Taking it to the streets

A Milwaukee-area Fox News photographer and avid road cyclist apparently experienced one car-swipe too many and decided to start filming the SOBs. I say good on him.

I'm a strong advocate for bike rights and safety, and firmly believe that everyone needs to be better educated about the rules regarding how to share the road. I also believe that we need stricter punishment for those, both drivers and cyclists, who break the rules. It puts people's lives in danger, and that should simply be unacceptable.

H/T EcoVelo.

Mistele, Blaska, wrong for Dane County

I've been busy with things other than blogging lately and feeling relatively uninspired to post anything--until good ol' Dave Blaska came along to save me. Thanks Dave! Your continued ignorance on matters of government and politics has cured my writer's block.

Blaska's newest screed over at The Daily Page has him playing a fairly tired tune: Kathleen Falk is history's greatest monster, Nancy Mistele will be our supervisorial savior, boo to funding for commuter rail and environmentally & economically friendly projects, etc. etc.

His fresh spin on this old refrain comes in the form of maligning the current move to provide state funding (mostly coming from its share of stimulus money) for two manure digesters. These machines help to remove phosphorous--that thing that so pollutes our lakes and makes them nearly impossible to swim in--from cow manure on area farms. In the process, they also use the bacteria on manure to create methane gas, which is then used to power generators and provide electricity.

Each digester also will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 12,000 tons each year and generate $900,000 a year in renewable energy...

Still, this is somehow a terrible idea to Blaska, who claims that Falk and co. should be focusing their attention on more "urgent priorities" and that the digesters are a "project better left to the farm co-ops." Because farm co-ops have buckets of money to spare, and because apparently the quality of our local watersheds and renewable energy aren't urgent enough priorities for Blaska.

I, for one, rather miss being able to swim in lakes. I'm also rather keen on passing on a planet to my children that's in better shape than how I found it. Guess that's the old Girl Scout in me talking again.

Blaska goes on to point to the current pothole-a-riffic situation on University Ave. as further proof of Falk's incompetence. He completely fails to mention the fact that Falk recently announced a major reconstruction project on that very road. But! Both he and Mistele would much rather see the county go forward with a far more invasive project: The North Mendota Beltway. Can we say boondoggle?

Instead of adding more space for more cars and more emissions and increased traffic and higher pavement pollution run-off rates, how about we actually invest in mass transit? It cuts down on all of the aforementioned problems, and benefits people with lower incomes who might not otherwise have a way to get around town.

Falk is by no means perfect. In fact, I've been calling her on the failings surrounding the 911 center and other things for some time. But Mistele? Definitely worse. And quite a bit of a one-note wonder (OK, two if you count the NMB idea) with her incessent "noun-verb-911-center" prattle.

We should absolutely work to hold Falk and those associated more accountable for incidents like what happened with the Zimmermann case. We should foster better future leaders. We should be able to focus our attention on multiple priorities at once (unlike Blaska and Mistele's insistence on one thing at a time, but only if it has everything to do with "public safety" and nothing to do with conservation, etc.).

We should not vote Nancy Mistele into office.


(with apologies for the terrible Photoshop at top)

Win tickets to see Alice Russell this Sunday

What is it with incredibly talented neo-soul singers and the UK these days? Something in the water? Whatever the case, fact is that several really impressive female voices have come out of the British Isles over the last decade, helping to spawn a revival of sorts for the kind of catchy doo-wop usually associated with the late 50s-60s.

Alice Russell is one such voice (one of the better, I'd say), and she's coming to the Majestic this Sunday. She's sung with groups like personal fav Massive Attack, as well as the Nextmen and Quantic Soul Orchestra, to name but a few. Now she's gone solo. If you're not already familiar with her work, head on over to her Myspace page and give a listen. It's good stuff, and if you dig it at all you should seriously consider coming out to the show.

I'll even sweeten the pot a little and offer a free pair of tickets to the first person to leave a comment with their full name and...well, let's see...a band name for some mythical super group they might form in another life. That should be fun. First person to do so will find their name +1 on the guest list for the gig on Sunday.

Details: Alice Russell at the Majestic Theatre, Sunday, March 15 @ 9:00p.m. All ages show, regular tickets are just $10 (and you can get them online here).

More:

• NPR profile and interview about Russell's new album, "Pot O' Gold."
• Review from Above the Fold.

Taking sexual assault more seriously

Last week, the Badger Herald (one of two student dailies in Madison) reported on a young woman who was allegedly raped last October while attending a party at a local fraternity. You can read the article here, and the accompanying transcript of the interview with the woman here.

The story itself is horrifying: The young woman went to a party, blacked out, and woke up the next morning partially undressed and lying in a strange bedroom. Tests performed at the hospital after the fact show that she was likely raped by several men, and though she has since filed a formal complaint with police and an investigation is ongoing, there hasn't been so much as a peep from the frat involved.

But scroll down into the comments section of that original article for the massive insult to this already terrible injury. While a good few people chime in with words of support and reason, all too many (mostly anonymous) start in with the victim blaming.

(There's more commentary over at the Critical Badger's blog, too, including some further insight into the Greek system's private governing board, etc.)

For all our society's progress in dealing with sexual assault, incidents like this make it all too painfully clear what a long way we've still to go.

There is legitimate concern that this story will automatically paint every member of the fraternity as a potential rapist. As a few, refreshingly logical comments have already pointed out, it's of the utmost importance in cases like these to let the investigation play out so that the guilty parties can be properly brought to justice and those who've done nothing wrong don't get their names dragged through the mud along the way. Throwing bricks through frat windows doesn't help, either (though I certainly understand the impulse).

But, with apologies to all perfectly nice and moral members of the Greek system, our main concern in this sort of situation should be for the person making the allegations--not for the frat. Journalists and law enforcement should certainly do their best to keep the story from getting away from them and tarnishing the names of the innocent, but our primary concern should be support for the victim.

You always believe someone when they tell you they were raped. If the facts later turn out to prove something to the contrary, you deal with that then. Up front, it is incredibly important, as a friend or just someone in the community, not to cast aspersions and doubt upon the person who has had to come forward to tell a deeply personal and awful story. Statistically, only a very small percentage of those who experience sexual assault ever come forward and/or press charges. A major part of the reason for that is the social stigma they then are usually forced to deal with: people calling them liars, accusing them of trying to smear the "good names" of friends and family (because attackers are more likely to be someone you know), claiming that by being in a certain house at a certain time or drinking alcohol or wearing revealing clothing means they were just "asking for it."

As though somehow, some way, this was at least partially their fault and they should just shut up and move on.

Bull. Shit.

The only person who deserves blame in situations like these is the perpetrator. No one forced them to commit the crime. Too often, however, our society plays it off as drunken hijinks or "boys being boys" (which, quite frankly, I would be insulted by if I were a guy--insinuating that I had no control over myself).

It hasn't helped that the UW Dean of Students, Lori Berquam, apparently dropped the ball when contacted by the victim. She is now trying to make up for that by holding a forum on sexual assault--which is good--but I'm a bit suspicious of anyone who would say that "We do take [vandalism] very seriously, the same way we take sexual assault seriously." Which one of these is not like the other?

I don't doubt her sincerity in saying that sexual assault should not be tolerated, and in wanting to help provide support for those who've been affected. What I do doubt is a real understanding of what victims often go through, and what they need in the aftermath. My own alma mater had serious problems dealing with this very issue, as they were seemingly more concerned with the appearance of being pro-active than actually being pro-active. Cases involving students from prominent, wealthy families were swept under the rug. And those that did go public were often dealt with incompentently and slowly (for instance: the perpetrator of one sexual assault was allowed to continue living in the same dorm as the victim for months after the case was reported).

Certainly, it's no easy thing for anyone to deal with sexual assault. But we must all keep in mind that the person having the hardest time with it all is the person who was attacked. Taking care of them should be our number one priority, right next to finding the individual(s) responsible and making sure they spend a hefty amount of time behind bars.

Riding bikes indoors

What's sore and bruised and content all over? That'd be me after a weekend at Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park in Cleveland, Ohio. I'm back from both my blogging and real-life vacations, only a little worse for wear, and even more in love with riding my bike than ever.

My fella and I, feeling the ill-effects of a too-long Wisconsin winter, decided to head out for Ray's this weekend after hearing that it offered an indoor reprieve for northern biking enthusiasts. And though, in the end, I still much prefer riding long, flowing trails in the great outdoors, I can definitely say that Ray's is a pretty rad place and I wish we had something like it a little closer to home.

As it turned out, the park was having a "Ride With the Legends" day when we got there, which included the presence of several pro BMX and mountain bike riders, plus a mob of curious onlookers. Still, the friendly Chicago ex-pat minding the door told us that the events never interfere with regular folks' ability to ride, so we had free reign to explore the nearly 100,000 square feet of park.

Think about that: nearly 100,000 square feet of indoor biking. Pretty impressive. I felt a little overwhelmed when I first rolled my bike into the melee. Between the fact that we'd only just recently retrofitted my bike to the point of it pretty much being a brand new ride, and this being my first time on it in months, I was a little shaky at first. Thankfully, there's a very nice "beginner room" that's generally quieter and less crowded than the rest of the building, and I spent some time there getting warmed up. After a few adjustments, the new bike ran smooth and true. After some mental adjustments, I wasn't so bad, either.

We spent a good 6 hours trying out what lines we could (that is, what lines wouldn't kill a couple of relative greenhorns like ourselves). There's the Gary Fisher XC loop, which runs along the ceiling of the converted factory space and then swoops down and around berms and ramps that crisscross several of the other areas. A small pump track provides a good chance to develop that particular skill. A good handful of technical mtb tracks are packed onto one half of the floor, each with varying levels of difficulty: teeter-totters, boardwalks, log runs, berms, tabletops, and plenty of skinnies.

I watched several trials riders bunny hopping their way from line to line and marveled at the degree of skill needed to do what they do. I have no interest in trials myself (I'm not that balanced, nor that patient), but it's fascinating to watch. Check out a video of what I'm talking about right here.

I worked on my jump take-offs and landings, trying to even out my bike as much as possible instead of just bumbling over things, and actually started to feel like I was getting the basic hang of it. I've still got quite a long ways to go, but the day provided a good chance to get to know my new bike and try out some things I'd been wanting to work on for awhile.

Of course, the day was not without injury. I took one pretty spectacular spill as I tried to navigate a long log run, nearly doing an endo before throwing my bike at the last minute and taking the bulk of the hit on my right side. My shin and knee pads did their job, but unfortunately I got a log right to the thigh and ended up with a pretty gnarly muscle bruise that left me limping for the next day. All part of the process, right?!

We took a few short breaks to just watch the pros tackle the big ramps near the front, marveling at the tricks they pulled and how easy they made it look. At one point, as we were waiting for our turn on one of the mtb lines, my fella struck up a conversation with another guy about some fancy new feature on his bike, not knowing that said guy was Hans Rey, one of the pros in for the day and a major pioneer of trials riding. So that was fun.

All told, it was a great day of riding, trying out new things, developing some skills, working up a sweat, and watching some pretty amazing riders do their thing. I was happy to see quite a few other women out on their bikes, too (we're still the minority in this sport, of course). And the overall vibe of the place was good, with little in the way of ego or pretense. And kids! We ran into quite a few tots pedaling around on miniature BMX or bigwheels. One particularly skilled guy was even out on the track holding his own. I talked briefly with his mom, who said he was just 4-years-old but already racing motorcycles, too. I can't say I'm entirely down with letting pre-schoolers race motorized vehicles, but hey, if that kid keeps it up and doesn't get mangled in the process, he's going to be pretty damn good at a pretty young age.

Got back into Madison last night, welcomed by much colder temperatures and snow. Our weekend biking adventure should help to keep me sane until spring really shows up and I can take it outdoors again--but it's Wisconsin, after all, so who knows? Here's hoping.

Tomorrow, it's back to your regularly scheduled blogging.

(full set of photos available at my Flickr account)

A small blogging vacation

I'm pooped. Between wrapping my scenes for the movie, finishing several big articles for actual publications, dealing with some minor health issues, and gearing up for a small vacation this weekend (among other things), I need a quick break.

So, barring any major developments this week, you won't be hearing from me. But I'll be back next Monday and up to my old tricks--there's much to discuss in the coming month. I hope you'll stop by then and say hello.

In the meantime, enjoy your week, go see "Vamp" at the Bartell (it's good, and I'll be posting a review of it later today on dane101), and be sure to pick up a copy of the Capital Times / 77 Square this Thursday. There may be a familiar byline on the cover story.

UPDATE: My 77 Square article is in this morning's paper and online. Feelin' pretty good about that.

Sunday Brunch: Late night ska edition

This, this right here is a piece of fine musical history, folks: A live performance of the song "A Message To You" as played by the Pogues and with guests Lynval Golding, Joe Strummer, Kirsty McColl, David Byrne, and more. This is definitely one of those shows I would have paid good money--or risked sneaking past bouncers--to have been at, had I been of age.