flickr

Summer Solstice and the Annual Ring

Posted on June 21, 2011June 21, 2011 by farlane

Summer Solstice, photo by marshallfredericks

The Summer Solstice is the yearly moment when the sun’s apparent position in the sky reaches its northernmost point. You can think about it as throwing a ball up in the air – when the ball reaches its maximum height, that’s the solstice! It’s the longest day of the year and the first day of summer and it all happens today at 12:16 PM in Michigan! More about the solstice from National Geographic.

The sculpture above is the Annual Ring by artist Nancy Holt and it shows the moment of the solar noon on the solstice at the. The photo was posted by the Marshall Fredericks Sculpture Museum, and they say the annual event includes poets reading, and a drum circle to welcome in summer. It happens today at 1 PM if you’re in the area and you can see more photos of the sculpture in their solstice slideshow!

Speaking of Marshall Fredericks, click his name for some information from Michigan in Pictures about Michigan’s most famous sculptor!

Emancipation Proclamation at the Henry Ford

Posted on June 20, 2011December 1, 2025 by Michigan in Pictures

The Rosa Parks Bus by Rafael Peixoto Ferreira

One of our nation’s most significant documents, the Emancipation Proclamation, will be on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.

Following a brief opening ceremony, the original document will be on display around-the-clock, straight through early Wednesday morning, June 22, when it will return to Washington DC. More info and related events at the Emancipation Proclamation at the Hentry Ford.

I couldn’t think of a more fitting image for this than the Rosa Parks bus, just one of many amazing relics of American history that are displayed at the Henry Ford (see their exhibits). See more in Rafael’s great Detroit gallery.

Here’s a whole bunch of photos from the Henry Ford Museum from the Absolute Michigan group on Flickr!

Happy Father’s Day, Michigan Dads

Posted on June 18, 2011June 18, 2011 by Michigan in Pictures

Dad and daughter, photo by Dr. Farnsworth.

Tomorrow is Father’s Day, a time to celebrate dads and fatherhood. Also fishing & golf. ;)

Hope all the dads out there have a great weekend (everyone else too!)

See this photo big as the one that got away and in Dale’s The Best of West Lake slideshow.

Back to the Bricks heads out to the Mitten

Posted on June 16, 2011 by farlane

1962 Corvette at Blackstone’s, photo by Flint Foto Factory

Back to the Bricks is an annual car show held every August in Flint (August 16-20, 2011). It’s a huge classic car show with cruises, movies, concerts and more that celebrates the car culture of “Vehicle City“. Last year the event drew over 350,000 people. This year, organizers are stepping things up a notch with their Back to the Bricks Michigan Mitten Promo Tour. The tour starts Friday and runs June 17-26. It will bring hundreds of cars and a taste of Back to the Bricks to these cities:

Port Huron: June 17
Bay City: June 18
Alpena: June 19
Mackinaw City: June 20
Traverse City: June 21
Ludington: June 22
Holland: June 23
Brooklyn: June 24
Flint: June 25-26

Joseph writes that flaws and all, he loves Flint and hopes that love comes across in his pictures. Check this out bigger and in his Flint, Michigan / Back to the Bricks 2010 slideshow.

Safe Harbor, Copper Harbor

Posted on June 14, 2011June 14, 2011 by Michigan in Pictures

Safe Harbor, photo by 13Miles.

Copper Harbor, July 3rd, 2010

Check this out background big and in Dixie’s slideshow.

More boats on Michigan in Pictures…

Farewell to the Silver Fox: Detroit Tiger great Jim Northrup

Posted on June 13, 2011June 13, 2011 by Michigan in Pictures

Jim Northrup , photo by mvsportsmemorabilia.

“One thing you could depend on, Northrup was going to put the bat on the ball in some kind of way. And 1968, that was his year. He was tough all year. He let you know that he was there.”
~Gates Brown

Wikipedia says that Jim Northrup was born in Breckenridge, Michigan in 1939. Samara over at Roar of the Tigers marked his passing today, as did the Detroit Tigers who say:

Northrup played parts of 12 seasons in the Majors, mostly with the Tigers. He made his big league debut in 1964.

…Northrup’s most memorable years were with Detroit, especially in 1968. He hit .264 with 21 home runs and 90 RBIs that season and shined in Game 7 of the World Series. With two outs in the seventh inning, Northrup tripled off St. Louis Cardinals ace Bob Gibson to bring in Norm Cash and Willie Horton.

Dick Tracewski, a reserve infielder on that club who also went on to coach with the Tigers, told the Free Press that Northrup’s famous triple was “the biggest hit that’s ever been gotten for the Detroit Tigers. He won the World Series for us.”

Get his stats at BaseballReference.com. You’ll probably enjoy these columns by David Mayo and Mike Mowry as well as this 3 part video interview with Jim Northrup by From Glory Days.

Check it out bigger and see a few more in their slideshow.

Spin Cycle: Catch SuperDre@ Electric Forest

Posted on June 11, 2011June 11, 2011 by Michigan in Pictures

Spin Cycle, photo by TerryJohnston.

Grand Rapids DJ SuperDre is one of the Michigan musicians who will join a fantastic lineup at the Electric Forest Festival in Rothbury June 30th – July 3rd. Absolute Michigan is partnering with Electric Forest and will be at the festival with interviews, blogs and more.

We are interviewing all the Michigan-based acts, and here’s our interview of SuperDre aka Andrea Wallace. It includes a cool video so definitely check it out and consider Electric Forest or one of the other great Michigan festivals & events we are giving tickets away to through Festival Summer giveaway!

You can see this bigger and check out more photos in Terry’s DJ SuperDre slideshow.

Strawberry Fields Forever

Posted on June 9, 2011June 9, 2011 by Michigan in Pictures

I’ve died and gone to berry heaven, photo by yodraws.

Over on Absolute Michigan we got word Ann Arbor blogger Ed Vielmetti that strawberries season is kicking off in southern Michigan. Click through for all kinds of strawberry goodness!

Yolanda took this at the Fulton Street Farmer’s Market in Grand Rapids a couple of years ago. View it background bigalicious and in her Fulton Street Farmer’s Market slideshow.

PS: Speaking of farm markets, farms and food, if you’re not hooked in to Real Time Farms, you’re missing out!

Boulderdash: Charlevoix’s Earl Young Houses

Posted on June 8, 2011June 8, 2011 by Michigan in Pictures

Boulderdash, photo by hausfrau23.

A few month’s ago on Absolute Michigan we featured the quirky & amazing Earl Young and his Charlevoix cottages. One of the articles we linked to from the Freep in 1973 said:

Stone houses seem to sprout as naturally as dandelions from the soil of this pleasant Lake Michigan resort community.

And they do because of an already legendary 84-year-old man named Earl A. Young, who built them all.

For more than half a century Young has combed lonesome fields and dusty quarries searching for the odds and ends of nature. He blends stones and timber with an architect’s skill and a geologist’s respect for his raw material, and so far he has fitted more than 40 local landscapes with his art.

“l have a very strong feeling for stone,” Young explained recently as he sat in his wood-paneled office on the lower level of one of his most flamboyant creations, the Weathervane Inn, a local restaurant.

“Stones have their own personalities. People say I’m crazy when I say so, but they really do. Why I found a stone that weighed 160 tons. It was formed 350 million years ago at the bottom of a warm sea and was carried here 10,000 years ago by glaciers.”

Click through for lots more and links to great resources for seeing some of these architectural oddities including the Earl Young Collection at the Charlevoix Library and Park Avenue Prowl, which has a walking guide.

Check this out big as a boulder and in hausfrau23’s Up North Vacation – September 2010 slideshow.