3 posts tagged “milwaukee”

I got an email today from a friend referencing a block from Eugene Kane, a columnist for the Journal Sentinel. Sometimes he's polarizing, sometimes he's insightful, overall I find him a really interesting read. He opened a discussion about a blog called Stuff White People Like, and and wanted people to respond whether or not they found this blog offensive. 

I attended the Big Bang last night. I've been going to Summerfest for about 11 years now, and I'll be the first to admit I made a few rookie mistakes. I had been informing some coworkers who just moved here as well as upcoming out of town guests about some of the "charms" of Summerfest and the best way to approach your time spent there. I found myself generating a list for them and I decided to make my guide official. Please see my recommendations below for how to maximize your fun at Summerfest. I apologize for the length, but this is about as comprehensive of a list as you will find.

1) Do not, under any circumstances, attend Summerfest sober. This rule applies especially if you are entering the grounds past 7:00 pm.

2) Make sure you have eaten prior to attending or plan on eating while there. It may seem cheaper not to but you need the sustenance to keep up the drinking and walking.

3) There are many modes of transportation to Summerfest. Foot, bus, taxi and driving. Driving is always a horrible idea and taxis can be expensive. The buses from the bars have the advantage of bringing your drink with you on the bus, so you can drink on the way there. If you take the bus, please expect it to be PACKED with douche bags and the chances of being fondled increase 20 fold. It is also entirely possible you will be stalked either getting on or off the bus. If you travel by foot, you do have the option of discreetly drinking while on your voyage, however, you expend a lot of energy. Your feet, legs and back will hurt. This is often curtailed with more alcohol and finding places to rest on the Summerfest grounds. You can also combine multiple modes of transportation, such as walking down and bussing back, or vice versa.

4) If sneaking liquor in, hide it in places that they might not pat down (recently saw this done to a man). Side pockets of purses with tampons over the bottles work well. Hiding minis in places they would feel uncomfortable patting works too, such as double layering underwear or potentially a “minis” vest. Flat flasks will probably be effective too.

5) Know what bands you want to see and where they are performing. Go from point A to Point B with a purpose. If you find yourself wandering the grounds looking for something interesting you WILL run into a bottleneck and find yourself wanting to punch the people around you.

6) Only buy beer at the location nearest the stage you plan on seeing a band. If you buy a beer and carry it with you across the grounds you WILL lose it. You will either end up wearing it, someone else will be wearing it or it will be sacrificed to the grounds gods. There is only an exception to this rule if you found a stand with bottles.

7) When looking to get away from the crowds, the rocks and grassy area are a good resting spot. The eastern most path is also especially good if you’re looking to get from one end of the grounds to the other. The western path is much more crowded. Alternatively, you can always take the sky glide, but this will cost you money that could be spent on beer.

8) Do not be afraid to be forceful with anyone who gets grabby or inappropriate. It is not uncommon for men to grab or slap girls’ butts. Do not be afraid to get up in their faces and whittle their ego down to a toothpick. At the end of the day, it is more likely the douche bag will be thrown out over a girl standing up for herself and making a scene.

9) Know where the nearest bathroom is. There are actual bathrooms and there are port o potties. Clearly, the bathrooms with running water are a much more attractive choice. Go when you think you MIGHT have to go because by the time you get there you will be thankful you did.

10) Try and stay towards the back of a stage area. It’s far less crowded and you have more room to dance or drunkenly sway to the music. It’s also easier to leave to go to the bathroom or go and get beer and not lose your friends.

11) Group Management, as taken from www.brewcityzen.com
To manage a group at Summerfest- you need to look at what makes up the group. The group can be broken up into 3 subcategories - regardless of size:
a) The leader (s) - they are usually the most interested in that act and are trying to maintain the herd. They are easily annoyed by stranglers or Run-In-Talkers (see subcategory C).
b) The herd - they have the advantage of not having to know exactly where they are going or how to get there. Their only responsible for keeping an eye on the person in front of the them.
c) The 'Run-In-Talkers' a.k.a. stragglers - These are the most annoying of the group - but we have all been there. They keep getting lost or they run into someone they know and start catching up- there is nothing wrong with catching up - but a 'Run-In-Talker' (RIT) can be identified by the fact that they do NOT let either the leader or herd know that they have stopped. The worst type of 'RIT' is the dreaded 'popular' RIT. This person seems to know everyone and is completely oblivious to the groups destination. They can turn a simple trip from the main gate at 10:30 PM into a 25 min. walk over to Miller Oasis. (great 1 hour left- glad we paid full price).

12) Wear really comfortable shoes. Shoes with any kind of heel or flip flops are horrible choices. You will either fall or hurt your feet and back. These shoes are too difficult to walk in or hard to keep on. Wear something so you won’t have to think about your feet.

13) Keep your cell phone in your pocket and set it on vibrate. If you get lost hopefully your friends will call you or text you and you will be sober enough to feel it.

14) Dress in layers. It might be hot during the day, but the lake front gets kinda windy at night and it’s nice to be able to throw something on with sleeves. Unless you know for sure it’s going to be 90 degrees all night.

15) Be prepared for skanky teenagers that annoy you. This is where they go to get away from their tortured life in the suburbs and their parents. They will flirt with men twice their age to get beer. They will look ridiculous smoking. Their bodies will barely be covered. They will fall over drunk and you will have to step over them to get to your final destination.

16) Do NOT become one of those couples that only goes to make out in public. PDAs are fine, but having sex on the rocks (by the lake) is never ok.

17) The rocks might have some shady activity going on. Be prepared for illicit drug use or sexual activity. Not always the case, but it’s been known to happen.

18) Do not bring your own pot or ask to smoke anyone else’s. There are under cover cops and bodyguards that will haul you off to Summerfest jail. Please take your recreational drug use elsewhere.

19) Have a budget before you go. The ATMs there charge $2.50 per transaction before whatever your bank charges you for out of network ATM access. This is money that could be spent on beer.

20) Once your last concert of the evening is finished, get the hell out of there. There is a dark time in limbo in which concerts are finishing at around 11:30/11:45 and people are just wandering around wasted. This is the ugly, dark side of Summerfest when the fun has stopped and the drunk demons have come out to play. This isn’t a pretty sight and it might remind you somewhat of a drunken insane asylum.

21) After your last concert is over, if you plan on taking the bus. 1) Pee first, you might be waiting a while, 2) Get in line right away because a LOT of people want to take the drunk bus back to the bars. You might have to duke it out in line to secure your transportation.

22) If you walk home and are taking the bike path, do not go past the Ogden St. stairs towards Brady St. without at least three people in your group, preferably one being a dude. This is a really dark area and while nothing has been reported as happening (there are lots of cops on bikes around there now), no one wants to become a cautionary tale.

Hopefully this helps everyone have a safe, enjoyable time at Summerfest. Each year brings something new and reminds us all that we keep getting older and Summerfest patrons keep getting younger. Hopefully a well-executed plan of alcoholic beverage intake will help enhance your social chameleon status, make you not care about your surroundings or even become a fool in public.

Hello Vox Community!
My friend Dave is a professional blogger and I have been following his work for quite some time now. He introduced me to the Vox Community after my curiosity about starting a blog.

I recently participated in a blog contest for a blog sponsored by Visit Milwaukee, the city’s tourism bureau. The contest was to find the new blogger for PlayintheCity.com. After almost two long weeks of comment wars, I was defeated. The funny thing is that after the winner was announced, the readers were revolting and criticizing the other blogger that won. Then her friends started blindly defending her and blaming me for being a sore loser when I, or anyone I'm associated with, hadn't even participated in the criticism of her victory. So at the tale end of 60+ comments, I wrote a long post, wishing the winner well, hoping for the best for PlayintheCity.com and providing some suggestions for the future direction of the blog. The winner then copied one of my paragraphs, slightly tweaked it, archived all entries related to the contest, and then started “her” blog anew with one of my paragraphs in her new post.

I had been a good sport the entire time and always wanted to be a contestant with dignity. I believe I always took the high road and wished only the best for the winner and the blog. I encouraged reader participation rather then telling everyone to vote for me. I even tried deterring the trolls! I felt suddenly transported back to 5th grade and I was at the receiving end of one girl’s efforts to make the rest of the class hate her, even though I had just offered her my Snack Pack.

I could handle the criticism and negativity associated with the contest, but I out rightly refused to be plagiarized. So I called her out on it, she pretended she had written the exact same thing the night before (shocking). Maybe she had, it wasn’t even that original of a concept. The problem I had with it is that the words and sentence structure MATCHED what I had written. Another reader, whom I don’t even know, also called her out on it, posting my original paragraph and what she had written one on top of the other, showing that they were virtually identical. The original blogger, her eBFF and the rest of their clique attacked me calling me a sore loser and a sorry excuse for a writer. I wasn’t trying to win back the blog contest, I just HATE it when my writing is passed off as someone else’s work and wanted to let the blogger know it would not be tolerated. Seriously, all she had to do was say, “Molly came up with a great idea last night…” or “Molly wrote a comment suggesting we do this…” and I wouldn’t have thought twice about it. It wasn’t until another reader called her out and thanked her for taking my suggestion that it heated up again.

Since plagiarism is now publicly acceptable at PlayintheCity.com, I have decided to distance myself from that group of bloggers and readers as much as possible. I recognize the fact that the blogosphere is still relatively new, and I want to associate myself with a credible and creative group that are determined to take blogging to the next level. I fully expect my share of trolls and ongoing negativity, but at least now I feel like I’ll have more control of where my writing is headed and I have a fresh start and a brand new reader base. I look forward to what's next!