Spring Break
Dead Milkmen, lively conversation at Flicker
BAR REVIEW
HARRY SAWYER
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Think of a vertical pinball machine. Once throttled with the plunger, the wooden ball shoots to the top and falls through a series of windows, each offering an element of a psychic analysis, ultimately resulting in what the instructions claim will be a "proudfully and playfully promoted probable personal prediction."
Professor Purwick's gravitational chicanery is not the only source of enlightenment at Flicker, however.
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The bar has several board games, including two versions of Trouble, one of which is the pre-Milton Bradley edition in which the pop-o-matic bubble is referred to as the pop-o-matic cube shaker.
One of the reasons that details like multigenerational copies of board games stand out is that there is little else going on at Flicker. Unless the theatre section is screening a film or the occasional concert is taking place, it's just a quiet, intimate bar with several small tables. There's no pool table, no Golden Tee, no cage dancing -- in fact, very little dancing at all, cage or otherwise.
For these reasons, it's a great bar. Flicker has preserved that elusive combination of a drink and a conversation that can be heard without shouting.
It has the classic Athenian feel -- the bar is furnished like an artist's living room --16 oz. cans of Schlitz are on sale for $1.50, and people are taken seriously when they say that they intend to start a Dead Milkmen cover band.
The walls are decorated with framed album covers ranging from Jesus Lizard to "Rain Dogs," as well as movie posters that have been screened in the theatre.
Whether or not a movie is playing, a fresh paper bag of popcorn is available to guests looking to complement their beer or to just leave greasy fingerprints on Flicker's wine glasses.
Flicker balances art, geek and hipster, isn't pretentious and sells the beer that made Milwaukee famous for a price that simply cannot be refused.
Take one close friend, go spend an evening with Professor Purwick and find enlightenment over a game of Trouble.
