Milwaukee’s Urban Anthropology Tours…and More!

by Kelly Amabile on

Bookmark this if you plan to be in Milwaukee at all. New in 2005, these cultural backstreet
tours of this city examine the history of unique ‘hoods that existed in the past — an extinct fishing village, the
Polish flats and the African American neighborhood of Bronzeville. New tours on German Heritage, the Homeless of
Southeastern Winsconsin, Milwaukee French, the Old Northwest Side, and Riverwest are all
slated for the future. Guides for the $30-$35
tours are real cultural anthropologists  who know
their stuff.

While we are here, let’s gather some more love for Milwaukee: GoNomad mentions the UrbAn tours and a whole slew of
other attractions in its Milwaukee destination
mini-guide. And our pal Jen Leo raves about
the town while on a recent stop there for her book tour. Milwaukee has officially been added to my list of must-see
cities.

Creepy, Real Adventure Stories

by Erik Olsen on

With Halloween soon upon us,
Outside is re-running a
series of some of its older, but creepy stories about adventure. There are some goodies here, including 
Ian Frazier’s
Things
That Go Bump in the Wild and the
story about Eileen and Tom
Lonergan, two dives who went out for a day of scuba diving, and, well, never came back. The story, I believe, was the
basis for the chilling dive film Open water.  Another of my favorites is
the investigative piece on
Michael Rockefeller, the scion who went missing in Dutch New Guinea many years ago and, it was believed by some, got
gobbled by cannibals. These are just a few of the treats, sans tricks, that await you…and your
printer.

MUG Dossiers

by Kelly Amabile on

Charlie Suisman’s Manhattan User’s Guide occasionally features
a dossier on a particular place, a fact sheet to help get the feel of a certain culture without leaving NYC. These
shows up rather sporadically, I guess compiled when the mood strikes Charlie, or to coincide with upcoming exhibits,
like the most recent
Tibetan dossier,
which appeared last week. It mentions this exhibit
opening next month at the Tibet House.

Here are links to previous dossiers:

2005:
Swedish,
Spanish,
Japanese

2004:
New Orleans,
India,
Mexican,
Canadian

2003:
Scottish,
Greek

I like these pseudo travel guides that provide cultural snapshots for the city. Do you know of other online city
guides that do this kind of thing?

Goats in Trees Make Great Face Cream

by Erik Olsen on

Or so we are told by
this piece in today’s New York
Times. I’ve seen these tree-climbing goats before. Not in person, but in pictures and, I’m sure, on some National
Geographic special. And like all things really cool and exotic, they are threatened.

But here’s the twist. It’s not really the goats that are threatened. It’s the trees, called argan trees. You
see, the trees burn, and that makes them very appealing to people who are cold or in need of wood to cook their food.
And the goats overgraze the trees too. But there is hope! Because people have discovered (or, I guess they have known
for centuries…perhaps re-discovered is the proper term) that the oil of the nuts that grow in the trees, the nuts that
are the reason the goats climb the trees in the first place, have an oil inside them makes a dandy face cream. It also
is used in cooking and is said to be very tasty, especially once they have passed through a goat. And no conveniently,
there might be a reason to save the trees, which is good news for them, and for the goats, and for us!

I’ll have my fries cooked in goat crap oil, please!

Road Read: On the Ice

by Kelly Amabile on

Here’s a heads up about an interesting book that won’t be out till next month. Gretchen Legler’s
On the Ice,
An
Intimate Portrait of Life at McMurdo Station is described as, “…travelogue, cultural meditation, and love
story…” Legler received a grant to travel to
McMurdo Station in Antarctica to
observe community life during  the winter darkness down below. The book is a series of essays that documents daily
life of those at the facility, as Legler visits the huts of great explorers past and sails aboard a research ship.
However, according to Publisher’s Weekly, the book is not busting with adventure from beginning to end.
Rather, it reveals personal details of Legler’s fears and experiences as a lesbian, exploring how relationships work in
this obscure and isolated community. The author shares her unique perspective from one of the most solitary landscapes
on earth.