Category Archives: Popular culture

Drinking the Kool Aid

Posted on November 18, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

It still kind of shocks me to read or hear people using that phrase to describe positive buy-in to a new idea. As in, “We’re extremely excited about our company’s new product. Everyone has been drinking the Kool Aid, and … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Milwaukee, Movies and film, Popular culture | Tagged Airplane!, cults, drink the kool aid expression, Jonestown | 5 Comments

Random Reflections on Malls and Department Stores

Posted on July 13, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

Monday’s Wall Street Journal ran an article (read it here) noting the waning days of the department store as anchor in the American shopping mall: “Mall Owners Push Out Department Stores: Fast-fashion chains, restaurants, specialty stores do a better job of driving mall … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, Creativity, History, Life, Milwaukee, Popular culture, WPLongform (posts of 1000 words or longer) | Tagged abandoned malls, being present, change, Christmas windows, department stores, Gimbels Department Store, pay toilets, progress, shopping malls, the eternal, urban renewal, urban repurposing, WPLongform, WPLongform (posts of 1000 words or longer) | 8 Comments

The French Quarter

Posted on June 28, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

Well, a very busy day at the actual conference yesterday, so the “French Quarter” post isn’t going up till today. My co-author Cindy and I presented our paper, and I think we have a great topic that I hope to … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Life, Popular culture, Travel | Tagged ASEE, beignets, chocolate, coffee, French Quarter, mules, New Orleans | 2 Comments

Thoughts on Patti Smith

Posted on October 4, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

Patti Smith was a little before my time. Definitely WAY outside the bounds of my Midwestern sensibilities by the time I became aware of her during my high school years. Smith was that punk performer, the one in New York who urinated onstage and … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and reading, Creativity, Music, Popular culture | Tagged Bruce Springstein, Candy Slice, Clive Davis, Gilda Radner, Just Kids, M Train, music, Patti Smith, punk rock, Robert Mapplethorpe, Sam Shepard, The Soundtrack of My Life, Top 40 radio | 2 Comments

He came to the fork in the road . . . and took it. RIP, Yogi Berra.

Posted on September 23, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

America’s greatest living philosopher is no more. He died yesterday at the age of 90. The New York Times ran a beautiful obit, which you can read here. Yogi Berra the baseball player was phenomenal, one of the very best catchers … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, News, Popular culture | Tagged American philosopher, aphorisms, baseball, enlightenment, sports, Yogi Berra, Yogi-isms | 1 Comment

Stream of YouTube Consciousness: Fred Astaire, Bob Hope, and Elmer Bernstein at the 1970 Oscars (plus Ellen DeGeneres’s selfie; Janis Joplin’s riveting Monterey Pop Festival performance; and the themes from “Ironside” and The Magnificent Seven)

Posted on June 8, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

Long title, but bear with me 🙂 I came across this clip of Fred Astaire dancing at the 1970 Academy Awards ceremony the other day—and marveled that one could have watched the Oscars broadcast that year and witnessed such entertainment. (If you … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Movies and film, Music, Popular culture, Television | Tagged "Ironside", 1970 Academy Awards ceremony, 1970 Oscars, 42nd Academy Awards, American Idol, Bob Hope, Clive Davis, Ellen, Ellen DeGeneres selfie, Elmer Bernstein, Fred Astaire, Janis Joplin, John Williams, Magnificent Seven, Mama Cass Elliot, oscars, product placement, Quincy Jones, The Magnificent Seven | 5 Comments

Wham! Pow! Ooof!

Posted on March 19, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

Fun article the other day in the Wall Street Journal—or, as they like to style themselves: The Wall Street Journal. (← with a period at the end, I have no idea why)—about all the over-the-top villains in the old “Batman” … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life, Popular culture, Television | Tagged "Batman" television show, camp | 4 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

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

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