Fire-berating pony at Maker Faire Detroit

This is what we are missing at Maker Faire Detroit.

Via Boing Boing

Iorio's Gelateria

Iorio's Gelateria just opened a store on William, across from Tower Plaza. I stopped by last night to try some gelato and talk to Mary, a recent U of M graduate who runs the gelateria. She and I had been put in contact by a mutual friend and, after exchanging a couple emails, Mary invited me to stop by to sample some gelato and talk about the company. Iorio's started as a catering business in 2004 when Mary asked her father why they couldn't get good Italian ice in Michigan. Since that time, they have expanded to a store in Lansing and their newest store here in Ann Arbor.

Iorio's has over 500 flavors of gelato, sorbetto, and granita. According to Mary, the company's top researchers are constantly working on the cutting edge of gelato research to develop new innovative flavors as well as perfect more traditional ones. Their gelato selection is diverse and they use locally sourced ingredients as much as possible. Iorio's also has a good selection of dairy-free options for those of you who are vegan or have dairy allergies. While I was there, I sampled the lime basil sorbetto, which was light and refreshing. I also tried some delicious, custardy "Zuppa Inglese" gelato. Mary treated me to a complementary small cup of cream puff gelato, which was a wonderful mixture of rich chocolate and vanilla with large chunks of cream puffs in it. Iorio's has other cool things too: some sort of Italian slushy and gelato stuffed cannoli-gelatoli. Before going to Iorio's, a small part of me just thought "gelato" was a pretentious way of saying "fancy ice cream." Now though, I'm convinced it's a much better medium to showcase strong flavors and unique flavor combinations than ice cream is.

Ice party?

Saw this kid at 7-11 attempting to buy all the ice in the store. Could it be for some strange experiment, or is he just getting ready for the return of 90 degree weather tomorrow?

Ann Arbor Crime Map

The city has new interactive crime maps via crimemapping.com. I like that it lets you play around with the city's crime data. The cutesy icons are a little weird though. For example, in the image above the "ninja" represents a burglary and the Pac-man ghost represents a robbery.

The infamous Violin Monster busking on Main and Liberty. That mask must get hot.

Two men on a mission against Tios

After reading my nacho posts earlier this week, Sarah, a friend in my lab suggested I check out Epic Portions saying, "It's these guys who blog about eating out in Ann Arbor and how much they hate Tios." I took a look and Sarah was right, the guys on Epic Portions really hate Tios. Here's an excerpt from the blog:

Tios – A Rant (May 13, 2009)
Tios Receives a Good Review???? (August 5, 2009)
Dear Tios, You Suck (November 20, 2009)

Tios. Torn Down. (December 9, 2009)
Tios. Torn Down. Part 2. (December 29, 2009)
Mission Accomplished (March 23, 2010)
Tios World Famous* Wet Burrito (May 12, 2010)
Man v. Food is Dead to Me (September 11, 2010) Man v. Pseudo-Mexican Slop (September 12, 2010)

Amazing. I was hoping I could continue to read about John and Jeremy's anti-Tios rants, but apparently they have quit posting on the subject; they declared victory after Tios failed to win "Best Mexican Food" on the Com this year. Fortunately, they will continue reviewing local food.

Late night at Mark's Carts

After a round of darts at 8 Ball last Saturday, some friends and I were in need of a late night snack. Fortunately, Mark's Carts were open. I had previously had some excellent vegan food at The Lunch Room and was excited to get a chance to check out the some of the other carts. My friends were amenable to my suggestion so we walked the half block from 8 Ball to Mark's Carts.

We got to the carts around 10:30 and found a half dozen or so people eating food from the two carts that were open. We ordered some delicious carnitas tacos at Darcy's Cart and some steamed pork belly buns from San Street. All in all, it was a pretty awesome end to the evening. Unfortunately, it looks like the carts may have only been open late last Saturday because of Art Fair. I'm hoping that it'll be economically viable for a few carts to have late night hours on the weekends.

Previously:

The Mark's Carts Overview
Mark's Carts: The Lunch Room

Bike Porn: Bike lock edition

Here's an idea: if you are going to drop $999 on a bike, invest more than $5 in a bike lock. I'm proposing a principal where your investment in your bicycle should be proportional to your investment in securing that bike.

Elves in Ann Arbor

There are elves in Ann Arbor. Apparently they work at Frita Batidos. Via missed connections:

Elven woman who works at Frita Batidos - m4w - 29 (Ann Arbor)
Date: 2011-07-20, 5:37PM EDT

You put the spring in my summer.

From one shallow man to one beautiful woman, thank you for being you.

Dude, if you want to catch her attention, make sure you go back to Friat Batidos wearing your best mithril armor. You could also try baking her some lembas, elves love that shit.

Ain't no party like a news van party

My Fox Detroit, ABC 7 Action News, and whatever NBC 4 is called are all out on the Diag right now.