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Detroit Journal – Words and Pictures by buckshot.jones

Posted on January 3, 2009January 3, 2009 by Michigan in Pictures

Scott aka buckshot.jones has a tremendous set of photos titled Detroit Journal – Words and Pictures. Some are funny, some revisit the past and many more take a hard look at the state of the city.

If you love Detroit or simply wonder what happened and is happening in the city, I cannot recommend this collection highly enough. Here are the words that go with the photo above:

I’d look into the mirror every morning only to find the same guy staring back. Then, it seems suddenly, I find some 50 year old grump is staring back. Who is this guy? The changes happen so slowly with such steady force I failed to see the changes. I noticed the laugh lines around my eyes are now stubbornly etched into my face even in times of scorn. As I contemplate these changes I think of friends and family and how, in my mind’s eye, they are still 21, bolted down in time. Just like me, or so I thought. Now consider that old friend you haven’t seen in 10 or 15 years. Think of how you had to do a double take when you met after all those years. The face is familiar but the changes make you not quite sure. You hesitantly state their name with a question, “John?”

For me my home town is curiously like encountering that long lost friend. I have lived here my entire life yet over the last couple years the changes in Detroit have, at times, struck me as startling. For most of my early life, as a schoolboy and a young adult, I spent my time working throughout the city neighborhoods and business districts. During all that time these neighborhoods were in decline, I just never noticed the change. About 10 years ago I took a job that had me traveling a great deal in Canada and since that time my professional life has found me spending most of my time away from home traveling all over the Midwest.

As my body banned me from playing basketball and my lack of patience killed my golf game, photography filled the distraction void. Trading the links for a photo safari on my weekends, I started to wander around my old haunts mostly in search of connections to my memories. I was struck by what I found, or in some instances failed to find- my home town suddenly got old. “Detroit….right?”

Ultimate Fishing Early Risers Edition presents: What’s your favorite Michigan fish?

Posted on January 2, 2009January 27, 2013 by Michigan in Pictures

Early Risers, photo by docksidepress.

The Ultimate Fishing Show – Detroit gave me a few tickets to give away. The show is about fishing trips, boats and gear and it happens January 8-11, 2008 in Novi.

I figured I should offer some over here on Michigan in Pictures, so here’s the deal: Post a comment with your favorite Michigan fish to catch, eat or look at below and then send an email to giveaway@absolutemichigan.com with your name, city and email address and we’ll give away as many as we can!

Note that if you don’t want to go you can still post your fish!

This photo is in Matt’s My Photos by Most Interesting set (slideshow) and like all his photos, it’s posted background bigalicious!

Sailing into 2009

Posted on January 1, 2009January 1, 2009 by Michigan in Pictures

Sailing, photo by gh patriot.

I thought it was pretty neat that this photo showed up in the Absolute Michigan pool after yesterday’s post. Be sure to check it bigger. It’s part of Kevin’s pier/sunset set (slideshow)

As 2009 dawns, I feel some trepidation. While things have been bad for us here in Michigan, there seems to be little doubt that our national economy has even further to fall. What that might mean to us is anybody’s guess.

One thing I do know is that after years of being in a “single state recession,” we now have company. That will undoubtedly mean less assistance in some cases, but it will also open up more opportunities and solutions as other states and nations begin to grapple with the issues we have been wrestling with.

I expect that in the year to come we in Michigan will make decisions that will have profound effects on our state’s educational system, our infrastructure and our amazing natural resources.

My most profound hope is that our decisions take into account the truth that Gov. Milliken referred to below.

The truth is that the quality of life in Michigan depends on nature. The natural beauty of our state is much more than a source of pleasure and recreation. It shapes our values, molds our attitudes, and feeds our spirit … in Michigan, our soul is not to be found in steel and concrete, or sprawling new housing developments or strip malls. Rather it is found in the soft petals of a trillium, the gentle whisper of a headwater stream, the vista of a Great Lakes shoreline, and the wonder in children’s eyes upon seeing their first bald eagle. It is that soul that we must preserve.

-Michigan Governor William G. Milliken
from William G. Milliken: Michigan’s Passionate Moderate

Happy New Year folks!

The Door Into Next Year

Posted on December 31, 2008December 31, 2008 by Michigan in Pictures

Detail from the House that Father Coughlin Built…, photo by “CAVE CANEM”.

As we prepare to leave 2008 at the docks and set sail on 2009, I think there’s probably a lot that we hope to leave behind, and much that we hope to discover in the year to come.

I hope that all of you find what you’re seeking in the year to come and that you have very happy and safe celebrations tonight!

Be sure to view this larger and check out C.C.’s In Through the Out Door set (slideshow).

You can read more about the National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak on Wikipedia and the story of the “venom and compassion” of the man behind its construction 1930s radio priest Father Charles E. Coughlin.

Castle Rock: Another (Michigan) Roadside Attraction

Posted on December 30, 2008September 27, 2016 by farlane

Castle Rock Curios, photos by Alan C of Marion,IN

This photo is just one of very many in Alan ‘s Roadside Finds set (slideshow) and you’ll also want to wander through his Michigan pics!

Michigan’s Roadside Tourist Attractions will be showcased in a special exhibit opening at the Michigan Historical Museum in Lansing on January 10, 2009.

Michigan’s Roadside Attractions, set to run through Sept. 14, 2009, features more than 50 roadside attractions that grew up as Michigan expanded its highway system from the 1930s through the 1970s. Many of these attractions still provide fun and excitement for millions of tourists each year.

“Deer parks and dinosaur gardens are just a couple travel experiences that take center stage again in this exhibit. Places like Castle Rock in St. Ignace, the Soo Locks Boat Tours and the multiple locations where Paul Bunyan has been spotted are also featured through photos, artifacts and souvenirs,” said Phillip C. Kwiatkowski, director of the Michigan Historical Museum System. ” Michigan’s Roadside Attractions is about treasured mementoes, from miniature Paul Bunyan statues and plastic purses to dinosaurs, seashells and even ceramic doll dish sets.”

Learn more about the exhibit from the Michigan Historical Museum.

I know you’re all wondering about Castle Rock – here’s what Roadside America has to say:

Castle Rock is an abrupt, geologic protuberance just north of the Mackinac Bridge on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The nearly 200-ft. column of rock was long ago augmented with a man-made ramp and walkway to provide tourists a climb for an unparalleled view of Lake Huron and distant Mackinac Island.

At the base of the Castle Rock lookout is an amusing Paul Bunyan statue accompanied by his mythical sidekick, Babe the Blue Ox. This Bunyan is rare. Instead of standing, ready to deforest Michigan, Paul sits, staring googly-eyed towards the lake. With a newspaper in his hands, we’d complete the visual that Paul is halfway through one of his mighty bowel movements.

OK, probably should have cut that one sentence earlier. Read more about Castle Rock from Hunt’s UP Guide (I learned that it only costs 50¢ to climb – definitely stopping next time!)

Industrial Haven

Posted on December 29, 2008December 29, 2008 by Michigan in Pictures

Industrial Haven, photo by Jesse Speelman.

Attention superheroes: if you’re looking for a cool & moody hideout, Detroit has you covered!

Be sure to view it bigger, on black. Chancellor Monnette has a cool photo of the tunnel and a map.

in the woods

Posted on December 27, 2008December 27, 2008 by Michigan in Pictures

in the woods, photo by nicole st. john.

Nicole says that she found some old pictures that she never got around to uploading. See them larger in her slideshow.

Let’s pass on the discussion of bee-keeping for today and dream about that nice warm buzz of spring … something it seems that Mamma Michigan is doing this morning as well.

Enjoy your weekend, folks – maybe a nice museum today?

Superior moon

Posted on December 26, 2008December 26, 2008 by Michigan in Pictures

Superior moon, photo by farroutdude.

faroutdude says this is the moon rising over Lake Superior on a cold night.

Be sure and check this out larger and on black and also have a look at his other night photography for some sweet shots of the Marquette lighthouse..

Happy Michigan Holidays

Posted on December 25, 2008 by Michigan in Pictures

Holiday Train, photo by StormchaserMike Photography

The holiday season seems to too often become about things that I have no desire to celebrate – busy-ness, consumption and another excuse to fight about the fact that we are a country that is predicated on the acceptance of all religions and lack thereof.

Still, there’s a part of me that sat at the top of the stairs, waiting for the report as to whether or not Santa came, one that snuggled in bed with my grandmother listening to the radio announcer tracking that red and white clad superhero of wishes and dreams, who sang carols with my family around the tree on Christmas Eve.

That part wants – with much thanks to Samara and Paws of Roar of the Tigers – to wish all of you a Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa a belatedly Happy Eid al-Adha, a Happy Winter Solstice/Yule and a Happy Winter Season for those who prefer not to celebrate anything.