Ypsi's indie-pop darlings, Lightning Love, have just dropped their newest album, the Blond Album. You can check out the whole thing at their Bandcamp or on Spotify, whatever that is.
Lightning Love are kicking off their album release tour this evening at Woodruff's in Ypsi. The show starts at 10pm and I bet it's going to be really good.
Looks like the Free Skoolers are throwing a pretty sweet party tonight. Bands including Charlie Slick will be playing and there will even be a shadow puppet show from Patrick Elikns. Make sure you bring an extra t-shirt so you can put a sweet Free Skool stencil on it. The party is at the Basin, 124 Felch St., and starts at 5 pm.
This is probably one of my favorite ads from Bank of Ann Arbor's "Non-local banks" campaign. I especially like that it's on a mini-billboard.
Next up we have the music video for Bike Chase by Breezee One.
BREEZEE ONE - BIKE CHASE (Directed by GAREN.) from BREEZEE ONE on Vimeo.
Children, where are your helmets? If you're gonna drink and bike, you gotta wear your helmet.H/T Tim Chilcote for #1, EMW for #2
Check it out: the Google sidewalk-view bike was on campus yesterday. Looks like a pretty sweet job.
Check out these freshly repainted bike lanes on Miller Road. They're nice and sparkly for improved visibility at night. Now if only the'd fix the potholes in the eastbound bike lane.
Gentle readers, where would you like to see improvement of existing, or additional bike lanes in Ann Arbor?
3. Absinthe - Can we get serious about adding absinthe to our drinking culture? Detroit already knows how to hold its liquor. A nice absinthe bar would change the pace a bit, and give us a new perspective on the Motor City. If you thought the Nain Rouge was a trip, imagine chasing the Green Fairy up and down Woodward Avenue.
Did you find a wallet with lots of cash near Liberty and Ashley? I like how the sign just ends with "be awesome."
The nights are getting cooler. The students are back. Summer is winding down and fall is right around the corner. The end of summer means the end of the Sonic Lunch concert series. Theo Katzman is playing for the final show tomorrow, bringing this awesome concert series to a close. Can't wait to see the lineup for next year.
Looks like someone is excited for the start of the football season.
The second comes from Pabbles123:
Enjoy.
Water Hill resident, Tom Phillips, wants to install a community bike repair stand in Ann Arbor. He submitted the idea to PNC Bank's Neighborhood Wishlist. PNC liked the idea so now if it gets a total of votes, PNC will kick in $500! With just 9 days left, the bike repair stand has 286 votes to go. Gentle readers, I think we can make this happen. Full disclosure: the voting is on Facebook so you give PNC access to all your basic (public) information in exchange for the ability to vote. Anyway, I know there have been times when I have been commuting to work and realized my bike could use a little air or a slight adjustment here or there. One of these community repair stands sounds like just the thing to take care of that.
I like this sweet octopus sculpture by RoboTodd at CLX's LePop Gallery. Hope have more pop-up events this fall.
Grab your swimsuit and your flip-flops because the Beach Bang! is tonight. I hear they are filling the Blind Pig with sand and thousands of real live jellyfish. But that might just be a rumor I made up right now. Doors area at 9:30, 21+ $8, 18-21 $11.
Ghostly International presents Matthew Shlian from Ghostly International on Vimeo.
Check out this sick video of paper folder, Matthew Shlian, from Ghostly International.Punk week died, in large part due to greater than average influx of traveling/krusty kids in 2010 for Punk Week IX. "Too many people spread the word to the traveling kids and krusty kids that Ann Arbor was a chill place," according to Joe. The summer visitors had less at stake in the community and some of them had a very different idea of what Punk week was all about. All this lead to the unfortunate events of Punk Week XI, the "Worst Punk Week Ever."
Beyond the arrests, the traveling kids just seemed to have different takes on the other events at punk week. "The original idea behind the 'Beautify a Bridge' project was to actually paint something nice on the ugly railroad bridges," explained Joe, "not to make the bridges uglier with more bad graffiti." Sure it was technically illegal, but the local punks didn't think folks around town would mind if they covered up lots of the tagging on the bridges. In the end, a lot of the railroad bridges ended up with bad graffiti covering other bad graffiti.
After Punk Week IX, many of Ann Arbor's native punks were unsure if they wanted to continue the tradition. That combined with many influential Punk Week participants moving out of town brings us to where we are today. Punk Week, gentle readers, is over.Photo by A. W. Warner.
In a way though, the spirit of Punk Week, lives on. "People forget about the D.I.Y. aspect of it," says Joe. "Punk Week wasn't just about getting drunk and partying with your friends, there were also classes and workshops like gardening and crafting with leather." In a way Punk Week lives on through D.I.Y. fests, the Free Skool, and other teach-ins in the area.
MI-DH and Red Belly Boards are sponsoring Average Speed Fest, a downhill skateboarding race and fundraiser for the Skate Park. There will even be a Slide Jam. I just YouTubed "Slide Jam" and I still have no idea what it is so I think that makes me old. Anyway from the Eventzilla page:
The SE MI Festival of Average Speed is a downhill race in Ann Arbor Charter Township, MI set up to be a fundraiser for the Ann Arbor Skatepark. This event is a downhill race on a hill with speeds up to 35 mph maximum. This is a wonderful event for beginners and experts alike. After the races will be a slide jam.Sounds pretty cool.This event will be very spectator friendly and you are encouraged to show up even if you do not downhill or skate at all. There will be food vendors and other retailers. Ultimately this is meant to spread awareness and raise money for the skate park so come out and show some support! Donations are welcomed and encouraged.
The race format is still being hashed out, but it will be setup to allow as many runs as possible for everyone. 4 person heats will be used. Practice runs will be available prior to the beginning of race heats. Entry fee will be $15. The course will have a kick limit and involves dropping into a right-left-right chicane into a relatively hard lefty. It goes uphill for a moment and drops into a right leaner and a left leaner over some questionable pavement which has only a couple good lines. You then go into a right leaner and drop into a culdesac that you must turn right then hook a left 90º on the edge of traction to the finish line.
HELMETS AND GLOVES ARE REQUIRED, if you don't have these items on race day you won't be racing.
who played SISTER RAY at the 8 ball on sunday?Moral of the story, if you want to make friends at 8 Ball, play Velvet Underground. At least that's what Craigsist says.Date: 2012-08-21, 12:14AM EDT
jules thought morgan played it
and morgan thought jules played it
and i just thought it was cool because it was on and i was baked
thank you who ever you are
A somewhat less raucous Punk Week XI concluded last night with the traditional Shopping Cart Race. Nice to see things back to normal after The Worst Punk Week Ever in 2010 and a rather lackluster Punk Week in 2011.
Photo courtesy of Dominic Vikram Bastian
UPDATE: This post is not entirely correct. For more accurate information about Punk Week check out this new article.
I've really liked Black Jake and the Carnies ever since I saw them at Bluegrass Night back in summer 2009. I haven't been able to see the nearly as much as I would have liked since then, so I'm pretty psyched that they are playing tomorrow at Sonic Lunch. Hopefully I'll see you there.
Do you love Ypsi's Brick Dick? Do you want to be in a Pure Michigan video? If you answered "Yes!" to both those questions, today just might be your lucky day. Status Creative will be filming parts of a Pure Michigan ad today in Ann Arbor and Ypsi. The Ypsi portion will feature a flashmob style scene and needs public participation. From the Com:
In a flash-mob-type setting, the Ypsilanti portion of the video will be filmed at the water tower on Wednesday. Participants should arrive at 2:30 p.m. and filming will take place at 3:20 p.m. and wrap up around 4 p.m.Sounds like a great opprotunity for you to show off your love for the area's most beloved brick phallus.
Ann Arbor certainly is no Shelby Township.
I roll through a red light if and only if no pedestrian is in the crosswalk and no car is in the intersection — that is, if it will not endanger myself or anybody else. To put it another way, I treat red lights and stop signs as if they were yield signs. A fundamental concern of ethics is the effect of our actions on others. My actions harm no one. This moral reasoning may not sway the police officer writing me a ticket, but it would pass the test of Kant’s categorical imperative: I think all cyclists could — and should — ride like me.My style of biking is very similar to Randy's. That is, I tend to roll stops when there is no other vehicle or pedestrian traffic present. Sometimes though, I worry that my actions contribute to the view of cyclists as crazy people who demand equal access to the road and then refuse to follow traffic rules. Writing for ChicagoNow.com, Brent Cohrs, presents a counter point to Randy's NYTimes OpEd. In his piece, What Can Cyclists Do About Our "Rogue" Element?, Brent wonders what responsible cyclists can do about the few rotten apples that besmirch our good name.
Fellow cyclists, it appears we have a serious perception problem in the city of Chicago.Gentle readers, what do you think? Is it OK to for cyclists to treat stop signs like yield signs? How can cyclists counter our negative image as self-absorbed anarchic tree-huggers?Despite the efforts of Transportation Secretary Gabe Klein, the Active Transportation Alliance, the chainlink, Grid Chicago, and other pro-cycling advocates, certain careless “cyclists” among us threaten the goodwill everyone else has fought so hard to garner. While being lumped together and stereotyped is not fair for reasons too numerous to list, it is a perception problem that we will need to address sooner rather than later.
It is difficult to wage a campaign for the right to share the road safely when some riders we seek to protect exhibit no regard for their own safety or the safety of others.
I am probably more excited than I ought to be about the Red Dawn remake coming out this fall. I don't know if the fact that it was filmed in and around Detroit makes up for how kind of racist it looks.
First: more water fountains. Ann Arbor has too few water fountains, especially along the border to border trail.
Second: Indoor bike racks. How cool is this? Seriously.
Hat tip: Ann Arbor Chronicle
I've been digging Brewery Vivant a lot lately. I'm glad to see that the market for microbreweries is not saturated.
Sometimes we get spam in our Damn Arbor Account. If you'd like to check out the listed college and career web resources for prospective students on Kickball is the New Grassroots, go ahead.
Noticed a spike in traffic today coming from reddit.com/r/annarbor. Glad to see the Redditors are liking us. Hate to break it to you rexroof, though I'm not above shameless self promotion, I have yet to take the plunge into the redditverse.
Damn Arbor reader, Dan Hirschman, sent in the above picture and the following:
Saw this and thought it might be of interest. On the one hand, now we can stop wondering how White Market stayed in business for so long. On the other, it's one more local store closing on State St.
Brew for the River is a series of fundraisers for the Huron River Watershed Council sponsored by local breweries. Tonight, the second annual Brew for the River kicks off at Wolverine State Brewing Co. from 5:00 - 7:30:
Brewer Oliver Roberts is premiering HONEY CREEK, kicking off the event with a bang. Also, don’t forget to pick up your Brew for the River Passport for $5 at Wolverine (Get all five stamps and you’ll be entered to win the Grand Prize).
The Appleseed Collective are having a CD release party tomorrow night at the Ark. Tickets are $15.
In this Farm-to-Glass cocktail class we'll use a variety of fresh ingredients straight from the Farmer's Market, like cucumbers, tomatoes, fresh herbs, berries, and other fruit. You'll also learn about making your own infused spirits and shrubs as ways of preserving the tastes of summer for later drinking pleasure.Sounds pretty tasty.Come join the fun pm August 13 at 7:30 pm. The class is $35 and you can reserve your space here.
Gentle Readers, pleases vote today. If you wear your "I Voted" sticker to the Lunch Room, you will get a free cookie. That's pretty great. You can also follow the Ann Arbor Chronicle's live blog of the election here.
Hey kids! Remember there is an election tomorrow. The Ann Arbor Chronicle has a good rundown of the race. Remember to vote for Drain Commissioner.
Flint, glorious Flint. I think I understood their grief and what it was that attracted them so to this ridiculous mayhem. They certainly weren't here as spectators of sport, for this 'Toughman Contest' could hardly qualify as anything more than organized barbarism. I believed they were all here to commit some kind of weird personal exorcism. The toughmen were just convenient foils for the true meat-grinders of the world: the landlords, the foremen, the cops, the judges, the nagging spouse, the fools in charge. Violence as one glorious teething ring for the benumbed and trampled masses.
I was never going to know this Flint, if it still exists. If it ever existed. I am in this piece, but I schmooze with "the cops, the judges," and I'll soon be "the nagging spouse." I think I got flavors of Hamper's world from the people I met here, but they were glimpses into a place I'll never understand, and it's not what I'll remember about my time in Flint. And if, in the future, I too see Flint as a metaphor, it won't be of barbarism. Maybe, approximately, it will be of community. Of independence, at the same time. I will remember a small group of dedicated people trying to carve out a functioning city on their own terms.
Flint, with all of its automotive start-ups and shutdowns. All the uncertainty and paranoia and idle tension. It wasn't so strange. It was a real wonder we weren't all being fitted for loinclothes and nose bones. Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio, our lonely ratpack wants to KICK YOUR SAGGIN', COFFEE-BREWIN' ASS!
Check out the hott lug work on on this sweet Rivendell Bicycle Works Samuel H. Hillborne. Hot lugs on a hot bike.
Tomorrow from noon till 5pm, the Blind Pig hosts the Local Bazaar. The event features local artists, vintage vendors, and a custom bloody mary bar! How sweet is that?
It looks like fun. But is it essentially just surfing when there are no waves? Has anyone paddleboarded at Argo yet? Can you take the boards down the cascades? That would be pretty rad.
Does this mean that Charlize Theron will be spinning the tunes to keep you grooving all night long? Probably not. I do love the Arrested Development reference though.
On a related note, has anyone been to Live now that it is under new management? How does it compare to the old Live at PJ's?
Crepes Galore! Basil, tomato & mozzarella cheese crepes served with a side of bacon and summer salad mix OR Berry & farm cheese crepe with whipped cream, served with a side of bacon.Breakfast is served at Selma Cafe (722 Soule Boulevard) from 6:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
EJ and I rode our bikes to the Library last night to pick up some books. I was hoping to explore the underbelly of the Library Lot a little but was confronted with the above, seemingly contradictory messages. "Public Parking Available" and a "No Parking" barricade? How long until I can ride my bike down under the surface of Ann Arbor?
To save herself from her chronically obsessive thoughts, Nicky converts them into sounds so she can fall asleep to the sound of rain. This works until, during a bout of crippling social anxiety at college, a thought about her mother turns into a vicious storm. Nicky outruns the storm all the way home, where she returns to her old job at the Container Store and to Mom, who hasn’t left the apartment in five years. While searching for self-help books for her mother at the last Border’s Bookstore on the planet, she meets Borders Guy, the last Border’s employee on the planet, who introduces her to the mysterious Aleph, a Borges-inspired point of overwhelming omniscience he guards in the back of the store. In a chain of self-help, Nicky, her mom, and Border’s Guy smash down the walls that enclose their lives.Whoa. Sounds pretty crazy. The reading, which is co-sponsored by the Ypsilanti District Library, will take place on Thursday, August 2 at 8 pm at the Mix Studio Theater, 130 W. Michigan Ave. in Ypsilanti, MI, 48197. Admission is pay-what-you-can for all readings.
Ann Arbor's very own Macpodz will be rocking Sonic Lunch today.
Just for giggles, here's the another video of Mayer Hawthorne preforming at last week's Sonic Lunch:
Incase you can't tell, I'm really enjoying this concert series.
Punk WeekAfter 2010's "worst Punk Week ever," is the event over for good?
R.I.P(Please come back)
