The Milwaukee Riverwalk

When I have nothing better to do, I sometimes listen to radio stations randomly. You never know what outrageous thing you'll hear next. A while ago I heard a radio preacher actually specify when the end of the world will be: October 21, 2011. Not just down-to-the-day specific, but soon. Not something you hear every day. Who was that preacher? Did he learn nothing from the Great Disappointment? Or Matthew 24:36, though of course not everyone agrees on what that verse means?

Harold Camping, that's who, and he obviously holds no truck with the Mayans. Camping has examined Scripture quite closely, I'm sure, and has come up with a precise-as-Bishop-Ussher date for the rapture, May 21, 2011. After that it's a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth for the remaining people of Earth until October 21: poof!

Do you suppose Mr. Camping would be willing to turn over all of his worldly possessions to me? I'd let him use them until May 21, but after that they're all mine. No? I didn't think so.

After visiting the Pabst Mansion on Saturday, we ate well at Phan's Garden, a Vietnamese restaurant on National Ave. not far south of the mansion. I can vouch for their mighty fine Vietnamese pork chops. Right next door to the restaurant is a Buddhist temple of some kind, occupying what seems to be a converted apartment building. We might not have noticed except that we sat near one of the windows at Phan's, and noticed a monk, fully decked out in robes, go into the building.

Sated with Phan's fare, we sought out the Milwaukee Riverwalk and did some walking near the Milwaukee River. It's a fairly new feature of the city. When I first visited Milwaukee in 1987, the river was just a wet place that passed through town. Much renovation of its banks has been done since then. To borrow from Wiki, which I have verified with my own eyes: "Milwaukee Riverwalk has grown to include art displays... Riverwalk Park, water taxi landings, and other venues such as cafés, and brewpubs."

It isn't as intimate as the San Antonio Riverwalk, since the San Antonio River is lilliputian and the Milwaukee River is fairly wide, but the Milwaukee Riverwalk definitely has its charms on a warm September weekend. It also sported a few groups of boisterous drunks upholding the traditions of Beer City.