A2Share is a new organization dedicated to connecting local sharers and would-be-sharers with each other and the sharing economy. The group is kicking off their inaugural event Friday August 9th at the Botanical Gardens from 2-7. There will be a tour of the campus farm, a potluck and 3 breakout sessions!!! You can check out their faceblock page here.
The Lunch Room will be doing a soft opening next week at their new Kerrytown location. If you'd like to check it out, there are 25 spaces available for 8 meal times on Sunday the 4th and Monday the 5th:
• Brunch on Sunday August 4 at 10:30 am & 12 noonClick here to sign up.
• Dinner on Sunday August 4 at 6 pm & 7:30 pm
• Lunch on Monday August 5 at 11:30 am & 1 pm
• Dinner on Monday August 5 at 6 pm & 7:30 pm
Just in time for bankruptcy, Detroit's getting a gritty cop drama from AMC. Slanty Low Winter Sun is "is based upon the 2006 British two-part mini-series of the same name." From this preview, it seems like it's about two british guys playing cops in Detroit:
All kidding aside, I think it's worth pointing out that AMC is putting a lot of weight behind the show by having it premier alongside Breaking Bad on August 11th. It's also nice to see things being filmed in the state again.
Friend of Damn Arbor, Jon Wilcox, has just released the second volume of his hit indie-comic, Journal of a Shut-In. The comic chronicles the adventures Jon has while working at home as a graphic designer. The beautiful 20-page, full color, mini-comic has 12 strips plus a longer story and some sketches. You can buy it for just $3. I think it's great, but you don't have to take my word for it. If you want to preview Journal of a Shut-In, just check out Jon's tumblr, where all the comics are posted.
Previously:
Journal of a Shut-In
We might have 7 "new" looking high rises in this city, but in ten years we're going to have 7 more University Towers. For those who never had the pleasure of living there, that building is pretty dilapidated and probably the biggest eyesore on campus. Students are like cockroaches - they do not treat property with respect and care; they simply live in something "to death" and move on. It shows at U. Towers; it will show on these other 7 buildings in short order.Cockroaches?
To the "pick up artists" at 8 Ball - w4m - 21 (8 Ball Saloon)To all you single guys out there, make sure you leave your feather boas at home when you go to 8 Ball.Jesus Christ. You were carrying around a breathalyzer stick because the one guy is a "genius inventor" (barf) trying to impress us by telling us about Burning Man, which is the least cool thing ever, and possibly worst of all, you had a pink wig and a feather boa in your backpack to like, "be quirky" or "start conversations" or something....oh my god, what's wrong with you? Seriously, what is wrong with you? It was clear from the beginning of your convo with my friend and I that we weren't really interested in talking to you, BUT YOU PERSISTED, and the one guy even PUT HIS ARM AROUND MY FRIEND LATER IN THE NIGHT, EVEN THOUGH NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WHATSOEVER, WOULD INDICATE THAT THAT WAS AN OK THING TO DO. You guys need to see a psychiatrist. You truly, truly do. Women are human beings, not children or objects to play with. Idiots. I wish ill upon you, I really, really do.
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| thank you offcampus.umich for this lovely photo! |
Bust out your dirndl and dust off your lederhosen, this seasons second German Park is tonightnight! For those of you not in the know, German Park is a fun filled night of German food and dancing. Doors open at 4, $5 cover, no one under under 21 without parents. There'll be a strong Damn Arbor presence at German Park tonight. We'll see you out on the polka floor.
Over on his blog, A2GastroBoy has an interesting analysis of the state of cans in microbrewing. It's a good read and I believe his analysis of why microbreweries have been using bottles and why they be switching to cans. Gentle readers, what's your opinion on cans of craft beer? I have really been enjoying Vivant's beers, and last weekend I had a great can of Frankinmuth Brewery's Twisted Helles Lager. Do you think most microbreweries will be switching to cans shortly?
A friend sent in some pictures of a large chalk recreation of Botticelli's The Birth of Venus that appeared last night outside of Rackham. Looks like it's by Detroit based artist Taurus Burns.
H/T: DSW Katz
Tomorrow night, Short's Brewery will be taking over 11 taps at Sidetrack. Think about it like a pre-Beer Fest, or a Beer Fest-light. Either way, the festivities start at 6 pm.
I rarely went out of my way to listen to Motown; living in Detroit, you never had to. It was everywhere, even decades after its heyday. Motown was music for which I felt both great pride—all Detroiters did, earned or not—and slight embarrassment. Lots of Motown songs were irresistible; I thought it inconceivable that any singer could be greater than Stevie Wonder, and I still do. But lots of it sounded pretty square, too. I was appalled at the way Motown was milked for maudlin nostalgia in the movie “The Big Chill,” including Martha Reeves and the Vandellas’ “Dancing in the Street,” and David Bowie and Mick Jagger’s obnoxious 1985 cover version of that song seemed to epitomize that decade’s phony enthusiasm. Every time I heard “Dancing in the Street” after the mid-eighties, I cringed. It seemed to me like a simple song too often pressed into service for an easy jolt of uplift, its optimistic fanfare clashing uncomfortably with the hard facts of a city in such bad decline that last week it filed for bankruptcy.
The last thing it sounded to me was dangerous. After 9/11, the radio conglomerate Clear Channel put together a list of some hundred and fifty songs it advised its stations to avoid playing, and the inclusion of “Dancing in the Street” made it seem like a joke. I was immediately curious, then, when I learned that Mark Kurlansky had written a whole book about “Dancing in the Street,” and its supposed status as a radical anthem. Called “Ready for a Brand New Beat,” Kurlansky’s book is comprehensive; no known fact about the song “Dancing in the Street” seems to have escaped its pages. If I’d been wrong all along about “Dancing in the Street,” this was the place to find out.
I certainly hope so. It's going to be awesome. EJ and I will be there, stalking MarkMaynard.com. This will be the last ever Shadow Art Fair so if you've always wondered what it's like, you should totes go. Here's a vintage Damn Arbor article describing last year's Shadow Art Fair. Think about it like a teaser for tomorrow.
So EJ and I made it to our first Shadow Art Fair yesterday. It was pretty freaking great. I finally got to meet a lot of people I've known from the internet in real life. Here's Vinnie Massimino at his Green Screen Improve Troupe booth.
Can't wait to see the final Green Screen Theater Troupe video. If EJ and I are lucky, hopefully, we'll make the final cut. Stay tuned.
I also got to meet the Patrick Elkins. Here he is right before taking the stage with the Rainbow Vomit Family Band.
Yesterday, Violin Monster was kicked out of the State Street Art Fair. Though other musicians pay money for permits to play during the Art Fair, it seems like a risky move for the State Street Art Fair to kick out our homegrown buskers. There was substantial disappointment on local blogs, reddit and the twitterverse. Fortunately things are looking up for Violin Monster. Not only has he recieved an outpouring of support from the community, The Summer Art Fair (the one on Main St. mostly) just posted on Violin Monster's Facebook that he'd be welcome to play at Main and Liberty during the Art Fair. Yay.
Damn, it's hot. If you're looking for a hot new drink to beat the heat look no further than this awesome Oberon/freezy pop combo. We recommend orange, because if you use green, it ends up looking pretty gross. Just think about it like a frozen orange license.
The wild blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) are ripening right now. They can be a great tart treat, if you know where to find them.
Oh no, they are harassing the @ViolinMonster about his permit! pic.twitter.com/GQIh4eh6vn
— Julie Weatherbee (@juliewbee) July 17, 2013
@Juliewbee snapped this picture earlier today. According to some tweets from @ViolinMonster, he was told he would need a permit from Art Fair to busk in areas occupied by Art Fair.
@BFSEsq @juliewbee Apparently, Art Fair owns the sidewalks and streets during art fair. They are no longer public property...
— Violin Monster (@ViolinMonster) July 17, 2013
@stevendkrause @juliewbee @vielmetti Thanks for the support! I'm very angry with Art Fair right now. They don't like art - they LOVE money.
— Violin Monster (@ViolinMonster) July 17, 2013
Fortunately, it sounds like Violin Monster found a work around: busing on private property with the owners permission. What do you think about this gentle readers, is it a necessary evil to let the Art Fairs curtail the rights of buskers during the events, or is this a clear overstep? Is it time for an Occupy Art Fair campaign?
H/T: Ed Vielmetti
Here are two old versions of "Art Fair Bingo" cards. Some of them are little dated (R.I.P. Shaky Jake). Gentle Readers, what would you put on you add to Art Fair Bingo? Replace "emo kids" with "hipsters?"
First card via osric.com/bingo/
Second via Katy McGrady
Last night was opening night at the new Old German, which is under Grizzly Peak (the old Old German). A buddy and I decided to check it out.
The Old German is a German-style beer basement. It has six taps of Grizzly Peak beer plus two special kellerbiers. The kellerbiers are a special feature of the Old German. They are served directly from the conditioning tanks. I'd highly recommend trying the helles bock, which was super tasty. The Old German (aside: can we start calling it the OG?) also has a smattering of German-ish dishes. We tried the soft pretzels, which come with a super delicious cheddar beer sauce. We also had the potato pancakes. They come with horseradish sauce and applesauce. Pretty good.
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Apparently he is in Literati. The bookstore is banding together with 25 local businesses for a fund sort of scavenger hunt/sale:
Where's Waldo? He is right here in Ann Arbor!!!Click through for the full list of businesses.Look for Waldo at 25 locally owned businesses and organizations in downtown Ann Arbor during the month of July and be eligible to win prizes. It's easy - all you have to do is:
1) Come in to Literati (124 E. Washington St.) and pick up your Find Waldo Local Passport.
2) Visit all the participating businesses to look for Waldo.
3) When you spot him, ask the clerk to sign or stamp your passport.
After you find 10 Waldos, bring your passport in to Literati and get a coupon for $1.00 off the purchase of a Waldo book.
Come to our party on July 31st at Literati! If you found 20 out of 25 (or more) Waldos, you will be entered into a drawing for some great Waldo-related prizes!
Whether and how to best bring the conference’s lessons to scale remain open, important questions. For example, the AMC has become a central networking hub for feminists of color, according to Piepzna-Samarasinha and Andrea Ritchie, a police misconduct attorney and member of INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence. During a workshop on the final day of the conference, these longtime attendees expressed appreciation for the space as an incubator and dissemination point for some of the best ideas and practices generated by people of color who are women, LGBTQ, or gender nonconforming. These voices are too often in the margins of our public debates, when they appear at all. So Piepzna-Samarasinha and Ritchie’s comments left me wondering how the conference and its surrounding infrastructure could provide a bigger platform for these same people and ideas year-round.
Being in a bubble isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes it provides the safety we need to dream and the intimacy we need to build authentic relationships. How much further along might our movements be if we all took a few days each year to step into the futures we claim to be working toward?
“I decided today that until the Stand Your Ground law is abolished in Florida, I will never perform there again. As a matter of fact, wherever I find that law exists, I will not perform in that state or in that part of the world. As I said earlier, you can't just talk about it, you have to be about it.”I think this is pretty nice.
NatGeo has a cool interactive map of the most common names in every part of the country. As you can see, most of the names in Michigan come from the UK:
Last week, Dana posted a cool map of each state by their most iconic beer brand. It made me think of this cool interactive map from the New Yorker that shows microbrewery stats for each state. These screen shots are not showing up well so I'll cut to the chase: Michigan ranks 5th in total microbreweries and Bells ranks 7th national in total production. Go Michigan!
The Old German, a much beloved feature of old ann arbor, closed in 1995. Via ArborWiki:
A German restaurant on Washington St, where Grizzly Peak is now; closed in 1995. It was festooned with weird old oil paintings and dusty pictures relics of Germany, and had dark wood tables, chairs and fixtures. Classical orchestral music played in the background, and the waiters all had old fashioned waiter uniforms. Mr. Schumacher was an excellent accordion player as well!Well starting on Monday, the Old German is back. The restaurant will be in the basement of Grizzly Peak and will feature more of an emphasis on microbrewed lagers. Pretty exciting.
Working in oil paint, watercolor and a range of drawing materials, Pemberton uses art as a way to remember, re-imagine and recreate places from her childhood, early memories, family stories and dreams. Inspired by the uncertainty and instability of memory, Pemberton incorporates the visual language of architecture, iconography and monumentality into her work. While much of Pemberton's art is large, colorful and visually dense, Memory / Spaces focuses on the artist's smaller, quieter studies. The drawings and paintings in this exhibition depict various places in Michigan, Pemberton's childhood home.Since high school I have been able to cite her as one of the most talented people I know. She was a presidential scholar finalist, and her work is sophisticated beyond her age. The reception is tomorrow from 5:00-7:00 pm at the concert house. See her work before "art fair" blurs your judgment.
Sarab Kamoo’s career as a professional actress has led her to the silver screen and endless Michigan theatres. She has been seen alongside A-list celebrities in films such as “The Giant Mechanical Man” with Jenna Fischer from “The Office”, Mitch Albom’s “Have a Little Faith”, “Conviction” with Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell, and “Stone” with Robert Di Nero. Kamoo has performed at Performance Network Theatre (most recently “God of Carnage”, “Sonia Flew”, and “9 Parts of Desire”) as well as the Purple Rose Theatre Company, Meadow Brook Theatre, Williamston Theatre, the Jewish Ensemble Theatre, and Tipping Point Theatre. Kamoo and Wolber join the stage together for the first time since the theatre’s inaugural production at the current location (120 East Huron Street) of “The Maiden’s Prayer” by Nicky Silver in 2006.Tickets are $10 for adults/$5 for students and can be purchased here or by calling 734-663-0681.
On Saturday, EJ and I went with some friends down US 12 to explore the Irish Hills for the afternoon. The above map comes courtesy of the Dairy Bar, home to the Avalanche--Like a DQ Blizzard but with 3x the toppings. As we ate our kiddie-sized avalanches we all reflected, somewhat disappointedly, on how little ice cream we could now consume compared to our salad days. Time has been unkind to our apatite for ice cream just as it has been for some of the attractions in the Irish Hills: the go kart track I visited with my cousins as a kid is now overgrown with grasses and goldenrod; the Irish Hills Towers are crumbling and falling into US 12; the Prehistoric Forest is closed. Other places, like the Dairy Bar and Mystery Hill seem to be weathering the times quite well. Even the long shuttered Stagecoach Stop has reopened, though it seems to be transitioning to a antique store--we were told in no uncertain terms that we could not explore the large back area that was once a thriving old west themed amusement park.
The iconic Irish Hills Towers have become unstable and if the Irish Hills Historic Society can't raise sufficient funds to restore them by Aug. 1st, they will be demolished. The towers used to be two independently owned and competing tourist attractions until they were both bought in 1974.
This is almost as good as the Kickspit Underground Records Festival commercials from SNL:
You can buy your tickets for Underground Fest A2 Fest here.
This year's Shadow Art Fair will be the last Shadow Art Fair. There's a good long post about the decision to end Shadow Art Fair over on MarkMaynard.Com. EJ and I went to our first Shadow Art Fair last year and it was a hoot. You can read all about it here. Anyway, Shadow Art Fair is Saturday July 20th at Corner Brewery. You should totally go.
Kings of Summer just opened at the Michigan Theater. It's a really fun movie and you should go see it (you can read my review here). Though it was filmed in Ohio, Kings of Summer has a Michigan sensibility to it that I think you all will be able to appreciate. As a special added bonus, if you go to the 7pm showing tonight, you will be able to participate in a Q&A session with the Director, Jordan Vogt-Roberts. He is a pretty cool guy, and I know that because I met him at a party once. In all seriousness, go see kings of summer, I think you will really enjoy it.
Redditor, someguyfromcanada, produced a map of the most popular TV shows set in each state. For Michigan it's the short-lived Freaks & Geeks. You can see the full map below:
Via: Business Insider
Creative Rights is hosting a showcase of Michigan and Great Lakes State artist's work next Thursday in Detroit:
7:00-8:00pm Panel Discussion -- "In Print: Exploring books as medium, art object and archive in Detroit and beyond"An interactive exhibition of books suspended in mid air.
The exhibition will be open from Thursday, July 11 through Saturday, July 13.
Hosted by the Detroit Community Library @ the Jam Handy Building.
The Art Book Review's "On the Road: Detroit" is an exhibition of art and artists' books from and about Detroit and the larger Great Lakes-area. Organized by L.A.-based publication the Art Book Review, the project will feature a curated display of exhibition catalogues, artist monographs, small run and handmade artists' books and zines amongst other types of ephemera and publications gathered through an open call to artists and publishers. The exhibition will be on view at the Jam Handy Building at 2900 E Grand Blvd, Detroit, MI from 11am-6pm, July 11th-13th, with an opening event July 11 from 6-9pm featuring a panel, "In Print: Exploring books as medium, art object and archive in Detroit and beyond" from 7-9pm.
