Becoming

Posted on March 18, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

For so long it was just a pit, literally. And then a messy tangle of  pilings and trucks. But finally the new Milwaukee Bucks arena is really starting to look like what it will eventually become.

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Taking in March Madness

Posted on March 16, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

Took this photo as I was leaving my evening film studies class last night. Quite a difference from leaving class last week, when it was dark and I took the the picture of the lit-up cathedral.

There was lots going on in the street below for these birds to check out last night. For whatever reason, NCAA Tournament games are happening in Milwaukee today and Saturday. Lots of  pedestrians last night and this morning, lots of traffic with vehicles driven by people who pretty obviously don’t quite know their way around downtown.

No game tomorrow, but it’s St. Patrick’s Day. Water Street will be hopping all day long. These birds snagged a great spot for catching all the action.

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Snowblowing the girders

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

When you work construction in Wisconsin, an important part of one’s employment responsibilities includes clearing away the snow to gain access to the job site again!

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Yesterday’s Snowstorm

Posted on March 14, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

The storm that dumped 10-ish inches of snow in Milwaukee yesterday had moved out over Lake Michigan by this morning. Can you see the dense wall of clouds looming just beyond the downtown skyline? I took this photo on the way to work this morning, pulling over on the hill next to the old Pabst Brewery. That’s the new Bucks arena under construction in the lower right-hand corner of the photo. In fact all of the cranes are working in the same area on three sports-related projects: the arena, a clinic/sports-medicine center, and a parking structure.

Back to the storm: poor Racine, Kenosha, and probably Chicago got hit again with about the same amount of snow today, thanks to the “lake effect” as cold winds from the northeast swept across the water and picked up additional moisture.

At least we’re on the right side of winter now. Instead of ten inches of snow followed by an instant 30-degree drop in temperature, we are supposed to get into the 30s by Thursday and 40s by Friday and Saturday.

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A View from the Bridge

Posted on March 6, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

Taken from the “bridge” skywalk between the Library and Science Buildings at MSOE following my film studies class tonight. That’s the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist bathed in golden light, and the crane marks the site where one of the new Northwestern Mutual Life buildings is going up. Note the mist coming in off of Lake Michigan.

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Waiting for the Elevator (And My First-Ever Exhibit Submission)

Posted on March 3, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

While waiting for the elevator in my building, I decided to check my texts. Apparently the last app I’d used was my camera, because it was still active when I opened things up. The image that flashed onscreen before being replaced by text bubbles caught my eye, so staying perfectly still and holding my phone in exactly the same position, I clicked back to my camera.

Wow! I really liked the lines and shadows, so I balanced my coffee between my chin and the arm holding my phone and used my now-free thumb to snap exactly the image I had seen framed a few seconds earlier.

Waiting for the Elevator

I also did something new this past week. As part of my undergraduate university’s 50th-anniversary celebration in 2017, the last exhibit of the season at the campus’s Robert & Elaine Stein Galleries will be the 2017 Alumni Exhibition. All graduates of Wright State University’s College of Liberal Arts in the past 50 years were eligible to submit artwork for the juried alumni show.

So I submitted five photos! I’m not holding out a lot of hope that one of mine will be selected, but nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? And I’ve never done anything like this before. The only place I’ve ever “shown” my work is on this blog and on my office door. (Which is located inside an art museum, but I don’t think that really counts 🙂 )

It’s fun to try new things, and now I know a little more about how things work in the art world.

Here are the five photos I submitted. I’ll find out in about two weeks whether any have been selected. Keeping my fingers crossed . . . (and my expectations low 🙂 )

"Impermanent Fresco"

“Temporary Fresco”

"Grohmann Museum, Steel and Shadow"

“Grohmann Museum, Steel and Shadow”

"Autumn Afternoon Light, Twice Reflected"

“Autumn Afternoon Light, Twice Reflected”

"Chihuly Dream"

“Chihuly Dream”

"Grohmann Museum, November Rain"

“Grohmann Museum, November Rain”

Posted in Art, Creativity, Learning, Life, Photography | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

Al Jarreau as “The Jazz Singer” (SCTV)

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

Among my favorite moments from Al Jarreau (who was born in Milwaukee and passed away yesterday) is this parody of Neil Diamond’s 1980 remake of The Jazz Singer.

You know it’s going to be great the moment you see Sid Dithers (Eugene Levy) playing the father as a glorious soul-singer mashup of Lawrence Olivier’s Jewish cantor father, complete with ginormous glasses and thick accent, and Stevie Wonder’s braid/dreadlocks and wardrobe.

The film opens (it’s the “Movie of the Week” on SCTV) with Jarreau in the studio with his father, singing his big hit at the time, “We’re in This Love Together.” Dad loves his son’s work and has big plans for his career, so when Yussel (Jarreau) says he has to leave for shul (Yiddish for synagogue), an argument ensues:

Wait a minute, Pop. How many times do I have to tell you? We’ve been through this so many times. I don’t want to be a soul singer. I want to be a cantor. Why do you think I’ve had my head buried in the Torah all these years? Ah, man, it’s something that I’ve got to do. Don’t you understand?

https://youtu.be/3T-7NJQVRa4&rel=0

If you’ve seen the Neil Diamond version of the movie (and by the way, wasn’t it was fun seeing him on the Grammys last night and hearing his still-strong, distinctive voice?), then you’ll get the jokes. In case you haven’t, at least here’s the trailer to give you an idea.

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Posted in Life, Milwaukee, Movies and film, News, Popular culture, Television | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Nearly Sunset

Posted on February 8, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

Nearly Sunset (evening sunlight reflecting office windows)Which is coming later and later every evening, thank goodness. Last week I noticed that for the first time this winter it wasn’t dark as I was leaving work. I took this picture on my way out the door this afternoon. There was just enough sunlight low in the sky from the west to reflect from the windows of one office building to another.

Posted in Life, Milwaukee, Photography | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Is Hollywood Over?

Posted on January 31, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

Really interesting article in Vanity Fair Magazine this month, “Why Hollywood as We Know It Is Already Over.”

Basically it says that Hollywood is too bloated and calcified, producing unoriginal action movies that it hopes will hit big in foreign markets but often end up losing money. Additionally it cites Silicon Valley as Hollywood’s newest, greatest threat, via emphasis on animation (making actors less necessary), data-driven scripts (making screenwriters less necessary), algorithmic viewer customization (making directors and editors less necessary), and direct delivery (making distributors and movie theaters less necessary).

I’m not sure I completely buy his argument, but the writer, Nick Bilton, makes very a strong case. Definitely recommended reading for anyone working in a creative field, as well as for anyone who loves watching films/television or reading novels. Although machines may soon be capable of routinely creating films equal to Hollywood’s more mediocre offerings, I don’t think that true talent is in any real danger of being replaced.

The article’s real takeaway for me is that the film industry is about to be upended, and no one really knows what new model(s) will replace it. Lots of opportunity for outsiders to capitalize on the disruption and find a place among the ruins.

Posted in Creativity, Movies and film, Popular culture, Television, Writing, blogging | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Lines and Rings

Posted on January 25, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

A gloomy, rainy day in Milwaukee. But I’ll take it—way better than 10 inches of snow or below zero temperatures! Snapped this picture on my way from the CC to the Grohmann this morning (on MSOE’s campus downtown). Rain was just starting to pick up again, and I liked the contrast here between the lines of the office building reflected in this puddle and the spreading rings on the water’s surface where individual drops splashed.

img_2901

Yeah, I know. This is just an iPhone pic of a puddle. But I like the ghostly apparition of the building rising up from the depths (of, like, two inches max 🙂 ). You can also see the office lights floating in the blackness of each floor’s ceiling—which you kind of have to think about, as the puddle reflects a mirror image and everything is upside down. Plus, the pebbled texture of the sidewalk—unnoticeable when dry—looks like a lake bed or riverbank.

So not a beautiful photograph, but maybe an interesting one to look at.

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Posted in Milwaukee, Photography | Tagged , , | 3 Comments