Issue 186

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PLUS: 'ESCANABA IN DA MOONLIGHT' REVIEW • PAGE 6 | WAREHOUSE TO WELCOME THE LAST VEGAS • PAGE 11

VOLUME 9, NO. 186 | OCTOBER 29, 2009

HALLOWEENTHRILLERS

ZOMBIES RULE5

COSTUME GUIDEPage 4

'RUNAWAY DEVIL'Page 6

2// October 29, 2009 Second Supper

L'EditorDear Reader: Have Americans collectively agreed that Halloween is our best holiday? I haven’t seen any official polling on the subject, but from people I’ve talked to it seems to be the fan favorite. I know it topped a Top 7 list once. Also, I’ve never heard anyone rush up to me and exclaim, “Boy, I re-ally love the Fourth of July!” Halloween is great because it’s ours. Sure, if you want to get technical, Americans didn’t really “invent” Hallow-een. Its roots are Irish (+1,000 party points right there), and all around the British Isles children still go “guising” and I guess fuddy-duddies bob for apples. But it’s nothing like fantastical, uproarious, boozy bacchanalia that nor-mally better-behaved American adults revel in each year. If there was another contender for best American hol-iday, it would have to be Thanksgiving. The food is splen-did and the day is lazy (if you’re not doing the cooking), but all that consumption becomes its drawback. No one really rages Thanksgiving. We just digest it, but Halloween — on Halloween we become. So while it may not be as as reverential as Dia de los Muertos or as authentic as the Celtic traditions, Halloween is the perfect American holiday. It’s irreverent and beguil-ing and illogical and wasteful. But since we spend the rest of the year suppressing those better urges, no wonder we think Halloween is the best day of the year.

— Adam Bissen

Social Networking

NAME AND AGE: Katy Denny, 21

WHERE WERE YOU BORN? The good side of the river, haha. ... La Crescent

CURRENT JOB: Sales girl at Katmandu

LAsT THiNG YOU GOOGLED: I have no clue. Movie times, maybe?

if YOU COULD LiVE ANYWHERE iN THE WORLD, WHERE WOULD iT BE? I want to live in many places. New Zealand is at the top of the list, though.

WHAT is YOUR BiGGEsT PET PEEVE?It drives me nuts when people use "like" every other word when they talk.

WHAT is sOMETHiNG YOU WANT TO DO BEfORE YOU DiE?Sky diving!

WHAT is YOUR BEVERAGE Of CHOiCE? Juice

CELEBRiTY CRUsH: Shia LeBouf. Haha. He's definitely "grown" up.

if A GENiE GRANTED YOU ONE

WisH, WHAT WOULD YOU Ask fOR? Why not? World peace.

WHAT BOOk ARE YOU CURRENTLY READiNG?Umm, the ones for school. ... That's all I have time for.

TELL Us YOUR GUiLTiEsTPLEAsURE: Guiltiest pleasure? Haha, umm, going on a major grocery shopping spree. ... I hate knowing I just spent most of my paychek on munchies and random shit I don't need.

TELL Us A JOkE:So, it's lame, but it's the only one I got: What bird can lift the most weight? A crane.

fiRsT CONCERT YOU WENT TO: I've been going to shows with my dad since I was a kid, so I don't know the first one I went to, but the first I remem-ber was the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

WHAT's THE LAsT THiNG YOU BOUGHT?A cool boy's T-shirt from Goodwill. There are some good finds there.

WHAT's iN YOUR POCkET RiGHT NOW?: Looks like ... pocket lint.

WHAT is YOUR fAVORiTE PART Of sECOND sUPPER?The crossword puzzle

HOW DO YOU kNOW TYLER (LAsT WEEk's iNTERViEW)? Coincidence. We went to the same high school and then got reintroduced through a mtual friend.

Second Supper October 29, 2009 // 3

ThereareplentyoflocalbarswithentertainmentSaturday,butBoot Hill Pub and Grill's Halloweencel-ebrationfrom7p.m.to2a.m.offersnotonlyagoodtimebutalsoagoodcause.Proceedsbenefitthe City of La Crosse K-9 Unit and

Vernon County Humane Society.The$25coverin-cludesappetizers,doorprizes,silentauctionandcostumecontest.Studebaker7providesthemusic.Yousave$5ifyoubuyinadvanceatBootHillPub&Grill,1501St.AndrewSt.,orJimBob'sPub&Grill.Forinformation,call(608)[email protected].

WhatbetterwaytocelebrateHalloweenthanwithanold,kinkyfriend?No,notthatfriend!We’retalkingaboutThe Muse Theatre’s presentation of “The Rocky Horror

Picture Show.”SecondSupper’srecentre-viewsaidthetroupecapturesthespiritofthecultclassicyetfindswaysto

makeittheirown.WeassumeSaturday’s7:30p.m.performancemayverywellbethehighlightoftheplay’srun,whichcontinuesthroughNov.14atTheMuseTheatre,1353AvonSt.Ticketsare$25atthedoor,cheaperifpurchasedinadvance.Forticketinformation,visitwww.musetheatre.comonlineorcall(608)782-0707.

TheTop

FIRST THINGS FIRSTThings To Do

31

42

Best Halloween candy

1.Reese'sPeanutButterCup2.ThreeMusketeers3.AnythingFullSize4.BottleCaps5.FunDip6.BabyRuth7.Yoursister's

Halloweensongs

1. "MonsterMash"byBobby"Boris"Picket2."NightmareonMyStreet"byDJJazzyJeffandtheFreshPrince3."StoryofaGhost"byPhish4."Thriller"byMichaelJackson5."WerewolvesofLondon"byWarrenZevon6."PsychoKiller"byTalkingHeads7.AnythingbyRobZombie

©2009 Treasu

re Island

Resort & C

asino

It’sgoodtoseesomestudentsarethinkingaboutmorethanhowtomaketheirLadyGaGaandMichaelJack-soncostumes.UW-La Crosse Volunteering Withinisone

oftheorganizationsthatwillgodoortodoorwithshoppingcartsfrom4to8p.m.SaturdaytocollectnonperishablefooditemsaspartofTrick-or-Treat for Cans. FoodcollectedwillgototheUW-Lfoodpantry,SalvationArmyand

WAFERFoodPantry.VolunteersinterestedinhelpingwillmeetatWeigentPark,16thandCassstreets,andtheSouthCommunityLibraryat1307S.16thSt.Forinformation,call(414)429-4889ore-mailjames.alex@students.uwlax.edu.Volunteersareinvitedtowearcostumes.

TheLa Crosse New Music Festival cel-ebratesits10thanniversarywithnightlyconcertsNov.3-5intheCenterfortheArtsontheUW-LaCrossecampus.Performersforthe7:30p.m.concertsincludestudentsandmusic

facultyfromUW-L,LutherCollege,St.Mary'sUniversityandViterboUniversity.Suggesteddonationsare$5,$3forstudentsforeachconcert,payableatthedoor. TheeventalsofeaturestheworkofcomposersDan Senn,a1974UW-LgraduatewholivesinPortland,Ore.,andMark

Zanter,aLaCrossenativewhoseworkhasbeencommissionedbygroupsandsoloists.Anexhibit,"DrummingwithThoreau:KineticSoundArtofDanSenn,"willbeondisplaythroughNov.14intheUniversityArtGallery.TheStudyGallery,meanwhile,

willshow"TheVideosofDanSenn." Zanterwillconductaworkshopaboutimprovisationalmodelsat1:10p.m.onWednesday,Nov.4,inAnnettRecitalHall.

4// October 29, 2009 Second SupperCOMMUNITY

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La Crosse Halloween Costume Guide

Dressed to the '09s! Alright, stragglers, there are just two days left until Halloween, and if you haven’t picked out your costume yet Second Supper has you covered once again. These seven outfi ts will surely be the “it” costumes of Halloween 2009 — La Crosse edition, of course. Like most costumes, they only require a little hunting and a hefty dose of panache. A complete lack of shame also helps.

Brett Favre — We’ve seen plenty of Favres in green and gold, and this year we’ll probably see lots more in purple. But now that #4 is a Viking, we recommend going the 11th century route with horned helmets and a fur vest, but go easy on the alleged raping and the pillag-ing. You’re not Mark Chmura, after all.

Dan Breeden — For about eight months, Second Supper adopted a moratorium on Dan Breeden jokes, but since we still can’t think of a more famous local celebrity, consider that truce fi nished. Grow a mustache and wear a suit.

Billy Mays — Grow a beard and let the dead bury the dead. To us, Billy Mays will always represent the vim and vigor of life. Drink out of an OxyClean pail and shove all those Mi-chael Jacksons you’ll see off the dance fl oor. As for replicating Mays’ trademark energy and enthusiasm, that part of the costume is up to you.

Matt Harter — Speaking of vim and vigor, spend a day as Mayor Matt Harter, La Crosse’s boy prince of boundless cheer. Tighten up that haircut, don an ill-fi tting navy blue suit, wear a yellow button and go out and shake everyone’s hand. Oh, and drink orange juice — lots and lots of orange juice.

Tea Party Patriot — Want to get on Fox News? Dress up like a Revolutionary War soldier, carry a copy of Glen Beck’s book, demand strangers’ birth certifi cates and just generally get in everyone’s way.

King Gambrinus — You’ll be the life of the party when you show up as the legendary king of beers. Wear a robe, lean on your sword, carry a pony keg, get nice and sloshed, drink out of a chalice and raise plenty of toasts. What could be more fun than that?

Swine Flu — There are plenty of ways to represent H1N1 in costume, and most of them will involve a pig snout. Above, cartoonist Nick Cabreza chose to illustrate the fallback option favored by many a lusty co-ed: Sexy Swine Flu. Or update the ever-popular look with sexy investment banker, sexy unemployed auto worker or sexy David Letterman.

Favre,Breeden,Mays,Harter,Patriot,GambrinusandSwineFlu,clockwisefrombottomleft.

ON THE COVERJennBushmanoftheGreenBayStreetStudiosetsthesceneforHalloween.

Second Supper October 29, 2009 // 5COMMUNITY

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It’s an unassuming place in an unas-suming neighborhood — Norplex Drive, itself, looks like a kind of a graveyard for La Crosse’s aging industries. Perhaps unassum-ing is exactly what one needs when arrang-ing the cremation of a beloved friend. Within these taupe-hued walls are the offi ces of Companions Always, a pet crema-tion service. In an industrial-looking room lies a highly effi cient cremation machine, the same model from Matthews Crema-tion Division (no relation to the Matthew’s Bow Company) that can be used for human corpses. The cremation oven is a surpris-ingly beautiful piece of equipment, with a corrugated chrome exterior that creates clean lines and a bright sheen on a box no larger than a minivan. The control panel is simple, amounting to little more than a few timers and switches — the $65,000-plus ma-chine is clearly designed to serve one, albeit macabre, purpose. The process of cremating an animal is as clean and professional as that machine. If possible, the staff takes an inking of the paw or hoofs and salvages personal effects at the owner’s request. The animal is iden-tifi ed and separated from others in prepa-ration for the burn. Afterwards, the indi-vidual remains are carefully processed and placed in an oak box or one of many other elaborate options available. Staff will even hand-deliver the fi nal remains, considering it somewhat tasteless to deliver such a pack-age via traditional parcel services. In front of the machines, oak urns, death certifi cates and a van that covers cit-ies as far away as Mauston, are the faces of people who daily share strangers’ most dif-fi cult burden. “People view pets differently today than they did when I was growing up,” says Don Jobe, owner and operator of Com-panions Always. Debbie Braund, who handles Compan-ions Always’ daily operations, agrees. “Pets are even more important to people these days,” she posits, “because there so much non-human contact.” Up until roughly 18 months ago, own-ers of deceased pets in the La Crosse area had few options for sanitary disposal, much less dignifi ed burial. A common option for many is to bury the deceased. The Walnut Grove Pet Cemetery — owned by Edward’s Investments — provides one option, but the property sits just outside of Holmen off Highway TT, an inconvenient distance for many of the bereaved. Even Dennis Knight, DVM for Coulee Mobile Vet, had to rely on a biweekly pickup from a crematorium out of Poynette. For many, this lack of services left a variety of less-than-sanitary options, particularly when the owner has a close con-nection “Normally [when] people call me, they’re in tears,” Braund says. “I’ll be say-ing, ‘Take you time, catch your breath,

when you’re ready to talk, I’m right here.’” Though such lamentation from pet owners may seem unfounded, there is a growing concern nationwide for the grief experienced by those who have lost their furry (or feathered) companion. Veteri-narian and newspaper columnist Shawn P Messonnier responded in 2002 to a grieving man who was deeply hurt when friends said he was overreacting following the euthaniz-ing of his dog. “As someone who has seen several of his own pets die, I know the grief you feel is very real,” Messonnier wrote. “You should know that your emotions are a normal part of the fi ve stages of grieving.” It seems to be this closeness to death, rather than a cold, professional disassocia-tion from it, that enables people to work in this fi eld. Braund, for example, says she has “had to use [the] burner twice” in the short time Companions Always has been operat-ing — once for a dog who died of old age and again for a dog who died young. Knight, as a veterinarian, expresses a dichotomy in dealing with the passing of other people's pets. “Of course, I try to contain my emo-tions so I can provide a service at a profes-sional capacity,” say Knight, “however, there are times when it is quite challenging.” You can see it throughout the offi ces at Companions, little pieces of the times when staff have had the business of death come dangerously close to their own hearts. At ev-ery turn, beautiful photographs of dogs and cats — often pictured with their loved ones — hang on the walls. It might seem eerie if the staff wasn’t so optimistic. The business — or rather the service — of a dignifi ed death is as diverse in the world of animals as it is in the human world; perhaps even more so. Arrangements have been made for animal ashes to be buried along with their human counterpart, or for ashes to be divided among multiple urns, a piece of the mortal remains given separate family members. The option is also avail-able for the remains to be compressed into a stone, cut, polished and made into jewelry though, Jobe notes, none of their clients has yet requested it. It seems strange to defi ne a business under such auspices. Jobe, as a former ex-ecutive of AlliedSignal (merged into Hon-eywell International Inc. in 1999) and Isola Laminate Systems, clearly brings a keen knowledge of operating a successful busi-ness. Yet the “product” seems to go far be-yond anything tangible — urns, caskets, certifi cates and transportation seem to be auxiliary functions of an emotional prod-uct. There is a service to be offered — not in the operation of a cremation machine — but in comfort and closure. “It’s a business that is good for the community and family,” Braund says, “but it’s a business that I think is … awesome.” It begs the question: How does deal-ing with all this death and the surround-ing emotions affect one’s outlook on life? Jobe admits to having not had a pet for

quite some time but notes that his son — a licensed mortician — owns a pet. “I think it’s given [me] a lot more compassionate conception [sic],” Jobe says. “It goes be-yond just being a dog or being a cat. ... It’s somebody’s loved one and you want to care for it as such.” Though one never likes to imagine having to use such a service for their own pet, it’s good to know that the inevitabil-ity will be met with a comforting hug and a healthy dose of sympathy. Says Braund, “Whenever we see people, we say, ‘It’s a pleasure meeting you and, as much as we’d like to see you again, hopefully we don’t see you for a very long time.’”

By Jacob [email protected]

When pets passAnimal crematoriums: not as eerie as you'd think

PhotobyJamiePeacock


Bizarro Masterpiece TheatreMovie: "The Return of the Living Dead" (1985)Director: Dan O'BannonStars: Clu Gulager, James Karen, Linnea QuigleyWriter: Dan O'Bannon

ARTS

La Crosse Community Theatre118 5th Ave. N., La CrosseOct. 29-Nov. 1, Nov. 5-8Box office: (608) 784-9292

'Escanaba in Da Moonlight'

"Escanaba in Da Moonlight" is by far the funniest play I have seen in ages. The cast and crew at the La Crosse Community Theatre put on a performance this past Fri-day that was hilarious. From the opening curtain to the close, I felt like I was in deer camp. They even made it smell like a huntin’ cabin. As the Sa-odys say, “Opening Day is like Christ-mas with guns.” I don’t know why deer camp is like dat but da yoop-ers up der on dat stage captured the entire essence of deer camp. As Albert Soady, played by Dan Radtke, summed up during his opening monologue, “Deer camp was as tight as a moose’s rump.” This deer camp, like many deer camps, was filled with tradition and ritual. On his way to deer camp, Remnar Soady (Scott Vehrenkamp) had a vision of a 50-point buck. Now as far as tall tales go, this was a pretty tall one and Vehrenkamp did a splendid job of delivering his lines in a way that one couldn’t help but laugh. Poor Reuben Soady (Tom Wright), 35 years and hadn’t shot a buck yet and he was

going to mess with the Soady camp tradi-tions and rituals. You can imagine the up-roar when his father and brother found out that Reuben forgot the pasties and that they had drank a concoction that included flies and something from a moose. Reuben was asking for too much change for one deer season, but none of it really mattered to the masterfully played Jimmer Negamenee (Ken Brown). Jimmer stole the show. From his en-trance wearing a huge rabbit fur hat (the kind with the oversized earlappers) to his gas attack that brought Reuben back from another dimension, this man was flat out funny. It doesn’t hurt that he kept drinking porcupine urine and the moose ball testicle milkshake brought in place of the pasties. Jimmer seemed to go along with every-thing. After all, he had been abducted by aliens once, “and he’d never been da same since.” For all you deer hunters out there and for all the ladies who wonder what goes on up at deer camp, you have to see the La Crosse Community Theatre rendition of "Escanaba in Da Moonlight." You will be laughing for hours, maybe even days, after the play.

— Timothy D. Scholze

It’s easy to pick "Dawn of the Dead" as the best zombie film of all time, and it’s hard to disagree. Yet allow me to offer what I feel to be, at its very worst, a strong num-ber two. This movie came about due to cinemat-ic zombie mitosis. In the beginning, dead mastermind George Romero created "Night of the Living Dead" alongside co-writer John Russo. Eventually, the two parted ways, and the question arose as to what to do with this budding zombie franchise. The answer: make TWO zombie franchises. Romero went on to make the "Citizen Kane" of dead can-nibal flicks, as well as a whole mess of other heady films in the Dead series. Russo, how-ever, went a little more lowbrow. By and large, the Living Dead series is slapstick horror schlock, and has largely de-graded in quality through its five films (the last, tellingly, titled "Rave from the Grave"). But its opening shot was magnificent. The film opens with a newbie kid at his orientation in a medical storage com-plex. His mentor, played with flailing Fred Schneider mania by the great James Karen, tells the kid a true ghost story. By his ac-count, "Night of the Living Dead" really happened, and the government threatened the filmmakers who documented the event with death if they released it as anything

but fiction. The bodies were oil drummed up and shipped to some Area 51, but there was a goof — one of the drums ended up in the basement. Predictably, the old guy leads his protégé down the stairs, shows him the zombie can, and releases toxic zombie gas while proudly proclaiming the canister’s durability. Hijinks ensue. While the grunts scamper around the facility and wail, the kid’s friends, a mélange of punk kids, new wavers and morbid strip-pers, end up in the nearby cemetery. They are soon set upon by the tenants. There’s only one thing to do in this uncomfortable situation: call the boss. And so, we get to see the great BURT in action. Burt is a man’s man, a crafty old entre-preneur who takes no crap from the dead. He’s the guy who comes up with the (inad-visable) plan to have the twitchy mortician next door cremate the animated bodies. More importantly, Burt is the valiant cham-pion who takes a baseball bat and BURTS the hell out of any zombie unfortunate enough to cross him. He even knocks a zombie’s head clean off! If"Dawn of the Dead" is the king of zombie cinema, this movie is its more char-ismatic prince, the life of the dead party.

— Brett Emerson

Director: Sophie BarthesCast: Paul Giamatti, Dina Korzun, David StrathairnWriters: Sophie Barthes

'Cold Souls'(2009)

For roughly 20 minutes, right after ac-tor Paul Giamatti undergoes a procedure to have his soul surgically removed, Sophie Barthes' "Cold Souls" looks as if it will out-do obvious-influence Charlie Kaufman at his own surrealist game. It's practically im-possible not to mention Kaufman's name here; Barthes clearly isn't downplaying the comparisons between her screenplay and Kaufman's — specifically, "Being John Mal-kovich" (both films feature an actor playing himself) and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spot-less Mind" (both films revolve around ficti-tious left-field medical procedures). How-ever recycled (and perhaps because of it), the quirky surrealist plot lacks depth and, except for the 20-minute stretch mentioned above, substantial comedic pizazz. It's in-triguing enough to cause rejoice among coffee shop philosophers, but "Cold Souls" resonates with too much of a familiar terri-tory ring. Little of the film's potential is lost in the first 30 minutes. It cuts to the chase: Giamatti reads a "New Yorker" article about a company claiming to be able to physically remove and store souls, visits with company administrator David Strathairn and soon thereafter is holding his soul — which un-usually resembles a chickpea — in a glass canister. "Cold Souls" works best when Barthes plays around with the logistics of

this concept, as when Strathairn explains the procedure, assuring Giamatti that only 95 percent of the soul is actually removed because the other 5 percent is required to keep him animated. In the scenes following Giamatti's procedure, the movie becomes sheer comedic and philosophical gold, ex-ploring both the funny and serious effects of soullessness on acting, on relationships and on the individual. But then it takes several weird turns, introducing a mule (Dina Korzun) who traffics souls between the United States and Russia, a Russian machinist whose troubled soul has been stolen and a series of strange visions that both Giamatti and Korzun ex-perience as a result of playing host to vari-ous other souls. The story is no less inter-esting than when it pertains to Giamatti's hairbrained soulless tomfoolery, but the ef-fect is muddled, and the film loses most of the steam it spends the first act accumulat-ing. First-time writer-director Barthes obvi-ously wants to say something profound, and to an extent she succeeds, but the message becomes lost once the plot needlessly trips over its own nothingness. It's a shame, be-cause "Cold Souls" roars out of the gates. Hint for enjoying "Cold Souls": Pretend the third act never happens.

— Nick Cabreza


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fits my life

ARTS

Author: Robert Remington, Sherri ZickefoosePublisher: McClelland & Stewart Ltd.Miscellaneous: $23.95 / 270 pages

'Runaway Devil'

didn’t match her physicality, she became troubled. Anger was her dominant emo-tion, and she adapted the Goth look. Hang-ing out on Goth Web sites, she took the moniker of “Runaway Devil” and started posting about death and hate. When 23-year-old high school drop-out Jeremy Steinke met JR, he thought she was beautiful — and much older than she was. Their love was quick-kindled, passionate and, because JR’s parents for-bade their relationship, carried on largely through furtive phone calls and e-mail. With typical pre-teen venom, JR professed to hate her parents. They needed to die, she said. And she wanted Jeremy to help. Although the sub-title is a bit mis-leading (JR didn’t personally kill her en-tire family), “Runaway Devil” is a chilling book that’s also part cautionary tale for parents. Remington and Zickefoose are care-ful to lay out plenty of background, so that readers unfamiliar with alternative cultures can fully understand the situations that ap-parently appealed to JR. While they admit, in a roundabout way, that the vast majority

No doubt about it, first love makes you do goofy things. But you didn’t kill anyone over it. Twelve-year-old “JR” did, and authors Robert Remington and Sherri Zickefoose say that she appears remorseless even today. In “Runaway Devil: How Forbidden Love Drove a 12-Year-Old to Murder Her Family,” you’ll read about love and death. When Debra and Marc (names withheld to comply with Canadian law) bought their house in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, it was a definite step up. Both had had problems with drug abuse in the past and had successfully gotten treatment. Though they’d endured poverty, Marc had a new job and money was no longer tight. Eight-year-old Jacob and 11-year-old JR seemed to be adjusting well to new surroundings. It was a dream come true. But it was the calm before the storm. Almost 12, JR could easily pass as 16. Perhaps because her inner development

Designer’sThe

DrugsMedium: LiteratureStimulus: David Wong"John Dies at the End"Anno: 2009

David Wong is both the name of the author of "John Dies at the End" and the alias of the book’s protagonist. The author is also the editor of Mad Magazine alterna-tive, Cracked.com. As such, it’s appropri-ate that the author’s debut novel mixes themes of identity crisis with snot-faced humor and bravado. It’s clear what kind of tone this book is going to take when, in the prologue, the reader comes across the phrase, “sod-omized by a bratwurst pol-tergeist.” Yet left-field curveballs are found ev-erywhere. The main thrust of "John Dies at the End" is wrathful god-alien invasion horror, which for the most part is done rather well. And John, Wong’s boorish X-files cohort, actu-ally dies in the beginning. The story was originally created as a series of Web serials years ago, and the manner by which this book was created might have resulted in flaws. The most ob-

vious of these faults is that Wong seems to al-ways be turning corners and stopping dead in his tracks at the sight of some fantastic horror. It’s entirely possible that the author intended to mimic the flow of a video game, if finding shotgun ammunition in the guts of a deer monster and John’s fourth wall di-alogue are any indication. But the constant shock does become a bit of Oh, This Again. Yet hyperabsurdity, for the most part, works for the story rather than against it. Wong’s protagonist carries both the plot and his asinine friend with doubt and grudg-ing duty. Thrust by a sentient drug named Soy Sauce into a plane of visions and dan-ger, Wong crawls through slick toilet lairs, masquerades as a member of Elton John’s backup band, fights baby-headed wig scor-pions, and suffers blackouts that make him question his role in the proceedings. John may take the title and most of the jokes, but Wong’s flawed and thoughtful inner voice gives the story the gravity that would have been wholly absent otherwise. The Web serial format seems to have provided a possible benefit: the ability to cloak self-correction. Most of what tran-spires in the book comes out as a conversa-tion between Wong and a skeptical report-

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8// October 29, 2009 Second Supper ARTS

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'Runaway Devil'

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of Goth teens are not violent, the story they present will still send an icy zap through any parent who has watched Daddy’s Little Girl become Daddy’s Little Goth. Readers who remember this sensation-al crime will want to grab this book. If you don’t remember it but are a true-crime fan, you’ll eat it up. For you, “Runaway Devil” is a book you’ll love.

— Terri Schlichenmeyer

er, who points out the inconsistencies with the hero’s stories. The breaks in reality are either written off as lies or absorbed into a greater explanation. It’s easy to conceive reader feedback being brought up as the reporter’s doubts and dealt with. "John Dies at the End" is a very good blend of comedy and horror that, if the di-rector of Bubba Ho-tep knows what he is doing, will soon become a great movie.

— Brett Emerson

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300words.SecondSupperreservestherighttoeditlettersforlength,clarityand

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Second Supper October 29, 2009 // 9 MUSIC

Oh hi, right now I'm listening to an album that came out in 2003 called "The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place" by the band Explosions in the Sky. This music is the perfect soundtrack to the lethargic mood I've been in lately due to a note I received last week that said, "Dear Shuggy-pop, While I enjoy spending time with you, the grey skies and cold temperatures have pushed me over the edge. I'm leaving for awhile, I'll write when I can. Take care of yourself. Love, Motivation.P.S. My cousin Sloth will be there to keep you company." Explosions in the Sky play moody, somewhat cerebral, atmospheric instrumental music that falls under the genre known as post-rock. Post-rock takes the traditional rock instruments of guitar, bass and drums, but aren't concerned with riffs, solos and all the other cliches associated with guitar heroes. Instead, sonic textures are sought out by in-corporating digital effects, creating drifting soundscapes that don't follow the verse/chorus song structure. Controlled feedback squalls, heavy reverb and hypnotic droning guitars are often features of this genre. This stuff was birthed in the '90s as a reaction to the macho posturing of cock rockers who co-opted the term "alternative" that pro-liferated in the wake of the grunge explo-sion with their generic nu-rock sound for the mainstream. Post-rock looked to move away from rocking out, claiming rock had

become stale and cliche. Instead post-rock bands combined experimental genres such as minimalist classical, dub reggae, space rock, cool jazz, tape music, IDM, ambient, Krautrock and avant-garde jazz. Two bands put out the first post-rock albums in 1991, Talk Talk and Slint. Soon, two cities became the dominant scenes for this new music: Chicago with bands such as Sea and Cake, Tortoise and their numerous offshoots, and Jim O'Rourke, followed by bands from Montreal such as Godspeed You Black Em-peror, A Silver Mt. Zion, and Do Make Say Think. I like to think of post-rock as being the introspective yin to the boisterous yang of the other largely instrumental phenome-non of the '90s, that of the jam bands. While this trend seemed to have jumped the shark by the turn of the century, there were still a few artists who managed to evolve the genre and make a name for themselves, such as Sigur Ros, Mono and Explosions in the Sky, as well as uncountable numbers of not-as-interesting bands who are retreading the path of the original innovators. A recent fusion has been combining post-rock with metal. Bands such as Isis, Mastodon, Jesu, High On Fire and Pelican have thrown some heavier riff action into the mix, creat-ing a blend that both the art school crowd and the metalheads can agree on.

— Shuggypop Jackson

10// October 29, 2009 Second SupperMUSIC

music directory // October 29 to November 4

THURSDAY,

DEL's BAR // 229 3rd st.Matthew Haefel • 10 p.m.

THE sTARLiTE LOUNGE // 222 Pearl st.Kies & Kompanie • 5 p.m.

POPCORN TAVERN // 308 4th st. sLAX All-Stars • 10 p.m.

THE ROOT NOTE // 115 4th st. s.Open Mic • 7 p.m.

NiGHTHAWks TAP // 401 s. Third st.Dave Orr's Damn Jam • 10p.m.

October 29

FRIDAY,

POPCORN TAVERN // 308 s. 4th st. Soma • 10 p.m.

ONALAskA AM. LEGiON // 731 sand Lake RoadThe Stingrays • 7 p.m.

NORTHsiDE OAsis // 620 Gillette st.Fuzzy HD, Urine, the Beldings • 9:30 p.m.

NiGHTHAWks TAP // 401 s. Third st.P?M, LUSURFER• 10 p.m.

THE WATERfRONT TAVERN // 328 front st.Dan Sebranek • 8 p.m.

MOOsE LODGE // 1932 Ward Ave.Sisters & Company • 7 p.m.

PEARL sTREET BREWERY // 1401 st Andrew st.Cheeba (Cheech and Chubba) • 4 p.m.

THE ROOT NOTE // 115 4th st. s.Hip-Hop Halloween• 8:30 p.m.

October 30

SUNDAY,

POPCORN TAVERN // 308 4th st sTBA • 10 p.m.

CONCORDiA BALLROOM //1129 La Crosse st.Gary and the Ridgeland Dutchmen • 10 a.m.

ANNETT RECiTAL HALL (UW-L) // 1725 state st.Harry Hindson and Carol Rhodes with Quintessence • 6:30 p.m.

November 1WEDNESDAY,

POPCORN TAVERN // 308 4th st sDave's Open Jam • 10 p.m.

NiGHTHAWks TAP // 401 s. Third st.Pete's BD Soma Jam • 10 p.m.

RECOVERY ROOM // 901 7th st. s.Electrophiliacs • 10 p.m.

November 4

MONDAY,

POPCORN TAVERN // 308 4th st. s.Shawn's "'90s Pop" Open Jam • 10 p.m.

November 2

TUESDAY,

POPCORN TAVERN // 308 4th st sPaulie • 10 p.m.

THE ROOT NOTE // 115 4th st. s.Jazz Jam • 7 p.m.

November 3

just a roadie away

THE WATERfRONT TAVERN // 328 front st.Dan Sebranek • 8 p.m.

HOWiE's // 1125 La Crosse st.The Remainders • 9 p.m

THE ROOT NOTE // 115 4th st. s.Dia De Los Muertos • 8:30 p.m.

JB's sPEAkEAsY // 717 Rose st.Son of a Peach w/ The Smiling Orange • 10 p.m.

NiGHTHAWks TAP // 401 s. Third st.Bad Axe River Band• 10 p.m.

MY sECOND HOME // 2104 George st.Cheap Charlie Band • 8 p.m.

POPCORN TAVERN // 308 4th st sShoeless Revolution • 10 p.m.

THE WAREHOUsE // 328 Pearl st.Sneaker2Bombs, The Higher, Take Cover, Stars After the Storm & Secret Guest Band! • 6 p.m.

The beauty of Halloween is that you can be someone else for a night. In real life you may be an indie rock snob or a hip-hop head or a punk rocker or a pop diva, but on Halloween night, you can let your classic rock freak � ag � y. In La Crosse, there's no better outlet for that than the Remainders, a 5-year-old group that draws a good crowd wherever they play. Although they've got about a dozen original songs, the appeal of the Remainders lies in their faithful covers of late-'70s and early-'80s rock songs. That's right, it's the era of hair bands and tight jeans and timeless American anthems. Who wouldn't want to dress up and get down to that? The Remainders will perform at Howie's on Saturday night, beginning at 9 p.m. It's a costume party, so come ready to rock!

MOON BOOT POssE // Nov. 12The Miramar Theatre • $10

BRUCE sPRiNGsTEEN // Nov. 15Bradley Center •$39

R. kELLY // Nov. 15Milwaukee Theatre •$49.50

MEGADETH // Nov. 16Eagles Ballroom• $29

WiDEsPREAD PANiC // Nov. 20-22Riverside Theater • $35.50

RUsTED ROOT // Dec. 29The Rave• $20

PEARL sTREET BREWERY // 1401 st Andrew st.Electrophiliacs Halloween Party • 5 p.m.

THE CRUZ iNN // W5450 keil Coulee Rd.Dan Berger & Friends • 7 p.m

BOOT HiLL PUB // 1501 st. Andrew st.Studebaker 7 • 7 p.m.

ALPiNE iNN // W5717 Bliss Rd3 Beers Til' Dubuque • 9 p.m.

population 596,974

Milwaukeepopulation 596,974

Band photos needed SecondSupperneedsphotosoflocalbandstofeatureintheMusicDirectory.Photosshouldbejpegs,atleast300dpiand4.75incheswide.Sendtoadam.bissen@secondsupper.com.

SATURDAY,

THE JAY sTREET JOiNT //324 Jay st.Monkey Wrench • 10 p.m.

THE ARTERiAL // 1003 16th st.Swan, Nirva and DeGier • 9 p.m.

October 31


alloween

SUNDAY

alloweenalloweenalloweenalloweenalloweenalloween

Check out HOWIESBAR.com for full details!

COSTUME

9pm The Remaindersalloweenalloweenalloween9pm The Remainders

COSTUMECOSTUMECOSTUMECOSTUME

9pm The Remaindersalloweenalloweenalloween

SUNDAY

COSTUME

alloweenalloween9pm The Remaindersalloween9pm The Remaindersalloween9pm The Remainders9pm The Remainders9pm The Remainders9pm The Remainders9pm The Remainders9pm The Remainders9pm The Remaindersalloween9pm The Remaindersalloween9pm The Remainders9pm The Remaindersalloween9pm The Remaindersalloween9pm The Remainders9pm The Remaindersalloweenalloweenalloweenalloweenalloween9pm The Remaindersalloween9pm The Remaindersalloween9pm The Remainders9pm The Remainders9pm The Remaindersalloween9pm The Remaindersalloween9pm The Remainders9pm The Remaindersalloween9pm The Remaindersalloween9pm The Remainders9pm The Remaindersalloween9pm The Remaindersalloween9pm The Remainders9pm The Remainders9pm The Remaindersalloween9pm The Remaindersalloween9pm The Remainders9pm The Remaindersalloween9pm The Remaindersalloween9pm The Remainders9pm The Remainders9pm The Remainders9pm The Remaindersalloweenalloween9pm The Remaindersalloween

PARTY

AND

Tailgate Starts at 1 PM$1.50 Cans and Bottles$3.00 Bloodies$1.25 ScrewdriversParty w/ Z93 all day!

PACKERSSUNDAYPACKERSSUNDAYPACKERSPACKERSSUNDAYPACKERSSUNDAYPACKERSPACKERSPACKERSPACKERSSUNDAYPACKERSSUNDAYPACKERSPACKERSSUNDAYPACKERSSUNDAYPACKERSPACKERSPACKERSSUNDAYPACKERSSUNDAYPACKERSPACKERSSUNDAYPACKERSSUNDAYSUNDAYSUNDAYSUNDAYSUNDAYSUNDAYVIKINGSSUNDAYVIKINGSSUNDAYVIKINGSVIKINGSVIKINGSSUNDAYVIKINGSSUNDAYVIKINGSSUNDAYVIKINGSSUNDAYVIKINGSVIKINGSSUNDAYVIKINGSSUNDAYVIKINGSVIKINGSVIKINGSSUNDAYSUNDAYSUNDAY

MUSIC

Q &A with Th e Last Vegas

The Last Vegas wants to melt your face. The spirit of rock ‘n roll is its blowtorch. Coming out of Chicago, the band has developed a still-growing reputation as a source of strutting, old school rock. It hit its breakthrough with “Whatever Gets You Off,” an album produced in part by Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx. Now, The Last Vegas is look-ing to capitalize by taking its music to the streets. Vocalist Chad Cherry spent a few moments to sing the praises of good old-fashioned visceral experience.

Second Supper: What is your musical back-ground, and how did the band form?Chad Cherry: We started as the fi ve piece about four years ago. I was in a band out of the Detroit/Grand Rapids area with our current bass player called the Nasties. I was dating a girl who was a model, and she had to move (to Chicago) for her work, so I moved down from Michigan and met the boys in the Vegas. There weren’t a lot of people in Chicago who had our style of rock ‘n roll, so we all got together and started writing music. We got signed to an indepen-dent label out of Pittsburgh and immedi-ately started putting out records and tour-ing the U.S. and Europe. It hasn’t stopped since we got on the bus!

SS: What’s your take on the prevailing styles of Chicago?

CC: We listen to tons of different kinds of music, but we’re more of a bare bones, brutal appreciation of real rock and roll, in the vein of the big arena rock bands. We noticed that the stuff going around here was more shoegazer stuff. We’re more of a gang, like the Warriors!

SS: How has your style changed since the begin-ning?CC: I’d say that we’re a band that’s proud of what we do but never satisfi ed. We’re iron-ing out our act a little more as far as song-writing. The old style was raw and gritty; now it’s a little craftier, with more hooks, mak-ing it groovier. It’s something that you can remember more than a bashing, bombastic sensation. But for the most part, our attitude comes through in everything we do.

SS: Are you more into working on albums or playing live?CC: We’re absolutely a live band. That’s the most realistic approach to doing our kind of thing, to travel, hit people’s towns, and ex-perience what they’re going through. That’s where we shine the most. You should make everything sound amazing in a studio. That’s easy. If you have your sights on what you want to do, you can pull the trigger unless you have no idea what you’re doing. But our fl avor is live, and our fans come to see us be-cause we put on an insane show that I don’t think a lot of people are doing anymore.

Chicago band coming to � e Warehouse

CONTiNUED ON PAGE 12

By Brett [email protected]

12// October 29, 2009 Second SupperMUSIC

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Q &A with Th e Last VegasCONTiNUED fROM PAGE 11

SS: Do you have any tricks in performing live?CC: We shine through in being ourselves and not giving a shit what people think of us. The unpredictability of it is something that people look at as a spectacle and get off on.

SS: But it’s not highly produced, no upside down drum solos. Is the show a little more punk in the execution?CC: That’s exactly what it is. We have the elements of a huge arena band, sound and looks wise, but we grew up on classic rock, the Ramones, and Black Flag, and that’s something we still hold dear.

SS: One of the producers on your new album was Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx. How did that come about, and what was your reaction to working with him?CC: To have some guy, who you’ve grown up on his music, come in and work with you in the studio with zero attitude and ego is a very humbling experience. Not a whole lot of bands can have their mentors come in and work with them on songs and become friends afterwards. Nikki was a great dude; he’s all about the music.

SS: Looking back on the � uctuating styles of popular music, the arena rock that in� uences your band was huge in the '80s before the non-image music of the '90s obscured it. With the fading of centrally distributed music, is popular-ity no longer relevant?CC: It feels like everything musically has been done, pushed over a cliff, and back up again. I don’t know what music is going to

change what’s going on. I’d love to see it, but it’s irrelevant to me. We’re not trying to fi t into any styles. People can compare us to the '80s, but we were also the kids buy-ing "In Utero." If it’s good and gets stuck in your head, we were listening to it. Now, we’re playing the music that’s in our souls and our blood, not anything that we sit down and plan.

SS: With everyone able to follow their own styles, can the new big things have the same impact as the old big things?CC: Back in the day, there used to be mu-sic scenes. All these guys would go and see bands that came into town. Now, there isn’t a scene at all. Everyone who wants to make it is thinking that they’re the next biggest things, and they’re all separated. People will go to a rock show just to be seen by somebody, to say that they saw the band be-fore they sucked. No one is on the level, of like, we’re gonna go out, party, and prob-ably get drunk and laid.

SS: There’s too much readily available music. When you don’t have the easy access, when you go, you go for it.

CC: Exactly. A lot of it is people staying home and watching it on YouTube. You can get excited about watching something on a TV or computer, but nothing beats the real experience. I’ve made contact with people throughout the world by going out and playing rock ‘n roll. There’s a whole lot of fun to be had out there.

The Last Vegas will play the Warehouse, 328 Pearl St., Nov. 5 and 19.

Reminds you to support the

retailers, restaurants, taverns and bands

that support us. We are

funded solely by advertising so if you

want to support us, support them!

conscientious commerce:

Support your local Haunts


Editor's Note: Food and Drink Specials is a free listing for Second Supper’s regular advertisers and $25 per week for others. For information, call (608) 782-7001. SundayBARREL iNN$2.25 for mini pitcherCHUCk'sAll day everyday: $1 Doctor, $2 Silos$3 pitchers, $1.75 railsEAGLE’s NEsTOpen to close: $2 U “Call” itHOWiE’sHappy hour 4 to 9 p.m.; 9 p.m. to close: Night Before Class - $3 pitchers of the beastiRisH HiLLsHappy Hour 4 to 7 p.m. dailyJB’s sPEAkEAsY$1.75 domestic bottlesPETTiBONE BOAT CLUB $1 off fried chickenPLAYERsPrice by DiceRiNGsiDE closedsCHMiDTY’s$6.95 lunch buff et$9.95 breakfast buff et 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.sLOOPY's ALMA MATER$11 buckets of beers (pregame-close), taco specials during gameTHE JOiNT$2 domestics and rails, 4 to 8 p.m., Shots of Doctor $1 all day, ev-erydayTHE HELMAll day (everyday!) specials $1.25 Old Style Light, $1.50 LAX Lager/Light, $1 shots of Dr.THE LiBRARYSunday Fun Day - Wristband NightTOP sHOTs$5 Pitchers/$2 bottles of Miller products (11-4pm)$2 Corona Bottles, $2 Kilo Kai Mixers , $3 Bloodys (7-1AM)TRAiN sTATiON BBQAsk for great eats

MondayBARREL iNNBuck burgersBROTHERs$2.50 Blatz vs. Old Style pitchersCHUCk’sMonday-Friday: Happy Hour 2 to 6 p.m., 50 cents off everything but the daily specialGuys’ Nite Out: $1.50 silosEAGLE’s NEsT7 p.m. to close: $1.50 domestic pints, $1.50 railsHOWiE’s9 p.m. to close: $3.50 domestic pitchersJB’s sPEAkEAsY$1.75 domestic bottlesPETTiBONE BOAT CLUB Kids eat free with adultPLAYERsHappy Hour all night long, two-for-oneRiNGsiDE ClosedsCHMiDTY’sBBQ sandwichsLOOPY's ALMA MATER$2 can beer (2-6 p.m.) $11 buckets of beers (6-close)sPORTs NUTBuck BurgersTHE CAVALiERMartini Ladies’ Night, James Martini: vodka, triple sec, orange juiceTHE JOiNT$2 domestics and rails, 4 to 8 p.m., Shots of Doctor $1TOP sHOTs$1.75 Miller/Bud Light Taps, $2.25 MIcro/Craft Taps, $2.50 Cherry Bombs (7-1AM)TuesdayBARREL iNNBucket Night, six beers for $9

BROTHERsWristband nightCHUCk’s50-cent taps domestic, $3 pitchersCOCONUT JOE’s$2 Tuesdays, including $2 bottles, import taps, beer pong, apps, single shot-mixers, featured shots, 50-cent tapsEAGLE’s NEsT7 p.m. to close: $1.50 domestic pints, $1.50 railsHOWiE’s9 p.m. to close: $1 rails, $2.50 pitchers, beer pongiRisH HiLLs$2 domestic cansJB’s sPEAkEAsY$1.75 domestic bottlesPETTiBONE BOAT CLUB 2 for 1 burger nightPLAYERsKaraoke @ 10 p.m., 2-4-1 Happy Hour 5 to 10 p.m., all you can drink rail mixers @ 10 p.m.RiNGsiDE Open 4-9sCHMiDTY’sTacossLOOPY's ALMA MATER$2 can beer (2-6 p.m.) 12" pizza: $8.99 up to 5 toppings (4-close)sPORTs NUTTacos $1.25THE JOiNT$2 domestics and rails, 4 to 8 p.m., Shots of Doctor $1THE LiBRARY$1 domestic taps and rails, one-half price TequilaTOP sHOTs$1.75 Rails, $1.50 Domestic Taps, $3.50 Jager Bombs (7-1AM)TRAiN sTATiON BBQ11 a.m. to 3 p.m., extra side with sandwich; 4 to 9 p.m., $1 off rib dinner

WednesdayBARREL iNN$6 all you can drink taps and rails, 8 to midnightBROTHERs 10-cent wings, $1 Miller High Life bottles, $1.50 rail mixersCHUCk’s$2 Pearl Street Brewery beersCOCONUT JOE’s$1.25 for 1 pound of wings, $1 PBR/PBR Light bottles, $1.50 Rolling Rock, $2 jumbo rail mixers, $2.25 Bud Lights, $1 shot of the weekEAGLE’s NEsT7 p.m. to close: $1.50 domestic pints, $2 craft pints, $1.50 railsHOWiE’s$5 all you can drinkJB’s sPEAkEAsYHappy Hour 5 to 7 p.m.LEGEND’s$1 shot of the week, $4 domestic pitchers, $1.25 1 pound of wingsPETTiBONE BOAT CLUB $6.99 AUCE pastaPLAYERsKaraoke @ 10 p.m., 2-4-1 Happy Hour 5 to 10 p.m., $1 Pabst cans, Dr. shots @ 10 p.m.RiNGsiDE $6.50 double cheeseburgersCHMiDTY’sChili dogssLOOPY's ALMA MATERWings, Wings, Wings... $2 off 14: pizza, $2 can beer (2-6 p.m.)sPORTs NUT15-cent wingsTHE CAVALiER$1.50 taps 6 to 8 p.m.THE JOiNT$2 domestics and rails, 4 to 8 p.m., Shots of Doctor $1THE LiBRARYKaraoke, $2 double rails & all bottlesTOP sHOTs$2 domestic bottles, $2.50 Skyy/Absolut mixers, $2 Dr. shots (7-1am)TRAiN sTATiON BBQSpecial varies

YOUR GUIDE TO CONSUMPTION

Drink SpecialsLucky 13Lagunitas Brewing CompanyPetaluma, California

Appearance: 10

Aroma: 9

Taste: 8

Mouthfeel: 7

Drinkability: 8

Total: 42

BEERReview

CONTiNUED ON PAGE 14

I’ve been watching “The Wire” a lot recently, pretty much every day for the past three weeks. I’m not sure why a television series about the Baltimore drug trade is so engaging to me, but it may be because the show is pretty much the exact opposite of my everyday life. I’ve never seen a gangster order an imperial pale ale or a crooked longshoreman debating the merits of a tu-lip glass versus a fl ute. No, in “The Wire” the malted beverage of choice comes served in a 40-ounce bottle, and they tip back quite a few. Well, no disrespect to my brothers in the struggle, but they’d get more value out of a large craft microbrew. Take this 22-ounce bottle of Lagunitas Lucky 13, for example, which sells for $4 at your local Fes-tival Foods and packs hefty 8.3 percent ABV. Compared to the popular Colt 45 ($2.50 retail, 5.6 percent ABV), these beverages pack essentially the same wallop, but the Lagunitas tastes straight baller for only an added buck-fi fty. I know Stringer Bell could appreciate that logic. Pouring a hazy ruby color with a big, fl uffy, long-lasting gray head, the Lucky 13 is a perfect visual representation of an American red ale. The aroma is nicely bal-

anced between cara-mel malts and piny hops — better than many of its West Coast brethren — and it smells a bit like fresh straw. Although it’s a damn tasty beer, the fl avor of the Lucky 13 is probably its weakest attribute, which is a compliment in itself. The fl avor comes on sweet and malty like fi gs, bottoms out, but fi nishes clean on a nice kick of apple-y hops. There’s a tinge of after burn due to the al-cohol content, but the fi nish is surprisingly dry and pine-nutty. In the world of fi ne ales, this would be considered “high gravity,” so the mouthfeel is a little thick and heavy, but it’s still quite drinkable. It does have the same limitations as most any 40, though: Drink two of them and you’ll get f***** up. Just don’t hide the beautiful bottle behind a brown paper bag.

— Adam Bissen


39 Come in last40 It may have attach-ments41 First designated spot at a swim meet, perhaps46 Former Montreal baseballer47 On the schedule50 Mutual city?51 "Sugar is sweet and ___ you"52 Historic record53 "That's cool!"54 Vacuum cleaner in-ventor Sir James55 Shape of some hand mirrors56 "Mystic Pizza" ac-tress Taylor60 Oui, it's water61 Place for a round of darts62 Mag. bigwigs

©2009 Jonesin' Cross-words ([email protected])

For answers to this puzzle, call: 1-900-226-2800, 99 cents per minute. Must be 18+. Or to bill toyour credit card, call: 1-800-655-6548. Ref-erence puzzle #0434.

Across 1 Paparazzo's need5 Actor Sharif9 Prefix meaning "one tenth"13 Bread spreads15 1990s electronic music party16 Worst of the popu-lation17 Insurance company with TV ads featuring cavemen18 Rate Jennifer Lo-pez's newest alter ego?20 Like some marble designs on furniture22 The clap, e.g.: abbr.23 Porcine pad24 Time to phone your nearest Nabokov char-acter?28 "Brother" of Bruno and Borat29 Aromatic, oily sub-stance32 Grp. that issues fraud alerts35 "Commander in Chief" actress Davis37 Prefix meaning "one quintillionth"38 Got lazy for the sake of worship?42 Three-layered snack43 Biden's boss44 Ed.'s submissions45 Choir section48 Panache49 With 59-across, Ko-jak's bootleg British porn title?55 Bullfighting cheer57 "The Office" char-acter

58 Adjective for Porky Pig and Sylvester59 See 49-across63 Grandmas, to some64 Jessica of "The Love Guru"65 Former Israeli prime minister Olmert66 Muse of love poetry67 "In ___ of flowers..."68 Uses finger paint, say69 Actor Gold of the Fox series "Stacked"

Down 1 Common sense2 Verdugo of "Marcus Welby, M.D."3 Actor Sam of the "Ju-rassic Park" series4 Orange County's area, slangily5 Nonprofit's URL suf-fix6 Damage the surface7 "Stop," to a pirate8 Colorful identifier for some Levi's9 Cable Internet alter-native: abbr.10 Community of or-ganisms11 Extremely devoted group12 "If ___ be so bold..."14 Dirty condition19 Old Icelandic saga21 Portioned (out)25 Deceive26 Yearly parody prize awarded at Harvard 27 Jai ___ (fast-mov-ing sport)30 Four-wheelers, e.g.31 Barney's hangout32 Amorphous mass of goo33 When doubled, an island in the South Pacific34 Wiccan salutation36 Have ___ (party it up)

2 Funnyi'z in ur crosswurd, makin u solv.

By Matt Jones

Answers to Issue 185's

"Mixed Reviews"

We're hiring!• Advertising account representative

• Writers to review arts performances, shows

Call (608) 782-7001 and ask for Roger or e-mail [email protected]

CONSUMPTION

ThursdayBARREL iNN25-cent wings, $1 shots of DoctorBROTHERs Wristband night, $1 shots with wristband $2.50 SoCo and JackCHUCk’sLadies’ Nite Out: $1.50 rail mixers, $2.50 X bombsCOCONUT JOE’sHappy Hour 7 to 9 p.m.: $2 for all single shot mixers and all beers. Wristband Night: $5 college I.D., $9 general publicEAGLE’s NEsT7 p.m. to close: $1.50 domestic pints, $2 craft pints, $1.50 railsHOWiE’s9 p.m. to close: $1.25 rails, $1.75 bottles/cansiRisH HiLLs$14.95 steak and golfJB’s sPEAkEAsYHappy Hour 5 to 7 p.m.THE CAVALiERAll Mojitos $5THE JOiNT$2 domestics and rails, 4 to 8 p.m., Shots of Doctor $1LEGEND’sAfter comedy: Pint Night - $1 pints of rail mixers and domestic taps, $2 pints of call mixers and import taps, $3 pints of top-shelf mixersPETTiBONE BOAT CLUB BBQ night, $1 offPLAYERs2-4-1 Happy Hour 5 to 10 p.m., $2 Captain mixers, $1.75 domestic beer, $1.50 rails, $1 Pabst cans @ 10 p.m.RALPH’sSouthwest chicken pita $5RiNGsiDE Southwest chicken pitasCHMiDTY’sTacossLOOPY's ALMA MATERLadies night, 2 for 1 drinks (6-close), $2 can beer (2-6 p.m.) sPORTs NUT$8.99 12-ounce T-boneTHE HELM$1 Vodka Drinks, $1.00 12 oz Dom. Taps, $1.25 12 oz prem. Taps, $3 Orange BombsTHE LiBRARY$1 kamikaze and red headed slutsTOP sHOTs5 Domestic Bottles for $10, $5 Micro/Import Bottles $11.50, $7 Micro/Craft Pitchers (7-1AM)TRAiN sTATiON BBQ11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Barn burner $7.95; 4 to 9 p.m., Hobo dinner (serves two) $30.95 FridayBARREL iNN

$4.50 domestic pitchersBROTHERs $2 domestic beer, taps, & rails (5-8 p.m.)CHUCk’sAfter-Class $3 Pitchers, $1.75 RailsCOCONUT JOE’sHappy Hour 7 to 9 p.m.: $2 for all single-shot mixers and all beers, $2.50 jumbo Captain Morgan mixers, $2.50 jumbo Bacardi mixers (all flavors), $3 JagerbombsEAGLE’s NEsT3 to 9 p.m.: two-for-one domestic bottles and rail drinksHOWiE’s9 p.m. to close: $2 Captain mixers, $2 bottles/cans, $3 Jager bombsJB’s sPEAkEAsYHappy Hour 5 to 7 p.m.LEGEND’s $3 jumbo Svedka mixers, $2.50 Corona bottles, $2.50 Cuervo shotsPETTiBONE BOAT CLUB Pettibone Fish FryPLAYERs2-4-1 Happy Hour 3 to 9 p.m.RiNGsiDE $5 chicken salad on rye w/ lettuve, tomato and onionsCHMiDTY’sFish sandwichsLOOPY's ALMA MATERFriday Fish, $2 can beer (2-6 p.m.)THE JOiNT$2 domestics and rails, 4 to 8 p.m., Shots of Doctor $1THE LiBRARY$2 taps and mixers (5-9 p.m.)TOP sHOTs$2.00 Captain Mixers, $2.00 Long Island Mixers, $3.00 Effen Vodka Mixers (7-1AM)TRAiN sTATiON BBQ11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Chicken on fire $7.95; 4 to 9 p.m., Bones and briskets $13.95

SaturdayBARREL INN$10 pitcher and pizzaBROTHERS 2 for 1 bloody marys, screwdrivers, domestic tapsCHUCk’s12 to 3 p.m.: Buy one, get one domestic beer; Holmen Meat Locker jerky raffleCOCONUT JOE’sHappy Hour 7 to 9 p.m.: $2 for all single-shot mixers and all beers, $2.50 jumbo Captain Morgan mixers, $2.50 jumbo Bacardi mixers (all flavors), $3 JagerbombsEAGLE’s NEsTOpen to close: $2 U “Call” itHOWiE’s9 p.m. to close: $2 Bacardi mixers, $2 domestic pints, $1.50 shots blackberry brandyiRisH HiLLs$14.95 steak and golfJB’s sPEAkEAsYHappy Hour 5 to 7 p.m.THE JOiNT$2 domestics and rails, 4 to 8 p.m., Shots of Doctor $1LEGEND’s $3 jumbo Svedka mixers, $2 Jonestown shotsPETTiBONE BOAT CLUB Prime rivPLAYERs2-4-1 Happy Hour 3 to 8 p.m.RiNGsiDE $1 off wild wings, $1 off philly steak and cheesesLOOPY's ALMA MATER$11 buckets for college football, 2 for 1 pints/pitches w/ student ID over 21sPORTs NUT15-cent wingsTHE LiBRARY2 for 1 bloody marys, screwdrivers, domestic tapsTOP sHOTs$5 Miller/Bud Light Pitchers, $2.25 Leinies Bottles (7-1AM)TRAiN sTATiON BBQOne-half chicken three bones $12.95

Drink SpecialsCONTiNUED fROM PAGE 13

Classifieds Bed: Queen Pillowtop Mattress Set New in plastic $165 Full Sized $135 King Sized $265, Can Deliver 608-399-4494

Help Wanted: Second Supper needs a reliable independent con-tractor to serve as a sales account representative. Hours are flexible but must be available at least 16 hours per week, be outgoing and able to meet weekly deadlines. Call Roger at (608) 782-7001. Pay is commission only.

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[email protected]

Second Supper October 29, 2009 // 15THE LAST WORD

Downtown La Crosse, above fayzes - 782-6622

$1.75 - Miller/Bud Taps$2.25 Micro/Craft Taps$2.50 Cherry Bombs(7-1am)

Saturday $5 Miller Lite/Bud Light Pitchers$2.25 Leinies Bottles (7-1am)

top shots joke of the week

Good People, Good Drinks, Good Times

SUNDAY TUESDAY THURSDAYMONDAY WEDNESDAY FRIDAY$5 Pitchers $2 Bottles of Miller Products (11-4 pm)$2 Corona Bottles$2 Kilo Kai Mixers $3 Bloody’s (7-1am)

$1.75 Rails$1.50 Domestic Taps$3.50 Jager Bombs(7-1am)

$2 Domestic Bottles$2.50 Skyy/AbsoluteMixers$2 Dr. Shots (7-1am)

5 Domestic Bottles 4 $10$5 Micro/Import Bottles$11.50, $7 Micro/CraftPitchers (7-1am)

$2 Captain Mixers$2 Long Islands$3 E�en VodkaMixers (7-1am)

Check outour new Beers

on Tap!

Fasten your sheet belts!

Why did papa ghost say to babyghost when they got in the car?

$2.00 - 1 Player, $3.00 - 2 Players50 Cents Off Drinks, $1 Off Pitchers

By Emily [email protected]

Divulge

Thrill the World event. Conceived in 2006 by Ines Markeljevic, Thrill the World is a worldwide, synchronized dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller (performed, of course, by zombies). The event's goal is to create the Guinness record for the most zombies dancing simultaneously to the song, and while this year's number's haven't yet been tallied, 2008 saw 4,179 zombies dancing across 10 countries. So last Saturday, my boyfriend and I began the familiar task of applying our slimy, greasy make-up and worked on get-ting in touch with our inner zombies. We headed up to Logger Field, where Heather and her team of zombies would be per-forming. One side of the stands was fi lled with spectators; the fi eld below was strewn with bodies. Synchronized dancing is always cool to watch, but to see these zombies shuffl e and shake their way through their per-fectly choreographed rendition of Thriller was certainly a treat. In the end, Heather and her team of 66 collected 150 pounds of food for local food pantries and raised $500 for Wisconsin Badger Camp. Not bad for a bunch of zombies. After the applause had faded, we headed down to John's Bar where the zom-bies were to gather for the pub crawl. Fa-miliar faces greeted me, though obscured by the thick black circles around their eyes and the blood smeared, well, everywhere. Zombie Brian Huth, who traveled from Ri-pon for the event, said he came, “because I'm dead, dammit. And it's the only time my people and I can get together, you know?”

Shane Lee, Nate Delarwelle and Matt Goede, who were the primary organizers for Saturday's crawl, said they were inspired by ZPC. They didn't expect a huge turnout for La Crosse's fi rst of the events because of the lack of major promotion or planning, but still were satisfi ed with the turnout. About 40 zombies attended the crawl in La Crosse, and while the number might seem low in comparison with the original ZPC, one must remember, of course, that the original also began with only several dozen zombies. So why the recent infatuation with zombies? As Venetia Thompson says in her column “Zombies Rule, Vampires Suck “ on thedailybeast.com, “(zombies) are the perfect interchangeable metaphor for everything from Nazis, to consumerism, to the loss of individuality, to the collapse of civilization, to the impending doom of swine fl u, and most recently representing mindless bankers, stumbling around and feeding on whatever fetid bad debt they can, however unsavory it later turns out to be.” Thompson raises an excellent point. But I think equally plausible is the fact that within many of us, that kid who delights in horror movies, who's the weird kid in class, who doesn't quite fi t in — that kid remains within us. Putting on a costume and par-ticipating in what might be construed as a mass inside joke among friends is a way to fi nd unity and to escape what can be an in-tolerable reality is a refreshing experience. And I'm glad to say that, for me at least, Halloween still can be every day.

tially by my dad's allowing me to watch the "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Friday the 13th" movies as a small child, led to an in-satiable appetite for all things horror — es-pecially zombies. Later, my friends got me into movies like "Day of the Dead" and "28 Days Later." But the thing about zombies isn't that they're frightening. No, zombies just kick ass. So when my friend, Kelly, invited me along for Zombie Pub Crawl V in Minne-apolis a few weeks ago, I was all about it. A group of about 15 of us gathered at a friend's house in Dinkytown to apply la-tex prosthetics sporting gaping wounds, white face paint, and loads of sticky, syrupy fake blood before hitting the bars on the West Bank. ZPC began fi ve years ago as a small gathering of several dozen zombies on a Tour de Drunk, but as the years have passed and word has spread, the number of zombies in attendance has exploded. This year's ZPC was host to an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 zombies, and as you can imagine, the sight was unbelievable. Banana zom-bies, Mormon zombies, Santa zombies, Je-sus zombies and even zombie disposal units fl ooded the West Bank, and the streets ran red with (fake) blood. But it wasn't enough. Halloween was still weeks away, and returning to reality after the ZPC didn't seem like the most de-sirable option. Thus, I was thrilled when, a few days later, another friend informed me that there would be another Zombie Pub Crawl — this time in La Crosse. Not only that: the same night, local zombie Heather Suby would be hosting La Crosse's own

I've always been the weird kid: When I was in middle and high school, I'd often be followed by leering chants of, “It's not Halloween, you know!” To me, Halloween was every day, and I'd take any opportunity to let my freak fl ag fl y. Now that I'm older, of course, it's become abundantly clear that I'm far from alone when it comes to those sentiments. And one way we like to inject some extra weird into our lives? Zombie culture. And it's alive and well among us lately. My fi rst forays into zombie culture were similar to most other folks'. An early fascination with horror movies, fuelled par-

Issue 186

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