Blog Archives
Tea’s Weird Week: TWW podcast returns, I’M YOUR HOST is now available online for your Fall viewing pleasure
One project I’m proud of is I’m Your Host (2024), a documentary on Kenosha area horror hosts that I’m a producer on. Inspired by an article I wrote for Milwaukee Magazine, Alicia Krupsky directed, Christopher Kai House was a producer and Alicia and Stephen Vincent Anderson shot the footage, mostly on location in Kenosha. Local bands with some association with the horror scene filled the soundtrack.
The project began in 2021 and the following year we were awarded a Milwaukee Film Brico Forward Fund Award, which gave some budget for expenses and some free legal advice and other services. Sadly, the Brico Award no longer exists. There were some “work-in-progress” screenings in 2023 at the Milwaukee Twisted Dreams Film Festival and at UW-Parkside in Kenosha. The film officially premiered at the Milwaukee Film Festival in 2024 and went on to be screened at the Seoul International Short Films Festival, and was screened and won awards at Port of Fear Film Fest in Kenosha, New York Tri-State International Film Fest, and the Seoul International Short Films Festival.
Official blurb:
Vampires, witches, werewolves, and ghoulies – Kenosha has the highest population of horror hosts per capita, who produce their own homemade TV shows showing cult-followed horror films. This documentary explores their relationship as a community, their triumphs, and a tragic loss that bonds them together.
I’m glad to say that the film is now available to watch online. You can rent or buy I’m Your Host and bonus– it comes with a download of a sheet of horror host trading cards and the posters Alicia designed as a bonus: https://artforanti-villains.vhx.tv/
And all this is discussed on the newly rebooted Tea’s Weird Week podcast. Me and my co-host Heidi Erickson talk with Alicia about the project, plus weird news on radioactive shrimp, a barefoot LEGO running champ, Pazuzu, and more. Jenny Sanchez tells us about her trip to Wall Drug In our new “Long Days Travel” segment. It’s time to get weird! Audio engineering by FlatlineAudio138. Listen here: https://teasweirdweek.podbean.com/e/teas-weird-week-episode-001-im-your-host/
Please Clap Dept.: QWERTYFEST MKE is happening Oct. 3-5. We’re going to discuss it on next week’s TWW podcast. Meanwhile, see more here: www.qwertyfest.com
Tea’s Weird Week: The Jewish Space Laser Bill
In 2020, the year the conspiracy tsunami broke loose, I had a book published titled American Madness. In it, I got to know an intense conspiracy theorist named Richard McCaslin (also known as the costumed vigilante Phantom Patriot). Richard died in 2018. I still think about that story frequently and how much conspiracy culture has changed since I first met Richard in 2010. Conspiracy is mainstream now. It is the party in power. And now the QAnon Party is writing legislation.
Marjorie Talor Greene aligned with QAnon early on until she realized she should distance herself, but she kept those beliefs moving forward. She recently revealed that she has been “researching weather modification,” and using her new DIY knowledge of climatology, has drafted a bill that would make “altering weather” a felony. She made this announcement right after the deadly flooding in Texas, which some conspiracists have speculated was caused by cloud seeding. Cloud seeding is a real thing, where particles are introduced to certain types of clouds to enhance precipitation. But cloud seeding would not cause precipitation of this magnitude.
Greene didn’t mention that theory or her infamous “Jewish space laser” conspiracy, which suggested wealthy Jews were starting California forest fires with a frickin’ laser, or “chemtrails,” a classic conspiracy that she’s waxed poetic about in the past (she suggested they were the cause of hurricanes Helene and Milton), but that is what’s between the lines. A Deep State weather program being used for nefarious purposes. Ok, sure. Who has it, specifically? Where? Why does the Deep State want to create hurricanes and forest fires? To what end? And isn’t the Republican Party the Deep State now?
“I am introducing a bill that prohibits the injection, release, or dispersion of chemicals or substances into the atmosphere for the express purpose of altering weather, temperature, climate, or sunlight intensity,” MTG says. “It will be a felony offense.” This is some “they’re eating the cats, they’re eating the dogs” level of ridiculous bullshit, but I predict this is just the beginning. Expect to see legislation regarding Reptilian aliens and an official proclamation that the moon landing was fake in the future. We are quickly hurling ass backwards into the Dark Ages.
If Richard McCaslin was alive today, he’d probably be elected to Congress or a Cabinet position.
By the way, I have a conspiracy MTG and company can look into. Stop me if you’ve heard this one, Marj: Attorney General Pam Bondi tells the press in February that the Epstein File client list is “sitting on my desk right now to review.” Trump hems and haws on Fox & Friends about releasing the files (and more recently scolds a reporter to move on from the story) and then voila the DOJ says there is no list. Kinda strange, huh?
UPDATE (07/10): Why this is dangerous. Much like Richard McCaslin was inspired by Alex Jones or the “Wolverine Watchman” seized on COVID/ election conspiracies to plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a militia group called “Veterans on Patrol” is “targeting” Oklahoma weather radars over this nonsense: “Anti-Government Militia” Says It’s Targeting Oklahoma Weather Radars.”
And awaaaay we go.
Buy: American Madness: The Story of the Phantom Patriot and How Conspiracy Theories Hijacked American Consciousness (2020, Feral House)
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: A-well a-doncha know about my surfin’ article a-werd? Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word!
Hey there Surfin’ Birds, I’m glad to say that I won a GOLD Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism Award (in the “Best Sports Story” category) for my article “Surfing the Fresh Coast,” from the July 2023 issue of Milwaukee Magazine. This is my third gold and fourth overall Press Club award. The article examines the local scene of people who surf the waves of Lake Michigan.
As always, I want to take a moment to thank some people and speculate on the win.
Thanks: This article idea was brought to me by my editor Chris Drosner, and I immediately knew this would be a good fit for me. I appreciate Chris’s faith that I’ll dig in and find a good story. The rest of MilMag’s editorial staff is great to work with, too. Magazine articles need to be visually appealing in addition to being well written. It’s not surprising that MilMag also picked up gold for their design team. Incredibly talented photographer (and surfer) Andrew Feller provided the fantastic photos for this article.
And, of course, thanks to all the surfers who kindly made time to talk with me.
Why I think this one was a winner:
A couple things– first and foremost, I’m a sucker (and I think a lot of readers are) for stories of people following their dreams, whatever that might be. Take for example Jake Bresette, who was working as an insurance claims adjuster in Madison– a job he was good at but had no passion for. Jake would dream of surfing the lake, and I like this paragraph describing his dilemma:
To feel a little bit alive, some days Bresette would wake up at 4 a.m., drive to Milwaukee, get in a little surfing, then drive back, take a shower and clock in at work by 11 a.m. It wasn’t enough to satisfy him. While voices would drone on into his earpiece about deductibles and liabilities, he’d pop open a window on his computer. “There are webcams on the beaches in Sheboygan, Port Washington, all over the lake. I’d be on calls assisting people, looking at the waves. I called it cubicle torture,” Bresette says. Sometimes he’d see people surfing. “I wished I was there.”
This led to a pretty big leap of faith for Jake– opening up a surf shop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Lake Effect Surf Shop is now the hub of the local surf scene. In addition to Jake, I got to round out the story with an eclectic cast– Eric “The Teacher” Gietzen, Ken Cole, Jennifer Vice-Reshel, and Keliana Licup. I think one skill I have as a writer is an ear for a good quote, but that only works if the person you’re interviewing has something interesting to say. Well, the surfers shredded in the good quotes department!
I’m a fan of a well-placed sidebar, and this article has a couple on Milwaukee’s surf band The Exotics, and I talked to surf legend Larry “Longboard” Williams about Sheboygan’s legacy as the “Malibu of the Midwest.”
It was a fun and interesting assignment, and I greatly appreciate this recognition. You can read the article here: https://www.milwaukeemag.com/all-about-milwaukees-surfing-scene/
See also: My other three Milwaukee Press Club Awards:
“Reporting Live from the Street,” Gold, Short Hard Feature, 2020
“The Last Frame,” Gold, Short Soft Feature, 2022
“Wanna Buy a Famous Tugboat?” Silver, Soft Feature (online), 2022
Please donate: Time is running out on our QWERTYFEST MKE fundraiser. We’ve still got a long way to go. QWERTYFEST celebrates the typewriter and QWERTY keyboard we still use today, invented here in Milwaukee. It also celebrates history, innovation, writing, and the arts in general. Our fundraiser includes great perks like tickets, merch, and a subscription to out publication, QWERTY Quarterly. With your help, we can make it happen. Any donation amount helps us reach our goal: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/qwertyfest-mke-2024/#/
Tea’s Weird Week: I’M YOUR HOST will screen thrice at the Milwaukee Film Festival!
We’ve had to keep this news under our hats for weeks, so I’m thrilled to say that a documentary I’m producer on, I’m Your Host, hits a major milestone by being screened (3 times!) at the Milwaukee Film Festival. Alicia Krupsky is the film’s director, Christopher Kai House is a producer, and many other people helped make it happen. The film was inspired by an article I wrote for Milwaukee Magazine. We won a Brico Forward Fund to help make it happen. In October we staged a couple of “documentary in-progress” screenings at the Twisted Dreams Film Festival and in Kenosha at UW-Parkside.
This will be our official debut and is additionally exciting because after the festival, we’ll be able to submit the film to other fests around the world as well as being able to make it available via streaming platforms/ on DVD. But anyway, that’s getting ahead of ourselves. It’s a great honor to be part of the Milwaukee Film Fest– we’re part of both the Cream City Cinema and Cinema Hooligante line-ups at the fest (cause we’re local AND weird).
I’m Your Host screens:
Monday, April 15, 9pm: Times Cinema
Sunday, April 21, 8:30pm: Avalon Theater
Wednesday, April 24, 9:15pm: Downer Theatre
More MFF info: https://mkefilm.org/mff24
Please Clap Dept.: We are currently fundraising for QWERTYFEST MKE 2024. We got big things planned– the Boston Typewriter Orchestra, a whiskey tasting/ typewriter event, and so much more. Please help us make it happen, every bit helps us make our goal: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/qwertyfest-mke-2024/x/14628551
See Also: Here’s the Milwaukee Magazine article that started I’m Your Host rolling: https://www.milwaukeemag.com/a-look-inside-the-surprisingly-large-web-of-local-horror-hosts/
I also wrote on horror hosts for Atlas Obscura here: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/elvira-svengoolie-local-horror-hosts-history
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!
teakrulos.com 