Fennel
From This is My Milwaukee
Fennel / Family Tree
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- The fennel is a recurring symbol in ThisIsMyMilwaukee materials/lore
- Residents of Milwaukee refer to the fennel as the "family tree"
- Children in the Jagoda Museum Center Activity Place color fennel drawings, and you can download a blank version for printing here
- When featured, the fennel is treated with reverence and seems to possess special powers
Family Trees
- The Fennel Bulbs were first referred to as "Family Trees" during a call with Mike Russo:
- Son, that's not a fennel, that's a family tree.[1]
- Phrase taken from the (alleged) Voltaire quote, "Plant your family tree in the soil of the arts," which appears in the promotional video and accompanies the image of hands planting a fennel in dirt
- Further phone calls with members of the Milwaukee Tourism Commission, emphasize that "they belong underground" [2] [3]
So I asked about other vegetable options and he said there were plenty, although if this was a roundabout way to ask about the "family trees", that they do NOT recommend eating them, as they belong underground. Also they are still exploring their sonic/psionic? capabilities. He said they're best left as they are, where they can function as defense mechanisms, although through a braintrust between Blackstar and MTC they're looking into using them as an alternative source of power for the city (since Go.D.S.E.E.D. failed to provide that).
Appearances
- 1:25 - Worker plants a fennel bulb in the ground
- 1:38 - In the Jagoda Museum Center Activity Place, coloring pages with depictions of fennel are visible on the walls
- 2:45 - A fist punches a fennel bulb while the narrator says "Review"
- 2:50 - Worker places a fennel bulb under a bench while the narrator says "Under"
- 6:03 - The fennel bulb coloring pages are shown hanging out of a trash bag
- 9:58 - Treasure Hunter M is shown standing above glowing fennel bulbs, which may be buried in the ground
- 10:08 - The lyric "Charming yasai" (charming vegetable) may be a reference to fennel
- 10:10 - The lyric "Exquisite ankoku" (exquisite darkness) may refer to the fennel belonging underground
- 10:14 - The lyrics "The flax seed blossom / Its oils rich and milky" may refer to the role of the fennel as the flax seed (see "Blackstar no Blackstar" section)
- 0:17- Worker carries a briefcase with the fennel image also found on the coloring book page attached to its side
- 0:23- Basketball Kid raises a fennel bulb in the air, apparently causing Worker's glasses to break
- Found on a piece of paper located during the New York drop
Blackstar no Blackstar
On Nov 21, 2008, IP address 212.54.24.198 edited the Wikipedia article about fennel, adding a section titled "Fennel in popular culture", with the text: "Featured prominently as the "Flax seed" in the Japanese anime "Blackstar no Blackstar"
