Rectangular sunrise.

How Coldplay wielded its kisscam in Madison, Wisconsin — Saturday night at Camp Randall.

TikTok:

"Morgan Wallen, baby!"/"From tailgates to patio parties the streets around Camp Randall were buzzing. Downtown Madison transformed into a party well before the gates opened."

"Bars were shoulder-to-shoulder, lines snaked outside of Jimmy John's, and parking spots went for as high as $100...."

Yes, the Morgan Wallen people were out in abundance yesterday, and there's a second concert tonight. This is my neighborhood, where I remember, long ago, listening to Pink Floyd wafting over from Camp Randall.

I hadn't realized it's been 28 years since there's been a concert in the football stadium. Nice. The crowd seems to have included lots of people from out of town. So many women in short shorts and cowboy boots. We talked to a couple who'd come in from Iowa for the big concert. Me, I'd never heard of Morgan Wallen, but what do I know? I found out he's the biggest star. I hope he and everyone else enjoy Madison.

If you watch the video, keep an eye out for the children selling lemonade. The reporter asks each of them what they'll do with the money, and you may be surprised at what they say.

"New information revealed in court sheds light on the connection between three hazmat scenes in the Madison area this week."

"According to Dane County Assistant District Attorney William Brown, the suspect, Paul Van Duyne, attempted to poison two former love interests with cyanide.... During a bail hearing for Van Duyne's co-defendant, [Andrea] Whitaker, Brown described an elaborate scheme.... Brown accused Van Duyne of breaking into a woman's car while she was in the parking lot of Costco in Middleton and putting cyanide in her water bottle.... Brown said Van Duyne attempted a similar cyanide poisoning with a separate woman in Rock County. He said in this case, the woman's gym water bottle was poisoned with cyanide, and a powdery substance was located in her car.... When Van Duyne was arrested, Brown said he called Whitaker and instructed her to remove a variety of items from his home that Brown said would implicate him in the crime.... He also said Whitaker's search history included phrases such as 'cyanide lethal dose' and 'Does potassium cyanide powder go bad?'... 'It does appear that this defendant [Whitaker] and Van Duyne have started dating and apparently created this plot to kill his ex-girlfriends by poisoning them,' Brown said...."

From "Prosecutor: Multiple hazmat scenes linked to elaborate scheme to poison man's former love interests with cyanide" (WKOW).

Now, we understand why some streets around here were blocked off as hazmat scenes.

I'm trying to picture how a plot to kill a man's ex-girlfriends gets created. These are real people so I won't publish my musings. 

Madison at 5:09 a.m.

At the Friday Night Café...

... you can talk about whatever you want.

The unfortunate storefront in my photograph used to be Paul's Books, one of the loveliest places in Madison. It had been around since 1954, and I didn't know that it had closed. I hadn't walked downtown in quite a while. I prefer to walk in the woods, but I thought I'd change my ways today. I pictured myself looking at the poetry books at Paul's Books. But no, Paul's was gone. And this insanity was there. You're sorry? I'm sorry.

Mike Snowplowski, Sno'diggity, Snowceratops, Anne Pathaway, Princess Sleigha, and Plower to the People.

In what was a democratic process, the city of Madison has named 6 of its snowplows.

"Ben Wikler's rise to Democratic stardom has a very Madison backstory."

A nice article in the local paper, The Cap Times.

I especially liked the part about The Yellow Press, which was sometimes edited right here in the house we now call Meadhouse:

[In high school,] Wikler and his friends had founded a satirical publication called The Yellow Press.... The newspaper... dovetailed with the rise of another Madison-area satirical publication, The Onion, where he later worked part-time as a headline writer. But while The Yellow Press included [silly topics] and occasionally rankled an administrator or two — an article titled “Prom Night Is Such a Romantic Night to Get F-----” landed the kids in hot water — the paper included serious subject matters. ...

Any Trump signs in Madison?

Yes, and this house takes the cake:

Last night's Homecoming Parade.

Obama's in Madison today — with Tim Walz in tow — but where is he appearing?

I've been seeing Facebook ads for this event for days and getting email, but it all lists the location as "TBA." Example:

"Exact address to be announced."

Why the big secret? Security? I'm going to guess that they'd like to use a big arena, but only if there's going to be the right size crowd. It can't be allowed to be seen that Obama does not draw in the masses.

Fungus of the Day.

That's a photo by Meade. And here's a photo I took not far from there:

I thought the "Vance" brand for marijuana was amusing. I looked up the company and found this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, from 2020: "This Milwaukee company rolls thousands of CBD joints every day and is bringing in millions":

At Knuckleheads Tobacco stores, Vance Global's product is the top CBD cigarette, said Madison store general manager Landon Meske. It's the No. 1 staff recommendation for a CBD smoking product, Meske said.

Oh! Knuckleheads. Funny to see "knuckleheads" so soon after the VP candidate who is not Vance called himself a sometime knucklehead. But I know Knuckleheads. I've done photography there:

Write about anything you want in the comments.

At the Moral Urgency Café...

... you can talk about whatever you want.

The photo — showing the University of Wisconsin's central campus at night — was taken by my son Chris.

And here's another Chris pic that has an animal theme (see the kittycat?):

"The two biggest 'Housing First' initiatives for the homeless in Madison don't have enough money to continue operating and could be closed...."

"[T]he 60-unit Rethke Terrace project for homeless singles and veterans on the East Side and the 45-unit Tree Lane Apartments for homeless families on the Far West Side... ran into trouble, and [were] declared  chronic nuisances due to a high volume of police calls, which often involve nonresidents, a lack of security and other issues.... Now come the challenges of determining exactly how long the projects will stay open, supporting tenants and figuring out what happens if or when the projects are shuttered and sold...."

From "2 biggest Madison homeless projects could close within months, leaving city scrambling" (Wisconsin State Journal).

"A city cannot do 'good works' if it is financially challenged and if property taxes make housing unaffordable for homeowners and renters alike. Sadly, we are already there."

Writes Paul Soglin, the former mayor, in "Soglin: Madison faces ‘unprecedented fiscal crisis’/The former three-time mayor blames the mess on five years of bad decisions" (Isthmus).

"A group of about 20 neo-Nazi demonstrators waved swastika flags and used the Nazi salute in downtown Madison on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023."

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports (with video).

From the madisonwi subreddit:

Caution: Nazis on state street
byu/LogisticsRecruiter inmadisonwi

Top-rated comment at Reddit: "Carl! We said black pants! Why did you wear urban camo? Nobody’s gonna take us seriously now!" Second: "Looks like someone forgot to bring their solid red or black shirt to their nazi dress-up party and had to wear a flannel. Soooo embarrassing!"

More comments from over there: "Can you imagine being as much of a loser as these guys? This is probably the most pathetic thing you could possibly spend your time doing on a Saturday in Wisconsin"/"I keep laughing about this. It’s just a beautiful fall day, it’s hunting season, there’s a football game. You could just walk around Madison and be normal, and people would give you beer! But these guys chose to put on masks, pile into a Uhaul like it’s a clown car, and drove to downtown Madison to waltz about waving Nazi flags and acting menacingly toward families and college students. There is nothing you could possibly be doing today that would be a sadder life decision than that."

"To best support wildlife and soil health, experts say leaves should be left where they fall. A hearty leaf cover provides a habitat..."

"... during the cold winter months for critical pollinating species such as bees, butterflies and moths. Other critters including amphibians and small mammals like chipmunks can also benefit from shelter provided by leaves.... If you don’t want leaves all over your yard, experts suggest getting out the rake and moving them into garden beds, piles or to the edges of your property.... Leaves can act as mulch and a springtime weed suppressant.... If you’re concerned about leaves blowing back out into your yard, try wetting them down a little. If you have too many leaves, one option is to use a mulching mower to chop them up.... Experts said taking steps to leave leaves around your yard in the fall is just one part of a larger effort to move away from manicured lawns that are dead zones for many species, providing little to no habitat or nutrients for wildlife...."

From "Do less this fall and leave those leaves on your lawn" (WaPo).

I think you already know all this, but I like to restate it, because I look around my own neighborhood, which is full of very progressive people, and I still see many piles of leaves moved out to the terrace for pickup by the city's bulky collection vehicles. 

"What bigwig is in Madison today? Just saw about a 20 car motorcade exiting the airport onto Highway 51 North with police and ambulance

 "... many unmarked cars and at the same time three f-35s took off. Anybody know who this is all for?"

Asked someone on r/madisonwi 3 hours ago.

Answer: Jill Biden.

Here are hours of video of the First Lady's visit, which had to do with the "Biden Cancer Moonshot" and eduction.

"which piece of public art in Madison disturbs you most?"

A topic of discussion at r/madisonwi.

There are so many to choose from, but the biggest rivalry is between "Flayed Bucky by the Best Western on Highland by UW Hospital" and "The sculpture of the parents reaching out to their dead child in the cemetery on Speedway Road."

About that dead child sculpture, someone says:

I actually like that sculpture, although I'm probably not in the majority. If you ask me "how can I feel more alive?" I'd parrot Martin Heidegger, "spend more time in graveyards."

EDIT: Now that I know it's a "memorial" against abortion I don't like it anymore.

There's also "The turd on top of a pyramid on Regent Street" and the "crowning woman" and "The pale yellow man resting on the bike bridge at Jenifer Street." And "The plaques along Picnic Point that showcase monetary donations and ego over nature and historically sacred land." 

Way too many people bring up the "footballs penis" and need to be told that was excised.

It's pretty hilarious that there was such a wealth of bad public art around here to choose from. 

"... naturally occurring affordable housing..."

I'm trying to read "Madison City Council refuses rezoning for big student housing project Downtown" (Wisconsin State Journal):

The Madison City Council late Tuesday refused a rezoning for a 12-story student housing redevelopment, citing a lack of low-cost units.... During the debate Tuesday, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway gave some council members reminders to address only their fellow board members, not development team members present.  Additional warnings were given regarding time limits and swearing. 

Ald. Tag Evers, 13th District, called the rezoning issue “a change in philosophy, and ethos.” Looking toward the development team, he decried its decisions to tear down “naturally occurring affordable housing,” and what he considered to be a lack of action on their part to “replace it in kind” with more low-cost options. “You guys need to do better,” he said. “Send these developers back to the drawing board.”...