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so, mark finds a perfect banana in a parking space… does he eat it?
Posted in Photographs 15 Comments
news alert: drew barrymore spotted in ypsilanti
Drew Barrymore has infiltrated our beloved Ypsilanti! Man the barricades! Hollow out the children and stuff them with your valuables! Set fire to your homes! Release the toxic cloud from Marsh Plating!
update: Our friend Leighton saw her and said hello. Apparently she was here scouting locations for a film she’s producing about roller derby.
update: OK, Leighton’s wife is sitting next to me at the bar (we’re getting ready to judge Shadow Art Fair entries) and she wants me to mention, in case Ms. Barrymore is listening, that she wants desperately to play the part of a child-hating mom in this film. (As she despises kids, she says it wouldn’t really be acting.) Her ultimate objective is to become a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. All she needs is a chance to be a “D” level celebrity, and this, she figures, is her only realistic chance. (She’s dictating this to me.)
update: I’m available too… In case anyone’s looking… With the right wardrobe, I think I’d make a pretty good ‘sensitive dad’ type.
update: Here’s Jennifer, Ms. Barrymore. Doesn’t she look like a child-hating mom?
update: All of this seems to be in response to recent film industry tax incentives enacted by Governor Granholm. Apparently, with things becoming more expensive to shoot in Toronto, which has become the Los Angeles of Canada, it’s believed that some of the work may migrate back to the U.S. And, assuming some portion of these projects don’t require sunshine, there’s a good chance that Michigan might get some of them… This particular project of Barrymore’s, called “Whip It!”, had been set to begin shooting in Texas.
update: According to local real estate developer Karen Maurer, the Barrymore location scouts have expressed interest in the rundown rental property of David Kircher’s at 43 South Summit Street. Maurer says they are also looking for a beautifully restored Victorian home and a diner.
update: If I catch Ms. Barrymore, I intend to sneak her around town dressed like a ghost, and keep her hidden in my closet.
Posted in Ypsilanti 31 Comments
john mccain appreciation day
No time to blog tonight. Busy working my plan to trick all the Libertarians into the sea. I did want to pass along this video, however. It’s of a student at New York’s New School, Jean Sara Rohe, addressing her fellow graduates as they prepared to hear their commencement speaker, presidential candidate John McCain.
It’s almost completely unrelated to the McCain speech, but I also learned today that a gram of human feces can contain up to 10 million viruses.
In defense of McCain, it should be noted that he’s not without his well-informed supporters.
Posted in Politics 58 Comments
the monkey power trio: “no one likes this band yet”
My friend Patty in Chicago just bought tickets for something online through Ticketmaster. In an attempt to sell her more tickets, the system asked her what other musical artists she enjoyed. She, of course, said the Monkey Power Trio… Attached is the response she got from Ticketmaster. Apparently not one single person has requested to hear our material through their system in the last 390 days. And, even worse, “nobody has said they like (us) yet.” Which makes it all the more perplexing that revered independent radio station KFJC will be playing our music for four hours straight tomorrow night (starting at 10:00 PM EST). Listen in if you dare… And then write a letter to our friends at WFMU telling them that they’ve been pwned.
Posted in Agriculture 16 Comments
ypsi’s “solar city hall” project is 100% funded
Local solar guru Dave Strenski just wrote in to warn me that a Japanese firm was marketing solar bras.
I guess he’s concerned that they might put my jockstrap wind turbine company out of business.
Speaking of Dave, it seems as though he and Corinne, the manager of the Ypsi Food Coop, have been successful in getting a Michigan Energy Efficiency grant to double the number of solar panels at the Coop, and put 12 panels on the back of City Hall.
The good news is, the money that a lot of us (83 people) pledged to get the Solar City Hall project going, won’t be needed now. As I understand it, the state money will cover 100% of the project as it’s currently envisioned. The judges, from what I’m told, very much liked that a lot of us in the community had pledged our own money to get the project going, and that’s one of the reasons we were awarded the grant… I don’t know about the rest of you who pledged, but, assuming Dave’s up for it, I’d be happy to roll my $50 pledge over to another project, now that City Hall is done. (Assuming, of course, that Dave gets Historic District Commission approval for mounting the panels on City Hall.)
How about a Solar Senior Center and Rutherford Pool?
[Speaking of big, local alternative energy projects, I know I owe all of you an update on the Great Ypsi Bike Powered Film Series thing. We’ve made some progress since our first meeting, and I want to tell you about it, but I just haven’t had the time. Hopefully I can share something with you by the end of this week.]
Congratulations again to Dave, Corinne, Murph and everyone who played a part in the Solar CIty Hall initiative. I know that other communities are gravitating toward renewable energy, but, to my knowledge, Ypsi is one of the only ones where the effort isn’t being led by city government, but by residents themselves. My hope is that, sooner or later, people outside of Ypsi start taking notice of that fact. I think that we’d make a fine home for a company setting out to produce wind turbines or solar cells. We don’t just want to call ourselves a “green” city, we actually want to be a “green” city. I’ve got to think that will attract good things.
Posted in Ypsilanti 13 Comments
