Heart Full Of Heptagons

Herbal Remedy

Dancing In The Street

All they needed was music, sweet German music. There were lederhosen everywhere. They were swinging, swaying, accordion playing. Dancing in the street. Such was the case at Arbor Brewing Co.’s annual Oktoberfest Street Party on Friday night.

Oil On Canvass

Charlie Slick In Color

Life Goes On

It was another Sunday night in Ann Arbor. As the sun retreated to the west, a beautiful orange and blue glow crept up beneath a towering crane where work continues on a new underground parking garage downtown. A few blocks over, a half-finished student high-rise known as Zaragon West reached anxiously into the evening sky as light danced on the dented hood of an automobile parked across the street from a pizza parlor. On State Street, University of Michigan students walked the quiet sidewalks lugging backpacks filled with dense texts. On the campus diag, flags representing nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives exactly a decade ago on 9/11 dotted the lawn where hundreds of people gathered for a candlelight vigil to reflect and remember. A stone's throw away, street performer Julian Montgomery filled Nickels Arcade with the soulful sounds of his cello. "It's just God speaking to me," he uttered to a passerby who asked about his music. Around the corner, the flagship store of the Borders book store chain offered 90% off deals on the eve of its last day in business. Two motorcyclists buzzed past the State Theatre where the marquee advertised a $6 showing of the popular 1994 Tarantino film "Pulp Fiction." And in front of a bar just up the street, a drunken man who recently relocated to Ann Arbor from Miami, Fla., carried a red rose which he planned to give to the prettiest girl he could find. Ten years later, life goes on.

The Color Blue

Not Forgotten

About 70 people gathered along Fifth Avenue between Ann Arbor's city hall and the downtown fire station today for a ceremony paying respect to the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives exactly 10 years ago on 9/11. "All across this nation and all around this world, let them see we're still standing together," Police Chief Barnett Jones said as the crowd joined hands. "Let them know that they can never take away our freedom, they can never take our lifestyle, they can never take away what is America." Read the story.

Big House Moon

Fighting The Irish

The University of Michigan football team hosted the Notre Dame Fighting Irish tonight in Ann Arbor for the first night game at the Big House. A large number of fans appeared highly intoxicated, and some of the more rowdy ones were handcuffed and taken away by police. Crazed chants of "go blue!" came from those wearing maize and blue. More choice words like "I hate you so much" and "get out of my town" were reserved for those wearing green. A wild finish led to a Michigan victory.

Six Floors Up

Work continues in the plaza area in front of Ann Arbor's city hall where a German artist's sculpture is expected to be installed in the next month. The $750,000 piece is expected to start close to Huron Street and follow the west edge of a new rain garden toward the main entrance of city hall. The focal point of the piece is a standing bronze sculpture with blue glass pearls that light up in computerized variations as stormwater from the building circulates over the sculpture's surface. Nearly four years since the launch of Ann Arbor's Percent For Art Program, more than $2.2 million in city funds have been channeled toward public art. City officials are now questioning the program's effectiveness. Read the story.

No, Don't Take My Picture

Sushi Party

Charlie Slick and the Thunda Claps played at the Mark's Carts courtyard Friday night. There are no words that can adequately describe Charlie's awesomeness so I'll leave it up to the photos and videos to tell the story.

The Gallery

Elaine Selo, owner of the Selo/Shevel Gallery on Main Street, has operated in downtown Ann Arbor for nearly 30 years. She said proposed increases in parking rates and meter enforcement hours would deal another blow to downtown businesses that are competing with shopping centers with free parking. "I can't imagine any good retailer or restaurant owner who would be in favor of that," she said, reacting to the proposal on Wednesday. "I understand why they're doing it. But as somebody who really values the viability of the downtown and recognizes how fragile it really can be, I'm very opposed to it." Read the story.