Black Jake & The Carnies

Chance Jones

Deadbeat Beat

Ghost Heart

Love Like A Sunset

Hello, Governor

Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder was sworn in as Michigan's 48th governor today, signaling the start of what he says will be a new era of innovation and entrepreneurship. The former president of Gateway Computers used his 15-minute inaugural address to lay out a vision for an improved Michigan, calling for setting aside political and geographic divisions. Read the story here.

Need For Speed

Robert West, Ann Arbor's senior assistant city attorney, left, confers with City Attorney Stephen Postema before Monday's Ann Arbor City Council meeting. On the advice of the city attorney's office, the council gave preliminary approval to move forward with ordinance changes that will make the city's speed limits more defensible in court. West acknowledged it also likely will result in raising speed limits on certain roads where motorists have complained for years about speed traps. Read the story here.

Word Games

Ann Arbor City Council members huddled during a break in Monday night's meeting to get advice on carefully wording a resolution of intent to form a corridor improvement authority along Washtenaw Avenue. It was a matter of semantics that essentially ended in the changing of one word. Shown in this last-supper-esque picture (seated from left to right) are Council Members Margie Teall, Marcia Higgins and Stephen Rapundalo. Standing behind them (also from left to right) are Council Member Christopher Taylor, City Attorney Stephen Postema, WATS Director Terri Blackmore and Planning Manager Wendy Rampson. Read the story here.

Good Glögg

These are scenes from Quack!Media Glögg Party held Dec. 10 at the office of Quack! at 320 S. Main St. above Conor O'Neils in downtown Ann Arbor. The evening included festive holiday glögg-drinking. What's glögg? "Only the tastiest, coziest alcoholic beverage ever invented!" says party organizer Al McWilliams, who gives thanks to the Swedes for the mulled, spiked wine served hot. It was a good crowd and good times. There even was a photo studio with props such as viking hats and mustard costumes.

Pickle Man

I had to shoot a new portrait of AnnArbor.com freelance reporter Tom Perkins today to replace his previous avatar on our site, which featured him holding up a tennis racquet and peering menacingly beneath the brim of his large afro. I can count numerous times when I've been out in public or at a bar and someone who just figured out I work for AnnArbor.com asks me: "So what's the deal with that one guy?" They then go on to describe his picture and I say, "Ahh, yes. Tom Perkins." His deal is that he began writing for local papers while attending Eastern Michigan University. He taught himself photography several years ago and has spent the bulk of his career freelancing. According to Tom, when he isn’t shooting photos, he is on a tennis court or tending to his budding pickle empire, Perkins Pickles. He is proud his pickles won the “People’s Choice” award at the 2009 Leelanau Peninsula Pickle Off.

Stopping Time

I never realized until the other day just how dominant the Burton Memorial Tower is along Liberty Street at State Street in downtown Ann Arbor. The clock tower is located on the University of Michigan's central campus and houses a grand carillon, apparently one of only 23 in the world and the fourth heaviest, containing 55 bells and weighing a total of 43 tons. The tower was built in 1936 as a memorial for University President Marion Leroy Burton who served from 1920–1925. Of course, I'm reminded of the clock tower scene in Back To The Future now. Doc saying, "This is it! This is the answer! It says here that a bolt of lightning is going to strike the clock tower at precisely 10:04 p.m. next Saturday night! If ... if we could somehow harness this lightning... channel it into the flux capacitor ... it just might work! Next Saturday night, we're sending you back to the future!"