyard. They seemed appreciative that there was no snow as they pecked away at the ground.

On the following day, my Frau and I hit the road in the morning for Chicago. Our plan was to meet up with my mother and then head downtown. The drive was uneventful and we made good time as many faithful were at church and the Bears had a bye week allowing less faithful fans to go to church or just sleep in. We arrived at my mother’s place, put her in the car, and then drove down to the Jefferson Park El station where we caught the train.

Our first destination was the Christkindlmarket at Daley Plaza. The Blue Line’s Washington stop is at Daley Plaza, which was quite handy. Exiting the train, we made our way up to the street, and voila! We were at the market. As were hundreds and hundreds of other folks who were getting into the holiday spirit.

Truth be known, I should probably not be allowed at Christkindlmarkts as they have many – too many – opportunities for me to be led into temptation by all of the marzipan on offer. I am a sucker for those marzipan pigs, Glücksschwein. The line for the nearest sweets shop was out the door but I waited patiently as people slowly wended their way through the store. My mother and Frau remained outside as facing my inner marzipan demons was something that I alone could do.

Once inside, I eagerly scanned the shelves for the precious sweets amongst other cookies, candies, and a plethora of holiday themed trinkets. When parents weren't looking, I darted in front of small children to get a better look at the shelves and make sure they didn't attempt to get their grubby paws around the last of something I wanted.

I cannot recall when I became addicted to the luscious mix of sugar and ground almonds but I blame my German blood. The Germans love the stuff and view it with Teutonic seriousness. Hell, they even claim that it was invented in the German city of Lübeck. Marzipan made there is apparently recognized by the EU as a traditional regional specialty which I suppose makes Lübeck the Marzipan Capital of the World.

Due to our second destination, I wasn’t able to buy shopping bags full of the stuff and so I settled on this.

I love stollen. I love marzipan. These are two of the best foods ever invented. I just had to have them. And oh mama, were they good!

Having confronted my marzipan demons and lost, we headed to a stall and got some mulled cider. Further wandering found us in front of a stall selling paper stars that you could illuminate. Like a junkie to the needle, my Frau’s eyes grew wide and she stepped up to the counter determined to have one. Perhaps more specifically, have me buy her one. And so I did. It came nicely folded and fit in a purse just fine.

Show time neared so we left Daley Plaza for the Cadillac Palace Theatre where we were to see The Wiz. My Frau loves The Wizard of Oz in all, well, most of its incarnations. She has very fond memories of watching The Wiz as a girl so this production was a must-see for her.

Our tickets were e-tickets and of course I found that I could not get to the website to retrieve them and neither could the Frau. And so I went to the box office head bowed in shame to plead my case. Paper tickets were issued and in we went. I don’t recall ever having been to the Cadillac Palace Theatre and found it to be a lovely old place.

The production was a hoot. I am not a big fan of musicals but even I couldn’t help but get into it and sing along to "Ease On Down the Road". My mother enjoyed it too and my Frau, of course, loved it. The music and performances were wonderful and it was also just a big, colorful, melodic spectacle.

********

As December wore on, the days got colder and shorter. A few decorations, including the star I bought at the Christkindlmarkt, went up. My newest holiday tradition is getting a stollen from Batch Bakehouse here in Madison. A few days after placing my order I zipped over there and picked it up.

Although Batch does not lace their stollen with marzipan, their dough is light and fluffy and extremely tasty nonetheless.

********

One day an invitation to go out for dinner came from a friend of mine. I first met him back in the early 90’s when I landed a job at a cafeteria in a private dormitory. Eventually he would teach me how to cook after I had graduated from dishwasher to prep cook. He, my Frau, and I spent a dark, chilly evening at Toby’s Supper Club, tucked away on the far southeast side of town. The place was packed.

Oddly enough, it was my first time there. Or, if it wasn’t, it had been decades since the last time. After 20 minutes or so, we got a table in the no smoking section.

It’s been a couple decades now since we had genuine no smoking sections at restaurants. I suppose the sign must draw the attention of Millennials and Gen Zers who are incredulous that people were allowed to indulge their tobacco habits inside restaurants in the not too distant past.

Once seated, we were treated to an archetypal Wisconsin supper club experience. Beer, Old Fashioned cocktails, relish tray, and so on.

Since my friend and I no longer work or bowl together, we don’t see one another anywhere near as much as we used to. And so we all passed the time in good company chewing the fat and catching up.

********

It was the solstice on the following day so I celebrated by hiking Morton Forest, which I’ve written about previously.

Most of the trees were bare and there was a definite chill in the air but, fortunately, it wasn’t particularly windy. Walking through scattered copses of evergreens, I could smell their brisk scents.

Much of nature had closed up shop for the season as these withered berries (wild grapes?) attest to. 

I ran into no other hikers on the trails and I can certainly understand folks not wanting to walk them in the cold or to spend time amongst the leafless trees.

There was an occasional squirrel or bird, but the place was fairly still and quiet except for the crunching of leaves beneath my feet.

But I still need to be out in the forests, leaves or not. While the scenes had a sense of death, of ending, walking them now will make traipsing the trails come the spring even more sweet as life in the woods is renewed.

********

I rounded out the day by heading down to Olbrich Park for the annual winter solstice bonfire held by a local neighborhood association.

From a distance I could see the flames roaring and hordes of people milling about as the rhythm of a drum circle grew louder as I drew nearer.

The primal soundtrack was perfect for doing what human beings have been doing for thousands of years: staring at a fire and taking comfort in its warmth.

The same group does a summer solstice bonfire and these events are really nice with families aplenty in attendance. They aren’t commercialized with vendors everywhere hawking their wares or with lots of other activities going on. Instead they’re all about socializing with your neighbors and enjoying the decidedly offline and fairly simple pleasure of a bonfire.

The local news outlets came down and I was caught on camera. My boss spied me on the nightly news.

********

Bonus photo. Back in June 1977, Elvis was on what would prove to be his final tour and he played here in Madison on the 24th. On his way into town, his limo drove by a fight at the intersection of Highway 51 and East Washington. Elvis had the driver pull over and he leapt out to break up the fight. Here’s the marker.

 

 

(Now watch the astonishing postlude!)

The Corona Diaries Vol. 117 - Prelude: Point the way to better days

 

 

(Now read #117.)

Biały Filip: Koźlak by Giant Jones Brewing Co.

After seeing Black Philip on a can of hard apple cider leading us into dark temptation, we now have a label featuring a white goat snuggling contentedly with a young Polish gal beckoning us into inter-species conviviality. This comes courtesy of Giant Jones Brewing here in Madison.

The beer is called Koźlak and it conjures in my mind images of a detective, likely because it is close to Kolchak and Kojak. While "Koźlak" may look mysterious with its exotic diacritical mark, it is, as I have just discovered, a rather mundane word and simply means bock. Giant Jones calls it a Polish-style bock as it was brewed with Marynka hops.

I don't know if Polish brewers actually brew their bocks with Marynka hops or not. Since Giant Jones' brews are organic, this variety must be fairly common, at least in Poland, if there's an organic version. My knowledge of Polish hops extends no further than Lublin/Lubelska.

My assumption here is that, since my bottle was filled back in April, that this was meant to be a spring bock. I am not sure how long it was lagered but it sat around for 6+ months after bottling. Hopefully it was taken good care of during this time.

My pour produced a rather nice loose, tan head but it went away quickly and I fumbled with my camera so I wasn't able to get a decent photo of it. And, as you can see, I wasn't able to get a decent photograph of even just a tad of foam. The brew was a lovely amber color, which seems only fitting for a Polish beer, and was quite clear allowing me to spy a goodly number of bubbles inside. My initial sniff caught caramel and a fruitiness that I can best describe as a generic berry scent - something akin to Boo Berry cereal. My mind may have caught this latter smell because there was a box of that very cereal atop the refrigerator when I pulled the bottle out. Beneath all that was a hint of lemon and a dash of hay. That green aroma grew as the beer warmed.

Seeing all of those bubbles made me think my mouth was in for some nice fizz and indeed it was. Good thing too as the body was medium-heavy. I was surprised that it wasn't very sweet, though caramel and stone fruit were prominent flavors. The hops added something herbal. On the swallow, those malty flavors faded allowing a moderately potent hoppiness to emerge. Marynka must be a bittering hop as the finish was quite brisk with hefty doses of both bitterness and dryness.

Koźlak was a fine brew. Those hops surely added the lemon and hay scents, which I really liked, and their bitterness made for a very nice contrast to the big malt flavors. I am left to wonder what this beer tasted like fresh. As it was, Koźlak's 7.9% A.B.V. left me feeling nice'n'warm on a chilly fall evening. Maybe I can try it again next spring.

Junk food pairing: Pair your Koźlak with a bag of potato chips. I find that Jays Hot Stuff with its bold paprika heat stands up to the big bock.  Plus Old Dutch Dill Pickle chips provide a nice contrast to the mega-maltiness.

Madison Metro Transit Adventures

On a bus ride home some night last week, I stepped aboard and found that the driver had decided on mood lighting.

After a short time, he turned the lights on and I was able to get some reading in. They remained so until towards the end of my ride when they curiously went dark again. Luckily it seemed that the passengers were young and had eyes that could work well enough in the Stygian gloom.

On another ride last week, a C bus broke down at University and Lake. Patiently we waited for a replacement. It eventually came but, instead of picking up where he had left off, the driver sped up E. Johnson. We passengers looked at one another in confusion. The driver turned down Ingersoll and took us to the bus barn at E. Washington where we waited even longer.

Although our patience was strained, we sat there quietly. For my part, I got some more reading done. After too long what we thought was an eastbound bus finally departed. But it only went a few blocks and dropped us off at Jenifer & Ingersoll and then went west. An eastbound C came after about 10 minutes and we were all on our way. But we were absolutely flummoxed as to why the eastbound bus had abandoned its route.

The lesson here is to catch a D bus, if possible, when your C bus is crippled.

Wouldst thou like to drink deliciously?

Something to quaff while you watch The Witch.

My daily dose of apple cinnamon vinegar

Last summer I sampled Bragg's lime citrus drinking vinegar and now, a bit over a year later, here I am drinking what I presume to be their autumn seasonal, Apple Cinnamon.

What we have here is a fairly simple drink that is largely water, apple cider vinegar, and apple juice. There is also cinnamon and "natural flavor" of unknown origin and taste. Plus some stevia. You'd think that you could balance the sweetness between vinegar and juice without added sweetener but I am no food scientist. And what is the "natural flavor" doing in this drink? Is it apple flavoring? Something to boost the cinnamon taste? I still don't know what "prebiotic" means.

The stuff is very pretty with its light yellow hue and just a touch of haze. It smelled just as you'd expect with healthy doses of apple and cinnamon with a little vinegar tang in the background. It tasted much the same way with the spice leading the way. I really liked how the vinegar taste built to a tangy climax on the finish as the fruit and spice flavors faded.

It was indeed refreshing just as the label promised and was full of fall flavors. Good squishie.

Put this Polish music in your ear holes

Some performances by fine Polish performers are coming to Madison.

Coming Soon 23 November 2024

I went to see Conclave over the weekend and enjoyed it quite a bit. To my mind, it's a humanist tale and I cannot get all of those shots of hands out of my head. Maybe I'll write more about it later.

Here are the trailers:

The final trailer was for Last Breath, directed by Alex Parkinson and starring Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu and Finn Cole. I cannot find the trailer on Youtube.

Coming Soon: On Becoming A Guinea Fowl

Those of us at UW Cinematheque last night for the screening of Dahomey got a taste of next semester's schedule as they showed a trailer for On Becoming a Guinea Fowl. It's ostensibly a Zambian movie, but it's a co-production with the U.S. & U.K. Looks to be a drama/dark comedy.

And then, hey, Presto!

It was on this day in 1989 that Rush released Presto. This was about 2 years after I had taken the plunge into their catalogue. Not as strong as 1987's Hold Your Fire, in my humble opinion, it nonetheless has some great songs.

My first Rush show was on 17 June 1990 on the Presto tour at Alpine Valley and they played 2 of the best songs from the album, "The Pass" and "War Paint". Here's that concert.

A Salt & Vinegar Miscellany XVI - Ecce cashew!

Last week I wrote in black distress that I hadn't seen Planters Salt & Vinegar cashews for some time and feared that they had been discontinued. Much to my delight they were back on the shelf at my local supermarket last weekend. Now that I think about it, I should have bought more than one bag as who knows how long before they go missing again?

I tried to find out how many varieties of cashews there are and all I could come up with was one. Many different grades of cashews but I found no evidence of multiple varieties. Perhaps I need to hit up some hardcore botany sites.

On the other hand, I learned that the cashew originated somewhere in the Amazon region, although it has since spread, and that it looks like this when still attached to a tree:

The nuts hang from this apple fruit bit. The apples can be used for cooking or made into vinegar or booze, presumably. Cashews are cousins of poison ivy and the shells around the nuts are poisonous. Picking and processing these things must be a pain.

Eating them, however, is painless.

These puppies were rather lightly seasoned. If you pop just 1 or 2 in your mouth, you get that luscious sweet-fatty taste of the cashew and a lingering sense that something is different. I didn't taste much more saltiness but you do get a hint of vinegar tang. It was only when I put several in my mouth at once did my tongue get something approaching a healthy dose of acetic acid.

I suppose Planters has a fine line to tread here. When appealing to a broad audience, one nut shouldn't be super-sour tasting and, since many people eat several at once - something approaching a handful - that approach shouldn't be deadly.

As someone who loves vinegar, I found these cashews to be on the mild side. Having said that, they were plenty tasty. When I needed something more potent, I ate about half a dozen at once to get that tanginess level up to where I like it.

They'll stone you when you're lying on the couch

Piper played with a catnip toy last night.

As she chewed on it, I could smell the pungent aroma. I think she got rather high as she didn't mind the toy lying on her side as she relaxed.

First snow

We got a dusting of snow last night - our first of the season.

It's either snowing out now or it's very windy.

I must get the shovels and other winter accoutrements out of the shed.

Slaar? Is it you?

Have you seen the poster for the movie Dahomey? It's a documentary about the repatriation of artwork to Benin from France. And it screens tonight at UW Cinematheque!

Does anyone else see the Ice Warrior commander Slaar from behind?

The helmet, the color, the jaw-like hand.

I look forward to seeing the front of that statue tonight.

The Lamb deluxe

News is out that Genesis' opus The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is getting the super deluxe 50th anniversary (which was earlier this week) treatment with a massive box set out in March. A remastering will surely make it sound wonderful, assuming it isn't compressed to the gills, and an Atmos remix is a glorious proposition.

A live version of it is included but it's the same show that was included in 1998's Genesis Archive 1967–75 and that had contemporary overdubs which need to go away. At least the encores will be included this time.

And there is a trio of demos to be had as well on a "download card" - not sure what that is. There are hours of demos/rehearsals from the Headley Grange sessions that produced the album out in trading circles. Highlights for me are a 12 minute version of "Fly On a Windshield" and 23 minutes of the band working on "The Waiting Room". Plus there are various instrumentals whose music was never utilized and so on.

I am waiting on more specifics before making the decision to buy or not.

The Lamb turns 50!

And it was only 11 when I first heard it. Tempus fugit. But it has aged well. Still a classic.

The closest The Lamb tour got to Wisconsin was Chicago with shows there bookending the U.S. leg. Recordings from the first couple on 20-21 November 1974 have never surfaced, to my knowledge, but we have audio and a bit of video from the 4 February 1975 show. This is 8mm film footage with synched audio.

And this is most of the show audio only.

A Salt & Vinegar Miscellany XV - A leap into the gluten-free

My wife has renounced gluten so I spend time in the gluten-free aisles at grocery stores and have come to know which pizzerias offer a crust sans gluten for those times when a DiGiorno GF pizza pie just won't cut it for her.

While the gluten-free food industry has gotten much larger and offers a rather wide array of foods that would have been a dream not that long ago, it is woefully behind on salt & vinegar snacks as this is the first I've encountered. Milton's was unknown to me before I spotted them in Woodman's gluten-free aisle. They are out of California and offer many products without gluten but not exclusively.

Ridding these crackers of wheat, we instead get a whole panoply of flours including rice, corn, and millet along with potato starch. Since my wife dropped the habit, I've eaten various GF foods and I have to say they have been very tasty so I am not predisposed to look askance at crackers without wheat. Let's check these puppies out.

Milton's deviated from the norm here as the crackers are hexagons. They were nicely browned around the edges with some have brown spots closer to the center as well. Fairly thin, they're light as well as crunchy.

The chips taste mostly like rice with little of the sweetness I associate with wheat or even corn. The salt level was indistinguishable from a normal dose for a cracker. The vinegar was barely there, sadly, and you have to eat a lot of them for your tongue to register any acidic goodness. I guess it's no surprise as these ingredients come under the "Contains 2% or less of:" heading.

While these crackers taste fine, they barely register on the Vintner's Scale. I've been eating them with dips and salsa.

East side strategic sandwich reserves being depleted

Sandwich lovers on Madison's east side have suffered a lot of bad news recently.

News came down this summer that Alimentari would be opening a second location out west on Monroe Street. Well, now we learn that the east side location on Brearly is going away.

And now we learn that Stalzy's Deli is closing its restaurant.

In the statement, Stalzy's said, "We will continue to operate in a retail capacity and look forward to still providing our neighborhood with all of our staples. Look for us in fresh new spaces, both in our deli, and in our community." It's unclear whether the deli will continue to sell sandwiches and other items off the restaurant menu.

It's been a while since I've eaten at Stalzy's but I will miss the opportunity to stop in for a Reuben.

Now I am having flashbacks of eating at Ella's Deli and What's Cooking in Chicago.

R.I.P. Pete Sinfield

Pete Sinfield was a man of many hats. He was King Crimson's OG roadie, wrote lyrics for them, produced albums, did lighting, got album covers painted, et al. I also know him as someone who wrote lyrics with Greg Lake, worked with Roxy Music, and made one solo album. A prog legend and he passed away yesterday.

Here's a sampling of his work.

A Salt & Vinegar Miscellany XIV - Carassius auratus

Sing the subtitle like Yes!

After having filled my basket with salt & vinegar peanuts, I traipsed down the snack aisle on my most recent shopping trip and ran across the latest snack to catch my interest: Salt & Vinegar Goldfish Crisps.

While familiar with Goldfish crackers, the Crisps variety were new to me. They were salt & vinegar so I put them in my basket regardless of what this whole Crisps class of crackers was.

The bag says "LIGHT & AIRY" and indeed they are. The fishes are hollow and their shells are almost tissue paper thin. It's like they're the croissant of the snack world.

I threw a few into my maw and began chewing. It wasn't long before I noticed that these weren't simply diet Goldfish crackers. They tasted differently from the familiar snack that I grew up eating so I looked at the ingredient list. It turns out they're a junk food chimera - a potato chip-cracker hybrid. Potatoes are the first ingredient although there's also wheat. That explained the earthier taste.

Just because they don't taste like the crackers doesn't mean they were bad. On the contrary, the potatoes ably lent their earthy sweetness while I tasted more salt - nothing to get your blood pressure to spike, just a little extra saltiness. While not the tangiest s&v snack ever, there was a decent vinegar flavor to them, much more than the peanuts that lived just down the aisle. After eating, oh, say, a quarter cup, my tongue felt the tang and had a pleasing, if fairly mild, numbness.

All in all, a very fine snack.

A Salt & Vinegar Miscellany XIII - Mr. Peanut meet Mr. Acetic Acid

Several weeks back, I found myself perusing the new snack aisle my local Woodman's and came across a couple salt & vinegar treats from Planters - peanuts and cashews.

After wiping the drool from my goatee, I thought to myself that, not only would they be tasty, but also that they need to become part of my ongoing salt & vinegar saga. Then it occurred to me that I've had them before and that they've already been reviewed. I got home and queried my blog only to find that I, in fact, hadn't reviewed them. Yet.

For 2-3 weeks I bought both fully intending to review them but I instead just gobbled the precious down with not a care. And then a few weeks ago, I found that the cashews were unavailable and the part of the snack shelf where they once resided has been lamentably empty since. I don't know if this is because of a supply chain issue or if the product has been discontinued. (Forsooth!) But the peanuts have been there every shopping trip like an old friend. And now I have finally gotten around to a review.

Perhaps Planters should put something on the label about shaking the can well before opening because, while the nuts had a fine dust on them, they weren't very tangy. However, after eating my way to the bottom of the can, I found that a lot of the precious vinegar dust was just sitting there peanutless. Maybe peanuts just aren't very adhesive.

There wasn't an excess of salt here and the vinegar was very mild. A definite accent as the peanut flavor shown through. Tasty but not particularly tangy.

As I ate them, I thought about how I have pondered potato varieties in the past and how they taste when turned into a chip. Then I wondered about peanut varieties. Surely there is more than one. Indeed, the internet notes such.

What type does Planters use? According to this site, Runners are the most common in snacks. I might just have to seek out the different varieties and do some flavor comparisons.

The Crucible of Prog

When Crucible opened back in 2019, I was fully under the impression that it was place for DJs to spin EDM and for folks to get kinky, indulge their fetishes, and enjoy burlesque. And, while it is certainly a place for all that, it also hosts non-kinky music shows.

I first noticed this only last summer when I saw that Afroman was to play there. And then a few weeks ago I saw that Chicago noise rockers The Flying Luttenbachers were scheduled to play there this month. Sadly, I was unable to attend that show last weekend due to a Covid scare. But now I see that Crucible is highly progressive rock friendly.

Random Bandcamp browsing revealed that Boston proggers OK Goodnight played there last summer (with Atlanta's Challenger Deep and Wonderful Bluffer from Milwaukee who are not prog but sound good so far) and in 2022 the instrumental prog of Minneapolis' OVRFWRD graced the Crucible's stage.

It's really nice to see the much-maligned genre that I adore get some love here in Madison, especially newer/indie bands. I shall be keeping an eye on their schedule from now on.

I do think it's good redux

Someone has put a couple videos from the Beat concert at the Orpheum earlier this month that aren't the drum solo up at Youtube. Many thanks to PeacenikG.

Coming Soon. Ish.

I simply cannot get enough of The Lighthouse. I just love that film. And so of course my ass was planted in a seat at the IMAX on Wednesday night for a screening. The trailers:

The End. Joshua Oppenheimer goes from Herzogian documentary to a musical. Looking forward to this.

This looks to be a comedic take on The Wicker Man/English folk horror.

A new flick from Bong Joon Ho. Looks to be a grotesque dark comedy. Very dark.

Anything by Robert Eggers is a must-see.

Not my cup of tea.

I really liked the stylized text scrolls. Appears to be an epic drama.

New and winter brews

Lake Louie (nee Wisconsin Brewing Company) has a couple new brews:

It isn't clear to me if these are autumn seasonals or winter or who. I have a Dark Side of the Loon and am looking forward to sampling it.

Also, I want to say thanks to Lake Louie for making a change so that they now actually list their brews on tap at their website instead of lamely linking to a blatantly unhelpful Untappd.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Winter brews are trickling in. Capital's Winter Skål is available and Scottie at Vintage now has 30 Point Bock available over on the west side. Tiggy Toboggan cannot be far behind. I am not sure if Sprecher will release their Winter Brew or not. I wish New Glarus brewed Uff-Da bock every year. Regular bocks are a bit rare as it seems brewers prefer doppelbocks. Though New Glarus will have Cabin Fever out next month. I like it but prefer Back 40, if Uff-Da is unavailable.

I rather like Sam Adams' winter seasonals - I've had Winter Lager and Cold Snap. Ooh! Hofbräu has Winterzwickl and that sounds delicious. Not sure if any of it makes its way to these shores.

Too bad Lakefront no longer brews their Holiday Spice Lager. Well, they have a barrel-aged version but not your regular one.

Well, there will be plenty of good winter brews, I am sure. A Baltic porter here, a bock there.

Ugly progressive

It's been about a week since Donald Trump won the popular vote to become president once again. I didn't vote for the man and I believe that his call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking for him to "find 11,780 votes" and his attempt to intimidate the Georgia official by saying, "You know, that's a criminal offense. And you know, you can't let that happen. That's a big risk to you." should have disqualified Trump for running for president again, if not subjecting him to charges of treason. But such are our laws.

Just as the election season is done so too am I with the post mortems. If I never have to hear Rachel Maddow bloviate again it will be too soon. Sadly, the election has revealed that the ugliness which infects Madison progressives goes deeper than a trio of moviegoers.

Take Paul Fanlund, publisher of The Capital Times. In an opinion piece called "Face it, Donald Trump’s ‘cult’ is now an American majority", he writes:

The country today is on strong economic footing, whatever the distortions. That an overwhelming majority of Wisconsin voters did not understand or appreciate those facts represents the ultimate triumph of propaganda.

The very next day Isthmus noted "Times are tight at Madison food pantries".

This echoes what Fanlund's own paper noted earlier this year in a piece called "Dane County food pantries say demand surged to record highs":

I guess these area folks who don't have a lot of money left to buy food after paying rent are actually flush with cash from the booming economy and just don't understand or appreciate how pecunious they truly are because of propaganda. Perhaps it's how you slice it, which statistics you cite but there just seems to be a disconnect between the wonderful economy heralded by this well-heeled blowhard and a growing number of Wisconsonians who are in the bread line.

"Propaganda" from Appleton's Post-Crescent dated barely a month ago indicates that the same holds true in the northeastern part of Wisconsin.

What a bunch of fools! How can they not appreciate the great economy?!

Look! Even more victims of propaganda in Menominee County:

and the Coulee Region.

Later in his screed, the querulous Fanlund claims that all Trump voters are white.

Trump voters are willing to tell young women and people of color they should continue to know their place as second-class citizens.

Trump voters are willing to tell immigrants who — like their own northern European ancestors — are simply seeking the American dream, that that door is now closed.

These comments elide the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say, i.e. - the news that people without northern European ancestry voted in larger numbers for Trump than previously thought possible by the progressive clerisy. Trump made gains with Black and Hispanic voters in large part because of the economy. Support for Trump from Blacks here in Wisconsin soared dramatically.

Oh look! Latinos saying it was the economy.

And Native Americans also moved right. Here's a bit from "A Navajo perspective: why many of us support Trump over Harris":

But for Fanlund, there are no Trump voters of color and the Orange Man's lily-white supporters are all too stupid to see how great the economy is, their pocketbooks be damned. The Cap Times' grumbletonian just cannot even imagine that people unlike him might have different priorities, that their finances might not correspond to macroeconomic statistics in the ways he thinks they should.

"It's inconceivable!" he blurts out to no one in particular from the porch of his not inexpensive home, sounding like Vizzini but with the gentle humor leeched out in favor of red hot sanctimony. What a jagoff.

Being disgusted with such naked condescension, I have stopped contributing to the Cap Times.