I was just in Ann Arbor, picking up our CSA share from Tantre Farm, and noticed this wooden show flyer screwed into a phone pole. Very cool.
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ypsilanti is crawling with hollywood types
As the stars are out in Ypsi this weekend, I thought that I should start an open thread for people to rant about their ugly encounters, brag about their sexual conquests, and everything in between. So, if you have a story, no matter how mundane, here’s the place to share it. And here, to get the ball rolling, is a text message that was sent to me by a reader who was drinking at the Elbow Room last night.
… I am currently sitting at the elbow room and juliette lewis (sp?) is running around with her girfriends, arguing about what song to sing at mo fo karaoke. Also, jimmy fallon was here last night. Looks like you need to start production on other ‘keep celebrities out of ypsi’ posters…
I’m tempted to stick my head out this evening and take a look around, but I’m terrified that Drew Barrymore might try to seduce me, or that Juliette Lewis might try to convert me to Scientology. So, I’m tying myself to a chair, and watching old monster movies.
Best of luck to all of you who are going out tonight, looking to rub elbows with the small, thin and unapproachable. I hope it brings meaning to your otherwise miserable lives.
Posted in Ypsilanti 26 Comments
a rare photo of me taken back when i weighed 17 pounds
I just stumbled across a photo of myself on the internet that was taken during a very dark time in my life. It was taken in 2002, during my stay at the Coyote Rock rehabilitation facility. If I remember correctly, I was about 14 inches tall at this point. This was my rock bottom. I distinctly remember the doctor bending over and handing me this tiny, baby fish, and demanding that I lick the algae off its gills for sustenance. I, of course, refused. I was as headstrong as I was beautiful. And I was so close to my goal of 10 inches and 15 pounds that I could taste it. I wasn’t going to let anyone stand in my way… even if they could pick me up by pinching the scruff of my neck between their thumb and forefinger.
Posted in Mark's Life 6 Comments
obama needs to go on the offensive in michigan, talking about jobs
According to the “Washington Post,” John McCain is making “significant gains” in Michigan, and the battleground states of Colorado, Minnesota and Wisconsin. They’re calling the race in Michigan a “statistical dead heat.”
So, we’ve got our work cut out for us here… We need to start taking to the streets, talking about the economy, and reminding people that a vote for McCain won’t bring about positive change and create jobs… It’s not exactly a surprise, but this new polling data has also shown that the dominant concern of Michigan voters is the economy. Six in ten respondents in the sate said that the economy was the single most important thing they’d be basing their vote on.
The good news is, the Obama campaign is moving into the state in a big way this week. The official launch of their state headquarters was this afternoon, and over 1,300 people showed up, compared to the 200 on hand for the opening of the McCain office. And, Obama will be opening offices across Michigan this week… The grand opening of the Ann Arbor field office is this Saturday, and you’re all invited. The office is at 300 W. Liberty, and the party starts at 11:00 AM.
Oh, and you probably won’t get it in time for the party, but, if you act fast, you can get a free Obama button from MoveOn by clicking here… Of course, it will get you on the MoveOn solicitation list, but that’s a small price to pay for such a beautiful, shiny button.
[This post was brought to you by the power sucking highway signs of Ypsilanti, your friendly neighborhood oxytocin dealer, and Patriots for the Imprisonment of Karl Rove.]
Posted in Politics 10 Comments
the fate of the ypsibator
It’s now been made public that Ann Arbor SPARK has walked away from negotiations over Ypsi’s Smith Furniture building. It seems as though they couldn’t come to terms with the building’s owner. So, they’re looking to locate their SPARK East business incubator elsewhere. Word is they’re talking to Eric and Karen Maurer about the building on the South side of Michigan Avenue, between Bombadil’s and TC’s. Our hope is that the parties can come to terms quickly, so that the facility can open before 2009. (The building, as I understand it, still needs quite a bit of work.)
The Maurers have put a lot of time and effort into their downtown properties these past several years, and, in my opinion, they deserve the stability that a 5-year lease with a relatively stable entity like SPARK would give them. I didn’t post about it here, but I was pulling for them from the beginning. In general, I think it’s a good thing when, all other things being equal, hard-working developers win out over real estate speculators who, it would seem, bought inexpensive buildings years ago in Ypsi with no intention of improving them, waiting for the day when gentrification came and they could sell for several times what they paid. One doesn’t like to see that kind of behavior rewarded.
Of course, the really important thing isn’t where the Ypsibator lands, but that it lands somewhere. While I’d like to see the Maurers rewarded for their hard work and investment in Ypsi’s downtown, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if they didn’t get it. (Spark is talking with at least one other landlord.) As I understand it, the Maurers now operate over 100 rental units, and business is brisk. The really important thing for Ypsi, and I think that they’d agree, is that SPARK signs a lease somewhere along the Michigan Avenue corridor and starts putting down roots in the community.
Posted in Ypsilanti 21 Comments
