Category Archives: History

Carnage at the old Washington Park Zoo

Posted on July 17, 2018 by Katherine Wikoff

I was doing research on something else today when I came across a Milwaukee Public Library blog post from October 2015 about a whole slew of bear deaths/killings in a mixed species/order exhibit at the old Washington Park Zoo from … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life, Milwaukee, Nature, Popular culture | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Hemmed in, but still a beacon

Posted on May 2, 2018 by Katherine Wikoff

For decades Milwaukee’s favorite weather forecast has been the flame atop the Wisconsin Gas Building. It changes color and flashes to announce rising/falling temperatures, snow/rain, or a steady state (no change from current conditions). There’s even a little poem to … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, History, Life, Milwaukee, Photography | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

YouTube: In the Beginning

Posted on April 12, 2018 by Katherine Wikoff

I’m teaching a mass media course this quarter, and while doing class prep recently, I needed to look at something in the internet archive, aka the “Wayback Machine.” (Wikipedia article here) Have you used this super cool  site before? You … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, History, Learning, Life, Popular culture, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Birth of a Nation: Lighting and (mostly “non”) camera movement, racism, and Abraham Lincoln’s assassination reenacted a mere 50 years after

Posted on March 27, 2018 by Katherine Wikoff

NOTE: This post is under reconstruction because a) the YouTube account that I originally took my clips from has been shut down and b) WordPress doesn’t seem to be working correctly to allow me to play clips to and from … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life, Movies and film, Political Analysis, Popular culture, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Sergei Eisenstein’s Google Doodle (and cinema tropes)

Posted on January 24, 2018 by Katherine Wikoff

Monday’s Google Doodle honored revolutionary Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein. Here is a cool video I found that provides a little biographical info along with the actual Google Doodle. Sergei Eisenstein was the first “modern” filmmaker. He basically invented modern film … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, History, Milwaukee, Movies and film, Music, Popular culture, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Unleashing the potential of VR (virtual reality)

Posted on January 10, 2018 by Katherine Wikoff

Virtual reality (VR) is going to shape itself into an art form that is quite different from contemporary cinema. We can’t really predict yet how things will turn out, although my bet is that movies as we know them are here … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Learning, Life, Movies and film, News, Popular culture, Teaching, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

More interesting stuff about pigeons and people

Posted on January 7, 2018 by Katherine Wikoff

After my post on dovecotes ran a few days ago, my friend, colleague, and fellow blogger Sally Cissna published a really fascinating blog post about the relationship between humans and pigeons a century ago. Her post contains several old newspaper … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, History, Popular culture, Technology | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Of dovecotes and pigeonholes and ortolans and extinction

Posted on January 5, 2018 by Katherine Wikoff

In reading a novel set in England around 1815 this past week, I followed two characters into a “dovecote” that had fallen into disrepair. I’d heard that term before and vaguely associated it with some kind of architectural feature similar … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, Food, History, Milwaukee | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Reliving the famous “Ice Bowl” 50 years later

Posted on December 31, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

Today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contains a fascinating oral history of the December 31, 1967, “Ice Bowl” NFL Championship Game between Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers and Tom Landry’s Dallas Cowboys. Link to the article here. Several thoughts come to mind … Continue reading →

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A Date Which Will Live in Infamy

Posted on December 7, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

My first reaction upon seeing the flag at half mast in Milwaukee’s Red Arrow Park this morning was: “Oh no! What happened?” Then about two seconds later I remembered. Today is December 7th. The clip below of the USS Arizona … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life, Milwaukee | Tagged , , | 2 Comments