The Whole Wide World in Stumpjack

More than two decades after its release, [Wreckless Eric's song, "Whole Wide World,"] was included in Mojo magazine’s list of the best punk rock singles of all time. It was also acclaimed as one of the "top 40 singles of the alternative era 1975–2000."  --Wikipedia

Like a lot of young people in the late 1970s that song was my first introduction to the music and artist known as Wreckless Eric (Eric Goulden). The lyrics were earnest and simple, the vocals desperate and breaking, the imagery exotic yet accessible in the way that even the most exotic dreams seem within reach to young men.

Wreckless Eric became one of those artists in regular rotation on my turntable in those days, mixed in with the likes of The Clash, early U2 & REM, Oingo Boingo, Talking Heads, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, The Suburbs, John Lee Hooker, The Smithereens, and so on. I loved his voice. It was so unpolished and honest. His music was (and is) much more eclectic than the success of "Whole Wide World" and "A Pop Song" (his other most recognized tune) might suggest. And what a great stage name is Wreckless Eric?!

I don't want to spend too much time on one song because between Eric and his uber-talented wife, Amy Rigby, they have a huge catalogue of great tunes. But a few final words on that song are merited. A number of bands have covered the song, including The Monkees, Paul Westerberg of The Replacements and The Proclaimers who, in my opinion, recorded the most beautiful version (below):

The song also saw a resurgence in popularity via the pivotal scene in the wonderful movie Stranger Than Fiction (what I describe as the only Will Ferrel movie where Will Ferrel doesn't act like a buffoon...he's actually quite amazing and subtle in the film).

But again, that's just one song, albeit Eric's most recognizable. His music runs the gamut from pop to punk, sweet love songs to irreverent rockers. Amy Rigby is an artist whose music I've only come to know in recent months from working on getting this event on the calendar. And what a wonderful "discovery" she has been. She's pretty, her voice is gorgeous, she's an amazing wordsmith and her sense of humor is infectuous. Dig this sweet-sounding though hilariously malevolent song about an ex-boyfriend:

Amy's 1996 album "Diary of a Mod Housewife"was called the "concept album of the year" by the Village Voice and Spin named her "Songwriter of the Year" that same year. Check out more about Amy at her website: http://www.amyrigby.com/.

Now for the real subject of this post. Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby are coming to Stumpjack! Saturday, November 20th (next Saturday) is the day. They're coming over here from their home in France with a lot of great songs and stories, and this is going to be one helluva fun show.

It's a ticketed, semi-private event (the plan is that once everyone is in we will not be open to the public...probably, maybe, still working on the details of that part...). Tickets are $15 each or 2 for $25. If you want to be a part of this party you need to let us know asap, like right now...really, right now, send an email and/or come on over and pony up so you get on the guest list. Act now!

Here's a wonderful video of Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby doing "Whole Wide World":

 Check out more of Wreckless Eric at his website: http://www.wrecklesseric.com/

No more spilling the beans

I will no longer be writing my Spill the Beans column for the local paper. Today was my final column for the HTR (temporary link). Here below is the original draft (they did edit out a few sentences, ostensibly for reasons of space, in the published version). I appreciate everyone reading the column every other week and all of the very kind compliments, via email and in person, that followed each article. I'll continue to write similar articles here on the blogsite and possibly elsewhere if the opportunity presents itself.

Good to the Last Drop

This will be my final "Spill the Beans" column for the Herald Times Reporter. The last couple of years of sharing my opinions and knowledge of coffee and the specialty coffee industry have been great fun, and the response from readers following each column has been very gratifying. I'd like to thank HTR Editor Steve Reed for accepting my proposal to create this column, and Ben Wideman for being a professional and thoughtful editor as well.

Since our coffee house opened four years ago the number of coffee shops in this lakeshore area has more than doubled. That's a good thing. They all have something positive to offer and they all provide that socially necessary "third place" for people to congregate and socialize.

That being said, my next comment may come as a bit of a surprise.

I long for the day when we can confidently say that we have a real, honest-to-goodness "coffee culture" here in the Manty/TR area, one where the preponderance of coffee shops are staffed with passionate and knowledgeable baristas (baristas in the "skilled craftsman" sense of the word) and where receiving an excellent espresso or cappuccino, in their traditional form and manner as well as in quality, is de rigueur.

At this point all of the coffee shops in our area, including the one I operate, fall in line with the commonly perceived model of the American coffee shop. That is, they serve a variety of brewed coffees via insulated air pots while also offering espresso and milk-based drinks with any number of flavored syrups, and in sizes that are often, in my opinion, too large. All of us are less coffee-centric, if you will, than some of the more "serious" specialty coffee shops that are at the forefront of the industry.

Don't misunderstand. I love the variety of coffee shops we have here and I've always been a vocal supporter and promoter of my fellow coffee businesses. I do, however, think we can all do much better and could, collectively, create a legitimate local coffee culture that garners respect and attention from a much wider audience, if we become more coffee-centric in a few key areas. We certainly have a great start in the number of shops and quality of people running them.

As I don't have the space here to go into a long list of "things we need to do" to accomplish that, here's a short list of only three visual "markers" that I notice in a coffee shop that give me either a positive immediate impression or make me a little wary, before I even take a drink:

Drinkware - Do they serve the various drinks in ceramic or take-out cups appropriate for the drink, or will I get, for example, my double espresso in a 16 ounce cappuccino bowl or, worse yet, a large paper take-out cup? I also feel better if I don't see drink sizes on the menu that are larger than 20 ounces. I do believe a 20-ounce coffee drink is too large, but I also understand that balancing the ideal with customer desires is very important. But good drinks are generally smaller in size, and emphasize taste and balance over quantity.

Syrups - One can debate whether or not flavored syrups should be a part a serious coffee house, but the practical fact is that there is really no way around them if one expects to serve any significant number of customers. That being said, what kind of syrups does a place use: cheap, high-fructose syrups that can be purchased at most big-box grocery stores, or high quality syrups that use natural ingredients and cane sugar?

Grinders - Are the coffee grinders filled to the top and do the coffee beans and insides of the grinders look oily? That's not a good sign. It likely indicates stale coffee. Even worse, do they just dose coffee for your drink without grinding to order? Unless you're in a line of people waiting to place your order every drink should be ground to order.

Thanks for reading.

THANK YOU!

Fox Cities Magazine Assistant Editor Alison Fiebig just emailed me to let me know that the official results of the Golden Fork Awards have been published on their website, and we are free to announce them. The Golden Fork Awards are the coveted "Best of" awards for northeast Wisconsin and are given out each year to dining and drinking establishments that have been voted to be "the best" in various categories by the public.

Given that they are awards based on votes one might want to take such kudos with a grain of salt, as they are in some ways popularity contests and wins may also be at least partially attributable to how well a place can rally its troops to get out and vote, so to speak. Nevertheless, in order to win people do need to vote for you and they do need to like what you do. Such affirmation is a huge compliment and ought to be humbly respected. One should be very grateful when people express their support for a place in that way.

We are indeed very grateful. Thank you, everyone who voted for Stumpjack, thank you so very much.

Stumpjack won in the following seven categories (more than any other contender!):

• Best Ambiance
• Best Live Entertainment
• Most Vegetarian Friendly
• Best Soup
• Best Sandwich
• Best Cafe
• Best Cup of Coffee

Our good friends at Courthouse Pub in Manitowoc also won in several categories (5 I think).

We'll get beautiful certificates for each category to frame and display, as well as bragging rights. But most of all we get the good feeling that there are people out there who like what we do. Thanks so much again.