The Oprah effect Will her latest pick push the Wisconsin Book Festival to new heights? David Medaris on Friday 10/10/2008 David Wroblewski spent the better part of a decade crafting The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. Everything since has happened very fast indeed. Published in June to critical acclaim and a lavish testimonial from Stephen King, the northern Wisconsin native's 576-page debut novel climbed The New York Times best-seller list. During a summer book-tour stop in Madison, he was invited to return for the 2008 Wisconsin Book Festival. Then, on Sept. 19, Oprah Winfrey picked The Story of Edgar Sawtelle as the latest title for her book club — calling it a great American novel comparable to the best of Steinbeck and Harper Lee. >More
NEWS
Borrow the money? A capital idea! County, city increasingly rely on credit to balance their budgets Vikki Kratz on Thursday 10/09/2008 Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk bills herself as a fiscal conservative who keeps property taxes low while maximizing services. But some members of the County Board say Falk is living beyond her means, borrowing money to pay for basic needs — and sending the county dangerously into debt. >MoreFitchburg uses interim zoning power to block man's plans Vikki Kratz on Thursday 10/09/2008 Rod Bruner has been trying to sell a five-acre parcel of land in the town of Madison for years. Now, he's finally found a buyer — and just in time. Bruner, who lives in a nursing home, is in ill health, and wants to leave something for his family. But the city of Fitchburg, which has an annexation agreement with the town of Madison, is trying to stop Bruner's deal. >More
MUSIC
Madison musicians seek the big time in New York Jessica Steinhoff on Friday 10/10/2008, (2) Recommendations There comes a time when young musicians consider making the leap to a larger venue. For some, it may be from Cafe Montmartre to the Majestic. For others, however, the destination is much larger: New York City and its promise of opportunity. >MoreLocksley ride clean-cut image to success Rich Albertoni on Friday 10/10/2008 The members of Locksley have gotten used to answering cheesy questions about their Wisconsin roots. In a recent interview with the New York-based music website earfarm.com they were asked: Do you remember the first time you went to a dairy farm on a field trip? How about the first time you shoveled so much snow you thought you would die? >MoreNick Lowe grows older gracefully Charles Hughes on Friday 10/10/2008 Nick Lowe is nervous about returning to Madison. He stopped in the city regularly during his brief run of pop stardom, when he hit the Top 20 with "Cruel to Be Kind," toured with the famed Rockpile and shepherded the career of a young Elvis Costello. But he has not visited in many years. >More
OPINION & COMMENTARY
Opinion
It's the newspapers' fault Don't blame the public for the print media's decline Frank Ingram on Thursday 10/09/2008 Recently, Isthmus news editor Bill Lueders appeared on Wisconsin Public Radio and before the Downtown Madison Rotary lamenting the decline of newspaper readership. He suggested that our newspapers are really quite good and those who complain about them are inventing reasons to justify their own laziness and lack of effort to stay informed. >More
Mr. Right
Mother-in-law's no joke How can I get her to stop acting like a child? Mr. Right on Thursday 10/09/2008 This is about my mother-in-law. The problem is that she acts like a child but refuses to be treated like one. She's 82 but still lives at home by herself. We've tried to get her to move into one of those assisted-living places, but she refuses. Unfortunately, she's not quite capable of taking care of herself. >More
Shopping
Atticus: Style rookies Katrin Madayag on Friday 10/10/2008 If fashion makes a statement, then downtown Madison's newest trendy talking point is Atticus, a clothing and accessories shop on the Capitol Square. Kristin Wild, a UW alum and former buyer for Twigs, opened Atticus in May. Atticus reflects a "downtown, edgy and comfortable" attitude. "The focus is on things that people can wear in Madison," Wild says. >More
Puppet Master and Mohawk Man Kanopy's After the Fall is a goth opera Susan Kepecs on Friday 10/10/2008 Last weekend in Overture's Promenade Hall, Kanopy Dance Company revived its Metallica piece, a highly stylized goth romance dance opera in two half-hour acts, currently titled After the Fall. Set to an eerily soft-edged rendering of Metallica tunes by Apocalyptica, a trio of classically trained Finns, this quirky work oozes nonlinear narrative à la Martha Graham, plus a Tim Burton sense of evil characterization. Frequent Kanopy collaborator David Quinn's brilliant costuming makes the fantasy seem real. >MoreSeeing the music Lar Lubovitch's company makes a rare appearance Susan Kepecs on Friday 10/10/2008 On my birthday in 1973, Lar Lubovitch's young company performed at the Wisconsin Union Theater. It was the first second-generation modern dance troupe I'd ever seen, and I remember being very excited. Lubovitch returned later that decade, but it's been years since he's been back to town. >MoreHollywood hell An L.A. socialite bottoms out in The Starter Wife Dean Robbins on Friday 10/10/2008 I panned The Starter Wife TV movie last year, which is hard to believe now that I've seen its new incarnation as a series (Friday, 8 p.m., USA). This time, the production strikes me as a masterpiece, an inside-Hollywood satire worthy of Entourage. All I can say is: My new medications must be working like a charm. >MoreRock Band 2, Pure Rock Band 2: Xbox 360 (due out Oct. 19 for PlayStation 3, Nov. 18 for Wii and PlayStation 2) Rated Teen, Pure: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Rated Everyone Doug Elfman on Friday 10/10/2008 If you like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, you'll totally dig Rock Band 2. The differences are mostly slight but important. >More
An American Carol: Comedic conservatism David Zucker's political spoof yields few yuks Kent Williams on Friday 10/10/2008 Does political humor have to align with your politics before you can find it funny? That's the question I kept asking myself while watching An American Carol, David Zucker's comic skewering of the American Left in general and Michael Moore in particular. Admittedly, I laughed only rarely, but was it because Zucker's taking his pot shots from the right side of the aisle or because the pot shots themselves, in a purely esthetic sense, were so lame? >MoreAppaloosa: Way out west Kent Williams on Friday 10/10/2008 Appaloosa has been made with such quiet authority that its charms may be lost on modern audiences, who expect a certain amount of commotion, no matter what the genre. Of course, Westerns have traditionally taken their time. They're like baseball games, as much about the in-between moments as they are about the major shoot-outs. >More
Doug's Soul Food Cafe serves heavenly country-fried Southern comfort Adam Powell on Friday 10/10/2008, (4) Recommendations When my mother was a little girl, her Alabama-bred mother used to cook up "a mess o' greens" on tough days. The recipe consisted of a slab of bacon, collard greens and turnip greens, all stewed up into a mass of nutritious and heavy gruel. >MorePart of the solution Organic holds on amid economic meltdown Marc Eisen on Friday 10/10/2008 Twice a month at Madison's Whole Foods store, marketing director Amanda Jahnke Bauer leads a tour of the grocery, pointing out ways shoppers can economize. Buy from the bulk aisles, purchase store-brand items, use coupons, she advises. >More
SPORTS & RECREATION
Down to the river to play Exploring state streams from Bad to Wolf David Medaris on Thursday 10/09/2008 Doris Green admits to some hesitation. A communications specialist for the UW-Madison School of Human Ecology, she's also the author of two previous volumes for local publisher Trails Books — guides to caves, mines and tunnels in and around Minnesota and Wisconsin — so Green was familiar with the rigors of researching and writing. But when managing editor Mark Knickelbine pitched the idea of a guide to Wisconsin's rivers, she couldn't say no. Green grew up on the Root River, and now lives in a log house overlooking the Wisconsin River. >More
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