2010 July

2010 Frontier Ruckus

Two things immediately stand out about Frontier Ruckus: the visually descriptive songwriting and the well-crafted instrumentation. Their singer-songwriter, Matthew Milia, writes articulate and intricate lyrics, like these from...

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Joybox 2

The maiden voyage of Mr. B’s Joybox Express last year was so successful that the famed blues and boogie-woogie pianist is hitting the road again–and even expanding his route.Last summer, pedaling a one-of-a-kind...

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AnnArborcom a Year Later

Even as the website with the acorn logo has boosted its traffic, the twice-a-week print newspaper, also called AnnArbor.com, reaches far fewer households than the old Ann Arbor News.While they acknowledge some missteps in...

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New Neighbors on Packard

Was the success of Cake Nouveau inevitable? Owner Courtney Clark works hard, but she admits her seemingly bottomless well of free national publicity doesn’t hurt. “The wedding cake business is going great,” she...

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Ann Arborite Charlie Green

In 1954, Albert and Gail Green drove up from Dayton and dropped their son off at South Quad. Charlie Green’s been an Ann Arborite ever since.After graduating from the U-M in 1959, Green taught subjects that, he says,...

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Richie Havens

For many, the name Richie Havens is synonymous with the famed 1969 Woodstock Festival. His electrifying performance of “Freedom,” highlighted in the subsequent movie, made him internationally famous and boosted a...

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Art in the Huron

William Dennisuk and three helpers were waist deep in the Huron River in early June, installing a lightbulb-shaped metal sculpture near where the river enters the U-M Arboretum. The bronze rods caught the sunlight beautifully...

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Louis Nagel

If, as aged piano pedagogues aver, Bach’s forty-eight preludes and fugues are the Old Testament of the solo piano repertoire and Beethoven’s thirty-two sonatas are its New Testament, then Beethoven’s...

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Rising Tide

“It was a perfect storm,” city parks and recreation manager Colin Smith told a meeting at the Leslie Science and Nature Center in mid-June. He was speaking of all the rain–especially the nearly two inches that...

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Coalition for Local Business

We received eighty-three entries last month correctly identifying the Fake Ad for the Washtenaw County Coalition for Local Business on page 68 of the June Observer. The ad was, of course, made up, but the idea of what would...

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Bird Center/Polling Place

“One of my favorite buildings in town!” writes Julie Weatherbee of June’s I Spy (below), “a dual-purpose building on Mary Street.” It’s “the Bird Center of Washtenaw County,”...

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The Unthanks

The Unthanks–Rachel and Becky, from northeast England–appeared at the Ark a couple of years ago under the name of Rachel Unthank & the Winterset. Their show was terrific. Grim ballads of the region, some of them...

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Is This Building Necessary?

All of the Loyal Opposition candidates question council’s decision to build a new home for the city’s police force and Fifteenth District court. “We don’t have enough money,” says mayoral candidate...

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Taking on the Council Party

Mayoral candidates John Hieftje and Pat Lesko are each aligned with a trio of council candidates in the August 3 Democratic primary: Hieftje with fellow incumbents Sandi Smith, Carsten Hohnke, and Margie Teall; Lesko with fellow...

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Satan for Mayor?!

With a month to go, the Ann Arbor Democratic primary is already the nastiest local election in a generation. What other election has had a mayoral challenger who says she’d vote for Satan before the incumbent–and the...

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