
Transcript
Burgers, Cheese Curds, and Ghosts: Wisconsin’s Hidden Gems (Hour 2) (Hour 2)
Nite Lite with Pete Schwaba and Greg Bach · Thu Jul 17, 2025
Broadcasting live from the Civic Media Studios in Green Bay.
This is Night Light with Peach Waba.
Your inside source on everything entertainment from Wisconsin to Hollywood.
And now a guy who doesn't believe in sex after marriage, Peach Waba.
That's not true.
Hey, welcome to nightlight ladies and gentlemen.
I am peach wobble great to have you with me and What a great day what a gorgeous summer day in Wisconsin.
I know there's some storms throughout various parts of the state So I don't want to speak for everybody statewide, but we have a nice night here in Green Bay I as I understand that there might be some weather though Conrad Krieger is working the board tonight Conrad.
What have you heard about the weather?
I haven't heard too much.
I haven't looked into it, but you know
I walked outside this morning and I was like, what?
It's cold.
Yeah, it was kind of cold.
Yesterday it was hot in the morning until, you know, the storm came.
Right.
But we need to monitor this because I was just looking at the general chat on Civic Media and it looks like there's some possible storms, possible tornadoes at various parts of the state.
So we'll do what we can to keep you guys posted.
I thought Conrad had the skinny on the tornadoes, but
you call
yourself a meteorologist.
We have a great show tonight, folks.
This is gonna be a fun night here at Nightlight.
It is Thursday, and that means you are gonna walk away from this show or turn your radio off at eight o'clock or whatever with a new movie pick.
We are gonna give you a movie suggestion by way of our popcorn pick of the week.
And here to make the popcorn pick of the week tonight at 6.35 is Paul Vandenplatz, who
you might be wondering, is Paul Vandenplatz?
Conrad, tell the people who Paul Vandenplatz is.
Well, if you go to Facebook or to TikTok, there's a page called Wonderfully Wisconsin, which he goes all over the state, find some cool spots, cool food spots.
I just, I saw a video the other day of him showing a little like park with a nice waterfall.
Oh yeah, I saw that too.
And
yeah, so he
makes some really good content.
He really does.
And this thing, his creation, Wonderfully Wisconsin, I guess it's on TikTok and Instagram and Facebook.
Is it on Instagram?
I don't believe it's on.
I think it's Facebook and
TikTok.
Facebook and TikTok.
So he put it up and the thing has just taken off like wildfire.
So he tapped into something.
He created this great thing.
And I'm fascinated by people who have their finger on the pulse.
of what the rest of us love, and Paul has it.
And he'll be here at 6.35 to make the popcorn pick of the week, talk a little bit about Wonderfully Wisconsin, and then we have one of Conrad's quizzes to give Paul a time permitting, which I think will be okay.
And Paul will be here in studio
in person.
Yes, he will.
I will be allowed to shake his hand.
And I don't know if you saw the quiz name.
I thought I did a pretty good job on it.
What is with the bathroom stuff?
We do something like that on the other day.
It
had a rhyme.
I'm sorry.
It had a rhyme.
Conrad's curd or
turd quiz.
Good God.
Curd meaning truth.
Turd meaning
false.
Thank you for the translation.
I thought it was good.
I thought
it was great.
It'll do for tonight.
I'm trying to go away.
What were we just talking about?
Bathroom habits the other day.
I didn't want to go there.
Journal
kicks.
Well, you're okay.
Well, that was the dive bar thing, but I thought we just talked about, all right, a little bathroom humor every once in a while and never hurt anybody.
So, so Kurt will be true.
Turd will be false.
Paul, if he's listening right now, is probably turning around in his car
and going back home.
Sorry about that, Paul.
That's at 635.
Then at 735 from the Thrasher Opera House.
In Green Lake, Wisconsin, we have their marketing director, Jason Mansmith will be here, who I also understand is part of the civic media family now.
Awesome.
So we got to talk to Jason about that.
That's at 735.
Jason's been on the show before.
He's a lot of fun to talk to.
And they have some great shows coming up at Thrasher.
So you'll want to hear about that, especially if you live in and around the area of Green Lake and the Thrasher Opera House, a charming little, I think 200 seat opera house, if I'm not mistaken.
So we'll talk about all of this stuff.
on tonight's episode of Nightlight.
So it is great that you are here, folks.
Let's have some fun.
We have a great question tonight, great guests.
I left here last night and I was very excited because, you know, I commute two hours a day and it's kind of, it's kind of wasted time in my car.
I go through a dead zone where I can't really call anybody on the phone or text anybody or whatever.
So the fact that last night I was able to get out of here a little early.
at 720 because we had an interview with Frank Hermans that we had recorded the day before.
So I left and by the time I got from the front door here at WGBW to next door, to rise and grind, I looked like I had taken a shower.
I walked in there and these two, they got two new employees and they looked at me like, what's this guy's deal?
He just took a bath in his clothes.
So I did what any sane person would do I got some gelato and I continued the walk to my car and I would I drove home soaking wet last night But here's my dilemma I could have stayed here and worked like a lot of PBS stuff do this week I Could have stayed here or I could have planned this show from here But I didn't know if the rain was gonna when did the rain stop here last night?
Probably around like 9 30.
I feel like
all right, so I would have
yeah, it was still rain.
I mean when I get up
when the show was done, I went outside and I was like-
Still ran.
Not as hard, but like, yeah, it was, and the wind made it even worse.
The
wind was the worst,
yes.
Because it was just pushing it towards you.
I left.
Honestly, I walked from rise and grind to the garage and the wind was so bad, I'm like, is this safe?
I don't, wind typically doesn't freak me out, but that was, yeah, it was terrible last night,
so.
Yeah, I stepped in a huge puddle.
Before I got on my car last night.
He pulled in Ned Ryerson.
And my
foot was just soaking on the ride home.
BANG!
That's horrible.
But it's a five-minute ride for you.
I literally drove home soaking wet last night.
I feel
like
no matter what time, you know, the time doesn't matter.
I feel like when you get your foot soaked and your sock is wet, that is the worst.
And it feels like it's gonna stink.
I don't know.
It is it's the worst for guys like guys who haven't done time in prison or fought in a war getting wet socks
Also getting sand on your feet when they're wet.
That's another pretty bad.
Yeah, I think the
We're just gonna say remember like two-a-day practices for football that was pretty brutal But you know you're in the comfort of your own whatever I mean my complaints about getting wet in a rainstorm
Don't really compare nor do comrades for getting a soaking wet sock, but it's it's discomfort.
Let's leave it at that.
Yes.
Um, so we got a text last night.
I wanted to read this because, uh, bud from Jamesville sometimes texts us.
We were going to have him on the show because we had something to discuss with bud.
We'll have to go over that during a break, but, uh, we kind of dropped the ball there.
But bud is a loyal listener between four a.m.
and six a.m.
when he is out driving around in the Madison area, or Janesville area, and he says, hey Pete and Conrad, do you remember what our question was last night?
Yeah, favorite Will Ferrell movie?
Okay, we need a little context.
It
was his birthday.
It was Will Ferrell's birthday, correct.
So Bud says, hey Pete and Conrad, I have had a lot of time to think of, I have a lot of time to think while I'm driving and slinging papers, thought of another intro.
Pete, this has nothing to do with the question of the night.
I'm so busy today, I'm so far behind.
So this is Bud's thought while he was slinging papers.
He thought of an intro for us, which I think is fantastic.
He says, Pete Schwabba, a guy who tells everyone that he's a double agent, loved your interview with Mike Schmidt.
Love the show, Bud from James Hill.
Bud, we love that you listen and that you're so invested.
I think that's so cool.
And there's a lot of nightlight listeners that are like that.
They have opinions on guests and even bumpers and stuff like that.
It's so much fun.
We also had a text after the show last night for social media.
I think I saw that who was it Eric
Galbertson.
Yes.
Yeah, and it's I did see when I got home.
I don't want to say his name in this Mugato Mugato from Zoolander.
I know the character.
I just oh, yeah, I forget his He plays a terrible character in that.
Yeah,
he's
the bad worst
right the absolute worst, but he runs models He runs the modeling agency or something that
zoom
enters a part.
That's one of those films.
I saw once and I
You know, there's just some films.
I watched it on a plane.
Zoolander?
Yeah.
Funny.
And then I was like, actually, that was pretty funny.
So I watched a second one.
I'm like, all right, that one sucked.
That did not need a sequel.
I think we got everything we needed to out of the original Zoolander.
All right, folks.
So we've achieved a couple things here.
We've read Bud's text.
We talked about how Conrad got a wet foot last night and I drove home like I was in a bathtub the entire way.
And now that means it's time for the nightlight question of the night.
Let's
talk about the
question.
Okay, question.
Question.
Question.
Question.
Question.
Okay, I have a question.
Questions.
This question.
Question.
Questions.
Oh, we teased this last night.
What is your least favorite movie genre?
For me, it's so simple.
And I talked about this last night.
I don't love rom-coms, but a good rom-com I can dig.
I like action, I like comedy, I like thrillers, cop movies, you know, whatever.
What I don't like is the marriage of the action comedy.
I used to like it, but I'm done with it.
I don't ever need to see another action comedy.
And as I mentioned last night, the action isn't great.
There's really no threat.
And you can kind of judge how much danger the characters are in by the comedy.
If it's stupid one-liners and silly, they're not gonna die.
So there's really nothing thriller-ish about it when it's action.
And when it's comedy, it's typically lame.
I don't need to see another action comedy ever.
That's my sort of a hybrid genre.
What about you,
Conn?
It always has been.
It's been the same since I've been young, and that's horror movies.
Okay.
I feel like we're gonna get a lot of texts.
I just don't, you know, I feel like the ones I've seen were terrible plots.
And then they made the, you know, the scary part of it get to me, like, when I was younger.
Right.
So I just, like, never liked them.
And I feel like it sucks, kind of, because my friends will, you know, enjoy horror movies.
Okay.
And then, like, when I was over at my friends in Beaver Dam the other week, we were looking for a movie one night.
We've never agreed on one, because they like horror, and I don't.
Oh, okay.
We should watch this one.
I'm like, ah, no, that's... Next.
And then I was like, we should watch this comedy movie.
They're like, well, comedy is not really the vibe right now.
Yeah.
So we put on tires.
It
was just like kind of a sleepy comedy.
Exactly.
We all fell asleep.
Or I was thinking just because it's kind of slow paced, right?
Yeah, it's just
dry comedy, the whole show.
I was just looking at some of these action comedies.
Don't miss with the zoan.
There should
go
Adam Sandler.
The Man.
I remember when this film came out, Samuel Jackson and Eugene Levy.
This movie never needed to be made, The Man.
But it's weird because I'm just Googling and they put up like these Home Alone 3.
That's
not really what
I'm talking
about.
Awful.
I'm sure it is.
Is that the one Trump's in?
No, that's two.
Oh, he's in two?
Okay.
You know, even Lethal Weapon, movies like that or...
Unless they're really good at parody like in Tropic Thunder or something.
That's a great.
That's that's a funny
movie.
Yeah, there are exceptions to this But I just don't ever need to see like and I think what got me off on this yesterday was the John Cena Idris Alba film
you were talking
about I just I know I'm not gonna see that movie It's a couple lame one-liners in the trailer and all this crazy action where nobody the main guys get shot at a gazillion times at close range and never die.
I don't
ever need to see that.
So let me know, folks, what is your movie genre you don't ever need to see again?
855-752-4842-855-75 Civic.
You could text us on the app.
If you're watching on the stream, great to have you.
And text us there as well.
We'll read it on the radio if you're listening on Facebook or streaming us at YouTube.
And X, give us a like if you so choose, or a follow, or just look.
You can send me presents.
That would be cool.
No one sends me presents at this show.
I think that's kind of BS.
Actually, yeah, Bud from Jamesville
did.
And Craig can
it brought
to
Salsa.
Yeah, I stand corrected.
All right, let us know.
What is your least favorite movie genre?
We've got a lot to discuss coming up next.
I'm going to tell you about Gwyneth Paltrow.
It's Peach Wabbit and Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio
Network.
I found myself owning her at least ten times a day You know, it's so unusual
This is Nightlight with Peach Wabba.
I am Peach Wabba.
The only light coming in right now is the sun.
I feel like I'm getting a sunburn.
If you're watching on the stream, you got to check this out.
I can't, I look like a ghost.
And I got up to shut the curtain and these kids were out there looking in.
I felt like really rude, like I'm just pulling the curtain like beat it kids, but it had nothing to do with the kids.
It reminded me of that great moment in The Simpsons where...
Krampus Simpson's friend was at the car and Homer just, he was talking to Homer through the car when Homer just put the window up and didn't even look at the guy.
Very rude.
Coming up in just a few minutes, folks.
Wonderfully, Wisconsin's Paul Vandenplatz will be here.
He's gonna make the popcorn pick of the week.
That is a segment we do here every Thursday night where we give you a movie pick and Paul is gonna make the pick.
It could be a movie he just saw, one from throughout the course of his life.
He's gonna tell us what we should see and we will take him very seriously Our question of the night is what is your least favorite movie genre?
I say action comedy.
I have no use for action comedies And as I think back like I don't know if I was just like tolerating them when I was younger Or I'd laugh because I should have but I just have no use Conrad says horror and again, I can I can like
just about any film in a genre if it's done well, probably including action comedy.
Like if I put Tropic Thunder in there, I picture, I think Tropic Thunder is more of a comedy though.
The action is like kind of part of the comedy, but that's my take.
I could never see an action comedy again and I'd be thrilled.
So let us know what you think.
There's a big brouhaha.
Happening between Madonna or it already happened actually Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Do you follow either one of those icon?
I do not you don't follow on Madonna on Social media.
No, do you ever shop at Goop?
I I did see this though that Madonna still takes like Instagram and all that like super serious
How so what do you mean like
like she posts like daily?
Oh, yeah,
okay
Well, apparently they had a falling out.
They used to be very good friends.
And I wasn't kidding.
Gwyneth Paltrow had a company called Goop, and she put out a product that she advertised, smelled like her private parts.
I'm not jealous.
I did have a product that came out at the same time called Pete's Junk.
Wasn't a best seller.
I couldn't even get my wife to buy some.
But no, seriously, Gwyneth Paltrow put this out and she, I've always thought she was so full of herself.
She's a nepo baby who I don't think lives in the real world.
She's very full of herself.
And I used to love her.
She was so good in Shakespeare in love.
She won an Oscar for her performance.
She's really talented.
But now it's like, you know, there's some actors like that Denzel Washington clip I sent you where they disappear into the character.
You don't really hear a whole lot about their social lives, but then there's people like Gwyneth Paltrow or Ryan Reynolds who become bigger than the roles they play because they're a brand and they sell products and it's like please go away Just make movies or TV But she thinks so highly of her nether region she put out this product But where I'm going with this is she had a friendship with Madonna apparently and Gwyneth Paltrow has a book coming out
called Gwyneth the Biography and I only hope the book is not as much of a snooze as the title.
But she and Madonna bonded probably over the fact that they both like to sound British at times and they had a falling out because Madonna started showing up unannounced like on Gwyneth Paltrow's vacation.
Madonna thought they were such good friends she could just show up and apparently she started yelling at her daughter Lourdes while they were all on vacation.
And Chris Martin, Coldplay frontman had had enough, he said.
That's it.
His friendship is toxic.
And Gwyneth Gwinnipi agreed.
I don't know if it's as toxic as her chemically induced private part perfume.
But that's news that I sometimes I don't care about something so much I have to talk about it.
Like I couldn't be less interested in either one of those people.
Yeah.
But it's to the point where my disinterest or apathy makes me mad, and I have to talk about it.
Speaking of Chris Martin, have you seen the thing with the CEO Andy Byron?
No.
I didn't know who he was before yesterday.
So Chris Martin was doing a show, and he called out this couple that was out there for a kiss cam.
I think I did hear that.
And as a CEO, having an alleged affair.
And he sees himself on like the on the monitor, right quickly ducks Oh,
if you didn't think he was guilty before that is hilarious.
Oh That's funny So our question of the night we got to get to these texts.
Yes, we got Paul Vanden Paas
coming up soon, and we've got a lot to do with it.
We've got a lot to cover.
Folks, if you haven't, if you don't follow Paul, you've got to follow him.
You're going to get to know him here in just a few minutes.
He's a great follow and a great guy.
He'll be here in the studio.
But right now we're going to read some texts from our question of the night, which is, what is your least favorite movie genre?
Even very good about putting your social media responses up.
I have not.
That's good.
Conrad says whore.
And my pal Vince Moranto, who's been on the show, very funny comedian from Chicago, says Conrad Kruger.
Krueger Krueger, how did I fall for that?
Okay Conrad Krueger 100% agree Freddy Was he trying to get in your head Freddy Krueger?
Probably.
Well, yeah, I assume it's Freddy Krueger, but I don't know like the fact that Vince was responding to you Makes me think he was trying to get inside your head.
Yeah, and our pal rich tell Rico says fantasy.
Yeah fantasies another one I just don't need to see I I can enjoy
a fantasy film, but you're not all Goods, you know, I mean
Would you say Wicked is fantasy?
Yeah, maybe.
Because I did not enjoy that movie.
You could say, I mean, if you're going to say Wicked is, you kind of have to say Wizard of Oz is.
And I look at Wizard of Oz more of kind of like a horror film or thriller, I don't know.
It is kind of creepy.
Harry Potter's fantasy, all of those.
Well, Star Wars is fantasy, and that's my favorite, so.
I could go back a chip for Star Wars, though.
We'll get into this.
All right, we'll read more of your text, too.
That's all after the news.
Paul Vanipas will be here, folks.
Meet this guy, wonderfully Wisconsin, and he's a wonderful guy, and he's here.
It's Pete Schwabba and Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.
It's time for the Nightlight Popcorn Pick of the Week where we recommend a movie that you'll either enjoy or won't.
Here's your host, Pete Chihuahua.
Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen.
Great to have you with me on this Thursday night.
As I like to call it, it is the Christmas Eve of weeknights, folks.
Tomorrow is Friday.
and you will open up presents under a tree, I hope.
We have a great show tonight.
At 7.35, Jason Mansmith will be here.
He is part of the Civic Media family now, and he's also the marketing director of the Thrasher Opera House in Green Lake.
And they've got a lot of really cool stuff coming up, so we'll talk to Jason about all of that, including a big show tomorrow night that he says tickets are still available.
for, we'll find out all about that and see if you're interested at 7.35 tonight when Jason joins us.
Our question of the night is what is your least favorite movie genre?
I say action comedy, totally done with it.
I don't think it's ever done well.
Conrad says horror and maybe we'll ask our next guest that as well because he is here to make a movie pick.
This guy, I'm kind of an awe of this guy and anyone who can become an influencer or creates a site or a persona
or an account.
where people just want to follow it.
It's just fantastic.
And he's here now.
He created Wonderfully Wisconsin.
He is the founder of Wonderfully Wisconsin.
He's been on the show before, but tonight he's here to make the popcorn pick of the week.
Mr. Paul Vandenplatz.
Hey, buddy.
Hey, thanks for having me back.
This is fun.
And how far of a drive is this for you?
Oh, I live in Appleton, so it's only half hour.
Fantastic.
All right.
So you drive all over the state anyway with what you do.
Absolutely.
And I have to say, before we start, do you have a least favorite movie genre or movies you
I don't like to watch at all.
How about anything with Seth Rogen in it?
Wow.
A kindred spirit.
Dude, you and I are totally on an island there.
Yeah.
So why don't you like Seth Rogen?
And I'll tell you why I don't.
I think it's when he first started appearing in movies, it was like, oh, it's funny.
He's a funny
guy.
But then it's like, OK, he hasn't progressed at all.
It's just the same.
character and same humor and now it's like kind of sad like okay guy I totally agree like well Farrell what you guys were discussing last night like oh my god he could be in anything and it doesn't matter
he
just gets it Seth Rogen just
I don't know what it is it's it's so unappealing to me the way he delivers lines or presents himself on camera or the roles he takes I just and my son I go back and forth he's a Seth Rogen fan
And I get that he's talented.
It's a personally, I also don't really care for Ben Affleck in movies.
I don't really, and he's a great director.
I don't buy him as an actor.
So I don't know what it is.
It's just something, sometimes people rub you the wrong way.
And I agree with you though, like in knocked up, great campaign.
He's on the poster with that goofy look.
What if this guy got you pregnant?
Brilliant.
Right.
But.
After that, I don't know, man.
Yeah, he just he isn't doing it for me either.
So yeah, all right, we're brothers forever on that one.
I want to I want to commend you to and your hokas.
How do you like your hokas?
Oh my God, I love them life changing.
Yeah.
That was how it was for me too.
I had like three pairs of hokas.
They're only like $4000 a pair.
And then I made the switch to ASICs.
And I've learned that I didn't know this because they used to just get shoes at shop going.
40 bucks, comfortable for like three days, and then you feel like you're walking on nails.
But I realize, oh, if you pay a lot more, even that same brand can be a comfortable shoe.
I didn't know that.
No, I didn't either.
And this was something recommended to me because I'm on my feet all day.
I'm traveling, I'm hiking, I'm doing, you know, so it's like, okay, I'll just try these, you know, and it's the price of admission.
You're like, oh boy.
And then like, well, try them once and oh, I'm sold.
But they last, right?
And it's like, it's like, it makes walking fun.
Yeah.
I
mean, I wear out my shoes about six months.
Okay.
You know, so it's like, it's tough.
I'm a big guy and I'm on my feet and walking and
walking a lot
of miles a day.
But it's like, I don't care.
These things are incredible.
All right, we're gonna talk all about what you do with wonderfully Wisconsin such a great concept and But let's let's do the popcorn pick.
I'm so glad you're here to do this because I know you're a movie fan What kind of movies do you typically watch Paul?
Oh boy, I do a lot of documentaries a really big into that I like comedy whore.
I'm not really a genre specific watcher It's just I like anything that happens to intrigue me
What if you find out, though, what if you're like, oh, there's a new romantic comedy?
Do you get excited?
Or are you kind of like, oh, great.
Who cares?
Yeah, maybe.
Yeah, genre
may be not what I would pick mostly.
Maybe a comedy.
Yeah.
You know,
do you like horror?
Yeah, it depends if well done horror movies I really enjoy.
OK.
What's a good horror movie like?
I don't know, like the Ring series, you know, OK.
It's like it's very different.
Yeah.
What about like
What's the one with it?
So everyone's scared of what?
Hereditary.
That's supposed to be it.
That's one I am actually kind of freaked out, too freaked out to watch.
Oh, I don't even know anything about it.
Is there like a beheading at the beginning or something?
Like a kid gets beheaded?
Is that the one where he's like a church runner or something and he brings those two kids in?
I don't think so.
It's
like
15 years old.
It's
a
lot of people say it's like the scariest movie ever, but let's move on.
All right.
So how do you typically like to watch movies, Paul?
Do you go to the theater?
Are you a watch at home?
Oh, I love going to the theater.
It's a whole experience.
Same.
All right.
So what do you do like when you go to the theater?
What is your snack?
What do you like to get from concessions?
Well, I'm not a popcorn eater.
So for a while, ever since I came out, I'm a sour patch kids.
Oh, nice.
But if we're going classic, it's Reese's Pieces.
Oh, wow.
Absolutely.
As a nod to E.T.
or just- No, I don't know.
The only place I eat
them is at the movie theater, but I love them.
Here's my issue with movie theater popcorn.
I never order it.
I don't desire it.
But if I take a bite of it,
I'm eating the whole bag.
Same.
And I don't understand what that is.
It's not like I ever go, I don't want a steak, but then I eat a steak, and I love it.
I don't ever crave it, but when I eat it, I have to have it.
What is the deal there?
I don't know.
It's the same.
Come on, you're an influencer.
You can't help me out here.
No.
Why do I do that?
Not a popcorn influencer.
What about at home?
Is it movie theater popcorn?
Because there's some stuff that I can get in the store that's already bagged that I don't mind.
I think it's just the greasiness of the popcorn.
Yeah, I mean, I like both.
I'm a big fan of what Wisconsin company, Palo, I think is
how you say
it.
Sure.
You know, like a good cheddar popcorn.
OK.
That's always a nice little snack.
Yeah, agreed.
But at home, and it's not greasy.
That's what I like about it, too.
And I can get up and wash my hands.
I don't have to leave the theater to go wash movie popcorn residue, right, off my hands.
Right.
OK, so what about at home?
What about when you watch a movie at home?
What are you getting for a snack there?
I'm probably not snacking.
Oh, wow.
Yes, you need the Sour Patch Kids to get you through the theater experience.
Yes.
What about a cocktail, Paul?
Do you ever have a beverage when you watch movies at home?
Yeah, sometimes, you know, a good craft beer, a local craft beer.
Okay.
You know, if I'm having that or an old fashioned.
Old fashioned is great.
Do you ever pair, like to me, I haven't had a drink in a couple of years, it's just an experiment.
But I used to love a glass of whiskey.
neat when I'd watch like a cop movie or a cop TV show.
And I typically, it's because they, that's what they drink.
Like they're always walking in, talking to the dame or the gum shoe and they pour the, and it's like, makes me thirsty watching that.
So I would always pour a whiskey, but do you have a drink?
Do you ever match up a snack or a drink with a certain type of movie?
No, no, I don't think I do.
Okay.
Or maybe I do.
Nothing that I can recall.
I'm throwing some real hard balls here at you.
All right, so.
What all right, so do you like kids movies you got kids?
Oh, yeah, I love kids movies
What kind of kids movies?
Have you seen any of the ones this summer?
Yeah, we just went and saw the live remake of Lilo and Stitch.
It was really good.
It was
very good.
And my wife had not seen the original.
So it was interesting to get her take on the live remake.
And she's like, oh my god, this movie's fabulous.
So I'm like, oh, well.
Oh, that's fantastic.
Yeah.
So they must have done a very good job.
They're like approaching like a billion dollars worldwide.
Like that movie has gotten great reviews and people love it.
So that's, do you have an all time favorite kids movie?
Oh man, like 101 Dalmatians.
Always like,
I've
always really enjoyed that one.
Awesome.
All right, have you ever snuck booze into a movie theater?
Oh my god, yeah.
Do you still do it?
No, no.
You're a brand now.
You can't, even if you did, you couldn't admit it.
Like you can't, you can't say, oh, that's the wonderfully Wisconsin guy.
They're leading out in cuffs.
That's impossible.
What did you sneak in like just beer?
Yeah, a lot of times beer, but now theater is a lot of different theater chains offer beer.
Yeah, so that is nice.
Okay, so what kind of movie?
Like, have you ever cried during a movie?
Oh, for sure.
Yeah.
And do you recall, like, what set you off?
No,
I'm an emotional person, so it could be sad or happy.
I'm going to share something that made me, and not cry, but like well up, and it's the scene in The Sandlot.
when they're playing on the 4th of July and the fireworks go off.
And that's why they play at night, because the fireworks light up the field.
And Ray Charles is singing, oh, beautiful, for a spin.
And literally, that caught me off guard.
That's when I'm at my most vulnerable, is when you're not expecting it.
Right?
Yeah.
We got to cry together sometimes, Paul.
I think we have to cry together.
OK, so all right, we talked about all right.
So let's say this.
Let's say, should we just get to the pit con?
We should do it.
I think I'm really curious because you mentioned a film earlier that I think might be your pick, but I didn't want to pry So let's get to let me one more question.
Do you ever indulge your wife?
Do you ever sit through a movie?
You absolutely don't want to watch just because you love your wife so much.
Yes Yeah, any of those movies come to mind and
nothing
I can think of
Not nothing off the top of my head, but
okay, but
she does the same for me.
So
so it's like a give and take that's right
That's the thing about marriage that sucks.
You have to watch movies.
No, I was kidding.
All right, I think it's time.
Paul Vandenplatz is here.
He is the creator and an influencer, thanks to his creation of wonderfully Wisconsin, which you can follow on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok.
Are you on Friendster?
No.
You don't remember Friendster?
No.
You have that old look.
You have a Myspace account?
Oh, God, I wish.
Oh, that would be sweet.
All right, we are about to get Paul's popcorn pick of the week.
Conrad, if you will.
the peanut butter falcon.
Oh my God, I love when people pick a movie I know nothing about.
Awesome.
Tell us about the peanut butter falcon.
Star is Shia LaBeouf.
Oh
wow.
So 2019, I think it came out.
Okay.
And it is the story of a boy with Down syndrome who is, you know, treated as a child his whole life and he wants to, he has his own ideas and dreams and he escapes his care.
And then he finds Shia Labouf who's an outlaw.
And then it's just a just a really a campy comedy buddy story, but really just a heartwarming message.
That is really cool.
That's fantastic.
I love when people suggest things I haven't seen.
And I don't even know if I've heard of this movie.
This is great.
No, it was when under the radar when it came out, I watched it when it first came out.
It was just, oh, my God, so good.
And it's called The Peanut Butter Falcon.
Yes.
Con do me a favor rotten tomato that one.
Let's see what let's see what kind of reviews it got So that's cool.
So it's a comedy she'll above great choice.
Have you watched it with your kids?
Yes.
Yes Is that the kind of thing that it might if I watch that am I gonna cry because there's a moment for the oh, yeah But you'll laugh too, right?
Oh, yeah,
there's
plenty of opportunities for everything.
All right.
Oh Dakota Johnson's in
it.
Oh, yeah, that's right Yes, she is
yeah, Thomas Hayden church.
She'll above that's a great
That's a great, uh, John Hawks.
You know who that is?
Oh, yeah, I love that guy.
Oh my god.
He is so good.
He's such a great look Conrad, you know who John Hawks is?
No, I don't go to the Google man.
He's got such a cool look and he's in really cool movies.
Oh, yeah, he's always he always plays that guy like
that has his sleeves rolled up and a pack of cigarettes
in him and a
gun in his back pocket, like kind of an outlaw, that's great.
All right, that is the popcorn pick of the week, folks, thanks to Paul Vanden Plaus, who is the founder of Wonderfully Wisconsin.
He just made a wonderful pick, and it is the peanut butter falcon.
So check it out if you're looking for a family, oh wow, fan-based, 96% on Rotten
Tomatoes.
And 95% critics.
Critics.
Very
well done.
Available on Prime.
That does not happen very often.
Paul picked a movie that I've never heard of that gets excellent critic and audience reviews.
Very well done, Mr. Wonderfully Wisconsin.
We are coming back to talk about Wonderfully Wisconsin.
And I'm going to ask Paul where you can get the best burger in Wisconsin and about his bun choice, too.
That's all coming up.
You can't leave, folks.
It's Peach Wobble with Nightlight.
You got the Civic Media Radio Network.
Welcome back to Nightlight.
I'm Pete Schwabba.
Our question of the night is what is your least favorite movie genre?
I say comedy action.
Don't ever need to see one again.
Conrad says horror.
Our guest, Paul Vandenplatz, said...
What did you say?
Anything with Seth Rogen.
Which officially is now a genre, apparently.
And I don't disagree with you.
All right, Paul is here.
He is the founder of Wonderfully Wisconsin, which if you're not following it on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, you should be.
He does great work there.
Paul, for those who are not familiar with your work on social media, please tell us about Wonderfully Wisconsin.
All right, we are just a celebration of everything Wisconsin, hidden gems, food, really good restaurants, culture, just everything that Wisconsin is about, just all positivity.
Yeah, just loving Wisconsin and really celebrating a lot of people.
I always like to say growing up.
in Wisconsin, a lot of people seemed very eager to leave Wisconsin or get out of here or say things, you know, oh, there's nothing to do here.
You know, and it's like
my
whole life, I absolutely loved it here.
And I think there's so many incredible things that people don't know about.
And you know what, you just, what you said is so important.
Pardon me, it's your attitude.
I remember when I moved here, when I was in junior high, I couldn't wait to leave.
I wanted to go back to the big city.
I wanted to do things and I
lived in two huge cities and I decided to come back and I was unsure of it.
But, you know, you can't put a price on people and family.
And now that I've been here for like 12 plus years, I'm like, it's me that has to decide to like where I live.
And you got to bring your own fun.
And I love it here.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So where have you been?
Like, what are some of the, give us a highlight of since you've been doing wonderfully Wisconsin, where's one of the best places you've been?
Oh boy, I just recently did some work for SummerFest and so going down and experiencing multiple days of SummerFest
and
it's just like, wow, this incredible music thing in our backyard.
You can just go and see these incredible bands.
So SummerFest, if you haven't been, go.
Absolutely.
You'd been there before,
right?
Yeah, a long time ago.
A long time ago.
Same here, though.
Like, I did stand up there in the 90s when I was a comedian, and I just liked it that I got in free, and I could go see ban.
Like, there was some money, but it wasn't great, but that's a treasure as well.
Okay, so you did a post on Facebook, and I just love it.
Tell us about when you discovered... It was kind of what... I think you posted it today or yesterday.
Sure.
TikTok, wonderfully Wisconsin.
How has...
Becoming an influencer changed your life.
Oh my god
In so many different ways you realize, you know, like I loved Wisconsin before but then not just seeing the places but getting to talk to people and having people Tell me oh man, I loved your content and it's made me fall in love with the state all over again and a lot of people who
they'll say, oh, I watched a couple of your videos, and so I booked a vacation and I'm taking my family.
And it's like, that's the stuff that it's like, you can't replace that.
That's
incredible of just making, for me, it's the human connection.
And it's because of you that they're doing that.
You've just opened their eyes to something that...
they might not have known was there or maybe forgotten about or whatever.
So it's kind of like you're giving something back.
That must make you feel great too.
It makes me feel great, but it's also very surreal that
it's
like, for me, I explained it to somebody the other day that it's like, the whole process is me talking by myself at my phone and then editing all my stuff by myself
and
then just posting it out onto the cloud, onto the internet.
And so it's a very, very lonely adventure when you're doing it and then to...
you know I have 70,000 friends
that now
that it's just like that you they run into you in public and they want to talk to you about hey I watched this video and it's it's just very very different but I love it.
Are you still at the point where you love doing it, and sure you love doing it, but are there days where you go, I really don't feel like posting, but you have a certain responsibility to the people that follow you, that get you out of bed, not out of bed, but like get you to Leon's and Oshkosh or wherever you're gonna go.
Right, yeah, yeah, there was a time, you know, a couple months ago I got pretty burnt out, because it's like, this isn't my full-time job, I have a...
I'm an actual full-time job.
And then I'm a husband and a parent.
And my kids are in sports.
So it's like, I'm just busy.
I'm a busy guy.
So I got burnt out about me.
And so I kind of got away from it a little bit.
And then it was just like, I forget what happened.
And I posted a video.
And it just kind of, everything clicked.
And I'm like, god, I really missed this.
That's cool.
So what is your family think of it?
Like you had a wife and kids before you did this, right?
I mean, haven't you only been doing this like a little over a year or something?
Yeah, just unbelievable Conrad we have to think of like maybe Magnificently, Wisconsin Would that be kind of a bushly move?
No, I'll bring it.
I want the competition.
Absolutely.
So what are your wife and kids think about it?
They think it's cool.
Yeah, you know my wife jokes
a lot, you know, gives me a hard time.
Like, well, I don't know why anybody will watch it,
you know.
But it's just just just ingest.
Sure.
Very my wife's very supportive of it.
And my kids love it because it's like I like using a medium that people say, you know, is like, oh, the kids don't go outside anymore because they're on TikTok.
Right.
Well, I love using that same medium to make them go back outside.
You know,
like and so my kids love it that it's like, hey, dad, what are we doing this weekend?
You know, so like this last weekend, there's a park in Appleton called Plumman Park.
And there's a lake and a petting zoo and all sorts of cool stuff.
And it's like, nah, we're going to go hang out.
And then, yeah, I'm just going to take five minutes and shoot some video while I'm here.
And we're going to turn that into a video.
How many miles a week do you typically put on like doing this stuff?
500.
OK.
And you go and come back the same day?
Do you have to stay over?
I usually plan like
many vacations around
there.
Oh, that's nice.
You write it off too, right?
Yes.
All right.
If you need a place to do your taxes, check out Conrad.
He does a five day forecast.
He's a part time.
poor man's meteorologist and he'll do your taxes too.
All right.
Hey, it's time for intermission, folks.
We're coming back with Act 2.
We've got a quiz we're going to give Mr. Wonderfully Wisconsin, who is awesome enough to be here in person.
He made the popcorn pick of the week.
It's the peanut butter falcon.
It crushes with critics and audiences.
And it looks like a fantastic film.
I've not seen it.
But I certainly will be when we come back for Act 2, Paul will be here and we'll get into more of Wonderfully Wisconsin and give him a really fun quiz that you don't want to miss.
Let us know what your least favorite movie genre is, folks.
That's tonight's Question of the Night.
We're coming right back.
It's Pete Schwabba and Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.
Broadcasting live from the Civic Media Studios in Green Bay.
This is Night Light with Peach Wabba.
Your inside source on everything entertainment from Wisconsin to Hollywood.
And now a guy who loves to watch true crime, but only if it's shoplifting, Peach Wabba.
Welcome back.
Missed you guys.
But thanks for being here for Act 2.
Great show here tonight, folks.
Lots of fun on Night Light.
My guest currently is Paul Vandenblas.
He is the founder of Wonderfully Wisconsin, which you can follow on TikTok.
Instagram, Facebook, it will make you love our state even more than you already do because he loves our state.
And we will get back to Paul in just a minute.
We have at 735, Jason Mansmith will be here.
He's the marketing director of the Thrasher Opera House in Green Lake.
They have some great shows coming up.
Jason also hosts a show here on Civic Media.
We'll talk about that.
And our question of the night is, what is your least favorite movie genre?
And I thought about this last night because
What's the movie called the end heads of state, right?
Yeah, yeah head of state
John Cena and Idris Alba love Idris Alba tolerate John Cena I think he's a little overexposed at the moment, but the movie looks so stupid And you know what you're getting the comedy and action comedy is never that funny and the action is lame because there's nobody's ever really in any danger It's kind of a waste.
It's a waste of time,
you know, I will so you're talking earlier saying well, they never get shot.
Yeah
the big twist at the end, guess what?
Please tell me one of them dies.
No, but he does get shot with an arrow through the shoulder.
Okay, so what?
You know what I mean?
Like, I love Reacher, I love the Reacher TV show, but the end of season two, was it Reacher?
Yeah, there was this ridiculous shootout where, like, I know the guy's big, but if he's 20 feet away and a thousand bullets are being fired at him, he's gonna get shot.
I can't, I...
I have no tolerance for stuff like that.
Conrad's genre that he could do without is horror.
And our guest, Paul Vandenplatz, it says Seth Rogen.
It's his least favorite movie genre.
That's maybe my favorite answer of the whole week.
So there you go.
Let us know what your least favorite movie genre is.
Well, read your text on the radio.
That sounds like a great deal.
It's free.
And who knows, maybe you could become, maybe your text will make you an influencer like our current guest, Paul.
who I don't even know what that's like.
I have no idea what it's like to have 70,000 people hanging on your every word.
That must be cool.
It's weird.
It's very weird.
Do you ever do that?
You ever go, why are they listening to me?
Yeah.
Yeah, sure.
And it's weird too, working with brands, you know.
So it's like, they actually know who I am.
That is so great.
I'm
so happy for you.
That's so great.
So tell us about, all right, wonderfully Wisconsin.
I've told you where you can follow it.
You're doing some really cool stuff too.
You've got a burger tour.
Tell us about that.
Well, I'm determined.
I've been seeing over the last couple of years, I think it's the Wisconsin Beef Council does a competition every year where it's like...
They just have everybody vote on it.
And then it's like the top 10 vote getters, then they go and taste them and then they award a best burger.
And you know, I saw that I'm like, that's kind of a really lame way to award a best burger.
Like you need to get out and try places.
So
I
determined if it takes me a year and a half or two years, I'm gonna try at least 100 burger places around the state of Wisconsin.
And I'll just crown a winner.
It doesn't matter.
That's doable
in two years, right?
Yeah, I think so.
That's like a burger every, what, two weeks or?
Yeah, roughly.
Okay.
Oh, you could do that in your sleep.
Absolutely.
So what about Appleton?
Like you live in Appleton, what's a good burger place that we might not have heard about or the place you like?
A home burger bar on College Avenue is a fantastic spot for a burger.
One of my favorite, like, real hidden gem ones is Northland Pub.
Fantastic burgers
and tater
tots there.
Unbelievable.
I don't know what they do to them.
They're very
good.
The Tater Tot is kind of a lost art, right?
Yeah.
Why don't more places have Tater Tots?
I don't know.
They should.
Give me a Tater Tot over potato salad any day of the week
as a side.
Come on.
Absolutely.
Do you ever get, do you hope you get to the point where like when you walk into a place, people are like, oh God, that guy's here.
Shape up!
I've got to do a couple of places where they know me and it's still odd.
That's so cool.
All right, let's talk about the burger.
I'm back and forth on this.
You know, I used to like like gourmet buns.
Now, give me a butternut or a wonder bread bun that's small and doesn't take the taste away from what's between the bread.
Does that make any sense?
Do you
have a certain bun you like on your hamburger?
No, it's just more or less like you have to have a bun.
A bun is almost as important as the burger patty itself
that
it's like it really needs to fit with.
what you're doing
with that burger.
And what kind of burger, what are you going for?
Do you like the bison burger?
Like right down the street here at Hagermeister, they have an elk burger I've had that's pretty good.
God, I gotta
get
to
Hagermeister.
So like, yeah, they have good food.
It's great bar food.
Do you have a, or is it like, do you like the ground chunk, ground sirloin?
You like it rare?
How do you go for your burger?
I like my stuff.
You have to have a pretty fatty burger to do it properly.
And especially in Wisconsin, we do like smash burgers where they're
pretty
thin.
So you have to have a high fat content for that.
But I like my stuff like rare or medium rare.
I don't mean to put you on the spot here.
You're kind of an every man.
So I know you didn't like go to culinary school or maybe you did.
But what is a smash burger?
What I've that word is all over the place now.
And I kind of just not and pretend I know what it is when I'm talking to the waitress.
But what is technically a smash burger?
Typically they do those on a griddle.
And so, because a regular hamburger patty, you know, will be pretty sizable sometimes.
So
all they're doing is they're taking like a spatula or a tool designed, I don't know what it would be, and they'll smash it down and usually that gets a really good sear on
it
and locks in some of the fat and juiciness.
And you said it's thin.
Yeah, they're typically pretty thin.
Oh, that's interesting.
Okay, you did another post today.
I love this on Facebook, regarding cheese curds.
Fried or fresh?
Where are you?
Cuz yeah, I think you were about 50% last time.
It was
pretty close.
Yeah Where are you
at?
So I'm a fresh guy.
I like calling them raw.
You gotta have the raw Kurds
You're not a I love fresh Kurds more than fried.
Yeah When I get that squeak, I love it.
I trust people like you guys because you
can get you can get fried Kurds almost anywhere But you can only get fresh Kurds in Wisconsin
Is this what the poll is at?
Is it literally at 50-50?
Oh my God, it is.
On the nose.
So 50% chose correctly and 50% are wrong.
And you don't mind to take
a stance on that either.
You're
like, okay.
No,
no,
it's all
in fun.
I just voted for fresh, so now it's 52.
I'm gonna vote for fried.
Here you go.
Fried, what do you think about that?
50-50, okay.
You know what I think, and I'm not an expert, but if I could just give you some advice on your social media platforms, you know what I think you should do?
Get political.
No, thank you.
Who doesn't love burgers?
Both sides of the aisle.
That could be very... All right, let's talk about Kringle, Paul, because you did something recently about Kringle.
Sure.
You posted that you maybe your favorite Kringle.
That's what was constant food.
We got burgers, which was... The hamburger was created here, right?
Yes.
In Chano.
And
Seymour.
Seymour, right, that's it.
And then we just talked cheese curds.
So now, Kringle.
Tell us about Kringle.
Well, Kringle is the state pastry of Wisconsin.
And if you've never had one, just get one.
You can get them, I think Festival Carries Racine Kringle Company.
So
that's a good, you know, the first taste is free kid.
You're
gonna, you're gonna, you're gonna, it's a super slippery
slope.
Do you have, have you ever had Uncle Mike's?
Uncle Mike's
is fantastic, but I always like to say when I do Kringle content, people are like, Uncle Mike's is the best.
And I always say,
There's two different categories.
You have traditional and non-traditional.
Uncle Mike's
is by far and away the best non-traditional Kringle.
They're
insane, but sometimes they're a little sweet, they're a little much, you know, where it's like a traditional Kringle.
Like in my house, we grew up and that was like a breakfast item.
Like, oh, here's a
fresh Kringle and you have that for breakfast.
Yeah, I'm with you.
I kind of think like Kringle, like Uncle Mike's compared to more traditional is like a Chicago deep dish compared to a regular
pizza.
That is a great.
And I can eat like three bites of Uncle Mike's.
And then I'm either got to plan my day around if I eat more of that, I may have to be laid up in a sugar coma.
Because my parents sometimes will bring the, it's got like pecans, frosting, there's cinnamon
in
there.
And it's insane, but it does taste good.
You just can't eat a ton of it.
So how
So Cringle and Racine, is that where it started?
Yeah, I believe so.
It's a Scandinavian pastry.
And that area of the state, Racine specifically, is heavily Scandinavian.
So that's where it comes from.
All right.
What's the Wisconsin food you haven't really kind of done a deep dive on that you'd like to, if there is one?
Booyah.
What is that?
What's Booyah?
So Booyah is actually more specifically a Green Bay thing So it is like a chicken noodle soup, but it's prepared slightly different
like Booyah base.
Is that is that where it comes from like this?
Well, it actually comes in I think the Presquizet here in town a recent immigrant from Belgium went to put an ad for Booyah and
then
said mispronounced it or misspelled it Booyah
And so then the name has stuck.
So it is a Belgian specific chicken noodle soup, if you will.
Wow.
OK.
Well, you've got, you know, when you leave here tonight, you've got, you just mentioned Hagermeister.
You go a little further down.
It's the Heights.
I had a burger there the other night.
It was delicious.
Oh, I hear Heights is great.
It's like a bourbon burger with blue cheese and grilled onions, dynamite stuff.
You took a trip recently.
I want to bring it back to movies for a minute, to the Pacific Northwest.
And I think I remember you posted from there, correct?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
So tell us about your trip and what did you discover about that area that I thought was kind of cool?
Well, it was absolutely beautiful, but I did a self-guided Goonies tour in Astoria, Oregon, which is right on the coast.
So if you're...
You know, about my age group, a millennial,
you
grew up with that movie and it's pretty iconic.
So I got to drive around and see different scenes from the movie.
And a story itself, if your history buff, is the oldest established city west of the Mississippi.
Is that right?
Yes.
It's a beautiful area.
I mean, it's incredible.
How does the self-tour work, though?
Do they give you headphones or something?
No, no, it's kind of what I do here.
It's just
like I just looked up the locations and then...
put everything down and then just went and visited the different locations on my own.
Were you by yourself or did you?
No, I went
with my parents.
Oh, okay.
So
it was cool for them too because, you know, I grew up watching a lot of Goonies in my house and so they also watched a lot of Goonies, so it was neat for them to see it as well.
That's
great fun with the parents.
So, all right, so you post about Wisconsin, where are you off to next?
What can people look forward to if they follow you on Facebook tonight or TikTok or Instagram?
What do you have coming up?
I'm going to be getting back down to the Milwaukee area, knocking out some content down there, maybe some more La Crosse, Eau Claire, Driftless region.
Next week, I'm going to be doing some more out of state stuff.
So I'm actually going to be going to the Black Hills and doing some really neat stuff out in the Black Hills, because that's another area that's not really, people know Rushmore and that's it.
And it's like,
there's a lot of history and it's just really cool.
We got to think of a name for South Dakota.
You got wonderfully Wisconsin sort of.
Yeah.
Snuggly South Dakota.
That's terrible.
I'm not the guy
to talk to.
So are you would you want to do this full time?
You said you have a full time gig.
Do you see a point where you could get to do this where you're like, I'm just going to focus on this now.
I would love to.
I think that's the plan.
You know, I luckily work for a pretty large company and they actually just had a social media manager position open.
But.
they're looking for business experience, a degree.
Okay, I don't have either one of those.
Not
a guy who
wants to go out and eat hamburgers
over the next two years.
It's one of those that's like, well, I do have, you know, I work with large brands, so it's like I have that in my corner, but I think eventually I would like to do it.
That's fantastic.
Well, you're on your way for sure.
Can we keep you for a few more minutes?
Of course.
All right.
Now, Paul's going to stick around for one more segment.
It's a short segment, but we're going to give him a quiz.
It's Conrad's curd or turd quiz.
I know that sounds appetizing, but we'll do that with Paul next time.
We'll read some of your texts.
This is Pete Schwabba.
You've got the Civic Media Radio Network.
Welcome back to Nightlight.
I'm Pete Schwabba.
It is Thursday night in the state of Wisconsin.
We heard any weather stuff, Conrad.
We heard any tornado issues or anything like that.
Not that I'm aware
of.
OK.
But it looks nice outside, so.
OK.
Conrad is our resident meteorologist.
Our question of the night, folks, is what is your least favorite movie genre?
Dave, on the stream, I think he was giving his popcorn pick, but he said punch drunk love.
So, unless that's its own genre, that could work too.
That's an Adam Sandler movie?
That's an Adam Sandler movie, yeah.
Thank you, Dave.
As always, CJ from Stoughton says...
Oh, once again.
Oh no, that's not for us.
Bridget from the 818 says, horror films, too stressful.
I hate to be scared.
Agree.
No doubt about that from Bridget.
Thank you, Bridget.
From the 920, John from Oshkosh says, romance is the worst unrealistic expectations for all involved.
That's true.
Rarely do people have romance movie sex.
Can I get an amen from somebody in the studio
here?
You never put your knee on someone's hair, accidentally.
Tyler from Wisconsin Rapids, he's in the 608, says, unnecessary blood and gore.
For example, the Saw movies.
I hate them.
I am so with you, Tyler.
I cannot watch those movies.
The Saw, they're awful movies.
They're just terrible.
John from Oshkosh also says, peanut butter falcon.
One of my faves.
Look at you, dude.
Paul Vanderplus.
Good taste.
Yeah, he's got it.
Wonderfully, Wisconsin's Paul Vanderplus.
He's gonna take our... I'm not even gonna take any ownership on this.
It's Conrad's turd or curd quiz.
So we're gonna give that to Paul.
Tom from New Berlin says, Pete, the 4th of July scene in Sandlot, yes.
It shows our upbringing and that's why we all find a love of movies.
Could not agree more, Tom.
Thank you, buddy.
As always, great text.
Okay, so...
Paul Vandenblas is here.
He's the founder of Wonderfully Wisconsin, which you can follow on Facebook, TikTok, or Instagram.
This thing has taken off one year.
You got 70,000 followers.
Is that right?
Yep.
That's incredible.
I'm envious, and I will try.
I'm going to try to siphon off a lot of your followers.
I'm not going to lie to you, Paul.
He's like, bring it.
So we have a quiz here that Conrad put together.
We thought this would be a fun theme quiz for Paul before we let him get out of here.
This is Conrad's
Curred, which means true, or turd, which means false quiz.
And then we're going to retire the bathroom stuff forever on nightlight.
So here you go.
You ready, Paul?
Absolutely.
All right.
Wonderfully, Wisconsin is taking our wonderful curd or turd quiz.
Wisconsin produces more cheese than any other state in the US, curd or turd.
Turd.
Way to go, Conrad.
That's Curd.
I don't think that's right either.
I thought that California.
It's true.
Really?
Okay.
What was your source on that?
I discovered Wisconsin actually.
Oh, all right.
I believe those guys.
Is that Logan Roge?
It might be.
All right.
Let's get him on here for a voucher.
All right.
Number two, the bratwurst was invented in Wisconsin.
Curd or Turd?
Turd.
Turd is correct.
It was invented in...
Germany, yeah, very well done.
All right, Paul is one for two.
That's a pretty good batting average for you, Brewer fans.
There are currently 99 craft breweries in Wisconsin.
Kurt or Turd?
Turd.
That one's not getting by you, is it?
No, there's 99 in Green Bay.
All right, he's two for three.
Fish fries are only popular in Wisconsin during the summer.
Oh, Turd.
Oh, I misread that.
I thought you meant of other states, but you mean in our state only in the summer.
Gotcha.
All right.
Well done.
Three for four, buddy.
Let's keep it going.
Cranberries are one of Wisconsin's top agricultural crops.
Curd or turd?
Curd.
Very well done.
Paul is on a roll.
Butterburgers originated in Madison, Wisconsin.
Curd or turd?
Turd.
Correct.
And then Conrad added a bonus points.
Where did they originate?
God it's kind of a tough one.
I would not have guessed it.
I thought I
knew that's why it's bonus.
I can't it starts with a
W No, sorry, okay, it's Sally's Grill near Milwaukee.
Oh, yeah, Sally's.
I thought it was that other All right Approximately no wait what it what is but that doesn't count against him.
He's still five for six.
Yeah.
Yeah, that was just bonus.
All right
Paul Vandenplatz, five for six, wonderfully Wisconsin, representing in the Hizzy.
Approximately three tons of cheese curds are eaten during the cheese curd festival each year, curd or turd.
We'll go with curd.
Curd is correct!
Dude, you are crushing it.
All right, two final questions.
Here we go.
Wisconsin, is the top producer of maple syrup in the United States?
Is it curd or turd?
Turd.
How about a bonus here?
Do you know where it is the most?
Vermont?
Yeah.
Well done.
All right.
Now
you're back to
perfect.
The nine for nine with the bonus with the extra credit.
Okay.
Last question.
Colby cheese was invented in Wisconsin.
Curd or turd?
Curd.
Extra bonus points.
You could be 11 for 10 if you get this right.
Do you know what city it was invented in?
Would it be in Colby?
Oh, that was embarrassing.
Conrad.
I don't know how you're going to sleep tonight.
I don't know.
You know, it's a good thing you don't have a girlfriend because she might not let you in the house.
And I don't know that he might have a girlfriend.
I don't know.
Conrad and I don't get personal.
So what do you think?
Did he did OK?
He did great.
Did he do OK?
All right.
Paul, this is so much fun.
Thank you, buddy.
Keep it going.
Yeah.
When you come back here, let's try to get you up to like 100,000.
You think we could do that?
Oh, sure.
We've got.
nine people listening right now.
I think we're on our way.
No, there's a lot more people.
Follow Paul on wonderfully Wisconsin folks, Facebook, TikTok, or Instagram.
He does great work.
He makes living in Wisconsin, he makes you feel, you're already proud, but prouder and realize how fun it is here, right?
Absolutely.
All right.
Give him a follow.
Great to have you here, buddy.
We'll do it again soon.
Awesome.
Thank you.
All right.
When we come back, Jason Mansmith, the marketing director of the Thrasher Opera House, will be here.
We're going to talk about some upcoming events and his show here on Civic Media.
That'll be fun.
And we'll read Jamison's text and Monica's.
That's coming up next.
It's Pete Schwabba and Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.
Welcome back.
This is Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and I am Pete Schwabba.
It is great to have you here with us on this Tuesday night as we talk about all the things we love about life.
Movies.
Pardon?
It's not Tuesday, you know, it's the...
Did I say Tuesday?
Christmas Eve of weekdays.
That's like not even an advent.
I say Tuesday.
You're talking about December 4th right now.
God, I'm having a really long week.
This is insane.
Either way, I'm glad you're here, folks.
It's great to have you.
Our question of the night is, what is your least favorite movie genre?
You still have some time to get in on the fun, and I will read your text on the radio.
How cool is that?
Monica Hale posted on social media.
We post our question on Facebook every day.
She says, romance, it's all lies.
By the way, I guess I'm in the minority, but I thought 28 years later was one of the worst movies I've ever seen, really, Monica.
She says, I wondered why Ray Fiennes was in the crap fest.
Had I not been on vacation 100 degrees out and some of my plans that day didn't work out, I would have walked out.
I absolutely loved the ending if only the rest of the movie was like that.
That is pure hatred for a movie if you loved the ending.
Wow, I'm fascinated by that text.
That's outstanding Monica.
Thank you We'll get to some more of your texts in just a minute, but I don't want to keep our guest waiting because I'm very excited to have this guy back on the show He hosts a new show here on civic media.
So that's kind of fun.
We'll talk about that It's on WRPN from 3 to 5 p.m.
On
on weekday afternoons called Great Day.
He is also the marketing director of the Thrasher Opera House, the very cool Thrasher Opera House in Green Lake, Wisconsin, Mr. Jason Mansmith.
Hey, buddy.
Hey, man, how you doing?
Good, how are you?
Thanks so much
for having me.
I'm doing good, man.
Thanks so much for having me.
Hello to Conrad as well, man.
Certainly do appreciate the time today.
Pleasure is all ours.
First of all, I have to ask you, Jason, I know you run a theater and all that kind of stuff, but do you have a least favorite movie genre?
Well, I was thinking about this as I was kind of listening.
I'm not a big fan of rom-coms.
I'm not a big fan of those or any movie where a dog dies.
Do they
still do that?
I can't remember the last time I saw something.
You can kill people by the thousands, but if you kill an animal in a movie, you're in big trouble.
Yeah, you know, Marley and me, not good for me.
Fox and the Hound, not good for me.
Moab
Yeller, not good for me.
That's a great answer.
All
right,
fantastic.
Difficult,
for sure.
I think the pet killing is a new genre that nobody's a fan of.
Hey, before we find out what's coming up at Thrasher,
Tell us about your show.
I think it's so cool that you're part of Civic Media now.
Tell us all about Great Day.
Yeah.
Well, we became a part of the Civic Media team here, you know, a couple of months back and so glad to be along with it, but I've been in the radio business for.
coming up on 30 years and kind of been with that station for almost 30 years as well.
So I got the opportunity to host a great show, music show each and every weekday afternoon from three until five.
We call it great day, only positive stories, only uplifting stuff, right?
We only have a good time.
So that's why we call it great day because, you know, even when the day isn't so great, we try to make it great.
That's the attitude you got to have, right?
I mean, that's kind of what I try to do here.
Like, you figure people talk about politics all day or deal with work or traffic or arguments, whatever.
You got to have an escape.
And if you haven't, folks, check out Great Day on WRPN three to five every weekday.
Wow, that's impressive.
I like to call it
the afternoon soundtrack you'll love.
All right, I love it.
All right, let's get to some stuff you have coming up at Thrasher.
First of all, for those listening, Jason, that might not have been to Thrasher before, tell us about it.
And this is a really cool venue.
Yeah, so we were built in 1910 Thrasher Opera House was built by Charlie Thrasher Great historic opera house that showed silent movies back in the day it hosted vaudeville shows and then after a while We got some talking movies in here, too And then it went dormant for a bunch of years and it was
Boat storage facility.
It was a sewing factory those kind of things and then I went dormant again And then some people had the great idea to kind of purchase the building and revive it and redo it and restore it and we opened back up in 1997 and we did three shows in 1997 and as of last year we did 89 events here in 2024 so it's been so great.
It's a wonderfully sounding room.
It's a comfort
room and we you know we really love the the experienced people get when they get in this space and it's intimate too right is it like
200 seats or something like that
yeah small cap if we sit you down it's 200 if we stand you up we can get 325 in there but 200 is where we like to be and it's the acoustics in the facility unbelievable I don't know how they made a building back in 1910 sound this amazing I've been in a lot of places and seen a lot of
of different theaters, but the acoustic sounds here are something that new organizations and new theaters pay millions of dollars to figure out and study what we have here.
Well, that is something.
Have you been there since 97?
Have you?
No, I've
joined the team here in 2022.
Okay, perfect.
All right.
So let's talk about some shows coming up.
I love the shows you book in there because first of all, I got to start with Elvis.
Uh, it says in person.
How are you, how are you swinging that Jason?
Actually, you know, I think it's a guy that looks pretty close to Elvis
and sings
a lot like Elvis too, right?
So,
uh,
I think a little bit of, uh, I think the Fed Elvis actually,
right?
So, uh, Matt Stone actually coming in this Saturday, I'd like to be able to get you to take it, but it is sold out, spent sold out for a couple of, a couple of weeks here now.
So we're looking forward to that.
Uh, you know, great band that's with him as well.
And.
We're looking forward to having people in on that coming up on Saturday.
But yeah, unfortunately, that show was sold out.
We we can't get you yet.
What about on the 18th?
You've got Tom Rush.
That's tomorrow.
Tell us about Tom Rush.
Well, well, Tom is kind of like the the inspiring and the impact of the American music scene that that dealt with folk music back in the
And then the rock movement in the 70s and the Renaissance of the 80s and 90s So he played with a bunch of great players.
He opened doors for so many other great musicians musicians like you've probably heard of James Taylor or Jackson Brown or Joni Mitchell, right?
So,
you know, Tom I should say yeah
Tom Rush has been, you know, kind of shepherding those folks along the way when they got into their
careers.
But he's left the he's left to stamp on all kinds of generations of artists, including Emmy Lou Harris and Tom Petty and Garth Brooks of all sided Thomas a major influence.
And we're gonna have him in Green Lake, Wisconsin.
That's coming up tomorrow night.
Take this 45 bucks.
You got less, you know, 200 seats.
tops in there.
It's going to be an amazing show and we're looking forward to it for
sure.
And there's still tickets for that one available?
Yeah, you can get online to
our website thrashyourhopperhouse.com or you can simply pick them up, grab them at the door too tomorrow.
We'll have them available for you.
So do most of your acts, I would certainly come from everywhere, but do you have most of your acts come from the Midwest or?
Uh, you know, we actually go to a bunch of booking conferences each year, um, and we deal with agents across America.
So wherever the route is able to go, we are able to bring them in not only just in America, but globally as well.
We bring a lot of bands in from the Scotland area, from the Irish Ireland area.
Uh, you know, so we, we have really good relationships and, uh, people love our artists love coming here.
Oh, I bet they, they, you know, have the
The good time here, we treat them super well and treat them super nice and they love coming back to us
too.
My guest is Jason Mansmith.
You can check out his show here on the Civic Media Radio Network on WRPN from 3 to 5 p.m.
every weekday.
It's called Great Day.
Check it out.
He is also the marketing director of the Thrasher Opera House in Green Lake.
A little gem of a venue.
that you should go see if you haven't.
I will admit, I have not been there.
I'm excited.
I know one of these days I'll get down there, but I love theaters, Jason, where it's intimate like that, where there's only 200 seats.
You can't beat that.
No, it's a fantastic experience.
So be honest with you, sometimes when you get to a show, you go through the process of purchasing your ticket, which is not necessarily easy.
There's all
these
fees that are added on top.
Then you gotta download this, you gotta try to find your QR code when you get through the door, all that kind of stuff.
You gotta pay for parking, those things.
You don't
get that here, right?
Easy purchase price online, right?
5.5%.
That's it on the top of the ticket.
So if you buy a $30 ticket, you're paying less than 32 bucks, right?
Free parking in and around the facility, no issues there whatsoever.
And when you walk in the door, you don't have to worry about having your ticket with you or scanning this code or whatsoever.
We look at the list, you give us your name, we check you off, you walk on in and have a good time.
That's
fantastic.
It's a super, you know, a personal experience.
We love to get, we love to know our guests so much and, you know, we try to keep it really personal here too.
So, all right, I don't know if you know this, Jason.
I would say about 95% of my listeners are big time Swifties.
So, I'm sure they have, they'll want to hear who you have coming in.
Well, we really don't have anybody coming in, but
we're
going to be playing that.
We're doing a great event coming up on the 14th of August starting at 6pm.
We get a lot of requests from people at other shows who just want to come to Thrash or Opera House to dance one time.
They
just
want to have a dance club night.
And, you know, we're all about bringing the community together to celebrate the arts.
And we thought, why not?
Let's do it.
Let's, you know, flip the script a little bit on what Thrasher Opera House is.
We'll set up the room like a club and we'll play a lot of Taylor Swift music that night because, you know, that's generational, right?
We can bring the kids along.
We can bring mom and dad along.
We can bring grandma and grandpa along.
Great grandma and grandpa or whatever.
It's going to be a good environment.
No cost to get in.
Yeah, absolutely.
What?
Yeah, absolutely free.
And we're going to have a great time music playing all night, cool lighting, all those kind of things.
And people can come on and you check it out on our website.
We ask that you RSVP.
But if you don't, that's fine, too, just get through the door.
We want to make this place as opening as opening available to anybody in the community to come on in here and do that.
That's one of the things we also take a real pride in is outreach that we do here.
Yeah, we oftentimes
we realize that some people maybe can't make it to our facility, right?
But they still should get that really important arts enriched kind of experience.
So we like to take it out to them too.
We'll visit various facilities or maybe assisted living facilities or people who have some barriers, right?
We'll go visit their workplaces and kind of bring this stuff to them because music can change lives.
Music can put a smile on someone's face who hasn't smiled for a long time.
That's fantastic.
And we love doing that and we love getting kids on in this place too to learn about music.
We had a group earlier this year, they played bluegrass music and we brought a bunch of third, fourth, fifth and sixth graders in from Creen Lake.
They had the best time.
They didn't know what bluegrass was before they got on in pretty much, right?
But they had a great time learning how bluegrass music was played and it was such a fun experience and we loved doing outreach here.
I love that you're so part of the community there and your mission.
It's so great.
I want to ask you about two shows in particular.
One, sadly, the first death from COVID that I had heard of was John Prine.
It was a horrible tragedy.
He had some medical complications before that.
He was somewhat compromised, but still touring.
One of my favorite songwriters, John Prine, you have a tribute coming up.
Tell us about that.
Yeah, we are looking forward to this show.
It is called Morning Train, a tribute to John Prine.
It's coming up on August 23rd, 7.30 p.m.
And this particular tribute features a lot of musicians in and around the Milwaukee area, right?
So people that are in Chicken Wire Empire and Funk Club Wagon, another one, Midnight Hound, they all get together and they come on out and do this great Prine experience show.
It's
So I've got all those songs filled with the wit and the warmth and the wisdom
of
prime, right?
And, you know, and not necessarily the hits always to the deep cuts that go in there too.
And we just know that the story teller that he was in those songs.
So we're really looking forward to it.
It's been really well received and tickets are going quick on that one.
So I would encourage you to, you know, check that out because
it's awesome night for sure.
Let's, let's pick up there.
We're going to do a really short break and we'll have a couple more minutes with Jason.
When we come back, this is Nightlight with Pete Schwabba on the Civic Media radio network.
Let's go, baby!
Tomorrow
night on Nightlight, Hank Scott from 12 Tribes Cigars will be here at 6.35.
He's a friend of one of our sponsors, our pal Norm Kepesky.
They work together.
We'll have a little cigar talk at 6.35.
And then it's a Bar Band Friday night, Terry Barr.
Our Wisconsin music expert will be here to celebrate Wisconsin music artists and talk a little bit about her show Max Inc Radio.
That's tomorrow night at 735, a bar band Friday night.
Going to the text line here, we got a couple texts.
We got to finish up here before we get out of here.
Jameson, I am sorry I missed this text earlier.
Jameson texted us when, I think when Paul was still on and he said, don't wuss out, do the burger in a year.
Jameson wants Paul Vandenplatz to eat 100 burgers in a year.
And he said, and write a blog on each.
Jameson's kind of bossy.
That's a lot of burgers in one lot.
That's a lot of burgers.
Especially for a guy with a wife and kids who has more to his life than just eating burgers.
Jameson says also no tater tots, cheese fries only, or disco, which is cheese and beef gravy.
I've never heard of that.
That's interesting.
Disco fries, that just seems immoral.
Thank you, Jameson.
Sorry, we didn't see that earlier.
Brian from Green Bay says, silent movies, worse genre messes with my volume.
All right, fair enough.
Luckily, you're modern day.
You don't have to watch silent movies.
Thank you, Brian.
Jameson also says, for you, no need... I don't know if I should read that or not.
Conrad, I need approval on the text from Jameson.
From the 414, Christine from Slinger says, gory movies, but I love suspense.
Christine, I am with you.
I love to be scared.
I love a good jump scare, but I don't need the gore.
I can do horror movies if we're just scared, but I don't need the gore either.
Janet from social media says, graphic horror, but I should clarify, I'm fascinated by horror films and how they're made.
So I watch YouTube's, for instance, Suspiria, but I can't sit through a whole movie.
Oh, that's a really interesting text.
She's fascinated by how they're made.
But doesn't want to watch them.
Thank you, Janet.
That's great.
We have a few more minutes here with our guest from the Thrasher Opera House.
He's the marketing director there.
Jason Mansmith is with us over the stream.
He has also, he has his own show here on Civic Media.
You can check out every weekday from three to five PM on WRPN.
It's called Great Day.
So give it a listen and let Jason knock your socks off.
So buddy, I have to ask you.
Yeah.
Where was I gonna go?
Oh, Pat McCurdy.
Pat McCurdy, you put me in touch with Pat.
I remember seeing Pat when I was a standup in Chicago in the 90s.
A bunch of us would go watch Pat McCurdy.
I think at the Roxy, but I might have the venue wrong, but he was so much fun.
And I was so surprised and happy that he's still touring three decades later, 25 years later, whatever it is.
Tell us about Pat McCurdy.
Yeah, so we're super excited to have him coming in on Friday, September the 5th for a show.
It's going to be an outdoor show.
And we're doing it right on the shores of Green Lake.
It's going to be a good time.
And obviously, you know, Pat brings a certain type of song and humor to his show.
The Pat heads are real.
They follow around greatly.
And we're excited to have him come back.
He was actually one of our, I was looking through our archives.
He was one of our COVID shows too.
Like when we had like audiences of 20 people or so, he came in and
show here too for us.
So, um, it's nice to have him back.
We'll have a full, you know, audience for him outside.
Plus, you're going to be on the shores of Green Lake watching a
great show.
Sunsets in the west as you're looking into it.
It's going to be such a good time.
And it's so easy.
What are you like 15 miles west of Fond du Lac or something like that?
Piece of cake, right?
It doesn't
take long.
Yeah, it doesn't take long.
30 minutes from Oshkosh, 25 from Fond du Lac.
You know, we're about an hour from Green Bay, Milwaukee and Madison, right in the, you know, the heart of it all.
And it's absolutely beautiful.
I was there years and years ago and I will make it down there one of these times.
But that sounds like a great show.
Check out Pat McCurdy folks.
Check out.
You've got a John Prine show.
You've got a Taylor Swift dance party and Elvis in a couple.
and Tom rush tomorrow.
That sounds fun too.
Yeah, absolutely.
It's going to be a good one.
We'd love to have you come on in here and check it out.
Thrasheropperhouse.com for tickets and information.
But we've got a whole bunch of other shows already kicking into 2026 that we've got on our site, too.
So if you're looking for anything, holiday shows, we already got those in the mix, too.
So it's never too early to start thinking about Christmas.
I
heard you talking about it earlier.
That must be fun, like a Christmas show at this cool little theater.
in Green Lake.
Let me ask you this, Jason.
I love, love, love old theaters.
Do you ever have moments where you're alone in the theater and no one else is there and it's dark and you can see the stage and it's silent?
That is kind of a magic, isn't
it?
Oh, it's it's the best, right?
You like when our offices are located directly to the north of the theater, right?
So we have a door that connects the two.
But the moment you open that door, it just feels different, right?
And I always like to say hello to Charlie every time I walk in there because we got to say, you know, hey to Charlie Thrasher because he's the dude who built it.
And you know, it's
always good to be
have him around.
And you know, there's things that happen here too, right?
So but
you can tell
us
Oh, yeah.
People definitely have felt it and seen it.
But it's a neat vibe.
And there's nothing better than at the end of the night just kind of sitting there and taking it all in and just remembering all the people that have been through there and all the memories that were made.
You want to start kicking your thoughts and gear, man.
Just sit there for a bit and just think of all the people that have sat in those chairs.
performers who've been on that stage.
And it's awesome that we've been able to bring joy to so many people for so many years.
And a lot more to come.
That's so great.
Thank you so much, buddy.
It was great talking you and reconnecting.
Let's do this more often.
I love talking about the shows you put together.
They're just great.
And I wish you luck and good luck with the show.
Tell me the name again.
Great day.
Great day.
Yeah.
Good luck with great day.
Give Jason a listen and we'll do it again soon.
Have a great night, Jason.
Thanks so much.
We appreciate it.
Thanks, Conrad.
You got it.
Christine from Slinger, getting in under the wire from the 414.
She says, great movie.
One of the best is Dragonfly with Kevin Costner.
Beautiful suspense story.
That's another one I haven't seen.
I'm making a note of that, Christine.
That's awesome.
Thank you, everybody, for contributing to the show tonight.
So much more fun when you guys are part of things.
Thanks for your texts and calls.
Thank you to Paul Vandenplatz from Wonderfully Wisconsin.
Give him a follow and check out the Thrasher Opera House in Green Lake.
Thanks to Jason Mansmith for being here.
Conrad, on behalf of the lovable producer, Conrad.
I'm Pete Schwabba, saying good night,
Wisconsin.
everyone or when they all be