Saturday, March 29, 2014

Doing White Nights, tonight and tomorrow at the Yellow Barn

There's a free play tonight and tomorrow at the Yellow Barn. From the press release:

[Doing White Nights] tells the story of two college best friends whose car breaks down in the middle of an Ohio cornfield on the course of a cross-country road trip. As one of them deals with his problems of mental illness, the other deals with his own feelings toward his best friend. The story builds to a climax that tests the limit of friendship and reveals the bonds that tie young men together.
I think it's definitely worth checking out.

Friday, March 28, 2014

Snowdrops

Saw these on my way to school today.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

White Knighting in Detroit

Jon Moy has an article in Four Pins about Shinola's presence in Detroit and its manipulation of the city's image:
Listen, I can stomach hipsters planting flowers written with nice things about Detroit for a dog park one day. I can take $500 quartz watches and a section on their webshop entitled "Curated" that offers American flags that cost more than a brand new car. I can even take ten dollar cold-pressed juices when the city lacks grocery stores. Even those aren't too much of an affront. What I can't take is the white knighting of Shinola's promotional campaigns. The company insists that "Detroit isn’t as bad as it seems"—that there are happy and proud people here too. To demonstrate just how optimistic and amazing Detroiters are, Shinola enlisted Bruce Weber and Carolyn Murphy—both out of towners, both white—to shoot the company’s latest ad campaign. The accompanying video, subtitled "A snapshot of life in the Motor City," features photogenic models pedaling two thousand dollar bikes through the city. Photos of adorable black kids with a beautiful, benevolent white woman seem to be the centerpiece of Weber's campaign for the company. They even have a video of one of the little girls rapping. Bruce Weber is quoted saying, "People were really friendly. They looked you in the eye when they said hello on the street, and they greeted you with a smile." Detroit may be bankrupt, but that doesn't mean its citizens aren't normal, functioning human beings, Bruce. 
This idea that people would be surprised by how human and artistic and talented Detroit's citizens are if they just came and visited is ludicrous and emblematic of a new type of gentrification, one that seems even more insidious than what has occurred in, say, Brooklyn. Shinola and other entrepreneurs market themselves as white knights, swooping in to save the noble savages. They help assuage the guilt associated with gentrification and consumerism by pointing out how strong and proud and culturally important the natives truly are—that simply by choosing to be in Detroit, Shinola is somehow better than other companies selling similar products. Shinola is using my city as its shill, pushing a manufactured, outdated and unrealistic ideal of America. And, in that way, the company’s slogan—"Where American is Made"—is more accurate than its owners could have ever hoped.
In the piece, he outlines the manufacturing history of some of Shinola's products: the bicycles, the watches, and the jeans (Detroit Denim--who knew?). The research is informative and his critique is on-point. (But no grocery stores? Has this guy not heard there's a Whole Foods in Midtown?)

My main curiosity is why there is not more of a marketing campaign around the journals, which are the only Shinola product within my pay grade and, incidentally, not even mentioned in Moy's article. Is graph paper just not sexy enough for these people? There's even a back pocket where you can store essays about gentrification in the city. Mine, sadly, is already full.

Come to Nerd Nite tonight


Tonight at Nerd Nite I'll be giving a short lesson on tree identification. So come on down to Live and say hi. Doors are at 6:30 and presentations start at 7. Cover is free thanks to the Ann Arbor District Library. 

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Where the PEEP you at? 3

An old man was very confused why I tried to take this picture before and after I went into a store. 

Wiki all the things: Arborwiki edit night, March 26, 2014

Arborwiki is doing its March 2014 edit night on Wednesday, March 26 at the Ann Arbor District Library at 7:00 p.m. From the announcement:
What’s ArborWiki? It’s the community generated source for details on everything from birthday deals to local history to the lowdown on volunteer opportunities for youth and teens. Since it’s a “civic wiki” it’s created, edited and maintained by locals. That could mean you! 
If you have an interest in any aspect of the Arbor/Ypsi area—parks, history, local happenings—you might be a perfect ArborWiki contributor or editor. Meet some of the current crew of editors and hop in to edit/create entries about your community. Bring your laptop or use one of ours!
If libraries aren't your cup of tea, the April 2014 event is planned for a local bar (details TBD).  Get some idea of some of the topics you could add to the civic knowledge about on the Pages to Add page, which is chock full of things that Arborwiki should know about but doesn't yet.

This meeting is held jointly with the Michigan Wikipedians, a University of Michigan student Wikipedia group, so bring your Wikipedia questions too!

Who wants an alpaca?

Via Craigslist:

Alpaca for sale (ypsilanti)

Alpacas For Sale. All animals can be registered. Males & Females in white & fawn. Alpacas starting at $500 and up. Great for a start up farm.

So, who wants to get some alpacas with me?

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Breaking News: Yooper to be added to dictionary

Metro Times is reporting that Merriam-Webster’s 2014 Collegiate Dictionary will include the word Yooper for the first time. After being challenged for using the word in a Scrabble game over a decade ago, Delta County prosecutor, Steve Parks, began a campaign to sway the editors of Merriam-Webster to add the word. According to Click on Detroit "'Yooper,' a noun, is expected to be defined as "a native or resident of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan — used as a nickname.'

The Film Festival starts today

52nd Ann Arbor Film Festival Trailer from Ann Arbor Film Festival on Vimeo.

The 52nd Double-A-Double-F kicks off today. There's a reception at 6pm at the Michigan Theater followed by film screenings starting at 8:15. Incase you missed it, here's our little preview of the Fest.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Where the PEEP you at 2?

Nah bird, where you peeping at? Lemme know. 

Laser Danger

Saw this sign while navigating the maze of construction barricades on Monroe between Thompson and State. Pretty spooky. How do you even defend yourself against a laser based threat?

Happy Oberon Day



It's Oberon Day! The high today might only be -1 C (30 F), and there is a chance of flurries, but you can now buy the taste of summer in a glass. Cheers.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

The Legend of La Nain Rouge

La Nain Rouge is a Lutin--a kind of friendly, but potentially troublesome hobgoblin who haunts Detroit. Some say he has always haunted Le Détroit, while others say he followed Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac here from France.

In Montreal in 1701, a fortune teller warned Cadillac of the troublesome dwarf:

"Shall my children inherit my possessions?" asked Cadillac, unconsciously giving utterance to the secret desire of his heart.

"Your future and theirs lie in your own hands, beware of undue ambition ; it will mar all your plans. Appease the Nain Rouge* (Red Dwarf). Beware of offending him. Should you be thus unfortunate not a vestige of your inherit- ance will be given to your heirs. Your name will be scarcely known in the city you founded."

Things were good for Cadillac until Mayday of 1707. On that fateful day, Cadillac finally encountered the Red Hobgoblin:

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Today, We Are All Eagles

The attendance for Eastern Michigan's first postseason appearance in nearly 20 years was 373 on Tuesday. That's not 373 fans, folks. That's 373 people in the building. Ushers. Promotions people. The guy who sits at the scorer's table and mispronounces names on the PA.

I worked in college athletics for nearly a decade and when it comes to recording the official attendance its usually done one of two ways. The proper way is through ticket counts, passes issued and a little bit of guessing. The way you do it for smaller sports like volleyball, gymnastics or an underappreciated basketball team is the eye test—then add 100 or so. I'd be surprised if there were 250 people in the stands at EMU's game. Which means fan support was even worse.

What I'm excited for at the 52nd Film Festival

The Ann Arbor Film Festival starts Tuesday, March 25th. I highly recommend you check out the Festival for a night or two. Here are some of the things I'm looking forward to:

Tuesday, March 25th:

8:15: Opening Night Screening, Main Auditorium

To me, this is the heat of the Film Festival--a series of short independent films. Nine films between 1 and 27 minutes in length. Just sit back, relax and grab some popcorn.

Wednesday, March 26th:

Friday, March 21, 2014

Wurst Challenge in Pictures

EJ and I went to the Wurst Challenge last night and it was pretty awesome. Here are some of the photos. Also, if you watch WXYZ 7's coverage of the event you can see us in the background. In the above picture, you can see Cre Fuller. He didn't eat the most sausage, but he did have a great costume.

Here's Mark Maynard being interviewed by WXYZ. Mark, the limelight looks good on you.

Where the PEEP you at?


For this segment, you tell me where the peep is at. It will last until I eat all my peeps, because even after they go stale they are still good. 

Breaking News: Michigan's same-sex marriage ban struck down

Michigan has become the 18th state to have a same-sex marriage ban overturned. Judge Bernard Friedman issued a ruling in April DeBoer, et al. v Richard Snyder, et al. this afternoon. Via Michigan Radio:

[Friedman] says the state's constitutional amendment discriminates against same-sex couples, violating the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

In his ruling, Friedman says the ban does not advance any legitimate state interest.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette -- who argued in favor of the amendment -- says he has filed an emergency request for the ruling to be put on hold while the decision is appealed to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Yay. Here's hoping the Sixth Circuit Court doesn't put the decision on hold.

UPDATE: If you want to read the whole decision, it's here.

FOIA Friday: Michigan Legislature considers lowering FOIA fees with HB 4001 of 2013

The Michigan House of Representatives passed a bill on March 20, 2014, HB 4001 of 2013, which would change the Michigan FOIA laws to reduce FOIA costs for requesters. The legislation now goes to the Michigan Senate for consideration.

According the the House legislative analysis, the bill would have these impacts on fees, tending in all cases to reduce the copying costs for paper records when requested:

  • A public body could not charge more than 10 cents a page when copying a public record. 
  • Also, a public body would have to permit and would be prohibited from charging a fee for copying during an on-site inspection of public records, unless the requestor asked the public body to provide the copies or used the public body's copying equipment.
  • If a public body does not deny a request for records but fails to make the requested records available for inspection or to provide a copy of the requested records within the deadline, then the fee that can be charged would be reduced by 20 percent of the original fee each day after the deadline that the record or copy is not made available.  A public body could not charge a fee for a record produced more than five days after the deadline.
  • If a public body imposed a fee in excess of that permitted, the requestor could submit a written appeal for a reduction in the fee, in the same way that the requestor can currently appeal a denial of all or a portion of a request.
Most importantly for frequent FOIA filers who consider taking a recalcitrant public body to court, the bill would eliminate a provision that allows a public body to recover attorney's fees. This provision in the current law discourages the impecunious FOIA requester from going to court even if they have pro bono legal representation, because there could be substantial costs if they lose.

The analysis notes dryly that to the extent that the provisions of the bill lower FOIA request charges, the requestor would realize a corresponding positive fiscal impact.






Thursday, March 20, 2014

Write for Damn Arbor, Get Mad Cash, Yo

Contrary to popular belief, Damn Arbor does not put me in fast cars, imported jeans and the finest sandwich shops this side of the Mississippi. I do it for the love of the game, and that game is being on Ben and Ed's good sides.

But sometimes doing things for fun leads to bigger opportunities with more powerful men who wear those aforementioned jeans, drive those cars and eat subs so hard motherhumpers want to fine them. That's what happened with me and the fine, intelligent, brave people at Road & Track.

They keep tabs on Damn Arbor (because who doesn't) and saw my name in lights and treated me to lunch at Macaroni Grill (told you these guys weren't playing around) and before you knew it I was churning out pages for them and adding to the amount of tax I'll have to pay at the end of the year as a freelancer.

Ben has been kind enough to let me shill my latest and favoritest article here on lover, huckster, genius and University of Michigan graduate John DeLorean. He was a 6'4" automotive playboy who wore his dyed-black hair shaggy, kept his sideburns long to piss off the brass at GM, dated showgirls, married supermodels and was embroiled in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy with the FBI, who videotaped him in a Los Angeles airport motel with a briefcase stuffed with 50 pounds of pure. Oh, and the only reason he was able to pay his lawyers and afford to eat was because his car was used in a little movie about time travel.

Read the full article here.

Happy Equinox

It's the first day of spring! Looks like we survived winter.

Sharing Summit this Saturday

This Saturday from 11 AM-3 PM there A2Share is hosting a sharing summit in the Dana Building. There will be skillshares, seed, clothing, and book swaps. Pretty great. More info here.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

The Wurst Challenge is tomorrow

Have you dreamed of watching local celebrities compete to eat 20' of bratwurst? If so, you're in luck: the Wurst Challenge is tomorrow at Wurst Bar. All the cool kids will be there.

Sad Capitol Park sticker art

EJ wrote earlier about the re-development/gentrification issues in Detroit's Capitol Park neighborhood. On Sunday morning, I saw this sticker while we were grabbing coffee there.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

La Nain Rouge is coming, are you ready?


The annual Marche du Nain Rouge is this Sunday from 1-3 at Traffic Jam and Snug in Detroit. If you've never gone, I highly recommend checking it out. Here are some of my favorite pictures from previous years:




Monday, March 17, 2014

From the St. Patrick's Day Archive

Ed.: this article was originally posted on St. Patrick's Day 2012 when it was sunny and warm. I was going to try to add another layer to this Russian doll this year, but then I realized I'd need an iPad or something.

I try not to post too many gratuitous pictures of myself, but...

Boom! That's me at Dominick's yesterday holding the March 17, 2005 Michigan Daily. I had been working at Dominick's during my spring break and the Daily needed an Irish-looking person working at a bar for their St. Patrick's Day cover story.

Happy St. Patrick's Day gentle readers.

Photo via Gautam Hans

Protomartyr & A.V. Club this Thursday in Ann Arbor

Hopefully this isn't too late, but this Thursday you'll have a chance to see Protomartyr play in Ann Arbor as they film part of a new A.V. Club video series called Pioneering. From their article:
If you’d like to see Protomartyr—whose raucously excellent second album Under Color Of Official Right comes out April 8—play in Ann Arbor, MI around lunchtime on Thursday, March 20, just tweet the word Protomartyr, along with the hashtags #Pioneering and #LoveToday. Some kind of lunch will be served as well, courtesy of The A.V. Club and Honda.
Apparently space is limited so you'd better Tweet soon to sign up. Learn more about the Pioneering series and A.V. Club here.

Hardly Art will release Under Color of Official Right on April 8. Check out "Come & See:"

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Ann Arbor City Council preview for March 17, 2014

The Ann Arbor City Council meets in session the first and third Mondays of each month, as a general rule. The Monday meeting of 17 March 2014 starts at 7:00 p.m. in council chambers on the 2d floor of city hall.

Highlights for this week's meeting include what will certainly be heated discussion of the future of the surface of the Library Lot, either as parking, a park, public space, or private development. There are no public hearings, so there's a chance that it will be a quick night's work, as long as council comes to some relatively prompt conclusions about the Library Lot.

Pun Plamondon addresses the Ann Arbor City Council, 1973.

As always, the Ann Arbor Chronicle has a detailed preview of the council agenda, which I recommend to you. If any Ann Arbor News stories pop up they will be linked here as well.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Bill's Beer Garden opens today

Bill's Beer Garden is opening today. Just in time for spring! It's hard to picture the beer garden with all the snow we have at the moment. It's a good thing they have those fire pits.

3 Bands, $3--tomorrow at the League

Chit Chat, Moses, and Child Sleep are playing at the League tomorrow night at 8 pm. Tickets are just $3.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

'Venus in Fur' at the Performance Network Theatre

The alternately light and dark Maggie Meyer as Vanda, an auditioning actress

The Performance Network Theatre had some fun with its most recent production of David Ives' "Venus in Fur." The theater lobby features "peepshow" drawings of naked women and paintings of suggestively arranged fruit. (Are those avocados or are you just happy to see me?) Maggie Meyer vamps around the stage as the auditioning actress Vanda, wisecracking about her Victorian dress (from a secondhand store) and her dog collar ("leftover from when I was a prostitute"). The plot--superficially the story of an underemployed actress auditioning for a role in Thomas's (Sebastian Gerstner) adaptation of a novel--can be watched as a wink-wink, nudge-nudge revenge fantasy for all struggling actors who have suffered at the hands of pompous writers/directors. The dialogue is snappy, the dress is sexy, and more than once the bottom drops out on everything you know.

It's easy to see that Meyer is the pièce de résistance of this production. She flits effortlessly from accessible Brooklyn charmer to Victorian female lead to domineering Mistress. In all these iterations, her character holds the cards--she asks the questions, she stages the reveals, she smolders coyly and quips cleverly. With Meyer, the play and the audience, if not Thomas himself, are in good hands. We may never know anything more about Vanda than that she is entertaining. That, for the purposes of a night out, is enough.

The point-of-view character is Thomas, who opens the play complaining to his fiance on the phone about all the stupid, young actresses who were unable to fulfill his ideal for the role of the dominatrix Wanda (coincidence?). He's the kind of smug navel-gazer we love to hate, and it's satisfying when Vanda, late to the audition and seemingly unprepared, first starts batting him around like a cat with a mouse. (She guesses that he read the source material Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch in the original German. "I did, actually," he responds, his tone softening toward her, all melted butter at her insight into his genius. Vanda cannot laugh, but the audience does.) Gerstner hits the right notes as Thomas, a maddening and--from my perspective--ultimately disappointing character. And because the story is so much a psychological analysis of Thomas, we bump up unsatisfactorily against his limitations. By the end, I wanted out of his world, perhaps to grab a coffee with Vanda. Let's talk about her stuff for a while.

The show runs until April 6. Get your tickets here.

Cool Show at Yellow Barn on Saturday

OutMD is hosting a sweet concert this Saturday at the Yellow Barn. Out of the Cold is a fundraiser for Detroit's Ruth Ellis Center and features Traits from Detroit, Carmel Liburdi who hails from Harper Woods, and Ann Arbor based Dakkina. Doors are at 8 pm and cover is $15 for this all ages show. Proceeds go to support the Ruth Ellis Center's mission to support the needs of runaway, homeless and at-risk youth.

Photo courtesy of Bess Connors.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Me and Juliewbee are in Concentrate

Who knew all those endless nights live-tweeting city council meetings would eventually lead to fame and fortune? Writing for Concentrate, Patrick Dunn, has an article about those of us who clog up your twitter stream every first and third Monday with #a2council tweets. You should check it out. And while we are on the subject, stay tuned for an upcoming city council viewing party.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Detroit News Exposes Commercial Fallacies


Have I mentioned how much I am now paying for health care? Not a lot, it's actually scary how little I am paying. Or maybe the number itself has scary connotations. $6.66 a month. You can be impressed/worried if I am from The Omen. Now, this woman has been hailing the dark forces of Obamacare for much longer than I have.

As it turns out, The Detroit News has exposed the commercial above to be a little misguided. Or maybe outright wrong. The commercial was put together by Americans for Prosperity (or the prosperity of middle class white people) and tells how a Dexter woman was not allowed to keep her health insurance. Instead, she was forced to enroll in another plan that might, in fact, save her money. Check out the article, and pay attention to how Sen. Harry Reid is reacting. He's got a pretty good pun somewhere.

Michigan's official meat: corned beef

According to an in depth analysis from Slate says Michigan's official meat is corned beef. From the article:

The Dinty Moore is a delightfully named sandwich, so much so that its contents actually come as a letdown: corned beef, lettuce, tomato, and Russian dressing on rye. (It and Hormel’s line of beef stew can trace their names back, in a convoluted fashion, to an early-20th-century Irish restaurateur in New York.) If the Dinty Moore were Michigan’s only contribution to corned-beef culture, I’d hesitate to entrust it with corned beef as its state meat. But Detroit is also home to Grobbel’s, “America’s oldest corned beef specialist.” Sold!
Not the most ringing endorsement, but at least we didn't end up with squirrel. Sorry West Virginia.

Life is good Ann Harbor

A reader, Stephen Kosinski, sent in the above image. Nothing says "Your genuine neighborhood shoppe" like misspelling the name of the city you're advertising in.

Surf Curse

Surf Curse, and this monster face sticker in the lower right corner of the sign are probably my two favorite stickers I've ever seen.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Signs of spring

Two sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) call to each other high above the Diag

I know there is snow in the forecast and that there is a risk of dipping below zero again on Thursday morning. Still, it felt like spring today and all the signs point to an imminent end to winter. Geese and cranes are flying north. Dominick's is open. Our huge snow piles are melting. Buds are beginning to swell. Gentle readers, I think we just might survive winter.

Wildlife of Ypsilanti: Eastern Screech Owl

Saw a little eastern screech owl (Megascops asio) this morning on Wallace St. in Normal Park. The little guy was taking a bath in a puddle. Sorry the picture is so bad.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Sidetracks Issue

A smoke machine set off the fire alarms at sidetracks tonight, according to drunk people. The bar is still full, but now has the addition of firefighters. 

Friday, March 7, 2014

First Fridays in Ypsilanti

I've never been to a First Friday event in Ypsilanti, but they sound pretty cool. There happens to be one tonight, if you're interested.

Elmore Leonard's estate sale today and tomorrow

Gentle Readers, good news: Elmore Leonard's estate sale is today. If you want to grab your own piece of Detroit's literary history, you have until 4 pm today, or from 9 am - 1 pm tomorrow to get your butt to 2192 Yarmouth in Bloomfield Township.

Wurst Challenge commercial

I am a big fan of local commercials. So I was very pleased to see a commercial for the Wurst Challenge up on Mark Maynard this morning. Looks like a great event.

You won't BELIEVE what happens when this person loses their retainer

Sorry about the title, I just wanted to try the UPWORTHY method. Someone is missing their retainer, and I think we can all relate to that anguish. I cried, the first time I read this missed connection.

Stay tuned for pictures of what the retainer could look like...


Thursday, March 6, 2014

New downtown hotel to include hovering ghost-cars

Over on the .News there's a rendering of the new hotel that's being proposed for the bus depot on Huron and Ashley. Do you see something strange, in the lower right corner of the rendering? Can we magnify that?

Holy crap. It's a floating ghost-car. The rendering is a joint venture by Zivic & Hurdle Architects and Hobbs & Black Architects.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Rosemarie the Riveting Review Writer: Ypsilanti Cat Hoarders

Have I mentioned my other friend, Ted Wilson? Ted was my inspiration for writing reviews. And for putting tuna fish into macaroni and cheese.  Now, it seems, he has moved on to advice columns. I can only imagine the kind of advice he could give-- he has suffered heartbreak, joy, more heartbreak. Check out his newest exploits here


Ypsilanti Cat Hoarders
-88/5 Stars
What a better picture than that horrid house!
I feel so silly, readers, for bringing this review to you so late. I am not always current on my news, or heart worm medication. In fact, after Ann Arbor stopped delivering my newspaper, I tried several methods to get myself interested in the daily happenings of this city. At first I was having my neighbor throw his laptop onto my porch, with the tab open to the newest Ann Arbor Wikipedia article. This was not a cost effective method. When we figured out that he could take information from his computer and send it to another machine to be processed into paper-- WELL, what a delight. Now he can throw that wadded bunch onto my porch, every morning, rain or shine. 

Oh boy, I have a tendency to run away with myself. Not literally-- that would be impossible. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that neighboring my idyllic town was a group of monsters. I understand that it is hard to take care of one cat. It could even be hard to take care of two cats. Now, eighty eight? That seems like a challenge. 

The Wurst Challenge

On March 20th, Ypsilanti philanthropists will compete against each other to see who can eat more bratwurst at Wurst Bar. Proceeds go to the Fly Children's Art Center. You can read more about the event over on MarkMaynard.com and you can RSVP here.

Maiz to take over Woodruff's


According to a facebook post yesterday, Woodruff's will be replaced by Maiz Mexican Cantina. I take back many years of denouncing a god, because I have been wishing for a while to have any sort of Mexican food within walking distance. If only it was Taqueria La Fiesta.

Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority preview for March 5, 2014

The Ann Arbor DDA meets monthly on the first Wednesday of the month at noon at the DDA headquarters on S Fifth Ave. Here's a summary of the March 5, 2014 DDA board packet. Look for the #a2dda hashtag on Twitter, either to follow or to mute.

all hail the comcast overlords

I love Comcast, I really do. If Comcast was a person I would marry them. I mean, is it even an issue if that little red starts spreading over the other states? It probably means more True Detective for everyone? We should really be happy about Comcast, I mean, they are who is allowing me to type this message anyways. I really LOVE COMCAST. COMCAST FOR LIFE.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Paczki Day at Wayne State University

Check out this great little video from Wayne State. It covers everything you ever wanted to know about Paczki but were afraid to ask.

Previously:

Happy Paczki Day!
Paczki Day in Hamtramck, a photo essay

Happy Paczki Day!


Sister Pie was up all night putting her spin on the classic pastry. (Chocolate hazelnut rye and cranberry-lemon poppy seed. They embody that traditional packzi decadence, and you can still sit up straight after you eat one!) This morning, she's serving up both pre-orders and (limited) walk-ins at the Hannan House Cafe.

Where are you getting your paczki this morning?

Kickstarter for local bees

Gentle readers, I hate to bring you down on Fat Tuesday, but bees are not doing well. Fortunately, there are dedicated local apiarists like Meghan Milbrath. She just launched a kickstarter to help local fund a project that would teach beekeepers in the area to build nucs and propagate their own queens. Meghan has been keeping bees for well over two decades now and really knows her stuff. Check out the video above for some awesome pictures of her happy bees.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Ann Arbor City Council preview for March 3rd, 2014

Ann Arbor City Council is meeting in regular session on Monday, March 3rd, 2014 at 7:00. Here's what to expect from the meeting.

Highlights of the agenda include several items that had been previously postponed, including a No Smoking Ordinance and termination of the Percent for Art program. Funding for affordable housing is also on the agenda. In the clerk's report, the highlights are a 3 year old DDA annual report, and a set of letters from Pattengill students about the poor plowing on the main street leading up to their school after a recent snowstorm.

As always there are other media organizations covering council - look for a comprehensive Ann Arbor Chronicle preview, and a Monday story from the Ann Arbor News with background on one or two highlighted issues.


Paczki Day in Hamtramck, a photo essay

Ed.: Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras/Paczki Day. In acknowledgement of paczki and their cultural importance in the region, I will be re-posting several of our classic paczki-centric articles from the archives. This photo essay was originally posted by EJ on March 8th 2011.

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Brunch at Mani


Mani has recently started serving weekend brunch. It is delicious. EJ and I went there with my family two weeks ago and it was wonderful and if you get there early, not too crowded. I highly recommend the truffle toast, which comes with prosciutto and a poached egg. The grapefruit basil pancakes.