Greater Milwaukee Men

While many - myself included - were filled with joy at the sight of Gus Walz cheering for his father, celebrating a major accomplishment, and - yes - crying in the process, some people are so callous and partisan that they decried (puns always intended) his emotions on social media and programs. Most of the posts have since been deleted, and some have apologized, after learning that Gus is neurodivergent. But I ask, why did it matter?

Part of what we do here is celebrate when Milwaukee is recognized for excelling at something. Recently, Milwaukee was voted as having the 4th in the 10 Best Arts Districts in the Third Ward neighborhood by readers of USA Today. USA Today made this note: "Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward is home to a staggering number of galleries, studios, museums, performing arts spaces and art organizations, including the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design Galleries, Milwaukee Potters Guild, ArtWorks for Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Artist Resource Network." What makes this even better to me is that it's a Reader's selection, vs. the media. It's one thing for a reporter to travel around and visit and select their opinion, but to be in Reader's Choice means that people have actually been here and enjoyed it.  We beat out the likes of Denver and Chicago just in the top ten, not to mention all the ones that didn't even make it that high. Photo cr. Visit Milwaukee

Boy Scouts from Appleton, WI jumped into action when the Amtrak passenger train they were on derailed in Missouri and acted as First Responders.  2 different troops consisting of a total of sixteen youth and 8 adults were on the train when it derailed. WBAY reports that the students "played a major role in the rescue -- breaking windows, helping people off the train, and attempting to save the life of the dump truck driver who died." BSA , The Boy Scouts of America, has had its issues, mainly due to sexual abuse allegations against adult leadership, and has taken a deservedly black eye to its reputation. But they are trying to build it back. Their values and standards can still give youth moral and ethical standards to grow on and provides not only leadership and teamwork experience that can help later in life, but also practical skill like first aid that were used in this situation. The organization changed its name to Scouts BSA when they started to  allow girls to join a...

Giannis is a Milwaukee Buck. An outstanding one at that. Or is he? One reporter claims he is a Blue Dolphin, or at least uses the concept whether he knows it or not. Giannis has shown the ability to shake of the doldrums of 'failure' such as losing Game7 of the Celtics series and being taken out of the playoffs by turning the problem in its head and looking instead at positives. Justin Bariso of Inc. Magazine posits in a recent article that this ability by Giannis is a tool we can all use in our own lives. From his dad jokes to his general positive demeanor, there is little not to like about the Bucks superstar. He seems a genuine person without some of the usual flaws we see in professional athletes. But even someone of his caliber will deal with negative situations, usually compounded by having to talk to reporters about them. But Giannis always seems to remain positive, or at least see something to learn from the situation. According to Bariso, this is called the blue dol...

Spread Kindness, not the virus. It's a different time right now, there's no understating that, but when times are tough its as important - more important - to maintain our social graces, our etiquette. I'm not going to get into how physically distance, what to do to slow the spread. There are enough resources on that. Just this one comment: trust science. Look for resources by medical, health, and scientific professionals, experts. But let's all work together to try to spread kindness, not the virus. Being nice, being good to people is more important than ever.

It's that time of year again - the Milwaukee Film Festival. In fact its the 10th anniversary of this great asset to our city and community. Events and films go on from Oct 18 to Nov 1 While there are lots of great options to see, I am for the first time listing those that fall in line with the GMM philosophy: ones that are inspirational for men in our community. Caveat: I haven't necessarily seen these, I am just going by descriptions and other reviews. But if you are up for being inspired to be a Greater Milwaukee Man, check some of these out:

One of these guys needs to drop that line any time now "That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works..."  It's the punchline of a recent and very funny commercial, but with the POTUS coming to our city this week, it's also a line that could and should be used on 45. I'll be honest, you can probably guess I have major issues with the policies themselves, but this isn't even about that. I'll let others discuss those on public forums. This isn't so much as what but how. And just as expected, based on his temperament on the election trail and in his business dealings and public persona beforehand, he is not effectively leading our country. Sad.

There are many beloved authors of children's books, whether it be for one or many books, a series or . But most of those whose works stand the test of time are the ones who wove life lessons into their work. Other authors have even take some of these works and turned them into guides which take famous works and show the hidden wisdom in them like The Tao of Pooh. I would love to see more "Tao of.." books from children's books and co mics, I could easily  and The Tao of Charlie Brown or even Calvin & Hobbes. One author, who was born on March 2, who always spoke to me because of is combination of imaginative characters and settings with parables, teaching us somehow to be individual and communal at the same time, and that is Dr Seuss - Theodor Seuss Geisel. As someone who explored individuality and creativity growing up but still wanted to be part of and promote the greater community, looking back I can see how his words inspired me to be who I was and am toda...

Hozier with a pup from MADACC As a musician, being on the road must get lonely. Until you are a big enough star to afford those gigantic buses, and even with them, you often have to leave behind not only family and friends, but pets as well. Hozier , a rising star in the music industry with his Grammy-nominated song Take Me To Church , was in town for a concert at The Riverside Theater last night. It turns out he is an animal lover who, along with his band and crew, miss their own pets. They requested from the Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission (MADACC) that they bring by shelter pets for them to share love with before the show and afterwards rewarded MADACC with a donation.

When it comes to making life changes, follow Yoda's advice. With it being the new year, it's that time when so many make 'resolutions' on things to do (or not to do). Usually these are ways to improve themselves like lose weight, eat better, giving up smoking, etc. Rarely it might be something a little more out of the ordinary like learn a new language, learn to ride a motorcycle and so on. This year though, I say forget making a resolution and instead start a revolution. Do something extraordinary this year.

It's that time of year again Mo Bros (and Mo Sistas) - time to take action to change the face of men's health - literally and figuratively. Men who participate in Movember (called Mo Bros) take action to change the face of men’s health by starting clean-shaven on Movember 1st and growing just a moustache (no beards, no goatees) for the month November. Movember is more than just an excuse to grow a fine piece of moustachery, it’s about creating conversations while raising funds and awareness for men’s health. It’s about having fun and doing good. In addition to general fundraising, many cities organize special events to promote and celebrate Movember, and Milwaukee throws down with the best of them. Here are all the events lined up for Milwaukee's 2014 Movember participation.

Today is my birthday. It falls in the middle of Movember , and this year happens to fall on the third Thursday of the month which is my monthly guys' night get together.At this stage in our lives most of us are husbands, many are fathers, but all are a son, or a brother - we are all special and needed by someone. Which makes me want to refocus our Movember discussion away from the spectacle of the stache and to what it's really about: men's health. After all, we can only be or become Great Men if we have the time to do so. So it is our number one responsibility to make sure we are around as long as we can be to be a Great Father, Husband, Partner, Brother, Son, Friend, and that means taking care of ourselves as much or more than we care for others, but for so many too many, men that is the last thing on their mind.

It has been a while since I talked about the four virtues of a Great Man, our version of a modern gentleman's code, but in the news the past week there was a perfect example. You may have seen the image of the man on the Q Train - New York City's subway - letting a complete stranger rest his head on his shoulder . To us this is a display of a Great Man displaying the value of Compassion. Isaac Thiel, you are a Great Man.