buckshot.jones, another fantastic Detroit storyteller writes: "This is Detroit, straight up. Justbeamensch (Donald Jones) has one of the best collections of the odd and funky in the City of Detroit. Take a cruise through his photostream and you gather a sense of the soul of the city."

The photo is part of Donald's Detroit Greeting Cards at the Book Beat set (slideshow) which are available for purchase at The Book Beat in Oak Park (248-968-1190). His other sets include Murals in the City, Flora and State Fair.

Take a ride down his Flickriver.

"I am standing awkwardly by caterpillars

Over half of all Michigan's public university graduates leave the state within one year of graduation. Michigan Radio Intern Lauren Silverman will probably be one of them. Lauren has launched a new series for Michigan Radio called Generation Y Michigan that explores why young adults in Generation Y are or aren't leaving Michigan. You can hear them during Morning Edition (M-F, 5-9 am) and All Things Considered (M-F, 4-6:30 pm) throughout the following several weeks.

In addition to the on-air features, there's also a blog at GenerationYMichigan.org where listeners can discuss this issue, take part in polls, and view supplementary articles, photographs and essays on the topic. It includes great features like Where Generation Y Is Headed and Why They Leave. In addition to Lauren's posts, there are also some from guest bloggers. I thought it was pretty cool that I found a now generation Y student from my hometown asking provocative questions about whether you actually leave Michigan, even when you do:

...Exposure to other environments should not be confused with brain drain. Michigan needs people who care about it but who also have perspective about how things are done in other cultures outside of Michigan, no matter how close or far.

In my opinion, convincing native young minds to stay might not always work. But travelers from distant places should know that Michigan offers opportunity. I can’t put my finger on it, but I’ve sensed it more and more over the past few years. There’s a burgeoning energy here. The cost of living isn’t bad, and we have at least one of everything! If it’s intelligence you crave, Ann Arbor was named the 4th smartest city in the U.S. in 2008 by Forbes.com. If it’s natural beauty you want, we have 3,052 miles of Great Lakes shoreline. When you’re in Michigan, it’s hard to get more than a few hours away from any one of the lakes.

Furthermore, Michigan stays with you as you go. Everyone I speak to who leaves misses it. Michigan invites your return. Even if I leave after I graduate, Michigan will stay with me.

We'll close with a cool slideshow about why they leave and urge you to visit generationYmichigan.org for much more!

Grand Rapids International Wine Festival by farlane

Shannon writes:

From my perspective, the show was a huge success. We had a blast tasting not only Michigan wines, but comparing them to their worldwide counterparts. I am happy to say that the local wine held up very well. I was particularly blown away by the number of young people at the show. This really excites me, as I am a huge advocate of getting the 21-30 something crowd more involved with wine.

I was really impressed that at every Michigan booth, there was representation from the winery -- most of the time it was the actual owner or winemaker.

They'll almost certainly be back in 2010 - stay tuned at  grwinefestival.com!

Abandoned Pontiac Silverdome by Derek Farr

The Detroit News reports that the long-shuttered Pontiac Silverdome has been sold for a mere $583,000 as the home for a soccer league. However, with a cost over $55 million to construct:

"This was a giveaway," said David J. Leitch, a broker with an Auburn Hills based realty firm.

"The property alone, at $10,000 an acre, should have gone for more than that. And you have the Silverdome, its contents, and the infrastructure already in place. I had estimated it would probably go for between $1.2 million and $3 million. I can't believe it."

Such sentiments weren't uncommon Monday, after city officials unsealed bids showing the property that was home to the Detroit Lions was sold at auction to an unnamed Canadian company that plans to bring a soccer league to the stadium. The company's name will be released when the sale is finalized within 45 days, said Fred Leeb, the city's emergency financial manager. Leeb acknowledged the sale "is not a windfall," but said the Silverdome's $1.5 million upkeep drained the beleaguered city's finances.

Go to about 1:20 in the video to get past the auction promo. Much more about the Pontiac Silverdome on Michigan in Pictures!

In Five questions with wine expert Claudia Tyagi, the Detroit Free Press asks Master Sommelier* Claudia Tyagi about selecting Michigan wines to go with a Thanksgiving dinner. She recommends a few and says:

I always like Riesling with turkey, although with poultry Chardonnay would be beautiful. You have a lot of versatility and a lot of possibility with turkey. You could use a white wine or an aromatic wine. Those tend to go well with turkey, too.

Click through to read the rest and you might also want to try this recipe for roasting your turkey with white wine & rosemary.

Photo: Ciccone by Kiran Bhat

*Wikipedia's Sommelier entry explains that a sommelier is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional who specializes in all aspects of wine service. Since the Master Sommelier Diploma was introduced in 1969, 171 people from around the world had become Master Sommeliers by 2009. Of these there were 74 active Master Sommeliers in the Americas.

Claudia is one of three in the state of Michigan, and her observations can be found at twitter.com/Winegenie. Get many more Thanksgiving ideas at absolutemichigan.com/Thanksgiving.

Scoreboard by mollyali

The Game between the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes starts at noon on Saturday, November 21, 2009. It doesn't have quite as much on the line, but it's always a big one. Read on for the our massive post on history of this rivalry with tons of links to historical and present-day info.

Originally posted November 11, 2006

According to ESPN, UM vs Ohio State is the #1 rivalry in sports. As even today a picture of Woody Hayes is enough to send me into the berserkergang, I'm not going to argue.

Both Michigan and OSU cruised to victories yesterday, setting up a November 18, 2006 showdown of #1 vs. #2 teams and causing ABC television execs to do the ad dollar dance. We are gathering links, stories, video and more.

1940 UM vs. OSU Program Cover
from the Art of Football
Bentley Historical Library

ESPN says that when Ohio Stadium opened in 1922, Michigan christened it with a 22-0 thumping of the Buckeyes. Wikipedia chronicles this historic rivalry (and what does it say that the rivalry merits a page?), saying that many refer to it as simply "The Game". Since 1935, it's been the final regular season game on both schools' schedules. This year, as is often the case, both schools are at the top of college football's rankings, adding fuel to the fire. The best site on the UM vs. OSU Rivalry from the UM Bentley Library and the OSU Library.

The two modern symbols of the rivalry were OSU coach Wayne Woodrow Hayes and UM coach Bo Schembechler. Bucknuts, an OSU fan site, says Woody Hayes was a "hot-tempered, difficult, and aggressive man". I think they also described the surface of the sun as "a bit warm". Hayes was the perfect arch-enemy: he hated Michigan (check the Bucknuts link or scroll to the comments for a great story illustrating this) and Michigan hated him back. What many may not know is that Schembechler was an assistant to Hayes at OSU from 1959-1963. There really isn't a great site about Bo, but Wikipedia's entry on Bo Schembechler probably has the best info including great trivia like the two teams have evenly split the last fifty seven meetings (from 1949 to 2005), with 27 wins apiece and three ties. Tiebreaker!
There's a whole lot of multimedia out there. The best video we found is at the bottom of the article. On the photo front, you can click the photo to the left for a great shot from Andrew Morrell. There's a great set of photos from Michigan vs. Ohio State 2003. and (just added) photos from the 1927 UM vs. OSU game opening Michigan Stadium on Michigan in Pictures. You can hear "The Voice of Michigan Football" Bob Ufer recite Burying Woody Hayes and other classic calls.

On Google video, there's a great 3 minute intro to an hour-long special from TFN on the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry. From YouTube, you can see the 1968 thrashing at the hands of OSU and Desmond Howard running back a 91 yard punt return in his Heisman season. On the musical front, you can learn about the history of the Hail to the Victors song and see it sung from the top of Ohio Stadium. There's also a photo montage to The Victors. On the slightly strange side, how about Jean Luc Picard's orders regarding the Buckeyes? (Check out this photo of Patrick Stewart at the game!)

When you put together "musical" and "strange" and add a triple the recommended dose of "Ohio State", you get something that we have to give an "R" rating but also have to admit is pretty darn funny. Via Deadspin (language, crude humor) was a link to Schembechler in good spirits, back cheering for Wolverines in an Ohio newspaper. In the article, Bo reacts to a band called The Dead Schembechlers (language, crude humor x2). All we can say is that if it turns into a battle of the bands, Michigan could be in trouble.

U of M vs. Ohio State
by Fellowship of the Rich

Radio, Television & News

The game will be shown on ABC at 3:30 PM on Saturday, Nov. 18. For radio stations, check out Michiguide.com's University of Michigan Sports Radio list.

In Let the Hype Begin Michigan TB Mike Hart says: "It feels great. It's going to be probably the biggest game in everyone's lives on our team. It's a huge game. We're undefeated, they're undefeated. We're playing for a Big Ten championship and a national championship. I don't think there's a bigger game out there."

The Freep's sports blog has History Lessons by Bill McGraw that talks about the history of the rivalry and adds that ESPN Classic will show seven of the best recent games starting this morning at 10 a.m. (1974) and 2 p.m. (1995), but they won't be airing one of the best in memory - 1969, when the 12th-ranked Wolverines upset the top-ranked Buckeyes, 24-12.

University of Michigan Wolverines Blogs & Forums

the M Zone
M Go Blog
Blue Cats & Red Sox
Michigan Football Saturdays
UM Official Athletic site
The Fort
Schembechler Hall
Mr Wolverine

Ohio State Buckeyes Blogs & Forums

BuckeyeCommentary.com
Around the Oval
OSU's Beat Michigan Week site
The Buckeye Extra
The Horseshoe Lounge
Official OSU Athletics site
OSU Expat Blog

Here's a cool Bo Schembechler commemorative video from last year:

Click here to view the embedded video.

All that reading make you thirsty? Check out the First Annual Ohio vs Michigan Wine Clash!

danenmolly (Molly) is a friend of mine from the real world and her husband Dane is a pilot - hence the rare photo opportunity showing The Whaleback and North Lake Leelanau taken from high above Lake Michigan's Manitou Passage.

Be sure to check this out bigger and you can see more from this flight in her Fishtown - Leland - Good Harbor - Manitou Islands - Leelanau Peninsula set (slideshow). Her other sets include Aerial Photographs and Lake Michigan Sunsets.

Dive into her Flickriver.

It's Lansing's Birthday! by Eridony

2009 is the Sesquicentennial of the City of Lansing. The Lansing 150 Grand Finale is next Friday (Nov 20) immediately following Silver Bells in the City from 8-11 PM in the Lansing Center. This event concludes Lansing’s year long Sesquicentennial Birthday Party and will include free entertainment and a free reception.

As part of the celebration they are holding an "I AM LANSING" contest. Area residents, businesses and organizations can submit photos, videos and/or essays about Lansing and judges will decide the Best Lansing Story. The winner will receive a $500 cash prize and you can enter until midnight this Friday! Head over to lansing150.com for all the details!

The City of Lansing history page (and the City of Lansing) begins:

In the winter of 1835, two brothers from Lansing, New York plotted the area just south of downtown Lansing, naming the territory "Biddle Town." Most of this land was in a floodplain and underwater for much of the year. Despite the condition of the land, the brothers returned to New York to sell the plots to unsuspecting individuals wanting to test their fortunes in a new land. The group of settlers arrived to Mid-Michigan only to find their plots submerged under several feet of water. Nevertheless, many in the group chose to stay and established what is now Metropolitan Lansing. They christened the town "Lansing Township" after their home village in New York.

You can get a ton more great old photos of Lansing from Seeking Michigan, check out a sweet view of Lansing from the Lansing standpipe in the late 1800s on Michigan in Pictures and learn lots more about Lansing at absolutemichigan.com/Lansing!

Photo: Bird's eye view of the city of Lansing (Mich.); 1866. Courtesy Seeking Michigan.

Life Magazine has a feature titled WWII: How Detroit Won The War that provides an excellent photographic look at how the Motor City retooled to become "The Arsenal of Democracy". Photos include Chrysler's Tank Assembly, Dodge's military vehicle production and Willow Run Bomber Plant where more than 18,000 B-24 Liberators were built between 1940 and 1945. They note that the auto industry's contribution to the war effort was valued at more than $50 billion worth of materials - an astounding 20% of the nation's war production.

You can see a ton more photos of the Willow Run Bomber Plant right here that provide a fascinating look into what Charles Lindbergh called "the Grand Canyon of the mechanized world." Here's the story of Willow Run (and how many newsreels did this guy voice??):

Photo Credit: Library of Congress photo LC-USE6- D-008797, Howard R. Hollem, photographer. Production. B-24E (Liberator) bombers at Willow Run. Looking up one of the assembly lines at Ford's big Willow Run plant, where B-24E (Liberator) bombers are being made in great numbers. The Liberator is capable of operation at high altitudes and over great ranges on precision bombing missions. It has proved itself an excellent performer in the Pacific, in Northern Africa, Europe and the Aleutians. Ford's Willow Run Plant, Michigan

More shipwreck features on Absolute Michigan. Also see more about the Edmund Fitzgerald and even more shipwrecks on Michigan in Pictures.

Pinhole: Clock by Matt Callow

Longtime Absolute Michigan friend Laura Bein has a feature in the Ypsilanti Courier about when Ypsilanti had its own time zone. It begins:

You have to love a city that creates, out of sheer cussedness, its own time zone. That was Ypsilanti from 1883 to at least 1904.

In the early 1880s, communities observed "local time," also called "sun time." Towns and cities gauged time by taking a measurement of the sun's position. They set this time on a highly visible clock in town, such as a church clock. Townspeople set their timepieces by the church clock. However, due to varying sun-measurements, clock time differed from town to town, which made it frustrating and expensive for railroads trying to maintain efficient schedules. In 1883, the heads of the big railroad companies met in Chicago and agreed to adopt standard time, with four continental time zones, as their preferred system, in order to regulate their train schedules. Soon afterwards, individual states began to copy the railroads' time scheme.

Michigan adopted standard time on September 19, 1885. The legislative decision read, "The People of the State of Michigan enact that standard time, central division, based on the ninetieth meridian of longitude west from Greenwich, shall be legal time within this state."

Ypsilanti simply ignored this state edict. With a few exceptions around town, the city stuck to local time and refused to adopt standard time. And refused it officially-at an October 1885 City Council meeting, the Council voted to reject, denounce, and squash standard time!

Read on in the Ypsilanti Courier.

Rob the Photog (Rob Gingerich) is a former TV news photographer (and current TV production manager) who loves macro photography. He also says he has a fondness for things covered in dust, rust, cobwebs, etc and that the older he gets, the more he becomes interested in old things.

He invites you to view this photo bigger. His sets include Vacation 2009 (in Manistee),East Lansing Art Fest 2007, MSU Hockey (of Michigan State University's 2006-2007 National Championship hockey team) and My Best (slideshow).

Dive into his Flickriver (where this photo is appropriately first!).

Wind farm in Ubly Michigan by Ray Dumas

The 2nd annual Conference on Michigan's Future will be held Friday November 13 through Sunday, November 15, 2009 at Crystal Mountain Resort near Traverse City.

The conference will explores visions of a sustainable future for Michigan, from the critical challenges facing our economy to strategies for developing a stable, enduring economic, energy and environmental future. It features forty speakers providing high-powered, cutting-edge presentations including Robert Costanza, Albert Bates, Thomas Greco, Richard Douthwaite, Patrick Moore, Harvey Wasserman, Richard Gilbert, Soji Adelaja, Joe Welch, and Dan Scripps.

Last year Absolute Michigan talked with Crystal Mountain GM Jim MacInnes about the last year's conference and you can watch it right here:

Photo Credit

The photos in the video are from the Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr. If you mouse over them you can see title and photographer's name and you can click to see more great work from them.

Pumpkin Patch by Larry the Biker

In his essay Threatening Agriculture, Michigan Radio's Jack Lessenberry says that it looks as if Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm will veto funding for agricultural extension programs after witholding the October payment for extension. He quotes dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University Jeffrey Armstrong as saying this would be devastating to Michigan's second largest industry in a variety of ways including the loss of millions more in federal matching funds.

“The Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station system and MSU extension are providing the research, development, and education for Michigan’s emerging green economy,” Armstrong said.

If that funding is eliminated, or even if it is withheld, he says it would “destroy our ability to build the one economic sector in which Michigan has an advantage,” he says.

What that would mean is that MSU would have to shut down its 83 extension offices -- one per county - plus 15 agricultural and biological research stations and some other programs.

Jack notes that we're not just talking 4H here - we're talking after school programs in inner cities and a wide range of health and education issues that touch all aspects of our lives in Michigan.

I'll switch to italics to editorialize: This is about the most senseless thing I've ever heard of. Michigan is defined by what we grow and right now it seems like we're growing stupidity.

You can also download Detroit Pistons pumpkin stencils of - can you believe how dramatically changed the 2009-2010 Detroit Pistons are?? - Arron Afflalo, Chauncey Billups, Michael Curry, Richard Hamilton, Amir Johnson, Jason Maxiell, Antonio McDyess, Tayshaun Prince, Rodney Stuckey, Rasheed Wallace and Hooper. Then carve one and send the photo of it to Pistons.com for their Pistons Pumpkin photo gallery.

Here's a video from last year's opener...

This photo by photofrenzy2000 seemed perfect for the day before Halloween. See it bigger in his slideshow and check out his sets including Robinette's Photowalk 09, Holland Flickr Photo Walk, 2008 Hessell Antique Wooden Boat Show and Michigan Waterfalls (slideshow).

You can also explore his Flickriver.

Just learned that this motel was used as a set in the movie, "Road to Perdition" starring Tom Hanks.

Here's Ford's 2010 Mustang, the history of the Ford Mustang from classic pony cars and the Ford Mustang entry on Wikipedia. You can check out the first Mustang commercial or settle back and watch this video on the making of the Ford Mustang:

Gateway Ghost by mellowhummer

Lost children are a recurring theme in ghost sightings. Almost everyone feels a tug to the old heartstrings at the implied death of a child, making these one of the most poignant type of paranormal reports.

A writer from Greenville sent me one of the most detailed such stories that I've received. He lived with his family in a house built in the 1920s that was rumored to once have housed two children who were later lost in the adjacent woods.

The writer was about ten or eleven at the time and was walking up the stairs at night when he saw a little boy wearing an "odd-shaped" hat. The boy, who seemed to be about six years old, was looking at him from behind a low partition between the kitchen and living room, and backed farther behind it to remove himself from view. The writer moved higher on the stairs to get a better look and the ghostly little figure crept behind the living room sofa and disappeared from view.

The sightings continued. The little boy appeared again behind the sofa, playing checkers with a little girl ghost who seemed a year or two younger. The writer had recently received the game of giant checkers for Christmas. He said both children appeared well-dressed, but in rather out-of-style clothing. The writer says he saw the children many other times over the two years the family lived there, and has always wondered if the story about the lost brother and sister was true.

The man says he is in his 30s now but has never forgotten the two little ghosts of Greenville and has told the story many times. It would be interesting to know whether anyone in that town has seen the same little children at play.

More Weird Wednesday from Absolute Michigan and also absolutemichigan.com/ghost for Michigan ghosts & ghost hunting!

Pistons Shoe by Kevin.Ward

The almost completely revamped Detroit Pistons open the 2009-2010 season tomorrow night at Memphis (who will possibly be sporting their brand new Allan Iverson). On the subject of the dramatically changed Pistons including the not-so-dearly departed AI,  Natalie at Need4Sheed (repping the D regardless of where Sheed is now) had a great Detroit Pistons 2009-2010 Season Preview:

Key Losses: Antonio McDyess, Rasheed Wallace, Amir Johnson, Arron Afflalo, Chauncey Billups (does that still count) (I say "YES"), head coach Michael Curry (a good loss) and possibly the best loss in Pistons history, the end of Allen Iverson in red, white and blue.

Key Additions: Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Chris Wilcox, Austin Daye, DaJuan Summers, Jonas Jerebko and Ben Wallace.

"One thing is sure, they may not be slotted to make the ECF like they used to, but this Pistons team is going to be fun to watch."

Read on, check out another cool 2009-10 Pistons preview from Pistonpowered.com and meet the new guys in a rather offbeat manner in Absolute Michigan's Offseason Primer.

Party Like It's 1999 2004?

Alert observers may notice two more names from the Pistons 2004 championship to join Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton on this year's squad. Pistons.com blogger Keith Langlois has a nice post about Ben Wallace & Chucky Atkins that quotes new Detroit Pistons head coach John Kuester:

“(Fans) couldn’t see all the things he did from a positive standpoint,” Kuester said. “He has been a great role model for our young point guards. He’s really done an outstanding job of running the team in practice. He’s challenged both (Stuckey and Bynum) every day in practice and I’m very impressed with what he did on the court and off the court.

“It’s huge, for me being a first-year coach and having people I can trust in the locker room. That’s where Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince (are important) and I’ve talked about Ben being such a good influence on our bigs. Chucky has to fit into that category also. I’ve been very impressed with what he’s done so far.”

Along those lines, Matt at Detroit Bad Boys thinks that Chucky Atkins probably made the roster more for what he can do as a role model for Stuckey & Will Bynum than anything else. Over at the Freep they have declared that the Pistons will be a clanking machine if Rodney Stuckey doesn't step up to become a premier point guard, so here's hoping that Atkins (and Wallace) can provide a whole lot of veteran leadership (and maybe a few boards a game).

Speaking of the official Pistons web site, they've added a new Detroit Pistons Twitpic feature to their Twitter that offers some interesting glimpses behind the scenes.

If you're looking to get more in front of the scenes, how about opening night at the Palace this Friday vs the Oklahoma City Thunder? They have upper deck seats for just $15 and it's a benefit for breast cancer research at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute.

Keep up with Pistons news & links all season long at absolutemichigan.com/Pistons and we'll see you out with the first of a three part series "Pistons Recharged" (thanks Detroit Bad Boys for the find and here's part two and part three)

Check this photo from richwyllis out bigger and also have a look at his sets including Moonset at Sunset and HDR Images (slideshow). He also took a recent trip to the UP and got some sweet shots along the Chapel River in the Pictured Rocks.

Jump into his Flickriver.

Green Rocks by {D}

Scientists say that 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the safe upper limit for life as we know it. We're currently pushing 400, and this Saturday (October 24, 2009) is the 350 International Day of Climate Action, a day designed to show through public action that life as we know it is something we're interested in keeping.

The science of 350 is as inexorable as an approaching train and basically goes like this: For all of human history until about 200 years ago, our atmosphere contained 275 parts per million of carbon dioxide. Beginning in the 18th century, people began to burn coal and gas and oil, causing the stored carbon in the fuel to rise. It's currently at 390, and is rising by about 2 parts per million every year. CO2 traps heat, and this heat causes glaciers to melt, water sources to fail, farmland to turn to desert and lakes to dry up. It also helps diseases like malaria to spread and is a prime factor in the rise of invasive plant and animal species (and growth of the seaweeds like that on the rocks above that are increasing on Michigan's beaches).

Although Michigan is just about the best place to be in a warming, drying world, Lisa from Ishpeming notes in the posting for her talk titled Three Degrees: The Great Lakes and Climate Change that:

NOAA scientist have predicted that if the world temperature increases by three degrees, the Great Lakes will be come incontinuous, ie, they will shrink to a point where they will no longer be connected.

If the concept of your great-grandchildren walking to the UP without the need for the Mackinac Bridge (as they fight off a water-starved world probably) bothers you, it might be time to raise your voice to say that you'd prefer a different future. Below is a map of 350 actions scheduled for in Michigan. A couple that caught our eye were:

• Saginaw River Basin 350 Festival
• TC-350 Climate Action Festival and TC-350 Ball
• 350 @ The Big House (Ann Arbor)
• Bike Rally to the Michigan Capitol

167|365 ride the wind by nicole st. john

The Huron Daily Tribune noted last week in Final report: Wind potential high that the final report issued Thursday by the Michigan Wind Energy Resource Zone Board (view PDF) identified key regions for wind energy generation and a potential annual energy output of an eye-popping 17,720,522 megawatts! The report found that major region in Michigan for wind power generation is:

... the Thumb Region — which includes Huron County and portions of Bay, Saginaw, Sanilac, and Tuscola counties — has the potential of having a minimum of 1,578 and maximum of 2,824 turbines. The wind board derived this figure with the assumption there were no turbines placed within the boundaries of the villages and cities, as well as three townships.

In addition to the Thumb Region (Region 4), other areas included as having the highest level of wind energy harvest potential in the wind board’s final report include portions of Allegan County (Region 1), portions of Antrim and Charlevoix counties (Region 2), and portions of Benzie, Leelanau and Manistee counties (Region 3).

Yesterday, in GVSU Lake Michigan wind energy test project gets $1.4 million federal grant, the Grand Haven Tribune reported that:

Grand Valley State University's efforts to launch a wind turbine testing project on Lake Michigan will receive a $1.4 million federal grant.

The school's Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center (MAREC), based in Muskegon, is planning to put a turbine on a floating platform to test how it works on the Great Lakes. Researchers hope to have the platform installed by fall 2010.

MAREC notes that the wind potential of Lake Michigan is in the range of 4 to 6 wind class with 7 being the highest possible. A tenth of the wind power potential of Lake Michigan alone is equivalent to some 20 nuclear power plants and when you look at that and at the state's overall potential for wind power, it seems to make a ton of sense for Michigan to support wind energy development as aggressively as we once pushed the auto industry.

Speaking of industry & wind, check out this video of Dr. Soji Adelaja from the Michigan Land Policy Institute (the organization that produced the map to the right) talking about wind energy generation at industrial brownfield sites:

See absolutemichigan.com/wind for much more about wind power, windmills and wind energy generation in Michigan.

Even the undead enjoy Michigan apple cider!

A Dubs (Alan) runs the blog Faded Detroit.

His sets include Detroit in Black & White, Faded Detroit: City wide and Tiger Stadium Demolition.

Dive into his Flickriver.

The annual Toast the Season wine trail tour is a great chance to experience the wineries of the Leelanau Peninsula. event features a special wine pour accompanied by holiday themed gourmet food at each of the 17 Leelanau Peninsula member wineries. At your starting winery you will be given a commemorative glass and a holiday gift bag featuring a unique holiday ornament and food & drink from the members of Sleeping Bear Gourmet, a group of local, fair trade and organic food producers.

Leelanau Tarts (fo-lomo) by farlane

Old Orchard Brands debuts 'Very Cherre' premier line of cherry juice on mLive begins:

Move over exotic pomegranate, acai and mangosteen. The All-American tart cherry could be the next rage in superhealthy “superfruits.”

Old Orchard Brands is giving the simple pie fruit a chic makeover with its introduction of a premier line of juices called Very Cherre.

The Sparta-based fruit juice company will debut the 100 percent tart cherry juice product this week at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, J.W. Marriott and other Amway properties. There, Very Cherre — available in Pure Tart Cherry and three cherry blends — will be added to sauces, mixed in cocktails and sold in gift shops.

“I think it’s a superb product,” said Gerhard Schmied, vice president/director of food and beverage for the Amway Hotel Collection. “It’s from our own backyard. I can’t emphasize how important that is.”

Very Cherre juice is made from Montmorency tart cherries grown in the Leelanau Peninsula. The northern Michigan region is the biggest producer of the Montmorency cherries.

Read the rest at mLive and check out verycherre.com - kind of cool to see a private company promoting their product AND the region it's grown in! (especially since it's in Michigan!)

Here's a boatload of Michigan charter fishing companies and also check out our Michigan Hunting & Fishing page and the salmon slideshow from the Absolute Michigan photographers.

my island by tbug2

October 16, 17 and 18th will find people from all walks of life gathering on the campus of Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City, MI for the 8th annual Great Lakes Bioneers Traverse City Conference. Organizers expect over 800 participants over the three day conference weekend and there's also the Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit conference.

Bioneers is a national conference that attract people from all walks of life who care about sustainable social change, green building, environmental justice, how we educate our children, and how we grow our food and care for our planet. It takes place at a number of satellite sites, and speakers are beamed in from the "headwaters" conference in San Rafael, CA. This year the Bioneers are celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the organization and founder Kenny Ausubel will be one of the speakers.

Friday night at 8:00 PM in The Milliken Auditorium will be a Water Festival Concert featuring members of the Earthwork Music Collective. Seth Bernard and May Erlewine will be joined on stage by Breath Owl Breath, Susan Fawcett, Darlene, DeDe Alderman and others. On Saturday night at 7:30 PM at the State Theatre, the documentary film "Fierce Light" will be shown. This documentary explores what ignites the fire inside and take an active part in a cause. There will also be a dance and mixer featuring Jamie Register and the Glendales. Get all the details at Great Lakes Bioneers or call them at 231-947-0312.

Let's close with May Erlewine singing Waterfall...

the biggest pumpkin in Michigan by farlane

Halloween season of course means pumpkins, and if possible, the bigger the better!

The largest pumpkins are Cucurbita maxima. They were cultivated from the hubbard squash genotype, crossed with kabocha-pumpkin types by enthusiast farmers through intermittent effort since the early 1800s.

Weigh-off competitions for giant pumpkins are a popular fall festival activity. It's hard to believe that just 30 years ago, 460 pounds was the world record for the largest pumpkin until Howard Dill (of Nova Scotia) broke the record in 1981 with an almost  500 pound pumpkin. Dill patented the seeds as Dill’s Atlantic Giant and he's really the father of all the giant pumpkins today, most of which are borne from crossing and re-crossing his patented seed with other varieties. In 1994, the Giant Pumpkindom passed the 1,000-pound mark and the current record is from September 2007, when Joe Jutras of Rhode Island whelped a 1,689-pound monster!

Michigan's largest this year (pictured right) was 1489 pounds, grown by Ken Sweet of Washington, Michigan. It was carved by Frankfort master carver Ed Moody. Speaking of Frankfort & pumpkins, here's a video from a few years back showing who wins when giant pumpkin meets car! As promised, here's the pumpkin slideshow from the Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr!