Cream City Crawl
The Tipping Point, Milwaukee Meals, Dougie MacLean, Claude Lemieux, Restricted—really?
Welcome to my 191st weekly newsletter. This issue includes my 25 favorite pop songs, Malcolm Gladwell’s first book, a food crawl in Milwaukee, my favorite Scottish singer, a hockey star who was hated in Detroit, and a non-danger zone. I hope you like the picks and pics.
I enjoyed spending five days in Milwaukee, where my family lived briefly before I was born. I wore my Lake Michigan Unsalted hat along the western shore of the lake that I normally see from the east side. Visiting Cupertino Park made me think of the current TV show The Audacity. I also recalled that Tandem Computers was started in Cupertino, California; from 1979 to 1983 I managed the first Tandem sold in St. Louis.
I also strolled along Frank Lloyd Wright’s Burnham Block where there are multiple homes designed by the famous architect.
Fellow food crawler Cathy Lachmann visited the Milwaukee Zoo and was kind enough to buy me this card of my namesake camel, who was born in my former hometown of St. Louis:
I wrote about John Landau in the previous issue. Here is his obituary and a photo of my late friend:
I recently appeared on the Humans in the Loop podcast:
If you enjoy Fave Five, please share it with your friends who also like books, food, music, sports, or humor. To do so, just click the button below.
Fave Five 191: Cream City Crawl
Takes Three Types to Tip (The Tipping Point), Milwaukee Meals (23 stops), Scottish Singer (Dougie MacLean), Quadruple Cup Winner (Claude Lemieux), and Restricted—really?
Fave Five List: Favorite Pop/Rock/R&B/Soul Songs
In the last issue I featured my 100 favorite folksongs. The list above compiles my 150 favorite songs in pop, rock, R&B, and soul, limiting the entries to one per artist. Here are my top 25:
Please Please Me - The Beatles
I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better - The Byrds
Lonely Too Long - The Young Rascals
There She Goes - The La’s
Massachusetts - Bee Gees
Walk Away Renee - The Left Banke
Out In the Street - Bruce Springsteen
Wild World - Cat Stevens
Badge - Cream
Somebody to Love - Jefferson Airplane
All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
Ventura Highway - America
Distant Sun - Crowded House
California Dreamin’ - The Mamas & The Papas
Tell Me Why - Neil Young
Lodi - Creedence Clearwater Revival
What a Fool Believes - The Doobie Brothers
Spirits In The Material World - The Police
My Old School - Steely Dan
Ramblin’ Man - Allman Brothers Band
Accidents Will Happen - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Fall On Me - R.E.M.
A Million Miles Away - The Plimsouls
Hollywood - Boz Scaggs
Portrait of My Love - The Tokens
Book Best Bet
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
I read this book years ago and I incorporated the three key types of people described by Gladwell in my writing:
Connectors are those with wide social circles. They are the hubs of human social networks and responsible for the small world phenomenon.
Mavens are knowledgeable people. While most consumers wouldn’t know if a product were priced above the market rate by, say, 10 percent, mavens would. Bloggers who detect false claims in the media could also be considered mavens.
Salesmen are charismatic people with powerful negotiation skills. They exert soft influence rather than forceful power. Their source of influence may be the tendency of others, subconsciously, to imitate them rather than techniques of conscious persuasion.
From Amazon: Uncover the captivating science behind viral trends in business, marketing, and human behavior in the breakthrough debut — named one of the best books of the decade by The A.V. Club and The Guardian.
The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, has changed the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.
Restaurant Recommendations
Milwaukee Meals
I was in Milwaukee from Wednesday through Sunday to participate in the annual Roadfood Crawl. I previously featured the food crawls in Cincinnati in 2024 and Detroit in 2023. The organizer, Jeff Sanders, his wife, Susie, and I were the only crawlers to make it to all 23 stops. The unbulleted comments below are Jeff’s, and some of the photos were taken by fellow crawlers John Lachmann and David Sanders.
Three Brothers Restaurant 2414 S St Clair St
Outstanding Serbian cuisine served in an historic Schlitz tavern.
SERBIAN SALAD: Tomato, onion, and green pepper in our special dressing topped with Serbian cheese
BUREK: Mama’s creation and pride. Layers of paper-thin filo dough with beef, cheese, and spinach and cheese filling
SARMA: Pickled cabbage leaves filled with beef, rice, and served with potato dumplings
GOULASH: Lean cubes of beef simmered in a light paprika sauce served with potato dumplings
MUSAKA: Lightly breaded eggplant slices layered with beef
CHEVAPCHICHI: Serbian beef sausages served with raw onions, and tomato
CHICKEN PAPRIKASH: Bone-in chicken breast simmered in our sweet paprika sauce, and served with potato dumplings
Leon’s Frozen Custard 3131 S 27th St
Turtle Sundae with Butter Pecan Frozen Custard
O&H Danish Bakery 9540 S 27th St, Oak Creek
Almond Custard Seven Sisters Coffee Cake
Turtle Kringle
Mader’s 1041 N Doctor M.L.K. Jr Dr
One of Milwaukee’s most historic, and iconic German restaurants.
Tour of Germany Sampler: Sauerbraten, Kassler Rippchen, pork shank, wiener schnitzel with German potato salad, spaetzle, red cabbage
Goulash
McBob’s 4919 W North Ave
A Roadfood classic.
Reuben sandwich
Corned beef hash
TomKen’s Bar & Grill 8001 W Greenfield Ave
A true Wisconsin blue collar bar, welcoming to all.
Crispy Thighs
Wings
Potato Pancakes (served with apple sauce and syrup)
Fox Den 616 W Virginia St (Inside Great Lakes Distillery)
Bang Burger
The Vanguard 2659 S Kinnickinnic Ave
Located in the funky and friendly Bay View neighborhood.
Butcher Board: bratwurst, Italian, and cheddarwurst sausages served with vinegar peppers, kraut, cheddar cheese curds, marinara, baconstein aioli, slaw, fries
Baked Potato Balls
At Random 2501 S Delaware Ave
Classic 1950s Ice Cream Cocktails, available with or without booze, in a gorgeous vintage room.
Buckeye Shake
Grebe’s Bakery 5132 W Lincoln Ave, West Allis
Blueberry Donuts
Chocolate Donuts
Cinnamon Rolls
Cruller Bites
Kegel’s Inn 5901 W National Ave, West Allis
Friday Fish Fry: Classic Cod, Perch, Walleye, Blue Gill, Catfish
Jake’s Deli 1634 W North Ave
Pastrami Sandwich
Coach’s Pub ‘N’ Grill 5356 S 13th St
A friendly neighborhood bar serving a critically acclaimed Friday Fish Fry.
Grilled Walleye
Clam Chowder
Spicy Fisherman’s Chowder
Joe’s K Ranch 4840 S Whitnall Ave, Cudahy
Not a Supper Club, just another blue-collar neighborhood bar punching above their weight.
Prime Rib
Fried Chicken
Potato Pancakes
Asparagus
Onion Straws
Slick Willy’s 2301 12th Ave South
One of Milwaukee’s great dive bars serving a gorgeous Friday Fish Fry. It’s absolutely tiny inside, but they’ve got a massive outdoor area with picnic tables.
Shrimp
Walleye
Cod
Potato Pancakes
Kopp’s Frozen Custard 7631 W. Layton Ave., Greenfield
Flavor of the Day: Turtle Sundae
Amaranth Bakery & Café 3329 W Lisbon Ave
Even though their baker focuses on fancy French pastry, this place is loaded with rustic charm.
Canelé
Kouign Amman
Chocolate Croissant
Milwaukee Brat House 1013 N. Dr. MLK Jr Dr
Located in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward, Brat House’s dark wood décor offers old time charm and great food.
Sampler Platter: Bratwurst, Polish, Blueberry Breakfast Sausages, Italian, and hot Hungarian sausages served with sautéed onions, red peppers, sauerkraut, mushrooms, pretzel roll
Oscar’s Pub & Grill 1712 W Pierce St
Just another unassuming neighborhood bar defying expectations with some of Milwaukee’s best thick burgers.
8-ounce burger with American cheese, grilled onions, and pickles
Von Trier 2235 N Farwell Ave
More Old World charm with rich wood paneling accented by stained glass windows.
Jaegerschnitzel: Pork Schnitzel topped with house made mushroom gravy. Served with red cabbage, sauerkraut, and potato pancakes
Diamond Jim’s Steakhouse 11811 Janesville Rd, Hales Corners
This is how almost every Wisconsinite spends their Saturday night: shaking off the stress of the past week at a familiar, inviting Supper Club.
Prime Rib
Ribeye Steak
Bourbon Glazed Porkchop
Gilles Frozen Custard 7515 West Bluemound Rd
Turtle Sundae with Flavor of the Day: Chocolate Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup
Mad Rooster Café 4401 W Greenfield Ave
Mad Rooster is hectic and crazy busy but they’re highly efficient and serve an outstanding breakfast.
Spicy Chicken & Waffles
Eggs
Corned Beef Hash
Biscuits & Gravy
Beignets
Marvelous Musician
Barb and I will soon be going on a music tour of Scotland. My favorite Scottish singer is Dougie MacLean. I became a big fan after hearing his music on WUMB and WDET and seeing him multiple times at The Ark in Ann Arbor (the last time was October 16, 2018). My daughter Tracy also became a fan of The Dougie Maclean Collection. My favorite songs are “Solid Ground,” “Turning Away,” “Caledonia,” “Ready For The Storm,” “Feel So Near,” and especially “This Love Will Carry.”
From Wikipedia: Dougie MacLean, OBE (born September 27, 1954 in Dunblane, Perthshire, Scotland) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Described by AllMusic as “one of Scotland’s premier singer-songwriters”, MacLean has performed under both his own name, and as part of multiple folk bands, since the mid 1970s. MacLean’s most famous pieces include “The Gael” (1990), which became the main theme to the 1992 film The Last of the Mohicans, and “Caledonia”, from his first album (1978); the latter has been called Scotland’s “unofficial” national anthem.
To support himself in the 1970s, MacLean was a driver for Doc Watson and Merle Watson during their tour around Europe. In 1976, MacLean began touring with The Tannahill Weavers, with whom he recorded Are Ye Sleeping Maggie? Johnny Cunningham departed the Scottish band Silly Wizard for the U.S. in 1980 and was replaced for six months by Dougie. MacLean had once been in a band Puddocks Well with Andy Stewart and Martin Hadden, and contributed to Silly Wizard’s fourth album, Wild and Beautiful, before returning to the Tannahill Weavers.
Caledonia
This Love Will Carry
Turning Away
Feel So Near with Kathy Mattea
Ready for the Storm
My Playlist
Sports Star
Claude died on May 28, 2026. He was reviled in Detroit because he severely injured Kris Draper of the Red Wings. But he is considered one of the greatest playoff players in NHL history.
Claude Lemieux, Stanley Cup champion and fierce playoff competitor, dies at 60
Claude Lemieux, a four-time Stanley Cup champion and one of the fiercest playoff performers in NHL history, has died. Lemieux, nicknamed “Pepe,” played 21 years in the NHL, winning the 1995 Conn Smythe Trophy and the four Cup titles — two with the New Jersey Devils and one each with the Colorado Avalanche and Montreal Canadiens. His 80 playoff goals rank ninth in NHL history and his 158 points are tied for 27th. Lemieux played 1,215 regular-season games, scoring 379 goals and 786 points and amassing 1,777 penalty minutes.
Claude Lemieux’s family donating his brain to Boston University CTE Center
In announcing the donation of his brain to the UNITE Brain Bank — the preeminent research group on concussions and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, the progressive, degenerative brain disease found in people with a history of repetitive brain trauma more commonly known as CTE — the Lemieux family said they hoped Claude’s life could continue to help others.
“The family emphasizes that this decision is a gift to science, to athletes and to future generations of families seeking answers. No conclusion should be drawn at this time regarding any diagnosis.”
From Wikipedia: Claude Percy Lemieux (July 16, 1965 – May 28, 2026) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played as a right winger for 21 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with six teams between 1983 and 2009. Lemieux won four Stanley Cup championships during his career, including two with the New Jersey Devils, with whom he won the Conn Smythe Trophy during the team’s victory in the 1995 Stanley Cup Final. He was one of 11 players to win a Stanley Cup championship with at least three different teams. He was also known as one of the greatest playoff performers, with his 80 career playoff goals ranking as the ninth most in NHL history. He was also known throughout his career as an aggressor, agitator, and enforcer.
Lemieux was born in Buckingham, Quebec, and grew up in Mont-Laurier. He was drafted in the second round of the 1983 NHL entry draft by the Montreal Canadiens and played with them from 1983 to 1990, winning his first Stanley Cup with the team in 1986. In 1990, he was traded to the Devils, with whom he played five seasons and won a second Stanley Cup. He was traded to the Colorado Avalanche in 1995 and won his third Stanley Cup during the 1996 Cup Final. During the playoffs that season, Lemieux hit Kris Draper of the Detroit Red Wings from behind, breaking Draper’s orbital, cheek, and jaw bones, and sparking a vicious rivalry between the Avalanche and Red Wings.
In 1999, Lemieux was traded back to the Devils and won a fourth Stanley Cup with them in the 2000 Cup Final. Over the next few seasons, he played for the Phoenix Coyotes and Dallas Stars. Lemieux left the NHL in 2003 and briefly joined EV Zug of the Swiss Nationalliga A before retiring as a player. In 2005, he was named president of the ECHL’s Phoenix Roadrunners, a position he held for two years. Lemieux returned to the NHL with the San Jose Sharks for the 2008–09 season, but retired again after that year. Following his retirement, Lemieux became a sports agent, serving in the role until his death.
He was the older brother of former NHL forward Jocelyn Lemieux. His son Brendan was a left winger in the NHL, playing for five NHL teams over seven seasons. They are the only father–son duo to both be punished by the NHL for biting other players.
Lemieux died by suicide on May 28, 2026, at the age of 60. He was found by one of his sons on the property of a furniture store Lemieux owned in Lake Park, Florida. His final public appearance was at game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on May 25, 2026, where he was a torch-bearer for the Montreal Canadiens.
Four Stanley Cup Victories
Picture Pun
Just after snapping this I was hauled away.
