91.7 WMSE | Events

 

Win a Piece of WMSE Online Auction:

Conference Table Fun Fact #3: If you sit through a meeting at either end of the conference table, you will have bruised shins for a week from bashing them against a solid metal ball thoughtfully attached to the table's legs at a height just below the average staff member's knees.

Thanks to everyone who bid in the "Win a Piece of WMSE" auction, where you, the listening public, had the chance to sponsor the most important pieces of the station for an entire year. Each high-bidder will have their name and picture posted next to their item for all station visitors to see for a full year, and acknowledged right here on this page. Together, we raised over $1500 via eBay's Mission Fish program for this great non-commercial radio station. Thank you, and we hope you got to know the inner workings of your favorite radio station a little bit better.

 

The Auction items:

#01: On-Air Light - It’s pretty simple – When the DJ is live and on the air, this light goes on. This is important because by shining its crimson hue, the on-air light prevents our sometimes boneheaded staff from loudly barging into Studio A with loose mouths spewing some insanity that would then be heard over the radio and probably cause us to lose every last listener. So please, sponsor this light so that we don’t lose our listeners. A radio station without listeners is like a 22 year old guy at home alone on a Saturday night watching amateur bowling while eating Doritos and Mayo sandwiches on Wonder Bread, very…very…sad. Winning bid: $138.27

 

#02: Music Library/Live Room -Without the library, there is no music. Without the music, there wouldn’t be a library or a radio station. Without the station, there is no place for local musicians to showcase their live music over the airwaves. This room is the heart of WMSE, holding with love over 20,000 vinyl albums, 52,000 CDs, and more than 100 live music performances each year. For fun, let’s assume that each record or CD has eight songs. That would mean that by winning the Library/Live Room action, you would be, for one year, sponsoring over FIVE HUNDRED SEVENTY SIX THOUSAND songs plus the floor space that holds all those hot and sexy bands continuously blessing the station with their various forms of artistry. If that doesn’t scream “Own Me” we don’t know what does. Winning bid: $152.50

 

#03: Conference Room Table - This is hands down the coolest item up for auction. Handmade by our good pal and metal sculpture artist, Mark Winter, this is no average conference room table. Solidly made from metal, cement, and glass, this table is where the ideas flow and the important business goes down. The Table is where this auction idea was hatched. It’s where Habanero/Jalepeno Pickles cause teary eyes. This table has supported pizza parties and birthday bashes and offered relaxation to greats like Jon Langford, Robyn Hitchcock, Jon Doe, Greg Cartwright, and many, many more of that ilk. When you sponsor this table, you’ll be right there when the great and often less desirable and unmentionable, things happen. Simply put, you’ll be a part of the team. Winning bid: $137.50

 

#04: Our Crappy Doorbell - Say it with us: The “Crappy” doorbell is “Awesome”! Huh? That doesn’t make any sense. Is it awesome in the way a mullet is awesome? No, it’s not that kind of awesome. It’s awesome in the, “Wow, this doorbell is a piece of garbage – it has a mind of its own and dings whenever it feels like donging – but the truth is that the doorbell has been gently caressed by Robyn Hitchcock’s exquisite paw, has provided a gateway for Bob Mould to enter the station, and has even been forcefully instructed to “just freakin’ ring already” by Mr. John Doe himself. It’s also been touched by every person who has entered the WMSE Studios during the almost ten years since the studio was built in 1999. And this, friends, is why the Crappy Doorbell is awesome, and why you should want to own it for one glorious year. Winning bid: $117.50

 

#05: Big Mike, the Mic - Tom Crawford, WMSE’s Station Manager tells the story of Big Mike best, so here it is…”I found Big Mike hanging from the ceiling in a museum-quality antique store in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin called I Love Funky’s. The place was completely filled with incredible, grand architectural salvage and collectible vintage jewelry.

"As I walked through the store I was thinking, I could never buy anything from here. Imagine if House on the Rock had a retail outlet?  There was even a hand carved turn-of-the-century Merry-Go-Round for sale and a bedroom set from an 18th century Spanish castle.

"All I got was a very small picture frame. Green leaded glass to put the girlfriend’s picture in.  I walk up to the counter to make the sale. I take one last look around. I look up. Hanging from the ceiling is Big Mike. 'I’ll take it,' is all I said.” Winning bid: $71.00

 

#06: The Transmitter Tower - The ever infamous WMSE Broadcast Tower and Transmitter is located in beautiful and fashionable Downtown Milwaukee high atop the MSOE RWJ Dormitory on Milwaukee Street.  The rooftop Penthouse is home to where the hits happen….well… where the broadcast originates from. Who wouldn’t want to be the high bidder? Three Jampro Omni-directional  antennas carefully attached to some kind of antenna thing-a-ma-bob nailed down to an aluminum sided penthouse Shack connected to a Harris Digital transmitter pumping out 3,200 watts of continuous power sitting high amongst the clouds on Mount Olympus or at 300 feet on top of the MSOE RWJ Dorm. So go ahead, show your sponsorial love for Shack Sweet Shack (aka - The Mutha’ Ship, or The bird perch to where thousands of birds regularly flock in order to take a little rest and cause our signal to die, depriving you – the listener – your listening pleasure). Winning bid: $102.50

 

#07: The Studio A Mic - You know those cable music stations? The ones that play genre specific music over a plain blue screen with nothing other than a band photo shot in front of a brick wall or on railroad tracks? Well, that’s pretty much what WMSE would be like without the Studio A Microphone. Over 70 voices speak through this mic every week. Every DJ, morning or night, lets his or her personality stream through this mic into your home, car, workplace, or any other place that lets Frontier Radio speak out loud. What would the world be like without the Studio A Mic? Well, you’d hit your #1 pre-set station, as you clearly have WMSE as your first preset station - you’d hear a song, love it, and then….nothing, it’s gone forever because there would be no mic for the DJ to tell you what just played. You’d have to, like, Google the lyrics or something. Think how much time you save because we have Studio A Mic. Think how much pride you’ll have by also having Studio A Mic, even if you can’t really have it. But you can own it, sort of. Winning bid: $118.26

 

#08: Brent the Monkey - When this auction concept was being hatched, an email was sent around asking for notes about each item so that everyone could aid in writing descriptions like this one. The following are those notes, word for word.

• We have no idea where Brent the Monkey came from.

• We can’t describe his unique aroma or the reason why he smells so bad.

• Brent the Monkey Sitting On His Perch will sometimes leave for days or even weeks on end and email us pictures from his travels, usually from tropical locales filled with exotic foliage and savage beasts (house plants and domestic pets).

• We don’t like touching Brent, nor does he like being touched. He has the texture of jelly, with a very interesting consistency.

What we’re trying to tell you all is that if you don’t sponsor Brent the Monkey Sitting on His Perch, nobody will. He will just sit there being an unloved, unwanted, smelly, jelly-like joke of a toy monkey. And he’s kind of ugly, too. You can pretend to love Brent the Monkey can’t you? Just for a year? Please? Winning bid: $101.00

 

#09: Studio A Aquarium Window - By sponsoring this beautiful 4’ X 2.5’ window, you are partially responsible for allowing us to observe our DJs as if they were crustaceans swimming in the signal of sound. Or, if you are more of an inside-out kind of guy or gal, you can take solace in the fact that by sponsoring the aquarium window, you are aiding in allowing us to watch all the live bands and performances from inside Studio A. Winning bid: $102.50

 

#10: The Neon WMSE Sign - This bad boy was created for us by our good friends at Electric Eye Neon right here in Milwaukee. For nearly three years, the neon sign has blessed the aforementioned Music Library/Live Room, illuminating the best drummers (during live performances, as our audio guru Billy sets up the drums directly below the sign) this city has to offer. And thanks to Mr. Neon, you too can achieve your life-long ambition of knowing exactly what it is like to have a soft purple glow about you when you come in to look at your wonderfully designed certificate that we made because you sponsored the neon light. Winning bid: $91.00

 

#11: Kinder Egg Corner - Most of you probably haven’t heard of Kinder Eggs. That’s because they are, well, illegal in this here United States of America and have to be smuggled in from Germany. Shhh, we wouldn’t want to create any BUZZ about this because any BUZZ might cause trouble for one of our employees. Kinder Eggs are basically like Cadbury Eggs, but instead of gooey goodness inside of a chocolate shell, awaiting you inside the chocolate coat is a special prize in the form of a little toy with way too many small parts to be legal in the US. Seriously, you have to bite into chocolate to get the toy out. But get this…the toy isn’t even put together. It’s hilarious watching some of us with pudgy man hands trying to put these things together. Winning bid: $80.00

 

#12: The Yellow Library Ladder - As we mentioned when talking about the library, we have a whole lotta records - so many that the shelves that hold said records stand about fifteen feet high. And since we have yet to find a 10 foot tall DJ, we need a simple machine that makes it possible for DJs to access the inaccessible; to obtain that which is too high to reach with the common human frame. Just think, because almost every DJ plays vinyl, by sponsoring this wonderful yellow ladder, you will be helping every single DJ get to the music they, and ultimately you, want to hear. You are so nice. Winning bid: $70.00

 

#13: The Red Bat-Phone - Some say FCC stands for Federal Communication Commission, we believe it stands for Federal Caped Crusader! This lovely rose-colored phone hangs on the wall in Studio A. Its purpose is no laughing matter either. This is the phone that’s used in case of any and all emergencies. If Alien Andre needs to contact his spaceship to be picked up before his show is through he will surely use this communication device. It’s a very special phone and you’ll be a lucky and special person if you’re the winner of this treasure. Winning bid: $90.00

 

#14: The Sh*t Shrine - When you’re Buzz the music director at WMSE, you basically get bombarded with not only music, but other rather interesting things. You see, a fair amount of bands try to make a strong first impression with Buzz by sending little trinkets and gifts along with their new release. While some of them are either clever or useful or both, other trinkets are…uh…hmmn…cheesy maybe? Possibly even lame? How about ridiculous? Check! Check! And Check! For every useful Badly Drawn Boy eraser, we get an imitation pile of monkey poop with a little note that says, “This stuff is the sh*t.” For every bottle of “Hot Tasty Fish Sauce” we get a pile of fake one million dollar bills with the singers stupid bald head obnoxiously printed on the front. And for every contact lens case, we get an unfunny white Styrofoam ball wearing a pair of cheap sunglass that serves absolutely no good purpose to anyone. Eight years in the making, the Sh*t Shrine can be yours for 366 days if you come in with the highest bid. Winning bid: $81.00

 

#15: "Pops" Krueger Framed Portrait - When contractors were constructing the upstairs of our building, they unearthed this little gem and we were thrilled. A party was immediately thrown, sparkling grape juice was served and we wasted no time in hanging this framed jewel upon the studio wall.

Well, who is “Pops” Krueger? No, seriously, who is “Pops” Krueger? None of us really knows. Well, truth is that only the really important people here know that he’s none other than William A. Krueger and his name graces the building where WMSE Studios is located on the MSOE Campus at 820 N. Milwaukee St.  If you win this auction, you will be proudly sponsoring our building’s namesake, and that’s pretty darn cool, right? Winning bid: $102.50