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

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2003-01-22 - 9:19 p.m.

It seems that Ann Arbor Sucks is not alone in all-consuming, website-inspiring hate for a Michigan town. LansingSucks.com could give this blog a run for its money. But Stevyn's a little more sanguine about the cowtown he calls home. "While Lansing may suck, it doesn't suck entirely," he admits. Stevyn, Stevyn - be strong. Got to keep up the hate.

Of course, as the Magnetic Fields once sang, "Be we in Paris or in Lansing/Nothing matters when we're dancing."

LansingSucks also manages to get in a little dig at the expense of A-squared. The Damn Site Inn, in Hell, Michigan, he reports, is raising its prices and becoming a bit more upmarket. To blame? The "uppity Ann Arbor influence."

But at the moment, the thing that sucks most about Lansing - and Ann Arbor - is contained in a little box at the top of the page. "7 degrees," it reads.

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2003-01-21 - 10:53 p.m.

Thank goodness for the Ann Arbor News' music coverage. Without it, we might have missed "the biggest thing to ever happen...maybe in Ann Arbor." That would be "rap sensation" Eminem's impromptu concert at an A2 sports bar last weekend, to which the bar's owner awarded the most-significant-A2-event designation. Other candidates: the new garbage cans on State Street, the moving of the Washington Street Gallery to Liberty Street and the city council's new geopolitical resolutions.

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2003-01-20 - 12:37 a.m.

Ann Arbor Sucks is pleased to report that this weblog has made it onto flyingjsux.com's list of pages about things that suck. So now Ann Arbor can join the company of such bêtes noires as Best Buy, milk, Katherine Harris and "sKool" (but not Sprint, which merely blows.)

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2003-01-17 - 2:06 p.m.

Ann Arbor Sucks recently had a bit of a brush with the law. It seems that parking overnight on a Sunday-only parking street will get you a $20 ticket, $56 "administrative fee" and $95 towing charge - about $170 total, $20 more than in Chicago. Having paid $65 to have a car towed last year for a flat tire, Ann Arbor Sucks must commend the city for finding the towing company that was both most expensive and furthest away from where the car was parked.

The police officer signing the release form wrote Ann Arbor Sucks' address, finishing with a jaunty "A^2" (that's a superscript.) A classy, whimsical touch, and what Ann Arbor Sucks loves most about this town.

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2003-01-09 - 11:43 p.m.

Ann Arbor, according to the Observer's Arborweb, is a terrific place for out-of-towners to visit. Why? Because of the "vast assortment of things to do in the area." Like "late-night coney islands." Nothing like head-scratchingly arcane metro Detroit lingo to bring in the tourists. And last Ann Arbor Sucks checked, the latest-night coney island (so it's lower case now?) in town called it a night around 10.

Those of you following up on the parking ticket saga: they've been reduced to $35, after it was pointed out that the original $125 was meant to cover the cost of towing that in none of the 600 or so cases was actually done.

And Geoff Larcom takes a refreshingly non-anti-student look at the different groups that make up A2. But Ann Arbor Sucks had to chuckle at the closer. He ends on a note of commonality. "Yet there is one sure convergence in this yeasty mix. You can meet nearly everyone at Zingerman's."

Where else would a gourmet store that holds artisan butter tastings be considered the gathering place that brings the masses together?

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2003-01-03 - 10:38 a.m.

The students were all out of town for winter break, the Daily wasn't publishing and snow fell softly on Ann Arbor streets. Many saw a peaceful winter scene. The city of Ann Arbor saw a money-making bonanza.

By declaring the weather a "snow emergency" and placing $125 tickets on cars parked on the street, many of whom belonged to out-of-town students unaware of the alleged emergency, the city will bring in an estimated cool $74,500.

It's unclear why they wanted the streets clear, since plowing is usually a they'll-get-to-it-when-they-get-to-it proposition in A2. But it seems like they may have attracted the ire of some landowning taxpayers. Despite the city's best intentions, students aren't the only ones forced to park on the street and not monitoring local media at 12:01 a.m. on December 26th. "They targeted a little neighborhood that usually never gets plowed," said resident Amanda Smith. Next time, Ann Arbor police, look for the student areas. Those are the ones where all the burglaries occur.

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