Post by Sarah Bartash on 4/18/2013 1:00pm
People may have seen a viral video clip that made the rounds last year of a herd of dairy cows being lead out of their barn after being cooped up all winter. Their massive bovine forms nearly prance into the green fields of grass, kicking up their heels in the free open space of a meadow.
Moo Man includes such a clip, but notes that this display of apparent animal joy, and dairy cattle even getting a taste of fresh springtime grass, is the exception to the norm. Steve Hook is an English dairy farmer or “herdsman” as he refers to himself. He tends a herd of 72 dairy cows, which is well below the number normally found at farms now a day. He and his family run Hook and Sons, which provides fresh raw milk door to door and at farmer’s markets as a specialty small business offering in a world of inexpensive mass-produced dairy products.
Post by Sean Weitner on 4/18/2013 11:00am
I have never attended a film fest Q&A with more raised hands in the audience than the one that followed Tuesday's Sundance screening of The Institute, with co-producer Uriah Findley. The documentary recounts a four-year alternate reality game that took place in San Francisco, put on by Nonchalance, the “experience design” company for which Findley works. (The movie reviewed at length here.)
This is a nonfiction movie about fictional events, and as a consequence The Institute is more fictional than it lets on. It's coy about what's in and out, and every third or fourth audience question betrayed that this greasy approach to the truth was slipping through a lot of viewers’ fingers. Findley, who seems to have become Nonchalance’s go-to guy for these events, is a dab hand at not-answering those questions while maintaining the audience’s good graces. (Although Findley did confirm that the movie’s most outré personage, Organeil, was 100 percent himself and not a Nonchalance character.)
Post by dane101 on 4/18/2013 6:00am
Today is April 18, 2013.
* C3K: Rep Harsdorf has proposed a bill allowing citizens to opt out of robo-calls.
* TDP: Madison Common Council bids farewell to 2013's outgoing members
Post by Emily Mills on 4/17/2013 3:17pm
Updated with disclosure at 3:53 p.m.
The Department of Justice went on the defensive Wednesday morning in the first hearing of a lawsuit against rules regulating speech and assembly at the state Capitol.
The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin on behalf of UW assistant professor Michael Kissick. The group argues that the newly enforced rules requiring permits and banning signs, among other things, have had a chilling effect on First Amendment rights. Kissick participated in protests at the Capitol until last fall, when incoming Capitol Police Chief David Erwin began strict enforcement of the rules.
Kissick has never been ticketed or arrested. “I have always attempted to follow the law while expressing my political views,” Kissick said in an interview with the ACLU. “I resent being treated as a criminal for speaking freely in a public forum.”
Assistant Attorney General Maria Lazar defended the actions of Capitol Police, noting that the requirements for seeking permits for demonstrating in the rotunda have been in place for years and were not created in reaction to recent protests. The recently released rule set only “codified” those requirements, she said.
Judge William Conley seemed thrown for a loop when, in their opening statement, the state argued that even a single individual demonstrating on behalf of a cause at the Capitol would have to apply for a permit under the current rules.
Conley also asked if a permit would be necessary if he and a friend entered the rotunda while “discussing Shakespeare animatedly.” The state said yes.
Post by Sean Weitner on 4/17/2013 2:30pm
CITIZENS, gather 'round your loudspeakers, for we bring important updates! All here in North Korea know that their democracy is the most glorious and freest in the world, but yesterday the corrupt imperialist West chose to celebrate their ignorance by awarding their highest award for propaganda, the Pulitzer Prize, to Adam Johnson's The Orphan Master’s Son, a book that even they acknowledge is fiction! Johnson's silly caricature of our great country is a terrible story of perpetual misfortune, but observe how evil is always its own undoing: His conscience compelled him to alternate chapters of lies with transcripts of these very loudspeaker announcements, so that his perfidy is laid bare for all to see. We can only trust that our discerning brothers and sisters in democracy across the world can read between the lines.
However, America’s propaganda is so feeble that on the same day that they gave away worthless prizes to convince their countrymen that Johnson’s book has merit, the North Korean movie Comrade Kim Goes Flying had a gala screening in the American cultural capital, the People’s Republic of Madison, at a theater named for their noblest cowboy. How happy they were to turn in their coupons and be allowed to see a movie from the home of pure cinema, giving that sheltered country a true glimpse of our workers’ paradise!
Post by Christie Taylor on 4/17/2013 1:36pm
News
*MJS (paywall): Autism often diagnosed late.
*DNR: Spring rains push manure storage facilities close to overflowing.
*ACS: Tiny plastic particles polluting Great Lakes.
*MJS (paywall): Manure spraying takes hold on some Wisconsin farms -- and not everybody’s happy.
*UW: New bird flu strain seen to be adapting to mammals, humans.
*UW: Microbe regulates its host’s circadian rhythms.
*WSJ: DNR urged not to remove Blanding’s turtle from endangered species list.
*SFC: Conservation hearing attendees vote against use of dogs in wolf hunt.
*Esq: The greatness of grilled cheese, according to a food scientist.
Events
Tonight:
Wednesday Nite at the Lab: Viral takeover of host cell functions: What we can learn about both infection and normal cells. 7 - 8:15 p.m., Auditorium, 425 Henry Mall. Free!
Nerd Nite: Short presentations in a fun atmosphere. This month: astrophysics research at the South Pole, the mysteries of “numbers” radio stations, and an introduction to roller derby. 8 p.m., High Noon Saloon. Free!
The Earth from Space: A photo and video tour of our observations of the Earth from above. 6:30 and 7:45 p.m., Memorial High School planetarium. $2.50.
Post by Mark Riechers on 4/17/2013 12:00pm
This week, the Arts Extract podcast crew held a live podcast recording from the Wisconsin Film Festival. At University Bookstore Hilldale, the crew covered the festival with a critic’s panel, music from Rob Dz and friends, and a banjo demonstration from Jim Callier, director of WFF selection The Librarian and the Banjo.
For more of the work of our panelists:
Rob Thomas
Jessica Steinhoff
Sarah Bartash
Chris Lay
Subscribe to Arts Extract on iTunes.
Post by dane101 on 4/17/2013 6:00am
Today is April 17, 2013. On Monday, two explosions near the Boston Marathon finish line killed three and injured more than 100. Boston Police encourage anyone with tips to call 1(800) CALL-FBI or the BPD’s Crime Stoppers Tip Line at 1 (800) 494-TIPS.
* WSJ [paywall]: Security to increase at Crazylegs in wake of Boston attack
* Gov Office: Flags to Half-Staff at All State Buildings
* MJS [paywall]: Lawmakers consider audit of Government Accountability Board
* TheHill: Feds’ 2013 tax haul will be biggest ever
* GBPG: 33,000 Wisconsin addicts to become eligible for insurance
* Reddit: Reddit weighs in experiences with Madison rental companies on /r/madisonwi
* WisPolitics: Judge backs Erpenbach's withholding of information on Act 10 emails
Post by Kat Kosiec on 4/16/2013 1:30pm
Reviews by Kat Kosiec and Christie Taylor
Kat Kosiec: The result of 15 years of shooting Consuming Spirits one 16mm frame at a time and screening unfinished drafts at festivals (including the 2005 Wisconsin Film Festival) is this 129 minute film. Composed of multiple animation techniques, including cutout animation, pencil drawing, stop-motion, and collage, it is not a surprise that director Chris Sullivan is also a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
The animation is incredible; jaw-dropping, beautiful, haunting, and disturbing. Most of the film feels like it takes place in an alternate reality that is part dream, part nightmare, and part small-town America. The slightly crude and grotesque protagonists of the film aren’t very likeable, but absolutely fascinating on screen as they say pretty much whatever comes to their minds.
Post by Sean Weitner on 4/16/2013 11:30am
“I'm always attacked for having an erotic, sexist approach — chopping up women, putting women in peril. I'm making suspense movies! What else is going to happen to them?" — Brian De Palma
To judge from his movie Berberian Sound Studio, writer/director Peter Strickland loves movie genres that specialize in women in peril, and is conflicted about it to say the least. In Berberian, British soundman Gilderoy (Toby Jones) has been brought to Italy in the '70s to mix a horror film for director Santini (Antonio Mancino). It will not be a good trip.
