German Park in Pictures

Gentle readers, the last German Park of the season is tonight. Here are the pictures that I meant to include in the pervious post. If you're looking for the TLDR, it's this: you should check out German Park tonight. You will be glad you did.

Insulting ethnic cartoons are OK when you draw them of yourselves, right? At least that's what I'm hoping, cause look at this guy.

Party at the Campus Farm this Monday

If you're looking for something to do Monday, maybe check out the Campus Farm. There will be shuttle busses and you can pick your own veggies.

Detroit's Racial Segregation

Detroit from Wired.com

Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti

Wired.com recently posted beautiful maps illustrating racial segregation in America's cities. The map was created by extrapolating data from the 2010 census. The result is a portrait of Detroit that mimics a Rothko painting. Blue indicates white people while green dots are African Americans. Red, prominent in the north east side of Ann Arbor, are Asians while Orange shows Latinos and Brown are any other races. There is an interactive map available here. 

The North East from Wired.com

Season's last German Park this Saturday

The last German Park of summer 2013 is Saturday at 5549 Pontiac Trail. I would explain more, but I think this Vine really captures the whole thing better than words can.

Giant Cat Shot in Detroit... and a part of me dies with it

credit to Christian science monitor

Ben is away somewhere which means you might get more hard hitting journalism from me. My cat got out of the house last week and Ben was going to let me post about it. Then I found my cat and it wasn't necessary anymore. Chum didn't get the same happy ending. The Christian Science Monitor (?) reports that in Detroit this week an escaped Savannah cat was shot and killed by its neighbors. Commence the weeping.

UFO at Mix Studio Theater tomorrow.

There's comedy happening tomorrow night at Mix Studio Theater in Ypsi. From the press release:

Emergent Arts will present “The UFO Show III (Unidentified Funny Objects): En Vacances Comiques”, an evening of standup, storytelling and original songs, on August 29 at 8pm at The Mix Studio Theatre, 8 North Washington Street, Ypsilanti, Michigan. The show will feature the standup comedy of Chevy Hungerford, Drew Grimaldi, Germaine Gebhard, Brad Wenzel, Andy Jentzen, and Marty Smith, as well as humorist and songwriter Marc Holland.

You can get more information from Emergent Arts.

Back to School Night

Well, I made the mistake of going to Meijer's today. I just needed one thing and had totally forgotten that my fellow students are flooding the area. It was hell waiting in the 12 items or less aisle (with people who had more than 12 items). Back to School Night at the Evening Farmers Market tonight will be more low key than the Thrifty Acres aisles.

Oscillations of the Beast at Old Miami (666 Cass)

One of the best things about my move back to Michigan has been reconnecting with old favorite local bands. Oscillating Fan Club is one of these bands. They were recently featured on WDET's Modern Music and will be performing at their new record's release party this Saturday at the Old Miami. If any of you all are in the Detroit area this weekend, be sure to check it out.

KBS at Sidetrack tomorrow

Sidetrack will be tapping their only barrel of the Founder's elusive Kentucky Breakfast Stout Wednesday at 6pm. This beer is rare, so if you want to try it, I'd head to Sidetrack. Kentucky Breakfast Stout should not be confused with MSU´s Kellogg Biological Station.

Issues and Ale tomorrow at Bill's Beer Garden

Michigan Radio is hosting a special "It's Just Politics" edition of Issues and Ale tomorrow at Bill's Beer Garden. I hear Jack Lessenberry will be there.

Artist Kickstarter

 An artist and friend has posted a link to her kick starter. Jordan Pemberton currently has work up at the Kerrytown Concert House but she wants to get farther away, to like europe or something. If you support her residencies, you can get some really awesome work for a lot less than what it is worth.

An example of how amazing she is.

Ypsilanti rumor

I've heard a rumor that back in the day at the Bomber Plant, there was a specific job--riveting inside the B-24's wing--that could only be done by little people. Because of this, lots of little people relocated to the Ypsilanti area. The reason there are bar doors with low handles on them was to be accessible to the little people working at the Bomber Plant. Or, so the rumor goes. Does anyone know if that's true?

Surfing near Detroit?

I saw this license place (FRSHWTR) and surfboard driving up Jefferson earlier this week. Is there good surfing on the east side of the state? Most of the good surfing locations I know of in the Grate Lakes are on Lakes Michigan and Superior. Reminds me of Unsalted, the authoritative Great Lakes surfing documentary:

Washtenaw Watchdogs: Brendan Gibbons Rape Allegations

Washtenaw Watchdogs Post

Washtenaw Watchdogs have started to fill my newsfeed, and with a simple click it is easy to know why.  Chief Watchdog, Douglas Smith, has posted an overview and synopsis of a 2009 rape of an eighteen year old girl allegedly by football player Brendan Gibbons. Jezebel has already gotten ahold of it, spreading it wider than the watchdogs could.

In defense of Douglas Smith, while he might be posting this for the wrong reasons, without regard to the victim, there is a necessity to talk about injustices like this rape and the following threats. While the serial rapist of three summers ago is most's image of rape in Ann Arbor, the reality is this isn't true. For every reported crime, there is one that will go unreported. It won't occur only to women, although 1 in 6 women (often higher dependent on race) is a victim of sexual assault. The majority of sexual assaults are committed by someone that the victim knows. This anonymous victim posted about is not an isolated event.

So if you chose to read the articles, or comments, or police report, consider that this women could be a friend, mother, daughter. If you are a victim, do not blame yourself or what you were doing, no one deserves sexual assault no matter what some will make you believe. If you aren't a victim, do not emphasize the word "allegedly" because 97% of rapists will not spend a day in jail for their crimes, although there is no statue of limitations on rape. Most do not invent allegations of rape, there are no benefits to do so.   Do not counter with the fact the woman was drunk or they had kissed, this does not excuse the actions of the rapist. Pay attention to what partners say, or do that could indicate discomfort. Battle patriarchy and rape culture by demeaning those who make rape jokes or victim blame. And sure as hell don't rape.

New Taco Technology from Isalita

I became a vegetarian in 5th grade and abstained from meat until I was 26. During that decade and a half, I maintained fond memories of the Taco Bell beef hard taco. Imagine my utter disappointment when I discovered that the tacos did not suit my mature pallet. If you gentle reader, have fond memories of the way the beef hard taco used to taste, you may want to check out Isalita's Tacos Americanos. They are basically beef hard tacos, but made with real ingredients. They are delicious.

Fun with gerrymandering

Slate's got a fun little interactive puzzle that lets you try to put all the congressional districts into several states. It starts with Iowa, which represents a non-gerrymandered state, and then moves into the gerrymandered states. As far as gerrymandering goes, Michigan is far from the worst (Ohio). Still, things do get a little weird in Southeast Michigan with the 11th, 14th, and 9th districts.

Heritage Festival Sh***er

Everyone has scarring portapotty stories, but not everyone gets to share them on craigslist. From the screen shot above:

This goes out to whomever decided to SHIT ALL OVER the toilet seat in the Porta potty next to the Bingo Tent. Who raised you? Since when, did it become appropriate to shat all over the toilet seat and then purposely put the seat UP, so no one would notice.? I was a vendor who decided to bring her young son to the festival for the day, and of course, who had to use the potty. Upon opening the door of this porta potty, I grabbed some toilet paper, so that I could put the seat down, since you were also inconsiderate in leaving the toilet seat up, which I was soon to find out was done to hide the fact that you SHIT all over the toilet. It looked like a dog had gone in there and vomited SHIT out of its mouth! You INTENTIONALLY put the toilet seat UP to hide your foulness. Needless to say I gasped in disgust, my son gagged, and screamed "OPEN THE DOOR" as we quickly exited the stall. Fortunately, some people still know how to use a toilet properly, and the next john was clean, BUT, since he was so frazzled, my poor little guy, when attempting to pee, with out touching anything around him, wound up peeing on not only himself, but the front of my dress! Of course he was not in trouble, but he felt awful, and this is ALL THANKS TO YOU! I curse you with a plague of a thousand fleas to infest your undergarments, you foul, and wretched beast.

(*note* the pic is of bread batter, but made my point)

My Name is Asher Lev

Last Friday I was able to attend My Name is Asher Lev, running currently at the Performance Network. It is running into September, giving plenty of time to catch a performance.

I was intrigued by the initial synopsis of the play. Coming from the arts, there is no shortage of stories about parental discomfort with life choices. Asher Lev, Mitchell Koory, experiences an extreme version of this, due to his hasidic upbringings. Looming in all decisions is his relationship with his parents. Naz Edwards and John Siebert play a series of roles including Asher's parents. While Koory didn't compel me to care for Asher, Edwards and Siebert were constantly captivating. They effortlessly switched roles, changing dress, demeanor and physicality. Siebert provided the comedy or the play as a drunk uncle or aging mentor. I found Koory tedious in comparison to the others. He rang the same melodramatic notes throughout his monologues, giving little life to Asher besides what was revealed in words. However, this is again forgotten when Siebert takes stage.

Something is promised with PN productions is detailed set dressing. There is consistent attention to detail that had me exploring the set before the play even began. But even behind the set, the PN had artists displaying their work. I was delighted to find one of my friends, Alex Mandrilla, photograph paired with interesting pieces from other local artists. It was a serendipitous way to end a pleasant night.

Breaking News: DEA raids People's Choice Alternative Medicine

There are reports on r/AnnArbor that People's Choice Alternative Medicine at 2245 West Liberty was raided by local police and the DEA today. Anyone have the scuttlebutt?

Graffiti as a gauge for gentrification

I saw this F*ck Hipsters graffiti on Woodward while walking from downtown to Comerica Park. The fact that taggers are starting to put up anti-hipster graffiti to me, indicates Detroit is still in the early stages of gentrification. Late stage gentrification is characterized by hipsters writing anti-yuppie graffiti.

Founders All Day IPA, the perfect beer for cabrewing?

On Saturday, several of us from Damn Arbor went on a little canoe trip down the South Branch of the Au Sable. Fortunately, the recent surge in canned Michigan craft beer, we had several options to choose from when selecting the beer for our epic voyage. We ended up going with Founders All Day IPA. For starters, it's a session IPA, so not too strong, which is essential for a day of canoeing. The other reason we selected it, was because it has a canoe on the can. Though no photographic proof exists of the beer being consumed on the Au Sable, you can rest assured that the beer was refreshing and the river beautiful. If you get a chance to go cabrewing in these waning days of summer, I highly recommend it.

Our canoes on the Au Sable. Via L^3

Meditations on Whitefish

Gentle reader, are you trying to sneak one final trip up north before the summer ends? If so, you should probably read A2GastroBoy's latest article, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish...WHITE FISH. In the article GastroBoy discusses his personal history with fishing and gives some great suggestions for whitefish procurement in the great north.

Real life superheroes in Detroit?

EJ and I saw these batmen and another superhero while walking to the Tigers game today. Are there real life superheroes in Detroit? 

Ypsilanti Heritage Festival this Weekend

The 35th annual Ypsilanti Heritage Festival runs today through Sunday in Riverside Park. There's bands and bee and a rock climbing wall and crafts and of course, heritage.  

Coming clean

It is a struggle, at times, deciding the extent to which I should share details of my personal life on Damn Arbor. Gentle readers, I do love you, but I also realize you don't want to know about every minute detail of my life. That said, there has been a recent development in my life that you may find interesting. After getting married in June, EJ and I bought a house in the Normal Park Neighborhood in Ypsilanti. That's right, we're no longer living in Ann Arbor. In fact, MarkMaynard.com just interviewed me and EJ about our immigration to Ypsilanti. You should totally check it out.

Trouble at Randall Lab

Came across this while walking into work today. Always exciting to find 3 police cars, a fire truck, and a police line blocking your path. Anyone know what happened?

UPDATE: There is a gas leak on the east side of Randall Lab. The building has been evacuated and MichCon is en route.

Breaking news: Alice Walker dis-invited to give speech at U of M

In a post today on her blog, Alice Walker, the award winning author of the Color Purple, wrote that she has been dis-invited from speaking at the University of Michigan. Walker was slated to speak at the 50th anniversary of the Center for Women. According to the blog post, the University withdrew "their invitation due to the removal of funding from the donors, because of their interpretation of Ms. Walker’s comments regarding Israel." It should be noted that Walker's latest book, The Cushion in the Road, has been criticized by the Anti-Defamation League as anti-Semitic.

H/T: D. Peltier

UPDATE: Apparently the Com as a much more thorough article on their site.

My Name is Asher Lev, pay what you can, at the Performance Network tonight

The Performance Network is currently showing Aaron Posner's adaption of Chaim Potok 1972 novel, My Name is Asher Lev. This and every Thursday, they will have a special pay-what-you-can showing. You'll have to hurry though, the show starts at 7:30. Here's a description:

[My name is Asher Lev] tells the story of a boy growing up in a sheltered Hasidic community in 1950s Brooklyn, who discovers he has a prodigious talent as an artist. Struggling to reconcile his gift with the community’s Orthodox values, he immerses himself in an art form steeped in Christian imagery. When he brings forth a masterwork entitled “The Brooklyn Crucifixions,” he must decide whether or not to honor his self-expression and exhibit, potentially bringing shame on his family, his community, and even his faith. Featuring Naz Edwards, Mitchell Koory, and John Seibert. A co-production with the Jewish Ensemble Theatre.

Stay tuned for a full review.

Ann Arbor wins editor's choice for Outside Magazine's Best Town Ever

A friend just tipped me off that Ann Arbor was named editor's choice for Best Town Ever 2013 by Outside Magazine. We received the honor because of our healthy lifestyles, great food, bike lanes and access to trails. The article specifically mentions the Border to Border trail and the Potowatomi Trail. Being included on the list of Best Towns Ever 2013 means we're one of the 17 towns in the country that are "redefining living well."

H/T: Elizabeth K.

Have Cronuts made it to Ann Arbor yet?

Last night, @jimchuck asked us the above question. I thought I'd crowd source it to you all, gentle readers. Has the cronut craze made it to the area yet? If not, will someone make me one? Maybe we could have some sort of cronut baking competition.

Roller derby this Saturday

Saturday, in Buhr Park, the Ypsilanti Vigilantes take on the Southern Belles and Arbor Bruising Co. will compete against the Small Town Outlaws. Doors are at 5pm and the bouts start at 5:30.

'String Up the Moon' by Fratellanza

Sango Tajima, Jim Manganello, and Paul Manganello, in their new performance, which opens September 5 at the PuppetART Theater in Detroit

After a year of cultivating their craft abroad, Jim and Paul Manganello of Fratellanza have returned to Michigan for their next project. We loved their collaboration last year with The New Theater Project: this time they're teaming up with Sam Blake, Reed Esslinger, Michael Malis, and Sango Tajima. From the Facebook page:

String Up the Moon looks into the human heart and finds two men wrought by desire. A lowly government clerk lusts up the ladder of the Russian civil service. A brilliant musician murders his friend and idol, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and justifies his act on cosmic grounds. These tales meet to form a theatrical sonata of dreams and madness.

We'll have more from Paul and Jim about this show and what they've been up to as opening night approaches. You can get tickets for String Up the Moon at the Puppet ART Theater, September 5-8 or at the Detroit Design Festival September 20-21 (September 21 is a special performance with a "Russian tea afterparty.") There will also be a performance on September 14 at the Frohlich Amphitheater in Michigan Legacy Art Park.

Blimpy Burger Lines

Crazy lines for good food and bad service. Credit for photo goes to my friend Billy. 

Autumn already?

Anyone else notice that some of the leaves are starting change? What happened to August.

New rain gardens along Miller

Looks like they are installing rain gardens in the easements along the newly re-paved portion of Miller Road. All the heavy rains we have had this year, I'm really starting to see the wisdom behind including stormwater mitigation features in other construction projects. Though in terms of tree choice, I think they could have done a little better. Silver maple (Acer saccharinum)? Really? Don't we have enough of them as street trees already? What about some other floodplain species? Bur oak, swamp white oak, sycamore, Kentucky coffee tree? I just feel like silver maple shows a lack of imagination.

Rick's Among Best College Bars?

According to Annarbor.com, Rick's was voted among the best college bars in America. This seems to be a very misguided thing. If Rick's is a standard for college bars then I don't know what to expect from other schools. Rick's wouldn't make a personal list of bars to puke on.

thedailymeal.com

My top ten list of Ann Arbor "college" bars would start off with Old Town and end somewhere around the Heidelberg, but it would never stoop to Rick's.

Si quaeris notebook novum circumspice: a review of the Shinola Journal

The Shinola Journal is sold in Detroit and made in Ann Arbor--a beautiful regional synergy. It is also of exceptional quality: linen cover, sustainably sourced acid free paper, etc., etc. I bought EJ a large hardcover one in "new forest green" as a wedding gift. (She desperately wanted a Shinola Watch). I ordered it from Shinola's website. It was delivered promptly, nicely wrapped in a thin sheet of paper with a short, handwritten thank you. We were both pleased with the quality. The journal costs just a buck or two more than a similarly sized Moleskine on Amazon. When you factor in the high quality and local production, plus the fact that linen covers are way cool, it's a pretty great deal. Check out this video of the journals being made in Ann Arbor:

Journals & paper goods - Ann Arbor, MI from Shinola on Vimeo.
P.S. Shinola, if you are reading this and looking for someone to review one of your watches, drop me an email.

'A Dream Foreclosed'

A story about a Detroit family's ultimately triumphant battle against eviction was featured in Salon over the weekend.

Outside of the Dime Building, about two dozen people stood shivering and holding signs reading, STOP THE EVICTION OF THE GARRETT FAMILY. Inside, Bertha was camped out on the ninth floor, waiting to speak to a representative about her mortgage contract. She had leverage now; a crowd of protesters had just turned away the city’s dumpster and halted the bank’s intended eviction. Yet the secretary informed Bertha that she would not be allowed in. No one was available to see her today. From the hallway, the little office looked about as far away from the center of global capital as one could get, but Bertha realized that it still operated under the same rules of exclusion and faceless bureaucracy. 

“I watched the men go in and out, and I just thought: Well, if I can’t go in, then they can’t come out,” she said. 

With that thought in her mind, sixty-five-year-old Bertha Garrett, decked out in her elegant winter coat and cream-colored fur hat, lay down in front of the door to the office of the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation in the Financial District of Detroit, and she refused to move.

The selection is excerpted from Laura Gottesdiener's "A Dream Foreclosed: Black America and the Fight for a Place to Call Home," published tomorrow. The book follows four individual households, including Mrs. Garrett's on the East Side of Detroit, as they fought to keep their homes through the economic crisis.

Hot new look for fall: Dogs in ties

Look at these natty dressed puppies. This autumn's hottest look is dogs in ties.

Is Hollywood trickling back to the Mitten?

My younger brother just wrapped working as a production assistant for the Detroit based filming of next years hottest summer blockbuster, Transformers 4. Check out the above clip to get your daily fix of Michael Baysplosions. Currently the Bollywood movie Happy Endings/Writer's Block is filming in downtown Ann Arbor. It seems like the film industry in Michigan has seen some pretty lean years after the boom in local production that was produced by the film credits. Are things starting to pick up again? I know Slanty Low Winter Sun was set and filmed in Detroit. Are there more movies being produced locally?

City Council Commercial

Check out this epic commercial for the Whitehorse, YT city council. Really makes you want to watch. Maybe CTN could do something like this for our local city council meetings. Also, I'm pretty jealous that this city of 23,000 somehow manages to get closed captioning for their city council meetings, while we're trapped here in the stone age. Do you know how hard it is to watch a city council meeting in a bar without closed captioning?

B-24 over Ypsi

Saw this B-24 Liberator flying over Depot Town this afternoon. Pretty sweet. 

UPDATE: As Mikoyan points out, the plane in the picture is actually a B-17 Flying Fortress, not a B-24 Liberator. You should check out his blog, Michigan Exposures, for tons of cool pictures of boats, planes and architecture.

Minneapolis stole our sculpture

Gentle reader, I have spent this last week at the Ecological Society of America conference in he Mini Apple. On a run yesterday, I noticed that someone stole this sculpture from the UMMA and put I in their sculpture park. 

The Mayor on Ann Arbor's growing tech scene

I think it is nice that tech companies are expanding in the city. Can someone think of a cool Silicon-name for us?

Moving from Flint to Detroit

Eric Chiu, a reporter living in Flint, is moving to Detroit. (A popular move for people whose names begin "Eri-".) He writes briefly about it at The Billfold:

(Can you even separate being a 20-something in Detroit with the inevitable political subtext? Here, there’s the usual frames of Savior Complex and White Privilege, ruin porn-ogling gentrifiers or a misshapen belief in the city’s bestowing of urban “cred.” Bankruptcy certainly amplifies some of these issues, but it’s out of the purview of this aside, save for two digressions: 

Of course, the announcement underscores the scope of Detroit’s issues, as it’s the intersection of a litany of historical, civic and municipal problems. And for something infinitely smaller like paying rent, the bankruptcy’s unknowns and known unknowns raise the type of questions that turn the second-guessings of the move into fourth/fifth/etc.-guessings.)

One: why is Mr. Chui hanging out so much at Buffalo Wild Wings? It looks like he's a stone's throw from Mexicantown. Two: I'd be more interested in hearing about the costs unique to moving to a bankrupt city. For instance, I know some neighborhoods pay association fees for private security, streetlight maintenance, snow removal. Even outside these more residential neighborhoods, rentals in Detroit can be comparable to their counterparts in better-functioning cities, like Chicago or even Ann Arbor, which provides much better services for its downtown residents. Is the added cost of living in Detroit--the rising cost of downtown, Midtown, Corktown, plus city taxes--worth it when you have to do without public transportation, for example? Without streetlights? Even with the commute, is it still more cost-effective to live in places like Ferndale and Royal Oak?

Why so sad, Michigan?

The above map is from a study that quantified average state happiness based on geotagged tweets. As you can see, Michigan near the bottom of the pack in terms of state happiness. Bummer. For such an awesome place, Michigan often ends up bringing up to bottom of the pack with for all sorts of state rankings: child poverty, smoking, obesity. It's also worth noting that we are a geographic outlier for a lot of these measurements too--often preforming as poorly as the deep south. What's up with that?

Image via: The Geography of Happiness: Connecting Twitter Sentiment and Expression, Demographics, and Objective Characteristics of Place

Get Better

Elmore Leonard, author of "Get Shorty" among many other novels,  is recovering in a Detroit hospital from a stroke he suffered last week. Get better, Mr. Leonard.

Lunch Room opens today

The Lunch Room opens today at their new location in Kerrytown. Check out Chris Dzombak's preview here.

Vote today

Gentle readers, there is an election today. Specifically there is a democratic primary election for city council members in Wards 3 and 4. You should vote. Albert McWilliams explains:

Specifically:

Really important government seats are decided by a few hundred people. It’s the few hundred people who don’t have as much going on.

In general:

People who don’t have as much going on = more crazy. (refer to comments section of annarbor.com) People who have actual lives = less crazy.

Always:

More voters = better representation (statistically true!).

Example:

The current 3rd ward incumbent (Stephen Kunselman) was elected in 2011 with 637 votes. You need more people to start a viable space colony, or throw a raging Bar Mitzvah.

Rocking with Rosemarie: The Dexter A&W

Buenvinidos Ann Arbor! I hope this lovely day is treating you all well. I decided to write another post because my hip is out and my doctor says I need to stop playing racquetball! Has anyone heard if Annarbor.com is hiring? I think I will call them tomorrow after my colonoscopy. 

The Dexter A&W

5/5 Stars

Thank you flicker.com for this lovely photo!

My first five star review! To be honest, I thought I would've given this to the Lohr (pronounced lah-hor) road TGIF or Joe Crab's Shack. What a SWEET surprise the Dexter A&W was. Almost as sweet as their menus tasted!

This location is unlike anything I have ever experienced. Did you know that the waitresses come up to the cars? I didn't have to leave my seat, which is very important when you the phobia of leaving seats. Every day is a struggle. The waitress even complimented my stuffed animal, a rhodesian ridgeback, which I think she thought was sleeping. Taxidermy is an under appreciated art form.

Something else I noticed was the absence of men working. In fact, the only men found were in their cars. I think this is because forty year old men are much better at eating than walking to someone and taking instruction. That is what I have learned from reruns of King of Queens. The owners of this location had it right, young women should learn the art of the waitress, since Obama has put our economy in such decline.

Pay attention next week for my article on the Necto club sign.

Election Tomorrow

Gentle readers, if you live in Wards 3 or 4 in Ann Arbor, there is a city council primary election for you to vote in tomorrow. I know the August Primary doesn't exactly scream fun sexy voting time. Nevertheless, for better or worse, Ann Arbor's Democratic Primary is usually much more important than the November election.

In Ward 3, Julie Grand is challenging incumbent Stephen Kunselman. In Ward 4, Jack Eaton is challenging incumbent Marcia Higgans. You can read a good summary of the campaign finances over on the Chronicle. 

Northside's Birthday

When I first walked in I thought many groups had all come to celebrate birthdays today. But my head cleared and I found out I share a birthday week with Northside Grill. They are celebrating two decades, giving me a few years on them. They are also advertising an Elvis event, super good.

The Lunch Room to open Tuesday

Kerrytown's newest restaurant, The Lunch Room—whose name you'll recognize from its former iteration at Mark's Carts—is set to open its doors on Tuesday. I had a chance to visit the restaurant last night for a preview and talk with proprietors Joel Panozzo and Phillis Engelbert.

The Lunch Room's preview on Saturday.

The restaurant is a natural next step for Joel and Phyllis, who were friends and neighbors when they began cooking vegan food together. They started hosting pop-up dining events around town, and were accepted for the first season of Mark's Carts. And after two years at Mark's Carts, Joel said, "It kind of turned into people asking us on a daily basis, when are you opening a restaurant?"

The restaurant features plenty of outdoor dining space in the Kerrytown courtyard.

Market Birthday

The Ann Arbor Farmers Market is 94 today. It is still younger than my great grandmother but older than Betty White, which is quite a feat. Come celebrate with cupcakes or something, we are.

Selma Cafe

Selma Cafe is happening saturday morning from nine to noon. It is at Sunward Cohousing on Little Lake Drive. Nick Roumel is cheffin'.