Cool Building Day will never die, but you can wear it out

Mark this wondrous day, and maybe win a shirt.

On November 24 of each year, we at Tone Madison observe Cool Building Day. This holiday commemorates a magical portent that first appeared on the same date in 2013: Megadeth founder Dave Mustaine looked out his hotel window in Madison while in town for a show. And lo, there did appear a cool building, which he earnestly pointed out on Twitter, maybe or maybe not realizing that this is obviously the Wisconsin Capitol building.

Eleven years later, the post is still up and intact. Even as Twitter’s fascist dickslap owner renders it increasingly unusable and odious, the Cool Building Day star hangs yet in the heavens above. (Hey, we are on Bluesky now and even made a Madison starter pack if you’re heading there!) Three Mustaines shall visit you this night, each of them probably sneering at you for getting all political and not appreciating fine wines.

Cool building in Madison, #Wisconsin out my hotel window. This is a fun college town! Can't wait for tonight! pic.twitter.com/08fcIpUJCc

— Dave Mustaine (@DaveMustaine) November 24, 2013

In fact, the miracle of this day has only grown more wondrous, for in the north, a humble craftsman has fashioned for us a Cool Building T-shirt. Chris Joutras, a formerly Madison-based musician who moved to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula a few years back, is selling it through his Kitschy Spirit label and record store. It riffs on the cover of Bad Brains’ self-titled 1982 album, because Capitol buildings. (We did not put him up to this.) Pre-orders are open until December 8. Rejoice, for Judy hath blessed us.

Tone Madison will be giving away two Cool Building shirts as part of our crucial year-end fundraising campaign. Through December 31, the national NewsMatch program and a group of generous local donors will be tripling the impact of one-time donations and matching new monthly donations for a full year. All those funds go directly toward powering our coverage of culture and politics in Madison—which simply doesn’t exist without reader support.

This year, we really want to encourage more people to become first-time donors. So if you value our work and haven’t donated before, here’s how to enter:

• Head to our Donate page.
• Set up a new monthly donation of $5 or more.
• Email me at scott@tonemadison.com to say you’re interested in a shirt!
• We’ll pick two winners by December 5. If you win, we’ll follow up to get your size and shipping address. 
• Await delivery of your wondrous new duds and feel great about supporting independent local media.

This will help us keep working hard on all sorts of in-depth reporting and commentary, plus keep us on our toes for our annual “oh shit we need a Cool Building Day post” freakout.

If you are not a first-time donor, we still very much appreciate your support, and still welcome any help you can give us to hit our fundraising goal. And don’t forget to join us on December 6 at Gamma Ray Bar for Tone Madison‘s 10th anniversary celebration. We’ve got a great lineup of music from Cult Of Lip, Holly And The Nice Lions, carisa, Avoidancepolicy, DJ Evan Woodward, and DJ Mu—and ticket sales also count toward our year-end fundraising match.

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A post shared by Kitschy Spirit Records (@kitschyspirit)