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Daily Bread for 2.28.24: Before Glascow, There Was Jefferson, Wisconsin

 Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 41. Sunrise is 6:31 and sunset 5:43 for 11h 12m 08s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 85.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1983, the final episode of M*A*S*H airs, with almost 110 million viewers.


Readers in the area may remember the sham Harry Potter Warriors & Wizards festival that Jefferson, Wisconsin once held. That so-called festival was a threadbare event that advertised extravagantly yet produced shabbily. 

See Roundup on Jefferson, Wisconsin’s ‘Warriors & Wizards’ Festival, Attack of the Dirty Dogs, Jefferson’s Dirty Dogs Turn Mangy, Thanks, City of Jefferson!Who Will Jefferson’s Residents Believe: Officials or Their Own Eyes?Why Dirty Dogs Roam With Impunity,  Found Footage: Daily Union Arrives on Subscriber’s Doorstep, Sad Spectacle in Jefferson, WI (and How to Do Much Better), What Else Would a Publisher Lie About?, Iceberg Aside, Titanic‘s Executive Pleased with Ship’s Voyage, and New Developments About Jefferson, Wisconsin’s ‘Warriors & Wizards’ Festival.

Well, Scotland has its own version of this problem, as different promoters are working from the same promise-big-deliver-nothing playbook. Benj Edwards reports Cops called after parents get tricked by AI-generated images of Wonka-like event (‘Dull in-person warehouse for kids doesn’t live up to technicolor AI-generated promo images’): 

On Saturday, event organizers shut down a Glasgow-based “Willy’s Chocolate Experience” after customers complained that the unofficial Wonka-inspired event, which took place in a sparsely decorated venue, did not match the lush AI-generated images listed on its official website (archive here). According to Sky News, police were called to the event, and “advice was given.”

“What an absolute shambles of an event,” wrote Stuart Sinclar on Facebook after paying 35 pounds per ticket for himself and his kids. “Took 2 minutes to get through to then see a queue of people surrounding the guy running it complaining … The kids received 2 jelly babies and a quarter of a can of Barrs limeade.”

The Willy’s Chocolate Experience website, which promises “a journey filled with wondrous creations and enchanting surprises at every turn,” features five AI-generated images (likely created with OpenAI’s DALL-E 3) that evoke a candy-filled fantasy wonderland inspired by the Willy Wonka universe and the recent Wonka film. But in reality, Sinclair was met with a nearly empty location with a few underwhelming decorations and a tiny bouncy castle. In one photo shared by Sinclair, a rainbow arch leads to a single yellow gummy bear and gum drop sitting on a bare concrete floor.

The promise and the reality differed: 

It isn’t often that Jefferson, Wisconsin gets ahead of a large European city, but in the race to the bottom, Jefferson beat Glascow by years.


Poland’s Top Envoy Lands Blow With Russia Takedown at UN

Daily Bread for 10.12.23: National Inflation Rate Holds Steady (and Local Implications)

 Good morning. Thursday in Whitewater will be cloudy with intermittent showers and a high of 56. Sunrise is 7:05 and sunset 6:16 PM for 11h 11m 23s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 4.6% of its visible disk illuminated. Whitewater’s Finance Committee meets at 6 PM.    On this day in 1614,…

Daily Bread for 5.31.23: Four Million Won’t Be Enough (Because Marketing’s Not It)

Good morning. Wednesday in Whitewater will see scattered afternoon showers with a high of 87. Sunrise is 5:19 AM and sunset 8:26 PM for 15h 07m 04s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 85.3% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1955, the U.S. Supreme Court expands on its Brown…

Daily Bread for 9.28.22: Local and National Views of Child Poverty

Good morning. Wednesday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 58. Sunrise is 6:49 AM and sunset 6:40 PM for 11h 50m 44s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 7.6% of its visible disk illuminated.  Whitewater’s Parks & Recreation Board meets at 5:30 PM.    On this day in 1781,…

Daily Bread for 9.6.22: The Boosters’ Big Capital but Small Society

Good morning. Tuesday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with high of 76. Sunrise is 6:25 AM and sunset 7:19 PM for 12h 53m 53s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 79.9% of its visible disk illuminated.  The Whitewater Common Council meets at 6:30 PM.   On this day in 1803, British scientist John…

Daily Bread for 9.5.22: The Grandiose

Good morning. Labor Day in Whitewater will be party sunny with high of 74. Sunrise is 6:24 AM and sunset 7:21 PM for 12h 56m 42s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 69.5% of its visible disk illuminated.  On this day in 1942, the Japanese high command orders withdrawal at Milne Bay, the first major…

Daily Bread for 1.19.22: An Example of the School District’s Economic Impact Analysis

Good morning. Wednesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 15.  Sunrise is 7:19 AM and sunset 4:52 PM for 9h 32m 21s of daytime.  The moon is waning gibbous with 97.7% of its visible disk illuminated.  On this day in 1983, the Apple Lisa, the first commercial personal computer from Apple Inc. to…

Daily Bread for 1.18.22: Whitewater’s Still Waiting for That Boom

Good morning. Tuesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 36.  Sunrise is 7:20 AM and sunset 4:50 PM for 9h 30m 28s of daytime.  The moon is waning gibbous with 99.7% of its visible disk illuminated.  On this day in 1977, scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious Legionnaires’…

Daily Bread for 1.17.22: Which ‘Middle Time’ Proved True for Whitewater

Good morning. Monday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 27.  Sunrise is 7:20 AM and sunset 4:49 PM for 9h 28m 37s of daytime.  The moon is full with 99.8% of its visible disk illuminated.  Whitewater’s Equal Opportunities Commission meets today at 5 PM.   On this day in 1945, Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg…

Daily Bread for 1.16.22: Wisconsin Educational Issues Over the Next Ten Months

Good morning. Sunday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 23.  Sunrise is 7:21 AM and sunset 4:48 PM for 9h 26m 49s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 98.1% of its visible disk illuminated.  On this day in 1883, Congress enacts the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States…

Adding the Amounts Spent for Foxconn (So Far)

Wisconsin’s new deal with Foxconn will reduce the cost to state taxpayers, but local governments have already spent vast sums on a project that will not – by Foxconn’s own belated admission – come close to what was originally, and ludicrously, promised. Bruce Murphy writes of The True Costs of New Foxconn Deal: the true cost…