A N N   A R B O R   I S   O V E R R A T E D . (a blog.)

Comments:

Reebok ([email protected]) - 2003-11-14 17:57:44
As if a defense of gelatin marshmallows should be anything but small minded. I, for one, am convinced by the so-called usual pro-gelatin reflexive backwash. Call me provincial.... Call me unenlightened...


anna () - 2003-11-14 18:07:24
Although I have long been a (non-proselytizing) vegetarian, there is something so perversely appealing about the "pro-gelatin backlash" label that I feel compelled to find a way to work it into my C.V.

Boris ([email protected]) - 2003-11-14 19:34:46
The Pro-Gelatin movement grows stronger every day, comrades! To the barricades!

ann arbor is overrated () - 2003-11-15 01:53:20
I don't know...a gelatin reflexive backwash sounds kind of gross, now that I think about it. Is there a gelatin lobby in Congress?

I think I failed to make myself clear with this marshmallow thing - a lot of things that symbolize the excesses of Ann Arbor - Whole Foods, Zingerman's - are good things on their own, as is vegetarian food. Oh, well.


Murph () - 2003-11-15 09:06:49
I think the problem is that the veganporn kids aren't regular readers, and therefore haven't realized that you talk smack about *everything*. Heck, I've been a vegetarian for years--I think I did fall and have a marshmallow or two this summer, before I remembered that they're both non-vegetarian and non-ungross--and I still think the homemade smore recipe is hilarious. Of course, thinking it's hilarious and actually trying to make it are not in the least mutually exclusive...

js ([email protected]) - 2003-11-15 17:29:23
The last time I had reflexive gelatin backwash, I was spitting up jello shots. js

elise () - 2003-11-16 03:59:31
wait, i was just scanning veganporn... am i the only reader who IS a supporter of the pro-gelatin, pro-partially hydrogenated vegetable oil movement? sorry, wrong message board.

anna () - 2003-11-16 12:00:55
Actually, AAIO, I think you have made your position perfectly clear -- people just take so many things Way. Too. Seriously. It's a collective personality trait of so many of the OFW crowd. I ate at Zingerman's all the time; I love Zingerman's (even if I can laugh at a 4-ounce $150 bottle of vinegar) -- in fact, i wrote half of my dissertation in the Zing cafe. It's not any one place or any one thing or any one person that makes Ann Arbor so ridiculously Ann Arbor; it's the attitude that makes the place so mockable. So A2ers have completely lost their sense of humor, their sense of fun, and their sense of irony. When those are missing, it becomes very hard not to make fun of s'mores that take a day to make.

Boris () - 2003-11-16 18:18:07
I think you're right. All of the A2 conceits, taken together, are what makes this place so laughable. It's not that they're baking vegan s'mores. In and of itself, that's not particularly amusing. Rather, it's the air of total self-righteous joylessness and utter seriousness with which Annarbourites roll out the wheat-germ dough and pound out those vegan gluten-free marshmallows that make it so comical. That and the hypocrisy of the A2 slumlord ruling elite -- who can afford Zingermans olive oil because their coffers are overflowing with the rent money they charge students to live in their ramshackle flophouses. Their livelihood is based on the student population. The artsy movies the OFW adores are showing in town *only* because there is a major university here. The art fairs and museum galas and coffee houses and Ethiopian restaurants and microbreweries, etc etc etc -- none of this would be here without the University. None of that great "quality of life" that they love to talk about would exist. Without UM, A2 would be no different than Kalamazoo. Probably a good deal worse, in fact. With one hand, they line their pockets with student rent money and reap the cultural and QoL benefits this town has to offer; with the other, they're dialing the AAPD to report a "noisy party" being thrown by those dreadful, horrible students -- no-good beatniks, with their berets and their bong drums....

Boris () - 2003-11-16 18:19:07
Ummm, make that BONGO drums...

anna () - 2003-11-16 19:24:05
Heh. Yeah, what Boris said. :)

elise () - 2003-11-16 22:21:09
yeah, boris said it. too bad the rant can't fit onto a bumper sticker.

Art ([email protected]) - 2003-11-17 09:44:35
I don't think AAIO is negative about everything. I have read some very nice things about Boston on this blog.

Brandon () - 2003-11-17 20:08:02
Boris, AA would be a lot less than Kalamazoo without UM, as Kalamazoo has WMU and Kalamazoo College. Ann Arbor would have Ave Maria and Concordia left, I guess, so all wouldn't be lost. Hmmm... would that then make Ypsi the "cool city,"/university town in Washtenaw County, leading inflated rents, gentrification, and Potbellys? All the artists, hipsters, grad-students, and non-professionals would then move to Ann Arbor for cheap rents, creating a lively art scene. Would the Elbow Room become a family-friendly nonprofit folk venue and the Ark become a grimy punk den? ...so actually getting rid of UM might make Ann Arbor pretty sweet in the end.

Anna () - 2003-11-18 08:27:08
Er.... if it weren't for the whole massive unemployment thing.

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