Past the College Grounds

The cherry ghosts murmur in the orchard
While I walk into town

-Timothy Monger, from Summer Cherry Ghosts

I am a notion
I am all emotion
I am a cherry ghost

-Wilco, from A Ghost is Born


Both of these albums by two of my favorite artists were released within a week of one another. Hell, even the records' titles include at least the "ghost" if not always the "cherry." Creepy. Either that, or great songwriters think alike.

What is a "cherry ghost" for that matter? In the context of these albums, the term evokes images of private beaches along Lake Michigan during the cherry harvest season. Think sand dunes, golden breezes, and hazy summer memories both cherished and repressed. These are two very different albums, but both are fitting soundtracks to the season.

Timothy Monger, formerly of The Original Brothers and Sisters of Love and currently of The Great Lakes Myth Society, eschews the sometimes-dark quirky maritime folk-rock of his bands on Summer Cherry Ghosts, his first solo album. Instead, Monger opts for a bright wall-of-sound, featuring everything from standard guitar and bass to glockenspiel, sleigh bells, saw, and handclaps, to buoyantly carry his songs of summers past and present. Monger himself plays fifteen instruments, and accompanists include members of TOBASOL, Showdown at the Equator, Saturday Looks Good to Me, and local roots-rocker Dave Boutette. While the music creates a lush backdrop, the songs themselves could (and do) stand their ground with just an acoustic guitar. These nine tracks differ greatly in style, but are held together by subject matter; from teenage concert road-trips to bicycling in Metroparks, and long-distance yearning correspondence to packing-away Roman candles, these are songs for heat waves, Pickerel Lake, Miller Lite in jars, and first loves.

As for Chicago's Wilco, they had nowhere to go but down, following the critical and commercial phenomenon that was 2002's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Frankly, I'm having trouble deciding where A Ghost is Born fits into the Wilco saga. Is it beautiful? Very. Is it groundbreaking? Probably not. Is it filled with amazing songs? Indeed. Is it flawed? Yes. Jeff Tweedy & company don't depart too greatly from the YHF sound of thinnish instrumentation mixed with the occasional electronic noise. There are a few too-many guitar solos and one uncalled-for 10-minute electronic drone, but at its best, the album is light and airy, driven by pianos and keyboards and filled with classic Tweedyisms (see "Theologians") or else throwbacks to earlier Wilco ("I'm a Wheel," "The Late Greats"). I'll admit I approached this album with no expectations, but I still don't feel fully-connected to it, even after a week. That said, I can't stop listening to A Ghost is Born. Verdict: not Wilco's strongest, most cohesive album, but by any other standards, an excellent, gorgeous, complex recording still worthy of writing a dissertation on. I know I'll need to conduct further research.


Timothy Monger celebrates the release of Summer Cherry Ghosts Saturday, July 3, at Frenchie's (56 E. Cross St., Ypsilanti) beginning at 9 PM. Ann Arbor co-ed indie popsters Showdown at the Equator open. Be there.

Wilco were going to be coming to Michigan in August with Lollapalooza, which has been canceled. Hopefully they'll make it over here by other means soon.

U.S. needs revitalized rail system to cut dependence on the truck: While I agree, the author is far too pro-car, even in all of his anti-truck talk. We additionally need just as strong a passenger/commuter rail network. Moreover, he argues that roads should be built to last, so diverting highway funds to rail while concurrently rebuilding the road system doesn't seem especially feasible without a huge increase in transportation funding. In a perfect world, though, it makes great sense.

As the ever-observant Ann Arbor is Overrated notes, this weblog is now famous. Sort-of. Detroit Free Press writer Dawson Bell quotes my rather-frustrated March 16 post in a column on Cool Cities. Of course, I won't get any added traffic or groupies out of this as he didn't bother to mention my URL or even blog name. I think his questioning of the Cool Cities Initiative is fair, as I am starting to think it has flaws as well, but I have yet to figure out if he thinks we need more hipsters or more Bobos. I'm confused. However, I'm proud to be an inspiration, I think. Shrug.

For years now, there's been one item staring-me-down from The Cloverleaf's menu. Known as "Italian pancakes" and described as "layered in peanut butter," I've always wondered not only if there was actually anything Italian about this entree, but also if it could possibly taste good. Too intimidated and cowardly to ever order the aforementioned food, I contentedly left these Mediterranean flapjacks on the laminated menu, only to again remark with curiosity the next time I visited.

Well today all that changed. Feeling emboldened by a successful first trip to the previously too-odd-to-bother-with Afternoon Delight on Saturday and a recommendation by my favorite waitress, I took the plunge. I'd previously always imagined such a dish being dry and sticky, but there was one factor I hadn't taken into consideration: syrup. With imitation maple flavor poured over the melted peanut spread and pancakes, as well as a little margarine, these Venetian wonders came to life with a graceful ballet of sweetness and nuttiness not unreminiscent of peanut-butter cups and other chocolate/peanut butter candies. The sugar intake, in concert with my bottomless cup of coffee, left me pretty wired afterward, and I think I'll go back to my usual egg-, cheese-, and potato-based breakfast next weekend, but it is an experience worth undertaking at least once, especially if you are a 7-year-old kid.

ELEPHANTS FOR SALE

The second-ever issue of The Yellow Elephant, a
lit-journal edited by Kristin Hatch and Liz
Witte that features dozens of sassy sexy
writerish-folk, is now available in stores ...

Copies are $3.00 and available at:

Made in Detroit in Detroit
&
Shaman Drum Bookshop in Ann Arbor
&
Henrietta Fahrenheit in Ypsilanti
&
by writing
elephantoes@hotmail.com

Watch this video courtesy of the University of Michigan Squirrel Club (requires Quicktime 6). Thanks to Zac for the link.

Widely-reported elsewhere, Lollapalooza 2004 has been canceled due to slow ticket-sales. I'm glad I refrained from buying a ticket, and I'm guessing many others did-so for the same reasons: while the lineup was amazing, admission was too expensive and the festival was booked in shitty corporate outdoor suburban venues. Most of the people who are into interesting music are unfortunately not the same ones who can and will pay for "gold circle" Jimmy Buffet tickets or will pay for $8 beers while dodging glow-stick and rose vendors.

Here's hoping that a lot of the festival's acts will now come to town under their own power and play smaller theaters and clubs.

I've somehow allowed myself acquire the following recordings in the past two weeks. I'm enjoying them all thoroughly, but my bank account isn't.

Dabenport- Dabenport
Loretta Lynn- Van Lear Rose
Midwest Product- Specifics
Timothy Monger- Summer Cherry Ghosts
Pas/Cal- The Handbag Memoirs
The Riots- The Riots
Saturday Looks Good to Me- Three-Song E.P.
The White Stripes- Elephant
Wilco- A Ghost is Born

Both my show-going and record-buying is skewing especially local/regional in recent months. I think it's the intimacy, accessibility, and affordability of local music that's been the draw, plus some sort of probably-misguided local pride. I'm sure I'll start diversifying into classic country, British Invasion, or Williamsburg indie albums soon enough, though.

In what may be a record, I saw 29 bands this weekend. And my back is still sore.

Friday night I hit-up The Elbow Room with Kristin. Openers The Volta Sound started things off with a pleasant-enough, if somewhat shaky, set of spacey pop. For some reason, Milwaukee hard rock band Xolotl was booked next, evoking much cringing and jocularity on the part of the crowd. I ended up watching Family Guy in closed-captioning during their show, myself. Ending the night on a dreamy country-pop note, Dabenport performed, featuring original singer Amy Kett in the place of Aleise Barnett. I'm not sure if I agree, but Kristin found Kett's voice to provide a more pleasing harmonic counterpoint to lead singer Aaron Dresner. The band once again built an intricately-layered performance flavored with little dashes of twang and jangle. They don't seem to like the tag "shoegaze country," though it seems pretty appropriate. "Bootgaze," maybe? (Damn, according to Google I'm about the 3rd person to come up with that subgenre). Whatever they are, they are one of the area's best indie bands, and deserve more attention. They've just re-released their 2002 self-titled record with a bonus track, and it is worth picking-up. Maybe they'll have right-side-up cover art by the time you do.

And the rest of the weekend? I was standing in a parking lot for the Rock City Festival. My pal Jon has a band-by-band run-down of both Saturday and Sunday, so I'll briefly note some of the high points. The atmosphere was quite festive, and it seemed like just about every local musician, writer, and hanger-on was milling around and drinking overpriced beer. On Saturday, I arrived with my friend Dana and caught the end of The Rants' set. Other than the brief intermission of EsQuire's flamboyant, little-red-short-wearing, go-go-girl accompanied rap show, this was a day of pure garage rock (whatever that is), which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I was particularly impressed by The Go and The Sights, but it was The Dirtbombs who ruled the day, and indeed the whole festival. Two drummers, two bassists, and one big, jumping, stomping Mick Collins on guitar and vocals. What an amazing sound-- it's like a steaming locomotive pounding down the line-- and you'd better get out of the way! Some moshing teenagers (is this Seattle in 1993?!) almost ruined the end of the night for me, but after a few good shoves they stayed out of my way, and I left Detroit buoyant on adrenaline and joy.

Fast-forwarding past a bar night in Ann Arbor, I made my way, solo this time, back to Detroit yesterday afternoon, just in time for the beginning of The Avatars' performance. Being early, the crowd was still sparse, but they didn't know what they were missing. One of the best Ann Arbor bands in any genre, The Avatars' poppy co-ed garage rock is just plain infectious. Lead singer Mariah Cherem has really developed a sassy stage persona, and guitarist Chris "Box" Taylor is extremely talented. Bassist Theresa Kiefer is just the definition of cool, moreover. So good. Later, another of my favorite semi-Ann Arbor-based bands, Saturday Looks Good to Me, recovered from some technical problems early in their set to finish strong with their brand of bouncy indie pop, playing mainly cuts off their upcoming album. In a similar, if more Britesque vein, the pink-clad members of Pas/Cal delivered a sweet set of breezy summer tunes, perfect for sitting on the patio in pastels and licking lollipops. It was my first time with them, but I don't think it will be my last. Now, for something completely different, Detroit garage legends The Hentchmen played a hard and dirty three-man, organ-fueled rock set. The brothers Hentch were followed by the much-hyped Blanche, who looked and sounded like 1870s Tennessee revival preachers/snake-oil salesmen, but in a good way. Would they have been this big this fast without the Jack White connection? Probably not. Should they be, though? Yes: this is great, unique, and creepy Gothic-country music for the banjo-starved masses.

And there are still 16 bands I didn't mention. Bless you, Detroit.

See also Motor City Rocks' review of Saturday's bands and Fotog Ink's Sunday recap.

Recent stories of note:

-9,000 homes on 4,000 acres proposed for Milan Township.

-Do we really need 156 parking spaces for 60 luxury condos in the Eaton factory?

-Judy McGovern's sensible take on the downtown library parking "problem".

-Controversy continues to swirl over the omission of Doug Cowherd and Bill Hanson from the Greenbelt Advisory Committee.

So, last week I attended the Northeast Area community meeting regarding the Ann Arbor Non-Motorized Transportation Plan. Only about a dozen of my fellow citizens showed-up, and I was by far the youngest, which was a bit disappointing considering all the North Campus students who'll be affected by the plan. That said, I don't think there is much to fear. The Greenway Collaborative, hired by the city for this project, is putting together an impressive network of bicycle and pedestrian improvements. Highlights include bike lanes along all major streets and medians and crossing islands on major collector roads like Plymouth and Washtenaw. How can we afford this? Well, many of the improvements require little more than paint, while others will gradually be implemented as special projects or when roads are in need of resurfacing anyway. The city is opting to use 5% of the money it receives from gas taxes for non-motorized infrastructure; while this doesn't sound like much, 1% is typical for most cities. While Boulder definitely has its drawbacks compared to Ann Arbor, one place it puts Treetown to shame is in mass transit and non-motorized transportation facilities. This plan, in combination with the Northeast Area Plan (if it is adopted in its current form), is a good first step to catching-up with less auto-dependent cities elsewhere.

The schedule has been posted for this weekend's Rock City Festival in Detroit. Weather permitting, I think I'll be bumming-around there the whole time both days. Anyone else goin'?

The new issue of Metro Times has a great cover story by the Michigan Land Use Institute's Keith Schneider entitled Driven to Destruction: Sidewalks, Not Highways, are Detroit's Path to Prosperity. The gist: good things are happening in Detroit, against all odds, and as a state we'll need to invest in making neighborhoods livable and mass transit useful, not more freeway lanes, if we want to see a true renaissance in our greatest city. Most of these ideas aren't particularly new to raging urbanist idealogues such as myself, but I commend Metro Times for so prominently thrusting this article upon the general public.

As reported elsewhere several days ago, Ann Arbor voters approved both the bond and sinking-fund levy in Monday's election. Helen Gates-Bryant won the open school board seat, and Edward Surovell, David Cahill, Margaret Leary, and Rebecca head were elected to the library board.

Can someone tell me:

A) Why my blog looks completely f-ed up with nonsensical code on Firefox (Macintosh), but if reloaded, seems to fix itself (other than having the events calendar not flush with the right side of the page-- what's with that, also?)?

B) Why, on Macintosh Internet Explorer, my events calendar has a larger font than the Blogroll?

...and how to correct such problems.

Luckily, for pedestrians like me who use Windows and Internet Explorer, things are A-OK.

Well, Portland, Oregon and sloe gin fizz
If that ain't love, then tell me what is

Everything Jack White touches continues to turn to gold. In a what was by now a relatively unsurprising turn of events, White produced Loretta Lynn's new album, Van Lear Rose. White's influence stretches beyond turning a few knobs in the studio-- he plays sideman on guitar, organ, piano, and percussion, and even duets on a track. Furthermore, look who else he's dragged along-- why, it's Dave Feeny of American Mars and Blanche, fellow Blancheteer Dan Miller, and members of The Greenhornes.

One might fear these Midwest rockers are taking dear ole Loretta for a ride, but this is definitely her album. Lynn, for the first time in her career, wrote all the songs here, and her sweet, honest personality is never buried by White and his crew. On the contrary, these young lads seem to bring out her best, and there's an organic quality in the feel of these tracks (most recorded in one take) that isn't always present in her Nashville-heyday hits.

The songs themselves are, for the most part, fine pieces of writing, full of childhood memories, blue-collar theology, cheatin' (she even calls the Other Woman "trash" at one point), drinkin', lovin', murder, and heartache. Musically, they range from the rock duet "Portland Oregon," to the electric blues of "Have Mercy," and the straight-up honky-tonk of "Family Tree." The occasional lyrical misstep and story track ("Little Red Shoes," still redeemable for its sheer humanity) aside, this is a truly strong album.

While White deserves much credit for the sound of Van Lear Rose, it is Loretta Lynn who shines as the star of this album, as it should be. Fans of classic country, alt.country, garage rock, and everything in-between will love this record. Highly recommended.

Is the "Upcoming Events" calendar in the same font as the rest of the page on your computer? It looks a bit goofy on the campus Macs, and I'm curious how common this is.

I just returned from Northside School, my polling-place. It was pretty dead there, so maybe the turnout hasn't been as high as the News was predicting. Or maybe I just arrived during a slow spell. Anyway, here's how I ended up voting:

$205 million bond issue (which would include funds for a new comprehensive high school)
No

1-mill, 5 year sinking fund levy for school maintenance and improvements
Yes

School Board
Helen Gates-Bryant

Library Board
Bill Finch
Rebecca Head
Margaret Leary
J.D. Lindeberg

This is just a reminder for all of you Ann Arborites to get to your local polling place and vote in tomorrow's school district election. The outcome of this vote will have a great effect on our city, for good or ill, long into the future (see below for my thoughts on the bond issue).

Moreover, underreported as it may be, we'll be filling four seats on the District Library Board from six candidates.

Amy and I hit-up Ypsi on Friday. Starting with $2 draft Oberons at the Tap Room, ending with $3.99 cheese omelets at Abe's Coney Island, and catching the (Un)Ladylike Fest at the Elbow Room in-between. The place was packed pretty full of local rockers, hipsters, oglers and critics (I even finally recognized Josh Steichmann and said hello). The music varied in style and quality, but all bands were at least palatable. Sissy's semi-glam fun-time rock was the highlight, and I've gotta say that The Sirens didn't quite live up to the hype or the Evel Knievelesque costumes. It's hard to complain too much about women with guitars, though.

In other mixed-bag news, I saw Coffee and Cigarettes last night with Kristin. I don't regret seeing it, but I won't see it twice. The White Stripes should never be allowed to act again, but maybe they were so bad that they were good. Bill Murray's scene with the Wu-Tang Clan's GZA and RZA was pretty priceless, though.

Arbor Update finally hits its stride with Scott Trudeau's excellent coverage of the school bond issue. See their collection of links to pertinent News articles, and Michael Betzold's essay Super Size Me: The Gluttonous High School Bond is a must-read; he puts all my thoughts on the matter into much more eloquent and well-ordered prose.

"It’s a typical American solution: More. Like building more roads because the roads are too crowded. Like building another mall across the street because the parking lot at the old mall is full."

Well, after a relatively arduous selection process, I'm happy to announce that I now have a house full of cool roommates for September. The toenail clippings and other unpleasantries have yet to arise, so I can still enjoy idyllic pastoral visions of roommate bliss. Here's the lineup:

-Dale, a doctoral student in architecture from Kalamazoo who enjoys researching porches in college towns (really), jazz, and quoting The Simpsons. "I bent my wookie."

-Heidi a history grad student from Montana via Bennington College. She comes with houseplants, a 1986 Subaru, pie-making skills, and at least one Janis Ian album.

-Meg hails from Grand Ledge, and is entering the intensive MAC program in the School of Ed. In her sure-to-decrease free time, she listens to alt.country and indie rock, reads such classics as Streganona, and campaigns for women's issues.

-Jun, our token international student (China), not only brings us up to quota, but also studies biology, learns English (and is doing pretty well), plays racquetball, and is studying-up on the NBA.

-Amy, last but not least, is our lone undergrad (albeit a 5th-year senior), studying art history. Before she faces the cold, cruel job market, she has time to idle in front of the usual suspects of the local indie/garage scene at the Magic Stick, is in training at WCBN, and is an Eastern European dancing enthusiast. Future plans include letting me borrow her record player.

I'm pretty excited about the house-- I'm curious to find out what the dynamics will be like. I think it's a pretty diverse yet compatible group of people, and like to hope it will grow into a bit of a "home" rather than just a roomming-house. No expectations, though-- time will tell.

Why does Ann Arbor supposedly need a huge new high school next to the freeway? It's all about image, today's Ann Arbor News reports, in a print-version-only front-page story:

With so much new high school construction throughout the region, some say it's become incumbent upon Ann Arbor to keep up with the Joneses.

Pioneer High School Principal Henry Caudle, for instance, said he isn't convinced that the overcrowding situation warrants a new school, since population in the district is expected to level off and decline. But Caudle said he does think Ann Arbor would benefit from smaller schools and better facilities to compete with communities such as Saline, Dexter and Plymouth-Canton in years to come.

"If our district is concerned about attracting new students and being a viable option for families, I do believe our facilities will play a key role in that, either through renovation or improving the facilities we have or building a new facility," Caudle said.

"I think that families are looking at that as a key component in deciding where to live. If Ann Arbor is going to remain competitive with the districts around us, we will need improved facilities, showcase schools."

Okay, so a new 1,600-student high school isn't actually needed, and even Pioneer's principal admits this. Ah, but if we build a shiny, brand-new office-park-looking high school (you oughtta see the photos) like our sprawling bedroom community neighbors have, maybe more families will move into the new and pricey subdivisions that will surely be built on vacant township land in the district's northwest fringe (their kids will need to attend the "showcase school"), and eventually reverse the enrollment trend? Why is our focus on "competing" with suburban districts instead of serving the needs of the students we have? I agree that good facilities are important, so if a new school isn't warranted, why not, as Caudle essentially suggested above, renovate/expand the facilities we already have, or build a smaller school?

I'm sorry, but this just seems utterly irresponsible.

Each taxpayer in Ann Arbor has only one chance. On Monday, June 14 you can vote to stop the outrageous, poorly thought-out plan for an unneeded new high school.

In the May 3 "Other Voices" in The News, Roger Vandamme said that "the Ann Arbor school population peaked one year ago and is beginning a downward trend." He noted, "One vote is all anyone gets to show that a new building is not the correct answer."

In five years, by the time this school is built at this remote and dangerous location (which will need many new buses) - the present schools will meet all the guidelines for enrollment numbers.

-Raymond L. Poissant, in a letter to the News.

Ypsi's own singin' and songin' luminary Jim Roll set to enter the weblog world?:

Here's where it gets sticky. Jim is convinced that he wants to blog (just a little bit) about the upcoming election. We are telling him NO WAY . . . but I am not sure we have a chance of muffling his uninformed voice. Here is a sample: "Hi Jim Here. Today's wish for my country is simply for everyone (regardless of political orientation) to take a moment and realize how insincere and overwhelmed 'George W. Bush' looks ALL THE TIME. Can we all just pause and agree on that? And if we all agree with that - can't we take it one step further and say that a leader who is making decisions of this magnitude should at least carry an air of intelligence and authority? I am fully convinced that President Bush has some genetic deal that makes him always shrink one size smaller than his clothes NO MATTER what size they dress him up in that day." (end of Blog #1)

Out-of-the-blue E-mail from a relatively-distant high school acquaintance:

"Zwiggs:

What's up,,, ONe question... You Smoke????"

I was going to post on this (damn my late-arriving print-edition of the Ann Arbor News). , but you may as well just read Murph's post on the appointment of the Greenbelt Advisory Commission at yesterday's City Council meeting. Excerpt:

The Ann Arbor News reports that the Greenbelt Advisory Commission members have been named, with Sierra Club chapter co-chair Doug Cowherd and Washtenaw Land Trust Bill Hanson given a pass. No explanation was offered for this "snub", even by the Mayor, whose throne Cowherd is often seen to be the hand behind.

I'm pretty happy with this development, although the "Green Machine" of NIMBY environmentalists is still represented via City Council member Bob Johnson, and I'm not sure if there are connections between any of the other appointees and the Cowherd crowd. All in all, though, I am happily surprised, and hope this money isn't squandered on more neighborhood parks of questionable ecological value.

The rest of the Tastefest schedule has been posted, and it looks like it should be an Independence Day weekend of good free music hot on the heels of the Rock City Festival. Tastefest highlights include Jet, The Sights, Blanche, The Avatars, Fred Thomas, The Volebeats, and much more.

Now, Detroit knows how to put on free music festivals. We get slim pickings here in Ann Arbor, despite Washtenaw County housing a pretty damned good little selection of bands. Instead, they play one county over.

Instead of paying $20 for a half-gallon of sangria at Dominick's, why not make your own at a fraction of the cost? I am currently cooling-off with the results of my first foray into sangria-making, and it is definitely palatable. Using a recipe adapted from a few sources, I mixed two $3 bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon, six oranges, two lemons and two limes (half sliced, half juiced), a generous portion of ginger ale, and a little sugar. After chilling over night, I've got a summer beverage that is not only refreshing, but also alcoholic. Cheers.

We've nearly finished spring planting here on the Diag block of campus. If you're in the area, keep an eye out for these new plantings:

-native perennial, shrub, and tree garden on all sides of the Samuel T. Dana Building
-pink-flowering dogwood in the Randall cut-through
-salvia and tuberous begonias on East University Mall
-assorted annuals in planters at East University and South University and the south side of Hatcher Library
-dahlias near the flagpole
-salvia on Ingalls Mall at North University
-multicolored annual plantins on Ingalls Mall
-impatiens flanking the Hatcher stairs
-marigolds at North University and State
-ageretum and heliotropes in front of the Art Museum

...and that's just a start. Now we need to keep the damned things alive through this drought/hot spell.

...you only go to the thrift store when there's a sale.

Seeing a "50% Off Storewide" sign in front of my neighborhood thrift store, St. Vincent de Paul, I had to stop in for a look. I didn't find anything sizable that fit both my body and taste, but I did end up with, for a mere $1.50:

2 ties (1 navy/light blue striped, 1 green/beige stylized paisley)
Joan Baez- Noel
The New Christy Minstrels- Presenting: The New Christy Minstrels

Okay, so I rarely have a chance to wear ties, and I can't play vinyl, but such items will probably be of more use in the long-run than the cup of coffee otherwise purchased with a buck-and-a-half.

AMG's Stephen Thomas Erlewine has given Timothy Monger's upcoming solo album a four-star review.

In other news, Monger is beginning to post summer tour dates, including an August 13 stop at Lemonjello's in my hometown of Holland.

Meanwhile, I've been waiting to buy that damned Dabenport record for almost 3 full seasons now. I'm giving you guys until the end of June. Or else.

I until a few minutes ago completely forgot about the new rules on public commentary at City Council meetings (i.e., I was supposed to call ahead of time to reserve space). Not that I even knew what I would say, exactly. I'm still an idiot, but I also partially blame the new rules for making spontaneous comments impossible.

Whether I still make it over there now, I've yet to decide, especially as I work tomorrow and the Greenbelt Advisory Commission vote is scheduled for the very end of what should be a very long meeting.

"The growth in enrollment of Ann Arbor Schools is flattening. It is currently at less than 1% per year and is expected to level at a zero growth point by 2006. Our schools also face increasing competition from expanding charter and non-public schools, growth in some of the surrounding school districts, and neighboring districts opening their doors to our students through cross-district choice."
-High School Facility Planning Feasibility Report, 2002.

Therefore, we need a new 1,600-student sprawl-inducing high school next to a freeway on the edge of town?

Two short-notice events this week, well worth attending if you care about the future of Washtenaw County:


City Council to discuss Greenbelt committee

The Ann Arbor City Council is expected to discuss the appointments of nine people to the Greenbelt Advisory Commission at its 7 p.m. Monday meeting.

Two of the seats are reserved for environmental or conservation representatives, one for agricultural business, one for a real estate development professional, one for a biologist, one for a City Council member and three seats for citizens-at-large.

The committee will help determine how millions of dollars in greenbelt tax money are spent.

Candidates for committees are generally voted on at the end of the meeting.

The meeting will be held on the second floor of council chambers in city hall, 100 N. Fifth Ave. There are 34 candidates nominated for discussion and a vote.

City Council Member Leigh Greden, D-3rd Ward, said it is possible the appointments could be postponed.


Workshops examine county goal planning

Washtenaw County will start a series of workshops across the county this week and next to discuss the ongoing effort to develop a countywide comprehensive plan.

Officials will provide an update and overview of the county's goals and directions through the year 2020 and receive public comments.

Here is the schedule of the five regional forums sponsored by the county's Department of Planning and Environment, with all sessions starting at 7 p.m.:

Monday, Manchester High School, 710 E. Main St., Manchester;

Tuesday, Ypsilanti Public Library, 5577 Whittaker Road, Ypsilanti;

Thursday, York Township Hall, 11560 Stony Creek Road, Milan;

Tuesday, June 15, Whitmore Lake High School Cafeteria, 8877 Milan St., Northfield Township;

Wednesday, June 16, Washington Street Education Center, 500 E. Washington St., Chelsea;

For more information, visit the county planning Web site at http://complan.ewashtenaw.org.

"I was quite surprised at how many want to stay. If you listen to all the stories out there, it sounds like no one is staying."
-pollster Ed Sarpolus, EPIC/MRA.

While I've yet to find it online, the results of a poll similar to Governor Granholm's Cool Cities survey were released yesterday, according to the Associated Press.

The results are rather surprising, and seem to contradict Creative Class conventional wisdom. Of the 971 Michigan college students polled, 12% said they will definitely stay in the state following graduation, and 42% said they will probably stay. Maybe I just know anomalous folks, but only two friends from my 2003 UM graduating class are still in Michigan.

The top twelve cities students wish to live in or near following graduation were Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Chicago, New York, Traverse City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Mount Pleasant, Ann Arbor, Auburn Hills, and Boston. Yes, that's correct: not only do people plan on staying in the state, but places like Traverse City, Mount Pleasant, Auburn Hills are top-draws.

When asked about the coolest city in the U.S., respondents were most likely to answer, in the following order,: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Miami, Seattle, Boston, San Diego, San Francisco, New Orleans, Detroit, Indianapolis, and Orlando. Okay, good for Detroit, but how did Las Vegas, Indianapolis, Atlanta, and Orlando make the list while usual suspects like Portland and Austin are skipped?

What can we learn from this? I am still waiting on the full survey results, but I don't think this is what anyone was expecting.

Good idea: Going to Leopold Brothers with coworkers.

Bad idea: Going to Leopold Brothers with coworkers for nine hours.

I think Vic Chesnutt's song "New Town" may be the only place New Urbanism and music intersect so directly. I'm not quite sure, though, wheter he's actually enthused about Traditional Neighborhood Design, or finds it a hopeless nostalgic ideal. Judge the tone for yourself:

NEW TOWN

New town reeks of lumber
New town beat the crowds
New town kittens discover that the birds
Scrape the ground
And even the loneliest old ladies get social calls
Where they dine and talk about their Saviour
And the grassroots effort to incorporate
Elects a smiling mayor

New town Americana
New town rookie police
New town industries are wanted for the local employees
And a little bitty baby draws a nice clean breath
From over his beaming momma's shoulder
He's staring at the worldly wonders
That stretch just as far as he can see
But he'll stop staring when he's older

I went to The Ark last night for the first time in a while, with Kristin in tow. The reason(s): Jim Roll and Richard Buckner.

Jim Roll opened with a short, entertaining, and very well-received set, kicking things off with "the first song [he] ever wrote," which was about having no style (but knowing that's a style), following with a new song or two and a selection of some of the best tunes from Inhabiting the Ball and Lunette. The 3/4 capacity local crowd loved the set and the pleasant banter between songs, and would have insisted upon an encore if the house lights weren't turned-on so promptly.

As for Richard Buckner, he's one of those many artists who've been on my "to buy" list for years, and I'd only heard the occasional song from a friend or on the radio before the show. I know I'd liked what I'd heard previously, or I wouldn't have forked-over $15 last night. As it turned-out, though, I found Buckner's performance a bit spotty. He spent too much time messing with pedals and other electronics, to questionable effect, and not enough time putting any passion into his performance. His deep voice hid lyrics behind the bright guitars, and many of his songs sounded rather samey. And I've essentially had it with encores, especially at small acoustic club shows. Especially long ones. Just play two sets, or include the songs in the main set if need be. The Buckner approach was to play what seemed like 10 songs over the course of two encores, and I just found it a drag. All that said, many of his songs truly were gems of intelligent and emotive songcraft. It was just unfortunate, at least to the ears of this newcomer, that they were so buried in such a ponderous show. Devotion + Doubt remains on my list, though.

Well, I'm back in town, only to find my events calendar down. Apparently Feedsweep is having some problems at the moment.

I had an enjoyable, if tiring and expensive, weekend with Joey, Jon, Stacey, and John in New York. Other than time squandered seeing the truly awful film The Day After Tomorrow, driving between Newark and La Guardia as a result of ill communication, and eating at a slightly sketchy Little Italy restaurant, I had a great time. I won't bore with a long narrative (besides, Jon already wrote one), but highlights included dinner in Riverside Park, amazing transit, walking from Greenwich Village down to Wall Street and then ending up in the East Village (my favorite neighborhood we visited), mini-golf on the Hudson, and picnicking in Central Park. I really like New York (though admittedly many of the neighborhoods are a bit obnoxiously upscale, yet still somehow more "real" than wealthy suburbs). Upon returning to Detroit, its tiny skyline and single-family homes seemed disconcertingly small and un-dense (even if all the buildings were fully-occupied). Despite locals' fears of 8-story buildings, I now wonder if an Ann Arbor with Manhattan-like densities would actually be such a bad thing...