Greater Milwaukee Men

Congratulations to Milwaukee’s The Brass Rooster for winning U.S. Cellular's Spotlight on America’s Backbone Contest . Reviving a classic look for a new generation, their custom men’s hats can be seen throughout the Milwaukee community and beyond. They won $25,000 in advertising, one year of service and devices and $5,000 cash to better their business. The Brass Rooster, located in Bay View, is a hat and accessories shop that offers their own line of hand made and custom hats as well as hats and accessories from well-known brands. They can also clean, shape, block, size and otherwise repair hats. They have been on our Goods & Services page for a while now do to being a locally owned store catering to men, and it seems we aren't the only ones who think they are Great. Congratulations again to The Brass Rooster!

There are so many days and names of the days of shopping now its crazy, but there is one day we are fully behind and that is Small Business Saturday where going small can mean big things for local businesses specifically and Milwaukee - or your local community wherever you may be - in general. Small Business Saturday is a day dedicated to supporting small businesses across the country. Founded by American Express in 2010, this day is celebrated every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This year, Small Business Saturday is on November 30th.

Today is my birthday. It falls in the middle of Movember , and this year happens to fall on the third Thursday of the month which is my monthly guys' night get together.At this stage in our lives most of us are husbands, many are fathers, but all are a son, or a brother - we are all special and needed by someone. Which makes me want to refocus our Movember discussion away from the spectacle of the stache and to what it's really about: men's health. After all, we can only be or become Great Men if we have the time to do so. So it is our number one responsibility to make sure we are around as long as we can be to be a Great Father, Husband, Partner, Brother, Son, Friend, and that means taking care of ourselves as much or more than we care for others, but for so many too many, men that is the last thing on their mind.

Through the wonders of the web I had heard about the store The Art of Shaving , but up until just over a year ago there was no way to experience it unless you went out of town. I was able to visit the Chicago one once, but then one opened up here in the Milwaukee area - in Wauwatosa specifically - at Mayfair Mall. Now that we have one here, you can experience it during a time when you can make it mean something. In the past, and this year once again, the store has participated in Movember.

I almost don't even know how to begin in this one since it hits home on so many levels, but I'll try since its too awesome to pass up. By now you know its Movember , if not catch up , and you should also know a goal of GMM is to promote socially conscious products specifically for men and have covered TOMS before . But this month TOMS has outdone themselves by not only doing their One for One  model but also donating money for every Movember product  sold to the cause. That means for every pair of Movember shoes bought TOMS is donating twice  - one pair of shoes to a needy child and money to Movember.

Beer and Gears (ok chains) make a great combo It's that time of the year again, holiday shopping season. What used to start on the day after Thanksgiving now starts on the day of - I am sure you can guess my thoughts on that - or earlier, especially for those who shop online. We men know that shopping can be hard for us in general, but especially if the gift giver wants to be socially conscious. Each year we try to highlight products for men that not only don't harm but actually help like this story from last year. This year will be no different, an updated guide is in progress and as we see things we will post hem over the next month, starting with these great gift ideas from ReBike - Quality products, handmade in the USA from recycled bicycle parts - great for the bike lover or any man really in your life.

It may seem as if the world goes pink every October, and while we fully support the efforts, this is a man's blog. I have personal connections to breast cancer, I myself had a mastectomy when I was a child to remove what was thankfully a benign tumor in my chest, and I just visited with a close friend of my wife's that had and did the same thing as Angelina Jolie (a radical double mastectomy ). But there are not only other cancers out there, but other campaigns to support and research them. This being a blog about making men  greater, every year we help promote one near and dear to our heart - well a different organ - Movember , the champion of prostate and testicular cancer. Movember participants are hosting local events across the US on Movember 1 to kick off the moustache movement to change the face of men’s health. To date, Movember has funded over 570 programs in the areas of education and awareness, living with and beyond cancer, and research. Details about Movember f...

If you have been paying attention, you know I love dogs. They are 'man's' best friend after all. I personally have been involved in animal welfare for over a decade, one piece of which was founding and helping lead the friends group for dog parks in Milwaukee: ROMP , through which we were able to get 4 new parks opened with 2 more on the way next year. Now, everyone else can help make them even better by winning a $500,000 donation.

Let's admit it, men either go half way or too far, and with power tools we can often go too far, but sometimes - just sometimes - The Man Way is the right way. It is November and that means its time for a reflection on grooming practices, no I'm not talking about Movember and our facial hair, but yard grooming. Exhibit A: After the fall For those of us with all four seasons, it's that time of year - leaf raking. Though for pretty much every other reason Autumn is my favorite time of year, I would rather shovel snow than rake leaves. Since I now have a corner double lot, fully fenced in to trap all the leaves - versus the postage stamp yard I came from - my dislike has grown. So, ever since we moved to the new house I have opted to mulch the leaves - yes that's right, mow them. My rhetorical question is: am I being lazy or smart? The neighbors looks' make me think lazy, yet my environmental and efficiency thoughts say smart. You be the judge. But as we see...

It has been a while since I talked about the four virtues of a Great Man, our version of a modern gentleman's code, but in the news the past week there was a perfect example. You may have seen the image of the man on the Q Train - New York City's subway - letting a complete stranger rest his head on his shoulder . To us this is a display of a Great Man displaying the value of Compassion. Isaac Thiel, you are a Great Man.

Here is a great deal for those of you growing a moustache for Movember, or any man with a stache year-round.  Halo Soap , with locations in Bay View and Cudahy, is making a whole line of moustache waxes and during every November, 50% of the sales from those products will go towards the Movember Foundation, and 20% of those sales during the rest of the year will be held until the following Movember. That means you can buy local, natural, AND support men's health - that's a home run in the Greater MKE Men's world. They make other men's products as well including man-friendly soaps like beer, bay rum, and coffee - even dirt, yes dirt  scent - as well as men's facial care products like after-shave a pre-shave oil which you can but on their Etsy store (see Etsy isn't just for women!)

Ok, so this is nowhere near new news, seeing as its the second 'season' of the project already and I am just getting around to it, but now is as good a time as any to give kudos to  itsAaron , the charitable project of Packers QB Aaron Rodgers and local attorney David Gruber. This is not a guy just looking for some good pr. You've all seen the ads by now, teasers of Aaron Rodgers showing up at someone's door to surprise them with the message to visit itsAaron.com to see the rest. The ads are simple and don't convey much and to be honest til now I had never gone and visited the site and wondered how many had and thus how effective it was. Apparently they have been more effective than I thought since the campaign earned a regional Emmy award nomination from the Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in the category of "Outstanding Achievement for Commercials – Campaign."

If a man of this size can be bullied, anyone can. When the Miami Dolphins suspended their player (who shall remain nameless here) who was found to be bullying a team mate they showed themselves to be a great team regardless of what their record ends up being. You can find the full story elsewhere , including a transcript of an example of the hatred that spewed from the mouth of the player in a voicemail left for the victim. The victim, Jonathan Martin left the team mid-season after a reported incident but it likely was due to this bullying. I am not sure what steps Martin took before this to report, and one hopes if he did they were followed up on, and it is a shame he left if it was because of this. I am not saying the Dolphins did everything right, we will have to wait til the details come out and see how they follow up on possibly other accusations. But at least at this point, of their own accord not even from a league mandate, they took the positive step to take a stand again...

Harley-Davidson Motor Co. has long been associated with the US military and vets, such as their special deals for current and former military, and they continue to honor them with Veteran's Day coming up in a week. The Harley Museum is holding a three day Veteran's Day Celebration along with their  Rock the Rumble benefit rock concert.