Author Archives: nednerbc

Taste Of Madison Canopies

I was at the farmer’s market before the Taste of Madison last weekend. All of the restaurants and such were set up and waiting for the start. I noticed something unusual about it. Can you see it?

Taste of Madison Canopies

Taste of Madison Canopies

No? What about here?

100_3587

Taste of Madison Canopies 2

Nearly all of the canopies are either red, white, or blue. I only see one (in the lower picture) that has any other color in it. Is this normal? Do canopy makers not sell any other colors or do people only buy red, white or blue? I thought I would share.

Pheasant Branch Nature Preserve

Pheasant Branch Nature Preserve Middleton WI

Pheasant Branch Nature Preserve Middleton WI

I have been trying to explore Middleton a little more. I recently ventured into Pheasant Branch Nature Preserve. It is a pretty cool place. There is a trail corridor and a main part with more paths and such. I like it because it is quiet and a break from biking on the noisy streets. The shade is cool on warm days and that is appreciated by me. One of the cool features is the creek crossings. There is a bridge but there is also this:

Creek Crossing Pheasant Branch

Creek Crossing in Pheasant Branch Nature Preserve

It allows bikers to go through the water and runners or walkers can use the stones on the side to easily cross it. My guess is that it allows trucks to keep off of the bridges. But I am not sure if that is the main reason.

I think that these crossings are very cool. It gets you up close to nature and I love running water. Many times I see kids down there and maybe there are a few future conservationists among them. When I was younger there was a park with a creek and all the kids would be playing in it. Those are memories that will last.

The main part of the nature preserve has a hill with a pretty good view.

Pheasant Branch

Pheasant Branch

There were a few paths closed to bicycles so I will have to get back there to do some more exploring. As an aside one of the info kiosks showed that Middleton used to be known as Peatsville. Pheasant Branch was actually a town as well. It didn’t end up thriving because a railroad decided to lay track elsewhere. Interesting history!

Smiles of a Summer Night, Encounters at the End of the World, & Battleship Potemkin

I had a long weekend over the holiday so I decided went to the library to stock up on things to keep me busy. I read one book and watched three movies.

The Millionaire Next Door

I read this book as it is highly recommended in personal finance circles. It is a bit old but still had a lot to offer. The section about car buying really had me chuckling as it involves newspaper ads and facsimile machines. The main message I took away from it was that living below your means can really add up. It was also interesting to note the differences between first generation affluent and subsequent generations. It is food for thought for the affluent with children. I also liked the breakdown between prodigious accumulators of wealth and under accumulators of wealth. I would recommend this book.

Smiles of a Summer Night

From Smiles of a Summer Night Source: http://ozu-teapot.tumblr.com

1955 by Ingmar Bergman. This is the second movie I have seen by this director (The first was The Seventh Seal). I enjoyed this film a lot. It was playful. The acting was good and I enjoyed the story. I also like films set in places and times that I am unfamiliar with. In this case it was turn of the century Sweden. The Swedish word for lawyer is “advokat” which is very similar to the Polish word “adwokat” which also means lawyer.

I liked this movie and I am 2 for 2 with this director. I will have to search out more of his work.

 Encounters at the End of the World

2007 by Werner Herzog. This is a documentary about Antarctica and is primarily concerned with the people that live there. It was interesting to see the people who spend time down there. One of the characters said it best when he mentioned that people who don’t fit anywhere else fall down to the bottom of the world. One of the inhabitants that piqued my interest was the man who always has a bag packed and ready to go at a moment’s notice. He even has a rubber raft and paddle in there. It mentioned that he escaped from behind the Iron Curtain and was making the most of freedom.

The scenery of Antarctica was beautiful. I am partial to snow and cold over heat. The place looks so peaceful and quiet. It would be an interesting place to visit but not necessarily live.

Battleship Potemkin

1925 by Sergei Eisenstein. A silent propaganda film. And a good one to boot. It really sets the stage of the common man against the privileged. Includes the famous shot on the Odessa Steps. It was fairly short but still packed a good punch. It would have been a tough life to be a sailor at that time. And the food wouldn’t have been the greatest either.

Radio – My Kind of Entertainment

100_3514Reflecting on your journey can help you as you move forward

My journey of life improvement has lead me to cut down on my television consumption. I always read that watching less or no tv was better for you, but until you try it you just don’t understand how much better it is. I still keep a 20″ tv for the Packer’s games and the occasional Rick Steves’ Europe episode.

For entertainment I find myself listening to the radio more. The main advantage of listening to the radio is that it does not lock in your sight and sound the way television does. I can wash dishes, cook, write or just plain stare out of the window while listening to the radio. With a tv I keep my butt in the chair and my eyes on the screen. My apartment is small enough that I can listen to it all over with ease.

One of the favorite things about the radio is that there are some stations that are commercial free or commercial “lite”. These are the stations I like to listen to; I have grown an aversion to advertisements. Some of my favorite stations in the Madison area are:

  • Wisconsin Public Radio – I especially like Old Time Radio Drama. They had some interesting advertising back in the day!
  • WSUM – the student station of UW Madison aka the Snake on the Lake
  • WTMJ – for the Brewer games & Bob Uecker
  • 88.7 Classical Music – part of Wisconsin Public Radio I think
  • WORT – community radio at it’s finest

Thanks to the internet I can listen to stations from all around the world or those just outside of my geographic reach:

Those are my favorites but I am always looking for more. When I was out in South Dakota I heard an advertisement for a radio show called the “Floydian Slip”. You just don’t get that on normal radio stations!

Do you have a go to radio station? Do you ever listen to radio from other countries or in a different language?

Space – or “Nature abhors a vacuum”

Tile floor at the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre, SD

Tile floor at the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre, SD

Today I am going to write about space, or, more specifically, living space. My recent move has been an upgrade from the 300 square feet of living space that I had previously enjoyed. (Have you ever seen that billboard advertisement that says “Bigger than your first apartment”?). Now I have all this empty space and I am afraid of nature filling it up.

I did like my old place, but the location left something to be desired for my current situation. A small space meant it was much more economical to heat and cool. And when I was looking for something I only had one closet to rummage through. Now I have 4 closets!

My new place feels much bigger. It is no longer just one room. One of my favorite things is the large, south facing window in the living room giving lots of light. The winter won’t concern me as much because I don’t pay for heat. My living space is very open right now and I will try to keep it that way. My bedroom has my mattress, a lamp and a small nightstand. There is nothing on the walls and it is very peaceful. The living room is also sparse. I have my computer, chair, stereo, lamp and plants. I have an antenna TV but it is not plugged in. (I have developed a serious dislike for commercials.)

The only major thing I am considering buying is a couch. It would be nice to offer people a place to sit when they visit which is rarely. I would also like to be able to host Couchsurfers. I am not sure Middleton is a big destination but I guess you never know.

I am worried about my space filling up with stuff. I like open space. Plus it is cheaper to not buy things in the first place. One way I am combating this is by not having a car. Everything I bring into my apartment is carried or biked. That should keep my apartment empty for the time being.

Have you noticed your space filling up? Have you ever couchsurfed or hosted someone? Let me know!

Movie and a Dinner

Last night I went out. The UW Cinematheque was screening “The Producers”. I had never seen it before but have only heard good things about it.

The movie exceeded expectations. Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel were hilarious. I cannot imagine how it would have been received in 1968. It crossed so many lines but still managed to be funny. Almost every line was memorable. Laughing at the jokes with the rest of the audience is more satisfying then laughing alone on my couch.

Before the film started they showed a trailer for a movie called “Skatetown USA“. It is hard for me to believe that at some point in time someone thought this was a good movie to make. It apparently was the film debut of Patrick Swayze.

After dinner it was time to eat. I cycled from Union South (where the movie was) to downtown to find some food. I ended up going to Paul’s Pel’meni. It is the little place on Gorham with the “Gorham Dumplings” sign in the window. It was my second time there and I like the place a lot. It is simple, the food is good and the service is good. For a half order of dumplings is $4.5 and only a buck more for a soda. And they have Sun Drop. I will be returning again.

If you really like pel’meni but can’t always get downtown you can buy frozen pel’meni at Intermarket which is a Russian grocery store on Old Middleton near Knoche’s Food Store. Lots of interesting things there.

The best part about my evening was the biking. I haven’t biked at night in a long time. It is much different than biking during the day. Looking at Google maps it looks like I biked 13 miles for my dinner and a movie. I was tired but it was great exercise. And for The Producers and pel’meni I would do it again.

Back to School

It is that season again! This will be my second fall not returning to school. But I still feel a little nostalgia when I go to the store and see the supply lists and hear people talking about scheduling classes.

I miss school, especially my university years. I had lots of time each day to do what I want. I also had new ideas presented to me all the time. I have to make an effort to have that happen now. I try to constantly look for new things and ideas by using Google News, Reddit, and tumblr. With Reddit and Tumblr there is a lot of fluff but there is also a lot of good, thoughtful content to subscribe to and follow. I see new things, learn about new people, and am inspired by some of the amazing pictures that I find on these sites.

Another thing I miss about school is the student life. I was by no means a party animal. But it was easier to have a good time. Due to some thoughtful scheduling and a little luck I had many semesters with no classes on Fridays. (Economics professors apparently don’t like to teach on Friday’s; you didn’t hear me complaining!) I had some 8 o’clock classes, but it wasn’t every day. Another bonus was that I always lived 15 minutes or less by bike from campus so the commute was fantastic. I went to school in Stevens Point, WI and there are not a whole lot of hills. It was very easy biking.

One of the biggest adjustments from school to “real life” is the concept of summer vacation, or lack thereof. It used to be a goal: just get through finals and you get a break. At work that break never seems to come. There are shorter vacations but the longest I will probably be able to take for a while would be 2 weeks and that would be a large portion of my vacation days.

Do you miss school? What part do you miss the most?

I relocated to Middleton

If you have been reading the blog you know that I mentioned moving. Well last weekend was the big move to Middleton. My mom, my brother and a friend of his came down and helped. It only took a few hours, and we rewarded ourselves with lunch from Sonic. (For the longest time I saw Sonic commercials here in Wisconsin but I never saw a Sonic)

I now have a new commute. Driving distance has been cut from 6.8 miles to 2.7 miles. But that would be if I drove. The best part about my new location is the bike commute. It is a short 2.3 mile ride door to door. I take about 15 minutes. There is minimal traffic unless I leave work at 4:30 or 5:00 on the nose. Compared to my old commute by bus I am saving just about an hour a day – which is 5 hours a week, 20 hours a month, or 240 hours a year (10 days!).

The extra $100 a month this rent is over my last place is well worth it. I am looking forward to discovering more of Middleton. I have already found my way to the Willy Street Coop, the Village Green, and Tiedeman Pond.

Are there any can’t miss things I should add to my “to-do” list?