The floor is yours…

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36 Comments

  1. Dirtgrain
    Posted July 6, 2011 at 8:57 pm | Permalink

    Several days ago, on the day after the weird-colored skies and storms, I walked down the B2B path between Cornell and Hewitt. About halfway down is a side path that leads to the disc golf course and the area where the softball fields and football stadium are. I turned up that path, and just when I got out in the open, I saw hundreds of red centipedes (or millipedes? I often see them when I pick up a log in the backyard). They were walking all over the path, and many more were walking all over grass-covered hill just east of the path. I saw some that had died, in bunches, almost all of them curled up–some pale looking, as if the color had been drained from them.

    The next day, I walked the same way, and I discovered that seemingly all of them had died there. The path and nearby stretches of lawn were covered with curled up centipedes, with maybe one for every 2-4 square inches.

    I’m thinking EMU sprayed some sort of pesticide that drove these centipedes from their underground dwellings to parish in the sun. That must be a shitty way to die. If EMU does spray that area, I don’t understand why. Disc golfers don’t need weed-free lawns.

    A second thought on the area. Fourteen years ago, when I moved here, it was a field that had a big portion of it plowed over. Years later, EMU build the softball fields. There were articles about disputes with the homeowner’s whose yards abut the land used for the softball fields. I feel sorry for those people. Lights on poles rise up not far from their backyards. Noisy-ass games are played there, late into the night. It’s all dings and drunken cheering. All-day tournaments also are hosted for little league type teams, one just this weekend. I saw the trash strewn all over the place from the event. Two dumpsters were overfull with garbage (maybe this, along with the chaos of the all the cars and people killed the centipedes). It’s a nice place for teams to play, but damn damn can we Americans trash things up.

  2. Edward
    Posted July 7, 2011 at 5:46 am | Permalink

    It was mentioned in a earlier post that a 29 year old man had drown in the Huron River where it intersects with Michigan Avenue. I’d like to know, should I ever fall into the river, whether or not there’s a useful strategy for dealing with its currents.

  3. Jsam
    Posted July 7, 2011 at 6:57 am | Permalink

    I am cracking up reading the A2.comical article about the 4 naughty runaway boaters in Livingston County…..one has a VERY familiar name……just sayin.

  4. Gene
    Posted July 7, 2011 at 7:42 am | Permalink

    Driving 5 mph SLOWER than a posted speed limit is anti-social behavior.

  5. Mr. X
    Posted July 7, 2011 at 7:48 am | Permalink

    Is anyone else upset about this week marking the end of America’s manned space program?

  6. Mr. X
    Posted July 7, 2011 at 7:52 am | Permalink

    Is that the son of local lobbyist Kirk Profit?

    Three Ypsilanti residents were arraigned Sunday on charges they resisted police when they tried to flee during a boat chase on the Chain of Lakes.

    Brian Joseph Conatser, 33, is charged with resisting police, operating a boat while under the influence of liquor and reckless operation of the marine craft while passengers Aimee Christine Martin, 24, and Kirk Brian Profit, 32, face a charge of resisting police.

    The three, who are free on a $1,000 personal bond, return to Livingston County District Court on Wednesday for an exam conference before Judge Theresa Brennan.

    Two Hamburg police officers were on marine patrol in the no-wake zone between Dunleavey and Gallagher lakes after Saturday’s fireworks display on Portage Lake when a 1997 Bayliner speedboat passed them at a high rate of speed, police said.

    Officers attempted to stop the boat with the help of a spot light, but the boat’s operator — allegedly Conatser — accelerated northbound into Gallagher Lake.

    Officers then pursued the man with lights and sirens. The driver did not stop, however, instead turning off the boat’s lights in an attempt to elude officers.

    Police allege Conatser beached the boat and all four occupants ran. Police caught Conatser, Martin and Profit while the fourth person eluded capture. Officers have identified that person and are seeking a warrant.

    Police said Conatser admitted that he had been drinking “all day.”

    http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20110707/NEWS06/107070301/Court-Docket-Three-charged-Hamburg-boat-chase?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage|s

  7. Тротуарная
    Posted July 7, 2011 at 8:19 am | Permalink

    I contracted genital warts from a student at Eastern about ten years ago. I hear she’s a teacher now.

  8. Meta
    Posted July 7, 2011 at 8:48 am | Permalink

    Bill Clinton points out that the Republicans raised the debt ceiling a dozen times in the past decade without such theatrics.

    Bill Clinton bashed Republicans as hypocrites on Wednesday, saying their policies created the huge budget deficits that the GOP is now using to demand economically harmful spending cuts.

    “Why aren’t we talking more about the economy and less about this?” Clinton said during a speech to liberal youth activists in Washington. “Partly because the Republicans who control the House and have a lot of pull in the Senate have now decided, having quadrupled the debt in 12 years before I took office and doubled it after I left, that it’s all of a sudden the biggest problem in the world.”

    Speaking at Campus Progress’s seventh annual conference, Clinton blamed GOP leaders for creating the deficit through tax cuts and military spending. He also warned President Barack Obama and congressional leaders to avoid lumping immediate spending cuts into any debt limit deal because the economy still hasn’t fully recovered.

    “In the current budget debate, there’s all this discussion about how much will come from spending cuts, how much will come from tax increases, and almost nobody is talking about one of the central points, that everyone who’s analyzed the situation makes, including the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles commission, which said you shouldn’t do any of this until the economy is clearly recovering,” Clinton said.

    Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/58429.html#ixzz1RQXS2fxr

  9. Teri
    Posted July 7, 2011 at 9:50 am | Permalink

    What should I buy with my Rocket coupon?

  10. cmadler
    Posted July 7, 2011 at 10:59 am | Permalink

    What, no octopus spider?

    Edward: my understanding is that to escape a strong river current you should swim diagonally, with the current, toward the shore.

  11. Edward
    Posted July 7, 2011 at 11:57 am | Permalink

    Thanks, C. I’d heard that in the past, with regard to other rivers, but I thought that maybe there were issues unique to the Huron. I found it interesting that the guy was found at the bottom of the river. (According to reports, he was found twelve feet under.) I knew the currents were swift, but I wasn’t aware that there was an undertow strong enough to pull someone down to the bottom and hold them there.

    Might it make sense to post a warning in Riverside Park, identifying the risk of drowning, and telling people how to deal with the currents in the event that they might fall in?

    As for the Rocket, I’m partial to the Electronic Yodelling Pickle and the fart-flavored candy.

  12. Knox
    Posted July 7, 2011 at 12:31 pm | Permalink

    It was announced today that Rupert Murdock’s News World will be going out of business. The paper has been embroiled in scandal this week, since it became known that they’d intercepted voicemails left on a phone belonging to young murder victim Milly Dowler, and had also tapped the phones of families of victims of England’s 7/7 terrorists attacks. Curiously, few politicians in this country are speaking out against the powerful Murdock, who also owns FOX News.

  13. Edward
    Posted July 7, 2011 at 12:35 pm | Permalink

    What ever happened to the idea of Ypsi citizens going to Lansing (on a bus) and demanding that the state contribute toward the city services used by EMU, as they’re mandated to do under law? I thought that idea had traction.

  14. Bob Krzewinski
    Posted July 7, 2011 at 1:16 pm | Permalink

    On warning signs at Riverside Park that you might drown if you jump in the water, I think of the words of the late author Ed Abbey…

    “A venturesome minority will always be eager to set off on their own, and no obstacles should be placed in their path; let them take risks, for godsake, let them get lost, sunburnt, stranded, drowned, eaten by bears, buried alive under avalanches – that is the right and privilege of any free American.”

  15. Mr. X
    Posted July 7, 2011 at 2:27 pm | Permalink

    Dirtgrain,

    I can’t imagine that EMU would spray in the forest, but I suppose anything is possible. I’m wondering if there might be another answer. I don’t know anything about centipede life cycles, but are they perhaps one of the insect species where the males die after mating?

  16. Mr. X
    Posted July 7, 2011 at 2:30 pm | Permalink

    Teri,

    The Rocket is a great place for birthday and Christmas gifts. I’d suggest using the coupon to stock up. I’m not good about it, but I have a friend who keeps a box full of potential gifts in her closet, for when occasions pop up. I think it’s a great idea.

  17. cmadler
    Posted July 7, 2011 at 2:56 pm | Permalink

    Might it make sense to post a warning in Riverside Park, identifying the risk of drowning, and telling people how to deal with the currents in the event that they might fall in?

    I think part of the problem is that along Riverside Park, the river is wider and has significant shallow areas. This is what most Ypsilantians probably think of. But toward the south end of Riverside Park, and beyond there, it is narrower, more constrained (without the shallow areas and gently sloping bank), and probably faster and stronger.

  18. Local Man
    Posted July 7, 2011 at 3:06 pm | Permalink

    I’m curious to know if the guys who were working on getting a minor league baseball team on Water Street are still working on it.

  19. LaidOffTeacherPatti
    Posted July 7, 2011 at 4:15 pm | Permalink

    For the record, I’m not the teacher with genital warts. Although one of my sorority sisters got crabs and we all had to wash out the f’in house. Ho.

    Guess what? I am volunteering at the Shadow Art Fair from 12-2…come by and say hi but be nice! You could also buy me a beer if you’d like.

  20. Caring Parent
    Posted July 7, 2011 at 8:44 pm | Permalink

    Patti, I would love to meet you! I’ll go into the ladies room and cry out Mark’s name. However, please don’t be offended if I don’t use the toilets considering your many, um, “conditions.”

  21. Art Phair
    Posted July 7, 2011 at 10:13 pm | Permalink

    I will be supremely disappointed if I attend the Shadow Art Fair and do not hear a perpetual knell of women crying out “Mark Maynard, Mark Maynard…” from their segregated sanitation stalls.

  22. LaidOffTeacherPatti
    Posted July 7, 2011 at 10:26 pm | Permalink

    Uh oh, my conditions?? It was my sorority sister who had crabs :) Honest to God! I was way more careful in my day!! :)

  23. fleursmaintenant
    Posted July 8, 2011 at 9:58 pm | Permalink

    why are so many pizza places skipping right to gluten-free crusts all of a sudden? i want celiacs to enjoy a pie as well, but what about the lactose-intolerant among us? faux cheese has been a thing for a long time, but it’s super rare to find it as an option out to eat. props to jolly pumpkin in a2 for offering a pretty tasty soy mozzarella. any other options out there?

  24. TaterSalad
    Posted July 9, 2011 at 12:30 pm | Permalink

    Why do blacks vote for Democrats? Here is the answer!

    http://therealrevo.com/blog/?p=49731

  25. Lardy
    Posted July 10, 2011 at 12:32 am | Permalink

    Gluten free is the haute couture of food now. Worthless, but yeah.
    Bandwagon or whatever.
    Bleh.

  26. Knox
    Posted July 10, 2011 at 2:23 pm | Permalink

    Tater, if I’m not mistaken, it’s Republicans who are calling for 60-person classrooms in Detroit, fighting to eliminate the minimum wage, and urging the repeal of environmental laws put in place largely to protect those in areas where people lack the political wherewithal to fight dirty corporate projects. Those are just the first three things to come to mind. I can come up with more, if you like.

    As for the gluten free stuff, it’s just a fad. It will pass.

  27. Mr. X
    Posted July 10, 2011 at 2:51 pm | Permalink

    According to Michele Bachmann, African Americas had it better under slavery. Maybe she’ll do them all a favor and bring it back.

    http://imgur.com/MHFJm

  28. Andrew Jason Clock
    Posted July 11, 2011 at 2:57 am | Permalink

    Hi! I’d like to call together anyone under the age of, say, 45, or any one else that is tired of the petty, high-school like games our city council and “community leaders” insist on partaking in, to join together and elect anyone under the age of, say, 45 to local office who promises to ignore the utter bullshit that our elders and “leaders” pass off as important, and concentrate on working to make our city a better place to live. This would include telling many people considered powerful in Ypsilanti to fuck off, explaining that we don’t care that they didn’t get along with so-and-so in high school 30 years ago or whatever it is they have their panties in a bunch about, and that the petty games they’ve been playing since then have contributed to the downfall of our fair city. Maybe you’ve missed it, but we’ve been voting liberal as a city for quite some time, and we are more or less on the same side, no matter what sort of petty crap you try to make issues of. Do we have to elect a teabagger before you get the point?

    Maybe I’ve just had one too many in Depot Town, but really, I’m pretty sure that a lot of things being said, especially out of the 3rd ward, are most closely compared events that happen in kindergarten classes. Please get down to the business of keeping us out of the hands of an EFM, get your noses out of the business of your neighbors, and try to remember we elected you to represent us, not embarrass us.

    I’m pretty sure I talked about acting as “O.Y.” or “one Ypsilanti” two years ago or so on this website. I still mean it. Work for Ypsilanti, not against people in Ypsilanti that you don’t agree with. News flash: just because you don’t like someone doesn’t mean that their community project has no value. It certainly doesn’t mean “those people” are grabbing for power or out to get anyone. Just because you can’t move past your 8th grade grudge doesn’t mean you are right.

    I, for one, am over your childishness, and I am ready to vote against anyone who has acted out of spite or grudges, against the best interest of our community. Thanks for listening, and see you at the polls.

  29. TaterSalad
    Posted July 11, 2011 at 2:43 pm | Permalink

    The Muslim Brotherhood has just signed up a brand new recruit and they make him their “General” in charge of Defense.

    http://members.beforeitsnews.com/story/804/191/Funny_Video:_Ape_With_AK-47.html

  30. Shay Maria
    Posted July 13, 2011 at 11:43 am | Permalink

    After reading your blog post I browsed your website a bit and then cried myself to sleep. It is now three days later, and I’m in a town that I don’t recognize, covered in blood that is not my own.

  31. Posted July 21, 2011 at 2:39 pm | Permalink

    INQUEST OPENS INTO DEATH OF EX-NOW REPORTER SEAN HOARE
    21 July 2011 BBC

    An inquest into the death of former News of the World showbusiness reporter Sean Hoare has been opened and adjourned by the Hertfordshire coroner.

    Mr Hoare, 47, who claimed phone-hacking was rife at the paper, was found dead at his home in Watford on Monday.

    A Hertfordshire County Council spokesman said the coroner was still waiting to receive histology and toxicology results.

    Hertfordshire police has said the death was “non-suspicious”.

    It added there was also an “on-going examination of health problems” identified at the post mortem examination.

    Mr Hoare’s body was discovered after police were called to his home in Langley Road.

    The journalist had worked on the Sun before being recruited by former News of the World (NoW) editor Andy Coulson to News International’s Sunday title.

    He was dismissed from the now-closed NoW because of his drink and drug problems.

    Mr Hoare had previously told the BBC’s Panorama programme that phone hacking was “endemic” at the Sunday tabloid.

    When he first spoke out, he told Panorama the then NoW editor Andy Coulson had asked him to hack phones – something Mr Coulson, who went on to be Prime Minister David Cameron’s press chief, has denied.

    The former journalist was also interviewed by the New York Times last year in which he said hacking was far more extensive than the NoW acknowledged when police first investigated hacking claims in 2006.

  32. Eel
    Posted July 21, 2011 at 3:15 pm | Permalink

    Maybe he just wanted to interview David Kelly.

  33. EOS
    Posted December 1, 2011 at 11:20 am | Permalink

    Nice colors Mark. I like your new header on the blog. It’s kinda old school with a Mastodon. The picture must be a two or six thousand years old, huh?

  34. K
    Posted December 1, 2011 at 12:18 pm | Permalink

    His blubber may keep you warm, but it keeps me HOT, baby!

  35. Watching Laughing.
    Posted December 1, 2011 at 6:48 pm | Permalink

    Hey Mark,
    you seem to be hard on yourself?
    Your new header is better than, the old; but why not put a more up beat header about yourself.
    You seem like a pretty decent guy, IMHO.

    Watching Laughing.

  36. Posted December 1, 2011 at 9:08 pm | Permalink

    I’m glad you guys like the new header… As for the blubber line, I’m not sure it comes from self hatred, although I’ll admit that I struggle with that. I just couldn’t think of anything mammoth related. Finally, I settled on blubber. I may change it. Keep coming back and checking.

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