|
Fish Fry Night Milwaukee - DVD - Movie Review
This entry was posted on 5/26/2011 1:30 AM and is filed under Movie Reviews, Friday Night Fish Fry.
Back in February of 2010, I gave a nod to Bushel and Peck's down in Beloit for their eclectic café-deli shtick. It was one of the places helping out with the Beloit International Film Festival (BIFF). The response was so good for Ron Faiola's documentary, "Fish Fry Night Milwaukee" that they brought back the film a month later for another showing.
What's more interesting, on that original Friday night showing they served up a special fish fry. Response was so enthusiastic, Bushel and Peck's have decided to have the fish fry every Friday from five to eight p.m. One of the owners I chatted with said they will be getting the fish from a lake "up nort'." I then wrote a fish fry review about them.
I got a chance back then to talk to Producer, Writer, Editor, Director and chief cook and bottle washer Ron Faiola about his film....about fish frys. He said you could make several sequels just going to only Milwaukee fish frys. A lot of the choice as to who got in his film actually rotated around which businesses responded to his initial inquiries.
The film is narrated by Dewey Gill. I've never met him, but his voice certainly captures the Milwaukee timbre which leads me to believe he might be a native to the area.
As well as Gill's voice, Faiola lets a lot of the owners, employees, and customers of the near dozen or so establishments highlighted in the film tell their story in their own words. Each joint has a history behind it. And, each fish fry seems to have evolved with the owners, employees, customers, buildings, and businesses. Without beating the viewer over the head with the dynamics of social change, the evolution is told by the players.
Faiola also gets to the crux of the fish fry feeling by subtly catching clips of the buildings' interiors, exteriors, customers, streets, and signage. Of course, it would not be a fish fry without Fridays. And, another consummate social ingredient....beer.
Wisconsin fish frys are indelibly locked to the state's culture and history. And, Milwaukee could arguably be identified as the epicenter of that culture with its many ethic groups, taverns, churches, events, and Lake Michigan. Ron Faiola nails the not so secret but often taken-for-granted nuances of the Wisconsin tradition of fish frys, right on the head.
You can find more information about Ron Faiola's work and where you can buy a copy of "Fish Fry Night Milwaukee" at www.FishFryNight.com . Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Sergeant Nickolas Anthony Mueller, 26, of Little Chute, Wisconsin, died in Darreh-ye Bum, Badghis province, Afghanistan on October 26, 2009. He was killed due to the crash of the MH-47 Chinook helicopter he was aboard. Sergeant Mueller was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), out of Hunter Army Airfield, Savannah, Georgia. Mueller was one of seven soldiers killed in the incident. Two choppers were involved in the crash.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes the village of Little Chute is in Outagamie County, Wisconsin. Nickolas was a 2002 graduate of Little Chute High School. He was a member of the school's wrestling and football teams for the majority his high school years. He was in the pep band and sang in the school's choir. Nickolas also was homecoming king in his senior year. He is remembered as a well liked young man. Mueller was a crew chief on one of the helicopters. The Journal Sentinel also mentioned Family members are quoted as saying Nickolas always wanted to be a fighter pilot. He had a long interest in the military and aircraft.
Information via Arlington National Cemetery mentioned the Pentagon said the helicopter crashed while returning from the scene of a battle with suspected Taliban drug traffickers. It is not believed the crash was a result of hostile fire. Mueller was remembered in school as outgoing and gregarious and he enjoyed debating with his teachers. Aside from wrestling and football, he ran track, and played the saxophone. Mueller joined the Army in June 2004. After basic training, he served for two years with the 252nd Aviation Battalion at Camp Humphries, South Korea, repairing helicopters. Mueller then joined Special Operations as a flight engineer in 2007. He had reenlisted in the Army twice and was on his third deployment to Afghanistan at the time of his death. The Arlington obituary went on to mention Nickolas' dream was to someday be a pilot. He also enjoyed his motorcycle. Nickolas met his girl friend in September of 2008.
Wisconsin 2009 Joint Assembly Resolution 104 notes Sergeant Mueller's military awards as including Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon; Army Service Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon; Combat Action Badge; Basic Aviation Badge; Army Good Conduct Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Korean Defense Service Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; two Meritorious Service Medals; five Air Medals; and, three Bronze Star Medals.
At the time of his death Nickolas Mueller was survived by his parents, Sharon and Larry Mueller; older brother John (Stefani) Mueller; and his girlfriend Heather Huckett. Sergeant Mueller was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. Nickolas Mueller was the 16th Wisconsin military service person to be killed in Afghanistan since October of 2001.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
1 American/Coalition casualty in Libyan "Operation Odyssey Dawn" since March, 2011
100,949 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,950 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,455 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1582 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
881 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
32,090 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
11,411 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
107 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
31 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
148 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
5 journalists (regional and independents) have been killed in Libya since March, 2011.
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; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
