Arbor Update

Send more brains. Elf brains.

Posted by Josh Steichmann on 13. December 2005

Zombie Claus strikes Ann Arbor this Friday.

Based on the Santarchists, a mob of brain-eating Kris Kringles will swoop in on an undisclosed shopping center this Friday.

via

EDIT: Lots of pictures on Flickr, tag Zombie Claus. (picture above creative commons’d by Flickr user (and blogger) paanta.)

Comment [4]

Local

Never too early for intrigue - it's City Council race 2006!

Posted by Murph on 13. December 2005

Investigative reader David Cahill has promised the following information will scoop the Ann Arbor News – early whisperings for next year’s Democratic City Council primary suggest that:

First Ward: Bill Hanson, a former Planning Commissioner, is running against John Roberts, the newly-appointed replacement for Kim Groome.

Third Ward: Dave DeVarti, a local progressive activist, is running against Stephen Kunselman, a current Planning Commissioner, to replace Jean Carlberg, who is not running for re-election. [source] said Kunselman has the support of current council members.

Fifth Ward: Lou Glorie is running against incumbent Chris Easthope. Or, to be more precise, Glorie told [source] that she will run if no one else will. I told [him] that meant she already had her lit printed. 8-)

Mayor: [source] said that Doug Cowherd had met recently with Ed Shaffran, a local developer, to try to come up with a candidate to oppose John Hieftje. I have no idea what kind of candidate this “odd couple” might come up with!

(Attribution thinly veiled to protect the…guilty?)

Comment [41]

Campus

Controversial Polish Artist to Speak

Posted by MarkDilley on 12. December 2005

via ypsi~dixit

“How Artists are Tamed: Zbigniew Libera and the Polish Press, 1980-2005”: U-M School of Art Penny Stamps Lecture Series/Annual Copernicus Lecture. Talk by Zbigniew Libera, one of Poland’s leading visual pop artists, who spent a year in prison under Communist rule for sketching unauthorized political cartoons.

January 20, 5 p.m.
Michigan Theater
Free

Regional

Toledo

Posted by MarkDilley on 12. December 2005

Looks like the police were out in full force.

and not too friendly either.

>via Bombs and Shields
>via Infoshop

Comment [1]

Campus

Read AU? Opine for the Daily!

Posted by Murph on 12. December 2005

Just got the following announcement from the Daily’s incoming opinion page editors, who add, “Arbor Update readers are exactly the sort of people we’re looking for.”

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General Franco still dead.

Posted by Josh Steichmann on 9. December 2005

Despite persistent rumors, the Fleetwood will be open for quite some time.

I spoke to Lisa on the phone, and she confirmed that there had been attempts to buy the property, but that the Fleetwood will be open for the indefinite future.
Hoping to hear back from the owners soon.

Comment [9]

Regional

Response events to Nazi rally in Toledo, 10 December

Posted by Murph on 9. December 2005

At risk of unleashing another firestorm, I present the following announcement, via the Inter-Cooperative Council’s e-mail list.

The National Socialist (Nazi) Party is having a rally in Toledo this Saturday and some concerned members of the Inter-Cooperative Council (www.icc.coop) are going to partipate in alternative events.

They will be vehicles leaving from Ann Arbor a little bit down the street from the Rock (Hill and Washtenaw). The plan on Saturday is:

10:30 – leave Ann Arbor for Toledo

noon – arrive at planning meeting at the West Toledo Library, 1320 Sylvania Ave (and other local public libraries).

2-4 – the rally happens at the city center

(some people will stay afterwards, but there will also be a second vehicle which will leave Toledo around 3pm so people can get back to work)

At least two responses are planned. One is a more confrontational counter-demonstration near the National Socialist rally. Another is a more “low-key” street party a few blocks away.

Also, if you can’t make it, you as an individual or as a house can help out too. ICC members could also use:

• chalk
• whistles or other noisemakers
• guff sheets (for banners)
• PVC pipes or bamboo poles (for banners)
• finger food
• D-batteries for boomboxes
• buckets (for drums)
• medical supplies
  

(Presumably if any significant number of non-coopers are interested in going, some will need to arrange extra rides.)

See also a Toledo Blade article on the planned rally.

Update:

The Toledo Blade today has three articles on the rally:

Nazi rally sparks protest, prayer – 30 arrested for disorderly conduct, inciting violence

Activists angered by tactics of police – Peace team says it defused incidents

Neo-Nazi sympathizer attracts insults, intervention by police

Comment [1]

Local

RIP John Lennon (1940-1980); Lennon art exhibit in Ann Arbor

Posted by David Boyle on 9. December 2005

      Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of John Lennon’s assassination by Mark David Chapman in front of the Dakota building in New York City. A loss for the whole human race.
      At least, though, Lloyd Cargo tells us in today’s MICHIGAN DAILY,
      ”...Lennon’s traveling art exhibit, “So This Is Xmas,â€? opened yesterday in Ann Arbor and will continue through Sunday.
      The free exhibit, located at 217 North Main St., showcases the line-drawing talents of the man who was half of pop music’s greatest songwriting team and features videos and music from the legendary Beatle. The exhibit opens just in time for the 25th anniversary of his tragic murder. ...So young or old, casual Lennon fan or Beatles obsessive, check out “So This Is Xmasâ€? while you can. Although there is no cover charge, there is a suggested donation of $2, which will go to Dawn Farms, a local rehab and recovery center. ...”
      Thank you LC. (“Lloyd Cargo” even sounds like some name Lennon would’ve thought up…) I hope everyone can see that exhibit, I intend to myself.
      Anyway: RIP JL. Hope you are in a better place, after all you did for us. “We love you, yeah, yeah, yeah…”

Comment [1]

Campus

Supporting LEO; or, "What would Aslan do?"

Posted by David Boyle on 8. December 2005

     The big LEO ad in the Daily today, lion logo on top, is just too reminiscent of Aslan from Narnia, so here we go.
     It looks like LEO is doing 15-minute teach-ins in LEO members’ classes today. (UM is unhappy about that, according to the Daily.) Regardless of the teach-in issue, LEO’s grievances seem serious (job misclassification, late pay raises, etc.), so they deserve some serious attention, despite my humorously-meant and timely Narnia tie-in.
     (Note: Arbor Update is a nonsectarian blog last time I checked, so the mention of “Aslan the Magic Lion” is not intended to privilege or promote any sect here…)

Comment [3]

Local

Big Ten Party Store's sign in danger

Posted by Murph on 8. December 2005

The Big Ten Party Store put up a new sign on their building recently, with their new, lame name, and this has apparently triggered a definition of their old “Cheese Cheese Cheese” sign as non-conforming. They have a hearing before the Sign Board of Appeals on Tuesday, 13 December, and are asking for support. “Read more” for their letter.

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