Honda Valve Adjusting With the Iron Angels Race Team

I had a great time last night working on a print piece about the Iron Angels Build Moto Team. The project is one in which mentors help high school students in the Milwaukee area build a flat track race motorcycle. The Iron Angels are the first team of all female students and mentors. It’s pretty neat documenting their progress and process. I got a kick out of this view of the Honda engine with the valve covers removed. It looks like a Star Wars character, or maybe a mastodon. Their first race is May 19!

This engine looks like a #StarWars character when its valve covers are removed. Had fun gathering stories and taking pictures at the @theironangels @buildmoto team meeting this evening. . . . . . #motorcycles #engines #honda #flattrack #womenwhoride #womenwhorace #vintageracing #vintagemotorcycles #motorcycleracing #dirttrack

A post shared by Ed Makowski (@edmakowski) on May 1, 2018 at 8:00pm PDT

Advertisements

Industrial Snapshot, Milwaukee

I forgot I’d taken this video. It’s like a wacky postmodern daydream. Something I thought would be neat in a movie somehow. The grinding and gulls, anti-party fanfare of a flaccid flag standing guard outside of a forgotten pub. I’m sure somebody hasn’t forgotten George’s. Listen for the sounds. They are especially.

A post shared by Ed Makowski (@edmakowski) on Apr 18, 2018 at 11:47am PDT

Hooray! Journalism Awards Announced

I’m pleased to relay that I’ve received a few different awards for both solo work and collaborative journalism projects. UW-Milwaukee’s Pow Wow Has Deep American Indian Roots received the Best Soft Feature award by Milwaukee Press Club. The Finding Flint project received several awards from the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). Photographs I took for this piece received a Feature Photography award by SPJ.

All told, UWM journalism students have been awarded a total of 42 local, statewide, or regional awards. The instructors at UW-Milwaukee are doing a great job of getting us ready to head out into the working world.

Here is the full list of awards that can currently be posted publicly.

 

Visitor to the Midwest: A Heard Poem

Here is this little overheard gem. Every once in awhile strangers still have conversations in bars without phones between their faces. When they do, you can overhear a gem or two. This was a visitor from L.A. making a stop in Milwaukee from California. Click the arrows to the right to read the next line. Viva Midwest. Flyover and Friendly.

#bartalk #poetry #poem #dialogue #spokenword #travel #midwest #westcoast #la #type #typewriter #foundpoem #california #typewriterpoetry #conversation #milwaukee #dearmke #wisconsin #milwaukeebeautiful #overheard

A post shared by Ed Makowski (@edmakowski) on Mar 11, 2018 at 10:40am PDT

Short Shots Poetry Reading Thursday, February 15

See you at Var Gallery this Thursday, February 15 at 8:00pm for Short Shots! This show features 7 poets including myself – and it’s free.

See you at @vargallery this Thursday, February 15 at 8:00pm for Short Shots! This show features 7 poets including myself – and it’s free. . . . . . #poetry #milwaukee #performance #poems #slampoetry #milwaukeepoetry #walkerspoint

A post shared by Ed Makowski (@edmakowski) on Feb 13, 2018 at 10:11am PST

Milwaukee Music History From Turner Hall

This is one of my favorite pieces from my time as Pfister Hotel Narrator. Chef Concierge Peter Mortensen discusses returning to Milwaukee’s historic Turner Hall Ballroom, years before it was again open, to experience the birthplace of American popular music. We visited the space in the middle of the day and Peter described an impromptu concert with musicians Joan Morris and William Bolcom. I love how Peter’s voice sounds so large and encompassing in the space. Click below to listen. The Pfister is currently looking for the next narrator. If you’re a writer, maybe you should give it a shot.

 

Happening Upon a Plein Air Painter in Winter

“I’m out painting and people ask what I’m doing. I tell them I’m painting. They look at the canvas and they look at me and they look at the canvas. “Really?” they ask. I don’t know what else they think I’m doing. “Yes, really.” – Lynn Rix, plein air painter in every season

“I’m out painting and people ask what I’m doing. I tell them I’m painting. They look at the canvas and they look at me and they look at the canvas. “Really?” they ask. I don’t know what else they think I’m doing. “Yes, really.” – Lynn Rix, plein air painter in every season . . . . . #pleinair #painting #art #milwaukee #dearmke #milwaukeebeautiful #funny #artistlife #fineart #lakemichigan #schlitzaudubon #womenartists #optoutside

A post shared by Ed Makowski (@edmakowski) on Feb 8, 2018 at 8:25am PST