Mark Maynard | San Francisco

Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interview: Vikram Bastian

By Mark | March 20, 2013

Next Thursday, assuming I can keep the panic attacks at bay, I’ll be conducting live exit interviews in front of a raucous, beer-swilling crowd at Conor O’Neills, as part of Concentrate Media’s moderately-distinguished speaker series. (It’s free, and open to the public, but, if you’d like to attend, you need to register in advance.) Here, [...]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Special Projects, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Adrienne Berry, alcoholism, American exceptionalism, Ann Arbor Free School, Ann Arbor Public Library, Anthony Meza Wilson, big banks, binge drinking, Bitchpork, brown people, Canadian shame, Canadians, Casa Jezebel, conservative parents, cooperatives, counterculture, credit unions, Davy Rothbart, Degrassi Jr High, Degrassi Junior High, depression, dumpster diving, edifice complex, Eric Stephenson, Eric Sturgis, Erin Brockavitch, Evan Bicker Williams, exit interviews, Far House, Forest Juziuk, Freaks, Fred Thomas, free school, geeks, haircuts that destroyed families, hedonism, Hotel Midwest, house shows, houses with names, hubris, Ian Fulcher, illegal alien, India, Jambo, Jambo Man, Jef Porkins, John Roos, John Rowland, Joseph Bollinger, Katherine Scott, Kayj, Kiran Nigam, KKK, Logan Schaedig, Manufacturing Consent, Michael Firn, Michelle Winkfield, Mississauga, MLK, moderates, music scenes, Noam Chomsky, Oakland, Ontario, Our New Library, Patrick Elkins, Pitchfork, Protect Our Library, punks, race, Raphael Brim, sadism, Sasha Kimel, Shelly Salant, Socialism, Steffanie Stauffer, Sumangala Kailasapathy, The Found House, Thom Elliott, undocumented resident, undocumented worker, University of Michigan, urban planning, Vikram Bastian, Water Street, web development, Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interviews | 47 Comments

Boots Riley of The Coup… on Communism, Corporatism, hip-hop, and the need to beat down scabs

By Mark | November 28, 2012

Last night, I had the occasion to speak with world-renowned hip-hop provocateur Boots Riley on a wide range of subjects spanning from his childhood in Detroit, spent in a household of Communist organizers, to his current work, organizing people in his neighborhood as a member Occupy Oakland. And, of course, we touched on his equally [...]

Posted in Art and Culture, Civil Liberties, Corporate Crime, Detroit, Economics, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged 21 Grams, 9/11, advertising, Alex Rivera, American Splendor, anti-capitalist, at-risk youth, Barbara Ransby, Bill Maher, Boots Riley, California, Capitalism, civil rights, class, College of Ethnic Studies, Communism, Congress of Racial Equality, CORE, Danny Goldberg, dark comedy, fast food workers union, Five Million Ways to Kill a CEO, foreclosure defense, fundraisers, Greensboro, guillotine building workshop, Happiness, hip hop, ILWU, independent film, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, interviews, Japanther, Jeff Clark, K-Mart, Kev Choice, KKK, Ku Klux Klan, La Peña Cultural Center, labor history, labor movement, Led Zeppelin, Levi's, longshoremen, lunch counter sit-ins, Magic Clap, Me and Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Granada Last Night, militancy, NAACP, Nirvana, North Carolina, Oakland, Occupy Oakland, Occupy Sandy, Ohio Players, Oscar Grant, Ozone House, picket lines, police brutality, political hip hop, political organizing, Politically Incorrect, Port of Oakland, Progressive Labor Party, Prop 21, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, rap, revolution, rhetoric of violent revolution, San Francisco State, San Francisco State strike, scabs, SDS, sit-down strikes, Sleep Dealer, social justice, Sorry to Bother You, speaking truth to power, Street Sweeper Social Club, Students for a Democratic Society, sympathy strikes, Taft–Hartley Act, Ted Hope, The Coup, The Guillotine, The Ice Storm, threat of violence, unions, United Steelworkers, USW, Walmart, Walter Riley, Washtenaw Eviction and Foreclosure Defense, we need a revolution, WEFD, Woodruff's, work stoppage, World Trade Center | 25 Comments

Tintype tourism in San Francisco

By Mark | August 24, 2012

Earlier this week, the family and I were in San Francisco, visiting with Ypsilanti expatriates and reconnecting with seldom seen family members. I hope to tell you more about our experiences in the days to come, but, for the time being, I wanted to share these very cool tintype photos that we had taken at [...]

Posted in Mark's Life, Photographs | Also tagged Arlo, Clementine, John Steinbeck, Linette, new ideas in retail, Okies, Photobooth, photography, pop-up retail, Retail, skin damage, The Grapes of Wrath, tintype | 18 Comments

On anti-Chinese racism, Emperor Norton, my political ambitions, and lots of other stuff in between

By Mark | February 12, 2012

A few days ago, an irate reader of this site left a comment, vowing that, if I should ever decide to run for Mayor of Ypsilanti, he would make it his mission to stop me. He was apparently compelled to make this solemn oath, you see, because, in coming out against anti-Chinese racism a few [...]

Posted in Mark's Life, Politics, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged accusations of racism, anti-Asian, Bummer and Lazarus, Chinese, dog names, dogs, Doug Skinner, eccentric individuals, Emperor Norton, Emperor of these United States, Imperial Majesty Emperor Norton I, Joshua Abraham Norton, Keep Ann Arbor Funky, local currency, Lord's Prayer, Mark's political ambitions, Mayor of Ypsilanti, mental illness, Pete Hoekstra, Protector of Mexico, race baiting, rice, San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge, Shakey Jake, Stephen King, The Dead Zone, Transbay Tube, xenophobia | 14 Comments

Ypsi Immigration Interview: Lee Azus

By Mark | September 15, 2011

To make up for yesterday’s Ypsi Exit Interview, which seems to have upset a few folks, here’s another in my series of Ypsi Immigration Interviews. I hope you enjoy it. MARK: What’s your name, and what is it that you do? LEE: My name is Lee Azus. I owned a bookstore for 15 years in [...]

Posted in Detroit, Michigan, Ypsilanti | Also tagged apple picking, Beezy's, Bi-Rite Creamery, Borders, burritos, Corner brewery, Cross Street, cross-country skiing, Dalat, domestic partner benefits, Dos Hermanos, Eastern Michigan University, Elbow Deep, Fischer Building, gay bars, gay marriage, gay rights, Get Lost Books, Ghirardelli Square, Heidelberg Project, Huron River, independent bookstores, Lee Azus, Michigan Avenue, Michigan Militia, River Street Bakery, Sidetrack, Ugly Mug, Wolverine Diner, Woodruff's, Ypsi Food Coop, Ypsi immigration interview | 31 Comments

Tag Archives: San Francisco

Tintype tourism in San Francisco

On anti-Chinese racism, Emperor Norton, my political ambitions, and lots of other stuff in between

Ypsi Immigration Interview: Lee Azus

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