Friendly Neighbors, And That’s Where We Meet
The latest Quidnunc in the Ann Arbor Paper is full of white-hot celebrity gossip - in the last month, A2 has had sightings of Bob from Sesame Street and Randy and Robin from The Real World: San Diego. But even with all these A-listers in the mix, this little site still got a mention for our previous item on the column, in which, it should be pointed out, we were really trying to mock the material it has to choose from, not its writer.
I believe Bob is in town for the U-M Men’s Glee Club concert on Saturday night. This is the greatest artistic tradition on campus and those attending won’t be disappointed.
posted by Anonymous on November 9th, 2004 at 9:12 amWow, they saw Meg White in Ferndale. Now that’s quality gossip. I saw Fred Thomas at Encore, Josh Steichmann at the Blind Pig, and Todd Leopold at Leopold Bros.
posted by Brandon on November 9th, 2004 at 11:10 amYou know, I never quite understood the enthusiasm for the myriad glee clubs that exist on campus. Certainly it is a tradition, but artistic? Reworking (ahem, I mean, arranging) pop songs heard on the radio for a cappella chorus with Bobby McFerrin-esque accompaniment is not art. I might consider it within the realm of entertainment, even though personally I don’t find it entertaining. Actually, I find it more embarassing than anything. I cringe thinking about earnest undergraduates performing pop song du jour a cappella and thinking it is the best thing since sliced-bread. Except when some dude breaks it down with a beatbox. Wicked!
posted by E on November 9th, 2004 at 11:49 amTodd Leopold at Leopold Brothers? Buzz REVEALED! Totally developing!
posted by ann arbor is overrated on November 9th, 2004 at 3:27 pmI’m sure some glee clubber would be better equipped to respond, but I think it’s important to note that glee clubs and a cappella groups are not the same thing. I agree that a cappella groups are annoying–they spring up like mold in a co-op shower and tend to have about as much talent. During my undergrad tenure at the U, at least 5 formed that I can think of, some of which are still around. Sigh. I could go on for hours, actually, about how much I don’t like them. But the Glee Club is a pretty venerable group that sings real choral music, typically well, in that great college men’s chorus tradition that gives me goosebumps! If you haven’t been to one of their concerts, it’s worth checking out.
posted by c-loh on November 9th, 2004 at 4:17 pmSaw me where? I musta been drunk…
posted by js on November 9th, 2004 at 5:28 pm(The reason that I don’t run my column like that, or like the several in Metrotimes nad Real Detroit, is that a: I can’t ever remember what anyone looks like, and don’t really care, and b: I’m the worst person alive at small talk, so even if I saw ‘em, there’s nothing printable goin’ on…)
Or maybe you meant because I’m there enough… In that case, Scott Morgan is the name to drop, because he’s in there every single night that he’s in town, swear to God…
JS- true, I haven’t seen you at the Pig in the past month or so (then again I haven’t been there much due to a mediocre lineup), nor have I seen Todd lately for that matter. My point, however, was that seeing a local in their natural habitat is hardly worth making note of.
I hate to admit that I don’t even know what Scott Morgan looks like…
posted by Brandon on November 9th, 2004 at 8:42 pmWow, these are some great A-List Celebrities! But what else would you expect from such a hip town? There are big-name celebrities in Ann Arbor all the time! I think Emeril LaGasse was signing books at Borders last year (Have you heard his new catch phrase — “Bam!” ?? Oh, that’s rich! He really does make food fun). And don’t quote me on this, but I think I saw Todd Bridges sprawled out on the sidewalk in front of White Market the other day! And speaking of stars, I wonder which luminaries will be on hand for the big grand opening of Buffalo Wild Wings on State and Washington??? I’m so excited, I can hardly sleep. If you’re a stargazer like me, you’ll definitely want to bring your camera! There’s only 160 or 170 more of these Wild Wing joints all across the midwest and rust belt, so we’re talking something really special here. And to think I was worried that that prime retail spot would go to waste….
Oh, and to all you naysayers out there, Ann Arbor is one of the most vibrant sites for glee club-slash-a capella music in all of southeast Michigan. (I don’t have time now to go into a whole discussion of the difference between the two styles, but just take my word for it — there is!) By my last count, we have 47 a capella groups here at the “U”, with several dozen more on north campus (mostly “ethnic” five-tone a capella up there, which is an acquired taste, but still….) — and I for one think that’s great! I’ll have you know that each one of these groups has its own twist to singing “Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover,” so we’re not talking cookie cutter here, thank you very much! Good luck finding this kind of sheer a capella-slash-glee club musical diversity anywhere else in Washtenaw County!
Oh, yeah — in case you can’t tell, I’m a booster now (part of the solution now, not part of the problem!) So if you guys hate Ann Arbor so much, why don’t you leave?
posted by Boris on November 10th, 2004 at 12:58 amI thought the whole point of a cappella was that there was no accompaniment: Bobby McFerrin-esque or not.
posted by Alex(andra) on November 10th, 2004 at 8:03 amBoris, you rule.
posted by OFW insurgent on November 10th, 2004 at 9:11 amC-loh is right. The a cappella groups are a dime a dozen and virtually indistinguishable, whereas the Women’s Glee Club is an 80-voice choir and the Men’s is 110 strong. They are definitely more venerable, as c-loh puts it.
posted by Clubber on November 10th, 2004 at 11:22 amVenerable as in fossilized. I enjoy the (admittedly occasional) flashes of creativity from the a capella groups, but I never expect it from a Glee Club.
posted by Michael McC. on November 11th, 2004 at 10:31 amTotally off-topic, but Ann Arbor’s favorite cussing author has moved to Boulder, where libraries have “welcomed him”. Right.
posted by tom on November 11th, 2004 at 3:06 pmOh yeah! I forgot about that. I’m in the library practically every day (including as I type this) and I don’t think I ever ran into the guy, although I heard about the case. What the hell did he write? I saw a letter of his in the NYT Book Review once (I think that’s where), but I’ve never heard of any actual publications. Does anyone know? Because I have nothing better to do than ask!! And if I don’t get some answers soon, I’m going over to the periodicals desk and giving them an earful, if you know what I mean.
posted by Lazaro on November 11th, 2004 at 5:55 pmThat those both came from a site called “stopspam.sk” is beautiful.
posted by js on November 15th, 2004 at 12:08 pm