The 2009 International Caribbean Festival and Parade will be held as a joint venture with African World Festival on August 14, 15, & 16 at Hart Plaza. The Parade will be staged from Woodward and Mack to Hart Plaza on Saturday, August 15, 2009, beginning at 11:00 a.m. The featured country this year is Jamaica.
Be sure to visit Detroit Bike Blog for more photos from last year’s parade.
Light, photo by Ralph Krawczyk Jr.
Here’s hoping the light shines for everyone this weekend.
Get it bigger or in Ralph’s x-Pro slideshow.
Fireworks on the 4th over Grand Haven, MI, photo by ER Post.
Get a full list of fireworks displays at MichiganFireworks.com or light up your monitor with this fireworks slideshow from the Absolute Michigan pool.
PS: If you’re in Detroit this weekend, you might want to check out the FREE Comerica Cityfest!
Wikipedia’s Book Tower entry says that:
The Book Tower is an Italian Renaissance styled tower in Detroit, Michigan. Construction began in 1916 as an addition to the original Book Building and finished a decade later. Designed in the Academic Classicism style, it is 475 feet (145 m) and 38 stories tall (not including two basement levels), with two mechanical floors at the top encasing the green copper roof, a roofing style shared by the nearby Westin Book-Cadillac Hotel. Retail and gallery floors used to reside on the first and second floors, with businesses previously occupying the rest. Sadly, as of 2009, the building is unoccupied.
Named after the famous Book Brothers of Detroit, it was briefly the tallest building in the city until the completion of the Penobscot Building in 1928. A taller Book Tower of 81 stories was to be built at the opposite end of the Book Building, but the Great Depression cancelled those plans.
The Book Building and Book Tower are now completely vacant. You can get a map to the Book Tower from Wikimapia. Emporis has more about the Book Tower and also more of the buildings designed by architect Louis Kamper. If you’re wondering about the Penobscot Building, Michigan in Pictures has that covered.
See it bigger in Christian’s About Detroit set (slideshow).
R.I.P., photo by Ralph Krawczyk Jr.
Ralph writes:
Supporters of renovating what remained of Tiger Stadium surrendered Monday in a failed court effort to postpone the final demolition, sparking the end of a legacy that began in 1896…
You can read about the demolition in the Freep, watch it on YouTube, check out other Tiger Stadium pictures on Michigan in in Pictures and read Tiger Stadium stories on Absolute Michigan). You can also see more photos of this iconic park in Raph’s Tiger Stadium set (slideshow).
I’m not sure, however, that you can explain to me why Detroit seems hell-bent on demolishing its most prominent pieces of heritage.
Octopi, photo by GH Patriot.
Last night the Red Wings managed to beat the Blackhawks 2-1 in an overtime thriller and return to the Stanley Cup. For those unfamiliar with the traditions of Hockeytown, I give you The Legend of the Octopus:
The Legend of the Octopus is a sports tradition during Detroit Red Wings home playoff games in which an octopus is thrown onto the ice surface for good luck. The origins of the activity go back to the 1952 playoffs, when a National Hockey League team played two best-of-seven series to capture the Stanley Cup. The octopus, having eight arms, symbolized the number of playoff wins necessary for the Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup. The tradition was first started on April 15, 1952 by Pete and Jerry Cusimano, brothers and storeowners in Detroit’s Eastern Market. The team swept the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens en route to winning the championship, as well as winning two of the next three championships.
Since 1952, because the tossing of octopuses is generally viewed as a successful symbol of good luck, the practice has persisted each year; in one 1995 game, fans threw 36 octopuses, including a 30-pounder. The Red Wings’ unofficial mascot is a purple octopus named Al, and during playoff runs two of these mascots are also hung from the rafters of the Joe Louis Arena, symbolizing the 16 wins now needed to win the Stanley Cup. It has become such an accepted part of the team’s lore, that fans have developed what is considered proper etiquette and technique for throwing an octopus onto the ice.
Those octopi also flew a few weeks ago at the Grand Haven Kite Festival (click that link for a slideshow from the Absolute Michigan pool).
See this photo bigger in GH Patriot’s Other slideshow.
Meghan found a crystal ball. I predict she’s not finished with it yet.
Hallway on a Tilt, photo by Cherie S.
The photography group Exposure.Detroit will hold the opening for their May 2009 show tomorrow night (Friday, May 8th) from 7-10 PM at the Bean & Leaf Cafe in Royal Oak.
In addition to Cherie Stangis, the show features work from Mark Orlowski, Patrick Simpson, Alanna St. Laurent and Christian Spencer.
Check out a bunch more cool B&W shots in Cherie’s Inanimate in Black and White set (slideshow).
Chrysler 300 – Walter P. Chrysler Museum, photo by MikeRyu
And then there were two…
Yesterday the Chrysler Corporation announced a plan for their acquisition by Fiat and filed for bankruptcy. Wikipedia’s Chrysler entry has a good overview of the company from its founding in 1924 by Walter P. Chrysler as a result of his reorganization of the Maxwell Motor Company through the building of the company into a global powerhouse, the Lee Iaccoca led rescue of Chrysler to the stumbling Daimler-Benz & Cerebus era.
The Walter P Chrysler Museum has a much more detailed timeline and all the Chrysler brands (Hudson, Valiant, Nash, Chalmers, Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto, Imperial, Jeep, etc).
See this picture bigger in Mike’s slideshow of photos from Mike’s visit to the Chrysler Museum and see thousands more photos of Chryslers right here.
This photo is part of Paul’s Detroit Aerial Photography set (slideshow).
Be sure to check it out bigger.
Michigan in Pictures 