Lost in the Fog

Capital hill veiled in fog earlier this week.

Kill 'Em All & Let God Sort 'Em Out?

A not-so-thinly-veiled threat stenciled on the sidewalk near the intersection of Carroll Street with Langdon. There must be a better way to use the guarantee of free speech to address this problem.

DATELINE: BELGIUM

I hadn't been in the Dane County Veteran's Museum before last week. No interest. Then last Friday I saw at least four busloads of school kids go in there, bringing back memories of field trips from way back, and I had to take a look.

They represent American veterans' involvement in wars through history by standing costumed dummies in dioramas all around the walls. I've always liked dioramas. My Mom thinks they're pretty cheesy, but I like cheese, the more sentimental and cornball, the better.

And I liked that I could look at a diorama and know in an instant what it was supposed to be. I glanced at the scene in this photo, for instance, and recognized the Battle of the Bulge from across the room.

I didn't have much time, so I couldn't linger at the display cases, but I did take the time to gaze long and hard at the model ships.

At the peak of my model-building career I probably owned at least one-hundred fighter planes. I would've given them all up to build something like this. And I would've had to live in a house the size of a dairy barn to display something like this.

It's the USS Wisconsin, naturally. The full-size one was built back just before aircraft carriers took over as the ultimate warships of the high seas. She was mothballed after the world war, briefly came out of retirement to fight in the Persian Gulf war, and I believe she rests in a comfy berth once again.

They made a pretty nifty display out of the model, with the ship's bell and the brass name plate mounted on the other side of the display case. And what display would have been complete without an example of the 16-inch shells fired by those big guns?

Best thing in the museum, though, was the periscope, no contest. Who doesn't go gah-gah over a periscope? Okay, my wife wouldn't, but what guy wouldn't shove his way through a rugby scrum for the chance to look through a real periscope? You can pan it around for a good look at most of the buildings in cap square, but you can't increase the magnification to see if anybody's sleeping at their desks or photocopying their butts. Still, a periscope! Freaking awesome!

Ceci n'est pas une pickup truck

There aren't a lot of teeny-tiny pickup trucks around any more, so when one of them shows up at a local parking lot, it's eye-catching, particularly when it's painted pink and is parked alongside a bulked-out SUV.

To make it appear even smaller than it already is, the owner had taken the trouble of dropping the suspension as low as it could go. The truck's frame was about three inches off the ground.

"I expect you to die, Mister Bond!"

The entry to the federal court house, on Henry Street

The more I look around, the more I'm astonished at how many really ugly buildings there are in downtown Madison.

Surely this has got to be in the running for the ugliest. There aren't any others that combine indigo-colored steel cladding with red highlights, and no other building in town has a death ray hanging over the entrance.

A Gator on the loose at Emian's Bakery

Tim told us about Emian's on Monona Drive near his high school. He said he has lunch there every so often, and if they can appeal to his picky tastes, we figured they had to have a pretty good selection.

Barb and I have only ever stopped for coffee and some baking, but we haven't been disappointed yet. They have lots of scrummy rolls, muffins and cookies, and the dining area is very cozy.

On our first trip we slid into a booth and lingered over the Sunday paper for an hour while we noshed on scones. Today we stopped by for a coffee but couldn't resist grabbing some goodies, too.

The eyes of this pastry gator caught my attention on the way out the door.

The Barrymore

My Darling B has had a hankering for eggs benedict all week long, so we stopped at The Blue Plate, just across the street from the Barrymore theater in the Atwood-Schenck neighborhood. I had the country breakfast. Both meals were delivered to our table in what seemed like no more than a heartbeat. It was almost as if they'd been waiting for us. We both went home with our sufficiencies surensified.

Happiness ...

This is all he needs to be soooo happy. Nothing more than a warm lap. He wouldn't mind it if you rubbed his ears, too.

Ashtray of the Beast

Too tired to blog ...

Lighting Up the Dome

One of my co-workers was driving across town as the winter storm closed in over the city this afternoon. She was waiting at a red light on Washington Avenue when a pink bolt of lightening shot straight down out of the sky and struck the statue of Wisconsin at the top of the dome, sending a shower of sparks in all directions.

So I was a little surprised to see the floodlights come on after dark ...

Morning in Capitol Square

Not as warm as yesterday, when temps in the sixties brought out walkers in their shirt sleeves. Today never got warmer than the mid-forties, and then ...

Capital Square, Mid-Afternoon

... the snow began.

The Snows Kept Coming

Once it got started it built up quickly.

Nuts To You

Oddly old-style detail erupts from the facade of a thoroughly modern office block on capital square

Windowless

When you come on a building that's lost all its windows it's as startling as meeting somebody you know who smiles and suddenly reveals she's lost all her teeth.

I'm not sure yet what's going on with this building - whether they're in the process of demolishing it, or just replacing all the windows as part of remodeling. I'll come back in a week to see.

A Church In The Brutalist Style

That seemed more than a little contradictory to me.

Looking Up I

The bank building at 2 E Mifflin on capital square.

Looking Up II

Police Line, Do Not Cross, caught in a tree on Mifflin Street, capital square.

Looking Up III

The condos at 100 W Wisconsin on capital square.

... still hanging on ...

Trademarked

A hedgehog? A squid? A map of the Pacific Rim islands? One of Jimi Hendrix's guitars with the neck broken off? A Lion?

It's a lion. It is.

Punch Buggy

Spotted this one on East Wilson Street yesterday. A well-used bug; note the t-shirt seat covers and the shredded rear seat. The lenses on the rear lights were dated 1970, but even with all those years (and no doubt plenty of mileage), this bug's in pretty good condition. Wonder just how many winters it's tramped through the salt-soaked slush of Madison streets?

Where Should We Go For Breakfast?

My Darling B wanted to go out for breakfast this morning and we'd noticed how popular Cleveland's Diner is in the mornings when we drive by on the way to work, so we swung by to give it a try.

"Popular" is such an inadequate word. There were people lined up on the sidewalk waiting for one of the seven tables or a stool at the counter. That's hardly ever a bad sign. Even better: We didn't have to wait more than ten minutes.

Barb had a Denver omlette, minus mushrooms. I had eggs, bacon and two pancakes. The two waitresses were running their legs off and the short-order cook never stepped away from his griddle. When our food came, Barb was tickled to find no mushrooms in her omlette; usually the ball drops somewhere along the way. She gobbled it down making lots of yummy sounds. My eggs were deliciously buttery, the bacon was crisp but not overdone, and the pancakes were fluffy and sweet. The food was simple, hot, and very, very good.

Cleveland's on East Wilson Street. Worth the drive into town, worth the wait.

Give Peace A Chance

Spotted outside the capital on Main Street during lunch hour. It was a breath of fresh air from all the electioneering going on. No slogans. No names. Just a guy with a wish for peace.

They don't make them like this anymore

Tucked away between a four-story apartment building and a block of flats, this tiny bungalow is hanging on behind a nicely done front gate. It can't be more than a couple of rooms and a cozy front yard. I wouldn't have believed you could still find a house this cute in the middle of Madison unless I'd seen it with my own eyes.

... and the house looks like this.

The deep, narrow lot sort of necessitates a bungalow about this size. Still looks mighty cozy.

Yet another view of autum

Our false summer started today, temps in the sixties and everybody walking around in shirt sleeves, trying to make the most of it. I took several laps around the square when I could take a break from work, and let my eyes wander to the window when I couldn't.

... as the colors set in ...

These old oaks can hold onto their leaves forever! There was a hard frost overnight that made a lot of the maples in our neighborhood give up on warm weather altogether. They dumped almost all their leaves in a big heap and went dormant while these oaks tough out the cold snap and slowly become more golden. Even that little ash wants to hold on a bit longer.

The View from the Office Window

Last Friday the old oaks in capital square still had most of their leaves, although they were beginning to turn.

Over the weekend the weather turned wintry, with freezing temps and a respectably heavy snowfall for October. How will the square look this morning?

Just In Time For A Trip To Grandma's!

We're due for lunch at the ancestral O-Home today. It's only natural that we should have a fresh blanket of snow on view for our three-hour cross-country drive.

The View from the Office Window

The sun broke through an oppressively gray overcast yesterday morning as it rose but soon lost the fight and we didn't see it much for the rest of the day.

I got to look after Penny's fish while she was gone this week ...

It added a little splash of color to my cubicle.

Autumn in the Capital I

Madison has been awash in the familiar colors of autumn since the beginning of October, and now the leaves have begun to collect on the ground in windswept waves.

In the mornings, frost. At noon, temps in the fifties, and even that's fast becoming a fond memory.

To hasten the transition, all this week cold rain came spitting down from a cast-iron sky, forcing everyone to dig out their heavy coats. Noone's dallying on the streets.

Here's perhaps one last look at the capital while the leaves of autumn still frame it.

Autumn in the Capital II

The shops and restaurants around the square are dressed up in celebration of the harvest season.

Veedub on Carroll Street

This '71 Beetle was in pretty darned good shape, as well as being illegally parked. I hadn't noticed before that they had a rounded windshield; I'm used to the flat-as-a-pan windshield of the older models.

I Wish I'd Thought of That

Everybody else always gets the good ideas for their personalized plates.

The Great Onion of Life

Maybe it's time for this one to join the Great Compost Heap of Life.

A Travel Agent on State Street

I just don't know how to comment on that last one without offending everybody I know.

When your last name is 'Weiser' ...

... your nickname is always going to end up being 'Bud.'

Fall Colors In The Rain

Sorta perks up the bus stop, doesn't it?

Fall colors frame the Steensland Mansion

It used to be a thrift shop for the Bethel Lutheran Church but it's been closed now for quite a while. It desperately needs somebody to move in and make it a home (not a block of flats). If I had a million dollars ...

Riddle in the Fridge

I'm sure there was a very good reason for these three empty egg shells to be so carefully kept on a special plate in the back of the fridge. Maybe some day I'll even find out what it was.

Hideous Kinky

I took my camera to the streets of Madison over the noon hour, looking for a subject I worthy of these pages.

What would I find? Something with an autumnal theme? Something historical? Maybe college coeds enjoying the last warm days of summer?

And then my eyes beheld it: The ugliest apartment block I'd ever seen.

Hideous Kinky II

Truly, this is the hive-like living at its cubicle-worst.

Hideous Kinky III

The owner attempted to dress it up a bit with some colored flags. Looks like an art project done in the last fifteen minutes of the night before it was due.

Hideous Kinky IV

Please. This is too painful. Make the pain stop.

Looking down ...

I don't know what it means, but it was stuck to the pavement on 7th St NW