Category Archives: Life

Buddha mummy proves truth about statues

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

Last April I wrote a short post titled “The Truth About Statues” about my childhood belief that statues were made by pouring concrete over dead people—or maybe not dead until AFTER the concrete casing went on! Possibly you’ve seen this photograph and story today? … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Life, News, Science | Tagged art, art history, Buddha mummy, history, mummies, statues | 2 Comments

The Grohmann Museum’s “Milwaukee Road” Exhibit

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

My office at Milwaukee School of Engineering is in the Grohmann Museum, which houses the world’s largest collection of art depicting the subject of “Man at Work.” In 2008 The Wall Street Journal published a wonderful article about Eckhart Grohmann and … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Life, Milwaukee, Popular culture, Technology, Travel | Tagged Amtrak, Eckhart Grohmann, Grohmann Museum, Milwaukee Road, Milwaukee School of Engineering, railroads, The Milwaukee Road, train travel, urban renewal | 1 Comment

Box Elder Gold on Ice

Posted on February 12, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

This is the junkiest, ugliest tree in the neighborhood—a female box elder. Not only does it drop seed pods constantly throughout the year, but it also harbors box elder bugs. Most of the time these red bugs stick close to … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Milwaukee, Nature, Photography, Science | Tagged Box elder, box elder bugs, Box Elder tree, tree, twig encased in ice | Leave a comment

Brian Williams, Jonah Lehrer, and kleptomania

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

By now, who hasn’t heard the news about NBC anchor Brian Williams? That he lied multiple times, over a period of many years, about his helicopter being hit by ground fire in Iraq. That he apparently lied about many other … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and reading, Life, News, Popular culture, Television, Writing, blogging | Tagged Brian Williams, compulsive disorders, Jonah Lehrer, kleptomania, pathological lying, plagiarism | 2 Comments

Flocked

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

The near-blizzard snowstorm over the weekend left city streets a mess, with gigantic piles of snow at intersections so tall that it’s hard for someone in a compact car to see oncoming traffic. But I just stopped off at Starbucks … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Milwaukee, Photography | Tagged Downtown Milwaukee, flocked Christmas tree, Milwaukee, Red Arrow Park, Slice of Ice skating rink, Starbucks | Leave a comment

Deco on Rye

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

Okay, my title is like a bad pun. But that’s what I thought of when I saw such a tiny building squeezed into the space between two larger and older buildings. A sandwich 🙂 This somewhat out of place Art Deco building is part … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, History, Life, Milwaukee, Photography | Tagged architecture, Art Deco, Art Deco architecture, Downtown Milwaukee, historic preservation, Milwaukee, Moorish Revival, Water Street | Leave a comment

Coffers and Corinthians

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

A trip to the dentist took me past City Hall again for the second time in a couple months. In December it had been probably a few years since I’d been able to get up close, thanks to the scaffolding … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, Art, History, Life, Milwaukee, Photography | Tagged civic architecture, classical architecture, coffer, Corinthian columns, hidden cherubs in Corinthian columns, Milwaukee, Milwaukee City Hall, Pantheon, sandstone | 2 Comments

The Northern Soul Project – The Father-Son Shredded Wheat Commercial (Post #5)

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

Warning: this television ad (or, “advert,” as they apparently say in England) will make your heart melt. Apparently just released within the past week, this Shredded Wheat cereal commercial profiles a father and son who go out dancing at the all-nighters together. In Post … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Learning, Life, Music, Northern Soul, Popular culture, Television | Tagged all-nighter, culture, dancing, fathers and sons, lifelong learning, Northern soul, self-education, self-taught, Shredded Wheat, television commercials | 14 Comments

General Tom Thumb rescued from deadly Milwaukee hotel fire!

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

In doing some class prep I came across a book titled Vintage Milwaukee Postcards, by Larry Widen, which talks about, among other interesting pieces of Milwaukee history, the famous (in its day) Newhall House Fire. The Newhall House was a sprawling six-story, wood-framed luxury … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, History, Learning, Life, Milwaukee | Tagged General Tom Thumb, luxury hotel, Milwaukee, Milwaukee history, Newhall House, Newhall House fire, Tom Thumb | 2 Comments

Be my Facebook friend?

Posted on January 18, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

In a comment at the end of a post a couple days ago Kitty Barran (KittyBarran.com) mentioned that she’d rather receive my blog posts through Facebook than either email or Twitter. So I’ve done it. Joined Facebook. I now have a “profile picture” and a … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Writing, blogging | Tagged joining Facebook | 5 Comments