I’m in Milwaukee for the Lakefront festival of the arts (drove here this morning from Ann Arbor, MI). Its set on the grounds of the stunning Milwaukee art museum, and is always fun because Milwaukeeans (??) love art. I’ve been to this city four or five times and have yet to get a good alley shot, which is very frustrating. This city had many great locations in the 80’s and 90’s, but they had to go and clean everything up… great for the city, bad for me. Much of the architecture here is beautiful turn of the century - it has tremendous character, even without all the grit and grime that I like. In fact this city is hardly what I expected when I first visited. I was expecting something more ramshackle, but it turns out to be quite the opposite. It has a great downtown, beautiful beach (Lake Michigan), diverse old neighborhoods, friendly people. Its a vibrant city that generally seems to be doing well.

But this weekend… I must have a Milwaukee alley in my collection, or I’ll be a monkey’s uncle, whatever that means (what does that mean??)

Here a rare photo of a Monkey’s Uncle (shot in the Florida Everglades, 2005)