Welcome to Detroit, photo by mi_kirk
There were a lot of great snapshots from the Motor City in Chrysler’s 2 minute Super Bowl homage to Detroit (and itself) with Eminem, but to me, the most powerful image in this daring ad was the Joe Louis Memorial.
Click above to watch it the ad on Absolute Michigan.
See this photo bigger in Kirk’s Detroit slideshow and tell us what you think on the Absolute Michigan Facebook.
Just After Sunrise (2), photo by siskokid.
Jim writes that nothing beats the early morning light as it falls on the ice and snow of frozen Lake Superior. He took three shots (#1 and #3) from the beach at Little Girl’s Point in the far western end of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on a very cold Sunday morning in January. The day before this shot was taken some ice fishermen found out the hard way how capricious Superior’s ice can be. Sam Cook’s story begins:
For an hour and a half, Skip Wick had been trying to stay upright on a chunk of ice in Lake Superior’s 8-foot swells.
The 80-year-old ice angler, stranded on the lake Saturday after big waves undermined the ice in Saxon Harbor east of Ashland, knew his options were limited.
“As I was standing there, the ice kept breaking up,” said Wick, a retired shop teacher from Hurley, Wis. “There was a big roar, like a jet going over, and here would come a wave.”
The roar was the sound of the waves, later estimated by Ashland firefighters at 8 to 12 feet, lifting and grinding chunks of ice as far as Wick could see. The chunk he was on was about as long and wide as a car, he said.
If you read on, you will learn how they were eventually rescued with an air boat, or wind sled, called an Ice Angel. Many who challenge Superior or any of the Great Lakes in wintertime are less luck.
Check this out background big and in Jim’s massive Lake Superior slideshow.
While this might seem like the ice goes on forever, as you can see from the satellite view, it barely dents the lake! More winter wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures.
Untitled, photo by jenny murray.
The Thoreson Farm page at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore says that the
John Thoreson and Ingeborg Sakariasdatte emigrated from Norway in 1877. Although they crossed the Atlantic on the same boat, family lore has it that they never really met on the boat. Ingeborg resided with the higher-priced ticket-holders, while John remained below deck with the lower-fare travelers. They first settled in Suttons Bay, and arrived in Port Oneida in 1880. The family initially rented the Kelderhouse/Baker farm until 1883, when they moved to Minnesota for one year. After returning to Port Oneida, they rented the old Burfiend house. Around 1900, along with their sons Ole and Fred, they built their farm on 160 acres of land purchased from the Andersons…
The Thoresons operated a general farm with livestock, small grains, and hay. With 75 trees, they were the first Port Oneida farm to raise cherries for market. They also owned sheep, pigs, chickens, and a few dairy cattle.
You can see some more photos of the farm (including a volunteer working on these buildings) at Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear.
Check this out bigger and in Jenny’s Holga slideshow.
Boyne Falls MI RARE 1950s Ice Sculpture at Boyne Mountain Snow and Ice Sculptures were a popular attraction at Ski Resorts in the 50s and 60s Bob Miles Photo Card S24328 Unsent, photo by UpNorth Memories – Donald (Don) Harrison.
In In Snowpocalypse Now Redux: When the weatherati cry wolf, what do we believe next time? Jeff Wattrick says that while we don’t want forecasts as understated as the “Snow, potentially heavy at times” that preceded the monstrous blizzard of ’78:
At some point we may actually get one of death storms with historic barometric pressure readings and the like. The forecasters may even predict it – that’ll happen when every dusting of wintery precipitation is a potential holofrost – but no one will care.
In essence, too much coverage can be as bad as not enough.
It’s like waking up every morning and predicting your own death. Eventually, you’ll be right. So what?
The wall-to-wall coverage – complete with live blogs, non-stop primetime school closure scrolls, and reports about panicked supermarket shoppers – doesn’t inform. It is absurdist theater that ignites in some a delusion that middle class life in 21st century Michigan can be a harrowing fight for survival.
…from such terrifying hazards as:
Thundersnow Is Go!: From beyond any known galaxy and bringing with it the laws and ideals of its home planet of Fontara…Thundersnow! As best as anyone can tell, it’s like a regular thunderstorm but with snow instead of rain because it’s winter. Like Murrow covering the London Blitz, the WXYZ liveblog bravely reported thundersnow rumbled through Southfield at 3:15 this morning.
As a resident and business owner in a resort destination I have railed about sensationalism in weather forecasts in the past. Definitely click through for the choice Simpson’s clip Jeff found!
Check this out bigger than a blizzard and in Don’s slideshow.
Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge, photo by Wigwam Jones.
The Great Lakes Echo has a feature by Emma Ogutu about a 7.5-mile auto trail through Saginaw County’s Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge that opens in May (assuming the eagles cooperate).
“Everything will depend on a pair of eagles which built a nest just 50 feet off the road. It all depends if they start nesting early or late– it’s critical that we do not disturb them,” DeVries said (Ed DeVries, assistant manager of the refuge).
The gravel trail, which was completed in November, will be the second of its kind in the state, after one in the Upper Peninsula’s Seney National Wildlife Refuge.
Along the trail are two new observation decks with spotting scopes to assist visitors in viewing more birds, DeVries said. The refuge has also constructed a parking area to accommodate the anticipated larger amount of traffic and a new fishing and canoe access site along the Spaulding Drain.
“Previously we had only one day in September where tourists were allowed to drive in the refuge,” DeVries said. “With the new trail, it’s going to be possible for more people to view a wider variety of birds and other wildlife throughout spring and summer seasons.”
The Shiawassee refuge was established in 1953 to protect and increase the breeding of migratory birds and other wildlife. The refuge includes marsh areas, swamps, bogs, grasslands and forests and has one of largest and most productive wetland ecosystems in the state, according to the service.
Learn more about the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge.
Check Wigwam Jones’ photo out background big and in his Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge slideshow.
providence road, photo by heinrick05.
Much of the Mitten is bracing for a major winter storm that is predicted to drop well over a foot of snow from Grand Rapids to Detroit tonight and tomorrow. Meteorologist Bill Steffen has some great stuff on the storm and on Michigan weather in general. He’s named the storm the Groundhog Day Dump and writes that Punxsutawney Phil:
…has looked at the models and he’s definitely forecasting six more weeks of winter, maybe seven…and that this coming summer will be a couple degrees cooler than last summer.
The heaviest snow Tuesday night into early Weds. with snowfall rates of over an inch an hour. The heaviest snow looks to be across the southern half of Lower Michigan, with lighter amount as you go north toward Traverse City. The model data is in pretty good agreement. The models are in the 10-16″ range, a couple up to 18″, but I didn’t go quite that high. Winds will blow he snow into 3-4 foot drifts. All the models think this is going to be a very significant snowstorm and if they are right, some places will be approaching or exceeding all-time February record 12 or 24-hour snowfalls. And…if the models are right, there won’t be many schools open Weds. from Kent Co. to the south at least and maybe all the way to Cadillac. The GFS gives us a steady 25 mph wind with gusts to 35 (850 mb wind to 78 mph!). That’s at least “near blizzard” conditions for Tuesday night and Weds. AM.
Keep in mind that’s snowFALL not snow cover. The numbers have been pretty consistent. CAUTION: Numbers from these models are often too high and sometimes WAY too high. The heaviest snow ever in G.R. in a single day was 16.1″ during the blizzard of ’78. The 24-hour snowfall record for G.R. in any February is 11.4″ ON 2/3/2007. With records going back to the late 1800s, Grand Rapids has NEVER had a foot of snow in 24-hours during the month of February. This storm will be moving, not backing up and stopping like the blizzard of ’78. So, feel free to get excited, but don’t go overboard.
So panic … but keep it in perspective. More blizzards on Michigan in Pictures and also see Great Blizzard of 1978 on Absolute Michigan.
Check this photo out bigger and in Heinrick’s Michigan slideshow.
Ice Caves_3986, photo by Mike Hainstock.
Mike took a trip to the Eben Ice Caves (click that link for the what & where) with the Superiorland Photography Club. He took the opportunity to try out his Vivitar 285 flashes, wireless triggers and some colored gels, and fellow Absolute Michigan group member Kim Nixon was there as well.
See this bigger in Mike’s Eben Ice Caves slideshow and also check out the most interesting Eben Ice Cave shots on Flickr!
Lake Michigan on Ice, photo by Happyhiker4.
Mark writes that there was a somewhat rare occurrence on the Northwestern shore of Michigan’s lower peninsula – the sun actually came out!
Check it out bigger in his slideshow and have a wonderful winter weekend!
PS: Speaking of ice, there’s the Zehnders Snowfest 2011 this weekend in Frankenmuth. It’s celebrating its 20th anniversary as one of the nation’s top snow sculpting events.
PPS: Speaking of ice sculpting, apparently the Virgin Mary has made an appearance in Michigan, on ice.
PPPS: Much more Michigan ice on Michigan in Pictures!
The answer is YES!
The Road To Oz, photo by DetroitDerek Photography.
In Road to ‘Oz’ may lead Johnny Depp to Michigan, the Freep reports that the Michigan Film Incentive may be about to land a whopper!
Michigan’s biggest Hollywood movie project yet — a $105-million production at a huge new studio in Pontiac — has won approval for a $40-million tax credit that alone comprises more than 60% of all credits for 26 projects approved in the last six months of 2010.
Many signs hint that the movie is “Oz: The Great and Powerful,” a Disney prequel to the classic “Wizard of Oz” with Michigan native Sam Raimi directing and Johnny Depp negotiating for the lead role.
The Disney film would be the first major project for the Raleigh Studios in Pontiac, an $80-million reconstruction of a former General Motors plant. Once completed, the studio is set to have nine sound stages with a total of more than 175,000 square feet and about twice as much office and other space, according to the Raleigh Studios Web site.
Derek’s wife Kerry took this shot – see it bigger and more in his My Faves slideshow.
Onward & Upward (Series), photo by LadyDragonflyCC – Frozen Series Loaded.
Valentine’s Day is not far off, so we thought it would be a good idea to start folks thinking about how to Make it a Michigan Valentine’s Day! That link goes to our Facebook, but if that’s not your thing, you can comment below. Get some great ideas for gifts & getaways in Celebrate Valentine’s Day the Michigan Way on Absolute Michigan.
With this photo I was also hoping to share the thought that Valentine’s Day doesn’t need to be extravagant or involved … simple and from the heart works really well a lot of the time.
See it background big and see more in LadyDragonflyCC’s Frozen Possibilities slideshow.
Michigan in Pictures 
