Snowflake Babies
Flashback: In 1989, the Observer published a feature highlighting a burgeoning trend among Ann Arbor couples who wished to build a family and could not: international adoption. Thanks to readily available birth control,...
Read More2015 October
A New Train Station At Last?
Does Ann Arbor need a new train station to replace the thirty-two-year-old Amtrak station on Depot St.? Informed opinion runs the gamut.”There isn’t an immediate need,” says Fourth Ward councilmember Jack...
Read MoreRemaking Miller Manor
Before he moved into Miller Manor four and a half years ago, Matt V. had at least seven bouts of homelessness. Suffering from schizoaffective and substance abuse disorders, he moved in and out of the Delonis Center homeless...
Read MoreShawarma at the BP
Eata Pita, the shawarma spot inside the BP station at S. Main and William, has closed. It is about to become Cass Lake Shawarma. “For sure October,” says proprietor Emad Alkhateeb. “But can you put...
Read MoreFewer Squirrels?
Q. Have you noticed that there are many fewer squirrels around … and many more rabbits? I’ve asked friends all over town, and they all have noticed it.A. “There are many influences causing fluctuations in...
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Ehab Samaha’s new ventures
Inside the Citgo station on the northeast corner of Platt and Ellsworth (which one Observer staffer says consistently has the best gas prices in town), Ehab Samaha, who has owned the station for ten years, recently opened New...
Read MoreRent Like a Champion
Instead, Kopald spent the weekend hanging out at her boyfriend’s house–while a group of out-of-town fans used her home near the stadium as their base for the Wolverines’ football home opener.Kopald is one of...
Read MoreAudio Comeback
Moorman’s store, Overture Audio, had rented space from Fox on S. Main since 1989. He’d been in the sound business even longer. As an undergrad at Ball State, “I was a full-blown audio fanatic, and I was causing...
Read MoreLouise Gluck
Louise Glueck is one of the few serious poets who have gained a following beyond the usual and circumscribed audience for contemporary poetry. That fact might appear even more surprising in light of her dark and demanding...
Read MoreRebecca Arends
Rebecca Arends is a massage therapist, not an artist. But she painted murals at ten locations around town over the summer.The most prominent is at Orchid Lane on Liberty. The store’s alley wall once was covered with...
Read MoreVillage Pharmacy and Pizza Hut
“A real loss to the area,” “so sad to hear this!!” and so on, went dozens of posts on social media when the Village Pharmacy II in Maple Village closed. The owners sold the business to Walgreens across...
Read MoreAnn Arbor Symphony Orchestra
Don’t be misled by the words “Romantic Tchaikovsky” in connection with the Ann Arbor Symphony’s concert at the Michigan Theater on October 24. Even with two dazzling works by Russia’s best-known...
Read MoreSankai Juku
When I think about Sankai Juku, the Japanese dance troupe that has visited Ann Arbor regularly for over two decades, I think first about the bodies. The dancers–originally five, now eight–are all men. But powdered...
Read MoreTrumpeter Ted Daniel
According to many histories, jazz was not doing very well around 1970. Recession at home, war abroad, and the dominance of rock music led to the closing of many clubs and bars that employed jazz musicians. But despite, and...
Read MorePlumage on Packard
Who’s that striking white bird with the yellow-feathered crown and tail feathers perched outside the Mirage barbershop? “That’s Chino,” says David Karaien, Mirage’s owner.More formally known as...
Read MoreGenZe Revs Up
Does the “For Lease” sign in front of 1901 E. Ellsworth mean that Mumbai-based Mahindra Group is giving up on its planned electric scooter, the GenZe (Up Front, January 2015)? Quite the contrary, says Mahindra...
Read MoreSouvenirs of War
“Bruce, this is valuable history!” photographer Adrian Wylie exclaimed to semi-retired attorney Bruce Laidlaw. “You should do something about these.”Laidlaw had casually shown Wylie an old florist’s...
Read MoreTiny Buddha on State St.
When Risa Gotlib was living in New York and going through her “quarter-life crisis” in her late twenties, “I was wearing ripped jeans all the time. It was so depressing.” She started doing power yoga,...
Read MoreThe Whiskey Charmers
The Whiskey Charmers are either a guitar-driven duo or, if you catch them at the right show, that same duo with a drummer. I saw them at Wolverine State Brewing Co., minus the drummer, for a very entertaining evening of...
Read MoreKim Ki-duk
The work of Korean writer and director Kim Ki-duk is a sometimes shocking, consistently fascinating study in extremes. Kim, whose work will be spotlighted in the Ann Arbor Korean Independent Film Festival October 15-18 at the...
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