Glam, glitz and gold-bedazzled socialites: It's style, it's wearable art, it's Fashion Week in Milwaukee. Fashion Week is an international gala of white tents with crisp runways brimming with media, buyers, trade pundits, celebrities and designers. It brings to mind cities like New York, Milan, Paris and London. This fall, for the first time, Milwaukee is hosting its own Fashion Week, and, boy, is it a first. It's bringing fashion to Milwaukee and forcing the world to take notice.

To the kid's eyes, the place was just...so...unbelievably...big: the three-level grandstand, rising on a picket line of steel pillars; the imposing facade of the roof, recalling some ancient civilization with its ornate design. Most of all, the baseball field itself, stretching an amazing 461 feet from home plate to the centerfield wall and 457 to left-center. When they said "hit it a mile," the kid would think they really meant it at this place. This place called Yankee Stadium.

Before the curtain goes up on any performance, many decisions go into determining what patrons will see and hear. Audience wishes, performer's artistic growth and cost concerns are just a few of the considerations when planning a season. A few artistic leaders share their thoughts on programming for the arts.

As autumn approaches and daylight hours diminish, more and more of us will be inclined to spend our nights looking for something bright and clear- especially on the big screen. From Sept. 4-14, Milwaukeeans get another chance to brighten their eyes and enlighten their minds with the annual LGBT Film/Video Festival, presented by the film department of UW-Milwaukee's Peck School of the Arts.

Whether it's a line in the sand or the politicized plotting of an expanding empire, maps reveal the predominantly human need to sift through space: to weigh it, name it and own it. This primal urge to locate ourselves within a broader context underlies the "Great Lakes Future" exhibit at Discovery World.

If the idea of organic clothing gives you visions of shapeless hemp sacks worn by granola-munching hippies, it's time to go shopping. These days, organic duds are not only good for the environment, they actually look good, which puts the "fashion" back in earth-friendly fashions. What's more, the green clothing world now offers an array of fabrics, from the softest bamboo to the silkiest soy, which helps not just in the style department but feels comfortable as well. Organic cotton has made it big, for sure-you can find an organic onesie for your baby at Whole Foods, Target, and (close your eyes, this one hurts . . .

How does a landlocked urban university expand? The question has vexed such institutions for centuries and has sometimes led to violent confrontations between town and gown. Columbia University recently marked the 40th anniversary of the uprising of 1968, which was spurred, in part, by the university's attempt to seize public land in nearby Morningside Park. Making this anniversary even more relevant was the fact that Columbia is once again venturing into neighboring Harlem-a move that has not pleased a number of that community's long-time residents. Other colleges, including the University of Pennsylvania and Yale, find themselves facing tough community opposition to plans to expand their respective core campuses . . .

Certain authors are gifted with the ability to create characters that simply cry out to be transferred to movie screens and theater stages. Alice Walker provided a shining example in Celie, the principal character in her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Color Purple. Steven Spielberg first brought Celie to life on the silver screen in 1985, when he earned 11 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Later, Quincy Jones (who wrote the movie's score) and lead-producer Scott Sanders set the stage for a theater production in "Oprah Winfrey Presents The Color Purple."

There’s no denying it: We live in a world ruled by huge multinational corporations increasingly estranged from their places of origin. Perhaps the best any of us can hope for is that they outpace even themselves and eventually run out of steam. Luckily, Milwaukee is home to a growing number of enterprises taking a more active stance, seeking egalitarian alternatives to the corporate model in a bid to give community building more important role than investment seeking. Among them is People’s Books Cooperative, an independent bookstore that marks its first anniversary as a cooperative enterprise on Sept. 1 . . .

When Mike Brenner threatened last winter to close Hotcakes Gallery and leave town if funds were raised to erect a bronze statue of The Fonz, a lot of people accused him of being whiny, or worse. But at the heart of his complaint was the fact that, despite easily raising $85,000 for the Bronze Fonz, people just aren’t walking into local galleries and purchasing art, which makes it hard for those galleries to stay in business. Milwaukee loves art, though, right? Gallery Night is heavily attended, so much so that it’s sometimes hard to actually enjoy the art on the walls through the cheese-nibbling crowds. But galleries, particularly those showing emerging artists, come and go . . .

Controversial comedian Bill Maher, whose digs can strike the funny bone while hitting a nerve, wants to stimulate critical thinking through the gateway of humor. The fearless if not ruthless cynic, host of HBO’s Emmy-nominated series “Real Time,” will perform at the Riverside Theater on Thursday, July 24. We spoke with Maher by phone in early June, discussing politics, religion and the war on drugs. We began by probing about the relevance of his profession. “Too many people, especially the younger generation, don’t get their news from real sources but comedy shows, which is a little like reading the CliffsNotes instead of the actual book,” he says. “I guess it’s better than watching ‘America’s Next Top Model.’ At least . . .

A woman plays the dholak, a Pakistani drum, while other women surrounding her croon offbeat to a yesteryear Pakistani classic, “Teri meri jori barri fit rawai gi” (“Our couple would fit very well together”). A little girl bangs on a tambourine in her own little world. And the other side of the room starts booing. “Start the dancing! What is this oldie singing?” screams a boy. The “other side,” the groom’s side, wants to start the dance competition, while the aunts from the bride’s side want to sing their old classics.

"The route was kept secret until all the riders were present and ready to start. The rules were laid out and checkpoint procedures explained at a riders’ meeting. Then the race began with a “Le Mans start,” which means all the riders ran to their bikes, started them and roared off to glory! Unless they had a bulky kick start, vintage mount…" That’s an account of the first Milwaukee to Minneapolis Tourist Trophy café race (M2MTT) in 1998 by Gary Charpentier, written for the Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly. The M2MTT traditionally takes place the first Saturday after the Fourth of July and has developed a devoted, secretive following.

I am an unabashed admirer of Spike Lee movies, especially Do the Right Thing (1989) and Malcolm X (1992). His achievements as a director are among the most notable of the last 20 years. Thus, I took to heart Lee’s recent criticism of Clint Eastwood for failing to use black actors in Flags of Our Fathers and its companion piece, Letters from Iwo Jima (both 2006). In fact, some 900 blacks participated in this bloody World War II battle, including my late uncle, Lonnie Brake, a U.S. Marine from Milwaukee. On the whole, though, Eastwood has an admirable record . . .

James Cameron was not as acclaimed as he would soon become and his America’s Black Holocaust Museum was mostly a rumor when a pair of white faces peered through the window at the museum’s original inner-city location. It was 1988 and whispers of something called a Black Holocaust Museum had trickled into Milwaukee. Truth be told: The two white faces were puzzled by the term “Black Holocaust,” but the kindly man who stepped up to the door and admitted them was eager to show that the word “Holocaust” was not hyperbole when applied to the black experience. Cameron experienced the catastrophe of American racism firsthand . . .

Milwaukee actor Jonathan Smoots had a gift for reading aloud when he was growing up in the Chicago suburb of Elmwood Park in the 1950s. That talent pleased his mother, the daughter of a Lutheran minister. “My mother always thought I was going to be a minister,” says Smoots, 54, the husband of fellow actor Laura Gordon, who is a company member of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. “Of course, there are a lot of parallels between acting and preaching.” For the past 28 years, Smoots has practiced his dramatic ministry on stages in New Jersey and Wisconsin, both in Milwaukee and, especially . . .

Tucked in the basement at Woodland Pattern Book Center, amidst cluttered staff desks and carefully maintained overstock, exists a remarkably complete archive of the organization’s history. Every newsletter, flyer and check the bookstore has ever written is here, along with audio recordings documenting almost 30 years of readings and musical performances. That’s a lot of stuff. Woodland Pattern, both when it opened and today, stands firmly as the state’s foremost center for contemporary literature and art in the broadest . . .

To Martin Short, comedy is more of an art than a science. But comedy’s proper execution sometime carries with it all the rigors of scientific enterprise, at least for the performer engaged in the pratfall. To do comedy well, you have to have a natural talent and ability,” says the Canadian-born Short, 58, in a recent interview. “But the execution has to be precise, which means it probably has elements of both art and science.” Short will test his thesis for Milwaukee fans when he brings his act to the Pabst Theater. Unlike other comedy acts, however, Short will be sharing the stage with a band, the stand-up portion comprising just part of the evening. “It’s like a party with Marty,” Short says. “I sing, I dance, I do characters. I’ll probably bring three guys up on stage. . .

Violinist Hilary Hahn is an artist who seems to have emerged on the classical scene like a rare plant fully grown—an entity so perfectly and unobtrusively developed that the effortless maturity of her craft belies her youthful years. Born in Lexington, Va., 28 years ago, she began playing the violin shortly before her fourth birthday, studied for years under Russian teacher Klara Berkovich and made her first major orchestral debut with the Baltimore Symphony in 1991, when she was 12. Soon after, she appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra, then the Cleveland, followed by the Pittsburgh and the New York Philharmonic, all by the tender age of 15. Next she would debut in Germany, playing Beethoven with the Bavarian Radio Symphony under Lorin Maazel.

Nestled within the splendid interior of Milwaukee’s Central Library is one of the city’s well-kept secrets, the Wisconsin Architectural Archive. Established around the same time that some of the city’s architectural assets were razed to make way for freeways, it’s become a haven where the state’s architectural wealth can be safeguarded from the wrecking ball of fate or changing fashion. In the early-’70s, says Gabi Eschweiler, her husband, Tom, grandson of the celebrated Milwaukee architect Alexander Eschweiler, was made an offer he couldn’t refuse.

An important new voice has been added to the Skylight with the recent appointment of Eric Dillner as the new managing director. Dillner arrives from a successful tenure with the Shreveport Opera, where he served as both general and artistic director. Dillner replaces Christopher Libby, who has accepted a similar position with the Vancouver Opera Association in British Columbia. Founded in 1959, the Skylight produces opera, musical theater and cabaret at the Broadway Theatre Center in the Third Ward. With a $3.2 million budget, the company presents over 100 shows a season, placing them in the top five of American opera companies in terms

Sue Scott remembers it well. As a veteran performer on “A Prairie Home Companion,” she was preparing for the start of another live radio broadcast (Saturdays from 5 to 7 p.m. and Sundays noon to 2 p.m. on WUWM 89.7 FM). But this time something was wrong—specifically, the script. Everybody on stage, including host Garrison Keillor, had the wrong script. “Garrison is live on the air and he’s literally hugging [performer] Tim Russell, writing lines in the margin of Tim’s script as Tim is speaking,” she recalls. “Garrison’s got his black Sharpie out—he must have stock in those Sharpies since we have cases backstage—and there’s no time to bring out a new script.

Welcome to the wonderfully wicked, wacky-world wisdom of Monty Python’s Spamalot, a daft musical running for a week at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts starting April 29. From flying cows to a killer rabbit, Spamalot is the loopiest musical (“lovingly ripped off” from the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail) that ever trod theater boards in the 21st century. Or any other century, when it comes down to it. They’re all here from the King Arthur legend: Arthur himself and the Knights of the Round Table—principally Sir Galahad, Lancelot and Robin. Arthur tours Britain engaging courageous knights to assist in his quest for the Holy Grail, that chalice used by Jesus and His disciples at the Last Supper.

In the bad old days, black people in America were forced to endure demeaning minstrel shows and watch sheepishly as singing star Al Jolson performed in blackface. He wasn’t the only one. Other big-name white stars working in burnt cork included Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. In more recent years, even the likes of Gene Wilder, Billy Crystal and Robert Downey Jr. have corked-up to the consternation of millions of black folks who love movies. And some readers may recall Burt Reynolds playing an Indian in TV’s “Gunsmoke” in the 1960s. Hard to believe? Maybe not.

Milwaukee has an adventurous new flavor for its palate: its own underground restaurant. That’s about as much as I can tell you. The crew behind the venture has asked me to withhold who they are, when their next event is, location(s) and even the name their secret café goes by. I can tell you, however, that the name is a reference to Emma Goldman’s journals. They’ll be referred to here as “Café X.” Underground restaurants have sprung up worldwide and, in the United States, range from the Blind Pig outside of San Francisco to the NY Bite Club in the heart of New York City. Blind Pig offers a different theme for each opening and one of the locations they use is a two-car garage furnished with booths that were thrown out from