Friday, June 20, 2008

Wingiam Ho's

This weeks wing day took an interesting turn. I was texting Silverman about where to wing and we were out of fresh ideas. He suggested Harry's Bar and Grill in Shorewood. Unsure of whether they have wings on the menu or not (We'll let you know as soon as we find out, we have been too lazy to further research this issue) I remember having seen a sign in front of William Ho's which happens to be across the street.



Here's a rundown of the mornings text communications:



Josh: We winging?



Eric: I can't today. Gotta wait for the internet guy to come between 1 and 3



Josh: Fuck man, make Purvis do it!



Silverman : Yes sir. But Lonnie can't. Where to??



Josh: Don't care, any ideas?



At this point I decide to just call Silverman, he suggests Harry's, and I tell him about the sign in front of William Ho's. I express some apprehension toward winging at a chinese joint, and Silverman declares: "That's our job man, the public needs to know." Point: Silverman.



We head to the spot and discover not only does this place have wings, but there is also a $6.95 linch buffet. If you know me and Silverman, you are aware that not getting the buffet was simply not an option. We sit down, and finally hear from Menchal who will be joining us this afternoon. Silverman decides that our best course of action is to order one order of wings for the table and we'll get the buffet. We wait about 10 minutes for Menchal, and decide the hell with being polite, we are going to start eating. I do have to admit that the impetus for such ungentlemanly behavior is that we saw an employee come out of the kitchen with a tub of skewered chicken and dump it into the skewered chicken buffet pan. At this moment Silverman simply declares: "That's our cue man." Point: Silverman



Menchal arrives about the time we are finishing our first round of china buffet. The wings arrive about 5 minutes later. The wings are pretty tasty, especially considering the location. The breading is a little heavy, but the sauce is not bad. It has a bit of a kick to it, and a pretty decent flavor. The wings were ample as well. The wings do not come with celery or any side sauces however. I found this a bit disappointing.

Ratings:

Wings: 2.5 out of 5 wings

Lunch Buffet: Suprisingly good, but I haven't developed a rating system for chinese buffet yet


William Ho's
3524 N. Oakland Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53211
414-963-9781
www.williamhos.net

Friday, June 13, 2008

Public Wingemies

This week's wing day tale provides an answer to a very ridiculous question......How can Michael Mann possibly be connected with Wing Day?

Oddly enough, the fiasco he created almost ruined what has become my favorite weekly activity. If you haven't been keeping up with current events the film Public Enemies is filming here in Milwaukee. Well, one of the locations chosen just happens to be my apartment building. I had received notice that some areas of my block would not be available for resident parking so I park on a block I had understood to still be available. I wake up Wednesday morning unhappy that I have to work at 8 in the morning with Wing Day being the one reason I don't feel like shooting myself. I head over to where my car had been parked the night before. I see the spot I was sure my car had been in was no empty. Because of the fucking film shooting in my building my car had been towed. I had no way to get to MATC (South Campus, which is by the airport) for work, and my ability to even make Wing Day was now in jeopardy.

After a few calls I finally wrangle my roommate into giving me a ride to the impound lot, where I will now spend $150 and 2 hours dealing with getting my car liberated. While waiting for the slow semi-retards to get my car out of the lot I make some phone calls to my landlord and the production company who is responsible for said impound lot adventure. I finally get my first good news..... Universal Studios will be reimbursing me for the ticket and impound fees. I am now officially part of the budget for a major motion picture.

I get the car liberated and head over to Kelly's Bleachers for the day's wingery. I must say, they make a fairly good wing. No heavy breading (Silverman hates the heavy breading), decent sauce, and a very ample wing. The sauce was a decent classic buffalo style sauce, but in my not so humble opinion a little salty, and the hot were not as hot as I would have liked. On the plus side, the wings were huge and impressively meaty. Also, the whole Wing Day team was in attendance, and Hugh Masterson decided to join us. That fuck got nachos however, and despite my informing him that this was not nacho day, the man could not be convinced to deviate.

I left Kelly's satisfied with my wing experience, went to my office to get some work done, and then headed back to my apartment. Now, when I left this morning there were some trucks occupying the space cleared by the previous nights towing, but now my neighborhood was a fucking circus. I had no idea it took 100 people standing around to make a film. Only 10 people seemed to be working at any one time, everyone else appeared paid to look after things that weren't headed anywhere. There were also easily 300 people across the street camped out watching the whole ordeal. Keep in mind that Johnny Depp and Christian Bale are starring in the film, so I imagine they were camped out to see them. I also happen to live on the 1st floor, which I am informed is now a set for the film, so I can't even get from the door of the building to my apartment without having to go past at least a dozen people walking around talking on cell phones (maybe that is what film people do at work).

I head back outside to walk my dog Herman (who is a bit crazy) and unaware of this at the time, will finally get to exact a small bit of revenge for the morning's fiasco. I walk over to the curb to look at the crowd amassed across the street and a white Land Rover pulls up. I am maybe three feet away from this car when out steps Michael Mann himself. Being that my dog is a bit crazy, and is a bit stressed with all of the commotion, he decides this is a perfect time to start barking and freaking out. Yes, and I swear this is not bullshit, my dog decides to freak out at Micheal Mann, who looks at the crazy dog for a second, glares at me, and then heads over to a catering tent to grab a cup of coffee.

Later that night I got to see Mr. Mann again and I even got so see Johnny Depp. Turns out when he was coming in the building to shoot residents were told to clear the hallways, but we could leave the door to the apartment open. My roommate and I decided to hang out just inside the door to our apartment so we could catch a glimpse, and sure enough we got to see Johnny Depp waiting for the elevator to the apartment they were shooting in. He looked over at us, gave a quick wave, and that was it.

Overall Ratings

Kelly's Bleachers: 3 out of 5 wings

Johnny Depp: Good looking man in person, but shorter than I had thought

Michael Mann: He better get me my check with a quickness

Kelly's Bleachers
5218 W Bluemound Rd
Milwaukee, WI 53208
414.258.9837
www.kellysbleachers.net