Michigan Chillers

Gentle readers, you may have recently noticed we have started writing weekly book reviews. EJ has been successful in procuring preview copies of several books written by Michiganders or about Michigan. Imagine my surprise yesterday to stumble upon a whole new group of novels related to our great state. Have any of you read the Michigan Chillers series? I especially liked the look of Calumet Copper Creatures. Maybe someone will send us a review copy some day. 

Are we experiencing a n increase in bike theft?

There are murmurs on the local interwebs and r/annarbor that indicate we may be experiencing a recent uptick in bike theft in Ann Arbor. In particular, some folks are saying that they have had their bikes stolen off their porches late at night. Gentle readers, have you heard or experienced anything? Always remember to use something sturdy when you lock your bike, especially if it looks real slick like this one.

Survey of Motown literature

Detroit native Bill Morris has highlighted four books about the history of Motown for The Millions:

I realized that anyone who wants to know what made Motown great and what killed Motown should not go to Broadway. They should turn to books, to the large and growing body of literature inspired by the Motown story – biographies, histories, autobiographies, memoirs, picture books, post-mortems. Together this body of Motown Lit lays out a tragedy every bit as fascinating, maddening, and depressing as the tragedy of Detroit itself.

 Someday I hope to read a review of a Detroit book that does not contain the words "tragedy" and "depressing."

Sharing = Caring: A2Share

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.

Lunch Room soft opening next week

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 noon
• 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

Click here to sign up.

Book review: 'The Telling Room'

In 1991, Michael Paterniti was a newly minted MFA, a graduate of a program he calls "Storytelling School" at U of M. Broke and unemployed, he picked up a gig as the editor of Zingerman's newsletter. Through those pages, Mr. Paterniti had a peak into the storied-ness of food that, in the early 90s, put Zingerman's at the cusp of the foodie movement.

One of the articles he edited was about a cheese from Castile, Spain, a cheese he could not afford to buy at the time. And, without so much as a bite into the madeleine, we are catapulted into Mr. Paterniti's obsessive, self consciously meandering, decade-plus quest after "The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge, and the World's Greatest Piece of Cheese." The book is released in hardcover today.

Gritty Detroit cop dama coming to AMC

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.

Journal of a Shut-In, Vol. 2

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

Comment of the day

From the Com article How could Ann Arbor refocus development in the downtown area? we get this Gem of a comment from GoNavy:

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?

Pickup artists at 8 Ball

This is a real gem of a Missed Connection:

To the "pick up artists" at 8 Ball - w4m - 21 (8 Ball Saloon)

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.

To all you single guys out there, make sure you leave your feather boas at home when you go to 8 Ball.