Whitewater, Wisconsin is a college town with a plentiful selection of bars, but a suitable pub with good food, a wide selection of beers, and a congenial atmosphere is always hard to find. Those in, or visiting, Whitewater would find that experience at the Lakefront Pub, named for its location along Cravath Lake in downtown…
Review
Hip & Prosperous, New Whitewater, Restaurant, Review
Restaurant Reviews
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
I’ve started reviewing restaurants, in the city and nearby, with the first review to be published next week (as part of a Wednesday feature). It’s a longstanding project, about which I’ve been thinking for over a year. (To the readers who’ve encouraged me: thank you, kindly.) We’ve a small but growing restaurant culture here in…
Campaign Ads, Politics, Presidential race 2012, Review
Reviewing Pres. Obama’s First 2012 Campaign Ad
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Pres. Obama’s released his first campaign commercial of the 2012 election. Here are impressions of the commercial (playing in Wisconsin), embedded below. They address the politics, and not the merits, of Obama’s message. Video quality. As one might expect at this level, the video looks great — sharp, with brisk pacing, and a good mix…
Campaign Ads, Politics, Recall, Review
Reviewing Kathleen Falk’s Recall Campaign Announcement
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Kathleen Falk, former Dane County Executive, declared her candidacy yesterday for governor. Below I have embedded her video declaration, a screenshot of her website, and a chart from the Journal Sentinel of Democrats who may run against Walker. These are first impressions of Falk’s campaign announcement. They address only the politics, and not the merits,…
Music, Review
Ben Sommer’s Latest Album: Super Brain
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve featured songs from Ben Sommer’s latest album, Super Brain, but a proper review of the entire album is in order. I liked and favorably reviewed Ben’s first album, america’d, and so was disposed to expect another solid effort. And yet, earlier-album familiarity nothwithstanding, Super Brain surprises and impresses, exceeding Sommer’s earlier work. First, for…
Music, Review
Ben Sommer’s america’d
by JOHN ADAMS •
I grew up in a jazz-loving household, not jazz as stuffy, artistic presumption, but simply the music of the house. One knew that there were kinds of jazz, and each had its place (the exception was fusion, that everyone agreed had none at all). Glenn Miller, for example, was considered sufficiently tame that his albums…
Books, Review
Tom Rachman’s The Imperfectionists
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve read Tom Rachman’s The Imperfectionists twice — once in hardcover, and once on the Kindle. (A particularly astute recommendation brought the book to my attention.) While thinking about the book, I decided to search for information on the author, and came across a review in the New York Times. It surprised me, a bit,…
Review
Review: The New Amazon Kindle
by JOHN ADAMS •
I recently bought an Amazon Kindle, now out as a newer version, after seeing an older one. It’s the first electronic book that I’ve bought, and it’s proved to be a great purchase. It’s light, easy to read even in bright sunlight, and holds thousands of books. Owners can sync their Kindles through Wi-Fi or…
Review
Reading List: Nobodies.
by JOHN ADAMS •
Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy is John Bowe’s account of selected guest workers in America. Bowe describes how many of these workers become virtual prisoners or slaves of their employers. Nobodies relates three guest worker experiences: Hispanic crop workers in Florida, Indian (viz., from the nation…
Review
Reading List: Liberal Fascism
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Inbox Reader Mail, Review
City of Whitewater Website Review: Reply and Thoughts
by JOHN ADAMS •
I arrived home late last night to the city, but wanted to post quickly this morning excerpts from an email that I received from Tim Nobling, Whitewater’s Information Technology Administrator. The use of excerpts is intended solely to convey the meaning of the email, while making this post manageable to read. The email in black,…
City, Review
Review: The City of Whitewater’s New Website
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater has a new municipal website, available at http://www.ci.whitewater.wi.us/. There are both strengths and weaknesses to the site, as with any site, but I’ll start with what’s appealing about the site, and offer a few suggestions thereafter. The new website displays a clean, attractive look. It’s a more polished, business-standard website than the previous version.…