One day in 2010, John Frank Hamann was approached by a stranger at Veterans park who excitedly came running up to him with his cell phone “Your the Milverine!” the man said.
The newly appointed Milverine was a combination of amused and confused.
The jacked, power walking construction worker had no idea that he had a dedicated Facebook fan page and a Reddit thread of people tracking sightings of his whereabouts around the city and that he was gaining a cult following.
His life hasn’t been the same since and he even has a Vice documentary with over 8 million views.
On this episode we get to know the man behind Milverine and cover a wide range of topics including
- How much he walks everyday (it is mind blowing)
- His strict diet routine
- Why he doesn’t leave Milwaukee (like ever, not even on vacation)
- How well he knows the city he loves during a round of Milwaukee trivia
- And more
Milwaukee Uncut is produced by Story Mark Studios: https://storymarkstudios.com/
Sponsored by Central Standard: https://thecentralstandard.com/
In partnership with OnMilwaukee: https://onmilwaukee.com/
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Transcript
00:00:00] Richie Burke: Hey everyone, welcome back to Milwaukee Uncut produced by StoryMark Studios, sponsored by Central Standard Distillery and in partnership with On Milwaukee. Today we sat down with a local hero, the man that has over 8 million views on his documentary produced by Vice. His name is John Frank Hammond, better known as The Milverine.
[00:00:24] Richie Burke: In this episode, we dive deep and learn about the man himself. His upbringing, his views on and love of the city of Milwaukee, his athletic prowess and his life as Milverine. We even dive into some Milwaukee trivia at the end to see how well the Milverine actually knows the city that he champions. It’s a fascinating interview with an absolute legend.
[00:00:51] Richie Burke: Before diving in. I want to thank you for the support of this podcast. We’ve gotten a great response to our, our recent episodes and revival with Charlie Barens’s and Bishop Hines. We even got back on the U S apple charts, which is great to get a local show on the U S apple charts and have more awesome content coming up.
[00:01:10] Richie Burke: So if you do subscribe and leave a review and put your Instagram handle in the review before the end of the year, we’ll reach out and send you something to show our appreciation. Thanks again for your support and tuning into Milwaukee Uncut. Let’s get to today’s episode with Milverine. So you, you grew up in Milwaukee.
[00:01:27] Richie Burke: What was, what was your upbringing like in this, in this city? They grew up
[00:01:31] Milverine: on the south side, you know, halfway between Wilson and Jackson Park. Grew up playing sports all the time, you name it, what sport, I was good at like all sports. You know, basically, you know, the big three were baseball, basketball, and football.
[00:01:45] Milverine: So I played all those growing up.
[00:01:48] Richie Burke: Then you went to, you go to high school
[00:01:50] Milverine: at? Went to Pulaski High School, right, at 27th Street. Yeah. Uh, close to like 26 in Oklahoma in that area. And
[00:01:59] Richie Burke: then what did you, uh, what did you get into after that? Was your, your, did you go to
[00:02:04] Milverine: college? Was you on work? No, no, I didn’t go to college in anything.
[00:02:07] Milverine: I just like basically self taught, you know, I went, got into construction, you know, like weightlifting, bodybuilding and stuff like that. Were you training
[00:02:14] Richie Burke: for
[00:02:15] Milverine: anything? No, because, uh, when you, like, weightlifting, a bodybuilder, you can weigh any weight. If you train for, like, to be a boxer or a cage fighter, you gotta make a weight.
[00:02:24] Milverine: And I didn’t want to, like, starve myself to make a weight.
[00:02:26] Richie Burke: You just enjoy lifting. Yes. When did you get
[00:02:30] Milverine: into walking? Well, basically, I was walking my whole life. I never had a car. Yeah.
[00:02:36] Richie Burke: So, you kind of got discovered by and became a, quote unquote, Milwaukee. Celebrity, probably in the early 2010s, when, when was the first moment that you found out people were almost tracking you and that you were known as Milverine?
[00:02:53] Milverine: I was walking through Veterans Park and some guy come running up to me with one of those cell phones and says, uh, you’re the Milverine. I said, no, I’m not. You know what the hell that was, you know? So the guys had to show me a picture, you know? So that was, yeah, that’s me. I know I never heard it about until then, you know?
[00:03:10] Milverine: What was your reaction? Well, I was amused by it, you know, but it was funny, you know, I’d never used social media up until recently. Yeah. So I, it was all news to me.
[00:03:21] Richie Burke: Yeah. And then the legend kind of just grew from there. What, what is that? What has that been like? Did you find it all humorous or?
[00:03:31] Milverine: Yeah, it’s kind of nice, you know, I never stop and think about it.
[00:03:34] Milverine: I’m on foot. I’m always moving all the time. I don’t like standing in the street car and wave to people, you know, so I just, you know, do what I have to do and it basically get home and basically go to sleep, you know, so I really, it’s not constantly on my mind or anything.
[00:03:47] Richie Burke: Yeah. What’s, what’s, uh, what’s a day in your life like right
[00:03:50] now?
[00:03:51] Milverine: Okay, I get up. We’ve been going out. Me and my dog been going out later. My dog doesn’t like it when it’s hot out. So, we’ve been getting out a little bit later. Me and my dog have basically been going out from like 5 p. m. to 3 a. m. Basically, every day during the summer. And I’ve been out earlier than that going for walks, you know?
[00:04:06] Richie Burke: Yeah. Are you working
[00:04:08] Milverine: anymore? Are you just I’m like semi retired. I got like, I have to have surgery on both of my shoulders before I get back to heavy work, you know? What happened to the shoulders? Well, you know, I was in a big rush. I was grabbing that pair of 120 pound dumbbells. I threw it up, you know, to do bench presses with.
[00:04:22] Milverine: One came out wide and it basically tore the rotator cuff. Then about a year and a half after that, I fell off a stone staircase. I slipped on freezing rain and directly, all the weight slammed down on the shoulder and dislocated my right shoulder. I’m usually a lot strongly built right now, but I haven’t been able to lift weights for a couple of years.
[00:04:38] Milverine: So I’m more built like a walker or a runner right now.
[00:04:41] Richie Burke: 120 pound dumbbells. Was that what you were typically throwing
[00:04:44] Milverine: up? Boy, I get, yeah, I got basically, I’ve been lifting weights by the time I was 16, I could already bench press 400 pounds. Holy shit. I get from like a family that’s really physically strong on both sides of the family.
[00:04:56] Milverine: Yeah.
[00:04:58] Richie Burke: What’s your family like? Do you have brothers, sisters,
[00:05:00] Milverine: yours? Yeah, I got two brothers and basically my youngest brother is really good at basketball. My oldest brother is good basically. He’s a boxer, you know, a gold glove boxer. Then he became a black belt in karate. He’s an avid weightlifter. He’s a male man.
[00:05:13] Milverine: He does curls with like 200 pounds.
[00:05:15] Richie Burke: Yeah. You close with your family? Of course. Your, your uncle was a good athlete, right? Did he win state golf championships? Yeah,
[00:05:23] Milverine: my uncle won the state golf tournament twice. His name was Hank Gardner. And believe it or not, he grew up at El Simmons. The best baseball player ever born in Milwaukee.
[00:05:30] Milverine: El Simmons is a hall of famer. He grew up on the south side. And, uh, El Simmons, his real name was Szymanski. He changed it, not just because it was Polish, because people had a hard time pronouncing that name. Yeah, but he ended up with like 2, 900 hits a lifetime average, about 330 Hall of Famer, greatest baseball player ever born in Milwaukee.
[00:05:48] Milverine: He lived and died in Milwaukee.
[00:05:50] Richie Burke: Did you never have the desire to compete? Cause I was listening to a different show you were on. It seemed like you did a little bit of wrestling in high school, but you were an athlete.
[00:05:58] Milverine: Yeah, I did wrestling in high school, but no, when I started, uh, I weighed about 10th grade when I was done with, uh, you know, a graduate, I weighed like 210 pounds.
[00:06:07] Milverine: So if I would have been a wrestler, I would have had to starve myself and wrestle probably about 130 pounds. And people, when they’re younger, they want to build up and get strong and physically strong. So I like weightlifting and bodybuilding. It’s an organized sport, you know?
[00:06:21] Richie Burke: Yeah. How, so you’re just, you’re not working right now.
[00:06:25] Richie Burke: You’re just walking around the city. Right. How much do you
[00:06:28] walk
[00:06:29] Milverine: per day? Probably me and my dog about 45 50 miles a day. In July I was averaging more than that, probably 70 miles a day.
[00:06:38] Richie Burke: What’s the longest you’ve ever walked in one day? Probably
[00:06:41] Milverine: about 75 80 miles. Where,
[00:06:44] Richie Burke: do you have a loop you go around every
[00:06:45] Milverine: day?
[00:06:45] Milverine: Yeah, we go down, like we go down KK, then we get on Broadway, then we get on Wisconsin, then we go down Oakland, and sometimes around Brady, then we go to the Oak Leaf Trail, and all that, probably up to North, um, Lake Drive, probably sometimes to Fox Point. Just all the way around, like a loop. If I keep walking, like for 15 hours, I can average about 5 miles an hour, that’d be like 75 miles.
[00:07:04] Richie Burke: What do, what do you love most
[00:07:05] Milverine: about walking? Well, it keeps you in shape and everything. You see things better. You know you’re, like, getting health because you’re walking. And I never had a car. I never liked cars.
[00:07:18] Richie Burke: I want to touch on your health. So, I was listening to another show. You were on the River West radio podcast and I believe you said you’ve never had a drink in your life.
[00:07:29] Richie Burke: You were on a plant based diet, you were lifting weights since you were eight years old. Could you elaborate on
[00:07:35] Milverine: that lifestyle? Yeah, I’ve been lifting weights since I was eight years old. I eat an organic, plant based diet. It’s like 75 percent of the diet. I mean, I don’t like 100 percent strict, but I try to eat 75 percent organic, plant based diet.
[00:07:46] Milverine: All independent research says that’s the way to go. I haven’t been sick one day in the last 20 years. So that proves it, you know.
[00:07:52] Richie Burke: Are you, uh, are you on plant based because you don’t like eating other animals or you just, it’s the healthiest option
[00:07:59] for
[00:07:59] Milverine: you? I regard it as the healthiest option. I don’t like the way they butcher some of these animals
[00:08:03] Richie Burke: either.
[00:08:04] Richie Burke: I want to touch on the, uh, the Vice documentary you were on that really took off nationally. How, how did that happen?
[00:08:13] Milverine: Okay, I called some woman at the paper, uh, Lady Sailor, and she told me, like, these vice people are trying to get in contact with me. She gave me the number, I called them up. So, it was set up in, like, three days.
[00:08:24] Milverine: They flew a crew
[00:08:25] Richie Burke: out or they had a crew here, follow you around for a couple of days.
[00:08:28] Milverine: Hey, you know what the thing was so surprising about that? Okay, these two women come out. They’re both about 30 years old. And I was going on and on. I’m the town opera expert. I was going on and on about opera. And one of the women says, I know a lot about opera too.
[00:08:41] Milverine: And I said, why? She says, I found out her dad was James Conlan, the director of the Los Angeles opera. Really? Yeah. And before that, for 10 years, he was director of the Paris opera. So this guy was born in basically 1950, he’s one of the greatest opera conductors in history, even if he retired right now. For the last, like, you know, uh, Plasto Domingo was his boss out in Los Angeles for years.
[00:09:04] Milverine: So that absolutely amazed me, being a town opera expert, and the daughter of a famous opera conductor is the one that filmed the Vice video. No way. Ha!
[00:09:11] Richie Burke: Does she live here? Was she out in LA when she came out here?
[00:09:15] Milverine: Basically, they’re working out of New York. Yeah. So they sent her from there, but she lives in New York and Los Angeles.
[00:09:21] Milverine: She’s like a documentary filmmaker. She went to Cal Berkeley, you know,
[00:09:26] Richie Burke: what is it? Um, what is it like for you? You know, how, how old are you right now? 60. You’re 60. So all this started happening when you were in your late forties. Right. What was, what’s it like? You kind of. You’re just a normal guy, still a normal guy, but, you know, you have people flying out from New York to do a national documentary on you that has 8 million views all of a sudden.
[00:09:50] Richie Burke: Does that Yeah, that’s right.
[00:09:53] Milverine: Yeah, because look at Henry Winkler. I mean, here’s a guy who was making 100, 000 an episode for that silly Happy Day show. You know, it’s good for laughs and everything, but it wasn’t like a great talented actor besides Fonzie. He couldn’t really play another part. And in the statue, he’s not even from Milwaukee, you know?
[00:10:08] Milverine: Yeah. You know, he played this tough Italian guy, but actually he went to Yale. So he’s not one of these street fighter tough guys like he played in like on Happy Days. Do
[00:10:16] Richie Burke: you think, do you think that’s why people are fascinated by
[00:10:19] Milverine: you? Yeah, of course, because I’m not that big and everything and like I’m physically strong and everything and uh good in sports Milwaukee’s a great sports stand Besides opera like I’m an expert at all sports too.
[00:10:31] Milverine: Yeah,
[00:10:32] Richie Burke: right. What’s your what’s your favorite
[00:10:34] Milverine: team here? Oh, I like them all, you know, the Brewers the Bucks, you know the Packers I was in the deer district when they won who I was down there every day that the during the deer district I went out for two months. Mm hmm. And then when they won that was the most people I’ve ever seen in the downtown area
[00:10:48] Richie Burke: What’s your favorite, all time favorite sports memory
[00:10:51] Milverine: in Milwaukee?
[00:10:52] Milverine: Well, it’s when the Bucks won back in 71, and then they won the Deer District. Probably the Deer District, because I’m more congenital to that. Because, uh, that went on for two months. We’d be going down there, me and my dog, we’d be talking to people there and back. I didn’t get back that night till 4 a. m.
[00:11:06] Milverine: That’s how excited everybody was. Yeah. So that was my best memory, you know, the Deer District, you know.
[00:11:12] Richie Burke: What do you think about the, um, The new ownership group that came in five years ago and pumped all this money into the city and the new developments going on down there and just how the franchises changed over
[00:11:24] Milverine: the years.
[00:11:25] Milverine: That’s really good. You know, you have to have that because some other city offer more money and they leave.
[00:11:30] Richie Burke: As far as your physical condition right now. So you have two hurt shoulders, a video surfaced to you recently in the, in the ring over in West Dallas, you’re still, you’re, you’re
[00:11:38] Milverine: fighting still. The thing is that was a wrestling match.
[00:11:42] Milverine: I got paid like a hundred dollars to bounce some guy on his rear end, you know, he booted his rear end out of the ring, you know, so basically I With the shoulders I got I got some strength, but I couldn’t win a weightlifting contest right now But I can’t like grab people throw them to the ground. I have like some
[00:11:58] Richie Burke: strength You recently judged a roast contest with Charlie Barron.
[00:12:02] Richie Burke: Oh, yeah. I saw he came on the podcast recently And someone asked if he could beat you in a fight because he does a little MMA and things like that. Oh, Barron’s?
[00:12:14] Milverine: Yeah. Okay, he lasts probably, I would like, like Muhammad Ali and everything. He’d just be a, you know, what Larry Holmes used to say, to me, he’d just be another knockout.
[00:12:23] Milverine: You’d
[00:12:23] Richie Burke: knock him out? Yeah. How long do you think that would take? As soon as I hit him. So the match would last about 10 seconds?
[00:12:30] Milverine: Yeah, probably even less than that. Something like what Maslow did to Ben Askren, something like that. He,
[00:12:37] Richie Burke: just to let you know, he did not think he could defeat you.
[00:12:40] Milverine: Well, he’s pretty smart that way, you know.
[00:12:43] Milverine: He seems like an intelligent guy. Oh, Barron is one of these guys. He’s unpretentious. He’s friendly to everybody at Puddler’s Hall there. Somebody took time to talk, he would take time to talk to him. The guy’s a real nice guy. He just can’t take me in a fight, you know? Yeah.
[00:12:56] Richie Burke: No, I, I agree. Um, what do you feel has changed most about the city in the last 50 years or so?
[00:13:03] Milverine: Well, you know, the city used to be real segregated, so it’s getting basically more integrated, which is good. And, um, everybody see, like a lot of these people moved out of the city during the 60s, you know, everybody want to move out to the suburbs, you know, have a big parking lot, you know, a big garage and all this.
[00:13:19] Milverine: Now a lot of more people are moving downtown. So the downtown is picking up right now. One time, the downtown, just one block. My mom grew up in, uh, Atherton, Wisconsin. You know, it used to be considered the exact geographic center of Milwaukee. And just one By there used to be five movies theaters. Just think of the foot traffic going to that.
[00:13:36] Milverine: Plus all those department stores downtown where my mom grew up there is. There are people moving to and fro the whole time, you know, you go down there at night now it’s picking up a little bit, but sometimes it’s hardly anybody down there. What was your
[00:13:47] Richie Burke: favorite? What’s been your favorite era?
[00:13:49] Milverine: Living in Milwaukee.
[00:13:50] Milverine: Probably 70s. Why is that? Because that’s when everything was changing I thought everybody I grew up with thought we’re gonna be fighting the Vietnam War because that was going on It was constant topic for discussion the Vietnam War it was constantly on the news, you know All the like the folk age hate Asbury Street, San Francisco Brady Street back There was like hate Asbury Street, San Francisco how old were you at this time?
[00:14:11] Milverine: Well, I was born in 62 so back That’s when I first remember coming home with the hippies and everything, and like the psychedelic age, and all that folk music. I liked growing up during that time. Do you ever do psychedelics? Oh, no. I never took drugs whatsoever.
[00:14:27] Richie Burke: Nothing? No drugs, no alcohol? Why is that?
[00:14:29] Richie Burke: Because
[00:14:30] Milverine: I grew up, basically, I was like obsessed with health since I was young. One of my favorite guys was Jack Delaney, the exercise guy. So, you know, I was just obsessed with health right from the start. That’s
[00:14:39] Richie Burke: cool. Are your brothers and the rest of the family like that too, or were you just
[00:14:43] Milverine: Uh, no.
[00:14:47] Richie Burke: Did you go out with them at all and just not, not drink?
[00:14:51] Milverine: Eh, no, because you know, it’s a different crowd, you know. Yeah.
[00:14:55] Richie Burke: Never really a partier? No. But you, but you still stay at the Deer District
[00:14:59] Milverine: till 4am? Yeah, because I wasn’t drinking. It was just like everybody, when they win, you know, when they lost, everything was quiet.
[00:15:05] Milverine: But then when they win, it was wild as hell. Yeah,
[00:15:08] Richie Burke: you, um, I also heard on that River West podcast that you’ve, you’ve never played a
[00:15:12] Milverine: video game. Nah, that’s ridiculous. I never, I could stand that. I don’t got the patience for that. I like
[00:15:18] Richie Burke: it. I’m not a big video game guy either. Um, you, you still don’t have email?
[00:15:23] Richie Burke: Yeah,
[00:15:23] Milverine: I’m starting that, you know, I’m just starting
[00:15:24] Richie Burke: out on social. You didn’t, you didn’t let me send you an email invite?
[00:15:28] Milverine: Yeah, because, uh, you know, I, I’m just getting started. I just started Facebook in late November of, like, last year. Yeah, I just take a picture of my dog, we walk around, try to put something on her to get some laughs, you know?
[00:15:40] Richie Burke: Yeah, yeah, people love it. Um, let’s, let’s move on to, um, some rapid fire questions. And then I’ve got some Milwaukee trivia if you’re up for it. Yeah, I’m up for it. All right. Sounds good. Um, standard five sponsored by central standard. Um, if you could spend a day with anyone dead or alive, who would it
[00:16:01] Milverine: be?
[00:16:02] Milverine: Oh, that’s probably Rocky Marciano, the boxer. You know, I like Marciano. He could take a lot of punishment and come back. He never lost, you know? Yeah.
[00:16:14] Richie Burke: I already asked you your favorite Milwaukee sports teams. Let’s go. Let’s go to the Packers. What are your, um, What are your views on Aaron Rodgers leaving and going to the Jets and now the Jordan Love era?
[00:16:26] Milverine: Well, the thing is with Rodgers and everything, you know, he had a lot of good years going, he won one Super Bowl. And it seems that he went 15 1, he choked, you know? So at that age and everything, you know, he broke his collarbone twice. I mean, any little injury basically at that age could probably end his career.
[00:16:40] Milverine: So it was good they got rid of him and brought him in love, you know?
[00:16:43] Richie Burke: You excited about the team now? What do you think, how
[00:16:45] Milverine: do you think they’re gonna do? Yeah, I like, the guy in the defense, I like this Russell Gary. I mean, this guy’s got basically the size of a, you know, defensive end and the speed of basically of a linebacker.
[00:16:53] Milverine: When he was coming out of high school, he was the number one rated player in the country. So this Gary could become a superstar if he stays
[00:16:59] Richie Burke: healthy. Hey everyone, it’s your host Richie Burke, and I just wanted to take a moment to thank our sponsor, Central Standard Distillery. Even though Milverine has never had a drop of alcohol in his life, that does not mean that you can’t unwind and enjoy some Central Standard products this holiday season.
[00:17:17] Richie Burke: You know, I’ve never been a big old fashioned guy, but ever since Charlie came on the podcast, I’m a fan and I highly recommend Central Standard’s Black Cherry Brandy. Or, if you just want to forget it’s winter altogether, I do still recommend my favorite, the Door County Cherry Vodka with Soda or LMNT Electrolytes if you want to maintain a quick first step.
[00:17:38] Richie Burke: That is a great golf course drink in the summer as well. Also, we have a huge announcement. Due to the overwhelming demand, particularly, I was at, um, dinner, Chris Stegman, legendary one man wrecking crew, former president of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, now president of the Salt Lake Tribune, he was back in Milwaukee, and I was at MSG, Mason Street Grill with him and Shane Krangel, and they really wanted us to bring back dating advice to Milwaukee men, even though they’re both married right now, they still wanted us to bring that back, so next week, We’re releasing it.
[00:18:13] Richie Burke: We’re going to be joined by Danica Holt, former Miss Wisconsin USA, and Gray Salzo and, and one other, not only is this going to be sponsored by Central Standard, but Kessler’s Diamonds has stepped back in for this episode. So make sure you’re subscribed. And if you’re listening to this right, when it comes out.
[00:18:31] Richie Burke: Submit a question. We’d love to cover it on the episode. Just message us at Milwaukee uncut on Instagram. I’ll link that in the show notes and that’s it. Let’s get back to today’s episode with Milverine. What is your favorite Milwaukee landmark?
[00:18:46] Milverine: Oh, probably Bradford beach. Yeah, why is that? Okay, both my parents went to Bradford Beach during the summer, you know.
[00:18:55] Milverine: And one of my dad’s sisters won the Miss Bradford Beach contest. My mom and her five brothers and sister, you know, uh, roller skating used to be really popular. They used to roller skate down to Bradford Beach. I used to be dropped down there when I was young, me and my brothers. And, um, a relative would drop us down there and pick us up later.
[00:19:11] Milverine: So we had a lot of good experience in Bradford Beach. You know, you think the summer, you think the beach, you know, people in Milwaukee, they think, you know, people up to their neck in snow. Then they come here during the summer, especially in July. They don’t know how nice Bradford beach is. I know you
[00:19:24] Richie Burke: said it was better than, uh, is it Waikiki?
[00:19:26] Richie Burke: Yeah,
[00:19:26] Milverine: it’s better than Waikiki beach in Hawaii. You know, it’s one of the best urban beaches in the United States. And that was proved, you know, USDA had a story. It says Bradford beach is probably the best urban beach in the United States.
[00:19:36] Richie Burke: Can you, uh, Do you think Milwaukee is very underrated as a city on the national scale?
[00:19:42] Richie Burke: Yeah, of course, yes.
[00:19:43] Milverine: Why is that? Because, you know, a lot of these people like, like Steve Smith, the Commodore and ESPN, he’s run his big mouth out, Milwaukee’s no good, it’s a lousy town or something, I don’t know how many times he’s actually been here. You know, you can’t just take one isolated event, like in a deer deer, it’s like somebody shot, you know, fired some bullets or something.
[00:19:59] Milverine: The whole thing was shut down, it only lasted a couple of seconds. So, 99. 9 percent of the people were behaving themselves, you know. So, the people just take one incident and they blow it out of proportion.
[00:20:09] Richie Burke: What would you recommend Stephen A. Smith does when he comes back here? Probably, probably next summer when the bucks are on a In the finals, because he’s probably just going to his hotel in the game and in the back.
[00:20:20] Milverine: Well, if they have these celebrity boxing matches, I’ll take him on in a boxing match, you know.
[00:20:24] Richie Burke: You’d, you’d want to take Stephen A. Smith? Yeah. Well, I think you could take him.
[00:20:27] Milverine: I know, but the thing is, these celebrity, like this Paul guy, Jake Paul, something like that. I mean, the guy’s a stiff, you know, he’s taking on guys that are over the hill, you know.
[00:20:35] Milverine: Yeah. If he didn’t find a real boxer, he’d be
[00:20:38] Richie Burke: demolished. So opposed to showing Stephen A. the, the city and some of the attractions, you’d just want to take him, take him in the ring.
[00:20:45] Milverine: Yeah, because that’s what I, you know, that’s what I like in everything, you know? Because, you know, he wants to come here and run his big mouth up, then he’d back up his big mouth.
[00:20:52] Milverine: See how tough he is, you know?
[00:20:53] Richie Burke: All right. You heard it here. Milverine challenging Stephen A. Smith. Uh, Charlie Barron’s no challenge for you at all. Not worth challenging. And he’s a nice guy.
[00:21:02] Milverine: Right. I had a great grandfather who lived to be 100 years old. By the time he was in his 90s, he could kick the crap out of most people.
[00:21:08] Milverine: Your great grandfather. Yeah, lived to be 100 years old. Perfect health. So you’re on a
[00:21:12] Richie Burke: plant based diet
[00:21:13] Milverine: too? Well, he basically ate a lot of fish. You know, he ate a lot of vegetables. He had his own garden. He was born in 1866, died in 1967. Tremendous physical strength. You know, a real quiet guy too. He didn’t like run around, like punching people.
[00:21:26] Milverine: How long did he live? He lived to be 100 years old. He would be 1866 and die in 1967. Wow.
[00:21:34] Richie Burke: And you, um, you don’t eat out at all? No. What do you, what do you
[00:21:38] Milverine: usually eat? I eat like, uh, like a plant based diet. I just got some protein, like pea protein. You know, you just mix it, shake it up, and drink it. It’s like 25 grams of protein.
[00:21:48] Milverine: Then I eat vegetables, like spinach, apples, oranges. You know, like whole wheat products, like, uh, organic bread. Like organic fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds. All that type of stuff.
[00:22:00] Richie Burke: You never splurge on a cheeseburger and ice cream or
[00:22:03] Milverine: anything? Well sometimes they have one of those Ben and Jerry’s, they try to get the non dairy one.
[00:22:08] Milverine: But other than that, no, I never go out to one of these silly restaurants and overpay for that food,
[00:22:12] Richie Burke: you know. Why is that? Do you just want to live for a long time or are you just like feeling, feeling
[00:22:17] Milverine: better? When I’m out and about and everything you eat, it kind of weighs you down. So sometimes when I’m going to be walking like for 70 miles, I eat the night before, you know.
[00:22:24] Richie Burke: Why do you love Milwaukee so much if you could break that
[00:22:28] Milverine: down? I like the all four seasons, you know. Spring, summer, fall, winter, you know, and all the people here. I grew up on the south side. We went to like schools, integrated schools, you know, played sports with everybody. There’s a lot of good movie theaters, a lot of good parks.
[00:22:42] Milverine: You know, everybody, you know, there’s things to do the whole year, you know. Just because the summer is over, it doesn’t mean you just sit in your house, you know. There’s a lot of stuff to do. Like the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, one of the best orchestras in the country. A lot of people don’t even go to the Warner Theater to see it, you know.
[00:22:58] Milverine: Um, I’m like, I consider myself an expert on opera and classical music.
[00:23:02] Richie Burke: I heard you’d never want to go to New York or LA and see those operas
[00:23:06] Milverine: though. Well, the thing is you go to one of those places and every, I don’t travel. So you can see like a latest opera, like on YouTube. You don’t have to go out and see it like that.
[00:23:14] Milverine: You
[00:23:14] Richie Burke: know? I like that. Um, why don’t you travel or have any desire to do so?
[00:23:19] Milverine: Because I mean, um, I don’t know where the hell am I going to go? You know, I don’t want to like walk around and see some silly art museum someplace and take pictures, you know, What do you have when it’s all over with? Nothing. You might have a memory of it, but other than that, what?
[00:23:30] Milverine: You know? You just
[00:23:32] Richie Burke: like Milwaukee that much? Yes. Alright, should we dive into some Milwaukee trivia? Yeah. Great. First question. What was the first Milwaukee brewery?
[00:23:42] Milverine: Probably Pabst.
[00:23:46] Richie Burke: That is correct. Pabst. In 1884. Um, Commerce Street used to be which of the following? A route of a proposed subway system, a canal, a major Milwaukee thoroughfare, or farmland?
[00:24:01] Milverine: Farmland. Canal. Really? Really. Panama Canal.
[00:24:08] Richie Burke: Um, what was the early name for Wisconsin Avenue? Grand Avenue, Reed Street, Chestnut Street, or West Avenue? Grand Avenue. That is correct. What is the iconic bar on the corner of 37th and Burnham? That is correct. Who was Milwaukee’s youngest elected mayor? Do you want a multiple choice here?
[00:24:30] Milverine: Maybe Keverly Johnson?
[00:24:32] Richie Burke: I’ll give you multiple choice. Carl Zeidler, Norquist, or Chevy?
[00:24:37] Milverine: Hmm, I think, uh, Norquist? Carl
[00:24:41] Richie Burke: Zeidler, age 32, elected in 1940. Fair to believe. Still doing good. Um, which Milwaukee group was named best new American band by Rolling Stone readers in 1987? Mmm. Got the Violent Femmys, Hispanic Boys, Bodine’s, Love Monkeys.
[00:25:00] Richie Burke: Bodine’s? Violent Femmys. Um, what hotel is considered by some to be haunted? Pfister? Correct. That is correct. Why is the Allen Bradley Clock Tower famous?
[00:25:13] Milverine: In one time, it was the biggest four sided clock
[00:25:15] Richie Burke: in the world. That is correct. Which of the following structures was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright?
[00:25:21] Richie Burke: There’s the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church. It’s actually in Wauwatosa. The War Memorial. Or the domes. It’s the Greek Church. That is correct. Which of these Milwaukee ethnic festivals is the oldest? German, Irish, Festa Italiana, or Bastille days? That is correct. 1978. You’re doing pretty good. These are tough questions.
[00:25:45] Richie Burke: Um, who was the first player in NBA history? Which is a Milwaukee buck to finish a regular season in the top 20 in all five major Statistical categories rebounds points steals assists and blocks It is Giannis. That is correct. That’s good answer to Which buck holds the record for most block shots in a single game going back a little bit That is correct.
[00:26:17] Richie Burke: Who did the Milwaukee, this is kind of a random one. Who did the Milwaukee Brewers play in their first ever game in 1970? The Yankees, the California Angels, the Cubs or the Pilots? Angels. That is correct. Who did the Brewers defeat in the 1982 AL championship? Yankees.
[00:26:38] Milverine: Angels. Oh, yeah. I remember Gene Autry was only
[00:26:41] Richie Burke: Angels again.
[00:26:42] Richie Burke: Who did they lose to in the 82 World Series? St. Louis. That is correct. Um, Bud Seelig’s college roommate. I know this one. Um, he was a politician here. Right,
[00:26:53] Milverine: right. Herb Kohl. That is correct.
[00:26:57] Richie Burke: That’s all I got for you, Milverine. Um, anything you’d like to say to the city of Milwaukee and the people stopping you on the streets on a daily basis?
[00:27:07] Milverine: Yeah, you know, if you don’t see me like basically we’ve been going out at night. We’re out every single night 5 p. m. To 3 a. m. And like, you know during the winter we go out during those times, obviously, it’s already dark out So I was out all the time last winter, you know So I’m out all the time and everything, you know, so if you see me just wait to maybe want to take a picture You know that but just watch where you’re driving.
[00:27:29] Milverine: Sometimes, you know, keep your eyes on the road.
[00:27:32] Richie Burke: Love it, Milverine Thanks for coming on the show today. Great
[00:27:34] Milverine: meeting you.
[00:27:35] Richie Burke: Thanks. You too. Thank you for tuning into this episode with Milverine sponsored by Central Standard Produced by Storymark Studio and in partnership with On Milwaukee. Just a reminder, if you want to submit a question to Dating Advice with Milwaukee Men, just message us the question on Instagram.
[00:27:51] Richie Burke: We’ll link the Milwaukee Uncut account in the show notes. Also, please share this episode with your friends, write a review, subscribe. Any of that helps us get more eyes and ears on this Milwaukee content, and that helps us continue to climb the charts. Thanks again and have a great holiday season.