Punch Buggy
Seen at the Monona farmer's market this weekend.

There's no finer summer convertible than a Veedub.

The interior's a bit rough ...

... but it's still a happy-looking Volks.

I've owned two old microbusses, the newer camper-van and one bug,
and they'll always have a soft spot in my heart.
I can't help stopping to take a close look at a Volkswagen
wherever I see one.

A Taste of Madison

It looks just like Art Fair On The Square
except there's no art and lots of food.
I didn't think about that until after I'd looked through these snapshots
and realized I didn't see any food.
Next time, I'll mare sure to get a few snaps of the food.

Besides food, there's also lots of music.
There are stages set up on MLK Blvd, East Wash, Wisconsin Ave, and State Street,
and you can hear the band at every one of the stages from anywhere on the square.
I know I'm going to sound like a crusty old fart when I say this, but
couldn't they turn the volume down to the point where you'd hear just the band
that's in front of you?

This guy's Italian.
Both my sons tell me so.
Or, if he's not Italian, he's singing Italian songs.
He's absolutely, positively not singing Spanish songs.
No way.
I'm a dummy for even deigning to argue with them about it.
So tune in to La Movida at 1480 AM in the Madison area
to listen to all the best Italian music programming.

Whad'ya do today, Dave?
Not much, you?

The set of Whad'Ya Know?
Michael Feldman's weekly radio show on PRI.
They were broadcasting from Madison this weekend,
so we got tickets and went to the show.

Sean and Tim enjoyed the show.

And so did My Darling B's parents,
Joan and Richard.

Newly repaved Cap Square sidewalk along Main Street, nearing completion.

There are lots of really cool old buildings along the main drage in Cedarburg that date back to a time before most places were wired for electricity, but only a few that date from whatever era this office building came from -- I suspect some time between the 20's and 40's.

A slightly closer view of the bay window and overhang.

The customary awning and leaded clerestory windows.

Leaded windows all around the entrance.

The cast-iron burglar alarm box marks the final touch.

Stairway in an old feed mill
Cedarburg, WI

... um ... speechless ...

Putting the finishing touches on the new sidewalk along Main Street.

This has got to stop.

Sidewalks: The Update

A few snaps taken before the rain stopped the action.

They began by splashing some kind of tarry stuff over the concrete ...

... then a man in a bobcat brought the shovel-pushers some asphalt
to spread out across the concrete ...

... then a guy with a roller flattened it out.

Workers laid out the bricks on the blacktopped cement.

Three Views of the Dome

Our daily squall line,
moving through the downtown area at the speed of lightening,
cast the capital dome in shadow
and lit it up in contrast.

The gray skies over yesterday's farmer's market
lent just the right hue to the new office block at 33 E Main St
and the stainless steel shingles arcing over Walgreen's.

Willy Street


Russian stacking dolls for the Wisconsin crowd.
You can have the old Packers (with Bart Starr) or the new (Favre).
On display at Escape.

The Apostle Andrew Book Store stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Grampa's Gun Shop.
If it might seem incongruous any other place,
their conjunction is perfectly suited to Willy Street.

I followed My Darling B into the Ace Hardware store on Williamson Street today,
and felt as though I'd stepped out of the way back machine into a store from when I was a kid
-- from the low tin ceiling to the shelves chockablock with everything you could ever need
down to the worn hardwood floors!
I didn't know stores like this still existed.

Cap Square Sidewalk Update

... some kind of underlay was required before they poured concrete around the planters ...

... everything went smoothly ...

It's the Great Taste of the Midwest!
Grab your complimentary glass at the gate
and start drinking beer!

There were not only many great beers, but great entertainment, too!

Thousands of beers, thousands of people!

Now, where did I leave my wife?

And now, the beer-drinking ethos, summed up in t-shirts:

Pouring cement around the forms in order to frame the tree spots,
or whatever they're called.

Red sky in the morning,
Sailors take warning

The city's going to cut this elm tree down this summer,
now that it's infested by Dutch elm disease.
They say it's 150 years old.
You can't find too many elms like this around her any more.

The trucks paved the corner with ready-mix this afternoon.

The cap square bus stops are falling to the wrecking ball!
R.I.P.

When I choose a bank, I look at the interest rates offered,
the total assets on deposit, the ease of internet transfers,
and the degree of helpfulness I get from the staff ...
but the deal-maker is, without question, whether or not
they're playing Jimi Hendrix in the lobby.

Pouring concrete in the rain.
I wouldn't have thought that would be practicable,
but there they are doing it.

Protesters utterly fail to outrage spectators or even get their attention in capital square.

The marquee of the Orpheum on State Street.
That odd-colored digit caught my eye and wouldn't let go
until I photographed it.