I always peek at some review postings for many of the places I pop into.  There are a gaggle of restaurant, eatery, bar, and of course...strip club review platforms on the infamous Web.  Naturally, the postings are always anonymous.  None-the-less, I often peruse through a couple sites just to get some kind of idea about a place, even though the postings get outdated quick.  

    Paradise Club in Appleton might provoke a few conflicting comments if you bother to find some out there.  Not every one will like its well-worn timbre.  I on the other hand, am usually fascinated with places like this.  It is in a mall district of Appleton. You will find yourself parking next to an IHOP restaurant.  In fact, the club building is probably an old chain-food restaurant structure. One of the dancers assured me the place had been there for years.  From the outside, it is a bland cream colored building. There is a painted lipstick-violet sign on the roof.  The large mall is to the immediate south; there are big-box stores to the immediate north.  

    Inside I found no cover charge...at least during the day.  It opened up about 2-p.m. There is no DJ so the girls us the jukebox for their songs. There is no tap beer and few bottled beer offerings.  A can of Miller Lite will run you $3.50 - not bad for a strip club. 

    There is a rather large oval bar.  The dance floor is rather humble with just one pole. The odd gold-colored mirror and light assembly behind the dancers caught my attention.  It is an optical illusion and someone's artsy creation from better days.  It gives the impression their is a series of small rooms behind the stage when there is in reality, just a wall.  There is some plastic tree plants cordoning off one of the private dance nooks. 

    I was early so there were only three dancers.  One looked tired, another was rather quiet, and the third was cute and talked my ear off while I nursed my beer.  The bartender was unapologetically preoccupied with everything but her handful of customers.  The bouncer was on the same page the bartender was...I found them brutally charming.  

    It was a total blue-collar affair.  I enjoyed the shit out of my visit.  I am not doing all the work for you here; if you want information on lap dances, table dances, and private dances...you know the drill.

    Find Paradise Club at 4201 West Wisconsin Avenue, in Appleton, Wisconsin. It is near the intersection of Highways 41 and 96.  Call (920) 734  - 7245 for more information and hours. 

                      Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
    (each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)

    Sergeant Ryan David Jopek, 20, of Merrill, Wisconsin, died Wednesday, August 2, 2006 in Tikrit, Iraq of injuries he suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his convoy. In Iraq, Sergeant Jopek was assigned to the Army National Guard's Company A, 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry Regiment 32nd Infantry Brigade based out of Waupun and Appleton, Wisconsin. Jopek's unit was activated in 2005, and began training in June of that year at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Their mission was to serve as armed escorts for civilian and military convoys traveling from Kuwait north through all of Iraq, protecting personnel and supplies. According to an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Ryan had planned to return to college after returning home. Jopek was remembered for his dedication to his high school basketball team. He was called "Kansas" by his teammates on the Merrill High School Blue Jays basketball team because that's where he lived before his family came to Merrill in 2002; his former coach is quoted as noting, "One of the neat things about [Ryan] was even though he wasn't a starter, he came to practice every night and worked hard." The Journal Sentinel went on to mention Jopek's father had just returned from a tour of duty in Iraq in January 2005; and, Ryan was his oldest son. In a subsequent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article it was noted that while campaigning for President, Barak Obama mentioned he was wearing a bracelet honoring Sergeant Jopek that was given to then candidate Obama by Ryan's mother. The Website iraq.pigstye.net mentioned Jopek was only weeks from finishing his tour of duty when he was killed. Ryan was also planning to continue his education at UW-Marathon County the fall semester of his return home. He had indicated interest in being a park ranger. Wisconsin 2007 Assembly Joint Resolution 46 noted Ryan was was born on June 1, 1986, in Alliance, Nebraska. Sergeant Jopek was serving as a gunner in convoy security when he was killed. In his home unit in Merrill, Sergeant Jopek was a member of Troop E, 105th Cavalry. The Resolution noted Ryan was a 2004 graduate of Merrill High School. He enjoyed playing basketball, soccer, and golf; he also enjoyed music, monster trucks, airplanes, and his 1966 Chevrolet pickup truck. Ryan was an avid Chicago Bears fan and modeled his life after his childhood hero, Walter Payton. Resolution 46 goes on to mention Sergeant Jopek's many awards and decorations as the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal with Mobilization Device, the Army Overseas Service Ribbon, the Army Service Ribbon, and the Combat Action Badge. At the time of his death Ryan Jopek was survived by his mother, Tracy Jopek of Merrill; his father, Staff Sergeant Brian Jopek, Wisconsin Army National Guard, of Antigo; his sister and his brother, Jessica and Steven Jopek of Merrill; his maternal grandparents, Carrie and Donald Smith of Bayard, Nebraska; his paternal grandparents, Peg and Joseph Jopek of Antigo. Sergeant Ryan Jopek was the 59th Wisconsin military service person to be killed in Iraq since the spring of 2003. 

         As of this blog entry's posting date:

    97,196 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
    
    9,643 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    4,419 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003. 

    1229 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

    318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    775 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001. 

    31,911 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003. 

    7,529 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001. 

    102 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    19 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

    142 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; and, icasualties.org. 

 

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