Greater Milwaukee Men

Part of what we do here is celebrate when Milwaukee is recognized for excelling at something. Recently, Milwaukee was voted as having the 4th in the 10 Best Arts Districts in the Third Ward neighborhood by readers of USA Today. USA Today made this note: "Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward is home to a staggering number of galleries, studios, museums, performing arts spaces and art organizations, including the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design Galleries, Milwaukee Potters Guild, ArtWorks for Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Artist Resource Network." What makes this even better to me is that it's a Reader's selection, vs. the media. It's one thing for a reporter to travel around and visit and select their opinion, but to be in Reader's Choice means that people have actually been here and enjoyed it.  We beat out the likes of Denver and Chicago just in the top ten, not to mention all the ones that didn't even make it that high. Photo cr. Visit Milwaukee

July 4th, American Independence Day, has passed - but one of its primary activities has not, at least here in Wisconsin. Storms yesterday and today have postponed many community's shows. But maybe, just maybe, we shouldn't have them at all. Maybe we should replace them all with something else, like laser light shows. Some communities, like Salt Lake City, are already doing it because of a few of the many reasons I will argue everyone should. Fireworks are... I'm looking for an appropriate word here... problematic. Personally I have stronger feelings against them than that, but I understand that many people enjoy the spectacle. But most people don't understand the negative effects. I'll start with the first and most obvious one and after the break I'll get into more. As a dog companion, specifically a dog with noise anxiety among others, fireworks are entirely unenjoyable. The times when official fireworks are set, and usually for days before and after at random