The Monkey Power Trio survives 16th day as a band

As planned, the members of the Monkey Power Trio got together yesterday for their 16th day as a band. The session, which was held in the basement of Ypsilanti’s Dreamland Theater, was relatively uneventful. No bones were broken. No blood was spilled. No animals were sacrificed. We’ve yet to listen to the tapes, but I don’t remember there being any massive hits on the order of Butt Science, but we had a good time, and I think we’ll find enough to fill up a record, which is all that really matters… In the meantime, if you want to check out our last record, you can order a copy here.

Posted in Art and Culture, Mark's Life, Monkey Power Trio, Ypsilanti | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

MPT: today’s the day

mptsleep2

Posted in Art and Culture, Monkey Power Trio, Ypsilanti | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

fireFLY

My friend Ruth operates a local non-profit called FLY Children’s Art Center. They provide opportunities for kids to use critical and creative skills as they define and develop their own art projects. The following video, put together by my friend Mike Ambs, explains the origin and philosophy of FLY beautifully.

FLY Children’s Art Center from mike ambs ☂ on Vimeo.

flyfundraiserThis Saturday evening, FLY is hosting an event for grown-ups in Ann Arbor. It’s a fundraiser, and the tickets are $60 each. I know that price might be out of range for many in the audience, but I can’t imagine a more worthy group, or a more critical time to invest in an organization such as this. With arts budgets (and class time for the arts) being slashed in our schools, it’s imperative that we step in and support initiatives such as this one that seek to nurture innovative thinking in our kids. Our future depends upon creative problem solving. And, there will be delicious wine. It should seriously be a good time. The event will take place this Saturday evening, 7 pm, and tickets are available both online, and at Morgan and York (1928 Packard, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104).

Posted in Ann Arbor, Art and Culture, Ypsilanti | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Funding endless war in Afghanistan

Two fucked up things happened yesterday. First, it was revealed that our government cannot account for over 95% of the $9.1 billion in Iraqi oil money that was captured with the intent of using it to rebuild the decimated nation. And, the very same day this was made public by our government, members of the House voted 308 to 114 to increase funding for combat operations in Afghanistan by $59 billion. And, not only did this vote occur the same day that we admitted to having absolutely no idea what had happened to over $9 billion in Iraqi oil money, but, it happened just two days after WikiLeaks released 92,000 documents illustrating that we have no idea whatsoever what we’re doing in region… If I weren’t having so much fun here tonight, playing with audio drops of Mel Gibson, I’d probably be writing an angry letter to John Dingell, who was among those to vote in favor of the increase in war funding.

update: I know it would be a really bad thing, but I’m finding the thought of leaving Dingell a Mel Gibson voicemail expressing my displeasure really intriguing.

[You can see how your Congressperson voted here.]

Posted in Ideas, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Michigan Roots Jamboree, a preview

I had occasion last night to exchange a few emails with Erik Dotzauer, the Executive Director of the Depot Town CDC, on their upcoming event in Riverside Park. Here’s our very quick, three question interview.

Mark: So, Erik, tell me about the upcoming Michigan Roots Jamboree and what you’ll be doing differently this year?

Erik: We had a few obstacles to overcome last year. As it was the inaugural festival, we had to develop a vision and culture for the event, recruit volunteers and find an effective way to market the event. We also had to compete against many established regional events and families that had travel plans during the holiday weekend. And of course the “Ypsitucky” controversy, which redirected time and effort that could have been spent planning and marketing the event.

But we learned a lot last year. And I think from a production standpoint, we did a great job of delivering a quality festival experience at an affordable price. It’s important to us to keep the focus on Michigan artists and vendors, hence another name change to The Michigan Roots Jamboree. The changes that festival goers notice will be subtle. First, the festival no longer competes against Labor Day, as we moved the event to August 6th and 7th. We’ve added more art and food vendors this year, and will feature more live art at the event. Based upon feedback from last year, we increased the size of the 2nd stage so that both stages are identical. We are also upgrading our sound and lighting from last year. Perhaps most importantly, we have put more effort and money into marketing the event this year, and hope that we can grow the event in a safe and manageable manner. But the biggest addition to the event this year is the rollout of urban camping in Frog Island Park.

Mark: Why add urban camping this time? Was it something that people were demanding last time, during the first Jamboree?

Erik: Urban camping was something that we considered last year, but the logistics and staffing needed made us reconsider. The Michigan Roots Jamboree is a family-friendly music festival, so we wanted to make sure that we could keep the environment safe and welcoming for people of all ages. We realize that most of the competing music festivals allow camping, and that it’s a big draw for our audience. The challenge was finding a way to deliver that experience in the middle of a city.

We really push to showcase area musicians and artists, and want to expose them to a larger audience. We’re selling weekend passes with camping included for $50, and hope to attract folks from a wider radius that may not be able to afford a hotel room on top of other expenses. So in one respect, it’s a value add that will expand the reach of our potential audience. But we also see urban camping as an opportunity to add a unique twist to the festival, and to give attendees an experience very different than anything they’ve done before. We expect that it will have a positive impact for local businesses, particularly restaurants and bars.

To the best of my knowledge, I don’t know of any other music festival that has attempted this before. However, this will not be an all-night party. We will have plenty of security on hand and alcohol will be prohibited in the camping area. We are also keeping the number of camping passes available to a minimum, as we plan to tread lightly the first time to make sure that we can provide a safe and fun camping experience for everyone.

Mark: Whose idea was it to create a mascot for the event?

Erik: Jambo Man is the creation of Adrienne Ziegler, who is our Creative/Marketing Director for the festival. She was looking for a fun way to connect with people while increasing awareness of the festival. The response to our mascot has been incredible! He gives us a platform that allows us to interact with the community and the marketing approach is perfectly suited for social media promotions, such as ticket giveaways. I suppose you could view him as our Travelocity Gnome, not that we’re mimicking their marketing campaign, but I see similarities in how the characters have become synonymous with the organizations they represent.

jambo_frog_t_shirt-p235167318655081845ynru_325More than anything, Jambo Man is a curiosity. He spent quite a bit of time at the Michigan Summer Beer Festival this past weekend, and people came in droves to ask why we were hauling around a 25 pound stuffed animal. It makes our job a lot easier because we’re not forcing our marketing on people, instead they are coming to us asking what this is all about. Jambo Man puts a smile on peoples faces, and that’s exactly what we want. I would imagine that Jambo Man and Puppet Mark would have quite a bit in common.

For more information on the Michigan Roots Jamboree, which is to be held in Ypsilanti on August 6 and 7, click here.

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