The Insider

Bar Fly
A pinball machine makes a bar more welcoming – perhaps that’s due to my vivid memory of standing on a chair at Nuncio’s in Omaha, leaning over a game and barely reaching the flipper buttons with my outstretched 4-year-old fingertips. The first thing I see at Blackbird (3007 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., 414-486-1344) is the flickering Guns N’ Roses pinball machine just past the long bar– a perfect fit in a Bay View spot that is part lounge, part neighborhood tap. The lounge feel comes from a massive black oval booth in the front (that appears to comfortably fit at least 20), four cream-colored booths in back, dark lighting, and orange and blue walls. But Blackbird is unpretentious, filled with neighborhood hipsters, a sprinkling of blue-collar locals and staffed by an amiable bartender. I order a Magic Hat 9 Ale from a list of seven taps and contemplate loading up on quarters. Axl, Slash and the gang are beckoning. (Dan Murphy)

Murder She Wrote

It’s a well-worn cliché that truth can be stranger than fiction. Yet there’s a reason narrative nonfiction has such power. Take Fatal Identity (Badger Books), a true-crime nonfiction novel by Journal Sentinelreporter Gina Barton about the 2001 murder and dismemberment of Hales Corners musician Timothy Wicks. Barton, who originally covered the case for the JS,takes a tale – one that could have been easily forgotten by the general public in the frenzy of the news cycle – and turns it into a great read. The story unfolds like a John Grisham novel, following investigators as they piece together bizarre bits of evidence and culminating in a suspenseful courtroom drama. A few of the middle chapters get bogged down in the details about murder suspect Dennis Gaede’s checkered past, but the portrait that emerges is chilling and frighteningly real. This is a compelling story set in our own backyard. (Julie Sensat Waldren)

Fruit Filling

Though he’s often compared to Jimi Hendrix (perhaps based on appearance?), Bryan Cherry’s wail is certainly of a grimier ’70s soul, while the guitar sound aligns closer with the arena riffage of Lenny Kravitz. On Alley Apple – the Bryan Cherry Band’s third release in two years – the local frontman and group explore that disparity between grit and sweetness, soul and pop. The aforementioned “alley” is certainly

the one found out back, as evidenced by the greasy opener, “How It’s Gonna Be.” But the boys end up on an acoustically bittersweet note, the Beatles-leaning “Hope Falls Again.” It’s largely the same contrast found on alternating Ben Harper albums: sociopolitical lyrical stances alongside funkified introspection. And while the croon seems to rise a bit more from the throat than the guts or heart, the result is a seamless bridge of groove and statement. (Todd Lazarski)

Beautiful Basement

Decorative arts collectionsare usually the dreariest places in museums. The MilwaukeeArt Museum’scollection was moved to its basement a number of years ago, making it easy to miss (700 N. Art Museum Dr., 414-224-3200). But don’t. Once again, the brilliant curators from Milwaukee’s nonprofit Chipstone Foundation have waved their magic wands and made turn-of-the-century chairs palatable with cutting-edge installation practices. In one section, the curators teamed up with Madison artist Martha Glowacki to create a “wunderkammern,” or “cabinet of curiosities,” akin to the 16th-century display tactic. And the three “animal, vegetable and mineral” tableaux anchor the idea that all design stems from the natural world. The next room features porcelain items atop cabinets with drawers that the visitor pulls open to reveal their secret contents: an animal skeleton, a botanical drawing, a video or a miniature grotto with water sounds. These “rooms of wonder” successfully present artifacts as dusty miracles kept in drawers, awaiting our discovery. (Debra Brehmer)

Geek Magnet

Six people circle a board game that’s teaching us a lesson. And the lesson is, when it comes to Milwaukee history, we’re blithering idiots. We failed 15 questions before getting one right in All About Town Milwaukee,the Trivial Pursuit clone dreamed up by local trio Steve Daily, Kevin Abing and Laura Abing. Collectively, they’re the 3 History Geeks, so maybe we’re only idiots compared to geek-smart types. Because nobody else would know “What Milwaukee suffragette once led troops in Europe’s 1848 revolutions?” If you guessed Mathilde Anneke, congrats – you might be the fourth geek. But not all 1,500 questions rise to that level (we eventually averaged a 25 percent success rate), and we could see the game as a great teaching tool for local classrooms. The map-like board lends a proper nostalgic feel for flailing through categories like people, events, places, wildcard, business/industry and sports/entertainment. $39.95 at 3historygeeks.com.(Howie Magner)