Mark Maynard

Stanford student radio interviews the Monkey Power Trio

By Mark | May 10, 2012

A few nights ago, four out of five members of the band, The Monkey Power Trio, were interviewed by a fellow named Diego Aguilar on Stanford University’s student radio station, KZSU. The interview is, by all accounts, unremarkable. I have heard, however, that some young people on the Stanford campus have turned it into a drinking game, which is gratifying. They apparently chug beer every time one of my geriatric bandmates yawns, or notes how late at night it is. (The interview took place live, at midnight (EST), well past our prescribed bedtimes.)

The most interesting thing to come from it, from my perspective, was the possibility that, one day, we might be able to broadcast our annual, 24-hour session live, unedited, from the studio of KZSU. I think that could be incredibly painful for their listeners, but incredibly cool for us… I really like the idea of our being able to take calls, and song ideas, from listeners, whenever we get bored, or fall victim to one of our repeated creative slumps. I suppose, however, there could be a downside, as it would demystify the legendary one-day-a-year band to some extent. I think that it would probably be worth it, though… especially if it led to a live, 24-hour vinyl release that included several hours of us just snoring in our cots.

No bread 2 KZSU Phone Interview 5-5-12 MPT by markmaynard11

Among the songs referenced, in case you’d like to hear them, are Chiasmus and Don’t Excarnate Your Kids, from our most recent record.

Posted in Art and Culture, Monkey Power Trio | Tagged Chiasmus, Dick Panthers, Diego Aguilar, Don't Excarnate Your Kids, drinking games, interviews with Mark, KZSU, Tom Waits | 5 Comments

Ypsilanti Immigration Interview: Lindsay Garinger

By Mark | May 9, 2012

I believe I first met Lindsay Garinger a few days after Arlo was born, at an Occupy Ypsi teach-in. She was pregnant, and, if I’m not mistaken, she was knitting. I’d seen her around before, and always assumed that she was a local. That, apparently, wasn’t the case, though… Here, with the whole story, is Lindsay, who was kind enough to agree to be interviewed for our Ypsi Immigration Project….

MARK: Where had you been living? And why did you decide to move to Ypsi now? Was it the higher taxes that attracted you?
LINDSAY: I have lots of Ypsi pride. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’ve been living in Ann Arbor, at the University Townhouses, since August 2011. I moved back to The Mitten from Columbus, Ohio. My best friend of almost 12 years offered to share her space with me, so I could grow some babies, and we could support each other. Things have changed with both of our lives since I gave birth, though, and I was invited to rent a two-bedroom basement apartment at the Yoder homestead in Ypsilanti. It was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up! Their space is similar to the homestead that I had been building in Ohio. More importantly, it will be the first time for my five year old son and me to have our own space since I separated from his dad. I’ve been going through this life transition since January 2011, and I’m ready to settle! My life is a happy mess!
MARK: There’s no shame in having lived in Ann Arbor. It happens to the best of us. The important thing is that you left when an opportunity presented itself… Seriously, though… There’s a lot to like about Ann Arbor. What, in your opinion, is the very best thing about Ann Arbor?
LINDSAY: The transportation system and the absence of Wal-Mart.
MARK: By that same logic, is the best thing about Ypsi the absence of black plague and robots that feed on human eyeballs?
LINDSAY: Where are those robots?! Really, Ann Arbor is great in much the same way that Ypsi is, but it just feels too big and too corporate for me. I love the small town local pride vibe in Ypsi.
MARK: I’m not familiar with the Yoder Homestead. Is it a survivalist enclave? Are the stockpiles of weapons?
LINDSAY: They’re steps ahead of most of us when it comes to surviving The Apocalypse. Grace and Jeff are armed with two amazing little humans, two dogs, lots of chickens, lots of raised vegetable beds, a root cellar filled with preserved food, a greenhouse, etc. The weapons are of life, and this is the foundation of Polliwog Farm… They still need to purchase a gun.
MARK: So, are the Yoder Homestead and Plliwog Farm one in the same?
LINDSAY: Yes. The homestead is the family, and the farm is the business. They are very full folks!
MARK: What brought you to Michigan in the first place?
LINDSAY: I first came to Michigan in 2000 to study at EMU. I took a year off school in 2003 and lived with my folks back in C-Bus. In 2004, I moved back to Michigan to finish school. Then, I left again in 2006, to live with my boyfriend. We separated, but we have five year old son. Now, I’m back to stay (hopefully) for longer than three years.
MARK: You mention that you lived with your friend in Ann Arbor these last several months, while you were incubating babies. It’s OK if you don’t want to, but, since you brought up the pregnancy, do you want to mention how all of that went down? I don’t mean to pry, but I think it’s interesting, and I think that others might benefit from hearing about your decision.
LINDSAY: My first reaction to a positive pregnancy test was shock, since I had taken the morning after pill. It was not an option for me to keep the babies. I knew that I did not want more children. The biological father did not want children either. After a series of events to try to induce miscarriage, including being denied at my first abortion appointment, I started to think of adoption. The seed was planted by my housemates – a lesbian couple. I started to ponder the idea, and the stars were all aligned. Another friend knew of a couple, and, after some hesitation, we were introduced. We met at the park on Prospect and hit it off really well. I had another abortion appointment a week after that visit. That was a really hard week to live through, as I looked for signs to tell me what I should do. My sister and I talked, and she mentioned that perhaps the signs had already shown to me. Once I chose to go down that road, I was committed. I knew what I would have wanted from the situation to begin with, which helped make it so successful. I didn’t enter it knowing how it would look or work out, but I knew what I wanted. The couple were flexible, and so respectful, and I was sure to not take more than they offered. I got to have an empowering home birth experience, and they got a family. Everyone involved received the gift of being part of the story.
MARK: Again, it’s not a questions that you have to answer, but I heard that you shared your story on the Oxgyn Network. What was that like?
LINDSAY: It was completely bizarre to me. I don’t consider myself an artist, and yet there I was, giving my creation story away to the biggest industry. I felt like it compromised my beliefs, but I think it shows that I’m willing to be intimate and vulnerable on an interpersonal level, just not in a traditionally public way… so, I had to have someone tell the story for me with their big cameras. Reality TV is staged, but the questions I had to answer for the interviews were genuine to some degree. I felt slightly coerced a couple of times, but I was firm about not saying anything that I didn’t actually feel. There was one day of filming me going about my daily routine, and then three different interview sessions. I also had to provide diary videos, which were the absolute weirdest things… sitting in front of a computer and talking to it, while looking at yourself. I hope it is okay for me to tell this much. The contract is scary… I appreciate how amazing the producers were with me given how difficult I must have been with all my questioning and hesitation.
MARK: If someone had just one day to spend it Ypsi, and they had no money whatsoever, what would you suggest that they do?
LINDSAY: Go to the Pleasuredome, find Thom Elliot, and ask him to show you how to have a good time. That guy rules! And he is super nice too… I find myself walking through the graveyard, or near the river a lot too. Oh, and I would suggest going to the Historical Museum on Huron and looking through the file cabinets to research all the old homes. I don’t know if you still can, but I did that once, years ago, and there are files for each registered house, with information about the families that lived in them, and sometimes pictures too. Also, the museum itself is packed with lots of artifacts. Depending on the season, you could forage for edibles, then trade them for some beer from someone sitting on their front porch. Ypsilanti is so friendly you won’t go wrong just hanging around chatting with whomever you run into. Lots of good stories to be shared!
MARK: There must be two Thom Elliots in town. The one that I know isn’t a “good time” kind of guy. He just wants to talk about obscure, long-dead philosophers.
LINDSAY: He loves to pick up trash around Depot Town, and, if you’re nice enough, he would probably get you food while you let him diagnose you! I have a lot of respect for that guy. He’s one of the first people I met in this town, at Vinyl Joe’s. His honesty is humbling!
MARK: Now, let’s say you met someone with a million dollars, who, for some reason, had to invest it all in Ypsilanti. How would you suggest that this person spend it?
LINDSAY: You shouldn’t let me ever be in charge of money unless you want to lose it.
MARK: Yeah, but this person has to spend it, right? What would you tell her to do with it? Should she give it to the Dreamland Theater so that they can build puppet museum? Should she set up a scholarship program so that Ypsi kids can attend college for free? Should she buy Water Street and turn it into an edible forest? Or, should she just buy everyone in town roller skates and have a huge roller disco party?
LINDSAY: So you may have mind fucked me with this question. Essentially you are asking me to realize my passions again, while I am at an all time low figuring them out. Sigh. Thank You. First I’d suggest giving some to the community of folks that I respect for their contributions to this great little town (that should be its own country), like Natalie and Kristen with Bike Ypsi or the Ypsilanti Co-op, the Growing Hope Community, Little Lake Learning Community, Trillium Midwifery, Dreamland Theater, Patrick Elkins Shadow Puppetry, James Mann of The Ypsilanti Historical Society, The Ypsilanti Farmers Market and Food Pantries, SOS Community Services, Ozone House Drop In, and surely many more organizations! I’d love to see market stands built all around the city sidewalks. No organization to run them. I’d just have them there as an open invitation for folks to bring whatever they want to sell, or trade, or share. I heard from a friend about a street artist in New Orleans that just sat with her typewriter, available to type up anyone’s story for them. I know it is naive and idealistic, but, if I could dream big and keep it local, I would love to see our town have more street artists. I think Ypsi is a place where people want to, and do, support the small businesses. I don’t want to think about the logistics just yet, and I don’t know how business is for this town, but I support them with my wallet. I’d also like to build a roller skating rink and a one screen movie theater like this place in Columbus, OH, and start a bike co-op and pedi-cabbing business. I think I am taking you TOO SERIOUSLY!! HA!
MARK: What’s the weirdest thing ever to happen to you in Ypsilanti?
LINDSAY: I’ve pondered this question, and, each story that I think of, I realize that I was the weird one.
MARK: OK, so what’s the weirdest thing you’ve done in Ypsilanti?
LINDSAY: So I had my first apartment on Adams St, living in the basement with my dear friend, Leggz. The other half of the apartment was home to this guy Roy who was an Ypsi drunk. He had this lady friend, Judy, who was also an Ypsi drunk. The Ypsi drunks are really awesome folks. I was friendly with them, as I am with most people… and what happened next is a story I am used to repeating. I had bad boundaries with these two, plus I was in school for women studies stuff, and quite the avenger for protecting all women. So, she came to me frantic one day, and said Roy was going to kill her. I don’t know if it would be possible, though, as the guy was always shaking, slurring and so sloppy. Apparently he was doing some drugs, and she said something about it to him. She cared about him! So, in a matter of minutes, I had all of her stuff moved into my place while he was gone to the store. Piles and piles of clothes and boxes of stuff that she never unpacked. Next, we camped out and just waited. Waited for him to come and try to kill her. I was all for protecting this lady, but I was nervous I might get taken out too, for being in the way. He eventually came, and was yelling for her to come out. All I remember next is moving her into some other man’s house far away. Sorry if that was anti-climatic. Most of my stories are… I also helped care for a prairie dog pet while its owner was on vacation. And, I’m doing this interview, which is especially weird! And, meeting Patrick Elkins, who has brought so much weird joy to my life. Define weird!
MARK: What do you do for work? You don’t have to tell us where you work, specifically, but I’m curious as to what you do.
LINDSAY: I am working for a small cleaning business based out of YPSI, run by my friend, Nature Maid – WON’T BREAK IT OR TAKE IT! I may have made up that motto, but I would like to shamelessly promote it now. Check out the website. I really love my job. It’s like, as my friend Grace explains, “chop wood, carry water”… good hard work that satisfies and sustains me.
MARK: What, if anything, do you miss about Columbus?
LINDSAY: I’m not far enough from Ohio to miss anything. Specifically, in Columbus, I do miss certain folks, friends, food places and my dad.
MARK: When you say that you’re not far enough away, do you mean in a geographic sense, or an emotional sense?
LINDSAY: Geographic!
MARK: What should people know about Ben Miller?
LINDSAY: Ben Miller is a think tank of love. The kind of love that embraces and accepts and requires you to be respectful. He LOVES the library and YPSI LIVING! He has so many passions, and really great ideas, and he is living his dream. He could tell you more about himself so ask him out on a date!

Posted in Ann Arbor, Special Projects, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged abortion, adoption, Ben Miller, Dreamland Theater, EMU, eye eating robots, home birth, Leggz, morning after pill, Nature Maid, Oxgyn Network, Patrick Elkins, Pleasuredome, Polliwog Farm, reality television, roller disco, Thom Elliot, twins, Vinyl Joe's, Water Street, Yoder, Ypsi immigration interview | 35 Comments

Parents to meet and discuss the state of Ypsilanti’s public schools in the wake of new Deficit Elimination Plan

By Mark | May 8, 2012

The Ypsi School Board, as I suspect you know by now, voted yesterday, at the urging of the State, to pass a Deficit Elimination Plan calling for the closure of yet another school, and the firing of close to 100 teachers and other employees. Parents, and those concerned about the state of Ypsi’s public schools, will be gathering tomorrow (Wednesday) evening to discuss possible responses. The following comes from our friend, Maria Cotera.

Dear friends of Ypsi Schools,
You may know by now that the School Board passed a revised DEP that called for the closure of one elementary school in 2013, as well as massive cuts in Special Ed, staffing, athletics, transportation, and the closure of Estabrook pool. This DEP is only the latest in a series of cuts that the District has been forced to make as a result of financial difficulties (largely) created by structural underfunding at the State level. I think it’s pretty clear after last night’s meeting that the District is in CRISIS mode, and is doing everything it can to stay afloat and avoid an Emergency Financial Manager.
Some parents have decided to come together to talk about what this means for the future of our schools. We have graciously been offered the space to do so by parents at Ypsilanti Middle School. I know this is short notice, but their PTO is meeting tomorrow, Wednesday (May 9) until 7:30 after which time we can come in and have a meeting about the state of the district and the role of the community in envisioning a sustainable educational system in Ypsilanti.
We will meet in the media center at Ypsilanti Middle School at 7:30. Turn right when you enter the building and the media center is just down the hall on the right.
Please forward this email to your parent/community contacts.

[note: Our previous discussion on the Deficit Elimination Plan can be found here.]

Posted in Education, Ypsilanti | Tagged Deficit Elimination Plan, dismantling of public education, Emergency Financial Manager, public education, Ypsilanti School Board | 5 Comments

It’s not the vote that bothers me, it’s the way the Ypsilanti income tax campaign was waged

By Mark | May 8, 2012

The more things change, the more they stay the same…

In thinking about what I’d write about today’s vote on the City income tax, I started digging through the MarkMaynard.com archives, and found this piece that I’d posted November 2, 2007, when our community last considered the passage of an income tax. While much has changed since then, and a few of the players have switched sides, I found much of it to still be incredibly relevant. So, with that in mind, I thought that I’d share it again.

As you all know, our city has been caught up in a very contentious debate over the income tax we’ll be voting on this November 6. I haven’t decided yet how I plan to vote. There are persuasive arguments on both sides. And, to some degree, I don’t think it really matters. By that, I mean, I suspect that people will vote against it at this time, and then maybe, over time, come to agree that there are services worth paying more for. I think this would have happened regardless of the campaigns being waged on either side right now. No one wants to vote to tax themselves more, especially in an economy such as we’re in now, and people don’t generally value services until they’re gone. So, this post isn’t about the tax per-se. It’s about something that I think is more important in the long run. It’s about transparency in local government and treating Ypsilanti voters with the respect they deserve.
In my capacity as Co-Chair of the group YpsiVotes, a local non-partisan community dialogue group, I recently delivered a list of questions to representatives of both the pro-tax Campaign for Ypsilanti’s Future, and the anti-tax Stop the City Income Tax. (The list of seven questions can be found here.) They were carefully crafted by our committee after talking with several people in the community, and they are, by the accounts of those we’ve shared them with thus far on both sides of the debate, fair and balanced. They were specifically designed to get behind the rhetoric – on both sides – and to the heart of the matter at hand. Our hope was that both sides would answer them, and then we could run their answers side-by-side in the local press so that people could essentially compare “apples to apples” and make their own decisions. That, at least, was the plan. Our local Ypsi paper, the “Courier” agreed to reprint the questions and answers, the “Ann Arbor News” indicated that they would cover the results, and we had people ready to start printing and distributing copies for those in the community who might not have caught it on-line or in the paper. The problem is, only one side of the debate responded by the deadline we had set.
As it was clear that the Stop City Income Tax group, run by City Councilman Brian Robb, former Mayoral candidate Steve Pierce, and former Ypsilanti Mayor Pete Murdock, had received the request, the only explanation I could come up with was that it was their strategy not to engage. As the measure, by all accounts, is likely to fail, I suppose they didn’t see a need to. Their side had outspent, out-organized and out-maneuvered the pro-tax side by orders of magnitude. They, at this point, must have been thinking that engaging on the issue was only likely to cost them votes. (My perception was confirmed when, quite by coincidence, two anti-tax folks sat down behind me at Big Boy one morning and began discussing their non-engagement strategy.) While I understand it on a strategic level, I find it difficult to respect this position. I, quite frankly, find it anti-democratic, and, at least on the part of Councilman Robb, to be in violation of the promise that he made to his supporters in the last election “to bring transparency to local government.”
I wrote to Councilman Robb, whom I voted for in the last election, and told him this: I told him that I, as a constituent, was disappointed in him. He was on vacation, but invited me to call him. I did, and we talked for some time. I respect Brian, and I like having him on Council. He has proven to be a tenacious advocate for the people of Ypsilanti, and I truly appreciate that he invests the time necessary to follow the money and really understand the issues. Brian confirmed that the anti-tax side had no intention of answering the questions put forward by YpsiVotes. He then went on to tell me three things that he’d been told by someone in SCIT that were not true. He had been told 1) that their people had contacted the Courier and YpsiVotes did not have an agreement for them to reprint the questions and their answers, 2) that I told Steve Pierce at some point in the past that I was pro-tax, and 3) that an SCIT member had attempted to reach me to discuss the questions. As I trust Brian, the only explanation that I can come up with is that he was lied to by someone within his group who did not want to answer the YpsiVotes questions, and was trying to come up with reasons not to do so. I sent Brian a copy of the letter I’d received from the “Courier” stating that they did in fact agree to reprint the answers from both groups, and stated unequivocally that I had never spoken with Steve Pierce about how I intended to vote on this issue.
Brian said that our questions were “hard,” but fair. And, he acknowledged the fact that the citizens of Ypsilanti deserved the answers. By the end of our conversation, he had agreed to get me his answers to the seven questions “by Tuesday or Wednesday.” We had missed the deadline for the “Courier,” but I was still confident that, if I could get Brain’s responses by Wednesday, I could get the answers of both sides laid out side by side, photocopied and distributed through neighborhood associations, churches, and coffee shops by the weekend. Well, it is now Friday night, and Brian, in spite of my many attempts, has still to respond to all the questions. (He has posted the answers to a few on his website.) When asked, he tells me that he’s answering them as fast as he can. I hate to suggest such a thing, because I truly like Brian, but the evidence would seem to indicate that he’s being deliberately slow in order to keep us from distributing materials in the community over the weekend. I really don’t see any other explanation. They have had the 7 questions for a week and a half, and, as Brian acknowledged, none of the questions came out of left field.
I should preface this last comment by saying that I do believe there are compelling reasons not to support the income tax. I’m told there are companies in Ypsilanti that have said that they would relocate if an income tax were instituted. For a struggling community like ours, we cannot afford to lose a single job that we already have, and we cannot, especially as we try to lure a developer to our Water Street development project, come across as anti-business. These, in my opinion, are legitimate reasons to vote “no” on November 6. There are, however, ramifications to voting “no,” and I think that people should know what they are so that they can make informed decisions. I’ve been party to many discussions on the tax these past several weeks, and, invariably, there’s an exchange where someone on the pro-tax side mentions that the CIty’s solvency plan calls our letting go of several police officers and firefighters should the tax not pass. Then, also invariably, someone on the anti-tax side will explain the claim away as “fear mongering.” They’ll say that the City is inefficiently managed and they’ll suggest there’s still fat to be cut. They’ll imply that police, fire and EMS service will not be impacted, but, when asked for details as to what specifically will be cut in order to deliver a balanced budget, they excuse themselves from the conversation. I feel that people deserve to know the truth. They need to know, if the tax does not pass, what it’s going to mean to them in terms of police response times, bus service, EMS availability, etc. The citizens of Ypsilanti deserve to know the facts from both sides. (I’d like to point out that the folks on the other side of the fence were asked difficult questions as well. They were asked about the impact of the tax on poor families, the fact that, even if the tax passes, we’re projected to run out of money again, etc.)
Again, I am not advocating on behalf of the tax. As I said above, I think it will fail regardless, but I felt that I had to say something about the way the anti-tax campaign was being run. I don’t appreciate these kinds of campaigns when they’re being waged at the federal level by Karl Rove and I don’t appreciate them when they’re waged locally by my friends and neighbors. And, the worst part is, I’m afraid that when the measure is ultimately defeated, as it most surely will be, that the men behind it will be emboldened to use these tactics in the future. I think that’s a very bad thing for local democracy. Maybe it makes me a democratic sap, but I still think there are more important things than just winning.
People on both sides of the so-called “debate,” however, should be embarrassed by the way they’ve behaved. When I think of the positive things this energy could have been put toward it makes me feel very sad for the city of Ypsilanti.

This time, of course, the tactics were a bit different, but the strategy was the same… And, again, it worked.

Hopefully, now that the votes have been cast, the folks who fought so hard not to avoid open, honest debate on the future of our community, will come forward with their ideas as to how we can fend off the Emergency Manager that awaits us, as we teeter on the edge of the budget abyss, contemplating draconian cuts to City services. As the folks at the Chamber just recently said, now it’s time for Steve Pierce and the Stop City Income Tax folks to step up, and “provide their own solutions.” It’s easy in today’s economy to rally support for lower taxes. The hard part is coming up with a plan that, in spite of decreased funding, keeps public safety officers on the street, busses running, schools open and the community thriving… I know it’s only been five years, but one would hope they’d have something to share by now.

Posted in Ypsilanti | Tagged Brian Robb, income tax, Pete Murdock, Steve Pierce, Stop City Income Tax, YpsiVotes | 80 Comments

Totally Quotable Clementine… shop injury edition

By Mark | May 8, 2012

This was said to me a few hours ago, as I was driving Clementine home from school, where she’d been working with her classmates on the construction of a bridge. I’m guessing that saws were involved.