Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The Legend of The Dogman

EJ sent me a link to an article on The Awl, A Guide to the Spooky Scary Secret Monsters of Every State, which reminded me I should probably post something about Michigan's very own monster: the Dogman. The song on the YouTube video does a pretty good job explaining it.

Haunted house party in Ypsi

Match by Match are hosting a haunted house party tonight in Ypsi. The party features live music, and a Nightmare Before Christmas sing-along. You can find out more on facebook. The event is BYOB and you have to email mxmmanor@gmail.com to get the Haunted Manor's address. Spooky.

Halloween super-post

Happy Halloween gentle readers. I've got a spooktacular post for all of you. First here are two accounts of spooky goings-on in Ann Arbor. From Michigan Hauntings: Ann Arbor:
Old white house off the corner of Ann St. and S. Division. My mother was wallpapering and redesigning the place when her and her partner heard noises and banging coming from the attic. My mother opened the attic door and there was a huge rush of cold stale air while no windows or doors were open. It sounded like things were being broken, dropped, and dragged up there. Very erie and odd place to be.
Here's a video of spooky shadows in Forest Hills Cemetery. Lots of ghost hunters believe Forest Hills is haunted. I've found some videos of strange electromagnetic readings there on Youtube, but I was unable to track them down for this post.

Finally here are two non-Ann Arbor related items. If you are looking for a scary little comic, I highly recommend reading Emily Carroll's "His Face All Red." It is incredibly well done and delightfully dark. If you are looking for something a little lighter, look no further than Boing Boing's 2012 Candy Hierarchy.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Damn Arbor voting guide: State proposals and the Federal Election

Gentle Readers, there's an election just a week from today. Some friends have asked for a voting guide so this is my attempt at that. In general, I'm going to try to stay as apolitical as possible and just provide information.

If you know your county, city/township/village, ward and precinct you should take a gander at a sample ballot on the Secretary of State's website.

Let's start by looking at the proposal part of the ballot, even though it will be at the end. Voters in the State of Michigan will be faced with six statewide proposals. One a referendum on the Emergency Manager Law (Public Act 4) and five proposals to amend the Michigan Constitution. Here are the proposals with links to the Michigan Radio descriptions of the proposals:

  • Proposal 1 in Michigan: Emergency Manager Law Referendum
  • Proposal 2 in Michigan: Collective Bargaining
  • Proposal 3 in Michigan: Renewable Electricity Standard
  • Proposal 4 in Michigan: Home Health Care Workers
  • Proposal 5 in Michigan: Tax Hike Supermajority
  • Proposal 6 in Michigan: The Bridge Vote
  • Bicycle benefits

    Saw this sign outside ABC. Seems like it could be a good deal, especially in the summer. I like that they coerce helmet wearing.

    Michigan Green Party

    Is this the Michigan Green Party's platform? Pot and free tuition? Or is this some sort of false flag operation?

    Monday, October 29, 2012

    Surfs up!

    Sandy is having an impact close to home. The hurricane is stirring up chop on the Great Lakes. The National Weather Service is forecasting huge waves on Lake Michigan tonight. This could be a boon for Michigan's surfers. When I was a kid up north with my family, we found a surfboard washed up on the beach on northern Lake Huron. We always wondered where it had come from. Turns out there is a small but dedicated group of surfers in Michigan. Their story is chronicled in Unsalted, the authoritative documentary on Great Lakes Surfing.

    An obligatory post on Sandy

    Good news gentle readers, well at least those of you who do not reside on the Eastern Seaboard. I just checked in with NOAA and it looks like Michigan will be spared any tropical storm force winds. Our neighbors to the east in Chatham-Kent, ON may not be so lucky: they have a 5% chance of tropical storm force winds in the next 120 hours. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

    Here's a trivia question for you gentle readers: when was the last time Michigan was hit by a tropical storm or hurricane? Also, in honor of Hurricane Sandy, here's Polaris (AKA the Pete and Pete house band) playing their hit song "Hey Sandy" (AKA the Pete and Pete theme song). Enjoy:

    Sunday, October 28, 2012

    Angry birds

    Angry Birds inspired sticker are?

    Saturday, October 27, 2012

    Maple

    Apparently there is a new clothing store on E Liberty called Maple. I'm not sure if I should shop there or not.

    Friday, October 26, 2012

    U of M commemorating 50th anniversary of the Point Huron Statement

    There are a series of events next week at U of M commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Students for a Democratic Society's Port Huron Statement. The events are all free, but registration is recommended. They include a panel discussion about the Arab Spring and a keynote address by Tommy Hayden on the 1st of November and a student session on the Relevance of the 1960s New Left to Today's Movements on the second.

    Halloween Bang! tomorrow

    Looks like the Non-local Banker will be at the Halloween Bang! tomorrow. Remember kids, costumes are mandatory. Gotta respect that.

    What is this

    Found this under the windshield wiper on my lab's van. What does it mean?

    Thursday, October 25, 2012

    Woyzeck, a review

    Things are not going well for Franz Woyzeck. The young solider is in love with Marie, a woman from the provincial German town where he is stationed. Marie and Franz' relationship has produced a child that was not born with the blessings of the Church. In order to earn extra money to support his child, Franz does odd jobs. He works for his captain who lectures him about the importance of morality. He has been paid to eat only peas for several weeks as part of a doctor's experiment. Franz is beginning to loose his vision, he is feeling weak. His dreams are haunted and he is starting to hear voices. On top of it all, Marie has grown tired of Franz and has turned her attention towards a handsome drum major. Franz Woyzeck is starting to lose it.

    14,755 words

    An article on the Chronicle yesterday, Transportation Dominates Council Meeting, weighs in at an impressive 14,755 words. Is this a record?

    Hat tip: Sam Firke.

    Wednesday, October 24, 2012

    Giant spider on the Diag?

    Spotted this giant spider web on the Diag yesterday. Looks like something is trying to eat those fat Diag squirrels.

    Maize and blue bike

    When showing their school pride through their bicycle, some U of M students op for the subtle choice: a blue frame with yellow bar tape. Others just spray paint their entire bike blue and yellow.

    Tuesday, October 23, 2012

    Cartoon cat graffiti

    Someone's added several more panels to the cartoon cat graffiti on the Church Street Structure. To see how it ends, click through the jump.

    These colors don't run

    An update on last month's post about the beer can privacy screen. Apparently it's actually Old Glory made entirely out of beer cans. The white stripes are Natty Light cans. The red ones are Budweiser and the blue is made with Bud Light cans.

    Missed Connection: Hit and Run

    Were you driving on Jackson Ave. on Sunday? Did you hit a cyclist and drive off? If you did, apparently their friends are pretty pissed off. Via Craigslist's Missed Connections:
    Hit and run on Jackson Ave (west ann arbor)

    Date: 2012-10-21, 11:32PM EDT

    To the lady in the red car that hit and run my friend on his bicycle this afternoon on Jackson Avenue, fuck you. You actually backed up around him to flee the scene, you fucking coward. He was on his way to work at an upscale restaurant to go cook food for senseless yuppies like yourself. Well, you broke his ankle, and he doesn't have health insurance. I hope you feel really good about taking off without making sure he was ok and apologizing, like any decent person with a modicum of kindness or remorse would have done. Hopefully karma is real and some dumbwit smashes into you or your loved one, crippling you for the rest of your life without taking any responsibility for it.

    P.S if anyone actually saw this happen and has any information about this person, please respond to this ad.

    Not cool.

    Monday, October 22, 2012

    Humans of Ann Arbor

    Inspired by Humans of New York, Humans of Ann Arbor is a pretty cool FaceBook page that features some great portraits of folks around town. Each picture has a little story about what the subject(s) were doing at the moment. It's definitely worth checking out.

    Hat Tip: DK

    Michigan 4th worst state for gender-based income inequality

    Via Michigan Radio: Working women in Michigan earn only 62 cents pre dollar earned by their male counterparts according to Slate's mapping of 2010 census data.

    Here in Washtenaw county, things are slightly better than the state average at 67 cents per dollar but still lower than the national average of 72 cents per dollar. Houghton and Oscoda counties are the best and worst counties in the state where women earn 84 and 44 cents per dollar men earn, respectively.

    Sunday, October 21, 2012

    Trumpeter swans making a comeback

    Trumpeter Swans Having Fun! from Joe Liba on Vimeo.

    I've been seeing a lot more of the native trumpeter swan this fall and fewer of the invasive mute swans. Nice to see the native population making a comeback. The easiest way to tell the two swan species apart is that the mute swans have a large orange or yellow section on their bills, while the trumpeter swans have just back bills. Also, the trumpeter swans honk while in flight.

    Saturday, October 20, 2012

    Online dating in Ann Arbor versus DC

    This is not OK, Cupid chronicles a recent U of M Law School grad's adventures on every quirky twenty-something's favorite online dating site: OKCupid. A recent post compares the online dating scenes in Ann Arbor and our nation's capital thusly:

    Now, Ann Arbor was truly a great source of material (between the uber-pretentious PhD students, asshole business school students, socially awkward google employees, and the randoms from the surrounding area) so I questioned whether DC could possibly live up to it. As will you come to learn DC has not only met every expectation but exceeded them. And how. Just to whet your appetite, I will say that I feel extremely confident in asserting that there is no other city in the world which contains as many profiles per capita in which the answer to the "What are you doing with your life?" question, contains some variation of, "saving the world." I'd estimate that about a third of the male online dating population in DC is saving the world (although some are only doing it it ironically). It's actually pretty remarkable, and I hope makes you feel a lot better about the future of our world to know there are so many men in their late 20s and early 30s that are out there saving it, and still even have time to date online in their off-time.

    I guess this is a good thing, right?

    Woyzeck at the New Theater Project

    Woyzeck is a play by German playwright Georg Büchner. Left unfinished at the time of his untimely death, various authors have created their own endings for the play over the past century. Seriously, everyone from Werner Herzog to Tom Waits has taken a stab at it. Woyzeck tells the story of a young german solider stationed in a small rural town who earns extra money from his captain doing odd jobs. Oh yes, there is also a bizarre love triangle and a sinister doctor experimenting on folks. Ypsi's New Theater Project has produced their own adaptation of the play that will take the audience on a journey through poor Franz Woyzeck's madness and the creepy labyrinth that is the basement of their historic theater. Just in time for Halloween.

    The show opened on the 18th and runs through November 5th. Performances are at 8pm and 930pm on Thursdays through Sundays with a special performance on Halloween. Tickets are available online; students/industry cost $10.00 ($11.34 w/service fee) and grown-ups cost $15.00 ($16.52 w/service fee). Folks, if you are thinking about going to see this show, you should book your tickets soon: audience size for performances is limited to just 10. EJ and I are checking it out tomorrow night and will let you know if it's too scary.

    Friday, October 19, 2012

    A special message from Dave Brandon and Laura Blake Jones

    The email entitled "Going to the Big House on Saturday?" is probably the best email I have ever received from U of M. In it Athletic Director Dave Brandon and Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Laura Blake Jones remind students to have fun at the Big House tomorrow, cheer loudly and maintain a BAC of less than 0.06%. Their guide to fun and safety is really great too:

    "It also is important to remember the following tips to help minimize risk and maximize fun.

    What to do:

    Be considerate of neighbors.
    Monitor how much people are drinking.
    Control the noise level.
    Be respectful of the police.
    Leave your drinks behind when you leave a party.
    Use bathrooms, not bushes.
    Use trash containers, not the ground.
    Make sure those under 21 are not drinking.
    Things not to do:

    Do not walk in the streets with open alcohol.
    Do not allow drunk people to drive.
    Do not play music, etc. loudly between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m."
    You hear that kids? Dave Brandon and Laura Blake Jones are sick of you peeing in their bushes. No word yet on if it's OK to pee on trees.

    Lena: a review

    Last night I had the privilege to attend a press event at Lena. I was really impressed. Origionally when I had heard Cafe Habana was turning into Lena, I was a little disappointed. I really liked their areapas. Nevertheless, I had heard good things from friends who had gone to Lena and I was excited to give it a try. In short: it was awesome, every aspect was better than I could have hoped. Here's a play by play:

    Bill's Beer Garden: a review in pictures

    There was a great turnout last night for the opening of Bill's Beer Garden. The space (the parking lot of Downtown Home and Garden) looked great and there was a nice festive atmosphere. It's going to have great synergy with Mark's Carts. How many times have you wished you had a nice cold one to wash down your bahn mi? Thanks to Bill's Beer Garden, your prayers have been answered.

    Some of my compatriots mentioned that it was strange to be opening a beer garden with winter just around the corner. And while the timing of the opening might seem a little odd, I bet it is going to be packed tomorrow. I think Bill's is a great addition to the outdoor drinking scene in Ann Arbor. Before, if you wanted to stand around in public on the west side of town and drink, you pretty much had to brown bag it.

    Thursday, October 18, 2012

    Moon Test Ride

    Moon Test Ride - Green Road 1919, Ann Arbor, MI, USA, Oct 13, 2012 from Assocreation on Vimeo.

    I stumbled upon this strange video on Vimeo. I don't know what it is, but I like it. It's from Assocreation, an artist collective based in Ann Arbor and Vienna. From their Vimeo profile:

    Founded in 1997 in Vienna. Assocreation deals with networks and their transitions to tangible realities. Its material is the ground under our feet, which it manipulates and networks in order to make it palpable.
    Cryptic.

    Pop-up quartet performance tomorrow

    Looks like tomorrow is shaping up to be a great day for pop-up events. In addition to Sweet Tooth at LePop, The Chiara String Quartet will be playing two pop-up shows in the vacant storefront at 314 S. Fourth Ave. University of Nebraska's Quartet-in-residence has been in town for the last few days working with the University Musical Society on a mission to provide accessible music. Tomorrow evening's pop-up event is the culmination of the Quartet's time here. The concert starts at 8pm and is free.

    Wednesday, October 17, 2012

    Pencil Paparazzi: LeVar Burton edition

    THE LeVar Burton was in Ann Arbor yesterday to give a guest lecture in his daughter's film studies class. While in town he visited Ashley's, the Dawn Treader and the Shapiro Library. I was unable to ambush him and get any pictures so I was hoping for your help gentle readers. Back in the day, MarkMaynard.Com had a series of posts entitled "Pencil Paparazzi" that featured cartoonish drawings of celebrities in the Ypsi-Arbor area. I'm hoping that some of you would be willing to sketch some pictures of Mr. Burton having fun in Ann Arbor. Don't worry if you didn't actually see him. Let your imagination run wild. You can send in your pictures to damn.arbor@gmail.com if you like and we will post a gallery of LeVar Burton cartoons.

    Really Free Market, this Friday

    The Really Free Market is coming back to Dana this Friday. Though in past semesters, it has had mostly women's clothes, once I found a hilarious "humping dog USB drive" and a Magic Eye book.

    Tall Blond Girl

    In Pat Stansik's latest music video, he explains why he is attracted to tall blond women: so their potential children will excel at athletics, if they wish to play.

    Tuesday, October 16, 2012

    Sweet Tooth at LePop

    School's back in session and that means it's time for a new show at Charlie LaCroix LePop Gallery. The show features the artwork of College for Creative Studies graduate, Michelle Tanguay. In her artwork, Michelle, explores her unhealthy love of candy.

    They opening reception for the show is this Friday and will feature a variety of refreshments and sweets to compliment a night of art and entertainment by Detroit’s own Girls Gone Vinyl.

    If this is anything like past Charlie LaCroix events, it should be a super awesome time.

    Monday, October 15, 2012

    Pre-Gaming with Pat: drunk parents edition

    The most recent episode of Pat Stansik's hit webseries asks the implicate question, "how old is too old to pre-game?" The answer folks, is 59.

    Bill's Beer Garden opening this Thursday

    At long last, Bill's Beer Garden is opening. Looks like they'll have 10 local beers on tap for the grand opening this Thursday Afternoon. Will we see you there? I hope so.

    Sunday, October 14, 2012

    Craigslist introduces map view

    Craigslist is testing a new feature that lets users look at apartment listings on a map. Ann Arbor is one of the three test cities where this feature is available, along with LA and San Fran. I can't wait till they add this feature to Missed Connections so you can easily find the best places to share flirty glances with the strangers you walk past.

    Questions about proposal 1: the library bond issue

    On our November ballot, voters within the Ann Arbor Library District will be faced with $65 million bond proposal for a new downtown library. The 30 year bond is projected to cost anywhere from $86.49 to $130 million with financing (See UPDATE). The bond will cost taxpayers 0.56 mils which is $56/year for a home with a taxable value of $200,000. Currently, there is one group supporting the bond proposal and three (!?!) groups that are against the proposal. At this time I am undecided on the issue. I think the pro-bond group makes some convincing arguments about the need for upgrades in the Downtown Library. On the other hand, I'm not sure it's better to demolish the current building and start from scratch rather than doing an extensive renovation. I guess, before voting, I'd really like to see a series of different proposals with the costs and benefits of each laid out clearly.

    Here are a series of questions I have for both the pro-bond and anti-bond camp and I invite members of all groups involved to answer them, that is, if you read Damn Arbor.

    For the Pro Proposal 1 Camp--Our New Downtown Library:

    What are the specific upgrades the library needs?

    Why why do the upgrades necessitate building a new building? Why can't we just renovate the existing building?

    What does the $65 million get us? What is the plan, or vision? Why wouldn't say, $45 million work?

    What will happen to the current library, and the services it provides, while the new building is being built?

    What will be the long term change in operating expense due to upgraded mechanical systems?

    What are the risks to the community if this bond proposal doesn't pass?

    What are the risks to the community if this bond proposal passes?

    What is your vision for the future of the Library?

    For the anti-proposal 1 camp: Protect our libraries, Save the Library and the unfortunately named Love our Library (LOL):

    How do you think the Library could best address its current deficiencies?

    Would you support a bond proposal that would support a library renovation?

    What are the risks to the community if this bond proposal doesn't pass?

    What are the risks to the community if this bond proposal passes?

    So yeah, if folks would like to address these questions in the comments section, I'd really appreciate it.

    UPDATE--3:31 PM: Peter Baker has informed me that the $130 Million price tag for the 30 year bond repayment is a number that opponents of the bond proposal have been throwing around and that it reflects an interest rate of 5.25%. The pro-bond group says current municipal bond rates are 2-3%. The total cost for the bond at 2% would be $86.49 million. At 3% it would be $98.66 million. In fact, at 5.25% it would be just $129.22 million.

    Saturday, October 13, 2012

    The spirit of Ann Arbor

    The Spirit of Ann Arbor from Marcin Szczepanski on Vimeo.

    Here's a pretty cool little video that has been making the rounds on the internet.

    Friday, October 12, 2012

    Old film from German Park unearthed



    Terri Sarris, who teaches film and television production at the University of Michigan, recently unearthed an old film from German Park. Embedding has been disabled but you can check it out over on her

    Mapping Ann Arbor's neighborhoods

    Where the hood, where the hood, where the hood at? -Earl "DMX" Simmons, Where the Hood At?
    As you may know I have had a casual interest in naming Ann Arbor's neighborhoods and microhoods. I'm pleased to let you know that I have now taken the next step and begun mapping Ann Arbor's various 'hoods with Google Map Maker. This move was inspired by the better support for integrated maps on the new ArborWiki.
    Gentle readers, I need your help with this. There are some neighborhoods and microhoods in desperate need of names. Also, apparently my neighborhood names need to be approved by other Mapmakers and so far, Rob T., has found insufficient evidence for my newly created "Arborview Neighborhood."
    What do you think makes a good neighborhood name? It seems like good neighborhoods are named after a prominent physical feature--a park, a road, a building--or convey some of the history of the place. I think these two areas are in desperate need of neighborhood names and would welcome any suggestions:
    The neighborhood bounded by Miller, Newport, Brooks and Sunset.
    The neighborhood east of Kerrytown and west of the Medical Campus.
    Please feel free to nominate more neighborhoods to be named in the comments.


    Thursday, October 11, 2012

    Best local YouTube channel: AmtrakBoys

    Since joining YouTube in 2009, AmtrakBoys has posted 576 videos of trains in and around the Ann Arbor area. Talk about dedication.

    Cartoon cat graffiti

    Spotted this little cartoon on a brick on the Church Street Structure. I think it'd be interesting to use bricks all over the city as panels for a cartoon. You could make it a scavenger hunt to put the whole story together.

    Wednesday, October 10, 2012

    J. C. on Medicinal Marijuana

    Pangea Piercing's J. C. offers this critique of the current medical marijuana industry.

    Tuesday, October 9, 2012

    That's not OK: bike lock edition

    Look: it's not OK to just lock your bike to itself. If you do that, someone can pick it up and take it back to their house to free from the lock at their leisure. You have to lock your bike to something sturdy.

    Bike commute

    I managed to get out of the house a few minutes earlier than normal this morning. There was a good group of cyclists riding up Washington. It felt pretty great being part of a group of bike commuters instead of just a solitary bike. I guess I should try to get to work on time more often.

    Monday, October 8, 2012

    Cleaning up

    Looks like there's a pretty intensive cleanup of soil contamination at the old MichCon Gas Manufacturing Plant down by the Amtrak station.

    Sunday, October 7, 2012

    Easy Star All-Stars Tuesday at the Blind Pig

    One of the real treats of running a blog is that from time to time, I receive great new music in my inbox. That's how I found out about Easy Star All-Stars' new album Thrillah, a reggae tribute to The King of Pop's masterpiece. The All-Stars are the musical collective behind Easy Star Records' hugely successful line of reggae tribute albums including Dub Side of the Moon, Radiodread, and Easy Star's Lonely Hearts Dub Band. I don't think it's possible to listen to this music without having it bring a smile to your face. Check it out:

    You can also download a sample song from the album, Human Nature.

    The All-Stars are currently on tour to promote the album and they are stopping at the Blind Pig on Tuesday to play a show with the Aggrolites. Tickets are $18 if you buy them at the Pig or $20.84 online for the convenience of internet shopping. Doors open at 8 pm for this all ages show.

    Saturday, October 6, 2012

    DIY Fest today

    The Ann Arbor Free Skool's DIY Fest is today at 214 Charles St. Music starts at 1, workshops are at 2.

    Friday, October 5, 2012

    Ruuude

    From The New Yorker:

    The title of Lisa D'Amour's sharp, satisfying comedy "Detroit" (well directed by Anne Kauffman, at Playwrights Horizons) refers not to the city but to the state of collapse that it embodies.
    I have one thing to say to that:

     
    Luckily John Lahr, the reviewer, brings it home at the end: "The suburbs once personified the American dream. A dream, 'Detroit' seems to be saying, is something you may be forced to wake up from."

    Bonnie Jo Campbell back in Ann Arbor

    The amazing Bonnie Jo Campbell will be back in Ann Arbor tomorrow for the State of the Book Symposium at Rackham. Back in September, EJ and I had a chance to meet BJC at the Kerrytown BookFest. She was super cool and a blast to talk to then she went on and moderated this awesome panel discussion on New Women's Voices in Fiction. Swoon. If you like Michigan Fiction, you'll probably love the State of the Book. Dave Eggers will be there too, but he's no BJC.

    Thursday, October 4, 2012

    Need for speed

    I love that this little bike has a speedometer that goes up to 50 mph.

    ArborWiki gets a facelift

    Check it out folks, ArborWiki has a slick new front page. Over on his blog, Ed Vielmetti has an explanation about the migration from the Mediawiki to Localwiki platform. So what are you waiting for gentle readers? Start adding and editing pages.

    Wednesday, October 3, 2012

    That's not OK

    Yesterday I saw two young men riding mopeds across the Diag. I snapped a picture because I was going to write a long rant about how it's not OK to treat your moped like a bicycle. Fortunately as the bandits exited the Diag onto south State, they were stopped by a U of M Police Office.

    And they say there's never a cop when you need one.

    Tuesday, October 2, 2012

    Free Food: now!

    The Lunch Room is dishing out free food right now! It's a promotional event for Rocket Fuel, a Redwood Shores, California based advertising company, that's looking to hire U of M grads. The Lunch Room is dishing out banh mi, noodle salad and cookies (some are gluten free). They are at the corner of State and South University in front of UMMA. Hurry.

    Betches love the University of Michigan

    Apparently I'm a little late to the Betch movement. Nevertheless, I found their recent review of the University of Michigan pretty funny. For example their description of the people you will find at U of M:
    In-staters: In-staters are, incidentally, those students that hail from the state of Michigan. They pay approximately 5 dollars annually and can’t fathom why anyone out-of-state would pay close to $40,000 to attend. If you can’t understand why this would be infuriating to the out-of-stater, look at this way: it’s like formerly being the most popular kid in your high school, I mean local-celebrity-status, and having no one recognize you after graduation.

    Note: Bloomfield Hills betches are an exception to the in-state rule. All JAB out-of-staters want to find a friend from Bloomfield so they can go for Rosh Hashana or break fast dinner and pretend they branched out in college.

    Out-of-staters: So then, you guessed it, the out-of-staters are indeed from those lesser known areas outside of Michigan--namely, Long Island. Out-of-staters are very proud of their non-Michigan resident status since it means they're paying extra to go there and this also implies that they like, had to fucking do something of note to get in.

    North Campus Aliens: North Campus is the Alcatraz of Michigan because quite frankly, you might as well be in prison with no chance of escaping (without a doctor's note). Having only been there once and that was just to see it, it’s safe to say that North Campus is just as bad as they say. Isolated from the rest of the student population and the entire Michigan culture you waited all four years of high school to experience, North Campus boasts...nothing at all.

    Perhaps Campus could use a few more bike racks

    Saw this in the walkway in Randall Lab. Could someone get one this please?

    Monday, October 1, 2012

    Free Food from the Lunch Room Tomorrow

    This just in: The Lunch Room has been contracted by Rocket Fuel, an advertising company based in California, to give away a "boat load" of free food for a recruitment event. They will. They will post up on State Street in front of the Art Museum tomorrow and start serving food at 11 AM. Make sure you get there quick, the food will probably run out in just a few short hours.

    Ann Arbor no longer largest city in US without daily print newspaper

    Today marks the Times-Picayune's transition to an "AnnArbor.com model" of publication. New Orleans premier newspaper will now only be published three times per week so that the paper's owners can "focus on online content." If any New Orleanians are reading this, the emphasis on online content isn't so much the issue with the "AnnArbor.com model." The real issue is having the staff of your newsroom gutted.