Skate Or Die, Man!

In His Natural Habitat

This is Ed Vielmetti, lead blogger for AnnArbor.com, shown through a cubbyhole as he works in his corner of the first-floor community space. Ed writes the weekly FOIA Friday column for AnnArbor.com. He has a degree in economics from the University of Michigan and has worked on the commercial development of the Internet since 1989. He has more than 20 years of Internet experience in systems design and analysis, and has been recognized by the BBC and Forbes Magazine as an Internet pioneer. If you go to AnnArbor.com's homepage and click on the "All Topics & Neighborhoods" pull-down menu, you'll see – just beyond crime, education, government, opinion and a host of other categories – is the "Ed Vielmetti" category. Ed puts the "hyper" in hyperlocal.

Green Eyes

Brady Cat is a 6-year-old feline who lives near downtown Ann Arbor with his "human" Stefanie Murray. "That's what I always say. I'm like, 'Brady Cat, you're my cat and I'm your human,'" says Murray. "He also has a cat phone and he calls me on it sometimes. Did you know that? It's like a Bat Phone, but it's a Cat Phone and he'll be like, 'Damn it, Mom, get home and clean my litter box.'" Brady Cat enjoys mindlessly playing with milk cap rings and is partial to crunchy cat treats over soft cat treats. He also likes chasing fake mice with bells and enjoys a good cuddle. Another fun fact: Brady Cat is named after NFL quarterback Tom Brady, who played college football for the University of Michigan in the late '90s.

All Bark And No Bite

You know the type: Loud as a motor bike, but wouldn't bust a grape in a fruit fight. Rocco is one of those dogs that'll howl and growl, but you quickly find out he's harmless. I met this 3-year-old pup from Indianapolis tonight. He came from a Boston terrier rescue group. He's visiting Ann Arbor while his sister Katie, a Staffordshire bull terrier, recovers from surgery for a torn ACL from an animal sports injury. Katie, who is white, is the yang to Rocco's yin.

Five Faces

This mural at the corner of Liberty and State streets in downtown Ann Arbor, on the side of the building that houses Potbelly Sandwich Works, always has caught my eye – as simple as it may be. The mural depicts famous writers Woody Allen, Edgar Allen Poe, Hermann Hesse, Franz Kafka and Anaïs Nin. It's fitting since I'm told the upstairs of this building used to house a bookstore called David's Books. I'm also told the downstairs used to be a CD store. Remember compact discs? Some places still sell them.

Vertically Integrated

All day and night these spandex-wearing manikins stare down passersby on Liberty Street in downtown Ann Arbor, quietly judging the attire of those who bustle by bundled up in their best attempts to remain fashionable amid winter's bleak chill.

Vintage in Black and White

There was a plethora of dancing going on in the lobby of the Michigan Theater toward the end of Thursday night's Neutral Zone Vintage Hollywood fundraiser.

Vintage in Color

The Neutral Zone of Ann Arbor, a nonprofit teen center, held a red carpet fundraiser at the Michigan Theater on Thursday night. It was a 200-person, sold-out event with plenty of wine and ales to go around, food catered by Sava's, and a few short films from the Ann Arbor Film Festival, which takes place March 23-28 this year.

Masquerade

Here's two more takes of the masked couple I found lounging on the couch in the basement of Melange bistro and wine bar in downtown Ann Arbor during the Artini Martini Crawl. They were great subjects and were among the few who actually got into the mardi gras theme of the night.

Artini Martini Crawl

Ann Arbor's martini lovers came out of the woodwork Friday night for the second annual Artini Martini Crawl, a fundraiser for the Ann Arbor Art Center. Six different bars and restaurants opened their doors for the event, which featured patrons taste-testing a different creative concoction at each establishment.

50 Cent

"Scuse me, can I have 50 cents?" That's the line Arthur here uses on just about everybody who passes him on the streets of downtown Ann Arbor. It must work a lot, because he seems to be making a living at it.

Album Cover

Magical Mystery Tour

I had the privilege of putting my hard hat on and touring the city of Ann Arbor's new $47.4 million addition to city hall the other day. The building is about halfway complete and, once finished in November, will be home to the city's police department and courts, as well as information technology staff. Crews have been hard at work transforming the steel skeleton into a habitable work space. Drywall is freshly hung, door frames are being installed, courtrooms are taking shape, and floor tiles that still need polishing have welcomed their first sets of footprints.

Photo Shoot

Walking In A Winter Wonderland

Yes, I subject my co-workers to random acts of photography when they pass me on the street. Here reporter Erica Hobbs is a good sport and waves a friendly hello.

The Circus

A local Michigan band called Basement Spiders took the stage the other night at the Circus Bar in downtown Ann Arbor. The bar, as you can tell from the Ringling Bros. mural on the wall, is decked out to look like a circus, complete with a lion jumping through a flaming hoop behind the bar. The Circus is on the third floor of an old brewery and mill building on First Street. Oh yeah, and these guys were pretty rockin'.

Night Shots

Shots I took on my walk to my parking garage after work on Friday night.

Roger Fraser And Tony Derezinski

Cool Cat

Alan Haber poses for a portrait with his cat, Ozzie, inside the living room of his home on Ann Arbor's Old West Side. Haber is the leader of a grassroots group of citizens fighting a major hotel and conference center development in downtown Ann Arbor. Haber has proposed that the city instead create a downtown green space or "community commons" on the city-owned lot at 319 S. Fifth Ave.