Golden hour in Wisconsin

Autumn in Wisconsin is one of my favorite things in the world. Too bad it's all too often so fleeting. I took these shots during "golden hour," just before the sun set yesterday, somewhere between Madison and Waterloo after returning from a mountain bike ride in the country.

Truly, this is not a bad place to live.

Truthers, meet your new crazy ally abroad

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

Hanlon's razor is the motto I generally abide by when it comes to talk of massive government conspiracies. I don't deny that there have been and continue to be certain top secret operations orchestrated by elements of the U.S. government - some successful, many spectacular failures.

Quite frankly, though, the idea that our notoriously slow-moving, red-tape laden, bureaucratic nightmare of a government could plan out and implement the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 - all while conducting a massive cover-up to place blame on al Queda and its operatives - is downright laughable.

And yet that doesn't stop plenty of so-called Truthers from believing just that. "9/11 was an inside job" claim their signs and documentaries. I see them camped out at the Farmer's Market every week, and they show up at more than a few political rallies, people intent on ignoring the historic, scientific, and other evidence that solidly points to the towers collapsing because, y'know, a couple of passenger jets slammed into them. Not because of some remarkably well-orchestrated controlled demolition.

Anyway, I was amused - if not surprised - to read of a new Truther ally making his voice heard today. None other than angry elven racist and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made vociferous claims that 9/11 was a "U.S. government orchestrated attack" while speaking in front of the UN General Assembly today.

I'm not shocked that he believes this (or at least believes that saying so will give him cred with his extremist supporters). But I do hope that suddenly finding themselves in bed with one of the world's most visible crazy people will make at least a few Truthers sit up and say, "Shit. Maybe I got this wrong."

(When the guy whose favorite pastime is denying that the Holocaust happened sides with you, it's probably time to reassess your position)

Because as horrifying as it would be to believe the your government perpetrated such despicable mass murder - it might be yet more disturbing for some to realize that their government is so inept, so incompetent, and so self-absorbed that it failed to prevent one of the biggest terrorist attacks in the history of the world.

Ah ssshhh push it, push it real good

You know that band I'm in that I'm always blathering on about? Little Red Wolf? If not, then clearly we need to hang out more often. Anyway, we've been working on our first, full-length album all summer and it's finally about a month away from becoming a reality.

So. Excited.

In the meantime, we've released a 3-track EP called "Good Girl" as a sort of preview to help us all get through the wait until the whole record gets released. And! If you throw a few bucks our way by purchasing said EP, you'll be contributing to that very effort (since we're doing the whole thing by ourselves, thankyouverymuch).

That also wins you our sincere gratitude, and trust me, even in this economy that goes a long way.

Interested? I hope so! Then head on over to the Little Red Wolf Bandcamp site, where you can snag a high-quality digital copy of the EP and choose your own price! Well, choose your own price with a minimum of $2, but hey, we can't just give it away all the time. That just feels dirty.

Also, I apologize if it feels like I've been using this blog mostly to ask you to give money to one good cause or another. I mean, I stand by my assertion that it's important to donate to these causes (and my band) - but I also know that variety is the spice of life. And the spice must flow!

Change is coming. Stay tuned.

How I learned to stop worrying and love the cheddarbomb

Cheddarbomb for Russ Feingold! What's that, you ask? I mean, it sounds delicious and all, but here's the lowdown:

Help Support Russ Feingold by contributing to his Cheddarbomb. We're attempting to raise money from 15,000 grassroots donors to match the $15 million that Ron Johnson is spending from his own pocket. And we're trying to raise it all today. So please, contribute to Russ today, September 15, 2010, and help keep a strong progressive leader in the Senate.

Feingold has been a staunch advocate of the people in Wisconsin and nationally, standing up to fight the good fight even when it wasn't remotely popular. There is absolutely no reason not to re-elect him come September - unless you just effing hate sunspots.

The subtle art of the successful rally

Gay Pride events in Madison are always held a little later than in the rest of the country. When most places are celebrating all the colors of the LGBT rainbow in June, Madison likes to kick back and wait until the dog days of August to get its gay on.

And that's OK. Frankly, it'd be hard to compete with the much bigger festivals in nearby cities like Milwaukee and Chicago. We here in Madison are pretty keen on marching to our own drummer, anyway. And, truth be told, our fair city kind of does Pride all year round (one of many reasons to love this crazy place).

Just last month, for instance, Madison's LGBT residents and their allies marched and rallied to counter the bigotry and distortions of the National Organization for Marriage's anti-equality tour. Some 500 gay rights supporters turned out for an event that drew a diverse coalition of individuals and groups from around Wisconsin.

So I was surprised when the Wisconsin Capitol Pride festivities on Sunday featured more politicking and speechifying than celebrating.

After a joyous parade around the capitol building, down State Street, and onto Library Mall, revelers were met by the thumpa thumpa of a DJ spinning dance tunes. People were exhilarated, ready to party, feelin' good.

And then began the seemingly endless line-up of speeches. Mayor Dave, Tammy Baldwin, Sheriff Mahoney, Mark Pocan, and a fellow running for the Wisconsin Supreme Court all took their turns in front of the microphone while the assembled crowd grew more and more sun baked and subdued.

Let me be clear: I'm in no way saying that politics and the politicians who represent and support the LGBT community have no place at Pride festivities. Quite the opposite. I'm glad they're there. I think it's crucial that our elected representatives show their support by showing their faces (second only to actually working for positive change, of course).

I believe there is a place for good, motivational speeches at Pride, too - but for the love of sunscreen, can we limit the number and pacing of the speakers? For all of the positive energy that had been built up during the parade, by the time the final talker talked themselves out, half of the people had gone home.

The band (disco superstars VO5) was finally able to go on, effectively pulling some folks back in and prompting a good ol' gay dance-off, but then had to stop after maybe five songs for yet more talking. And that's when I gave up and left.

Look, I'm sure the people behind Madison's official Pride celebration mean well, and I'm fully aware of how difficult it can be to properly organize large events (been there, done that) - but that's no excuse for not trying to improve.

Pride is about going out, getting a little rowdy, and showing the world how spectacularly awesome every element of our human family is. It's about being yourself and loving it, about being an example to all those still crushed under the boot of oppression and ignorance of what's possible - and, dammit, it's about having fun.

The good people of Madison spend much of their year being active, engaged citizens working hard to improve their communities. That's why Pride has always been, to me anyway, a time to kick off our shoes and just enjoy ourselves. A little less politics and a little more booty shaking, you know?

So next year, here's how we do it:

Parade around the capitol and down State Street? Great. Done. Have the crowd met by an awesome DJ, good food vendors, local artists and businesses sellin' stuff, etc. at Library Mall. Make it a proper festival! Do a very brief crowd rev up, introduce big political supporters en masse (let them wave, smile for cameras, and at most take a minute to say their peace), and then get back to the party.

Also, before any of this happens, make sure plans and expectations for the various events are clearly and concisely laid out in your PR materials so people have a decent idea of what to expect and when (I saw nothing about all of the speeches and speakers in said materials for this event, for instance).

Finally and foremost, be all-inclusive.

Follow these very simple guidelines and I can almost guarantee you won't face another awkward situation where 3/4ths of your audience leaves during someones speech.

Sure, it's not the apocalypse if a Pride celebration gets a bit bungled. There are far worse things happening in the world that we could (and should) be working on. But Pride is still important - for the veterans of the struggle to mark progress made, for those people just figuring themselves out to see what's possible, for misguided folks who really can, slowly but surely, have their minds changed just by our community's increasing visibility.

People care. You care. Let's work together to get it right.

P.S. On a related note, this is fairly awesome: "A CNN poll this month found that a narrow majority of Americans supported same-sex marriage — the first poll to find majority support." About damn time.

Millbot Mix - July - "Electro-A-Go-Go"

I can't remember exactly how old I was when I fell in love with DJs. Young. Probably around 14 or so. And I'm not talking about radio hosts. My discovery of electronic music coincided with this infatuation and led to me saving my pennies so I could purchase my first set of turntables and mixer.

I got them secondhand from a friend. They were purple Numarks, very plastic and not at all fancy but still - turntables. And they were mine.

I still remember the first record I bought, too. The town where I lived had just gotten its first music store that sold new dance records, so I threw a few bucks together and headed over. I picked up a remix of Tori Amos' "Professional Widow" and a couple other cuts - and that was it. I was hooked. I spent hours teaching myself how to beat-match (because no one I knew in the area really did it so there was no one to pester into being a tutor), bought records, played a couple of house parties...and one day even upgraded to a pair of really nice Numark's and mixer that I still have now.

The trouble was that being a really good DJ requires a serious time commitment that I just wasn't able to make. Between everything else I got up to and a full-time job, both the tables and my skills started to collect dust.

But over the past couple of years - and especially since I've embarked on my desk-jobless life - the allure of mixing has taken hold of me again. And now, with the advent of mp3s and laptop mixing technology, you don't need to lug around an expansive vinyl collection to play shows. So I figured I've let it go for long enough. It's time to get back into the swing of things.

I've got a lot of coins to save before I can get a proper laptop setup, but in the meantime I'm going to work on the basics. A new mix about once a month, if I can manage it, even though I still don't have the ideal set-up (as things stand, the program I'm using doesn't let me hear incoming tracks, so I have to do everything visually and by being really familiar with the songs).

And the first one is here! It's all electro-house (and indie-dance) all the time! Enjoy:


Millbots Electro-A-Go-Go by Millbot

Ode to Rock Island

Camping. Since humankind first moved into towns and cities, the seemingly instinctive desire to return to the wilderness has driven us to everything from the epic treks of the explorers to the backyard tent-outs of suburban children.

I'm no different. While I have a great appreciation for the many comfortable amenities of modern life, there's a part of me that yearns to prepare and cook my meals in the great outdoors, sleep on the ground, live off the grid. And so I, like countless other Americans, set out for the campground - looking for even a small taste of the lost rustic existence of my ancestors.

...well, with the addition of waterproof fabrics and propane stoves, anyway.

A short while ago I headed north with four good friends and The Fella for a place I'd never before visited but is, as it turns out, just a short drive and some ferry-hopping away. Rock Island. A state park set off the tip of tourist-famous Door County, Wisconsin, it's one of those rare, relatively close-by places a person can go for something a little more serious than the "family camping" experience found in most other parks.

It's 912 acres of incredibly rocky soil, pine forests, beautifully blue-green water, no cars, no bikes, and no electricity. You have to take the ferry from Door County to Washington Island, and then the much smaller Karfi ferry from Washington Island to Rock Island, to make it over. That alone seems to weed out the more casual campers.

Once there, you need to be able to carry all of your equipment on your back or, if you're lucky, on one of the very few handcarts available at the landing, all the way to whatever campsite you've reserved. We'd booked two sites on the southeastern side of the island - one that overlooked a small rocky bluff down to the water, where we set up for cooking and loafing, and another that was more set back and sheltered, where we pitched our tents.

There are a couple of backpacking sites that are much further removed from everything else and would take a more serious and thoughtful packing effort to occupy. (Actually, I'm keen to try one of them out next time we make the trip.)

You see, even once you get all of your gear to your site, both firewood and drinking water have to be hauled in from the one spot on the island where you can get them. Firewood is sold from a shelter near the boat landing from only 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. each day, and the only potable water pump is nearby. Getting and hauling these things quickly becomes a crucial daily routine, forcing you to plan all other activities around them.

That's OK, because when staying on Rock Island, time is definitely on your side. Since there's no electricity, there's no television or telephones or internet. Which is precisely one of the main reasons I loved it.

But Emily, you may ask, you're a total internet nerd! How could you handle not being plugged in for a whole five days?

Quite frankly, I've never had issues going off grid. Once I'm away from the distraction of the web, I really don't miss it. Instead, I'm more than content to focus on the world around me and the essential tasks required to stay alive and comfortable.

I really like building good campfires (to the point that, minus one crucial sanity gene, I might otherwise have become a bit of a pyromaniac). I adore cooking meals over them. I enjoy the challenge of putting together a sturdy, weather resistant campsite. I like waking up with the sun in the morning and under the unpolluted stars at night.

Of course, it rained off and on while we were there and made the whole waking-with-the-sun thing a little difficult, but otherwise Rock Island is a great place to do all of those things.

Plus! 10 miles of hiking trails, several rocky beaches and one white sand beach, an over century-old restored lighthouse, rock carvings, wild strawberry patches, and a few good lawn games available at the main boat house (we opted for a bocce ball deathmatch).

And just a few snakes.

*It's worth noting, too, that said boat house and most of the structures on the island were built by inventor, businessman, and rare book enthusiast Chester Thordarson, who used to own the place--because that's what rich folk do. Own islands. Thankfully these rich folk took pretty good care of the place and then the state bought it from the family in 1965, giving us the fabulous park in return.