Archive for May, 2010

The Cake Wrecks site features cakes with Star Wars themes, and includes a mention of the “dead Tauntaun wedding cake” made by Courtney Clark, owner of Cake Nouveau in Ann Arbor: “This was actually made by one of my all-time favorite cake artists: Courtney from Cake Nouveau. Yes, it has entrails. Yes, it’s disturbing on pretty much every level there is.” [Source]

Since my father’s death in February, my siblings and I have been working on Project Keep Mother Busy.

This isn’t difficult, as our upbeat little mama is still interested in what’s next; still in some ways that fun-loving brunette from Staten Island. She’s good company.

The other day, while leaving a bakery, I picked up and handed her a brochure about The Housing Bureau for Seniors’ Senior Living & Housing Awareness Week May 7-16. The week is billed as a one-stop chance to gain information, resources and approaches to help make decisions for better living.

Well, you’d think I had just given her a check for a million dollars. Who knew housing was such a big deal to her? After all, she’s in good health. She lives in a condo, where she doesn’t have to worry about yardwork.

But she wants a place that offers a continuum of care, beginning with independent living and ending with nursing care, or hospice. She wonders how her health will be in a year or so, if she’d become a burden to her kids, and what she’d do if there were a medical emergency and nobody around to help.

And no offense to us, but she’d like to be around a few more people her own age.

This is why on Friday I’ll be taking my mother to the Living & Housing Expo at Washtenaw Community College, and to some open houses at senior housing communities the rest of the week. [Full Story]

Writing on the Big Government website, columnist Lurita Doan critiques President Obama’s commencement speech at the University of Michigan, calling it “inflammatory.” She writes: “Much like the Fonz, who first jumped the shark in Happy Days, with this commencement speech at the University of Michigan, President Obama may have jumped the shark with his teleprompted rhetoric, and reached the point where whatever he says from this point forward has no, absolutely no, credibility because the dichotomy between his words and his actions is so very extreme, and Obama seems oblivious to these differences.” [Source]

Last weekend, President Barack Obama delivered the commencement address at the University of Michigan’s  spring commencement to an audience of more than 90,000 people, including more than 8,000 graduates.

The event also included national, regional, and local media organizations, who were eventually allowed into Michigan Stadium. But I don’t think most members of the media really listened to his address.

For example, I didn’t see any of these headlines, which could have been attached to an accurate account of Obama’s speech:

Obama Lambastes Media for Sound-Byte Coverage

Obama Takes Aim at Media for Stoking Conflicts

Obama Puts Blame for Coarse Discourse on Media

Obama Erupts But Does Not Confirm Ties to Volcano

The fourth alternative is based on a kindergartner’s question to the president, which Obama reported as part of his speech. That one is admittedly a stretch. It’s included for the benefit of an audience of two, perhaps three, local Ann Arbor readers who might crack a smile when they read it. [For those of you who don't know, Ann Arbor is building a "volcano" in the center of its downtown.]

The other three, however, are legitimate candidates for a headline that summarizes what the president’s speech was “about.” The venerable New York Times tried out at least four different headlines for a single online story on the Obama speech. But none of the NYT alternatives – nor those of any other media coverage I saw – identified as a significant theme of Obama’s speech the culpability of the media in the kind of “over the top” public debates that Obama said “coarsens our culture.”

That’s because I don’t think media organizations were paying attention to all of Obama’s speech the way they would have if they’d approached it like they were cutting up fish. [Full Story]

The city of Ann Arbor is seeking public input for an update of its Parks and Recreation Open Space (PROS) plan, via an online survey. The 19 questions include “How would you rate the current level of maintenance at city parks?” and “How satisfied are you with the current management of natural areas in city parks?” [Source]

Popular Mechanics publishes a feature on Washtenaw Community College’s car-customizing program and their restoration of a 1964 Chevrolet Impala convertible – a project commissioned by former Detroit Tiger Dimitri Young for Ken Griffey Jr. to mark his 600th career home run. “In 15 weeks, the WCC students created a living, breathing, moving piece of art. … The car itself represents much more than a sum of its parts. It epitomizes the work, dedication and baptism by fire of 25 young craftsmen about to enter the working world. Above all, of course, the car is a reward in itself, and one hell of a way to celebrate 600 home runs.” [Source]

Ann Arbor City Council Sunday night caucus (May 2, 2010): Transportation was one of the main focuses of conversation at last night’s city council caucus, which is held on the Sunday before the council’s regular meeting.

The Committee for the Preservation of Community Quality gave a presentation of their response to the recently conducted environmental assessment of a possible runway extension at the Ann Arbor municipal airport. And residents expressed concerns about the proposed Fuller Road Station and its location on city-owned land designated as a park in the city’s PROS (Parks and Recreation Open Space) Plan.

By the time questions about the possible upcoming budget amendments were raised, the number of councilmembers attending the caucus had dwindled from four to two. Mayor John Hieftje, Sabra Briere (Ward 1), Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3), and Mike Anglin (Ward 5) were there through most of the meeting, but it concluded with just Briere and Anglin.

And at the tail end of the gathering, the residents who attended weighed in on the nature of caucus itself. They offered their perceptions of the value of discussions among councilmembers at the caucus versus their own remarks. They’d prefer to see councilmembers in action and would be willing to trade some of their own time for watching the work of council. [Full Story]

More than $400,000 in unanticipated federal funding – including a $250,000 “green” grant for Avalon Housing‘s Near North in Ann Arbor – allowed board members of the Washtenaw Urban County to boost funding for several low-income housing and community development projects at their April 27 meeting.

In addition to the grant for Near North – a proposed 39-unit affordable housing development on Main Street just north of downtown – the Urban County also received nearly $180,000 more than anticipated in federal funding through the Community Development Block Grant program for the coming fiscal year.

The board voted to divvy up those additional funds to projects in the Urban County’s three largest jurisdictions – Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township. They also approved setting aside nearly $27,000 for as-yet-unspecified human services support, in light of possible cuts in city of Ann Arbor funding to local nonprofits.

The focus on allocations at Tuesday’s meeting prompted this comment from Ypsilanti mayor Paul Schreiber: “It’s a pleasure to sit on a board that has money to spend!” [Full Story]

On her blog The Butterfly Effect, Saline mayor Gretchen Driskell writes about her efforts to lobby state legislators to increase funding for Michigan’s transportation infrastructure. Driskell is also vice chair of the board for SEMCOG, which is trying to get a Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter rail system off the ground. Her post includes a transcript of her recent testimony at the House Transportation Committee public hearing. [Source]

An editorial in the Detroit Free Press notes that the Detroit-Ann Arbor rail plan has stalled and needs funding – like a state gas tax or regional sales tax dedicated to transportation. The editorial states that “in the long run, neither this project nor others needed for a modern and competitive transportation system can move forward without increasing revenue and creating a Regional Transit Authority. Legislators and the governor should put plans for both into overdrive.” [Source]

Editor’s Note: The monthly milestone column, which appears on the second day of each month – the anniversary of The Ann Arbor Chronicle’s launch – is an opportunity for either the publisher or the editor of The Chronicle to touch base with readers on topics related to this publication.

On Saturday, along with more than 90,000 other people, I was in Michigan Stadium amid the spectacle of the University of Michigan commencement, with the heightened drama surrounding the presence of President Barack Obama.

Despite standing in the rain for two hours, I was glad to be part of the orchestrated pageantry – it’s a perk to living in a city that’s got the pull of a major university, while still being small enough to score access to something that draws national attention. As the day wore on, the event also helped further crystallize for me some aspects of The Ann Arbor Chronicle’s journalistic mission. And because this is our publication’s 20th monthly milestone message, it seems a good occasion to reflect on that.

The most obvious point of clarity on Saturday was the difference between what The Chronicle typically does and what other media oranizations do – whether they are traditional or newly-emerging enterprises. The second observation is linked to some advice in Obama’s speech: Pay attention. [Full Story]

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Eclectablog author Chris Savage and photographer Anne Savage (they’re married) documented the University of Michigan commencement with words and pictures. Some words: “The threatening weather was an apt metaphor for the economic and political climate facing our state ….” Among the photos, a spectacular 360-degree interactive panorama shot from inside The Big House.  [Source]

Local photographer Myra Klarman captured these images for The Chronicle of the May 1 University of Michigan commencement exercises at Michigan Stadium.

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President Barack Obama delivered the main address at the University of Michigan’s May 1 spring commencement.

The Chronicle has transcribed the speech as delivered and provided some annotation, in part by providing section and sub-section headings that reflect the organizational structure of the president’s remarks.

The main themes were the role of government in our lives and the keys to preservation of democracy. One of those keys to the preservation of democracy, Obama told the graduates, is to “contribute part of your life to the life of this country.” [Full Story]

Speaking to his fellow graduates at the University of Michigan’s spring commencement ceremony on May 1, 2010, senior Alex Marston’s brief remarks gave a quick tour through some touchstones of student culture.

That tour ranged from food, to football, to academics. Marston’s focus was change – an idea that his fellow commencement speaker, President Barack Obama, had made the centerpiece of his successful 2008 campaign.

The Chronicle transcribed and annotated the address as delivered. [Full Story]

Several national publications report on the speech that President Obama delivered at Saturday’s commencement. The Washington Post described it as “a spirited defense of government … in a direct rebuttal to Republicans and ‘tea party’ followers who question his politics and his priorities.” [Source] The Wall Street Journal reported it as a “passionate defense of government action,” writing that Obama “used the backdrop of financial crisis, a deadly mine disaster and the looming environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico to defend his government activism against accusations of overreach, socialism and even fascism.” [Source]

Visualize the Ann Arbor Art Center’s WineFest as the Châteauneuf-du-Pape of fundraisers.

The annual wine-and-food extravaganza, on tap May 6 through 8, bears a surprising resemblance to the multi-grape assemblage of the flagship wine from France’s southern Rhone, blending supporters of the century-old arts institution with a panoply of local glitterati out for some innocent merriment, plus a dollop of area wine cognoscenti keen to sample and acquire some hard-to-find bottles.

So it’s a good fit that Honorary Chair Laurence Féraud, the first French winemaker to chair WineFest, comes from first-tier Châteauneuf winery, Domaine du Pegau.

And just as some Châteauneuf producers (but not Pegau) have adapted their wines to changing customer preferences for early-drinking, more fruit-driven styles, so the 28th annual WineFest sports a different look from years past.

“We’ve thrown everything up in the air and had it come down in a new format,” says Art Center president Marsha Chamberlin. “It’s going to be this bright, colorful upbeat format in a very stylish location. We’re trying to make this an event that people can enjoy on lots of different levels.” [Full Story]