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12 Sep 2011 11:12

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Biz: Peace out, Ann Arbor: Borders to close its original location today

  • Borders used to be chockablock with books. It has increasingly looked less like a bookstore than a bowling alley, with its wide-open spaces. Now they’re selling children’s dolls on the front counter. It’s really pretty grim.
  • University of Michigan history professor Jonathan Marwil • Discussing the fate of Borders, the Ann Arbor-based bookstore chain which will close its first Ann Arbor-based location Monday. We’ve been saddened by the fate of Borders, an iconically-great example of the bookstore where you get sucked in for hours, but one whose fate was sealed by being extremely late to the game with the Internet. *SOB* We’ll miss you. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 May 2011 16:43

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Culture: Too realistic? Thor promotional merch causes bomb scare

  • When overwrought commercialism goes wrong: So, we saw the movie Thor last week (didn’t terribly enjoy it), and amidst all the mythological melees and scowling Frost Giants, there was something that the good people at Acura wanted us to notice — that they are the official car brand of S.H.I.E.L.D., a monolithic government agency at play in the film. We didn’t notice this, as it happens, and perhaps to gin up some extra buzz, Acura produced these promotional “S.H.I.E.L.D. test kits,” a black box containing a bunch of toggle switches, nondescript liquids, and prominent use of the word “detonation.” You probably can see where this is headed. The FBI and ATF were called in to handle one such “kit” in a recent bomb scare in Ann Arbor, Michigan. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Jul 2009 10:23

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Biz: A big web-only news experiment, AnnArbor.com, missed its launch date

  • Old launch date: Monday. New launch date: Tomorrow. Today, the Ann Arbor News, a 174-year-old Michigan institution, prints its last issue. On Monday, their parent company, Newhouse, was supposed to launch a Web product to replace the newspaper, giving some overlap time for users to get used to the product. But AnnArbor.com, which will include a twice-a-week print component, wasn’t ready so they didn’t launch it. Which means that tomorrow’s launch date leaves zero room for error and the possibility that the town will be without a primary news source if it gets delayed again. Talk about tightropes. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink

06 Jan 2009 13:37

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Music: Ron Asheton, Stooges guitarist. Dead at 60.

  • What happened? After not hearing from him for days, Asheton’s assistant contacted police, where they found him dead in his Ann Arbor, Mi. home. He appeared to have been dead for several days. Foul play was not expected.
  • Who was he? Asheton played in other bands, including The New Order (not the U.K. band) and Destroy All Monsters, but he was most notable for playing the guitar parts for the Stooges, the legendary Iggy Pop-led proto-punk band.
  • His recent activityAsheton played on Pop’s 2002 album Skull Ring and took part in a Stooges reunion that started in 2005 and led to the 2007 album The Weirdness. The band is nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink
 
 
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