Blog Archives
Tea’s Weird Week: QWERTYFEST schedule is live, stage magic, Krampusnacht art, and more
QWERTYFEST MKE, a celebration of typewriters, Milwaukee history and innovation, writing and the lost arts, music, and fun happening Oct. 3-5, is something me and my co-organizer Molly Snyder have been hard at work at. We’ve got a schedule and I have to say, I’m really happy with everything about it. We have FANTASTIC people involved at every event and I’m especially glad that the venues– Turner Hall Ballroom, State Street Pizza, Central Library, Interchange Theater, Newsroom Pub, Forest Home Cemetery, and Falcon Bowl– are all places of rich history.
You can find the full schedule and tickets at our website: www.qwertyfest.com
BTW, still looking for View-Masters for a “View-Master Theater” at QWERTYFEST. Thanks to Irvin Orlandini for gifting a View-Master and a nice collection of reels. That was a great start!
I’m also quite proud of our official publication, QWERTY Quarterly. Every issue is a powerhouse of talent– poems, fiction, short articles, columns, fun pages. This month we released issue 9. A great way to support QWERTYFEST is to buy an issue or a subscription– 4 issues delivered to you is just $25. See our Etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/qwertyquarterly
What else have I been up to?
-I wrote a feature for the August issue of Milwaukee Magazine (out now) about magician and illusionist Bill Blagg. I think it turned out well. It’s a story about the magic biz but also being determined to follow your dreams. That’s been a theme I return to– my article on local surfers springs to mind.
-I also have a feature in the September issue of MilMag on the legends of Whitewater I’m really thrilled for you to check out, so look out for that.
-I’m the director of Milwaukee Krampusnacht. This is our 8th year, and Stinky Goblin Emporium dropped our art (below) for this year. It features some characters from the previous 8 art designs they’ve done and they are also compiling a publication showcasing art from all 8 years you can pick up at this year’s event. I wrote a short intro for it. Vendor applications for Krampusnacht (Dec. 7 in the Brewery District) are currently open: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1S2rT5-JQng72kuxmI2INdQVVsp2RIoT2oLpHdN0sJFw/
-A reminder I’ll be on The UnXplained on August 15. A lot of people have asked– no, I didn’t get a chance to meet host William Shatner. They film his narration segments separately, but I’m thrilled I get to be on a show he hosts.
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Tea’s Weird Week: We Can Battle A.I. with Dive Bars
I’m honored to say that an article I contributed to, “High Dive,” for Milwaukee Magazine, won a National City & Regional Magazine Award in the “Lifestyle/ Leisure” category. Bar culture is big here in Milwaukee, so this piece lovingly took a look at some of our city’s best “dives.” I’ve spent over half my life hanging around one bar or another, so it was music to my ears. I was assigned what I’ve named the “apostrophe beat,” Just Art’s, Dale’s, Gordie’s, and Mamie’s, all great places in their own way.
The other writers on this package were Chris Drosner (who also edited), Tom Kertscher, and Spencer Creal, fantastic photos by Aliza Baran, designed by Chelsea Mamerow.
I’ve won a few awards now and when that happens, I like to try to reflect on what made it stand out. They ain’t all going to be winners, that’s for sure, so what makes this one special? Well, as my mind tend to do, my thoughts began wander. I’ve been running into a lot stories about A.I. these days and it perks my interest, but usually not in a good way. There are a lot of people trying to “cheat” with their writing by using A.I. to do the heavy lifting for them.
I really don’t get it– why be a writer if you don’t like to write? People are publishing books written by A.I. RFK Jr.’s recent “Make America Healthy Again” report had fake citations as A.I. generated papers “tend to hallucinate references,” as Ivan Oransky, co-founder of Retraction Watch says in a USA Today article (the White House says it was a “formatting error.” Yeah, sure.) It’s all kinda depressing to me.
But not everything is online and able to be stuffed into an A.I. meat grinder, and it struck me that this piece was a great example that. Some of these places have little internet presence at all. Part of the package was a guide of signs that you’re in a dive bar. I think one we forgot is “Facebook page that is only updated once every three months” or “stopped with status updates six years ago, but still open.”
We’re still a ways off from an A.I. robot putting on a pair of pants or a bathrobe, heading down to the corner bar, taking a shot with the bartender and chatting with some regulars about the weather or the Brewers or sharing a dirty joke. A.I. can’t really duplicate that experience (yet). They can’t hear the slamming sound of a game of bar dice or smell the mixture of rail whiskey and frozen pizza and secondhand smoke wafting through the door when someone opens it.
Thank the stars for that. The next round of Schlitz is on me (but only if you can prove you’re human).
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Please Clap (and donate) Dept.: Speaking of not being A.I.-generated: Fundraising for QWERTYFEST MKE is underway and we got a long way to go to meet our goal. Our fundraiser page is here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/qwertyfest-mke-2025 and includes great perks like tickets, shirts, zines, even a historic bobblehead. We’re also doing a “Telethon” at Sugar Maple (which will also be livestreamed) on Sunday, June 22. More info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1529533825125088/ Please help make it happen!
Tea’s Weird Week: TWW Returns! (plus, a psychedelic time travel boat dream)
As things tend to go with me, at a certain point I was overworked and struggling to keep up and so my beloved column, Tea’s Weird Week, fell into hiatus. I think politics played a hand in this, too. It has felt overwhelming and fruitless to write about weird topics with the current climate of turmoil. But in times like these, we need to find our happy places to hide out in and take a break, and one of those refuges for me is writing about some strange shit.
I’ve missed having this venue to write about whatever I want and to update on some of the many projects I’m working on, so Tea’s Weird Week is back! Every Thursday (except the ones I don’t). We (me and my collaborators) had a good run of a Tea’s Weird Week podcast. Can we bring it back? I hope so. I’m thinking about it. But to start, here’s a weird dream I had and some brief updates.
On Tuesday, me and QWERTYFEST MKE co-organizer Molly Snyder had a meeting to discuss plans for the fest (Oct.3-5 this year!) but we took a break to watch the effort to finally remove Deep Thought, a boat that was beached and ditched way back in October. The abandoned, soon to be graffiti covered boat became a local celebrity of sorts, with lots of local media interest. After several failed attempts, a local towing company was called in to pull the sucker off the beach. We observed part of this effort (it took a long time) as they yanked the boat up onto the rocks, eventually hauling it away on a flatbed truck.
That night I had a dream– I was back at the beach, and Deep Thought was still wrecked there, but we had both time travelled back to the 1960s. The beach was filled with hippies, sitting around smoking weed. A guy with long hair and a beard was walking around hawking a newspaper (I would guess Milwaukee’s 60s underground paper, Kaleidoscope). Hippies were circled around playing hacky sack (this part of the dream might not be historically accurate) and some were playing acoustic guitars and bongos. The hippies offered me a joint, and I took some tokes. Sleepy, I climbed up on the Deep Thought and fell asleep in the sunlight. I woke up in my bed. The boat was gone. Faaaaaar out, man. Far-fucking-out. Good-bye Deep Thought.
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QWERTY Quarterly: Speaking of QWERTYFEST MKE, QQ is a zine edited by me and Molly, that is the official publication of the festival. I’m very proud of it, every issue features the work of talented local writers (poetry, fiction, articles, columns) and artists. You can pick up a copy at Lion’s Tooth and Woodland Pattern here in Milwaukee, Quimby’s in Chicago, or get it mailed anywhere via our Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/qwertyquarterly
More QWERTYFEST MKE news soon!
Other recent writing: I wrote two short pieces for the May issue of Milwaukee Magazine, about local ham radio enthusiasts and a travelogue about a guy who faked his kayaking death here in Wisconsin, then took a meandering escape route to eastern Europe. I’ve got some entries in the Summer Guide issue out in June, and I wrote about a local “hoedown throwdown” between line-dancing groups for their website HERE.
Clownwatch 2025: last fall, I published a zine/ ebook titled Political Monsters, which explores the correlation between the party in power and the number of films starring zombies (higher during traditional Republican presidencies) vampires (Democratic Party), or in the case of Trump, killer clown (MAGA) movies being made. Trump’s first term saw the largest spike of killer clown themed movies in film history. Are the clowns back? We’ll see– I am tracking and cataloging all killer clowns released over the next 4 years, starting here with our first entry for Trump 2.0. I will update on more films as they are released.
1. May 9: Clown in a Cornfield (directed by Eli Craig) release date. Based on a 2020 novel by Adam Cesare, features a cornfield-lurking clown named Frendo, who enjoys killing horny teens.
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Next week on TWW: It’s going to be a hot cryptid summer!
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Tea’s Weird Week: Favorite Words of 2024 (and where I wrote ’em)
Words! Some just feel better rolling off the tongue than others. I’ve been trying to keep track of some of my favorites over the last year. Here’s 12 I love (and by extension, some of the best articles I’ve written for various publications this year). I’m looking forward to more word usage in 2025. Happy New Year!
LANDLUBBERS: “Goth Barge has developed a following for their Dark Wave fueled boat cruises, but they do plenty of sets for landlubbers too.” —Madcap Milwaukee Calendar: Who Will You Ask to the Goth Prom?, Shepherd Express, Jan. 30.
LYNCHIAN: “If you want to make the experience even more immersive, show up ‘dressed in your Lynchian best’ to win a prize in the costume contest.” — Madcap Milwaukee Calendar: Furries and Motorcyclists Assemble; Music for Your Lynchian Lifestyle, Shepherd Express, Feb. 14
PENDING: “Pending approval, the statue will be placed in a corner of Elm Park they hope to rename Gygax Park and will feature a likeness of Gary Gyagx sitting at the head of a table, where visitors can sit down and join him for a game.”– Dungeons & Dragons All Started In This Tiny Wisconsin Town, Atlas Obscura, March 28
CAPRINE VINYASA: “Share your yoga mat with a baby dwarf goat in a session of “caprine vinyasa,” or goat yoga, a trend that dates back to an Oregon farm in 2016.” — Madcap Milwaukee Calendar: Buffy Prom is Ready to Slay, Shepherd Express, May 8.
GOTHABILLIES: “These sour goths don’t like looking out their window to see their moonlit lawn filled with cybergoths, dark wavers, deathrockers, gothabillies, and other new-fangled creatures of the night.”–I’m on a goth boat: All aboard Milwaukee’s Goth Barge, Milwaukee Record, June 4. Please Clap Dept.: This article was included on the “25 favorite Milwaukee Record stories of 2024 list.”
TERRAZZO: “Waitstaff zipped across the hall’s terrazzo floor, delivering plates of fried cod and perch to the maze of tables, each decorated with a centerpiece vase featuring minature American and Serbian flags and colored carnations nestled amongst the condiments.”– Generations of Politicians Have Passed Through Serb Hall, Milwaukee Magazine, July 2024
CLACK: “With both parties satisfied with the deal, Dul sits at his Olympia SG-1 typewriter, and with a clack clack clack he types the customer a receipt, turning a crank to pull it free from the platen (the roller that holds the paper).”– Gen Z is into typewriters, Chicago Reader, Sept. 19
CLOWNADO: “The success of those movies led to a score of low budget entries like Killer Clowns: Unleashed (2016), Crispy’s Curse (2017), Clowntergeist (2017), Clown Motel: Spirits Arise (2018), and a film title that perhaps sums up the Trump administration in a single word: Clownado (2019).”– Political Monsters: How Presidents Influence Horror Movies, zine/e-book, October 2024
BLOWHOLE: “The band’s logo, a mohawked humpback whale in a leather jacket (with an enormous safety pin piercing the noble animal’s blowhole) breaching the water while defiantly raising a flipper, was a common sight on the streets, plastered everywhere on flyers and stickers slapped on dumpsters and electrical boxes.”– The Terrible Curse of the Humpbacks, Riverwest Radio Ghost Walk booklet, October 2024. Please Clap Dept.: Illustrator Ashley Altadonna captured what I thought this logo might look like exactly:
SCHTICK: “I sell a drink, put the money in the register; at the end of the night, I count the money – immediate gratification,” Guenther says. “I make a new customer, I tell a joke, people laugh, and that’s my schtick.”– A Short Guide to Milwaukee’s Dive Bars, Milwaukee Magazine, October 2024
HODAG-GREEN: “Then, in 2018, he went all in, giving the exterior of the shop a Hodag-green coat of paint and rebranding as The Hodag Store.”– Do You Know the Legend of the Rhinelander Hodag? Milwaukee Magazine, October 2024
KRAMPUSSCHLAP: “Krampuschlap,” a game where people slap each other as hard as they can, is revealed to be “the favorite game of Krampusnacht” in the action comedy Red One. At Milwaukee Krampusnacht, we partnered with Best Place on a “Krampusschlap” drink special (cider and Fireball) and set up a photo opp so people could pretend they were being slapped by a Krampus hand. —Milwaukee Krampusnacht website and social media promotions
Tea’s Weird Week: Goth Barge (and other recent excursions)
One of my favorite things about writing is the chance to have a unique experience and share that with other people in a story, so I was delighted to step aboard Goth Barge and write it up for Milwaukee Record. They got a good thing going on with this cruise.
Back in high school and into my early 20s I identified as a punk rocker. I had a mohawk and usually sported an Operation Ivy or Dead Kennedys T-shirt. But I was fortunate in that the circles I hung out in featured a variety of subcultures, including oh, you know, the Goths, the Vandals, the Huns, the Saxons…all the enemies of the Roman Empire.
I loved quite a few goth classics, my favorites being Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, Joy Division (I dropped those in the article), Bauhaus, New Order, and The Damned. I also really liked a lot of 80s/90s industrial like Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult. It’s a mood, as the kids today say. Anyway, I’m glad to see that the article appears to have gotten a good reception from goth and not-so-goth readers alike.
You can check it out it here: “I’m on a goth boat: All aboard Milwaukee’s Goth Barge.”
More recent writings:
– I wrote an article for Milwaukee Magazine‘s website on local writer and game designer Jex Thomas, creator of Bump in the Night. I had a chance to sit down and play a session and had a great time. They created a crowdsource campaign to raise funds for a new edition and I’m glad to see it’s going really well. Read more and find the link here: “‘Bump in the Dark’ Is a New Tabletop Game by a Local Designer“
-As I said on Facebook, this story is like a weird dream: I dreamed that I found an unmarked secret building built into a railroad bridge and discovered a model railroad club that’s been in there for 8 decades. Well, it’s reality: “Milwaukee Model Railroad Club Is Hidden in Plain Sight” (a print version appeared in the May issue of Milwaukee Magazine).
–QWERTY Quarterly #5: have you heard the good word about QWERTYFEST? It’s happening soon– June 21-23. I’m co-editor of QWERTY Quarterly, official publication of QF. I wrote bits and pieces of the new issue, along with many other talented creators. This issue has a lot of material that ties into QF– a full schedule, articles on (or by) participants, there’s also poetry, fiction, a word scramble, a new comic strip and more! You can buy a QQ subscription (and we’ll have individual copies of QQ#5 listed soon) here: https://www.qwertyfest.com/qwerty-quarterly.html
And check out the full QF schedule (and ticket links) here: https://www.qwertyfest.com/qwertyfest-2024-schedule.html
-“Madcap Milwaukee Calendar” is a column I write for the Shepherd Express every two weeks. I find about five unique/unusual/ nerdy events around town to spotlight, so if you’re looking for something interesting, check it out. You can find the latest column here: https://shepherdexpress.com/culture/madcap-milwaukee-calendar
Tea’s Weird Week: I Wanna Magnet Fish Those Brothel Keys Out of the Milwaukee River
Back in the wild plague year of 2020, I, like many others, was figuring out what to do with myself. With everything shut down, I tried to think of a hobby that would get me out of the house and into (hopefully COVID-19 free) fresh air. Magnet fishing seemed like a good idea.
Magnet fishing is taking a powerful magnet attached to a long, sturdy rope and throwing it into bodies of water to pull out some of the mass of trash dumped by humanity for generations. Bicycles, radiators, license plates, fishing lures, boat parts, pots and pans, etc. Junk fishing seemed fun, so I bought a magnet and gear and… never did go out and do it. I think one of the hang ups was that I was pretty sure I’d find ditched guns in the Milwaukee waterways and was not quite sure about what to do in that situation.
We’ll get back to this, but let’s switch gears for a minute. Recently, I got a copy of the March issue of Milwaukee Magazine. I always enjoy seeing an article of mine that has made it into print, and this issue I wrote a feature on the career of 95-year-old photographer Tom Ferderbar. As I was flipping through the magazine, I was glad to see Matthew J. Prigge’s byline on an article. Matthew has written a great body of work exploring Milwaukee’s interesting and sometimes violent, macabre, and odd history in articles and books like Milwaukee Mayhem: Murder and Mystery in the Cream City’s First Century.
In Milwaukee Magazine, Prigge’s most recent article is titled “Life on the Line,” which delves into the history of Milwaukee’s red light district in the late 1800s and early 1900s, which was called “The Line.” (The article is only available in print for the time being, I will update with a link when it gets posted online).
Prigge reports that the area of The Line was located on River Street (now Edison Street) spread east of the river “from what is now Highland and Wells Streets and as far east as Market Street.” He also writes that a more working class version of The Line ran across the other side of the river “along Wells Street as far west as 6th Street.”
But here is the key line, how this column all ties together. From Prigge’s article:
“Legend had it that when a new house of prostitution, all-night saloon or gambling den would open on The Line, its operator would toss a key into the Milwaukee River. The ritual was a symbol of their intentions in the area- to hold their doors open, to neither be locked in nor locked away.”
Now do you see? It could just be a “legend,” they might have all been eaten by sturgeon or something, but maybe (just maybe) those keys might still be down there. I will try to find them on some magnet fishing expeditions. Will I be successful? Probably not. But as treasure hunters have asked throughout time…
what if I do?
Please Clap Dept.: If you’re looking for unique, interesting events in the Milwaukee area, please check out my bi-weekly column for the Shepherd Express, “Madcap Milwaukee Calendar.” You can find the most recent column here: https://shepherdexpress.com/culture/madcap-milwaukee-calendar
See also: Another Milwaukee hidden treasure is one buried by Byron Preiss, author of The Secret. I wrote an article on this about a year ago for Atlas Obscura: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-secret-byron-preiss-milwaukee
I can always tell when AO recycles this story on social media, by the way, because I get at least a couple messages from people who claim they’ve cracked the code. My message to them is always the same– dig it up and find it, and then let me know first so I can get the scoop on writing about it!
Tea’s Weird Week: The Last Train Outta 2023
2023 was quite a year for me. As always, it was a year of challenges, accomplishments, love, and heartbreak. The world keeps on spinning and I keep taking on new projects. Here’s my year in review.
Writing: In May, I was honored to receive two Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism Awards for two pieces I wrote for Milwaukee Magazine in 2022, “The Last Frame,” and “Wanna Buy a Famous Tugboat?” Freelance writing is a tough gig, but being recognized for your work encourages you on. The majority of articles I wrote this year were for MilMag, but I also began contributing to Atlas Obscura, writing four articles for them. Thanks to my editors Carole and Chris and the rest of the staff at MilMag, and Sarah at Atlas Obscura for giving me some great opportunities.
I did not make much progress on my book project ideas, too much going on, but that needs to change in 2024. I used to write TWW as a weekly column, but week after week this column fell by the wayside. I didn’t have the bandwidth for the TWW podcast either. That’s just the way it goes– sometimes you have to sacrifice some ideas so others may move forward. TWW will return in 2024, but it’ll be on a “when I can, I can” type of basis.
QWERTYFEST MKE: Big in 2023– I helped launch a new event in Milwaukee this year, QWERTYFEST MKE (June 23-25). This was good for me because as much as I like weird paranormal stuff, monsters, and subcultures, I also just like all aspects of writing. So this was a nice change of pace for me. QF celebrates the typewriter/ QWERTY keyboard, invented here in Milwaukee as well as writing and innovation in general. Thanks so much to Molly Snyder for being willing to take a leap of faith with me on this exciting new endeavor. Very excited for QF 24! Save the date: QWERTYFEST MKE–June 21-23, 2024.
QWERTY Quarterly: I am very proud of this humble little publication (the official publication of QWERTYFEST MKE), which features a mix of articles, fiction, poetry, columns, art, and fun pages. We celebrated each issue with release parties at Voyageur Book Shop, Mitchell Street Arts, and Woodland Pattern Book Center. We have had great contributors from locally and beyond. I think of it as a photocopied, Milwaukee version of The New Yorker. Me and Molly are editors, along with our excellent art director Alicia Krupsky and fantastic poetry editor Peter Burzyński. Our winter issue just came out and is “hygge” themed. Buy an issue (or a subscription– a nice holiday gift) here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/qwertyquarterly
Milwaukee Paranormal Conference: I’ve been director of MPC since 2015. This year we returned to the Irish Cultural and Heritage Center (where year one and three took place) on October 14. I was pretty stressed out the day before the conference, but day of I think it was one of the smoothest MPCs ever. Thanks to everyone who helped! 2024 date TBA. Follow MPC on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/milwaukeeparanormalconference
I’m Your Host: I was producer on this documentary directed by Alicia Krupsky, loosely based on a MilMag article I wrote, “Terror on the Tube,” (print version title). Alicia kicked some serious ass on this one. Last year, we won a Brico Forward Fund which provided things like money for costs and free legal advice. We had a work-in-progress screening at Milwaukee Twisted Dreams Film Festival, where it won audience favorite, and another screening at UW-Parkside in Kenosha, where we were given a special award of recognition by Kenosha Community Media. The documentary will continue to be submitted to film fests in 2024 and eventually will be available as a DVD/ online stream.
Check out the trailer on Alicia’s site here: https://aliciakrupsky.me/I-m-Your-Host
Milwaukee Krampusnacht: The Big Beast of the Year, Krampusnacht continues to grow and every year some things move smoother, but new challenges pop up. The event was Dec. 3 and returned to the Brewery District, expanding into some new businesses there. This year I received many compliments from all sorts of people locally and visiting from out-of-state praising the overall vibe of the event. It’s a huge group effort and it’s not about being greedy or shitty but having a good time together and supporting local artists, crafters, musicians, performers, and local business. We already got great ideas for next year, but as the event expands, I need help with organizing various aspects of it. If you have an interest and are reliable, contact me and we can talk about how it might benefit you.
Milwaukee Krampusnacht Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/180734318942836
Save the date: Milwaukee Krampusnacht– Sunday, Dec.1, 2024.
Also: Continued to fill in shifts at my friends’ fantastic bookstore, Lion’s Tooth, and led tours for American Ghost Walks. Both great local businesses!
Psychic Detective Roberts predicts this for 2024
1. I will be writing a new bi-weekly column for the Shepherd Express, “Madcap Milwaukee Calendar” that shares interesting and unique events happening in the Milwaukee area. First column will be posted next week!
2. Continue work on co-authoring Paranormal Road Trip.
3. Undisclosed non-fiction book project.
4. Working on a short documentary about my friend, cosmic prankster Mark Gubin, titled Welcome to Cleveland.
5. Undisclosed fiction book project.
6. And, of course, I will continue to work on the established annual events I mentioned above and continue to seek freelance writing opportunities.
Tea’s Weird Week: A Big Week for the TWW “Please Clap Dept.”
I don’t know why this moment cracked me up so much, but it sure did. While out campaigning for the presidential nomination in 2016, candidate Jeb Bush faced a less-than-enthusiastic room. After making a point to the sleepy audience, he looked at them and asked them to “please clap.” That was unofficially the end of his campaign and the Bush presidential dynasty.
It’s strange to admit, but in that moment…I kinda felt for him. Well, maybe not him, but the situation he was in. It sometimes feels rough, exhausting, futile, frustrating trying to get attention for things you do. It makes you feel invisible, underrated, like you’re begging the world to notice you. Please clap, dammit— I put a lot of work into this.
At some point in the life of this column, I knew what I would call the little blurb I sometimes add to the end of Tea’s Weird Week to mention things I’ve worked on that are published, recognitions I receive, big media appearances, etc.– the Please Clap Dept. (the “Dept.” part is probably engrained in my brain from Mad Magazine, where they’d call different features “departments.” “Spy vs Spy,” for example was listed as being in their “Joke and Dagger Dept.”
This week, there was a lot of incoming good news for the Please Clap Dept. so I’m going to share these items.
I won two Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism Awards. These are my 2nd and 3rd MPC awards. It’s an honor– unlike a popularity “Best of” contest, this one is judged by peers at different press clubs around the country. MPC says 2022 was one of the most competitive in their award history– over 900 entries (across all categories). My article “The Last Frame” won in the Short Soft Feature Story category and “Wanna Buy a Famous Tugboat?” got in the Best Soft Feature Story (Online Exclusively). I will find out if these stories won gold, silver, or bronze at an award ceremony in May. But as I said on Facebook, a double bronze would not be seen as sad to me. I will be writing a column looking behind the scenes of these stories and thanking people who helped after the award ceremony. I’ll also be hosting a party at Falcon Bowl (subject of “The Last Frame.”)
I wrote an article for Atlas Obscura. Longtime fan, first time contributor. I wrote an article following local treasure hunters Tom and Molly as they search for a hidden treasure buried somewhere in Milwaukee in the 80s: “Hunting for ‘The Secret’ Treasure Buried in Milwaukee.” This was a great experience from me and I hope it leads to more freelancing with AO. I’ve already gotten a few emails from people on their theories of where the Milwaukee and other Secret treasures in other cities are. I’m telling everyone the same thing– put me on speed dial and if you dig one of those up, let me break the story!
Pull tabs! I also wrote a feature for Milwaukee Magazine on the Wisconsin pastime of playing pull tabs and the interesting story behind the legality of it. You can read the article here: How Are Pull-Tabs Legal in Wisconsin? | Milwaukee Magazine
I also got a chance to stop by the WUWM studios to discuss the article with Joy Powers on Lake Effect. You can hear that segment here: The history and legality behind Pull-Tabs in Wisconsin tavern culture | WUWM 89.7 FM – Milwaukee’s NPR
Please clap. Thank you.
Follow me on: Substack//Facebook Group//Twitter//Instagram
My latest books are:
Brady Street Pharmacy: Stories and Sketches (2021, VA Press)
American Madness: The Story of the Phantom Patriot and How Conspiracy Theories Hijacked American Consciousness (2020, Feral House)
My “Citizen Journalists” Article Won a Gold Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Award
I’m honored to say I was announced this week as winner of a gold Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Award in the “Best Short Hard News Feature” category. MPC is the oldest operating press club in North America (e. 1885). The entrants were judged by my peers at other press clubs around the country.
I think some people just have a vague idea that I write about “weird stuff,” but I take what I do seriously. I’ve freelanced on a wide range of topics– food/drink, art, music, independent businesses, interesting personalities, reviews, everything from short blurbs to longform pieces. I think that the more experience you have writing, the more you recognize what you’re good at.
The award was for an article I wrote last year for Milwaukee Magazine titled “Reporting Live from the Street” (the online version has the different title “How Citizen Journalists Captured the Chaos in Kenosha” and is a bit longer than the print version.)
I started piecing together the story the day after the shootings by 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha last August, where Rittenhouse killed two people and injured a third. I was watching the news the next day (I watched more cable news this year and last than I have my entire prior life x 3, easily) glued to the reports. I noticed that all of the footage from that night had watermarks on it from “The Rundown Live” and “BG on the Scene.” I happened to know Kristan T. Harris of The Rundown Live, as he participated in some past events I had done, and I wrote an article about him for Milwaukee Record about his bid to be presidential nominee for the Transhumanist Party– he’s an interesting guy.
I learned that Harris, Brandon Guteschwager (BG on the Scene), and others like them were people that are sometimes called “citizen journalists,” independent reporters who livestream from protests and other events to share footage of what’s going on at street level. It is because of the footage of Harris, Gutenschwager, CJ Halliburton (CJTV), and Andrew Mercado (Mercado Media) that we know what happened that night in Kenosha. If they had not captured it, I think it’s entirely possible that Rittenhouse would have walked away from the scene and disappeared into the night unidentified.
That night was far from the end of the story. Rittenhouse was released on a $2 million bail, paid by his admirers (including Silver Spoons actor Ricky Schroder and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell). After making bail, he was spotted at a bar in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin hanging out and singing karaoke with the Proud Boys. And I’m sure people will take to the streets again when Rittenhouse goes on trial (which was pushed back to November).
As for the citizen journalists, they have continued to travel across the country covering events and they’ve shot footage that you’ve probably seen of protests in Minneapolis, the January 6 Insurrection, and other locations. I’d like to thank Kristan T. Harris, Brandon Gutenschwager, and CJ Halliburton for the interviews for the article– their candid accounts of what happened that terrifying night really made the story. I’d also like to thank Kate for her feedback on the article, my editor Chris Drosner at Milwaukee Magazine for his help and supportive words, and everyone else on staff there that I’ve had the opportunity to work with.
You can read the article here: “How Citizen Journalists Captured the Chaos in Kenosha,” Milwaukee Magazine.
I also uploaded an audio file of myself reading the article via the Tea’s Weird Week podcast channels. You can listen here: TWW Singles: Tea Reads his Award-winning Article About Citizen Journalists (podbean.com)
Thanks you all for your support. Being a freelance journalist and an author working with indie book publishers is awesome and thrilling, but not particularly lucrative. If you want to support me as a writer, one of the best ways is to buy one of my books, buy one for a friend, leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads, or share on social media. Here are links to all my books via the best places to buy them:
American Madness: The Story of the Phantom Patriot and How Conspiracy Theories Hijacked American Consciousness (2020, Feral House)
Apocalypse Any Day Now: Deep Underground with America’s Doomsday Preppers (2019, Chicago Review Press)
Wisconsin Legends & Lore (2020, History Press)
Monster Hunters (2015, Chicago Review Press)
Heroes in the Night (2013, Chicago Review Press)
Tea’s Weird Week: 2020 Review (e-book collection of my columns from last year)
Today is the official Apocalypse Any Day Now release date!
Today is the official release date of Apocalypse Any Day Now, and I’m glad to say the title has gotten some good media hits over the last week. Here’s a round up:
Milwaukee Record: I wrote an article here speculating on the top 5 places to bunker down in if the Shit Hits the Fan in Milwaukee: https://milwaukeerecord.com/city-life/top-5-places-to-ride-out-the-apocalypse-in-milwaukee-from-the-author-of-apocalypse-any-day-now/
The Morning Blend- TMJ 4: What a fun time! Who knew the Apocalypse could be perky morning show material? After the cameras were done rolling I hung out with the hosts and talked about Sasquatch and conspiracy theories. Here’s the interview: https://www.tmj4.com/shows/the-morning-blend/deep-underground-with-americas-doomsday-preppers
Milwaukee Magazine: A nice Q and A feature with Archer Parquette here: https://www.milwaukeemag.com/interview-milwaukee-author-tea-krulos-about-his-new-book-apocalypse-any-day-now
See You on the Other Side podcast: I always love being on this podcast, and Mike and Wendy (who are also in a band called sunspot) wrote a new song for the episode called “Fire and Brimstone.” It’s a scorcher, mate! Listen here: http://www.othersidepodcast.com/blog/2019/03/30/241-apocalypse-any-day-now-surviving-the-end-of-the-world-with-tea-krulos/
Riverwest Currents: Lee Gutowski, editor of the paper wrote a book review. You can find a digital version of the newspaper here (or find a print copy in Milwaukee): https://riverwestcurrents.org/2019/03/riverwest-currents-april-issue.html
Here’s my favorite takeaway from the review:
“All in all, Apocalypse Any Day Now is a thorough, fascinating, sometimes scary and often funny look at this serious subject. Krulos treats his subjects with respect- he isn’t laughing and pointing at anyone here. But he certainly has a knack for lightening up some very heavy information with his observations and tone in this uniquely Krulos-ian read.”
Oh yeah, unrelated to this book, but I was also thrilled to see the Outdoor Wisconsin episode featuring Milwaukee Krampus and Milwaukee Krampusnacht, I’m featured in the episode along with many other participants. You can see it online here: https://youtu.be/pb6o07pvQNs
Find out more ways you can support me and the book in my previous blog post: https://teakrulos.com/2019/03/12/ways-you-can-support-me-and-my-new-book/
Buy the book direct: https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/ApocalypseAnyDayNow
#ApocalypseAnyDayNow
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