There’s been nothing in the Absolute Michigan group on Flickr as calming as The Puffs, who Benjamin documented last fall. See more below and in his Puffs gallery on Flickr!
Timothy took this photo in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore last month & shares:
The color yellow holds a special place in my heart. While my son was in Pre-K, he took a test that involved identifying colors. I happened to be there for it. He identified every color correctly…except yellow. He repeatedly got it wrong. I could see his teacher becoming increasingly confused as she graded his test. Before she could say anything, Lewis asked her, “Why didn’t I choose ‘yellow’?”
“Why?,” she responded. I had no idea what he was going to say, but I expected it to be good.
Lewis proceeded to inform her in the most matter-of-factly way possible, “It’s the only color God doesn’t like.”
I was pretty sure his position wasn’t scripturally defensible, but I couldn’t stop laughing. (His teacher was not amused by either of us.) So, Lewis, if you’re reading along, enjoy this forest scene full of blue leaves.
The Upper Peninsula State Fair started on Monday in Escanaba and runs through Sunday, August 18th with midway rides & games, free entertainment and of course the time honored fair tradition of animal & produce beauty pageants. One especially great attraction is their Miracle of Life exhibit where children of all ages can see the live births of calves, lambs, piglets and watch chicks, ducks, and quail eggs hatch. I heartily applaud the Fair for helping people get a better idea of where their food comes from!!
John caught these snoozing pigs on Monday. See a bunch more from this year & years past in his UP Fair gallery on Flickr.
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, it turns out that you haven’t.
Mud Day is an annual affair held in early July at Hines Park in Westland. The recipe for fun is simple – 200 tons of dirt, 20,000 gallons of water and a bunch of people who care more about fun than fastidiousness.
If you’re like me, you’ve probably wondered “Just how much money does it take for a city to completely go off its nut and turn into some kind of urban ninja butterfly?”
The answer, it seems, is about a million dollars. That’s how much money Rick DeVos allocated to found the Grand Rapids ArtPrize. The public will vote to determine who wins prizes including the top prize of $250,000!
Over on Absolute Michigan we’ve created the 2009 ArtPrize Grand Rapids page, an explosion of tweets, videos and (of course) photos.
The annual Michigan Challenge Balloonfest takes place this weekend – June 26-28, 2009. It’s the state championship of hot-air ballooning and in addition to a sky full of balloons, offerings include three entertainment venues, a carnival, classic car show, medieval village and skydiving shows. 2009 is the 25th anniversary:
“Twenty-five years ago, the Michigan Challenge started with a whimper and a little burner noise,” said Competition Director Dick Rudlaff. “There were only a couple handfuls of balloons that first year, all good friends who flew together often. But we managed to elbow our way into the Howell community with the help of the chamber of commerce and all their volunteers who make this a true community event to be proud of.”
Of course, the highlight of the Michigan Challenge weekend is the five scheduled balloon launches Friday, Saturday and Sunday between 6 and 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday mornings between 6 and 8 a.m. Site host is Howell Public Schools.
David says that in the summer of 2008, he started shooting an essay on the culture of garage sales in Michigan as we moved deeper into recession.
Now his essay is one the fantastic photography site Burn. Burn is curated by notable Magnum and National Geographic photographer, David Alan Harvey, and was established to be a platform for emerging photographers online and in print. Do yourself a favor and check out David McGowan – Garage Sale.
I’m serious – do not miss this one.
I have to also say thanks to David for introducing me to Lux Land, Michigan songstress and wife of Brian Vander Ark who I had heard of but never really heard. Her song, Touching a Legend is the soundtrack and you can can check her music out at Luxy Land or MySpace.
Tate says that this is what happens when you don’t steer enough. Be sure to check the photo out bigger.
The Muskegon Winter Sports Complex is located at Muskegon State Park. This amazing complex features over an acre of skating rinks (including a 700′ skating trail), 16k of groomed and lighted cross-country trail through woods and along Lake Michigan (he longest lighted trail system of its kind in the Midwest) and the luge track.
The Muskegon Luge is one of four luge tracks in the United States and is considered the most publicly accessible. Although much smaller than the Olympic tracks in New York and Salt Lake City, the Muskegon track was designed with the public in mind. The track was designed by three time Olympian Frank Masley. The track consists of six curves and two starting areas, the public start for recreational “learn to luge” sliders and the other from the top for more experienced sliders from the Muskegon Luge Club.
Click through to the Muskegon Luge page to see a cool video from Wild Weekend TV showing how accessible it is to the public.
Michigan in Pictures 