We continue our Michigan's 175th Birthday Bash giveaway today. What's more, we've had so much fun doing a giveaway a day that we're going to see just how long we can keep things going with our new program called The Daily Michigan that will feature a giveaway a day from the Great Lakes State! It all starts on Monday so tune in!

In celebration of Michigans 175th birthday, we'll be featuring some tweets to #mich175 that we like, paired with photos from our Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr! They'll also be on our Absolute Michigan Facebook page! Reload for updates, share YOUR thoughts in the comments below, in our Flickr group or on our Facebook and Happy Birthday to Mamma Michigan!!

bethanylouise (Reware Vintage)  How's it going, Michigan? Having a good birthday? #Mich175

photo: dunescape by tbug2

MMFlint (Michael Moore) RT @imajoebob You are aware that Corn Flakes were created 2 reduce one's sex drive? I shudder thinking what was behind Fruit Loops.#Mich175

photo: Phototherapy, breakfast cereal and the Battle Creek Sanitarium courtesy Willard Library

epeep yet another reason to celebrate the #mitten :D!!! Fossils of #mastodons have been found in 250+ locations in #Michigan. #Mich175 #mittenlove

Photo: Painting the Mastodon by kafka4prez

freep (Detroit Free Press) Why is #Michigan is called the Wolverine State? Story has to do with being as bloodthirsty and gluttonous as wolverines #Mich175. Get the story at  gulo gulo: The Wolverine and Why Michigan is the Wolverine State on Michigan in Pictures.

photo credit: Gulo gulo by anikarenina

HuffPostDetroit We've been loving your MI facts all day! MT @stabenow: Rosie the Riveter was a real woman from MI who built planes for the war #Mich175 (see Lansing’s Rosie the Riveter: Geraldine Hoff Doyle from Absolute Michigan)

photo: The Real Rosie the Riveter from Seeking Michigan

Sheplersferry @anellah Us, too! "I love Michigan because it has more lighthouses than any other state in the US." #mibirthday #Mich175

Photo: "September Gale" Grand Haven Breakwater Lighthouse is located in the harbor of Grand Haven, Michigan by Michigan Nut (the second most popular photo in the Absolute Michigan pool!!)

hayleyscomment @PureMichigan @stabenow One of my favorite mitten state facts: We are the 2nd most agriculturally diverse state in the country! #Mich175

photo: Carrots by amzakem

MackenzieRauch One of my favorite things about Michigan is fall time. Especially the donuts and cider! Happy birthday, Michigan! #Mich175

photo: happle bokeh wednesday eve! by mlephotos

@glamorousmoms Great things about Michigan..our rising arts and fashion industry, our auto companies and our GREAT talented hard working people! (glamorousmoms.com right out of Detroit)

photo: Detroit Auto Show 2012-6147 by RichardDemingPhotography

@DrinkMichigan Did you know? Frankenmuth Brewery (@fb1862) is one of America's oldest breweries & is known as Michigan's Original Craft Beer. #mich175

photo: Frankenmuth Brewery HDR edit by SL Morrison

@Alexis Shull You helped me develop my love of cherries, wine, lakes, whitefish, automation,music, food, culture & more! Happy Birthday Michigan! #mich175

photo: Traverse City, Michigan Cherry Orchard by Pamela Bevelhymer

Continue in the Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr!

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This morning, Jan. 23rd around 0359 UT, big sunspot 1402 erupted, producing a long-duration M9-class solar flare. The explosion's M9-ranking puts it on the threshold of being an X-flare, the most powerful kind. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the flare's extreme ultraviolet flash (shown right or in short movie right here)

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and NASA's STEREO-B spacecraft detected a CME rapidly emerging from the blast site: movie. Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab say the leading edge of the CME will reach Earth on Jan. 24 at 14:18UT (+/- 7 hours).

That means it's hitting the Earth 11 AM - 6 PM EST, but this level of intensity makes the Northern Lights a real possibility for the next couple of days so definitely LOOK UP tonight and tomorrow if there's any break in the clouds! If the northern lights hit, our Northern Lights Log will light up with reports. You can also learn a lot more about the Northern Lights at Michigan in Pictures.

One person who will be looking up is Shawn Malone of Lake Superior Photo. She takes some of the most amazing northern lights photos. See them at her website and definitely favorite her Facebook page as there's lots of great photos and discussion about the Aurora and other UP topics. Shawn has put together a very cool time-lapse of the aurora borealis peaking out through the fog moving in as the full moon illuminates the Superior shore that ends with a fogbow - enjoy!

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Neither of these new laws would stop piracy, which Absolute Michigan is opposed to. Both, however, would put control of online content in the hands of large entertainment corporations and the government, placing a giant burden on web media outlets like Wikipedia, WordPress, YouTube ... and even little old Absolute Michigan.

With our Absolute Michigan, Michigan in Pictures and Leelanau.com websites all down yesterday, there was some time to think about the issue, and we'd like to share one thought: We live in a world very different from the early 1700s when Parliament enacted the Statute of Anne to address the concerns of English booksellers and printers (you can look it up ... for now, on Wikipedia).

We are encouraged at every turn and by every consumer device to sing along to commercials, dance to the latest music and in general, swim in a sea of ever-present media. You can debate the pros and cons of doing that but it seems that expecting our candid videos, blogged observations or Facebooked^TM thoughts won't incorporate background music or samples, brand names is flat-out silly. We need intelligent and well thought out laws that recognize the modern world, and SOPA and PIPA definitely aren't either of those things.

Click here to watch a short video or read more about this issue and please take a moment to contact your elected officials through the links we provide!

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2013 Dodge Dart by ChriKett Photography

The first Detroit Area Dealer Association (DADA)-managed Detroit Auto Show was held in December 1907 at Riverview Park. In 1987, the show was re-focused as an international event, and 2012 is their 24th annual under the new format. The center of the event are concept cars and exhibitions by car companies from Acura to Volvo and of course Detroit standards like Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, GMC and Lincoln.

Blogs & Social Media from the Detroit Auto Show

Our favorite for coverage this year is mLive's Detroit Auto Show coverage. They have a look at Energy Secretary Steven Chu's visit to the show, some concept car highlights from the 2012 floor and the back and forth between Governor Snyder and a Wayne State student. After Snyder issued a call for grads to stay in Michigan, biomed engineering student Ramkumar Annamalai  asked him why if eduction was so important has Michigan seen cuts that remove a lot of what attracts top students.  It's an interesting exchange that highlights one of the real challenges manufacturing and research in Michigan are facing. You can also get comprehensive reporting from the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News.

As usual, you can find unabashed car love with a healthy dose of humor from the  2012 Detroit Auto Show on Jalopnik.  Over at Autoblog they feature podcasts and articles including their Editor's top 5 picks from the show (spoiler: #1 is the 2013 Ford Fusion which also captured Autoweek Magazine's coveted Best of Show award). Another source that's getting more and more relevant is  Autoblog Green who has features on the frighteningly cute Tata, a sub-$19k Prius and the Smart-for-Us urban concept mini-truck pictured right. Pretty much everyone with a blog is covering it of course, from Motor Trend to Popular Mechanics.

The North American International Auto Show has gotten into the social media swing in 2012 with a Facebook page their NAIAS official Twitter. You can also of course dive right in to #NAIAS on Twitter.

Attending the North American International Auto Show

The NAIAS web site has everything you need to know about attending the public show and tomorrow night's black tie charity preview. If you do attend and take pictures or video, we'd love it if you'd share them with us in the Absolute Michigan Flickr group or shoot us the link to YouTube vids!

Detroit Auto Show Photos

The NAIAS has a nifty virtual show floor.  Christian Kettenbell took the photo at the top and he has a really nice slideshow from 2012. You can see a whole lot more by checking Detroit Auto Show and/or NAIAS on Flickr. The blogs & papers above are another great source of photos of production cars and concepts as well.    If you'd like to step back in time, check out this Detroit News Rearview Mirror feature The Detroit Auto Show: from beer gardens to tabernacles to Cobo Center.

Anything else to add or ask? Post it in the comments!

Detroit Auto Show Videos

You can watch the snarky, kind of slow and frankly down on the auto show 2012 North American International Auto Show Preview from Drive and the un-snarky and faster paced preview from Autoweek TV. Our favorite, however, is this selection of highlights from the Media Preview on the 2012 show floor by Global News ENG Cameraman Ben Jonah. Got other ones you like? Add them in the comments below!

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There's no doubt that the 45-28 thumping the Lions received at the hands of the New Orleans Saints on Saturday night was a tough reality check for Lions fans hopeful that the team had reached a new level. The internet fairly exploded with criticism of the Lions and a defensive scheme that was unable to force a punt, and then Lions players exploded back, demonstrating frustration and something of a lack of maturity.

To those tempted to hang their heads too low, let's remember that there are 32 teams in the NFL, and only 12 make the playoffs. Our Lions were one of these. The Detroit News has a look at strengths and weaknesses for 2012, and Michael Rosenberg of the Freep shows us that despite the "one and done" performance this year, these Lions do not have the problems of the 1999 Detroit Lions who lost Barry Sanders to retirement in mid-season and started Charlie Batch and Greg Hill and trailed 27-0 at the half in their playoff game.

Mitch Albom's column about the game and what it means offers further hope. He notes that while the final score was embarrassing, this team started the game tough and strong and is far from an embarrassment. Albom's advice?:

So you can weep, or you can put it in perspective. This was a dramatic Lions season. A 5-0 start. A postgame handshake that turned into mayhem. A mega-season from a Megatron. All those come-from-behind victories. A playoff berth. A Saturday night in the Superdome.

Pretty hot stuff for a perennially cold franchise. Remember, there were years when finding a parking space was the highlight of going to a Lions game.

Believe. Belong. You take your steps in the NFL. The defense needs big help, but by all signs, the Lions are a team stepping up. Even if their last image of the season was a stumble.

Indeed. Here's looking forward to next season ... and your comments. We'll close with a link to the highlights of the post-game conference and this 5 minute recap of the game which doesn't include a look at the Touchdown That Wasn't But Should Have Been (which would have given the Lions a 20-7 lead).

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Hope For The Future by Flint Foto Factory

Last week Gov. Rick Snyder appointed Michael Brown as the emergency manager for the city of Flint under Public Act 4. A state-appointed review panel recommended a state takeover for the city of Flint, citing recurring cash flow shortages and other financial deficiencies. Flint had an estimated $15 million deficit in 2010 and is projected to have a $7 million deficit in 2011. The Flint Journal explains that:

Brown is under no illusion that fixing the city's long-standing financial problems will be an easy task.

"I know it's a major challenge, there's no glossing it over," Brown said hours after his appointment was announced by Snyder's office. "I think there's a long road ahead and we've got a lot of work to do."

Under state law amended in March under Snyder's administration, emergency managers can strip local elected leaders of their power and have unilateral authority to cut pay, outsource city services, merge departments and, as a last resort, change employee contracts.

Flint Emergency Manager Michael Brown

Brown eliminated pay and benefits for the mayor and Flint City Council, ousted numerous appointees of Flint Mayor Dayne Walling and also canceled City Council meetings until further notice. Brown was interim mayor for six months in 2009 and is the current President of Prima Civitas and director of the Flint Area Reinvestment Office which he founded.  He will receive a salary of $170,000 for the position. There's a special page now on the City of Flint website where you can view orders of the Emergency Manager.

You can hear an interview with Michael Brown from Michigan Radio and also a series of video responses from Cindy Shafran's blog.  Follow the discussion at Flint Talk and check out more stories from Flint on Absolute Michigan.

In 2002 the state took over Flint, and Engler appointed Ed Kurtz who issued over 120 directives during his 2 year tenure. Last week the state also took the first steps toward a takeover of Detroit, and Jack Lessenberry notes that the Michigan Emergency Manager law may be placed on hold due to a ballot measure. You can also hear Jack Lessenberry's thoughts on the Flint and Detroit takeovers and hear what Mayor Dave Bing and other Detroit officials to say about that and share your thoughts below.

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Yooper Steez was founded in 2008 by Justin Sailor and is dedicated to providing original Upper Peninsula products and fresh stories of the UP through their engaging blog to people who appreciate what the Upper Peninsula has to offer. They connect Yoopers across the world and give them a way to express and share their love for the Upper Peninsula.

Justin explains:

I had recently finished a 50-state tour across the country where I collected a t-shirt from nearly every state. As I collected one and later wore it in another state I realized how many conversations were generated. People would approach me and ask me if I was from said place, had been there, or simply say it was one of their favorite places. If I had been wearing a generic shirt those conversations would have never happened.

After returning to my hometown of Baraga, I thought the Upper Peninsula needed an iconic but simple shirt that would allow people to present their love for the Upper Peninsula. The simplest way to do that was to show the silhouette of the Upper Peninsula. People who love the Upper Peninsula recognize it immediately and those who don't often ask what the shape is.

To help you get in shape, Yooper Steez is offering a UP Hoodie, a T-shirt and a few stickers! All you need to do to have a shot to win is to be on our email list - use the blue box above.

...and FYI, Absolute Michigan had a little feature about Justin's journey in 2006 that links to a podcast you can check out!

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by Dave Votta, CADL Local History Librarian

The Grand River has played a pivotal role in the history and development of the village of Dimondale since Isaac M. Dimond built the first dam and mills in the 1850s. The dam and his mills were mostly washed away by freshets. However, Mr. Dimond persevered and in 1856, the year of his second ill fated mill, he platted a village and named it Dimondale. He then summarily returned to New York where, according to Durant’s History of Ingham and Eaton Counties “his death soon after occurred.”

Despite onerous origins milling became a viable business in the village. By 1880 there were saw, steam, planning and grist mills. Mechanic and millinery shops thrived. There was a post office, hotel and several stores. In October of 1897 the Dimondale News began.

Amid this description of a bustling, picturesque village a shadowy figure emerges steeped in American Gothic. One Delos Marvin, a resident of Dimondale, is described in the State Republican newspaper of 1908 as living alone in a “strange little house close beside the Grand River.” He occupied his time not only is constant verbal communication with an unseen or heard good spirit companion, but fighting and eradicating evil spirits. The interior walls of his one room domicile were covered in punctured scrap metal. The pieces included tin, iron, stove pipes, washboards and more, all perforated with nail holes. Each hole stated Marvin “destroys an evil spirit.” He wore a necklace of small, round, tin pieces with holes to ward off all disease and regularly struck up a resounding cacophony, banging a horseshoe on a tin pan to call the good spirits to him.

His self-esteem does not appear to have suffered from being a bit of an outsider. He is quoted saying “he is the most wonderful person living, having single-handedly and alone destroyed nearly every spirit of darkness.”

From Federal Census records Delos Marvin was born about 1846. In 1860 he is listed living in DeWitt with his family. His father S.P. Marvin was a Probate Judge. The 1908 story recounts him living off a federal pension. Records indicate he may have served in the 3rd Regiment of the New York Light Artillery during the Civil War. His father was from New York.

The neighbors apparently were not too unnerved by Marvin’s antics. He was declared a “unique citizen” and that he “furnishes its [Dimondale] people with a great deal of harmless amusement with his quaint vagaries and wonderful flights of fancy.” The paper describes community support and his receiving “generous baskets of food from public suppers” and “many a glass of jelly and other dainties from the good housewives of the town.”

It is unclear when, but Marvin is reported to have at one time been a “well paid” newspaper reporter. His fate is equally murky. To date, the last known documentation places him in the Kent County Detention Hospital. In the 1920 Federal Census we find him there listed as a patient.

-Dave V., CADL Local History Librarian

Sources Consulted

State Republican (December 15, 1908)
History of Ingham and Eaton Counties by Samuel Durant
Past and Present of Eaton County by the Rev. Wolcott B. Williams
1860 U.S. Federal Census

1820 U.S. Federal Census
Civil War records M551 roll 8
Photograph from the Caterino Collection at the Capital Area District Libraries’ Special Collections

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It's rights for the title of the state, state champions, who's the best in the state, it's huge, big for the fans, big for the alumni and big for the players and coaches.
~Ryan Van Bergen, UM Defensive End

This Saturday at 12 noon the University of Michigan Wolverines head to Spartan Stadium in East Lansing to face the Michigan State University Spartans . The Paul Bunyan-Governor of Michigan Trophy is awarded to the winner of the game between the Wolverines and the Spartans. U of M holds the series edge at 67-31-5, but the Spartans won again last year, 34-17 comeback to hang onto the trophy for the third straight year. For the 2nd year in a row, both teams are in the AP Top 25, with the Spartans at #23 and UM ranked #11. This game is always a fierce rivalry , but mLive explains that in 2011 it takes on another aspect due to the new Legends & Leaders division structure of the Big Ten¹²:

...all you have to do beat out five other teams to win your division and you've got a shot at the Rose Bowl. Nebraska isn't what we thought they were, and Iowa just isn't that good. The winner of Saturday's game takes control of the Legends.

If you're looking for tickets, stubhub has them for $188 - $499.  The Sports Bank has a brutally honest preview that leads with Spartan DT and NFL Prospect Jerel Worthy's Anti-Michigan Wolverines Tattoo and breaks the game down very quickly and insightfully, and as always the folks at The Bleacher Report deliver with their slideshow of keys to the game and predictions for UM v MSU. The Freep calls it a smash-mouth showcase while the Detroit News lets a pair of former players, Michigan safety Marcus Ray and Michigan State quarterback Tony Banks, lay down the smack. On the blogs, A Beautiful Day for Football wonders if it's "Little Brother No More" and gives some interesting rivalry facts. As Bill Simonson says: "I hope this sports ride never ends."
MSU vs U of M Video Spirit Rally

Choose sides and get in on the discussion over at SpartanTailgate.com or MGoBlog. These are great resources with all the news and updates you need regarding MSU and U of M sports.

Michigan in Pictures has a couple of posts from awhile back about Spartan Stadium in East Lansing (where Saturday's game will be played) and Michigan Stadium aka The Big House.

Somewhere we have to note Whack-a-Wolverine from the Lansing State Journal and we definitely want to hear what YOU think about the rivalry and the game!

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Game 4 - Can we all agree that Nelson Cruz should not be pitched to?

It's one of the best games I've ever been involved in. Great plays by both teams. Just didn't come out the right way.
~ Detroit Tiger manager Jim Leyland

While we agree with Leyland that last night's game was one of the most exciting playoff games in recent memory, the 7-3 loss to the Rangers on Nelson Cruz's second 11th inning walkoff HR was heartbreaking and places the Tigers in a do or die situation.

With closer Jose Valverde and setup man Joaquin Benoit ruled out for tonight, it all rides on Justin Verlander's shoulders this afternoon. While the position is pretty bleak, you can certainly say that there's nobody else who should be in this position. Play ball!

Game 3 - Tigers Win 5-2!

"The only way I don't play tomorrow is if I wake up and I'm dead."
~ Victor Martinez (more on V-Mart)

Following losses in Game 1 & 2 in Texas, many were already writing an obituary for the battered Tigers. After a convincing 5-2 win last night at Comerica, "bruised but not beaten" is the verdict. Following a Victor Martinez solo shot in the 4th to even the score, the Tiger bats woke up and delivered 11 hits including three homers in support of a stellar 7 1/3 inning outing by Doug Fister. Of course there's no way we won't give you the link to this gem - Detroit legend Aretha Franklin singing the National Anthem.

Game 4 starts today at 4:19 PM, and we're declaring today & tomorrow Michigan Leave Your Workplace Early Day!

Games 1 & 2 of the ALCS Tigers vs Rangers

We had a long weekend of baseball in the series, and here's not much you can say about the 2 losses other than "At least it's a 7 game series." Game 1 was a 3-2 loss, but the real loss was rightfielder Magglio Ordonez who was lost for the rest of the season to a broken ankle. Once again a Justin Verlander outing was spoiled by rain, and the Tiger ace summed it up by saying "Quite frustrating. I really felt as a team, we were starting to get into a rhythm there. We were starting to swing the bats better, and it just killed the momentum."

Tonight's game was a hard-fought post-season classic that ran 11 innings with a great performance from Max Scherzer and Jose Valverde pitching out of a 9th inning jam. The Ranger bats proved too much for Ryan Perry who surrendered 3 singles in the 11th before Nelson Cruz hit the first official walk-off grand slam in post season history to give the Rangers a 7-3 victory in Game 2.

The series comes to Detroit for 3 games starting Tuesday night as Doug Fister takes the hill at 8:05 on FOX.

Game 5 - Tigers win the series 3-2!

Last night the Detroit Tigers went into Yankee Stadium and came out with a 3-2 victory.

Game 4 - Yankees win 10-1

There's not much you can say about last night's 10-1 drubbing at the hands of the Bronx Bombers. (except of course "Don't be sad Rick Porcello").

ESPN New York has video and this to say about the man who saved the Yankees season for at least one game:

As a ballplayer acquired in mid-career, Curtis Granderson was not favored to enhance the mythology of New York Yankees center fielders. Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Bernie Williams -- they were lifers, men who spent every big league day under the world's most recognizable cap.

...The Yankees dealt (Austin) Jackson after their 2009 championship season because they didn't think his future would match Granderson's present. And so it was fitting in Game 4 of the division series, on a night Jackson would fail to run down the winning two-run blast from Derek Jeter, that Granderson made two catches honoring the tradition of the Yanks' most celebrated position.

Two catches definitely saving four runs, and probably saving five, in a 10-1 thrashing of the Tigers that made a most improbable winner out of A.J. Burnett and pulled the Yankees from the brink of a devastating end.

"He saved the season," Alex Rodriguez said of Granderson. "Not once, but twice."

Tiger Skipper Jim Leyland agreed that the catch was a huge out in his postgame conference. It comes down to 8 PM on Thursday night in Yankee Stadium when Doug Fister will take the mound vs Ivan Nova who shut them down in Game 1. In the Game 5 preview at tigers.com, the observe that the Yanks haven't won a decisive Game 7 or Game 5 since Aaron Boone connected off Tim Wakefield in Game 7 of the 2003 AL Championship Series. Here's hoping that streak can continue!

Game 3 - Tigers WIN 5-4!!

Ladies and gentlemen, your conductor on the Tiger Rollercoaster is Justin Verlander, who threw 120 pitches, including five straight triple-digit fastballs to A-Rod in the EIGHT INNING.

The recap on the Tigers website notes that his 11 strikeouts were the most by a Tigers pitcher in the postseason since Joe Coleman in the 1972 ALCS. His 15 pitches at 100 mph or better is believed to be a career high. Here's video highlights from last night that include some of that heat, and also some photos from Game 3. Let's not forget Leyland's decision to start Ramon Santiago and Delmon Young's continuing offensive heroics.

Roar of the Tigers has a great post (with her awesome cartoons) on the first three games of the series, what it's been like watching them. Starring (of course) Max Sherzer as (I think) Godzilla, it's a must-read!

Tonight Rick Porcello gets his first postseason start. In other news, the Tigers have ALCS tickets on sale now!

Game 3 Preview

Tonight it's a do-over of Game 1's Battle of the Aces as Justin Verlander starts opposite C.C. Sabathia tonight at 8:30 at Comerica Park. Click that image to the right for a preview video from MLB TV. Kurt over at Bless You Boys wonders how this statement from Papa Grande makes you feel...

"It's over already, (Justin) Verlander has it tomorrow. The next day we have the celebration in Detroit. They have a good team, but I think that's it for them."

--Tigers closer Jose Valverde after the game.

Game 2 - Tigers win 5-3

The Tigers took control of the series last night on the strength of a strong outing by pitcher Max Scherzer, holding off a 9th inning Yankee rally and hanging on for a 5-3 victory to even the series at 1-1.

It was a power-pitching form the Tigers saw in Scherzer when they acquired him from Arizona in the trade that sent Curtis Granderson to New York. With a fastball that topped out at 98, five miles above his regular-season average, his changeup became a dangerous swing-and-miss pitch.

"He was really good, the best I've ever seen him," Teixeira said. "Great fastball, his changeup was really, really good, and the numbers don't lie. He just dominated us."

Also check out this cool article on the Tigers' use of social media.

Game 1 - Tigers lose 9-3

Not much to say about this one. As the Detroit Tigers recap relates what Doug Fister was thinking:

It was almost surreal in the Stadium as the game resumed in the bottom of the second inning on Saturday night with the same lineups for both clubs -- sans the starting pitchers -- and the score tied at 1. In the press box, Fister was announced as the replacement for Verlander. But Fister said it wasn't so surreal for him on the field.

"For me, that was a scheduled 8:37 start, and it wasn't anything different," he said afterward. "It's tied 1-1. It's basically a 0-0 ballgame in my head, just as always. I go up there facing the Yankee lineup, and it's no different for me if it's bottom of the first, top of the first. It's all the same."

Doug Fister by Keith Allison

Game .1667

The playoff opener between the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees was suspended because of rain in the second inning Friday night, wiping out both No. 1 starters for a few days. The game will resume tonight at 8:37 PM with the score tied at 1, but neither Verlander nor Sabathia will be back on the mound until they get some rest.

"I do feel bad for the national audience," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "Certainly, it was really a marquee matchup. That's a little sad, but that's just the way it is." started for Detroit against in a highly anticipated matchup between two of baseball's best pitchers. The teams played for 30 minutes before the game was halted.

According to a rule adopted by Major League Baseball after rain and snow wreaked havoc with the 2008 World Series, the game is not postponed. So it will pick up Saturday night at the point of suspension - weather permitting - with the Yankees coming to bat in the bottom of the second inning.

Doug Fister now gets the start The forecast calls for rain through late Saturday night, so who knows if they will get it in!

Cabrera 1 by RichardDemingPhotography

Post-season Preview

Detroit Tiger slugger Miguel Cabrera captured the American League batting title with a .344 batting average. After batting .390 in August, Cabrera went .429 (39-for-91) from Sept. 1 onward, racking up 12 doubles, six home runs and 21 RBIs. He had just six hitless games from Aug. 1 on and carries a nine-game hitting streak into the playoffs. The Detroit Sports Site notes that the last Tiger to win the AL batting title was Magglio Ordonez who hit .367 in 2007, and that Cabrera joins Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols as just the third active player to win a batting title, HR title and RBI title in his career.

Cabrera wasn't the only person to close the season in style. Justin Verlander captured the "Triple Crown," leading the AL in  Wins (24), Strikeouts (250) and ERA (2.40). Jayson Stark of ESPN took a look at AL MVP candidates and thinks that the winner will be none other than the Tigers' just-about-unbeatable ace, explaining:

If the essential question is, "Which player has done more to change the face of his team's championship season than this man has?" the answer, for me, is: Nobody. Yeah, it may be true that if the Tigers didn't have him, they'd have some other ace. But as their GM, Dave Dombrowski, said, "I've had other aces. But they never had the year Justin Verlander has had."

Verlander certainly rolls into the post-season as one of the most dominant pitchers of recent years. Andrew Kulha of the Bleacher Report notes, however, that Verlander is not the only arm capable of mowing the Yankees down:

Since being traded to Detroit from Seattle, Doug Fister posted an 8-1 record with an incredible 1.79 ERA. Those two are arguably the best one-two pitching combo in baseball, and followed by either Max Scherzer or Rick Porcello, they create one of the best pitching rotations in baseball.

He feels that the Yankees won't know what hit them, and he's definitely right on Doug Fister who torched the competition in September, going 5-0 with a ridiculous .54 ERA for September and was named AL Pitcher of the Month. Mitch Albom and just about everybody else at the Freep expect the Tigers to surprise the Yankees.Before you cry "Homer" be sure to have a look at the picks of ESPN writers who are split nearly down the middle.

The Tigers are red hot, roaring into the post season having won 30 of their last 39, and they face the New York Yankees in the first round of the playoffs. The opener is TONIGHT at 8:37 PM in Yankee Stadium. MLB.com columnist Marty Noble thinks the opening duel between Verlander and Yankee ace C.C. Sabathia has the makings of a classic, and the article includes great video interviews with Verlander and Sabathia. He notes as others that both teams bring an incredible amount of hitting & pitching firepower to the game. Alex Remington at Yahoo Sports has 10 very interesting numbers for the Tigers/Yankees series including a surprising "0" - the number of times a Tiger pitcher started this year on short rest. That plus an average age of 31 for Yankee pitchers means that the Bengals are bringing the fresher arms to the battle!

All post-season you should definitely tune into to some of our favorite Detroit Tiger bloggers:

• Roar of the Tigers where Samara throws down some of the most hilarious comics and posts you've ever seen, backed by a big league knowledge of baseball. Today she's celebrating the wonders of autumn from Cabrera's batting title and the simple fact that the Tigers are wicked awesome!
• Mike at the The Daily Fungo has a roundup of everyone's predictions (with special guest) and you can also follow him on Twitter.
• Over at Bless You Boys, Kurt eyes the Yankees three-man playoff rotation of Sabathia, Ivan Noma and Freddie Garcia with no small measure of trepidation. There's also a post asking for favorite Tiger playoff memories that you'll want to check out.
• The Detroit Tiger Weblog is gearing up for the post season where they will feature (just as the regular season) posts on every game.

Much (much) more Detroit Tiger news, history and links at absolutemichigan.com/Tigers and Detroit Tigers on Michigan in Pictures! We'll take you out with this hilarious video from Fox Sports Detroit of the Tigers Division-clinching celebration a couple of weeks ago. Share your links, comments and such below and Go Tigers!

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Elmore Leonard, The Dickens of Detroit

Detroit author Elmore Leonard is celebrating his eighty-sixth birthday today (October 11, 2011). Leonard was born in New Orleans in 1925. He has made the Detroit area his home since 1934, when his family moved there. The city of Detroit often serves as the main character in his novels. As a result, fans often refer to Elmore Leonard as the ‘Dickens of Detroit.”

Leonard graduated from University of Detroit Jesuit High School in 1943. He then immediately joined the Navy, where he served with the Seabees. After his service, he enrolled at the University of Detroit and graduated in 1950 with a degree in English and Philosophy. Leonard started his writing career as a copywriter at the Campbell-Ewald Advertising Agency. Writing on the side, he was able to publish his first novel, The Bounty Hunters in 1953. In his early career, he focused on writing pulp Westerns, because that was what was selling at the time. Leonard eventually moved on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers. A large number of his books have been turned into movies or television programs.

Critics praise Leonard for his effective use of dialogue and the gritty realism in his books. His unique ear for dialogue and the ability to capture it on the page is rarely matched. Concise and plot driven, his stories are stuffed with colorful characters and tricky, often humorous plot twists. “If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it,” serves as Leonard’s writing mantra. He explains his success when advising aspiring writers by stating, “Try to leave out the parts that readers tend to skip.” Stephen King has called him “the great American writer.”

Among Leonard’s best known works are Get Shorty, Out of Sight, Mr. Majestyk, LaBrava, Rum Punch, Freaky Deaky and Killshot. In 2010, his short story “Fire In the Hole’ was the basis for the television series Justified. The Library of Michigan owns all of Leonard’s works in their Michigan Collection. Search ANSWER, the Library’s online catalog to locate works by Elmore Leonard.

Sources for this article include the WMRA Public Radio Blog and you can learn more about Elmore Leonard at his web site.

You can check out a video where Elmore Leonard's shares his tips for writers, but we'll start you off with part 1 of a 4 part feature on Elmore Leonard from Emery King's World Class Detroiters. Here's part 2, part 3 and part 4!

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The Eyes Have It by pairadocs

Our favorite Michigan art event, ArtPrize, kicks off its third year in Grand Rapids this Wednesday. ArtPrize runs September 21 - October 9, 2011. It's billed as a radically open art competition that is open to any artist in the world who can find space and it is one of the most dynamic expressions of art in the world.

In their excellent ArtPrize 2011 Guide, mLive reports:

The first ArtPrize drew an estimated 200,000 people to downtown Grand Rapids, more than 37,000 of whom cast more than 334,000 votes in the exhibition with work by 1,262 artists. ArtPrize 2010 drew as many as 400,000 people who voted 465,000 times for 1,713 works of art.

...Some 1,582 works of art go on display in 163 venues downtown plus Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park a few miles away.

ArtPrize 2011 poster by Square One Design

Click through for some cool stories on 2011 such as news that Facebook creative director Ji Lee is entering for 2011 and a feature on 2011 ArtPrize venues.

The heart of ArtPrize is the public vote, and you can pre-register right now at ArtPrize.org. FYI, if voting is the heart, than the lungs of ArtPrize are participation and presence, and to activate your account, you have to go to Grand Rapids (which explains the phenomenal support that GR businesses and organizations provide the event).

Some great places to go for ArtPrize media include the ArtPrize Tumblr, the ArtPrize Facebook, ArtPrize Twitter and #ArtPrize on Twitter,  and the  ArtPrize YouTube.

Speaking of YouTube, a few cool videos we found include a check-in at yesterday's ArtPrize artist reception at the B.O.B., an analysis of the public's vote (and taste in art), a tour of ArtPrize neighborhoods, a look at the new ArtPrize HUB, and the cost of ArtPrize to artists. Below is the featured video from ArtPrize's channel, a look at 2010 from Brian Kelly. Hopefully Brian will be kicking out more great videos this year! we hope all you photographers will post your ArtPrize photos in the Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr!

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That alone is enough for a little excitement. A little. From headlines like "The Lions might be ... good" and "Detroit Lions: Why They Are a Sexier Pick Than the Houston Texans", you can tell that nobody is letting the Detroit Lions' perfect 2008 preseason and subsequent perfectly awful 0-16 season slide too far from the top of their mind.

After all, they are the Lions.

But are they? The Lions languished for an eon with uncertain hands at the tiller but it seems as if the last 2 years have featured smart and and focused decisions like the drafting of Matthew Stafford, Jahvid Best & Ndamukong Suh. Like the steady hand the Tigers have enjoyed, it seems to be paying off.

From the upstart editor of SBNation to the not-at-all upstart Adam Jones of ESPN and longtime NFL writer Peter King, folks around the league are priming us for a not-awful season of football. Bleacher Report has an intriguing (if over the top) look at 8 Reasons the Detroit Lions will make the Super Bowl. They require a lot of ifs from if Stafford & Best can stay healthy to if the offensive line can really gel and if the and if a trio of free agent signings - linebackers Stephen Tulloch & Justin Durant and cornerback Eric Wright - can make the difference coaches hope. It's clear that the Lions have a talented receiving corps, a solid (if fragile) backfield and a defensive line that is downright scary so...?

Locally the Detroit Free Press & Detroit News have them finishing 9-7. On the blog front, The Lions in Winter sees very real challenges, especially if Stafford goes down to injury, but sees them as a playoff team. Speaking of blogs, while Pride of Detroit doesn't seem to have decided yet, their offensive and defensive previews are well done and we're adding it to our blogroll. If you have a favorite blog, post it below!

One thing is clear, Lions tickets are hot, with the Oct 10 Monday Night Football game sold out and Thanksgiving versus the Green Bay Packers close to selling out.

While this isn't Jimmy "Spiderman" Allen's Another One Bites the Dust, someone had to do it...

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You have one takeaway from this weekend.

Even when he is not at his best, Justin Verlander is still better than you, me, and the vast majority of Major League Baseball.

Indeed. There's a nice article on ESPN looking at Verlander's MVP case and the Bleacher Report takes a look at Verlander and his chances to hit 25 wins and take home the MVP hardware:

Verlander by OtisDude

Justin Verlander won his 20th game this past weekend. The 28-year-old right-hander now sports a 20-5 record and it's only Aug. 29. The conventional wisdom is that Verlander is going to win the Cy Young award, and there are also a fair amount of people who think that he should be the MVP. Those that feel that way almost always say the same thing: "He should be the MVP, but he won't win."

The naysayers may very well end up being right. After all, no American League Pitcher has won the MVP award since 1992 when Dennis Eckersley won it and no starter has won since 1986 when Roger Clemens took home the hardware.

It's been 19 years since a pitcher won the MVP and it's been 21 years since a pitcher hit the 25-win mark. In 1990 Bob Welch went 27-6 and won the AL Cy Young award. Verlander would need to have a great September to get to 25 wins, but at this point Verlander has provided very little reason to think he can't have a great month.

Whatever happens, it's clear that Verlander is a special player who is helping power the Here's a great interview from 2009 by Chris Rose of Fox Sports where you can learn all kinds of quirky facts about Verlander including how he checks the radar gun and why his number is 35!

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A recent example is Day 63: Laketown Beach, in which Holland Area Regional Director Mike Guisinger writes:

Laketown is a bit off the beaten path but it’s worth finding. (For directions, click here.) It is sandwiched between two long stretches of private beachfront, so it is small, but rarely crowded. The beach may lack a lot of space, but it definitely makes up for it in serenity.

...Probably one of the biggest draws to Laketown isn’t actually within its boundaries however, but what is known locally as “The Bowl.” The Bowl is an gigantic sand bowl, resembling a sort of concave desert. Along with the other dunes and Lake Michigan itself, The Bowl was carved out of the earth by glaciers millions of years ago and was likely a small lake before drying up. Standing at the center of The Bowl and being surrounded on all sides by enormous walls of sand is quite breathtaking. The landscape is truly like no other.

So tune into Awesome Mitten, and if you like them, you can even show your support with some Awesome Mitten clothing!

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Alex Avila by by ArtCPhotos

The Detroit Tigers head into the All Star Break 1/2 game in the lead in the AL Central with a 49-43 record. That record is well reflected in the fact that the Tigers placed FIVE players on the AL roster.

Alex Avila, Catcher

In just his 3rd season, Avila makes his first All Star appearance. With 4,144,384 votes, he's the first Tiger voted to the starting lineup since 2007. He carries a .286 average into the game with 10 homers and 46 RBI. Tiger skipper Jim Leyland commented "That's a pretty good tribute to him and the job that he's done. Good stuff, and certainly well-deserved."

Justin Verlander, Pitcher

A four-time All-Star, Verlander is 12-4 and tied for second in the Major Leagues with Atlanta's Jair Jurrjens, one behind Yankees ace CC Sabathia. Yesterday Verlander also became the first Tigers pitcher to reach 12 wins by the All-Star break since Jack Morris did it in 1987. His 2.15 ERA is 3rd in the Majors, he's already tossed one no hitter in 2011 and he was named AL Pitcher of the month for June for his ridiculous dominance (.92 ERA in June). He's only lost once since April 29th.

Miguel Cabrera, First Baseman

A six-time All-Star, Cabrera makes his 3rd consecutive trip as a Tiger. With a 2011 batting average of .311, the slugger is right on his .313 career numbers and has smacked 18 homers with 59 RBI. With 1498 hits at age 27, Miguel is halfway to 3000 hits and considered a candidate for the elite 3000 hit club.

Jose Valverde, Pitcher

With 24 saves, Valverde is the American League leader in saves and has been a big part of the Tigers strong start. Now in his 9th season, "Papa Grande" makes his second straight All Star appearance. He is also one of the most animated players in the majors, as you can see in this video.

Jhonny Peralta, Shortstop

Peralta just joined the Tigers from the Division rival Cleveland Indians. Although he's in his 9th season, he makes his first All Star appearance in 2011. He's hitting .312 with 14 homers and 50 RBI. He was named to the team by AL manager Ron Washington to replace Derek Jeter.

From the Blogs....

Kurt over at Bless You Boys has some cool All Star moments including Lance Parrish throwing out 3 runners in 1982. The Daily Fungo talked with Jason Beck of MLB.com yesterday and has some good insight about where the Tigers are right now.

Also be sure to check out our post on Michigan in Pictures about the first All-Star game and Charlie Gehringer, who scored the winning run of the first All Star Game in 1933 on a Babe Ruth homer and played every inning of the first six All-Star games!

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Expanse by g. s. george

You don't have to travel far when you live in Michigan to find a whole lot of fun. We encourage you to support the festivals, events, cities and businesses that are making all the cool things happen around the state. So get out this summer and have some fun and create some great memories in the process. Carpe diem!!

As usual we by no means have listed all the events happening around Michigan. Add ones we missed (with links) in the comments below!

July Quotes

"Many public-school children seem to know only two dates: 1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either occasion. - Mark Twain

"Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels." - Mark Twain

"Live in each season as it passes: breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit." Henry David Thoreau

"You know, when you get your first asparagus, or your first acorn squash, or your first really good tomato of the season, those are the moments that define the cook's year. I get more excited by that than anything else." - Mario Batali

"It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato." - Lewis Grizzard

Fast Facts - via Wikipedia's July entry

• The second half of the year commences in July
• The birthstone for July is a red ruby
• July was renamed for Julius Caesar... Previously, it was called Quintilis...

Also be sure to check out Pure Michigan's July Event Round-up and our Absolute Michigan Event Calendar for more great Michigan events!

July 2 - 9
National Cherry Festival Traverse City
The National Cherry Festival features over 150 events including free air shows over the Bay, colorful parades & marching bands, music shows, sporting events, rides & carnival games on the midway, pie-eating contests, clean blue skies, warm sunshine, crowds of smiling faces, and loads of luscious cherries prepared every way you can imagine!

July 8 - 9
Michigan Elvisfest Ypsilanti
The world-renowned Michigan Elvisfest began in 2000 in Ypsilanti, Michigan's Historic Depot Town. Beautiful Riverside Park is the place where Elvis fans flock by the thousands every July to pay homage to the King of Rock & Roll and to hear the most award-winning professional Elvis Tribute Artists in North America, as well as other talented Legend Tribute Artists.

July 8 - 10
Blissfest Cross Village
The 30th Blissfest Music Festival will be a celebration of music, culture, art and community featuring a world of diverse and innovative folk and roots music and dance at the Festival Farm in picturesque rural northern Michigan. It is truly a blissful musical weekend to be shared with families, friends and music-lovers of all ages. The annual event is a showcase of the many musical styles that define American roots and world music. Bluegrass, Blues, Cajun, Celtic, Folk, Jazz, Latin, Ethnic, World music and dance all share the stage.

July 9 - Aug 7
Silver Leaf Renaissance Faire Battle Creek
Neither heat, rain nor scary beast will shut their gates that hold jousting and performances and all manner of medieval fun. The Faire is also West Michigan's premier Artisan Marketplace with over 100 vendors selling their wares and crafts, you will find everything from turkey legs to wood-carving, leather to silks, and blacksmiths to fairy wings.

July 14 - Aug 7
The Michigan Shakespeare Festival Jackson
The Michigan Shakespeare Festival has been presenting the timeless themes and glorious language of William Shakespeare since 1995, growing each year into a premier regional event that draws respected actors from across the nation, and satisfied audiences from throughout the Midwest.

July 14 - 17
Venetian Festival St. Joseph
The name implies gracious glides on a glowing river and the gentle sounds of water rippling as gondoliers pole their slender boats and sing soft love songs to couples snuggled in the bows. Such were the hot days and long nights in Venice, Italy, where Venetian Festivals started so many years ago. In St. Joseph, they still celebrate hot July days and long summer nights with boat rides and love songs and couples holding hands. The Venetian Festival on the St. Joseph River is all of that plus music, fine food and fun for all ages!

July 14 - 17
Concert of Colors Detroit
The Concert of Colors is metro Detroit's free annual diversity music festival. It is presented by ACCESS/Arab American National Museum, New Detroit Inc. and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) with the goal of bringing together metro Detroit's diverse communities and ethnic groups by presenting musical acts from around the world. Over its 17-year history, the festival has become a beloved highlight of metro Detroit's summer festival season.

July 15 - 16
Michigan Storytellers Festival Flint
It’s free fun for all INSIDE the Flint Public Library. Don’t miss our master storytellers who bring the oral tradition to life. As always there will be several workshops and storytelling concerts during the day on Saturday with storytellers in concert beginning at 7PM on Friday and Saturday.

July 16 - 17
Quake on the Lake Waterford
Over the past 10 years, the "Quake" has become on of Oakland County's must-attend events and is the North American Inboard Hydroplane Championship. The event is the proud holder of 17 American Power Boat Association (APBA) world speed records being set in 5 different racing classes making Pontiac Lake one of the fastest one-mile race courses in the country! There's also music from Rare Earth, the Verve Pipe and others.

July 16 - 17
Ragtime Street Fair Dearborn
Savor an American original -Ragtime music. You'll hear Scott Joplin rags like "Maple Leaf Rag" and "The Entertainer" along with  much, much more as scores of other musicians travel from all over the country to perform on nearly a dozen stages throughout Greenfield Village. It's syncopated, jazzy, hot and live. Fresh summer food, too, and dancing in the streets!

July 20 - 23
Ann Arbor Street Art Fair Ann Arbor
Established in 1960, the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair is the Original of the now four award-winning Ann Arbor Art Fairs: The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, the Original, The State Street Area Art Fair, The Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair and the Ann Arbor's South University Art Fair. Together, the fairs attract over a half a million attendees from across the nation. The Original Fair was named the Number One Art Fair in the country by AmericanStyle magazine readers survey (October 2004) and has made the Top Ten Fairs and Festivals list every year since.

July 22 - 23
Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival Ypsilanti
The Summer Beer Festival is the Michigan Brewers Guild's oldest and largest of our four annual festivals. The festival takes place outside in a lovely riverside setting and will feature more than 300 different beers from more than 50 different Michigan breweries. A variety of tasty food items are available for purchase from independent food vendors inside the festival and there will be a diverse selection live music from a variety of local bands.

July 26 - 31
Traverse City Film Festival Traverse City
The Traverse City Film Festival has grown to become one of the largest film festivals in the Midwest, and one of the most respected in the country. Last year, there were over 80,000 admissions to nearly 100 screenings, a number of them U.S. or world premieres. A special emphasis is given to foreign films, American independents, documentaries, and films which have been overlooked but deserve the attention of a public starved to see a good movie.

July 29 - 31
Yale Bologna Festival Yale
Every July Yale plays host to the Yale Bologna Festival, a 3 day weekend event that closes the streets and transforms this small community of just under 2,000 to a gathering of over 20,000 Bologna starved party-goers! A tradition in Yale since 1989, this festival has grown considerably since its humble beginnings. The festival draws people from all around Michigan as well as other states, eager to see who will be the next King and Queen of Bologna. The Bologna Festival includes such events as the famed outhouses races, a street dance, fireworks and a parade down Main Street that continues to grow each year.

July 29 - Aug 7
Coast Guard Festival Grand Haven
The United States Coast Guard has a long and prestigious history in Grand Haven and around the world. Celebrate the Coasties with activities, events, and attractions for all ages. Many are free, and you will find plenty of fun and choices from Kid's Day to the Street Dance and Cruise-In Car Show, to carnival rides, picnics, parades, fireworks and ship tours.

July 30 - 31
Art On The Rocks Marquette
Located in a beautiful wooded area on the shore of Lake Superior in north Marquette, the annual Art On The Rocks at Presque Isle Park features a huge variety of artwork in all media for show & sale.

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Penobscot Building by mgsmith

Every month, Longform.org shares five cool stories with SLATE Magazine. This month, the topic was Detroit, and they have five really great stories ranging from Willow Run's role in winning WWII from TIME magazine in 1942 to a recent interview with Dave Bing from GQ.

Probably my favorite was one I never got around to blogging, Detroit Arcadia: Exploring the post-American landscape by Rebecca Solnit from the July 2007 issue of Harper's. It's a beautifully crafted and ultimately hopeful piece that explained the reasons for Detroit's decline and explored possibilities for the future. Something Solnit was one of the first people to write about was the urban farming movement, saying:

Everyone talks about green cities now, but the concrete results in affluent cities mostly involve curbside composting and tacking solar panels onto rooftops while residents continue to drive, to shop, to eat organic pears flown in from Argentina, to be part of the big machine of consumption and climate change. The free-range chickens and Priuses are great, but they alone aren’t adequate tools for creating a truly different society and ecology. The future, at least the sustainable one, the one in which we will survive, isn’t going to be invented by people who are happily surrendering selective bits and pieces of environmentally unsound privilege. It’s going to be made by those who had all that taken away from them or never had it in the first place.

there's always something positive
happening in Detroit by insomniac
(Earth Works Farm in Detroit)

After the Panic of 1893, Detroit’s left-wing Republican mayor encouraged his hungry citizens to plant vegetables in the city’s vacant lots and went down in history as Potato Patch Pingree. Something similar happened in Cuba when the Soviet Union collapsed and the island lost its subsidized oil and thereby its mechanized agriculture; through garden-scale semi-organic agriculture, Cubans clawed their way back to food security and got better food in the bargain. Nobody wants to live through a depression, and it is unfair, or at least deeply ironic, that black people in Detroit are being forced to undertake an experiment in utopian post-urbanism that appears to be uncomfortably similar to the sharecropping past their parents and grandparents sought to escape. There is no moral reason why they should do and be better than the rest of us—but there is a practical one. They have to. Detroit is where change is most urgent and therefore most viable. The rest of us will get there later, when necessity drives us too, and by that time Detroit may be the shining example we can look to, the post-industrial green city that was once the steel-gray capital of Fordist manufacturing.

All 5 articles are really cool and I hope you can file them away for some compelling summer reading! They did fail to include one of my personal favorites, George Plimpton's Sports Illustrated essay on his time as a quarterback for the Detroit Lions.

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Surfing Michigan by farlane

We've pulled together a great collection of Great Lakes & Michigan surfing videos with a few links:

• The photo was taken on Lake Michigan at Leland. You can see more surfing photos on Michigan in Pictures and also on Northern Michigan Surf on Facebook and in the Surfing slideshow from the Absolute Michigan pool!
• The best of the bunch is below, a TV special on Grand Haven filmmaker Vince Deur's movie Unsalted. the 7 minute short introduces you to the history and present day of Great Lakes surfing. There's also a couple of outtakes that take you to surfing hot spots like Michigan's Lake Superior shore in winter! Last December we ran Michigan Film: Unsalted: A Great Lakes Experience that has all the details (including where to get it!) and tons of clips from the definitive work on riding the freshwater wave.
• The Roxy Get Outside Tour recently visited Grand Haven, Michigan with a couple pro female surfers. They also answered the "Michigan question" and visited the Great Lakes Surf Association (more Michigan footage including waterskiing at the Roxy blog)
• Surfing isn't just for lakes any more, there's also the Grand River Surf (featuring some cool Police tunes...)
• If surfing isn't fast enough (or the waves aren't big enough) there's always kiteboarding. Boarding Lake Michigan Waves from South Beach in South Haven shows you highlights of surfers, kiteboarders and windsurfers. Every September, the King of the Great Lakes Kiteboarding Competition is held in Grand Haven. You can visit Mackinac Kites for information on the event.
• Pure Michigan gets in the act with the Fresh Water Surfing page.
• Check out Absolute Michigan keyword surf for surfing articles and surfing-related businesses! Might as well try Absolute Michigan keyword kiteboard too!

Did we miss something? Of course we did!! Tell us and/or add a link in the comments.

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For the past eight months, the 29 year old has been driving a 1930 Model A as his everyday car. His project, dubbed “365 Days of A,” has him parking his Ford Explorer and Honda Accord and, for one year – with no exceptions for weather or distance – driving the beautiful blue Model A instead.

“It’s something I wanted to do for a few years,” says Klinger, who owns a 1919 Model T and ‘a few other cars.’ “I wanted to show that an old car like this can be driven every day.”

Head over to 365 Days of A to follow Jonathan through the ins (learning to slow down) and outs (fixing what goes wrong) and saga of his Model A experiment from Day 1 (October 13, 2010) to Day 252 (and beyond). Be sure to check out the FAQs for the who, what and where.

The video below looks at how they got the A into shape, and you can see a lot more on their 365 Days of A playlist!

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Pix Theater Marquee by SCOTTS WORLD

AnnArbor.com reports that the Made-in-Michigan Film Festival now seeking submissions:

The Made-in-Michigan Film Festival (MiMFF) is now accepting submissions for its 4th annual festival, scheduled for October 21-22. The festival will be held at the Pix Theatre in historical downtown Lapeer, Michigan. The MiMFF is accepting films in every category and genre — short, feature, academic, documentary, narrative, comedy, drama, horror, experimental, whatever - just as long as there's a material connection to the State of Michigan. Submission forms and eligibility requirements can be found online at the official website, www.madeinmichiganfilmfestival.org.

Click the "F" for their Facebook page. They have a lot of great information about Michigan films on their blog as well. Here's the trailer for a neat looking short titled Raised Alone:

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• Mike Devol of Greensky Bluegrass
• Erin Zindle of The Ragbirds
• Grand Rapids DJ SuperDre
• ...and Electric Forest founder Jeremy Stein below!

by Bob Lovik

Music is coming back Rothbury this summer after a two-year hiatus that has left a big hole in the Michigan festival circuit. But, don't call this the Rothbury Festival. This year's event is the Electric Forest Festival and while it is being produced by the same people, it is an entirely new thing. With a mouth- watering lineup of acts from a huge variety of genres, Electric Forest is being held over four days from June 30th to July 3. Absolute Michigan recently caught up with the very busy Jeremy Stein - the man who created the Rothbury Festival and the upcoming Electric Forest Festival.

Why the name change from Rothbury to Electric Forest?

Jeremy Stein: Actually, its not a name change. It is a new event. The Electric Forest Festival is something different from Rothbury which could very well have a future. With the venue, the Double JJ Ranch, we have the possibility of hosting different events of different sizes at different times throughout the year. The Electric Forest Festival is our first foray into doing this and we are really looking forward to trying it out.

The line-up seems to be targeted towards a younger crowd. Tell us a little bit about that.

Jeremy: It's so subjective as to what people like. I would have people say the same thing about Rothbury and then we have Willie Nelson on stage. Others said that because we had Bob Dylan and The Dead, we were trying to attract an older audience but I know tons of kids who are into those two. I'm done trying to figure it out I guess. Like Rothbury, we are going to have a lot of dance acts. There has been a great local response to REO Speedwagon playing Saturday afternoon. We just try and program a good variety throughout the day and night.

The common thread of all the bands is integrity and quality. The cream of the crop rises. The biggest part of an event like this is the sense of discovery. It always happens that someone walks up to musicians they know nothing about and get totally blown away. It is our role to have our ear to the ground and try and know what people like before they do.

Are there any bands that you are excited to see?

Jeremy: Truth is, I've seen everyone on the lineup. If I wasn't a fan, they wouldn't be at the show. Bassnectar has been crazy hot lately. He is a really exciting guy doing really exciting things. He's really unique and we are excited to have him.

Will there be any exciting Michigan bands taking the stage?

Jeremy: Oh yeah. Greensky Bluegrass is playing. I always like seeing them. There's a really exciting DJ called Super Dre. She's really funky. Then there are The Ragbirds. I know that we've gotten a tremendous amount of support from Michigan folk already.

What about the venue? What does the Double JJ offer?

Jeremy: There are great new owners there and we are really excited about it. They had a lot of work to do and it is very exciting for us because now we have friends and professional folks to work with who are really trying to do good things.

You have mentioned that one of your goals for Electric Forest is to seamlessly integrate music with art. How are you planning on doing that?

Jeremy: One of the great things about the venue is that Sherwood Forest creates this incredible platform that allows us to do almost anything. Electric Forest isn't just about the music. People will be able to connect over art installations, performance art and cultural art to name a few. The term art is a pretty big umbrella. The art isn't just in the forest either but the forest creates this social and cultural hang out scene that will be different during the day and night. A lot of festivals are, to an extent, bands and stages, and that's great but this is more than just music. Electric Forest is a cultural event.

How do you go about designing such a large event?

Jeremy: It's a collective really. We provide an open source opportunity for folks who have experience putting on festivals, people who have done public art or people who just have great ideas and want to get involved. There is a common thread between professionals and fans with great ideas.

You have a big focus on sustainability and keeping the festival green. What are your responsibilities as the producer?

Jeremy: Summer festivals are gatherings where you can get a taste of where a culture is at in the moment. They tell us what is important to people, what they are focused on and what kind of events they want to take part in. Electric Forest is extremely participatory and our responsibility is to lead by example in regards to sustainability. To try out new things while adhering to a certain morality of the culture of the times. That is one of the great things about the music industry. It isn't afraid to be a leader. You can look at events like Electric Forest as a barometer and as kind of a testing ground.

What do you hope that Electric Forest will contribute to Michigan?

Jeremy: Naturally, the festival will bring a lot of folks into Michigan. We have emails from people saying they are coming in for the festival but also want to spend the entire week in the state hanging out. Growing up in Chicago, I've always loved west Michigan and we jumped at the opportunity to do an event here!

What is the future of Electric Forest?

Jeremy: I've always had a long term view and there are a lot of options. We took a year off for a lot of healthy reasons. One, the goal is to make this one event as great as it can be. And two, we want to keep it going in annual installments while also having different, individual events. Whenever I come out there, the local community is really welcoming and that's a great feeling. There is a mutual respect and they are hoping for more events. The know our team does things right.

Much more about Electric Forest at electricforestfestival.com.

Photos by Absolute Michigan - view slideshow.

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The Elusive Black Morel
by cedarkayak

1. Morechella, true morels, are a honeycomb-like mushroom that  are prized by chefs the world over. The Great Morel Homepage can take you a lot deeper with links about the science of  these woodland delicacies. If you're looking for information about hunting morels this feature on Leelanau.com has some great tips to help you hunt and to be a good citizen of Morel Nation. Ed Vielmetti in Ann Arbor has a bunch more thoughts on the hunt.  MichiganMorels.com has tons of information as well about where to look, saying: Black morel habitats includes Ash, Fruit and Aspen trees (also known as: Popple or Poplar) or even lawns and fields.White (yellow) morels especially like Elm, Fruit trees, and Maple. And in southern Michigan, the Tulip Poplar tree is a good host.

2. When you find morels, you're going to want to cook them. The easiest tip is to soak them and rinse very well - they do have a lot of "grit" - and then fry them in butter. You can of course do a lot more with them. Check that Leelanau.com article and the recipes page at The Great Morel (one suggests a Michigan Dry Riesling pairing - we couldn't agree more!). Even if you don't find morels, you can buy them from Michigan-based Earthy Delights. On their recipes page they offer several ideas including Spring Wild Harvest Ragout With Fiddlehead Greens & Morels!

My favorite part of Spring by Apocaplops

3. Michigan loves its morels and we have two great morel celebrations. The first happens this weekend: the annual Mesick Morel Festival (May 6-8, 2011). The second is the National Morel Mushroom Festival in Boyne City which takes place May 12-15, 2011. When you click that link you'll hear the strains of the Mushroomers Waltz, and when you visit the festival, you'll have a chance to taste an incredible array of morel dishes and enjoy an experience much like  Absolute Michigan did a couple of years ago.

4. Finding morels means knowing what they look like, and being able to distinguish them from poisonous false morels. You can see a whole bunch in the Michigan Morel Slideshow from the  Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr, including one from Sunday posted by the Honor Motel.  Michigan in Pictures has a bagful of photos and articles about morels as well. If you want to share YOUR photos with us, add them to the .Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr or post them to the Absolute Michigan Facebook!

5. There's a bunch of great videos out there on morels including a sweet time lapse of a morel growing over 8 days by Ken Scott, a nice tour of the Michigan woods in morel season, one with Zachary Trost and morel expert Tom Nauman and a very nice primer to morel hunting from Country Living. I have to go with my buddy Tony Williams and the Boyne City Morel Fest - enjoy and good hunting!!

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Painting A Picture Of Optimism by DetroitDerek Photography

Later this week (April 27-29) the 3rd annual  Future Midwest Conference kicks off in Detroit. It's the largest digital business conference in the Midwest and  seeks to accelerate business and cultural transformation by uniting community passions with emerging technologies. In 2011, they've selected Eastern Market in Detroit as the conference venue. In this interview, conference co-founder Adrian Pittman explains that:

FutureMidwest is a digital business conference that focuses on the impact of technology in five areas:

• Integrated marketing: How to integrate digital platforms into a well-rounded marketing mix
• User experience: How to create an engaging experience across a variety of digital media
• Mobile: How it's impacting information exchange and user access and how to utilize it
• Business Intelligence/Analytics: How to define metrics that matter most and apply them
• Regional growth: How the Midwest is participating in the information age

The conference features 2 full days of presentations, panels and exhibitions about technology, social media and how all of this ties into creating a new future for the Midwest. The 2011 conference debuts  Funded by Night, one-day competition to fund tech startups where 25 companies will create to will compete to win a $100,000 convertible note from two local venture capital firms Detroit Venture Partners and Ludlow Ventures.

Any video with a space cow in it has to be good, and the 2010 conference video is no exception!

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Cicerone Annette May

Amy writes that from the beginning, it was women who made beer (and made water safe to drink). The industrial revolution moved brewing from kitchen to factory, moving brewing & beer largely into the men's domain.  Fast forward to today when women in Michigan are moving back to the fore of the brewing & beer scene. This article looks at a few including Annette May, was the first woman to earn the title of Cicerone which equates to a sommelier for beer, Kristy Smith, part owner of  MillKing It! Productions and Sarah Sidelko, head brewer at  Motor City Brewing Works:

One of the reasons you don't see a lot of women brewers is because of the physical demands. Sidelko says she lifts 2,000 to 3,000 pounds of grain in a week, which is hard to believe given her slight build. But with a background in gymnastics, she's a lot stronger than she looks, she says, and can even out-lift some of the guys she works with.

On the side, Sidelko knows how to weld and build bikes, which has proved handy for understanding and fixing the brewing equipment.  Even with her strength and skills she sometimes finds sexist attitudes at brewer's conferences. "I've been assumed to be my boss's wife," she says. "I'd like to make brewing a more comfortable space for women."

...For her, beer is equated with the pleasure of consuming something that's been well- crafted. "I view beer as this sensual, lovely, artful experience. It's delicious," she says. "It's very interesting experimenting with beer.

We just got an email about the perfect event for this article! It's called "Michigan Women in Brewing" and it takes place on Monday, May 9th at 7 PM at the Redwood Lodge Brewery in Flint! They are bringing in female brewers & owners to talk about their work and will have beers from the attendees for tasting - click that link for details!

We'll close with Annette May telling you all about Michigan-made Atwater Block's Voodoo Vator Doppelbock!

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Team Spirit of Detroit by Maia C

The Detroit Red Wings open the 2011 NHL Playoffs at home tonight vs the Phoenix Coyotes at 7 PM at the Joe Louis Arena.

It's their 20th straight NHL Playoff appearance, and Wikipedia tells us that the Red Wings are 2nd in Stanley Cup appearances with 24 and 3rd in wins with 13. Their last Cup win came in 2008 and while the Wings don't skate into the playoffs as an overwhelming favorite, they are seeded third in the West and expected to have a strong showing. A lot of the team's hopes rest on the health of leading scorer Henrik Zetterberg. Zetterberg won the Conn Smythe playoff MVP trophy in 2008 but was last seen wearing a knee brace after being hurt last week vs. Carolina and is out for (at least) tonight.

The Detroit News sportswiters issued their predictions and the Freep's Helene St. James has a very nice breakdown on the Red Wings' playoff chances. Michael Rosenberg writes that it feels like every team in the Western Conference (other than top seed Vancouver) feels day-to-day, saying:

The Wings have as good a shot as anybody. But they also have some concerns, starting with Zetterberg's knee. It sounds like the Wings might need to win this series without Zetterberg -- or at least, without a healthy Zetterberg. That's a concern, and the Wings already have more concerns about this Red Wings team than they normally do at this time of year.

The Wings allowed 241 goals, more than any other playoff team. Their goal differential of plus-20 was 11th in the league. Mostly, though, there is the sense that there is no bedrock there, no clear area of superiority.

During the playoffs you'll want to tune into the On the Wings blog along with Winging it in Motown and the official Detroit Red Wings blog. America Jr has a nice interview with Red Wings Chris Chelios at the Red Wings media event, but we'll take you out with the Red Wings 2010/2011 hits:

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The daylong event's theme is designed  to educate, inspire and connect great minds by honoring innovators who have passion, curiosity, creativity and adaptability to change the world with revolutionary ideas. Guest speakers include Carl Ganter, director and co-founder of Circle of Blue; Ellen Gustafson, co-founder of FEED Projects; environmental activist  Peter Sinclair; Dominique Jaurola, founder of Hunome; photojournalist  Paola Gianturco;  James Gartner, television and film director; Carl Erickson, cofounder and president of Atomic Object; American conductor  Kevin Rhodes; author and Great Lakes advocate Jerry Dennis, author; educator  Yong Zhao;  and marine science educator  Teresa Carey who you can learn about in the video below!

TEDx  is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.  TED started in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment and Design. You can click that link for a lot more information and some amazing TED Talks that take you from the deepest caves to the planet Saturn and explore cool innovations such as transforming education with video or Google's driverless car with all kinds of luminaries including Bill Gates (state budgets), Jane Goodall (what separates us from the apes) and web innovator Ze Frank.

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Chrysler spokeswoman Anita Thawte explained "Mr.  Daniels has starred in numerous Hollywood films and is well known in promoting an Upper Peninsula lifestyle that meshes so well with the power and payload of the U-series."

The specs of the vehicle are indeed impressive:  a massive 177 sq. ft. hood that can hold 7 deer, a gigantic bed that is rated for 4 tons of pasties and a powerful and eco-friendly V14 diesel that can operate in zero-emission mode when burning maple syrup.

Chrysler is reportedly exploring other concepts including "Smuggled from Saginaw", "Got a Ride from Grand Rapids" and "Walked over from Washtenaw".

If you liked this...

via Leelanau.com: Donald Trump unveils "Trump Leelanau" in Maple City (many, many more there as well!)

Mar 30, 2011: Weird Wednesday: April Fool's Day - Michigan's State Holiday?

Apr 1, 2010: Tim Allen co-opts Pure Michigan, declares for Governor

Apr 1, 2009: Bank bailout "tweak" to spur auto industry

Apr 1, 2008: Canadian Freeze Ray wreaks havok on Michigan

Apr 1, 2007: Massive trade sends Legislature, Governor to Guam - things are looking up for Michigan and the Tigers

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On The First Day of the Baseball Season,
Every Team is in First Place (and other cliches)
by DetroitDerek Photography

It's probably fitting to lead off with that quote from a Yankee great as the 2011 Detroit Tigers prepare to open the 2011 baseball season in New York. This afternoon at 1 PM (after his pre-game rituals are complete), Tiger ace Justin Verlander will take the mound at Yankee Stadium, starting for the 4th Opening Day in a row. Tiger skipper Jim Leyland reports he is as unworried about his status in the last year of his contract as he is in the lineup: "People make a big deal about a lineup. It doesn't mean anything," Leyland said. "It's a simple thing. It's not complicated at all. I mean, we've got the big boys in the middle. We've got some speed up top. We have a little power at the bottom. That's what it is. There's no magic formula for a lineup."

The projected lineup for today shows that they had a solid off-season. The biggest addition is 4 time All Star and career .300 hitter Victor Martinez, who is expected to bat 5th and ensure that Miguel Cabrera gets pitched to. The Tigers are expected to contend this year, but a lot will depend on the strength of their pitching, particularly the starting rotation. The five hurlers are all in their 20s, all former top draft picks, and all able to dominate a game in different fashions if they're on. The fact that several are throwing the ball in the high 90s never hurts.

On to the blogs...

Samara at Roar of the Tigers says we have a roster, so bring on the season. As only she can, Samara highlights things that have been happening in "terrible" cartoons. She's unsurprised that Joel Zumaya & Carlos Guillen are once again on DL Island but excited about Will Rhymes getting the job at second base, his calmness in the face of werewolves and his long hair.

The News & Notes for Opening Day in the Detroit Tigers Weblog threw a link to the Freep writers' predictions for 2011. Mitch Albom pegs them at 2nd on the strength of Victor Martinez but lacking enough in the pitching department to overcome both Chicago and Minnesota. John Lowe & Michael Rosenberg both feel that the additions of Martinez, Joaquin Benoit and Brad Penny will be enough for 1st place and Rosenberg even calls for a Cy Young from Verlander. Predictably, grumpy old Drew Sharp has them in 3rd because of too many ifs, a tough early schedule and because he's grumpy old Drew Sharp.

Kurt at Bless You Boys wishes you a Happy Opening Day Morning and offers a link to Ernie Harwell on baseball, and it's great to hear Ernie on Opening Day. He also gives his and readers' Keys to 2011 including hitting better with runners in scoring position (with runners in scoring position, the team hit just .256 last year) and running more.

Mike at the Daily Fungo has Baseball Tonight's Detroit Tigers Preview and calls out starting pitcher Phil Coke as his 2011 X-Factor.

What do you think, what are you reading and are you ready to PLAY BALL? Oh yeah, almost forgot Ernie Harwell. You can see him perform Casey at the Bat for a group of kids but his traditional "first pitch" is below.

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Vineyard by ramjetgr

Michigan Radio Morning Edition host Christina Shockley is asking those in the know What's Working in Michigan? There's no better time to take a look at things that are already happening to improve our state's economy and our lives. Here's a snapshot of a few of the voices:

Linda Jones, the Executive Director of the Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council on Michigan Wine: Success in a Bottle: "It combines our second and third largest industries: agriculture and tourism. Michigan is a long-standing fruit-producing state, especially on the west side of the state, but increasingly throughout Michigan we are planting wine grapes with new varieties that are being developed."

jibba jabba scribba scrabba rail jam 17 by emperley3

Scott MacInnes, the City Manager of Houghton on Turning winter in the U.P. into a tourist destination: "People around here live up here because they enjoy the weather. We do three or four special events in the downtown. We have Michigan Tech's Winter Carnival, which is a huge mid-winter festival for us up here. So we just have a lot of neat activities going on that really make the winter go by fast and make it enjoyable."

Rick Wilson, Heritage Sustainable Energy on Wind energy takes off in Michigan: "One of the things that I like to think, and that I believe, is that it's a homegrown source of power that is critical to our everyday lives. Traditionally, here in Michigan, 80 percent, I think, of our power, especially in Lower Michigan, is coming from large, somewhat archaic (not all of them, but, you know) coal-fired facilities. They may not even be located in Michigan. Some of them are located down in the Ohio River Basin and Indiana and surrounding states. So, to have, not only renewable generation here in our home state, but also just power that's generated right here in our back yard is something that's important for us as a community and as a state."

Read more stories from Michigan Radio and post what you think is working below!

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